The Australian | 7 March 2014 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… The Abbott government will encourage more students to undertake school-based apprenticeships and move away from the focus on higher education, in a dramatic change in approach from Labor. ………………………………………………………………………………………………… Assistant Education Minister Sussan Ley said the number of people achieving formal trade qualifications was far too low and there was an overwhelming belief across schools, industry, trainers and governments that the national framework for vocational education and training in schools should be modernised. Ms Ley has told TAFE Directors Australia that new careers advice would be … [Read more...]
The first School in the Cloud opens
02/01/2014 by
2 January 2014 ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Located inside George Stephenson High School in Killingworth, England, this one-room learning lab is a space where students can embark on their own learning adventures, exploring whatever questions most intrigue them. ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ Students even … [Read more...]
What’s our vision for the future of learning?
30/12/2013 by
Mindshift | 30 December 2013 The following is an excerpt from Open: How We’ll Live, Work, and Learn in the Future written by British learning Futurist David Price. For 150 years, formal education has adopted an ‘inside-out’ mindset – schools and colleges have usually been organised around the needs of the educators, not the learners. In areas such as research, this is nothing to be embarrassed about. Ground-breaking inventions and pioneering new thinking often arise from the selfishness that informs so-called ‘blue-sky’ research. Defending such freedoms from the external drive for practical and commercial implementation has often encouraged a necessary … [Read more...]
On the unbearable lightness of being Kevin
29/12/2013 by
29 December 2013 There's a view abroad in some quarters - you can guess which - that improving the performance of our schools, seemingly falling against international benchmarks, is not about injecting more money but about something called “values”. In an opinion piece earlier this year, the Grattan Institute’s Ben Jensen seemed to agree with the tag line reading “raising teachers’ classroom skills is far more important than raising money”. But what’s the key to raising teachers’ classroom skills? Jensen concluded that it requires ….teachers having mentors, getting proper feedback about their work, being required to do research on education in collaboration with other … [Read more...]
2013: the year that was in education
23/12/2013 by
The Conversation | 23 December 2013For most education watchers, this year has rushed by in a policy blur. So much so that we thought we had better launch our very own shiny Education section just to help you keep on top of things.The launch of the Education section – an area close to our hearts – meant we could finally give education issues pride of place.And what a time to do it – yes, this year was the year of Gonski. And whether it was a conski or goneski, this one word – derived from businessman David Gonski’s review into schools funding – went from symbolising a policy vision to becoming a political football in a few short months.In amongst some spectacular political … [Read more...]
FactCheck: is Australian education highly equitable?
05/12/2013 by
The Conversation | 5 December 2013 “The OECD says that we are a high equity nation in terms of our students… I don’t believe there is an equity problem in Australia.” – Education Minister Christopher Pyne, Lateline interview, 26 November 2013. In the heat of political tensions around school funding, Education Minister Christopher Pyne has been forced to respond to longstanding debates about equity in Australian education. On ABC’s Lateline last week, Pyne said Australia is a “high equity nation” according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). He also said he does not believe there is “an equity problem” in our country. So what does the OECD … [Read more...]
Latest PISA results ‘cause for concern’
04/12/2013 by
ACER News | 3 December 2013 Australian mathematics and reading achievement in decline | Significant gaps in student achievement by gender, Indigenous status, location and wealth A report released by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) reveals the mathematics and reading skills of Australian 15-year-olds have slipped backwards over the past decade. Releasing the report, PISA 2012: How Australia measures up, ACER’s Director of Educational Monitoring and Research, Dr Sue Thomson said, Despite still performing above the OECD average, Australia’s backwards slide in achievement shows that there is some cause for concern. The 2012 Programme for … [Read more...]
Simpson defence doesn’t wash
02/12/2013 by
Fairfax Media | 1 December 2013 Pyne fails to justify Gonski backflip In ducking and weaving over his lately revealed determination to demolish the National Schools Plan (aka Gonski) - contrary to assurances before the election - education minister Christopher Pyne has deployed all aspects of the Bart Simpson excuse: I didn't do it; You didn't see me do it; and, You can't prove I did it. But as attested by just about all media commentators and state and education ministers (liberal, national , labor and greens) from those jurisdictions that signed up to the plan, 1) he did do it, 2) everyone's seen him do it and 3) it can be proved he did it. He's got into name … [Read more...]
“Wrong time to break a promise” : Bolt
28/11/2013 by
Herald Sun | 28 November 2013 Not even Andrew Bolt will sign up to Christopher Pyne's casuistry over walking away from the "unity ticket" on schools funding. I believe Christopher Pyne when he says Labor left its education reforms in an "incomprehensible mess". Trouble is, I also believed the Education Minister before the election. I believed Pyne when he said: ''You can vote Liberal or Labor and you'll get exactly the same amount of funding for your school." Now, after several days of Pyne spin, I don't know if the Government will break its first reckless promise or not. But it had better not. Here is the issue. Before the election, Labor signed up some states for a … [Read more...]
