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Breaking
News: Week of 3 July 2006
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- The West Australian
- Ravlich backdown over OBE rollout
by Bethany Hiatt (front page lead story)
"The State Government has effectively scrapped the further rollout of outcomes-based education next year after conceding it had run out of time to implement a much-diluted version of the controversial changes.
"Only three weeks after Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich announced a compromise which created "OBE lite", teachers will be told that they can teach the new Year 11 and 12 courses due to be introduced next year under the existing system.
"The only relic of OBE will be an assessment requirement that teachers assign students a "level" as well as a mark out of 100.
"In a draft memo obtained by The West Australian expected to go out to all schools today, the Curriculum Council says the 13 new courses that have a TEE equivalent – such as physics, history or biology – would be taught next year using exactly the same syllabus as the existing system.
"Critics say the changes amounted to an almost total backdown by the State Government, which had previously refused to delay the new courses of study despite widespread concerns they were "dumbing down" education and that teachers were not properly prepared.
"In a bid to defuse a revolt from teachers and parents, Alan Carpenter and Ms Ravlich last month pieced together a compromise with the State School Teachers Union to create a hybrid model which would have merged parts of the new OBE courses with existing TEE courses. But after heated negotiations the Curriculum Council has now conceded that the hybrid model was unworkable and that it had run out of time to meet its self-imposed deadline to provide updated course materials for teachers by July 24.
"The new courses based on TEE subjects will effectively be new in name only.
"OBE courses that started this year, including English and media, will continue as scheduled, though sample exams and marking keys would be revised and provided to teachers later this year.
"A Curriculum Council spokesman yesterday said the document was merely a draft that was still subject to changes but acting chief executive David Axworthy told The West Australian that teachers of TEE courses would be able to use exactly the same syllabuses and assessment structure they used this year.
"Mazenod College Rector Brian Maher said the concessions to TEE courses amounted to a total backdown – but they also seemed to shut the door on the flexibility that the Curriculum Council had flagged as one of the most valuable aspects of the new system.
"Teachers group People Lobbying Against Outcomes (PLATO) welcomed the backdown on course content and syllabuses, but held niggling concerns that clinging to OBE assessment procedures would create more confusion.
"Why can't they just say let's stick with the current system in its entirety until we work it out," co-founder Marko Vojkovic said yesterday.
"PLATO President Greg Williams said it was disappointing that English teachers were not going to see any delay to implementation of OBE English in Year 12.
"Ms Ravlich yesterday denied there had been any delay, saying the 17 new courses of study were going ahead next year with modifications.
"Shadow education minister Peter Collier claimed the State Government was holding fast to any semblance of the proposed new courses so the changes would not be seen as an admission of capitulation.
"What we have now, after yet another change, is a delay in the implementation of most of the courses of study," he said.
"If this had been determined months ago an enormous amount of unnecessary anxiety could have been avoided."
Full story in The West Australian at http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=77&ContentID=472
COMMENT by Bethany Hiatt (page 9)
"The State Government has squandered an enormous amount of political capital and money on the debacle surrounding implementation of outcomes-based education in Years 11 and 12 and got absolutely nowhere.
"After more than 18 months of confusion, public outcry and a parliamentary inquiry the Government is effectively right back where it started, with almost no change to TEE courses next year.
"Teachers of TEE courses are back to what most had asked for more than a year ago with a nod in the direction of OBE over the requirement of a level as well as a mark out of 100.
"If Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich had been politically savvy she should have announced the changes that are going out to schools this week a year ago.
"Ms Ravlich's pig-headedness is what has stopped the Curriculum Council from doing the right thing by teachers, students and parents and delaying the major overhaul of WA's school system.
"The concessions to teachers that have grudgingly trickled out over the past few weeks are nothing more than a face-saving exercise for Ms Ravlich and Alan Carpenter.
"This pig-headedness has damaged public confidence in the education system as the events of the past year have demonstrated that the changes did not have the full support of teaching staff and the implementation of OBE was a shambles.
"It is time for Ms Ravlich to admit that she has forfeited her right to the education portfolio. She should have the decency to offer her resignation to the Premier and hand over to another minister who is prepared to put the interests of students, teachers and parents above her narrow political interests.
"For his part, Mr Carpenter should have anticipated the issue much earlier and had the wit to defuse a political time bomb entirely of his own Government's making. The fact he didn't smacks of arrogance."
- Main Editorial: OBE committee shows stain of party politics (page 18)
"When a parliamentary committee inquiry into outcomes-based education was established more than a year ago, Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich boldly predicted that it wouldn't come up with anything that would interfere with her timetable for introducing new courses.
"This could have been interpreted as political bravado by a struggling but obdurate minister under mounting pressure over both the deficiencies of the new courses and the disputed feasibility of her timetable for their introduction. It suggested a cavalier disregard for parliamentary processes.
"But is also revealed a worrying degree of confidence that the committee would not come up with anything that might contradict the executive's plan – before the committee had even taken evidence. As it turned out, her confidence was well placed and the Government committee members, author of the so-called majority report, endorsed the Government's timetable and revised version of OBE.
"The committee was split mostly on political lines, with three members – Liberal Kim Hames, National Terry Waldron and Independent Liz Constable – putting out a so-called minority report which supported a delay in the introduction of the courses. In these circumstances, it is reasonable to give weight to the views of Dr Constable who is not beholden to any party. She told the Parliament that the OBE compromise – which The West Australian reveals today has already unravelled – pieced together in response to the outcry against the earlier version had come too late to be implemented next year. She said she was listening to people in schools saying they didn't know what was happening.
"By contrast, Labor MP Tom Stephens, chairman of the committee, pushed the Government's line – almost word for word – in praising the compromise version of the OBE, though details of how this is supposed to work are not available.
"The question inevitably arises of whether parliamentary committee inquiries are worthless party political exercises. This concern is reinforced by the revelation that Government members of the committee had met Alan Carpenter and Ms Ravlich and discussed OBE issues, possibly in breach of parliamentary rules.
"Regardless of precisely what was discussed by the Premier and Ms Ravlich with these committee members, the unavoidable perception was created that the meeting had compromised the committee's independence.
"There has to be a better way than this of running the people's business in Parliament. People are entitled to demand that the processes of Parliament should be used to serve them, not political parties or the executive."
Full stories in The West Australian
Thank you, The West Australian, on behalf of students, teachers and parents, for fearless reporting, and for keeping this issue in the public eye and on the boil.Thank you, Liz Constable, Kim Hames, and Terry Waldron, for restoring our faith in SOME politicians.
