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Critics come to the aid of the (education) revolution

By Chris Bonnor

Posted November 26, 2008 09:28:00
Updated November 26, 2008 09:48:00

New York City's School Chancellor Joel Klein

Joel Klein's arrival has been accompanied by unanswered questions about the extent of his improvements to schools in NYC.

Australia has gained from ideas and cultures originating beyond our shores - so it might seem churlish to dismiss criticisms of our schools by two high profile citizens of the USA. After all, one of them is Rupert Murdoch and he is half Australian. The other is Joel Klein, Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education.

In his latest speech in the Boyer lecture series, Murdoch says tens of thousands of children are being betrayed by a system that fails to provide quality education. He is right, to a point - we have a long tail of underachieving kids. And he has some good suggestions - there is a place for business investment in education as long as it doesn't worsen the divides between schools and between communities. A few years ago principals in NSW joined with Goldman Sachs JBWere in a scholarship scheme to help students complete their studies. This support kept achieving role models in their existing school and community.

There is potential to expand such programs but the role of business has to be considered very carefully. England's privately supported academies are often cited as success stories, but the reality on the ground can be quite different. Many academies have folded and others are accused of excessively cherry-picking their enrolments - a sure pathway to school 'success'.

Joel Klein's arrival has been accompanied by unanswered questions about the extent of his improvements to schools in NYC. Anyone can admire his energy and commitment, and even some of his ideas. It's just that the evidence, other than that offered by Klein himself, questions the claims made about student achievement under his stewardship.

Anyone can review the evidence. Go to http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pdf/dst2007/2008455.pdf - if you are not sure what to do just ask a kid from one of our disgraceful schools. The document you'll find is one of many showing results of national testing in the USA. Check them out, then for more analysis go to http://www.soscanberra.com/

You'll soon find yourself wondering why Julia Gillard, with her apparent commitment to evidence-based policy, has adopted Klein as a guru and NYC as a model. Even more puzzling is why we look to the USA (and England) for solutions to our apparent problems. After all, according to Rupert Murdoch, public education systems are a disgrace in countries such as Australia, Britain and particularly the United States.

Murdoch should leave Australia out of this company. Even the kindest interpretation of international testing places kids in the USA and Britain as just average or below average - our students are above average. And why blame the Welsh and the Scots? They have largely managed to avoid the excess silliness of many of Blair's reforms.

But the three places do have something else in common: we all have, or want, a regime of testing, ranking, naming and shaming schools. We are adopting a punishment culture for our schools. It resonates well, but why have so many leading education systems managed to avoid much of this nonsense? Everyone talks about Finland, but Canada, much of Europe and East Asia manage to register strong achievement by focusing on the carrot rather than the stick.

In our search for answers why do we parade the likes of Rupert and Joel? Maybe my own experience as a new principal in two schools suggests the answer. It's easy to achieve initial success: you say the right things, get some quick runs on the board and keep most people happy. That probably also sums up the first year of the Rudd government.

But unless you solve the really hard issues the criticism will start to mount. Rudd and Gillard have chosen to attack the critics, supported by some high profile intervention. They need to make long term and even unpopular decisions, including how to raise standards in a framework of schools which has been busy separating out the advantaged from the disadvantaged. Apart from anything else this is a part explanation for our underachieving tail.

Changing the odds for these kids, teachers and schools is a tough ask. It isn't enough to parade the heroes, those people who have seemingly made a difference for underachieving kids against the odds. And many are remarkable people - Gillard has mentioned several school principals in this category. We can learn from people like this.

But the significant changes are going to rely on hardworking ordinary professional teachers and principals. Their names may never be up there in lights but they will do better when she stops shaming them with high profile critics and the war stories of successful heroes - and expands her effort to even the odds, especially for our teachers and kids in disadvantaged schools.

To achieve this she needs to forget about the revolution and start on the reconstruction.

Chris Bonnor is co-author with Jane Caro of The Stupid Country - How Australia is dismantling public education, UNSW Press. He also manages a website, the Future Education Forum.

