The illusion of prosperity and Australia’s growing divide

- overcoming intersecting disadvantage in our schools

The Howard Legacy: a retreat from responsible government

The challenges teachers face in the classroom are intimately connected to the consequences of wider social policy failure. Problematic elements of school culture often reflect struggles in the wider community. Those teaching in the "achievement gap" in our most disadvantaged communities can hardly ignore the strain on students and local families caused by so-called "Mutual Obligation" and "Welfare to Work", the elusive 'opportunities' of WorkChoices, the privatisation and over-policing of public spaces, the rise in inter-cultural conflict or the abandonment of Reconciliation. The recent Federal Budget creates an illusion of prosperity and economic confidence that masks a deeper vulnerability in Australian society. There remains indefinite uncertainty for those who, on the surface, appear to have achieved policy-induced "prosperity" through the accumulation of high levels of personal debt that finance inflated mortgages and the consumption of positional goods and services that represent status in Howard's Australia. Furthermore, there has been a deepening of entrenched disadvantage that continues to tear at the fabric of communities that are home to our nation's increasingly forgotten people.

Recent research based on OECD data places Australia near the bottom of OECD rankings on child poverty and recognises widening gaps in income, wealth and opportunity between rich and poor. Professor Tony Vinson's report, Dropping off the Edge: the distribution of disadvantage in Australia (2007), clearly links a range of factors that contribute to entrenched social exclusion and require a comprehensive approach to building capacity within our most disadvantaged communities. Such an approach to intersecting disadvantage demands more effective government planning and spending in health, education and training, community development, transport, housing and rehabilitation programs in correctional services.

The Coalition's policy platform bluntly rejects the reality of Australia's growing divide and any sense of obligation to defend the rights of the poor and disadvantaged. The abandonment of economic responsibility in favour of fiscal accountability has realised a distinct shift in government investment from 'own purpose spending' (in which the government retains control and responsibility) to 'transfers' (in which the government's only responsibility is to make sure criteria have been met) across a range of public services including health, welfare and education.

Howard's reactionary government mobilises a vision of self-interested individualism to justify a policy approach that absolves government of responsibility for experiences of socio-economic disadvantage by placing blame squarely at the feet of those individuals affected by government policy failure. In contrast to the Federal Government, Conference proudly acknowledges the role and responsibility of public education in contributing to comprehensive, integrated capacity-building projects in our most disadvantaged communities. As such, teachers condemn the Federal Government's disgraceful funding regime that undermines the capacity of public education to fulfil its commitment to an inclusive, equitable and socially just society, and rejects attempts by the Howard Government to shift responsibility for its policy failure to teachers in the classroom through exploitative, opportunistic debates on standards in education, the quality of teaching and bullying.

"Dumbing down" the education debate -- positioning disadvantage in the classroom

The Federal Coalition's obsession with standards and national testing echoes the aggressive and increasingly discredited agenda of Bush's "No Child Left Behind" Act in the United States. It is predicated on a conservative belief in the power of rewards and punishments allegedly aimed at motivating teachers and students towards higher levels of individual achievement. This belief is embedded in a deeper zeal that market models of deregulation and accountability will deliver a kind of level playing field upon which a natural order of winners and losers will emerge. In this world view, there is an equal opportunity for teachers to demonstrate their expertise against abstract measures of quality, and students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills through a regime of standardised tests shaped by, or indeed shaping, a national curriculum.

In combination with the increase in "transfer" spending through tutorial vouchers and a range of competitive funding initiatives that bypass state government intervention, Howard's standardised testing agenda will prove disastrous for our disadvantaged students. Experiences in the United States indicate that nationwide standardised testing places downward pressure on both the academic performance of students and the quality of teaching, particularly in disadvantaged communities. Stan Karp, of the Rethinking Schools project in the United States, observes:

"When schools become obsessed with test scores, they narrow the focus of what teachers do in the classroom and limit their ability to serve the broader needs of children and their communities. Over-reliance on testing also diverts attention and resources from more promising school improvement strategies like smaller class size, creative curriculum reform, and collaborative professional development. High-stakes tests push struggling students out of school, and encourage schools to adopt developmentally inappropriate practices for younger children in an effort to 'get them ready for tests'."

Nevertheless, the recent Federal Budget demonstrates the Howard Government's commitment to developing a "carrot and stick" education system that punishes teachers and students in our most disadvantaged communities. The $101.7 million Summer School program over four years will only reach approximately 0.3 per cent of teachers across Australia, perhaps "rewarding" those teachers who are already professionally accomplished and proficient at completing applications. In addition, a separate $53 million "reward" program will distribute $50,000 bonuses to over 1000 schools that improve the literacy and numeracy of their students. With so few teachers affected and funds being distributed at the discretion of each principal, the program forces teachers and schools into competition for increasingly scarce resources. Such ideologically driven schemes represent the cynical repackaging of a deliberate under-investment in public education. Furthermore, they reduce the capacity of our public education system to target identified areas of need through well resourced programs.

