“We must give universities more freedom to focus on what they are good at… If that means that some universities want to focus significantly more on teaching, then they should confidently do so… Government…
Education academics and teachers should be able to share ideas.
Seminar image from www.shutterstock.com
Apparently, teachers and principals have no need to hear about research on international education policy and are too sensitive to deal with “controversial” ideas.
Last week, the University of Melbourne…
For better or worse, the university experience has changed considerably over the past forty years.
University image from www.shutterstock.com
Before the second world war, a very small minority of the population in Western societies went to universities. Most were men, most were from the social elite.
From the late 1950s that changed. With a…
Hands up who wants to go to a private school? Barack Obama visits an elementary school in Silver Springs, Maryland.
EPA/Chip Somodevilla
Most Americans agree that public education in their country is broken. The infrastructure of thousands of schools is decaying, scores on standardised tests are stagnant, and roughly 1.2 million students…
There may be a new way to assess students' ability to collaborate and problem solve.
Flickr/Lars Plougmann
Prime Minister Julia Gillard recently announced a new goal for Australian schools – they would reach the top five ranked school systems in the world for reading, mathematics and science by 2025.
The ranking…
A good knowledge of the different religions should be part of a National Curriculum.
Flickr/Jake Wasdin
After last week’s High Court challenge verdict on funding chaplains in schools, religious education is back in the headlines.
The role of religion in Australian schools has been vigorously debated for…
All cut out to fit the same mould? We can’t assume that all universities are trying to be the same.
Flickr/walterh
James Cook University drew a lot of attention in the higher education sector recently by publicly “opting out” of the Times Higher Education (THE) World University rankings. Their reason was simple enough…
The Victorian government’s TAFE cuts have shown other states exactly what not to do.
Flickr/Takver
For years, those concerned with vocational education and training have worried about how to lift the public profile of TAFEs. But what has taken many years for some – without much success – the Baillieu…
We need to take a harder look at Australian education and how we compare internationally.
Flickr/marragem
Following the refusal of the federal government to commit to the Gonski Review and the recent announcement in Victoria of further cuts to already disadvantaged schools and students, the issue of equity…
Chief Scientist Ian Chubb’s report, released today, presents some serious concerns for the future of Australian science.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Chief Scientist Ian Chubb’s Health of Australian Science report, launched today at the National Press Club, starts on an optimistic note. Australian science is generally in good health: school students…
The NAPLAN tests are about getting the best results for students.
Flickr/Elizabeth Albert
A small but vocal group is calling on parents to withdraw their children from the National Assessment Program: Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests.
But if this call is successful and enough children…
We should be focusing on students' performance not teachers'.
Flickr/cybrarian77
Teacher bonus schemes are yet another example of education reform with the wrong focus. They narrowly look at teachers and their performance, and not the needs of students and their learning. It’s the…
Do we need to go down the Confucian path of learning – or is there another way?
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
As the fifth year of NAPLAN testing gets underway this week, it has prompted the usual debates. Are the tests in our student’s best interests? Are students adequately prepared? If teachers are “teaching…
Australia’s Chief Scientist, Ian Chubb, released a worrying report earlier this year.
Unhealthy Science? University Natural and Physical Sciences 2002 – 2009/10 revealed the number of students studying…
The Gonski review presents a generational opportunity to reform our school funding system.
AAP/Graham Porrit
The Gonski Review sought to create a new funding system for Australian schooling, because what we currently have is a mess. It was to be transparent, fair, financially sustainable and effective in promoting…
David Gonski has conducted the most far-reaching review into school funding in Australia since the Whitlam years.
AAP
School funding has been a tortured issue for government, and especially federal Labor governments, for most of the past half century.
Since the seminal Karmel Report of 1973, the funding levels and relativities…
While the wheels of bureaucracy turn, schools wait for more funding.