Tags: education, schools, public-schools, teachers, australia, united-states

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Comments (92)

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twobob:

26 Nov 2008 10:18:54am

What a well written and thought out article.
The education level of kids is not just the responsibility of the schools and their teachers. It is also the responsibility of their parents. It is almost imposable to teach a child the value of reading if his or her parents are not readers. If they see mum or dad reading a newspaper or a book it is likely that they will want to emulate them. If they never see this happen then at least subconsciously they think that there is little to no value in the exercise. This sets a trend because it is the socio economic underperformers whos kids have the most trouble, poor kids from poor families whose parents dont stress the value of education. Changing this is how you will change outcomes and adopting underperforming American or British ways is as the author has said simply an easy fix short term cop out by the present government. Shame Julia shame.

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Gweneth:

26 Nov 2008 10:20:24am

Here, here! We are staring down the collapse of a first class public school system because of a decade of advice from people who have no credentials in terms of education. Klein and Murdoch know nothing about education. They are in positions of power and can influence a world they will never inhabit. Klein has been working his "miracle" cure for two years! In education that is not even past the first stage of implementation - the damage he is doing will not show up for another three years and then, no doubt, he will have moved on to bigger and better things. Parents - wake up!

Teachers know what it takes and how long it will take but they are the last group to be consulted. Well, teachers have a voice at the ballot box and the longer this nonsense continues the more certain it is that they will use it, as they did in WA, to send a message to governments of any persuasion.

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Matt:

26 Nov 2008 10:21:36am

I completely agree.
The education system, for example, in the United States is probably the worst in any first world nation - with the crowning idiocy of it being the 'No child left behind' policy.

Britain, with it's increasing influence of corporate and religious groups, is little better.

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seajae:

26 Nov 2008 10:28:02am

well she did the unexpected with business employees so lets hope she is willing to do the right thing here and not the popular thing. Love him or hate him Howard at least did what he thought was right for the country, didnt matter if it was popular with the public , Gillard needs to do the same thing with education.

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Don:

26 Nov 2008 12:17:16pm

It seems we continue to import gurus from anywhere else but Australia and then accept everything they tell us without critical analysis, even when their ideas have been shown up at home to be doubtful. We then apply those ideas and continue with them long after they have been shown to be disastrous in their country of origin. We do this in many areas, not just education.
When are going to learn.

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ribald:

26 Nov 2008 12:27:12pm

sounds like gillard is just choosing a different tact to send the same message as the Howard govt did. When in doubt, blame the teachers and/or principals. With Howard, it was branding all public school teachers as lefty loonies but whereas Gillard chooses to attack the credentials of teachers. At the end of the day, neither the previous Howard govt or Gillard prefer to put some of this responsibility on the childrens' parents because it is these very same negligent parents who are the ones who swung their votes from Howard (xenophobia) to Rudd (hip pocket) in the last election, and Julia wants to make sure they continue to vote for Rudd in the next one. This is just another form of dog whistling.
She thinks teachers would still vote Labor regardless...but I have only three words to say to you, Julia...the Australian Greens!

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Terry:

26 Nov 2008 12:41:45pm

Good sense from a teacher on the ground. But can I raise an issue with the phrase "disadvantaged schools"?
There are disadvantaged students and a critical mass of them may constitute a 'disadvantaged school' but this is not the same as a poorly equipped school or even one with below-average teachers.
The home background is critical to school performance and hard to compensate for. But it needs to be recognised and that is what politicians and others are unwilling to do.
A teacher cannot, in the few hours available, make up for a household with no interest in education, no books, neglect issues and no discipline (unless its violent).
We need to recognise this issue and prepare some strategies - aleague table of schools will only help entrench it.

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chrispy:

26 Nov 2008 1:07:38pm

I've heard several people say "I want to put (my childs name) in to a private school so he/she can get a better job". I don't think I've ever heard "I want to put (my childs name) in a better school so he/she can improve their life". Maybe we've all forgotten the reason that we really go to school and it has just become an annoying stage of life where we get pigeonholed. I don't have the answer but I recognise we are on the wrong track.