Conference notes the Federal Opposition's enthusiasm for discussions concerning a national curriculum and standards, and its relative silence on the inequitable funding arrangements for public education. Federal Labor's reluctance to make constructive interventions in populist debates on public education and wider policy relating to entrenched disadvantage reflect an ALP policy drift over the past two decades. This "drift" is best symbolised by the Opposition's continued refusal to back its rhetoric about public education as a national priority.

Challenging disadvantage through sustained, systemic support for "effective teaching and learning"

"There is currently a considerable focus on quality teaching, much of it rooted in the presumption that the improvement of teaching is a key element in improving student learning. We believe that this policy focus rests on a naïve conception of the relationship between teaching and learning. This conception treats the relationship as a straightforward causal connection, such that if it could be perfected, it could then be sustained under almost any conditions, including poverty, vast linguistic, racial and cultural differences, and massive differences in the opportunity factors of time, facilities, and resources. Our analysis suggests that this presumption of simple causality is more than naïve; it is wrong."

Effective teaching and learning is an integrated, collegial process that demands sustained, systemic support through targeted resources and programs, ongoing professional development and quality educational leadership (at system wide and school community levels) that directly supports teachers and students in the classroom. Conference calls upon the State Labor Government and Federal Opposition to recognise and challenge misleading notions of quality teaching, standards and national testing that undermine the capacity of schools to deliver positive outcomes for students by discounting the range of factors that contribute to student achievement in educational contexts.

Now more than ever, all levels of government must take responsibility for providing proper investment in public education. This includes an increased, targeted investment in sustainable equity programs in school communities that experience entrenched, intersecting disadvantage. Governments must recognise the complex nature of teaching and learning and the additional resource demands that flow from working with our most disadvantaged students. The current suite of equity programs has demonstrated the potential of well targeted resources to support effective teaching and learning and achieve improved educational outcomes for students experiencing intersecting disadvantage.

Recommendations

Recognising that public education is the most powerful transformational agent available to provide all children with a chance to pursue the widest of opportunities in life, we must structure our resourcing to achieve equity and excellence in education, ameliorating rather than exacerbating the effect of social and geographical situation on educational achievement.

1. Equity programs aim to close the achievement gap between students from low socio-economic status communities and their peers. The Federation re-affirms the following policy in relation to discrete low socio economic status (SES) equity programs:

• the focus on 'whole school' program delivery must be maintained
• funding additional staffing/personnel support for schools must remain the key driver of these programs
• properly resourced and supported consultancy must be expanded and regions must be required to target consultants appropriately
• total equity programs funding must be increased from current levels to expand the number of schools that can access the significant benefits of inclusion on the Priority Action Schools Program (PASP), and to increase the funding level available to schools on the Priority Schools Funding Program (PSFP)
• additional funding and support be made available to rural and isolated schools to provide the full range of educational experiences including the Creative Arts key learning area.

2. With respect to the issue of teacher supply and retention in difficult-to-staff schools, whilst acknowledging the contribution and positive influence of beginning teachers, the Federation also acknowledges teacher experience, continuity and stability contribute significantly to improved student outcomes and

Accordingly, the Federation reiterates the need for new staffing policy aimed at increasing the number of experienced teachers in identified difficult-to-staff schools by doubling the number of executive positions, hence increasing leadership density, and correspondingly reducing the number of beginning teacher appointments.

Furthermore, new staffing policy should include initiatives that:

• prepare, develop and support trainee teachers to enhance their capacity to teach effectively in low socio-economic status (SES) schools
• improve the recruitment and retention incentives available to classroom teachers, executive teachers and principals serving in geographically isolated, difficult-to-staff, low SES schools
• allow all schools to incorporate additional equity funding as part of the school's staffing entitlement.

3. Professional development/learning is neither an abstract concept nor an academic exercise; it must be inextricably linked to and informed by student learning and outcomes. It must have a clear focus on achieving an equality of learning outcomes for all students.

The introduction of genuine pro-active and ongoing support and development of schools and individual teachers serving low SES communities is critical. Processes must be driven by a shared vision of schools as learning communities where the primacy and centrality of teaching and learning is understood and embraced. Support must be evident at all levels of the teaching service to ensure the ongoing development of new and experienced teachers. The best, most rewarding support and development comes from adequately funded professional development with the allocation of time so that teachers can learn together in collegial contexts.

Furthermore, professional development opportunities that enhance the understanding and leadership capacity of applicants for promotion to executive and principal positions in designated low SES schools need to be expanded.

The Federation will explore commissioning a research project aimed at achieving support for equity programs. Such a project should investigate the complex nature of effective teaching and learning and the particular, additional challenges experienced by teachers and students in disadvantaged school communities. The focus on effective teaching and learning should provide:

• substance to claims for increased resources, professional development and experienced educational leadership in disadvantaged schools
• a framework for establishing a common language and emphasis across the whole of the DET for achieving greater authenticity and sustainability in the implementation of equity programs
• the research to investigate the present submissions-based funding regimes to provide more effective, planned intervention recommendations/strategy:
• Schools in Partnership
• Priority Schools Funding Programs
• Country Areas Program
• homework centres, and
• information computer technologies.

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Last Modified: 30 Aug 2007