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Why not the Best Schools? The Australia Report is part of a set of six country reports that support Why not the best schools?. It contains seven case studies of successful schools in Australia and examines the reasons for their success.
Why Not the Best Schools? The Finland Report is part of a set of six country reports that support the title Why not the best schools? The Finland Report contains five case studies of successful schools in Finland and examines the reasons behind their success.
Australian education policy for the past 40 years has been heading in the wrong direction and is entirely unsuitable for preparing young people for the 21st century. Exaggeration? Sadly not. For a teacher, there is nothing more exhilarating than encouraging young people to realise the power of learning. But in our schools today, teachers spend so much time preparing their students for high-stakes tests, gathering data and filling in forms, that many of them feel like the life has been squeezed out of their role. Schooling has been turned into a market, and school leaders are forced to spend precious time and resources competing with other schools. Their professional experience is disregarded as policy makers turn to the corporate world and self-appointed commentators to determine curriculum and school funding. The outcome? Our schooling system is becoming more segregated; children from poorer backgrounds are falling behind; public schools are starved of funds; and good teachers are leaving. One of the most highly regarded educational leaders in Australia, Alan Reid, argues it's time to reconsider the purposes of education, the capacities we need for the future, and the strategies that will get us there. He outlines a new narrative for Australian schooling that is futures-focused and prizes flexibility, adaptability, collaboration and agility, with students, teachers and school communities at centre-stage. 'A provocative and persuasive argument for the necessity of a new narrative for Australian schooling so as to meet better the demonstrable demands of the twenty-first century...' - Emeritus Professor Bob Lingard, The University of Queensland 'At the heart of the book is a penetrating critique of neoliberalism and the damaging effects it is having on education and society. It should be essential reading for policy makers, educators, parents, and anyone interested in the current state of Australian education.' - Professor Barry Down, Murdoch University
"The contributions are authoritative and of high quality. This is an important resource." -The Teacher Trainer A seminal, 'state-of-the-art' critical review of teacher and school development which touches upon and discusses issues at both policy and practice levels.
It is time for a new narrative on schools in Australia. The Alignment Premium proposes its major features. Analysis of approaches in 13 countries, including most of the world's top-performers, provides 15 benchmarks against which Australia's performance is assessed. Findings include:
The academic fields of religion and values have become the focus of renewed interest in contemporary thinking about human activity and its motivations. The Routledge International Handbook of Education, Religion and Values explores and expands upon a range of international research related to this revival. The book provides an authoritative overview of global issues in religion and values, surveying the state of the academic area in contributions covering a wide range of topics. It includes emerging, controversial, and cutting-edge contributions, as well as investigations into more established areas. International authorities Arthur and Lovat have brought together experts from across the world to examine the complexity of the field of study. The handbook is organised around four key topics, which focus on both the importance of religion and values as broad fields of human enquiry, as well as in their application to education, inter-agency work and cross-cultural endeavours: -The Conceptual World of Religion and Values -Religion and Values in Education -Religion and Values in Inter-agency Work -Religion and Values in Cross-cultural Work. This comprehensive reference work combines theoretical and empirical research of international significance, and will be valuable reading for students, researchers and academics in the field of education.
Why is education in Australia failing? Where did we go wrong, and how do we fix it? The Gonski Review seemed like a breakthrough. Commissioned by Prime Minister Julia Gillard and chaired by leading businessman David Gonski, the 2011 review made clear that school education policy wasn’t working, and placed a spotlight on the troubling and growing gap between the educational outcomes of disadvantaged children and their more privileged peers. Gonski proposed a model that provided targeted funding to disadvantaged students based on need, a solution that promised to close the gaps and improve overall achievement. And yet, over a decade later, the problems have only worsened. Educational outcomes for Australian schoolchildren continue to decline, and there is a growing correlation between social disadvantage and educational under-achievement. So why hasn’t Gonski worked, and what should we do now? Written by teachers Tom Greenwell and Chris Bonnor, Waiting for Gonski examines how Australia has failed its schools and offers inspired solutions to help change education for the better. ‘A forensic and gripping analysis of the power plays and vested interests that flipped Gonski from a needs-based, sector-blind funding scheme to its exact opposite. Greenwell and Bonnor even dare to float some ideas about how we might unravel the unholy mess that education funding has become.’ — Jane Caro, novelist, writer and social commentator ‘School funding arguments cut straight to core questions of national identity and this book is a tremendous feat of history and economics which privileges understanding over judgment. Greenwell and Bonnor present a definitive and clear account of how we got into this mess, and they offer bold ideas for how we might get out of it.’ — Bri Lee, writer, journalist, activist and author of Who Gets to be Smart and Eggshell Skull ‘Waiting for Gonski forensically maps the sweetheart deals, spin and threats that cynical vested interests have wielded over and over to maintain their own privilege, in the process damaging Australia’s future and throwing our most vulnerable students under a metaphorical bus. Read it and weep. Then agitate.’ — Marion Maddox, Honorary Professor of Politics, Macquarie University and author of Taking God to School: The End of Australia’s Egalitarian Education? ‘When Gough Whitlam broke the stalemate on “state aid” he hoped that the Schools Commission headed by my old mentor, Professor Peter Karmel, would provide equal opportunity for all students, particularly for “poor Catholic kids”. Unfortunately, the powerful and greedy private and Church lobbyists have subverted that hope. They have lobbied all governments to protect the privileged at the expense of millions of children in public schools and some private schools. The virtue of this book is that it places the failure of the Gonski reforms within the larger story of state aid in Australia.’ — John Menadue, publisher of Pearls & Irritations, who’s had a distinguished career both in the private sector and in the Public Service ‘Rigorous research compellingly presented, a sharp account of the highs and lows of the Gonski rollercoaster. This book offers both a cautionary tale and some excellent advice: we can do better for the nation’s schoolchildren.’ — Helen Proctor, Professor in Education History and Policy, Sydney School of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney ‘Sometimes education systems need to choose a new way to address old problems. That remains Australia’s challenge. Waiting for Gonski is a must-read for all policymakers, educators, and parents who want to know why we ended up having one of the most unequal school systems today and how we can rebuild it so that all children will have a fair go in education that they deserve.’ — Pasi Sahlberg, Professor of Education, Gonski Institute for Education, University of New South Wales and author of Finnish Lessons: What can the world learn from educational change in Finland
Philosophy in schools in Australia dates back to the 1980s and is rooted in the Philosophy for Children curriculum and pedagogy. Seeing potential for educational change, Australian advocates were quick to develop new classroom resources and innovative programs that have proved influential in educational practice throughout Australia and internationally. Behind their contributions lie key philosophical and educational discussions and controversies which have shaped attempts to introduce philosophy in schools and embed it in state and national curricula. Drawing together a wide range of eminent scholars and practitioners in the field of educational philosophy, this anthology, the first of its kind, provides not only a historical narrative, but an opportunity to reflect on the insights and experiences of the authors that have made history. The collection is divided into three parts. The overarching theme of Part I is the early years of Philosophy for Children in Australia and how they informed the course that the ‘philosophy in schools movement’ would take. Part II focuses on the events and debates surrounding the development and production of new materials, including arguments for and against the suitability of the original Philosophy for Children curriculum. In Part III, key developments relating to teaching philosophy in schools are analysed. This collection of diverse views, critical appraisals, and different perspectives of historical currents is intended to stimulate thought-provoking questions about theory and practice, and to increase general awareness both nationally and internationally of the maturation of philosophy in schools in Australia. It is also intended to encourage readers to identify emerging ideas and develop strategies for their implementation.