Education Revolution - radical change or chucking a 360?

All the Boards would have to be instructed to rewrite all subject syllabi and assessment systems to meet the triple criteria defined, valid and reliable. They must be instructed to complete the task within six months and the verdict as to whether the syllabi meet the criteria should be delivered by people from outside the Education Establishment, probably professional mathematicians, historians, physicists and so on. If the Boards cannot do the job, then they will have to be dismissed and replaced with people who can.

All the peculiar ideas that have permeated, infected if you like, education, trainee teachers and particularly the Boards emanate from Faculties of Education. They need to face the reality that either their “research” has influenced what happens in schools or it has not. If it has then they are in major part responsible for the mess we, or to be precise our children, are in. If it has not influenced what happens then it is very hard to think of any reason for their continued existence.

Education Unions have nothing like the power that they are generally thought to have. Their influence is almost entirely within the ALP party itself - in other words it is an internal party matter. Both Mr Rudd and Ms Gillard show signs that they are capable, and if necessary willing, to tell them to butt out and to get back to what they should be - an industrial union.

Unless Mr Rudd and Ms Gillard get serious about subject syllabi and assessment systems so that they are all defined, valid and reliable, then we will not, can not have the radical revolution we need. Instead we will have lots of talk, hype and media opportunities, but no change in direction - just chucking 360s.