SHAME
on Ljiljanna Ravlich, Alan Carpenter, the Government lap-dogs on the parliamentary inquiry and arrogant education bureaucrats.
Has Common Sense prevailed over bureaucratic & political Non-Sense ? Not yet !
... now we mustsave the poor English students and teachersget rid of Levels COMPLETELY andhave a proper evaluation of OBE in K-10 !!
No gObBlEdegook !
No Outcomes Stuffed Education either !No implementation without prior independent evaluation !
Permanent link to "minor celebrations" entry page of 3 July 2006
- Similar coverage all day, and covered by all networks in their Evening News
- ABC TV Evening News, 7 pm
The Government said there has been "no backdown", just "modifications to courses and the implementation timetable", and said OBE [or was it OSE?] would be introduced "incrementally".
SSTUWA President Mike Keely said all "teachers are satisfied" with the changes, and implied it was all the union's doing... [Wonder if he talked to any Year 11 English teachers, or K-10 teachers? Web]
Opposition education spokesman Peter Collier said "the government backdown should have come much sooner".
Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich said that "it was important that we go through this interim phase".
- PerthNow / Sunday Times online
- Libs welcome OBE delay
"The WA Liberals have welcomed the State Government's delay of OBE for a year. They believe the 12-month delay will give teachers time to digest new courses.
"Shadow Education Minister Peter Collier said the leaked Curriculum Council memo expected to be circulated today has announced the news teachers have been needing to hear for 12 months – that OBE will be delayed until 2008.
“While the Government may not want to use the word, make no mistake – this is a delay, and a welcome one at that,” Mr Collier said.
“While the Labor Government has handled the implementation of OBE very poorly, this delay should take the pressure off and give teachers a chance to get up to speed with the new courses and requirements.
“While the delay is something that should have been done 12 months ago to avoid all the angst caused to teachers.”
"Mr Collier said while he acknowledged today’s announcement would placate some teachers, some very real issues remained with OBE implementation.
“I question the necessity for teachers of the 13 courses which have been delayed to assess in both percentages and levels and bands. This seems an unnecessary burden on teachers,” Mr Collier said. [emphasis added]
“Also, schools desperately need clarification as to what will happen on professional development day four (July 24).
“We are in the last week of term two, PD four is day one of term three, and schools have still not been informed as to where PD days will be held, what will be achieved and who will facilitate them.”
"Today, Education and Training Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich said the changes to the new courses of study for Years 11 and 12 would allow a smoother transition to outcomes and standards education next year.
"The changes had been supported by all key education stakeholders and were endorsed by the State School Teachers' Union three weeks ago.
"Ms Ravlich said teachers had now been provided with details of how the new courses would proceed in 2007.
"We have listened to the concerns of teachers and we have made changes which have been supported by all the key stakeholders," she said.
"Teachers told us they wanted to be able to use their existing syllabi, teaching programs and lesson plans next year, and we agreed - three weeks ago.
"I believe the hype and petty politicking surrounding the changes to the new courses of study has caused unnecessary confusion and damaged the morale of the teachers who simply want to get on with the job."
"Other key changes include:
- a syllabus for each course of study;
- only content from existing TEE subjects will be examined in the first year of year 12; and
- the content of the remaining new courses have been modified into the existing TEE format.
"The Minister said the changes were in the best interests of students and would ensure teachers have the confidence to teach the new courses of study."
Full story in PerthNow at http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21498,19668572-948,00.html
Shifting the report-card benchmarks is damaging to students' self-esteem, writes Mary Costello
"My daughter's school reports have always been a cause for celebration; so on the last day of term, when she came out of school waving her first-ever secondary report we headed for our favourite afternoon tea spot.
"We had been warned. Her school had held briefing sessions for parents, introducing the new "plain English" reports, designed to "give parents a clearer picture of their child's progress", according to the Department of Education and Training website.
"The school stressed that a C was a good result; it meant that "your child has met the challenging statewide standard. Your child's learning is firmly in track."
"But what if a child has always been far up the track, at the top of the class? How do you begin to adjust their perception of what a C stands for? How do you overcome a lifetime of perceiving C as absolutely average - a suggestion that the child, "could try harder"?
"My daughter took a sip of her chocolate spider and opened the first page of her report - the general assessment. So far, so good: "an excellent start." Familiar territory. Turning the page we discovered that the school had hedged its bets and used the old High/Medium/Low ratings for most subjects and it was all good news.
"Then the English report. It consisted of a bar-graph featuring the letter grades, shaded blocks and black dots, followed by two line-graphs and two sections of teacher comment. My daughter's face fell. "B," she said, "for reading!" I jollied her along. I pointed out that the comments were very positive, highlighting her "excellent understanding . . . skills of a very high standard"."
"But if it's excellent, it should be an A," she reasoned, "Why is it only a B?" Why indeed?
"I thought of the year 5 Aim Test, which had assessed her reading ability as squarely in the middle of year 8 and stated: "Your child received results higher than expected for this part of the statewide tests. You are encouraged to discuss these results with your school."
"Well, here was another set of results I'd be discussing with her school. Under the new system she had apparently regressed to early year 8 level, despite her voracious reading over the past two years. Statewide standards had clearly shifted over time. No danger of DE&T getting a "consistently" on its report card.
"And how did she score a C for maths when, just down the page, the teacher described her efforts as "outstanding"?
"Perhaps, I speculate, because there's been no extension offered at the school to date, and the teacher can only assess at the level at which she's teaching. I'm not the only mother groping to make sense of it all.
"While the fizz flattened in our chocolate spiders, my friend Lisa's son was almost crying over his report. Cal has been in gifted and talented programs for years but in his first year 7 report he received all Cs."
"I was horrified," said Lisa, "and I had a bit of a go at him.
"I said, `That's not like you, Cal.' I thought he'd been slacking off.
"He was really upset. I'm wondering if I've chosen the wrong school."
"Another school mother was looking at Ds. Her daughter isn't academic; but she's hard-working and conscientious."
"She thought she'd got off to a good start this year. It's not as if she can try any harder, she's been doing her best. This hasn't done much for her self-esteem."
"Back at the cafe I was quoting education department press releases: "It's OK to get a C and it's great to get a B." My daughter wasn't convinced. It's going to take an awful lot of bureaucratic spin to persuade her to be thrilled with the new "commonsense" reports.
"A friend who recently moved to Melbourne from Singapore is baffled. Her clever son's first Australian school report doesn't contain a single A."
