Preface
The committee's intention in this inquiry has been to
consider the issues arising in the current debate on how to achieve the best
education for students progressing through twelve years of school. Every
committee inquiry is a 'learning experience' for the senators who take part. In
this case the learning has resulted in a broad consensus that a more rigorous
approach to teacher training, and to curriculum design, is required to improve
educational achievement levels across the country.
To deal with curriculum first, it is the committee's view
that it should embody two elements. First, it should reflect the accumulation
of knowledge, wisdom and skills, and pass these on. Second, it should try to
ensure that this knowledge, wisdom and skill is relevant to the work and life
challenges to be faced by those whose experience of the world will be different
in unforeseen ways. Relevance here may be determined by foreseeable vocational
need and technological change, and by the unchanging nature of human needs and
the human condition. The learning which allows teachers to survive is not
'relevant' to students. 'The 'relevant' curriculum is that which is directed at
the need for a broadening and deepening learning experience and for acquiring
new knowledge and new skills. There is much stimulating discussion in academic
circles, currently, about the radical possibilities for schooling as the 21st
century progresses. The committee applauds this, but fears the possibility of
curriculum fads and fashions to which school systems and university education
faculties are frequently prone.
The committee has also reviewed the extent of curriculum
change over the past 15 years, noting aspects which have proved to be
unfortunate, and which are currently being put right. However, the committee
also notes that there is much to be done, particularly in developing
standardised assessment methods which would ensure comparability of standards
across the country.
Convincing evidence presented to the committee has stressed
the centrality of good teaching as the factor which has most bearing on
educational quality. Good teachers are the key to good performance. Good
schools are those which are made up of good teachers. The committee has found
that at a time of growing consensus on curriculum improvements, the threat to
improved standards may result from the insufficient numbers of more able
recruits to the teaching profession, and the failure of employing authorities
to place a sufficiently high priority on measures which maintain the
professional and intellectual vigour of teachers. This is particularly so in
the case of teachers who have been at the chalkface for many years and whose
sense of vocation is under strain.
It appears that in some respects the training offered to
teachers does not match the needs of schools for more rigorous and challenging
teaching. While this may in part be attributed to declining entry standards to
teaching, the committee notes that there is some dissatisfaction with the
ability of many new teachers to cope with the challenges of teaching. A great
deal of emphasis has been placed recently on improving the experience of
practise teaching, including its duration, vis-à-vis the time spent on more
theoretical aspects of training. This committee has other concerns. It believes
that many new teachers have insufficient grounding in the actual subject
content they are teaching. That is, they do not know enough history, have
limited appreciation of literature through not reading enough of it, and are
ignorant of, and frightened of, mathematics and science. This has a direct
effect on the quality of educational outcomes because it can impede student
intellectual growth.
Schools are our most public institutions. They are the most
vulnerable to criticism and are often perceived as failing in their mission. The
committee agrees that much of this criticism is unfair, and based on
misperceptions. It takes little account of the need for schools and teachers to
accommodate and deal with students whose social conditioning, often in
dysfunctional families, thwarts their willingness to learn and weakens their
ambitions.
But often the criticism is not unfair. Schools and systems
need to acknowledge that such criticism often arise from informed observation
of poor performance or neglect of students' leaning difficulties. The growth of
skills and abilities may be stymied as much by the absence of challenge as by
class disruption or slow progress of some students in a class. The failure to
organise a school so as to maximise learning opportunities for all students
partly explains the existence of the long tail of under-achievement which
characterises the relative performance of Australian schools, compared to those
in Canada, in the various international comparative surveys.
The committee acknowledges the clear evidence that schools,
in most cases, achieve very well. It accepts the judgement that teachers are as
dedicated and professional as could be found in any advanced OECD country. Yet
the task of schooling is relentless. There can be no room for complacency, and
the best teachers are always striving to do better. To improve the quality of
school education will mean raising the level of achievement across all schools.
The committee's terms of reference for this inquiry were
broad, and so they provided space in which the committee was able to respond to
what the submissions and witnesses identified as being important. While the
committee has noted that media commentary and public controversy have centred
on curriculum issues recently, it emerged that the issue of teaching quality
came to be seen as being equally significant. For this reason the committee has
paid particular attention to teaching methods, training, and matters relating
to the profession. It has covered curriculum issues in some but not all
subjects. Science and languages have not been dealt with in the detail of mathematics
and the teaching of literacy. These have been given most emphasis because that
is where some of the quality and underachievement issues were identified in
submissions.
This has been a most interesting and rewarding inquiry for
members of this committee. The committee thanks the 76 organisations and
individuals who made submissions to this inquiry, and those who appeared before
the committee at its public hearings. The committee commends the quality of
evidence given, and the reasoned points of view presented from many
standpoints: academics, school systems, principals' associations, professional
associations and individuals with particular interests to share with the
committee.
The committee commends this report to the Senate.
Senator Judith
Troeth
Chairman
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