Research clients
Online Curriculum Modelling for the National Curriculum
National Curriculum Board
Aim: To investigate possibilities for online access to the National Curriculum
Findings:
- Must go beyond the simple reproduction of text to build an interactive, dynamic resource
- ‘Mezzanine’ approach can offer audiovisual material, discussion forums, examples of student work related directly to the curriculum
Boardroom to Classroom: The role of the corporate and philanthropic sectors in school education
Rosalyn Black
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Paper No. 17 (May 2009)
Many independent schools in Australia receive funding and support from their alumni, but corporate and philanthropic contributions to government schools are relatively underdeveloped. This is due partially to Australian tax legislation under which government schools (unlike independent schools) are not classified as charitable organisations. Most formal philanthropic foundations are thereby precluded from funding government schools unless a specific building or gift fund has been established by the school and awarded Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status.
Generally speaking, schools embrace the concept of corporate and philanthropic contributions as a means of providing better resources, improving the profile of the school, offering skills training to students, or employing supplementary staff. Points of concern include the short-term nature of most philanthropically funded programs (usually no more than three years) meaning that schools may be unable to sustain projects once funding is withdrawn; the possibility that corporations may exploit the opportunity to offer marketing materials masquerading as educational materials; culture barriers, meaning that some corporate staff who volunteer their time are unprepared for conditions at the schools to which they are assigned; and poor evaluation of the success or otherwise of external programs in the past.
Perhaps of greatest concern is the possibility that the development of corporate and philanthropic involvement will serve only to augment existing discrepancies between schools, with better resourced or more innovative schools set to benefit by virtue of their connections and visibility. This paper argues for the equitable distribution and regulation of corporate and philanthropic contributions throughout government schools, and recommends the employment of established non-profit broker organisations to identify those schools most in need and to mediate between schools and external agencies.
Corporate Australia and Schools: Forming Business Class Alliances and Networks
Rosalyn Black and Dr Lucas Walsh
Centre for Strategic Education, Seminar Series Paper No. 182 (February 2009)
This report is tied thematically to the Boardroom to Classroom report in its investigation of possibilities for corporate involvement in public schools. Australia’s current public education system, says the report, has been shaped by 1980s educational reform favouring economic rationalism. While standardised by Commonwealth funding arrangements and by the national curriculum, schools are responsible for their own governance, everyday management and financial viability. Responsibility for the provision of a good education has shifted, in turn, from the public to the individual or the individual school.
This report argues for a move toward (or possibly a return to) a collective approach to schooling. In the first instance, schools need to be engaging members of the local community and creating partnerships with local businesses and organisations. These partnerships would be bolstered by mutually beneficial corporate partnerships that might offer students the chance to meet and interview corporate employees in the workplace, listen to inspirational speakers, receive career advice or be linked with a mentor. While broadening the perspective of students and providing them with an opportunity to learn beyond the classroom, such cooperative partnerships also raise the social responsibility profile of the corporations involved.
The report recommends the services of non-profit broker organisations to mediate between corporations and schools and to prevent abuse of the system by overt commercialism. In this way, corporations can provide funding or services, non-profit brokers can act as intermediaries, and government can offer policy leadership to make the process as straightforward as possible. Rather than an added bonus for selected schools, corporate involvement and support should become a well-distributed and well-regulated part of the public education system.
Click here to order a copy from the Centre for Strategic Education.
New School Ties: Networks for Success
Rosalyn Black
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Paper No. 15 (October 2008)
This report is an endorsement of the Victorian government’s Blueprint for Early Childhood Development and School Reform (2008). Drawing upon Australian and international research together with a series of original interviews, the report finds that schools in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas cannot bear sole responsibility for improving student results.
Strong parental support in addition to partnerships with local business, government and community groups can expand opportunities for students and generate new resources for schools, and are essential if current trends in student attendance and performance are to be curtailed. These sorts of partnerships have the dual advantage of improving community cohesiveness. Where the earlier Blueprint for Government Schools funded secondary schools to develop innovative ideas for better teaching and learning, and to share the results with other schools in their geographical area, the newer Blueprint has greater scope for collaboration between sectors.
The report offers a number of case studies that focus on years prep to ten and places particular emphasis on the idea of the school as part of a community hub that offers multiple services including health care, child care, employment assistance and recreation facilities.
Contact FYA Research at lucas.walsh@fya.org.au