"He's always got As, his mother complained, "How will we explain this if we go home? They'll think he's done so badly. He'll never get into a good school."
"This morning, talkback radio was melting with indignation about the new reports. Sounds like every kid in Melbourne got a C. Teachers are either playing it safe, or are just as confused as parents.
"At the supermarket I chatted with the year 10 student who works there part-time. She's been busy with exams at her state school, which is still using the old ABC grades. "How did you go?" I asked. Her face fell."
"Lousy. I studied real hard the night before but I got rotten results. I got all Cs."
Keeping score
How new school reports grade pupils from A-E against the expected statewide standard.
A About 12 months or more ahead of pupil's year level.
B About six months ahead of pupil's year level.
C At the level expected for pupil's year level.
D About six to 18 months behind pupil's year level.
E About 18 months or more behind pupil's year level
SOURCE: VICTORIAN EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
Full story in The Age at link
Public exodus confirmed
A survey backs the flight to private schooling, reports David Rood
"New figures confirm a considerable shift of Australian students from government to independent schools over the past 35 years.
"Independent school enrolments have surged from 4 per cent to almost 13 per cent since 1970. Over the same period, government school enrolments have dropped by 11 per cent and Catholic school numbers have increased by 2 per cent.
"The report, produced by the Independent Schools Council of Australia, predicts that more than one in three students will attend a private school - either independent or Catholic - by 2010. In five years, the independent sector is expected to have 16.6 per cent of enrolments, Catholic schools 18.5 per cent and government schools 64.9 per cent.
"The report, released last week, also predicted that the decline in the school-aged population will make competition between sectors more fierce.
"The chief executive of the Association of Independent Schools of Victoria, Michelle Green, said there has been a gradual shift out of government schools and into the independent sector.
"But Ms Green said the drift benefited public schools as it decreased overall the cost of schooling.
"It costs the Government about $10,000 to educate a child in a government school, and it costs them less than half of that to educate a child in a non-government school, with parents making up the difference," she said.
"The more children that go to independent schools, the more private money goes into the education system..."
Full story in The Age at link
Schools failing dotcom kids
Tech-savvy students need a modern curriculum, by Elisabeth Tarica
"Teachers need to focus more on "higher-order" thinking skills and critical problem-solving techniques to cope with the lightning-speed culture of 21st century literacy, says leading international educator and author Ian Jukes.
"Mr Jukes, who is in Melbourne this week to attend a seminar at Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar School, believes the biggest issue educators face is a lack of relevancy in today's learning.
"Australian education is dealing with exactly the same issues that everybody else is dealing with right now, and that is trying to provide the rigour and relevance for kids," he says. "I think the purpose of schools is to prepare children for their future - not our comfort zones or our future. Their future. They're the big issues that we're dealing with right now."
"Mr Jukes says schools must prepare students for both higher education and employment, to avoid producing "highly educated useless people".
"We graduate people who have very, very good schools skills but don't have very good life skills," he says.
"A director of the InfoSavvy group, Mr Jukes is popular in the US and Canada as a speaker on the impact of digital technology on children and why teachers need to embrace it. A former professional rugby player and teacher, his passion for education stems from the belief that learning should be fun.
"As a child I had a number of horrendous experiences because I would be, in today's age, the ADD (attention deficit disorder) poster child," he says. "I was deeply humiliated for my lack of ability, and a silent vow that I've taken is that I will do everything that I possibly can to ensure that the next generation of kids does not experience those horrible things I did. Teachers have incredible power to make or break children, and I want learning to be a joyful thing."
"Making learning relevant to such a media-savvy generation is probably the biggest challenge educators face, he says.
"We must acknowledge that the dotcom generation lives in a different world. That today's students live in a culture that is fundamentally different from ours."
"He says that for the first time in history, teachers are facing students who know more about the new digital landscape than they do.
"This is the first generation in history where the younger generation knows more about new developments in central society than the older generation," he says. "There are a lot of kids today who are waiting for the internet or video game version of education so they can walk away from school. They have exceptional information fluency skills and they go find what they need online."
"Mr Jukes says educators must re-think the curriculum to move away from being "highly theoretical."
"Our tests must measure not only theory but also must become synonymous with higher-level thinking. To do this we must move to a far more application-based curriculum," he says. "We must go beyond theory and focus on practical applications that are relevant to the workplace rather than mutually exclusive and theoretical subjects that prepare students for yesterday and today, not tomorrow."
"Information fluency, he says, should be taught in every classroom in the same structured manner as mathematics, the sciences and languages.
"The real issue in education today is that we have to go from common recall to what I call information fluency," he says.
"We need to teach information fluency, not just information literacy. Information fluency involves learning an unconscious process, allows information seekers to ask good questions, access a wide range of resources, analyse and authenticate data and turn it into knowledge, then apply that knowledge within the context of real-time, real-life experience."
"He says educators must realise that kids of the dotcom generation are fundamentally different from previous generations.
"(Kids are different) in the way they think, in the way they access, absorb, interpret, process and use information, and especially in the way they view, interact and communicate in the modern world because of their experiences with digital technologies," he says.
"This has profound implications for us both personally as parents and professionally as educators."
What kids should be taught:
· Thinking skills: critical thinking, problem solving, applied reasoning, information processing, new communication skills such as speaking and listening.
· Technical skills: technical reading and writing, the ability to apply technology creatively, applied sciences, applied maths and applied language.
· Personal skills: goal setting, self-assessment, organisation and time management, change readiness, stress management, digital entrepreneurship, marketing and self-marketing.
· Workplace skills: being future focused, trend aware, an understanding of the global marketplace, work and learn in teams.
Source: Education at the Crossroads, by Ian Jukes.Full story in The Age at link
- PLATO Media Release
PLATO Media Release
OBE is now about politics, not education
According to PLATO founder Mr Greg Williams, the current OBE crisis is about political point-scoring and face-saving, not children's education.
Speaking about the planned implementation of 17 new Year 11 OBE courses next year, Mr Williams said: "We are only 6 months away from the start of 2007. Teachers have no syllabi, zero resources, no sample examination papers, no sample assessment items, no solutions and marking keys, no texts, no network of colleagues experienced in this, and worse still, no confidence that things will be delivered."
Mr Williams added that "no one with a shred of intelligence could suggest that things will be ready to roll for 2007."
While the Curriculum Council has advised that the new courses will use the current syllabi, Williams said: "Currently the TEE syllabi have no mention of levels, aspects, outcomes, rubrics, or similar jargon. Currently, marks earned in TEE courses retain primacy in the calculation of a TER, but the new courses use Levels for that purpose. The current TEE syllabi cover a year, but the new courses are on a semester structure."
