Table of Contents |
1. | What Do We Expect of Education? | 1 |
1.1. | The Value of Education | 1 |
1.2. | Education: Its Purpose | 3 |
1.3. | The Issues for Reform | 4 |
1.4. | Economics, Community and Inequality | 6 |
1.5. | Australia: Economic Background | 6 |
1.6. | Education Reform in Australia | 8 |
1.7. | Where Should We Start? | 10 |
1.8. | The Questions to be Answered | 11 |
| References | 14 |
2. | A Word on Economics | 15 |
2.1. | Economics and Education Reform | 15 |
2.2. | The Basics of Neoclassical Economics | 16 |
2.3. | Individuals and Choice: Limits to Government | 18 |
2.4. | Privatisation of Government Services | 20 |
2.5. | The Global Financial Crisis and Its Consequences | 21 |
2.6. | An Alternative View: Lessons from Behavioural Economics | 25 |
2.7. | Reciprocity | 26 |
2.8. | Mirror Neurons and Belongingness | 27 |
2.9. | Neoclassical Economics: Adam Smith Made Small! | 28 |
2.10. | The Consequences for Education | 29 |
2.11. | The Irrelevance of Market Economics | 31 |
| References | 33 |
3. | Community and Inequality: Part 1: Creating an Enabling Environment | 37 |
3.1. | The Importance of Socioeconomic Status | 37 |
3.2. | The Real Wealth of Nations: Human Development | 40 |
3.3. | Unequal Society and Its Cost | 42 |
3.4. | The Great Divergence: Why Nations Fail | 44 |
3.5. | Personal Development, Home Environment and Child Wellbeing | 47 |
3.6. | Urban Youth in the US and the UK | 49 |
3.7. | Education Reform and Economic and Social Disadvantage | 51 |
| References | 51 |
4. | Community and Inequality: Part 2: Australia | 55 |
4.1. | Inequality in Australia | 55 |
4.2. | Indigenous Australians | 58 |
4.3. | Indigenous Education and the Home | 59 |
4.4. | Community and Responsibility | 60 |
4.5. | The Northern Territory Intervention | 61 |
4.6. | Self Determination: Sovereignty Matters! | 66 |
4.7. | Closing the Gap | 67 |
4.8. | Hope for the Future? | 69 |
4.9. | Overcoming Inequality: Self-Determination and Ending Discrimination | 71 |
| References | 73 |
5. | Early Childhood: A World of Relationships | 77 |
5.1. | The Critical Importance of Early Childhood | 77 |
5.2. | Pioneer Studies of Early Childhood | 79 |
5.3. | The Nature of Early Experiences | 81 |
5.4. | An Environment of Relationships: Healthy Development | 82 |
5.5. | Personal Development and the Home Environment | 84 |
5.6. | Attachment Theory, Mothers Memories and Mothers Roles | 86 |
5.7. | Policies on Parental Leave in Europe and Australia | 88 |
5.8. | A National Early Childhood Development Strategy in Australia | 89 |
5.9. | Economic Benefits of Early Childhood Intervention | 91 |
5.10. | Early Childhood is the Critical Time | 92 |
| References | 93 |
6. | Effective Teaching and Learning Part 1: John Hattie, Graham Nuthall and Jonathan Osborne | 97 |
6.1. | The Importance of Teachers | 97 |
6.2. | Some Initial Observations | 99 |
6.3. | John Hattie: The Teacher, Not the School, Makes the Difference | 100 |
6.4. | Productive Pedagogy | 102 |
6.5. | Formative Evaluation | 104 |
6.6. | Graham Nuthall, What Goes on in the Classroom? | 106 |
6.7. | Learning Outcomes: TIMMS | 110 |
6.8. | Jonathan Osborne and Argumentation in Science | 111 |
6.9. | Knowledge of Effective Teaching and Learning is Ignored | 112 |
| References | 113 |
7. | Effective Teaching and Learning Part 2: Lessons from the US | 115 |
7.1. | School Reforms in the US: Follow Through and Direct Instruction | 115 |
7.2. | US Reforms: The Last 20 Years | 117 |
7.3. | The South Side of Chicago | 118 |
7.4. | Nested Learning Communities and Accountable Talk | 122 |
7.5. | Ricky DuFour and Professional Learning Communities | 125 |
7.6. | Class Size Matters in Early Grades When Carefully Planned | 126 |
7.7. | A Note on Homework | 128 |
7.8. | What do Children Want from School? | 129 |
7.9. | Leadership, Student Engagement and Support | 130 |
| References | 132 |
8. | Teacher Pay, Performance and Leadership | 135 |
8.1. | The Call for Accountability | 135 |
8.2. | Teacher Performance and Evaluation | 138 |
8.3. | Merit Pay | 140 |
8.4. | Teacher Certification, Evaluation, Career Paths and Rewards | 142 |
8.5. | School Leadership: Leadership in Education | 143 |
8.5.1. | Transformational Leadership | 144 |
8.5.2. | Transformational Leadership in the School | 145 |
8.6. | International Perspectives on School Leadership | 147 |
8.7. | Teacher Profession and School Leadership | 148 |
| References | 149 |
9. | Public or Private Schools, Tests and League Tables, Parental Choice and Competition in Australia, the USA and Britain | 153 |
9.1. | The Australian School System | 153 |
