Many rely on David Gonski’s ideas to shape the future of education policy. But his recommendation of personalised learning is a scripted, rigid version of education that will take us backwards.
The Coalition has had longer than a three year cycle to make some changes to education. But since the 2016 election, what has it actually done? And what is Labor proposing?
2018 was a mixed bag for schooling policy in Australia, with new ministers, a new organisation and auspicious anniversaries. It’s worth reflecting on the year that’s been.
Victorian schools could potentially be without federal funding after 31 December if the state government refuses to sign up to the Gonski 2.0 funding reforms.
Estimating parents’ capacity to contribute to their children’s schooling is both vital and politically sensitive. Schools with well-off parents get much less funding from government.
The recently released Gonski 2.0 report focuses on overhauling core aspects of curriculum and reporting, and proposes a move away from the industrial model of education towards individualisation.
A government review of regional, rural and remote education tells us we need to recognise the uniqueness of and understand successes in these communities to improve outcomes for these students.
Catholic schools say they’re losing money under Gonski 2.0, but this is only true for schools serving students in affluent areas – those in poorer areas will either be unaffected, or get more.
The shift in the education debate from “how much” to “how best” is a welcome change, but for students to feel the full benefit the federal government must resist intervening.
Some of Victoria’s wealthiest private schools have reported spikes in numbers of students with disability. We should only trust those numbers if they’re moderated by qualified staff.
Senior Research Fellow, The Centre for Independent Studies; Associate Investigator, ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Macquarie University