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Schools need to prepare for a period of change

By David Robertson - posted Thursday, 20 March 2014


Change – "to alter or make different"

Educators often raise the issue of "reform fatigue" in the face of constant change in school education in recent years. There is no doubt that changes in schooling have been constant, often complex and demanding, placing considerable pressure on school leaders and teachers. Most often changes result from government policies and priorities but the demands of the community, including parents, for improved educational outcomes, and for schools to be the vehicle to address an increasing number of social issues, cannot be ignored.

It is often frustrating for schools to deal with change as it is not always easy to see clear outcomes in the short term. Many of the large systemic changes to education are about meeting longer term goals and as a result are not particularly well suited to the electoral cycles of government. Changes in government policy can come as often as every three years, whereas significant educational changes may take a generation to show full results.

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Therefore, it might be of some relief to note that the Federal Government has nominated two Parliamentary repeal days every year to cut unnecessary and costly legislation and regulation. The first repeal day will be in the House of Representatives on Wednesday 26 March where Parliament will be asked to repeal some 8,000 redundant legislative instruments.

While this might be some good news, a scan of the education environment would suggest that schools should be preparing for a period of significant change over the next few years. Change is likely to take place across a wide range of areas including curriculum, assessment and reporting, and operational aspects of schooling.

Of significance to independent schools will be likely changes to public funding arrangements. There has already been uncertainty and instability over the past two years as the "Gonski" school funding reforms were debated, shaped and finally implemented through the new Australian Education Act in 2014.

It is now clear that the Federal Government is likely to implement a revised funding model from 2018. In the lead-up to 2018, schools face the prospect of continuing uncertainty about their future funding with the resultant disruption to longer term planning of their programs and master plans.

This will be in addition to possible immediate changes to the Australian Education Act with the Federal Minister Christopher Pyne committed to addressing the "command and control" of Canberra over schooling. Some technical flaws in the new funding model will also require legislative change in the short term, ensuring that the ongoing debate about schools funding will continue to feature in education policy.

Perhaps more significantly, changes in curriculum, assessment and reporting will dominate the work of Queensland schools for the next few years.

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Since 2012, independent schools have been implementing the new P-10 Australian Curriculum (English, Mathematics and Science in 2012, History in 2013 and Geography this year). The final six learning areas of the Australian Curriculum for Prep to Year 10 are to be implemented in 2015 and 2016 – The Arts, Health and Physical Education, Civics and Citizenship, Technologies, Economics and Business and Languages.

A key difficulty for schools is that the planning for the implementation of these Phase 2 learning areas (some of which have multiple subjects such as The Arts with Visual Arts, Media, Dance, Music and Drama) has to be undertaken in the context of an Australian Government initiated review of the Australian Curriculum expected to report in mid-2014.

It has now become apparent that the Australian Curriculum has too much curriculum content for the primary and early secondary years. This issue has been raised by many education groups in submissions to the review, including Independent Schools Queensland. It would be surprising if the review recommendations did not include an "uncluttering" of the overcrowded curriculum, and while this would be a positive move for schools, it will involve another element of change.

Added to these significant issues around the P-10 Curriculum is the implementation of the Australian Curriculum in Years 11 and 12. A timetable for implementation in Queensland is still under consideration by the Minister for Education, Training and Employment, the Hon John-Paul Langbroek and the Queensland Studies Authority (to be replaced by the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority on 1 July 2014 – yet another change). Whatever the eventual timetable, the current suite of senior secondary syllabuses in Queensland which includes 53 Authority subjects, six Extension Syllabuses and 23 Subject Area Syllabuses will potentially need to be revised.

Given the senior secondary Australian Curriculum has been approved by all State/Territory Ministers and the Commonwealth, there is likely to be strong pressure to get on with the implementation, with 2016/2017 likely to involve intense periods for schools in revising their senior secondary programs.

On top of senior secondary Australian Curriculum, there will be changes resulting from the Queensland Review of Senior Assessment and Tertiary Entrance Procedures. Potential changes are starting to take shape through the release by the Queensland Government appointed reviewers, the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), of their preliminary thinking and options.

While no decisions have been made by the State Government on the future shape of senior secondary assessment and tertiary entrance procedures, the ACER thinking and options paper now being debated would see very significant changes implemented in future. These possibly include externally set and marked assessment to be used in some or all Authority subjects with that assessment contributing up to 50% of a student's results in a subject. School-based assessment would be preserved with the current moderation processes to be strengthened. School assessments would be reported on a 15-point scale.

ACER is suggesting that a small number of key cross-curriculum capabilities be assessed and reported alongside subject results.

Significantly, ACER's initial thinking and options suggest universities should decide selection procedures for their courses, rather than the Queensland Studies Authority current role in determining OP scores and rankings.

Whatever the outcome of the ACER review, the changes are likely to be significant for schools in terms of their senior secondary considerations and in educating both students and parents as to any new procedures. Schools should be preparing for an intensive period of change from perhaps as early as 2016 in senior secondary assessment and reporting.

The list of other potential changes for schools across a wide range of areas is long. Changes to the Federal Government's privacy legislation have come into effect this month (requiring schools to review and update their privacy policies); there are significant and on-going changes around the teaching profession itself (including the implementation of the National Professional Standards for Teachers and the Teacher Performance and Development Framework); the work of the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profit Commission, which has imposed another layer of regulation on independent schools, is under review; a new system of verification of students with special needs based on a nationally consistent definition is currently being implemented across the nation; visa application processes for international students seem to have been under a state of constant change for at least the past two years, with more to come…. The list could go on.

It is understandable that schools and the staff who work to make schools successful, experience "reform fatigue".

However, we should always keep in mind that most educational change is well intentioned and has the objective of improving the education experience of students and ultimately better outcomes. While change in schooling can be a lengthy process it is also worthwhile.

Whatever your views on education change and how schools can best handle it, it is clear that we will be moving into a period of significant change for Queensland schools across a wide range of areas. Now is the time to start preparing.

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About the Author

David Robertson is Executive Director of Independent Schools Queensland.

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