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Celsius100:

26 Nov 2008 1:49:13pm

An essential component of the education process is how one is brought up. One can learn from parents, siblings & extended family members. Just learning to love reading is a great step and family assistance is extremely useful. "Bullfrog" made an excellent point about this.
My Mum & Dad both loved to read and kept a living room of books on all subjects and genres, acquired in any legal fashion. One can, if one starts to build a base of knowledge early, learn anything from books. It needs to be guided with advice about discerning what is fact or fiction which is all part of education and childhood experimentation is essential. This is a key point where our education falls down. Many of the pedagogs have a view of how education should happen and that is the only way acceptable! No other opinions are valid in their view. Unfortunately cognitive science is showing that there are different types of brains. The simple and dated educational model fails because it assumes that competitive classroom education will work for every child. What will work for everychild is the tools they are born with, learn by experiment.

Children are born learning by experimental means ( often everything gets the taste test) even if those approaches are not approved of by many parents who prefer a pristine tidy house to one that stimulates learning. As a society we can greatly and relatively cheaply facilitate this education by ensuring that tools and consumeables of all our valued skills are readily available with some safe instruction, early in a childs life experience. Microscopes, telescopes, lathes, drills, robots, small furnaces, forges, hammers, files, electronic components, chemicals, chemistry sets, glass working equipment, wood 7 metal working equipment, lab glassware, computer modelling tools, CAD-CAM machines, working models of equipment, art materials, books, test & measuring equipment, tours of laboratories, access to laboratories, libraries, industrial facilities, farms of various types and so-on. This is where industry can play a part that is so valuable a price cannot be put on it.

Producers can make scrap and waste available, allow tours of their facilities, take on work experience kids, run or participate in holiday programs. Often children do not know what occupational opportunities are really out there. I was horrified to find how out of date the vocational guidance people at my childrens schools were! This includes public and independent schools. Add these opportunities to the huge number of sporting opportunities that are available in Australia and the mind and body will choose to develop themselves together.

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Effem:

26 Nov 2008 2:19:06pm

Keep business partnerships out of our schools, already they have pervaded universities with grants for this and grants for that, and what had become of the results of the research...zilch. If we want the very best for our kids and their education, instead of the US and England we should be looking at Europe, very few private schools. Finland stands out on its' own, with a much smaller population, much smaller resources than us, but their standard of education is much higher. The private school system is draining the taxpayer dollars, just look at their swimming pools, sports fields, their buildings. Share their wealth and their teachers, and we too would be up there with the best of them.

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deekar :

26 Nov 2008 2:23:00pm

Most of what you say is very sensible Chris. The question does remain why Julia Gillard is continuing this teacher /school bashing mantra from the previous government.

Applying economic rationalist practices, ( standardised testing, league tables etc etc) is an absolutely ignorant approach to education reform.This stick wielding approach is convenient for politicians out of touch with education reform. Schools are primarily about relationship building, character development and then developments of understandings and skill development. Schools have to be places of trust, security, mutual respect and compassion. Teachers must be trusted, respected and continually re-skilled. Schools, teachers and students must work in ,fully resourced, supportive environmentally sound and sustainable workplaces.. What most teachers and students in government schools around Australia put up with is second rate.
Yet data for what its worth show Australia does better than most compared to the world.
SO lets get some real action happening and stop this responsibility shirking teacher /school bashing game that Julia and most politicians from both sides, ( except the Greens) and of course the conservative right wing think tanks and associated wankers carry on with
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

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John Michaels:

26 Nov 2008 2:33:45pm

This is a good article that looks at community involvement in schools in order to help create an environment that encourages learning in all kids rather than in some kids. What I find frightening is the failure to mention that for most of the world education has gone backwards since the 1960s and really backwards since the 1990s. As a person who attended both private and public school education during high school in the late 80s and early 90s I can tell you that the resources, contacts, and levels of achievement were worlds apart.

Julia Gillard really does need to set out a specific guideline for standards that are well above what is expected in the U.S. and other deteriorating education systems. Hard decisions need to be made about students that can't pass a class in the early years of grades 1.2. and 3, and the schools need to stand firm by the decision. What point is there if you can't read or write when you get to grade 7? And how the bloody hell did "no-one" notice for 7 years that you weren't learning anything?