9.2. | Australia and Government Funding of Independent Schools After 1996 | 154 |
9.3. | Student Socioeconomic Background and School Environment | 156 |
9.4. | The Rudd and Gillard Australian Governments and Independent Schools | 157 |
9.5. | Choice and Competition in the US School System | 158 |
9.6. | Independent Schools in the UK | 159 |
9.7. | Market Mechanisms | 160 |
9.8. | Tests and League Tables: A Democratic Right to Know? | 161 |
9.9. | Evidence is not Always Sufficient! | 163 |
9.10. | No Child Left Behind (NCLB) | 163 |
9.11. | Standardised Testing in the UK | 166 |
9.12. | Value-Added Tests | 167 |
9.13. | Intrinsic Motivation | 168 |
9.14. | Important Issues Missed | 168 |
9.15. | Effective Student Engagement and Ineffective Standardised Tests | 169 |
| References | 171 |
10. | Curriculum Matters | 175 |
10.1. | What Should Students be Taught? | 175 |
10.2. | A National Curriculum | 178 |
10.3. | The History Wars | 180 |
10.4. | Science Education for What? | 182 |
10.5. | Science Education in the European Union | 185 |
10.6. | Mathematics: Not Just Skills but a Discipline Requiring Understanding | 186 |
10.7. | Curriculum Reform Must Focus on Understanding and Intellectual Development | 187 |
| References | 189 |
11. | Creativity to Free Choice Learning | 193 |
11.1. | What Creativity is | 193 |
11.2. | Creativity is What Makes us Human | 195 |
11.3. | The Arts in Schools | 197 |
11.4. | Reggio Emilia | 198 |
11.5. | Success and Failure at School | 199 |
11.6. | Organisations Encouraging Creativity and Innovation | 200 |
11.7. | Free Choice Learning: Learning in Informal Settings | 201 |
11.8. | Lifelong Learning and Public Broadcasting | 204 |
11.9. | Education Means Creativity Means much more than School | 205 |
| References | 206 |
12. | International Comparisons | 209 |
12.1. | Misinformation and Urban Mythologies | 209 |
12.2. | Successful Schools | 212 |
12.2.1. | Finland | 213 |
12.2.2. | New Zealand | 214 |
12.2.3. | China | 216 |
12.2.4. | Singapore | 217 |
12.2.5. | Japan | 218 |
12.2.6. | Canada | 219 |
12.2.7. | Korea | 220 |
12.2.8. | Sweden | 221 |
12.3. | Lessons from PISA 2009 for the US (and Other Countries) | 223 |
12.4. | Successful Systems Share Common Feature: All Children Can Learn | 225 |
| References | 227 |
13. | Universities and Tertiary Education | 229 |
13.1. | Universities and Society | 229 |
13.2. | Issues for Universities | 230 |
13.2.1. | Issues of Access | 232 |
13.2.2. | Corporatisation, Managerialism and Leadership in Universities | 233 |
13.2.3. | What do University Students Know? | 237 |
13.3. | Tertiary Education Reform in Australia | 238 |
13.4. | The Bradley Review in Australia | 240 |
13.5. | Assessing the Value of Universities | 242 |
13.6. | Universities and Research: Why Can't We Have a Silicon Valley in Australia? | 244 |
13.7. | Universities and Skills Training | 245 |
13.8. | Teacher Training | 246 |
13.9. | The Importance of Government Investment in Tertiary Education | 246 |
| References | 248 |
14. | Policy Development in Education and Schooling in Australia | 251 |
14.1. | Public Policy and the Education Debate | 251 |
14.2. | Australian Students Educational Achievement | 252 |
14.3. | The Rudd and Gillard Education Revolution | 255 |
14.4. | The State and Territory Ministerial Declarations | 255 |
14.5. | Australian Business | 256 |
14.6. | Australian Literacy and Numeracy | 256 |
14.7. | Testing Australian Students: NAPLAN and My School | 257 |
14.8. | Improving Australian Teaching Standards | 260 |
14.9. | The Gonski Review | 261 |
14.10. | States Announce Their Own Education Policies | 270 |
14.11. | Funding the Gonski Reforms; the National Plan for School Improvement | 272 |
14.12. | Education Reform: A Future of Equity or a Future of Privilege? | 276 |
| References | 279 |
15. | Concluding Essay: What Have We Learned and Where are We Going? | 283 |
15.1. | Centuries of Thought and Decades of Research: Critical Conclusions | 283 |
15.2. | Early Childhood | 286 |
15.3. | Schooling, Schools and Teaching | 287 |
15.4. | Community and Inequality | 291 |
15.5. | Universities and Other Places of Learning | 297 |
15.6. | Misinformation and Its Consequences | 298 |
15.7. | The Future of Australian Education Reform | 299 |
15.8. | Everything is Connected | 303 |
| References | 304 |
16. | Postscript: Australian Educational Futures After the 2013 Federal Election | 307 |
16.1. | A New Australian Government: Policies Compared | 307 |
16.2. | The Human Development Report | 310 |
16.3. | Adult Literacy and Numeracy | 312 |
16.4. | Challenges for a New Government | 313 |
| References | 315 |
| Index | 317 |