Andreas Ebling
A two-year process of research, consultation, public input and expert consideration and analysis is a reasonable route to follow for a government-appointed independent inquiry into a major policy issue…
School funding is under the microscope for the first time in nearly 40 years.
torres21
A much-anticipated review of Australian school funding, spearheaded by businessman David Gonski, was handed to the Gillard government today.
We asked Australian education experts to respond to the report…
Our academic experts crunch the numbers on school funding.
Pink Sherbet Photography
The biggest review of school funding in decades has been handed to the government. The report recommends an injection of A$5 billion to the education sector, three-quarters of which would go to public…
Western Australia may have mining wealth, but how do we fund schools in remote areas?
AAP/Rebecca Le May
At first glance, the Gonski review presents an opportunity to correct the funding gap between “winners” (understood as the private schools) and “losers” (understood as the public schools).
And it is timely…
The Gonski review on school funding is made public on Monday. But how does the division of resources between the government, independent and Catholic sectors affect how students learn in the practical…
Will Gonski be brave enough to point out what’s wrong with our schooling system?
AAP Image/Jenny Evans
The Gonski review of school funding promises to be a watershed in the history of Australian education. Much is at stake. There is a real chance to fundamentally change the way our divided school system…
The government’s merry dance may come to nothing.
AAP/Joe Castro
When an Australian government is willing to risk losing an election over the way it funds our poorest, most disadvantaged schools, rather than our wealthy schools, only then will meaningful change be possible…
When jobs are disappearing, why are we training more journalists?
flickr
By Diana Bossio, Swinburne University of Technology
It usually begins mid-way through their university career.
My office begins to fill with panicked journalism students who have seen the dismal job vacancies in their field and are starting to think their…
The mining boom has protected Australia from ill economic winds but will not continue forever.
AAP/Le May
2012 will be a critical time in our development as a nation with huge uncertainties in many areas both in Australia and globally.
Over more than ten years we have lived through a remarkable mining boom…
Australian universities must raise their game to compete in the global education market.
Flickr/Reality-check
The world is in a state of transition.
The Indian and Chinese economies continue to grow at around 9 and 10 per cent respectively each year, while the North Atlantic economies – the 20th century epicentre…
We should be questioning the benefits of holding students back a year.
Wikimedia Commons
Making students repeat a year when they’re not doing well socially or academically is not uncommon in Australia. About 8-10% of students repeat a grade at some point in school life.
But there is a major…
Some students may benefit from leaving school earlier.
Flickr/University of Denver
We claim that society’s most important investment is in the education of its people. But prescribing a school leaving age of 17 is not only
uncomfortable for some but downright constraining for others…
Aborginal students deserve better.
AAP Image/Peter Holmes a Court
There is no excuse for Indigenous education in Australia to be in such a terrible and shameful state.
Given the billions of dollars that are allocated to primary and secondary schooling Australia-wide…
Francis Galton pioneered the concept of eugenics in this lab in London in the late 19th century.
Flickr/Science Museum London
Eugenics — the science of improving the race —was a powerful influence on the development of Western civilisation in the first half of the twentieth century. And Melbourne’s elite were among its chief…
Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd promised an education revolution, but where are the results?
AAP
All is not well in the Australian school system.
Australian schools are struggling to meet the achievement levels of OECD leader Finland.
With the release of the commissioned research reports for the…
A year four slump can be avoided if children are given the tools to read when very young.
Flickr/Éole
Human speech has long been present in every culture, and our brains have evolved specialized features to enable its rapid development when we are exposed to the speech of others. Reading however is a relatively…
More maths teachers means better outcomes for students.
Flickr
By Jan Thomas, Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute
There is a crisis in the education system, and it’s affecting the life chances of many young Australians. The number of secondary teaching graduates with adequate qualifications to teach mathematics is…
Helping children recognise the sounds in words can improve their reading ability.
Pratham Books/Flickr
There are two main approaches to teaching children to read. Phonics, involves teaching children to recognise combinations of characters and establish the meanings of words based on combining them. The…