He noted that the inquiry's preliminary report said courses should not go ahead unless they were ready by April. "Clearly they are still not ready, as the Curriculum Council is frantically rewriting them right now. That all the Government members of the parliamentary inquiry could endorse implementation under these conditions clearly shows that that the decision was political and not based on the best interests of students and teachers."
[Greg must have second sight !! Web]
- The Hobart Mercury
- 'Mute' teacher union hit
by Philippa Duncan"The State Opposition has launched a stinging attack on the teachers union for staying "mute" on Essential Learnings.
"But Australian Education Union state president Jean Walker said yesterday her group's repeated calls for reform of the controversial ELs had been ignored.
"Opposition education spokesman Peter Gutwein said the AEU had been "all but mute" on problems with ELs.
"Its actions, or lack of them, were in the interests of the Labor Party, not teachers, and did students a disservice," Mr Gutwein said. [emphasis added -- sounds familiar ! Web]
"He said if the Opposition had not been a "lone" critic of ELs, reform would have begun long ago and not in the middle of the school year.
"Ms Walker said former education minister Paula Wriedt and her bureaucrats had ignored AEU pleas for change.
"They just pushed on with it," she said. "We were ignored.
"She was not willing to listen."
"She said ELs had been jargon-filled, overly complicated and pushed on teachers too quickly.
"Ms Walker said she hoped new Education Minister David Bartlett would listen to teachers and not bureaucrats.
"Mr Bartlett has ordered a massive overhaul of ELs to be ready for schools next year. [ditto]
"He yesterday promised to consult stakeholders about the transition to "Tasmania's curriculum" that will retain just six to eight of the 18 reportable ELs elements.
"Mr Bartlett said he would release his plan to clarify and refine ELs at the end of the month for public debate.
"But Mr Gutwein said the education of Tasmania children had suffered during the failed ELs experiment.
"That's the last thing we need in Tasmania at a time when literacy and numeracy standards are declining," he said.
"Imagine if the $20 million that has been spent so far on implementing ELs had been used to employ more teachers."
"He said teachers, parents and students faced another year of confusion and chaos as ELs was stripped back.
"What exactly are teachers supposed to teach and report on this year?" he said.
"Another staunch critic of ELs warned at the weekend that the curriculum would put the education of generations of Tasmanian children at risk.
"Education expert Kevin Donnelly ranked ELs the worst system in the nation on the basis of academic content, assessment and curriculum.
"He said outcomes-based education systems such as ELs took a "dumbed down" and "politically correct" approach."
Full story in The Mercury at http://www.themercury.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,19661745%255E3462,00.html
- The Launceston Examiner
- Survey ranks ELs worst in nation
by Michael Stedman
"The curriculum formerly known as the Essential Learnings has been ranked as the worst the country in a survey published in a national newspaper."The report, published in The Weekend Australian, compared curriculums from all states, many having moved away from traditional learning and towards outcomes-based education.
"It ranked ELs poorly against criteria such as academic content, detail, and curriculum goals, particularly in the traditional subject areas such as maths and English.
"Last week Education Minister David Bartlett announced the ELs title would be scrapped and the curriculum scaled back.
"The move is similar to that of the West Australian Government, which last month abandoned its OBE programme.
"Victoria and NSW have also adopted hybrid syllabuses that combine elements of both traditional and modern learning.
"Liberal education spokesman Peter Gutwein seized on the report as proof of the State Government's failings in education.
"He also accused the Australian Education Union of ignoring the problems with ELs when they began to surface last year.
"Its actions, or lack of them, were in the interests of the Labor Party, not teachers and they did students a disservice," he said.
"Union president Jean Walker debunked the attack.
"The union has been highly critical of aspects of ELs for quite some time, especially around the language and the complexity of reporting for teachers," she said.
"The problem was that the previous minister ignored them."
"Mr Bartlett rejected the Weekend Australian report as being politically motivated.
"Author Kevin Donnelly is a former staffer to Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews."
Full story in the Launceston Examiner at http://www.examiner.com.au/story.asp?id=350614
- The Australian
- Letters to the Editor
MOST TALKED ABOUT: EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES
- Theory masks intention to hijack agenda in schools
"In his report on outcomes-based education in Australia ("Outcomes we can do without", Inquirer, 1-2/7), Kevin Donnelly has done a great service. He has shown how educational faddists have hijacked the agenda with clever language. Their righteous insistence on outcomes obscures the way they arrogantly assert what those outcomes should be. To make matters worse, they then proceed to eliminate any notion of curriculum, as if course content is incompatible with outcome. Very sneaky.
"Of course education is about outcomes. It always has been. The debate should not be about whether to have outcomes but what we want those outcomes to be. And from Donnelly's summary of the dire national situation, the need for our political representatives to step in and say what our society really wants in the way of educational outcomes is urgent."Let me start with my own pet area, science. Of course, like the WA authorities, I want to see students emerge from school with warm feelings of "inclusivity, collaboration and partnership, flexibility and environmental responsibility". But I would also insist that the main objective of science education at primary and secondary school level should be to ensure that students leave school empowered by certain levels of knowledge and understanding about the material world around them (via chemistry and geology), about everyday observable phenomena (via physics), about the workings of their own bodies and other living things (via biology), and about the products of human inventiveness that they encounter and use (via technology). What those levels ought to be and the course content needed to achieve them are decided after objectives such as these are agreed. It is an entirely logical process.
"Clear objectives must be the starting point for any properly designed educational strategy. The objectives are the outcomes. Now more than ever we can see that they must not be left for educators to decide. We, the people, must decide what they are, via our governments. That is where the debate should concentrate."
Tom Biegler, Brighton, Vic
- "The current popular demand for plain-English school reporting is reasonable and justified, but parents must realise that they need to make some effort to understand the meanings of legitimate education terms and not condemn them as jargon. No one has any trouble knowing what "score" means in sport – even "test score" in cricket – because we have learned what these terms mean. But they have somewhat different meanings in relation to children's learning in which they are related to the concept of quartiles – a concept which gives most parents trouble until they make an effort to find out what it means. Similarly "grading", which is different in relation to apples from what it is to children. And terms like "progress", "maturation", "norm", "assessment", "socialisation", "development" and "mastery" are no more elitist jargon in education than "offside" and "groin injury" are in sport."
Donald Richardson, Mount Barker, SA
- "Your commitment to recycling is exemplary. Kevin Donnelly – again. False claims about outcomes-based education – again. Omission of important facts – again.
"Outcomes-based education is not a cancer, vague, feel-good, postmodern gobbledygook, dumbed-down, politically correct, flawed or new age. It does not mean low academic standards, the absence of great literature, a lack of rigour in teaching history, the absence of right and wrong answers or jargon-ridden report cards. It does not stop the teaching of real skills and fundamental knowledge. It does not imply that all subjects must be treated the same. There is no "whatever" about it. It has not failed in Victoria. In fact, it is so widely accepted in Victoria that it causes no comment whatsoever.
"The concept of outcomes-based education means that the teaching program is organised around the skills and knowledge that students should develop as a result of their learning. The specified outcomes can be worthwhile or rubbish, just as a syllabus can be worthwhile or rubbish.
"If we move from the concept to the history of outcomes-based education, we will discover a much more sinister motive.
"Outcomes-based education was officially introduced as an alternative to the claimed fad of process-based education and as part of the argument that inputs (now about $7000 per student in my school) made no difference in state education (though spending $16,000 for a private school place draws no such criticism), not as a replacement for the syllabus. It remains in place today – both in junior years and in the VCE – though the Liberal Party's trendy Studies of Society and Environment has been replaced by the traditional disciplines of history and geography in accordance with Labor Party policy. The Liberal Government also introduced the student categories of beginning, consolidating and established.
"Outcomes-based education provided cover for the Liberals' cuts to teacher numbers and their Kafkaesque concepts (charters, triennial reviews, short-term contracts, annual reviews, performance bonuses for compliance, schools as competitive small businesses, celebration of exploitation of teachers, the principal as tin god, etc.,) which were so damaging that six and a half years since that government was voted out the damage is still not undone."
Chris Curtis, Langwarrin, Vic
Full letters to the editor in The Australian at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19659690-21223,00.htm
- ABC's "Late Night Live with Phillip Adams"
"Australia's public education system – state schools are losing students to the private sector and classrooms are falling apart. What's the response from state governments?"
Scheduled for 10 pm WA time, to be repeated tomorrow (Wed 5 July) at 6 pm.
[The relevant part starts approx 15 minutes into the broadcast and runs for 20 - 25 minutes.]
Perth listeners: 810 AM. Country listeners see http://www.abc.net.au/rn/freq/freqwa.htm for frequency details.
Synopsis of broadcastThe guest is Prof Brian Caldwell [Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne and Professor of International Leadership Development at the University of Hull] and author of the book Re-Imagining Educational Leadership (ACER Press).
Phillip Adams: Public education is "copping it". A recent Australian Council for Educational Research survey showed that 70 percent of parents would send their children to independent schools if they could afford the fees.
Brian Caldwell: In the ACT, 40 % of students attend independent schools. In Victoria, the figure is 44 percent for Year 12 students, and in metropolitan Melbourne it is greater than 50 percent.
Despite many outstanding government schools in every state, the perception is that independent is better.
The first major problem in government schools is the poor quality of the physical plant. There are many old, light timber construction schools that receive minimal maintenance. They have no heating or air conditioning. Many temporary facilities were designed for a 5- or 10-year lifespan and are still in use 30 years later. These are very depressing environments for students and teachers.
Queensland is currently spending $ 1.2 billion on upgrading schools' physical plant. The UK is refurbishing more than 80 percent of its schools at a cost of 15 billion pounds.
Tony Blair's platform during the last election included three issues: Education, Education and Education. [Note than in the UK (despite popular perceptions), only eight percent of students attend independent schools.]
The other major problem is too much "head office" control of schools [curriculum, hiring of staff, etc.] due to a "one size fits all" mentality. Much more school-level decision making is needed.
More than 80 percent of UK secondary schools (more than 2,500 schools) specialise: music, science, maths, technology, football... ALL have partnerships with business / industry. The old "comprehensive schools" system is nearly dead in the UK. Since the creation of these specialist schools, there has been a significant improvement in student results.
Phillip Adams: There is a perception that independent schools are better than government schools. I disagree.
Brian Caldwell: Unfortunately, many of the best teachers and principals are jumping ship – they are leaving government schools and moving to the independent sector. Government school jobs paying $ 90,000 a year are going begging in Victoria.
Unfortunately, there are few reliable studies upon which to base a comparison. Raw data are inadequate due to different demographics. There are virtually no solid studies that compare the value-added component.
Full audio of the program is available online at http://www.abc.net.au/rn/latenightlive/stories/2006/1677694.htm
You can listen in real time (streaming audio: Windows Media Player or Real Player) or download the entire audio file [but Beware: It's a 25 MB file if!] Also note, you get the entire program, not just the schools segment.
- The West Australian
- Ravlich's "pointless" OBE hurrah
by Bethany Hiatt (page 5)
"High school teachers would be forced to waste time and energy assessing students under two separate systems next year so Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich could save face over her outcomes-based education backdown, teachers said yesterday.
"The Curriculum Council confirmed yesterday that it had abandoned its plan to form "OBE lite" by merging some elements with the existing courses.
"But, as revealed yesterday by The West Australian, teachers will still be required to grade students by levels and bands, which are remnants of the OBE system, as well as giving them a mark out of 100, as happens now.
"Teachers lobby group PLATO said the only reason school had to use levels next year was so that Ms Ravlich and Alan Carpenter could save political face. PLATO co-founder Marko Vojkovich said there would still be utter confusion about how to match OBE-style levels, which were designed to reflect whether students had achieved certain outcomes, with existing courses, which do have have explicit outcomes.
"All Saints College principal Geoff Shaw agreed, saying trying to tack a new assessment system on to the old course was "illogical" because the levels would have no real meaning.
"I think a level will mean whatever you want it to mean," he said. "It will be a bit like Alice in Wonderland."
"St Hilda's dean of curriculum, Dr Pam Garnett said she was still concerned about assessment procedures and agreed the latest requirement was a Government face-saving exercise. "I do think (adding levels) is a way not to be seen not to be giving in fully." [emphasis added]
"Three weeks ago Ms Ravlich said the new OBE courses would be examined closely to see how much content had been transferred from the current TEE courses.
"Where we have mapped them, what we find is that about 85 to 90 per cent of the content is exactly the same between the old courses and the new courses of study," she said on June 11.
"The detail of that agreement was meant to be released to schools a fortnight ago. But in the ensuing two weeks negotiations bogged down and the Curriculum Council had to concede there was not enough time to join the new courses to the old and that the TEE courses should go ahead with no change.
"Yesterday, Ms Ravlich went into damage control, again claiming that WA was moving away from a purist model and that OBE was dead.
"OBE is dead and outcomes and standards education is the way forward," she said. Four new courses that would allow students to qualify for tertiary entrance were being introduced next year. "And that's what it's really all about, creating more opportunities," she said. [emphasis added]
Full story in The West Australian at http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=77&ContentID=522
- Levels, bands the last remnant of Lil's folly
by Bethany Hiatt (page 5)
"For teachers and parents of students taking TEE-equivalent courses next year, the only remnant of the OBE system is the requirement that students are assigned levels as well as a mark out of 100." [Wrong! What about English (and media, aviation and engineering) ?? Web]
"Under OBE, levels and bands are meant to show how well a student has achieved the outcomes listed for the course.
"Instead of a grade from A to D, students doing the new courses will receive a percentage score, a level between four and eight and one of three bands, or sub-levels, within the level ranging from first (F), middle (M) to high (H). For example, a typical report would show: mark 67/100, level and band 5H.
"The Curriculum Council says an outcome is a general statement of what students know, understand and can do. It defines a level as a standard of achievement on a continuum that describes the quality of what a student knows, understands and can do at a particular time.
"Teachers use the levels as their reference points in assessing the extent to which students have learnt key concepts and skills for each outcome," a council spokesman said.
"Over time, teachers bring their assessments together to make judgements about a student's level of achievement for each outcome."
"Education director-general Paul Albert said the percentage mark would be used to calculate a student's tertiary entrance rank of they were aiming for university. Levels were essentially another way of giving students a grade.
"State School Teachers Union president Mike Keely, who sits on the Curriculum Council and has been a long-term supporter of OBE, said he did not believe using two forms of assessment would greatly add to teachers' workloads. [Then why is the union boycotting letter grades, Mike? Web]
"In the past we had grades and marks, now we have levels and marks," he said. "It's a system that attempts to manage the needs of most teachers."
"Asked why levels were needed at all, given that teachers could assess as they had always done, he said: "Because not all students go to university." [emphasis added]
"Students would need a level four to graduate from high school and receive a WA Certificate of Education. They also need at least a level five in English to satisfy university entry requirements.
- Inside Cover (page 2)
"Students at a country high school were working on an OBE assignment, or as it is known these days their Fat and Rich Task (charming acronym).
"The learning area (subject) teacher spoke to the class about it.
"After the teacher's thorough presentation on the expectations of the assignment, a still confused student came up to him to clarify what was really required.
"The very experienced teacher replied: "I am not allowed to tell you. You have to find out yourself."
"A fellow teacher who told us about the OBE-enforced exchange said he almost fell off his chair.
"And Ljiljanna Ravlich calls this a better system," the chalkie said." [emphasis added]
Full stories in The West Australian
|
Full
credit to The West Australian Coverage started on 10 November 2004, with a quote from Marko Vojkovich. |
- PerthNow / The Sunday Times Online
- OBE Debate
Too much junk, says PM [from AAP]
"There is too much modernist junk in Australian education systems and a national education standard would be a good idea, the Prime Minister said today."The prime minister told a talkback radio caller in Perth he sympathised with the teacher's complaint that WA's education system was in a "shambles'' amid attempts to introduce a new system.
"The state government's introduction of its outcomes-based education (OBE) system, to replace the tertiary entrance exam system, has sparked a revolt among some teachers who have successfully lobbied to defer the introduction of some subjects.
"Mr Howard said he "sympathised'' with the teacher.
"I am interested in what you are saying, I think there is too much modernist junk in education around Australia,'' Mr Howard told Southern Cross Broadcasting.
"And I think you are echoing the views, not only of lots of teachers, but echoing the views of many parents and it is another reason why the imposition of some kind of national standards is desirable.''
Full story in PerthNow / Sunday Times Online at http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21498,19680176-2761,00.html
- The Australian
- 'Schools should be bulldozed' [from AAP]
by Katherine Field
"Many of the country's public high schools are so run down they should be bulldozed or rebuilt, an education expert says."Professor Brian Caldwell, former dean of education at Melbourne University and author of a new book, Re-imagining Educational Leadership, warned the drift to private schools would continue unless the problems with public schools were sorted out.
"Prof Caldwell said many problems were being "hushed up".
"He held 14 workshops in Australia, Chile, England and New Zealand last year, and begins a seven-week tour of Australia tomorrow.
"Prof Caldwell predicted that most high school students would be in the private system within the next 10 years and state governments needed to improve teachers' pay, building refurbishment, literacy and innovation.
"The fact is the public is being duped," he said.
"Many government schools now simply have to be bulldozed or rebuilt.
"We have teachers working in government schools based on the factory model of schooling from the 19th century, teaching practices stuck in the 20th century for young people working in the 21st century."
"Highlighting a recent study, which showed 70 per cent of parents would prefer their children educated at private schools, Prof Caldwell said high fees were the main barrier.
"About 40 per cent of senior secondary students, 37 per cent of junior secondary children and 30 per cent of primary school children were in private schools, he said.
"Teachers avoided working in public schools, and he said he knew of cases where senior teaching jobs with salaries of more than $90,000 attracted only a handful of applicants.
"Prof Caldwell believed our secondary schools should follow the models of countries such as Britain, where only eight per cent of children were in the private system and the government was planning to rebuild or refurbish 85 per cent of secondary schools in the next 10-15 years.
"Public-private partnerships would help, as would giving schools more autonomy, particularly in hiring staff, he said.
"Other key ideas for reform were to partner low-performing schools with higher-performing ones and for schools to specialise in subject areas."
Full story in The Australian at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19686138-13881,00.htm
- AAP / News.com
- Make history study compulsory: PM
"Australian history should be compulsory in the nation's schools, Prime Minister John Howard said today.
"The Federal Government is pushing the states and territories to reinstate the study as a stand-alone subject, and may force the issue in the next round of schools funding."Mr Howard said he was not expecting opposition from the states and said Australian history should be compulsory for at least part of the curriculum.
"I would like to see it compulsory at certain stages," he told Southern Cross Broadcasting.
"The detail of that can be worked out by the different education departments.
"I'm not trying to write a course, I'm just wanting to establish the priority.
"And I cannot understand how anybody in a government could object to Australian history being for some period of time a compulsory, stand alone subject."
"The study should include European and Aboriginal history, Mr Howard said.
"It's got to include some understanding of British and European history, an understanding of the enlightenment, an understanding of the influence of Christianity, of Western civilisation, all of those things that shaped Australian society have got to be included," he said.
"But very particularly, we've got to have a proper narrative of what happened to this country both before 1788 ... and onwards.
"Now that includes, obviously, some reference to indigenous history."
"Mr Howard said it was essential to move away from studying history "as part of an examination of issues, an examination of cultural drifts".
"I want history to be Australian history in all of the manifestations I've described," he said.
"I want it to be a stand alone subject, it deserves that treatment.
"I want Australians in future to understand the scale of the Australian achievement."
"The Government has commissioned two studies to assess the status of Australian history in schools and is planning a summit involving historians, teachers, commentators and community representatives..."
Full story at News.com at http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,19691088-601,00.html
- ABC News Online
- Minister keeps quiet on states' education funding
"The Federal Education Minister is refusing to say whether she will withhold funding from the states unless they ensure Australian history is taught as a stand-alone subject.
"Julie Bishop believes the teaching of Australian history has been downgraded and subsumed into other subjects.
"She says she wants to ensure that all Australian students leaving secondary school have a more than basic understanding of Australian history.
"The Federal Government also wants to encourage an approach based on dates and facts, rather than themes.
"But she declined to reveal if she would make it a condition of the next schools funding agreement with the states.
"This is very early days, I'm asking states to consider having Australian history as a stand-alone subject and I'm sure that the states will cooperate in this regard," she said.
"Federal Opposition Leader Kim Beazley says the debate about teaching Australian history in schools is an "elite preoccupation".
"He says the debate should be focusing on boosting training in trades.
"Now, I'm an old historian so naturally I tend to be favourably disposed," he said.
"But I've got to say, when you look at the Education Minister of the Commonwealth focused on that, it's just an elite preoccupation.
"Fundamentally, what we need now from our education ministers is a focus on trades - encouraging young men and women into trades."
Full story at ABC News Online at http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1679740.htm
Pledge made to clean up school asbestos
"Repairs to raw sewage leaks and broken sheets of asbestos at the remote Wiluna school are expected to be completed before the end of the school holidays...."
Shire president Kerrie Johnson says now there are fears students are being exposed to broken sheets of asbestos.
"She says the toilets also leak raw sewage.
"Colin Basett from Western Property, which manages the maintenance of the school, admits there are several items, including fixing broken sheets of asbestos, which need repair.
"We've had a contractor up there doing bits and pieces waiting for his materials, but because he's pulled out, one of my client consultants is going up there, he's picking up a contractor on the way, taking him up there showing him what we want done and it'll be done as a priority," he said.
"The president of the Asbestos Disease Society, Robert Vojackovich, says inhaling broken asbestos fibres can cause serious health problems.
"He says research shows there are no safe levels of exposure to asbestos.
"Nothing you can do about it, you know the horse has bolted, there are fibres in the air and they have been inhaled - let's pray to god, you know, that nothing will happen but nobody will be sure of that, whether they will be risk-free or not for the future," he said."
Full story at ABC News Online at http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1679044.htm
[also see story in today's The West Australian Web]
- Govt schools in WA 'falling apart', expert says
[Nah, they're great, says Lil... Web]"An education expert says government secondary schools in Western Australia are "falling apart" and within a decade most students will be privately educated.
"The former dean of education at the University of Melbourne, Brian Caldwell, says while there has been a marginal increase in Government school enrolments in the last 25 years, the number of students in private education has more than doubled..."
"But Western Australia Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich disagrees.
"That's an absolute nonsense and I'd be a bit surprised if he has visited our schools," she said. [emphasis added]
Professor Caldwell says unless more appropriate buildings are constructed, government schools could end up being nothing more than a safety net for parents who cannot afford private school fees.
Full story at ABC News Online at http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1678896.htm
- More student places won't solve doctor crisis, AMA warns
"The Australian Medical Association (AMA) is warning the nation could be faced with inadequately trained doctors in the future because of a lack of clinical expertise.
"The AMA has written to state and federal MPs, insisting they address what it has described as a "looming crisis".
AMA president Dr Mukesh Haikerwal says while it is good that extra medical school places have recently been created, there is still no strategy in place to provide trainee doctors with clinical training.
"You can't just lob students at a medical work force crisis - you've got to have beyond the medical student places, proper training facilities," he said.
"He has accused the state and territory governments of doing very little to meet their obligation to ensure that trainee doctors get the clinical training they need to equip them for front-line work."
Full story at ABC News Online at http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1678859.htm
- The West Australian
- Wiluna parents keep kids at home
[Ravlich and Education Department under the hammer – again – still... Web]
by Bethany Hiatt (page 6)
"Parents are refusing to send their children to the Wiluna school until urgent repairs are made to fix basic health and safety problems.
"Principal Heath Sanderson, who gave notice of his resignation yesterday, confirmed that none of the school's 107 students was at school yesterday or on Monday.
"Parents say money put aside for much-needed maintenance disappeared when Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich announced a new school would be built, after Governor-General Michael Jeffery said in May that it was the worst school he had seen in Australia.
"Parents claim their children are still at risk from raw sewerage leaking from blocked drains in the year or more that it would take to build the new school. [emphasis added]
"Anne Geary, chairwoman of the school council, said children would not go back to the school until exposed asbestos sheeting had been removed and broken windows and toilets fixed. She did not believe that would be done before school holidays started at the end of the week.
"It's unsafe for our children to attend school and it's unsafe for teachers," she said. One contractor was on site, working through a six-month backlog of repairs.
"Shire president Kerrie Johnston said she hoped the Education Department would install temporary classrooms until the new school was built. "Our children still need to be protected now, whether we get a new school in 12 months or not," she said.
"Goldfields district director Larry Hamilton denied that the principal had given notice in protest at poor conditions at the school, saying he had opted to take up a job in the mining sector. [Can you blame him?? Web]
"He said he was puzzled why parents had withdrawn their children. [Maybe due to blocked toilets, raw sewerage, broken windows and asbestos? Web]
"Clearly there is a view in the community that the school is somehow unsafe for their kids," he said. "I am not convinced that the school is in an unsafe state."
"Mr Hamilton said $ 191,000 had been put aside for maintenance and conditions would not be allowed to slide below a certain standard, though work on the school had stalled because the Department of Housing and Works had problems getting contractors to Wiluna."
Full story in The West Australian
- Get on with Halls Creek boarding plan: Nats
by Jessica Strutt (page 6)
"Nationals leader Brendon Grylls says the State Government should stop procrastinating and build a boarding school at Halls Creek based on a model already being used successfully in other parts of the State..."
Full story in The West Australian
- State schools doomed: academic
by Bethany Hiatt and Rhianna King (page 6)
"The State school system is falling apart and most teenagers will be attending private schools within a decade, a leading education expert has warned.
"Education consultant and former Melbourne University education dean Brian Caldwell said yesterday that many teachers were being forced to work in outdated, crumbling facilities that should be bulldozed.
"His comments came as John Howard launched a new attack on the WA Government over outcomes-based education, labelling it "modernist junk" which proved why a national curriculum needed to be introduced.
"Two months after describing the OBE as gobbledegook, the Prime Minister said he sympathised with WA teachers and parents who were frustrated at the OBE debacle. [emphasis added]
"Professor Caldwell, who will release his book Re-imagining Educational Leadership today, said the State Government should encourage business to sponsor schools to give them the cash injection they urgently needed to stop the rapid exodus away from the State system.
"The trends are now evident over more than 20 years," he said. "It's a consistent shift. If you look at WA, the number of government school students has increased only marginally over 25 years from 1979 to 2004, from 207,000 to 229,000 and the number of students in non-government schools (has gone) from 45,000 to about 106,000."
"Professor Caldwell said too many State schools were under-resourced, badly designed and poorly maintained, forcing students and teachers to work in unhealthy and unpleasant conditions.
"He acknowledged that new State schools were impressive and some older schools had been refurbished. "But it's nowhere near what needs to be done. There are hundreds of schools built 20 and 30 years ago that are long past their use-by dates," he said.
"They still look like factories upon which 20th century schools were modelled, when even real factories have disappeared or been rebuilt."
"Professor Caldwell said WA should follow the lead of NSW, which has built schools in partnership with private companies, and England, where 80 per cent of state high schools now had industry sponsorship to help them offer specialised education to talented students in areas such as science, music or sport.
"Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich said she did not want to use public private partnerships but she would "never say never".
"State education ministers will meet Federal counterpart Julie Bishop tomorrow to debate her proposal for a nationally consistent syllabus and Year 12 exams.
"The Federal Government believes a core national curriculum and national test would allow for the accurate comparison of student performance between the States, but Ms Ravlich said she would fight the proposal." [emphasis added]
[For more info on the proposed national curriculum, click here. For more articles about Prof Caldwell, click here]
Full story in The West Australia
- Letter to the Editor (page 27)
"Isn't it time that Alan Carpenter reshuffled his Cabinet, gave education to someone more suitable than Ljiljanna Ravlich and diverted her talents to a more appropriate position? Or has he so little talent to call on that he finds this impossible? After all, the buck rests with him."
Elsie Donovan, Bedford
- The Australian
- History back in schools
by Imre Salusinszky
"Students will again be taught traditional Australian history in classrooms across the nation under a plan from federal Education Minister Julie Bishop."Ms Bishop will press the states and territories to follow the lead of NSW under former premier Bob Carr and reinstate Australian history so every student "knows why Captain James Cook sailed along the east coast".
"If they refuse, The Australian understands the Government will consider making the teaching of Australian history a condition in its next schools funding agreement with the states. [emphasis added]
"However, Ms Bishop yesterday stressed a co-operative approach. "I want to work with the states on this," she said. "I want them to come along with me in a renaissance in the teaching of Australian history."
"To encourage a "narrative" approach to the subject, based on dates and facts, the commonwealth will offer to help the states develop online course materials to furnish the new programs. This will contrast with the current approach in most states, which is based on "themes" or "organisers" that critics have argued are often a filter for Marxist, feminist or Green interpretations of history.
"And in what is already a boost to the commonwealth's cause, The Australian understands Mr Carr will play a positive role in the initiative.
"I'm happy to talk about it anywhere," Mr Carr said yesterday. "I support any initiative to have history rescued and taught as a distinct discipline and to relegate cultural studies."
"The Government is particularly concerned at what Ms Bishop called the "swallowing" of history by other subjects under rubrics such as studies of society and its environment.
"For example, in Western Australia history is part of a Time, Continuity and Change learning outcome, designed to help students "understand their cultural, geographic and historical contexts and have the knowledge, skills and values necessary for active participation in life in Australia". Until Year 11, South Australian students can only take history as part of Society and Environment.
"The commonwealth move follows John Howard's controversial call on Australia Day for a "coalition of the willing" to undertake a "root-and-branch renewal of the teaching of Australian history in our schools, both in terms of the numbers learning and the way it is taught".
"Ms Bishop said yesterday Mr Howard's speech had "articulated what we're essentially doing" and that the new plan was designed to "take those sentiments forward".
"She has commissioned two papers from leading historians that will map the current status of Australian history in schools. These will form the basis of a "gathering of minds" - a summit involving historians, teachers, commentators and community representatives.
"Australian history has fallen victim to a crowded curriculum that has squashed it together with other social and environmental studies," Ms Bishop said. "I intend to consider ways the federal Government can encourage state education authorities to make teaching of Australian history a critical part of the syllabus."
"If encouragement failed, the commonwealth could stipulate the stand-alone teaching of Australian history as part of its next four-year, $40billion agreement with the states. This would follow the model of the current agreement, which has a range of conditions, including report cards that grade students from A to E, benchmark testing of primary school students and flagpoles in school grounds.
"A second part of the commonwealth push will be to ensure that, once stand-alone history subjects are up and running, they avoid the trap described by Mr Howard on Australia Day, when he said the subject was too often taught "without any sense of structured narrative, replaced by a fragmented stew of 'themes' and 'issues"'.
"There's both a quantitative and a qualitative problem with the teaching of Australian history in schools," Ms Bishop said. "There are not enough students learning for a start.
"And there is too much politics in it, too much indoctrination and not enough pivotal facts and dates.
"Every school child should know when and why Captain James Cook sailed along the east coast of Australia, who was our first prime minister, why we were involved in two world wars and how federation came about."
"She said an office poll of her own junior staff members had revealed their knowledge of Australian history was "wanting, to say the least".
"Nick Ewbank, head of the History Teachers Association, said in most states history had been "subsumed" by other subjects and that his organisation "would certainly support the commonwealth in raising the profile of history".
Full story in The Australian at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19689417-13881,00.html
- Shut below-quality schools, says lobby
by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
"More than one in 10 government high schools are not meeting quality standards and should be closed."Australian Secondary Principals Association president Andrew Blair said the nation had too many schools - government, Catholic and independent - for its population.
"And the 10-