One thing I always tell a new class, stupidity is a choice. If you choose to be stupid don't waste my time. If you want to learn I will try to guide you the best way I can to the best of my knowledge and ability. For most it works, for the ones that think they're going to be the next super sports star it's like talking to a brick wall.

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rfnk:

26 Nov 2008 2:46:41pm

Making comparisons between educational systems or approaches is highly dubious in any case because the whole field is so lacking in objectivity, particularly at the political level, that no one will ever accept the performance measures. We have become so tolerant of pseudo-science (i.e., gullible) that the media, the politicians, the unions and, sadly, even educational leaders, simply select whatever performance measures suit their argument at any particular time.

Australia has a serious problem with school failure - even the most casual observer can see this, but those who work within the system know that it is worse than it appears. By far the greatest issue we face that impacts on education is the dereliction of parental responsibility - accepted increasingly by communities and encouraged by weak, successive governments at the State and Federal levels. However, while there needs to be a dramatic reversal of community and government attitudes towards those who would destroy our communities, there are also measures that governments in Australia could take within their education systems that would make a very real difference. These are some:

Strip down the early years curriculum in primary school to focus primarily on basic literacy, communication and numeracy and teach these skills in a highly structured way so that every child learns these skills within their first two years at school, not just 75%. Abandon `whole language' and other discredited nonsense - it's about time isn't it? An early focus on step-by-step learning, dedication to quality and accuracy and the basic disciplines of learning sets children up for success. Lack of attention to these essential skills sets children up for failure. The tragedy is that too many teachers, parents and children don't find out that there's a serious deficit in what's been learned until years later when it's more difficult to correct.

Develop real vocational options for secondary students at a much younger age than is currently the case. Retaining students in educational institutions that are irrelevant to their perceived needs, especially when they already feel inadequate through years of inadequacy in literacy and numeracy, is simply stupid.

Respond to the fact that every decent study of learning identifies teacher quality as the most consistent, significant variable affecting student performance. Good teachers need to be encouraged to take on the most challenging students and those in the most challenging locations. Reward them through very substantial salary incentives (rather than counter-productive transfer systems). Get rid of teachers who are simply unsuited. It will take governments who are prepared to weather industrial action and other political pressure from unions to achieve this but, if the engineers insisted on continuing to build bridges that fall down, would the government hesitate to replace them? There are plenty of ways to measure teacher p

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dazza:

26 Nov 2008 2:50:09pm

Many comments seem to focus on removing the government/politics from the review process and making teachers/academics more involved. Having seen the influence of many of these types in the 1970s in NSW, I am not so sure this is the best solution either. I read a lot of comments below that are filled with "Motherhood Statements" such as;
"Teachers must be trusted, respected and continually re-skilled. Schools, teachers and students must work in ,fully resourced, supportive environmentally sound and sustainable workplaces", and "Yes, we need somebody with conviction and a positive plan". We want better resourcing, commitment from parents and on the list goes. I note one correspondent below talks about teachers needing to be respected and valued. Try finding a majority of students, in either public or private schools, who actually respect their teachers these days. Grand schemes are wonderful, if the basics are in place. Let's not go back down the path of academics pushing 'Phonetic Spelling' at kids. My 39 year old brother still has troubles courtesy of this phenomenon, as do many of the younger people I work with.
Lets get rid of the touchy-feely nonsense that precludes the use of terms such as "Failure" on the grounds that it destroys confidence. I have blown assessments and tests in my own life and simply got on with making sure I passed on a retest or the next time around. If you don't make the grade, let's be honest about it. Once your education is complete and you are in the big, wide world, if you can't make the grade in your job, your boss is not going to persist forever in accepting incompetence.

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Marv87:

26 Nov 2008 5:07:11pm

I don't see why we can't be looking at genuinely successful systems such as the one over in Japan. There you have an entirely hardworking people, putting in their due dillgence at an early age and the harvest is an incredibly 'smart' economy.

These are the people we need to be taking advice from.

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Meredith:

26 Nov 2008 5:07:32pm

Its a cultural problem first and foremost.

Australians do not value education - it is seen as eliti

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Critics come to the aid of the (education) revolution

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Comments (92)

twobob:

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