Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Schooling Australia: an education that builds a nation

By Fiona Mueller and Deidre Clary - posted Thursday, 9 August 2018


Above all, how does the fixation on 21st century 'competencies' serve the Australian people and the nation? Creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, responsibility and resilience are all worthy skills and necessary attributes of intelligent human beings, but they are not new to education or to Australian society. Children and families who lived through the Federation Drought, the Great Depression and international conflicts found ways to survive and thrive. People have adapted to technological change and been lifted out of poverty in unprecedented numbers over a very short period, instinctively keen to improve their personal and work environments. Good teaching and good parenting are, and always have been, key contributors to a successful life.

The recommendations of the Review to Achieve Excellence in Australian Schools, proposed by David Gonski's panel and accepted by federal minister Simon Birmingham, include a major shift to a national curriculum written as 'learning progressions' and accompanied by 'formative assessment' tools. As others have cautioned, this is untried and untested territory (Buckingham and Joseph, 2018). Once again, it has the look of policy borrowing rather than policy depth. Given that the first iteration of the Australian Curriculum was only completed in 2016, the implications of such a shift for schools and teachers are enormous, but work on the next iteration is already underway.

Without being too last century, it is important to note that the end of World War I shone a massive spotlight on the need to build (or rebuild?) Australia. The new federalism showed just how challenging this work would be; one hundred and some years later, state and territory politics and contextual differences continue to make it hard, and every jurisdiction is busily reinventing expensive wheels to see what might work for its students. There is a particular focus on re-examining how education can be more efficiently mobilised as part of national social and economic policies (Rizvi & Lingard, 2010). However, in comparison to other high-performing systems, notably Singapore, Australian governments have devoted far less attention to nation-building in developing the national curriculum.

Advertisement

Nation-building is a 'new world' discourse applied to large continents (e.g. Africa, Asia, North and South America) where colonising forces decided on innovations in policy and infrastructure and the pioneering spirit was often eulogised. European settlement in Australia is associated with icons and projects that have attracted significant public support for building a new nation against many odds. Wanna (2008, p.4) argues that as 'invisible' forms of nation-building, health and education are 'excluded voices' from the national discourse and need to be acknowledged in 'a more complete assessment of the nation-building exercise'.

Rather than looking across the seas for an off-the-shelf solution, it would be better to take careful note of the cornerstone of the curriculum of one of the world's highest performers – Singapore. As part of 'instilling deep values and building foundation for learning', a fundamental goal is to 'cultivate values and commitment to Singapore and fellow Singaporeans.' Current and future generations of young Australians will do well to apply 21st century skills of critical thinking, inquiry and analysis to the real nation-building potential of their unique home on the planet. Too many students leave school without a sound understanding of this country's socio-political evolution or how their schooling can position them strongly in adulthood; this puts them at risk of falling for any story rather than building on the past with knowledge and understanding as a means of defining and creating the future 'we' want.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. Page 2
  4. All


Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

6 posts so far.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Authors

Dr Fiona Mueller is a teacher of English and foreign languages and a former Head of ANU College at the Australian National University. In 2016-2017, she was Director of Curriculum at the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). She is particularly interested in the history of education, international education, single-sex schooling and K-12 curriculum design.

Dr Deidre Clary is Adjunct Senior Lecturer in English and education at the University of New England in New South Wales, Australia. A former secondary teacher and deputy principal, her research interests include disciplinary literacy, critical literacy and new literacies. More recently, Deidre has engaged in comparative curriculum studies involving the Australian Curriculum.

Other articles by these Authors

All articles by Fiona Mueller
All articles by Deidre Clary

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Article Tools
Comment 6 comments
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy