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1
Centre for Research
on Education Systems
Public education in Victoria: are we fulfilling its historical
promise?
Richard Teese
18th. September 2013
2
Historical promise of public education
…to provide every child with the opportunity to acquire the higher forms of knowledge on which our economic and social organization is based
The pathway
…a comprehensive public school system, serving every local community
…initially elementary schooling, later universal post-primary
…the view over nearly a century shows us how far along this pathway we have come
3
91%
3%
2%
1%
1%
2%
Enrolments in public elementary and post-elementary schools in Victoria, 1924
Elementary
High School
Higher Elementary
Central School
Domestic Arts
Junior Technical
59
41
Public primary and secondary school students: percentage distribution, Victoria 2012
Primary
Secondary
secondary largely irrelevant to primary
secondary of major relevance to primary
The founders of public secondary education knew that a strong
foundation had to be laid in primary
schooling
4
Mr James Lewis and the class of 1911, Tooronga Road Primary School
Sto
nn
ing
ton
A
rch
ives
“Elementary education is the foundation…”
5
Overview of today’s presentation
…major stages of change in the “superstructure” in the last 50-60 years
…social impacts
…the challenges
…today’s policies (state, federal)
…what should we be doing to fulfil the historical promise of public education?
6
Creating a mass comprehensive system of public secondary
education places great pressure on primary schools
47 50 53 56 59 62 65 68 71 74 77 80 83 86 89 92 95 98 01 040
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000Students completing Year 12, Victoria,
1947-2004
exc. VCAL
7
Growth within a divided system;
streamed classes;
expansion & transformation of lower secondary
Diversification of upper
secondary courses; tech
courses extended & diversified
Integration of upper
secondary education (unitary
system; single certificate)
Main stages in the creation of comprehensive secondary education
8
Impacts
Rising general level of education of the population
Access to specialist knowledge and skills for “non-traditional” groups
Widening access to technical and higher education over the long term
Adjustment to major changes in industry structure and labour markets
Widening social access to primary labour markets—social mobility
Social cohesion—economic and cultural integration of children from poorer & non-English speaking homes
Relatively low cost to families (accessible, sustainable)
9
Challenges
A large and widening gap in basic achievement between rich and poor
High schools struggle to suppress this gap
Disengagement grows over the middle years (e.g., falling attendance)
Drop-out is high in many schools serving poorer communities
There are problems of access to the curriculum in upper secondary school
Major gaps in achievement in the VCE
Transition outcomes are often weak for low achievers
Transition to TAFE continues to slide
Access to university continues to discriminate against the poor (growth since Bradley favours the wrong sector!)
10
It’s clear from the achievements that we have put the right structure in place—a comprehensive system of high schools serving every community, accessible and open to all
But challenges persist, and they grow more severe as more and more of the population comes to depend on successful schooling
Source: VCAB 1990 (?)
11
Why, after 50-60 years of educational expansion, are we still faced with major issues of equity and
quality?
The answer is that our reforms have largely focussed on the formal structure of provision and not the social and political forces which affect access to this structure and achievement within it
To see this, we need to make a brief theoretical detour
Our theoretical question is: how is inequality produced in secondary education
systems?
12
Curriculum-based differentiation
Social area and administrative differentiation
Social selection
(social hierarchy of public and private
schools)
(hierarchy of knowledge—school types and streams)
How inequality is created in secondary school systems
Preston Tech
13
What has been our policy focus?
And what should it be?
14
Dismantling the old structure of selective
schooling
o Girls’ Secondary Schools
o Central Schoolso Technical Schoolso Removing middle-
school examso Ending ability
grouping and streaming
o A common upper secondary certificate
Reducing social differentiation
based on residential and
institutional segregation
Paths of reform
62
-63
58
-59
54
-55
50
-51
46
-47
42
-43
38
-39
34
-35
30
-31
26
-27
22
-23
18
-19
14
-15
10
-11
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
Class sizes, primary schools, Grades V/VI (1959)
size of class (number of pupils)
Nu
mb
er
of
cla
sses
o Class size reductionso Equity fundingo Welfare co-ordinators,
etc.
15
o Reductions in funding for public schools (pre-Gonski); uncertainty in the future
o More subsidies for private schoolso More selective-entry schools
More social pressure
on schools
o More schools with SEAL
o Other selective provision
o Loss of academic options
o More VET/VCAL
More curriculum-
based selection
Current directions
16
The new school would offer bilingual programs in Mandarin and French and a specialist program in technology, design, maths and science, one stream of which would be select-entry. It would also explore introducing the International Baccalaureate.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/school-plans-to-close-books-on-one-era-and-open-in-another-20130329-2gz4k.html#ixzz2f1HI1tkT
17
18
850 900 950 1000 1050 1100 1150 1200 1250500
520
540
560
580
600
620
640
660
680
ICSEA
Readin
g Y
ear
9
Private
Catholic
Public
Social differentiation between Victorian schools is high
This is partly due to residential segregation
19
Adults with no qualifications
20
21
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Concentration of economic and cultural disadvantage, greater pedagogical stress: social profile of public high
schools
Lowest SES
Highest SES
Limited access to
this population
High exposure
to this population
22
Social area influences are aggravated by private schooling
One illustration is the way non-govt schools in poorer areas pick and choose
Public Non-govt0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
9 5
27
10
26
23
21
31
15
22
29
Reading band at Year 7: a public and a private secondary school in
country Victoria
Band 9Band 8Band 7Band 6Band 5Band 4
23
The Age 20/9/12
Additional support for private schools
Response to Gonski
“…our commitment to lift non-government school funding to 25% of the recurrent cost of educating a student in a government school”
24
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Social selection through private schooling plus public subsidies creates an academically dominating sector
Lowest SES
Highest SES
High access to
this population
Low exposure
to this population
Concentration of economic and cultural advantages, which are pedagogically multiplied: private non-Catholic
schools
25
Public Catholic Private0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
58
66
7171
80
85
University offer rates by school sector, 2007-2011
20072011
High schools
catch up to private
schools 5 years earlier
Private schools increase their lead over high schools & now have an offer rate of 85%
Catholic schools
increase their lead over high schools & now have an offer rate of 80%
High school offer rate is up, but low SES share
hardly changed
Newnham, E., Anderson, M. and James, R ., Access to higher education in Victoria under the national demand--‐driven system , CSHE 2012
26
Expose all populations to the same
high standards
Curriculum cannot be a
refuge
Reduce curriculum
differentiation
…which in turn requires reducing the influence of social area & selective
schooling
Redressing inequality
this cannot be done without greater investment in primary
and pre-school education
27
the “efficiency of primary education is a first condition of the efficiency of higher education”
Frank Tate, first Director of Victorian education, 1909
28
800 850 900 950 1000 1050 1100 1150 1200 1250300
350
400
450
500
550
Socio-economic status (ICSEA)
Readin
g Y
ear
3 m
ean
Reading Year 3 scores by mean SES and sector of school, 2010
Private
Catholic
Public
29
The level of support required to reverse social disadvantage is proportional to the concept of public
education we hold
30
A weak concept of public secondary education
Local decision-making
Public education is a sector of relatively autonomous schools which adapt to local circumstances and needs
But in fact they have only limited access to their local communities
“choice” policies constrain this
31
Public schools are free to determine their own staffing profile and to manage their budgets
But their ability to attract suitable staff is limited by social profile, location and size
Can they compete with private schools for more experienced or specialist staff?
They have only limited capacity to train their own staff
And no influence over pre-service teacher education or design of in-service PD
32
Public schools are free to decide their own programs
subject to constraints of size, location, access to specialist teachers, and student profile
33
In short, public schools are supported to adjust to context rather than transcend its limitations
Private schools, by comparison, are supported to select from local context and to transcend the local context in favour of wider markets
Westbourne Grammar Sports and Aquatic Centre
http://www.westbournegrammar.com/page/westbourne_grammar_sports_and_aquatic_centre.htm
About two-thirds of Westbourne students receive a travel allowance(The Age 31/10/12)
34
What is missing in this concept?
No requirement in upper secondary education that all major fields of learning are reflected in the curriculum (free to specialize)
No absolute or context-independent standards of student outcome (intake-adjusted reporting)
No requirement that schools reflect the total make-up of the local community (over-ridden by “choice”—first principle)
No concept of “mixity” and social cohesion (choice over-rides learning theory)
Weak concept of inclusiveness (schools lack specialist support staff for this)
Alternative settings to compensate for the support that schools lack
Buildings, facilities, grounds—high standards of provision more honoured in the breach (“More than half of Victoria's 1500 state schools have at least one building that fails to meet maintenance standards “; every fourth building is below maintenance standard)
35
“Cracks, as pictured here in the wall at Sunbury College, are among the problems that need to be fixed” Picture: Ian Currie
NEWS.COM.AU 20/2/13(http://www.news.com.au/top-stories/education-department-audit-finds-420m-needed-to-fix-decaying-schools/story-e6frfkp9-1226581485212)
Read more: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/top-stories/education-department-audit-finds-420m-needed-to-fix-decaying-schools/story-e6frfkp9-1226581485212#ixzz2LOTA0elM
36
What should a public school system look like?
Socially integrative
A means of pooling resources to create shared benefits Brings families together at a local level and beyond It is not a means of exploiting social advantage It is not a means of dividing children along social, religious or
ethnic lines
Socially inclusive
All children have access to the same high expectations & opportunities
Additional support is given to high-need children The tasks of learning are shared, each learner is responsible for
the other
High performing
Works well for all children on a range of measures Helps form good citizens & productive workers Deepens the pool of talent for creativity & innovation Is academically demanding, but highly supportive Good transition outcomes for all groups
37
Curriculum-rich
A wide range of stimulating courses, activities and methods
Pedagogically adaptive
A teaching philosophy which is context- & learner-centred
A site of continuous professional development
Well-resourced and efficient
Adequate resources, including specialist support staff
Flexibility in resources (inc. ample release time) Resources allocated on a needs-basis Programs are evaluated
38
Going forward
What do we need?
39
An expansive concept of public education: raise our sights
Enshrined in a charter
Maximize access to local community
Comprehensive curriculum Specialist teachers Staffing flexibility Intensive support Parent and community relations
Regulate growth of private schools
Greater investment in primary and pre-school education (cf. SRP and
Gonski rates)
Greater accountability of government (today’s emphasis is on schools)
Independent reporting of progress against charter: schools themselves should take responsibility (part of their autonomy)
40
41
*
42
Schools set to suffer as budget cuts hit hard EducationVictoriaDateJanuary 30, 2013(1); Jewel Topsfield
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/schools-set-to-suffer-as-budget-cuts-hit-hard-20130129-2dizq.html#ixzz2f7aR5GEN
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