In-house research
In Their Own Hands: Young People Changing Australia
To be released in 2010
Aim:
To examine the current and potential role of young people in leading social change
To explore the ways in which children and young people’s participation in society operates as a good in itself (improving their own wellbeing as well as the wider social good)
To examine effective vehicles for social participation amongst children and young people
This book is based upon the premise that improving the wellbeing of Australia’s children and young people – especially those facing disadvantage of various kinds – is an unmet challenge. It is one that is increasingly uniting the public, private and third sectors in new boundary-crossing efforts and that is driving emerging changemaking domains such as social entrepreneurship. Ironically, the group most frequently excluded from these efforts is children and young people themselves. Authored by Rosalyn Black, Senior Research Manager and Dr Lucas Walsh, Director of Research at FYA, the book will explore the ways in which children and young people’s participation in society operates as a good in itself.
A New Federalism in Australian Education: A Proposal for a National Reform Agenda
Professor Jack Keating
Education Foundation, R.E. Ross Trust (July 2009)
A New Federalism in Australian Education was launched at a forum in Melbourne attended by many of Australia’s leading education experts, policy makers and thinkers including John Dawkins AO, former Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Australia and the Hon Steve Bracks.
Professor Keating, Thought Leadership Fellow at Education Foundation said, “At its heart, this report is about tackling some of the root causes of educational inequality. There are enormous social and economic benefits to be gained from a well-implemented reform of our schooling system.” Central to this report is the call for a multi-level, federalist approach to funding that prioritises schools with low completion rates and offers fee relief for low-income families. It recommends additional investment in early childhood education; an acceleration of interventionist programs in the middle years of secondary school to curb school leaving; and a strengthening of upper secondary pathways to further education and training that do not rely solely on academic results.
The report also proposes the establishment of a national education regulatory agency to support these actions and reforms. “We believe that this proposal provides a timely and ambitious agenda for strengthening Australian schooling,” said Dr Lucas Walsh, Director of Research at The Foundation for Young Australians. “It provides a bold platform from which we can develop a vision of schooling based on quality and equity for all Australians.” Professor Glyn Davis AC, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Melbourne said, “This is the most comprehensive analysis of the effects of federalism on schooling I can recall. We are fortunate indeed to have a scholar of Keating’s ability focused on such important foundational questions.”
Read the full report here.
Read A New Federalism: At A Glance here.
Read media coverage here.
Read John Dawkins’ review of A New Federalism here.
Watch interviews with Jack and Lucas here.
Beyond the Classroom
Published by ACER in 2008
Aim:
To examine new collaborations to improve the educational outcomes of young Australians (published by ACER 2008)
Findings:
• New models of schooling must incorporate shared community responsibility for the education and wellbeing of young people
• Young people must take an active role in the community, within and beyond the school grounds
• Community and business partnerships with schools are essential components of effective educational reform
Authored by Rosalyn Black, this book offers a clear strategy to push through the uncertainty and controversy surrounding current education debates. The message that emerges from the research is that tinkering around the edges of schooling will not provide solutions to the widening gaps in education that limit opportunities for many young Australians. Current debates about teacher quality, funding and a national curriculum are important, but potentially miss a major point: the barriers to educational success for all young Australians are complex, entrenched and reinforced by our schooling system. To overcome them, Australia needs a collective response to children and young people’s educational needs. Beyond the Classroom calls for a range of new partnerships and networks across school sectors and levels of government that respond to the particular circumstances of each school and community with a high level of accountability.
Read a sample chapter here
Crossing the Bridge: Overcoming entrenched disadvantage through student-centred learning
Rosalyn Black
Education Foundation, R.E. Ross Trust (undated)
Research to date tells us that patterns of educational achievement in Australia are heavily influenced by socio-economic status, with schools in low income regions affected by higher rates of school leaving and lower levels of literacy and numeracy than schools in wealthier regions. Higher school leaving rates are, in turn, linked to a collection of negative flow-on effects post-school including lower financial security, poorer mental and physical health, and a greater likelihood of homelessness or drug and alcohol abuse.
Crossing the Bridge proposes a solution for the amelioration of school leaving rates in disadvantaged schools based on student-centred learning, which is to say the introduction of a curriculum, timetable and teaching practice for each school that is shaped by the needs and backgrounds of its own students (even co-designed by them). It offers working examples of student-centred learning programs from Melbourne’s inner-west region that have seen the introduction of smaller class sizes (to strengthen teacher-student relationships); a re-organisation of teaching periods into smaller numbers of longer-running, more focused classes (making the day less fractured and improving concentration); the employment of literacy and numeracy support staff; and the construction of purpose-built learning centres.
The report acknowledges that student-centred learning programs must incorporate strong teacher support systems that allow teachers to exchange ideas and to develop skills, and recommends funding to increase staff numbers in disadvantaged schools. It also stresses the importance of parental involvement in schools for the improvement of student retention rates, and expounds the notion of shared responsibility for young people by local communities rather than by individual schools.
Finally, the report argues for the provision of working models of student-centred learning to schools in need, along with the tools for their implementation, and for a redefinition of national or state measures of student achievement that can take disadvantage into account.
Equity, Excellence and Effectiveness: Moving Forward on Schooling Arrangements in Australia
(A discussion paper from Education Foundation Australia’s Case for Change Working Party)
Education Foundation (November 2006)
This paper is a precursor to the New Federalism study and advances the argument that a combination of social geography and student selectivity in schools has created a vast chasm between high and low achieving students in Australia, with weaker students from lower socio-economic backgrounds concentrated in poorer performing schools and facing limited opportunities in further education and employment.
A movement by parents with the financial means to enrol their children in schools with proven records of strong academic performance has led to something of an exodus from the state system, resulting in a distinctly unbalanced student population, but the problem goes beyond the public-private divide. Inequalities exist not only between but within sectors. Hierarchies operate among Catholic schools, government schools and independent schools alike. While there is a perception that standards are higher in non-government than in government schools, student results actually correlate more strongly with socio-economic background and geographical location (particularly distance from major cities).
This paper calls for a redefinition of public schools based on public education standards rather than ownership. A redefinition, in other words, that can include faith-based or privately managed schools along with state-owned schools but that requires general democratic and pedagogical principles to be agreed upon and adhered to. Once this kind of cooperative arrangement is in place, state governments will be better placed to allocate funding in areas of greatest need and to move toward a more equitable public education system.
Contact FYA Research at lucas.walsh@fya.org.au
