Briefly outlines the scope and pace of change in education inAustralia which is extraordinary and, for many, disconcerting if notdislocating – there is virtually no aspect of the…
Abstract
Briefly outlines the scope and pace of change in education in Australia which is extraordinary and, for many, disconcerting if not dislocating – there is virtually no aspect of the field that has not been touched by reform over the last decade, whether it be the processes of policy making among the different levels of government, or the structures within which public education is administered, or the roles of leaders such as school principals. Briefly contrasts the emerging and traditional roles, then offers an outline of the broad context for education. Details the factors which are influencing change in education, with a description in each instance of the manner in which these are affecting the role of the principal. Describes scenarios for schooling as the nation moves towards the twenty‐first century, with a further shift towards a market model foreshadowed. Proposes four dimensions for leadership on the part of the principal.
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This paper is concerned with the impact of school reform on the professional culture of the principalship, drawing on findings from several research projects from 1993 to 1998…
Abstract
This paper is concerned with the impact of school reform on the professional culture of the principalship, drawing on findings from several research projects from 1993 to 1998. The focus is the schools of the future reform in Victoria, Australia. Despite several dysfunctions, some unfulfilled expectations and intensification of work, a large majority of principals would not wish to return to previous arrangements. Case studies reveal that principals play an important role in helping to link the structural aspects of reform to learning and teaching. Leadership is strategic and empowering more than it is heroic or “hands on”.
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The purpose of this paper is to report four case studies in Australia that respond to the question: “How have schools with a relatively high degree of autonomy used their…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report four case studies in Australia that respond to the question: “How have schools with a relatively high degree of autonomy used their increased authority and responsibility to make decisions that have led in explicit cause-and-effect fashion to higher levels of student achievement”?
Design/methodology/approach
A conventional case study methodology was adopted, framed by a review of evidence in the international literature. The studies were conducted in the Australian Capital Territory, Queensland and Victoria. Senior leaders in systems of public education in these jurisdictions nominated schools which have had a relatively high degree of autonomy for at least two years; have achieved high levels of student achievement, or have shown noteworthy improvement; and are able to explain how the link between autonomy and achievement had been made. The four schools chosen from these nominations represented different types as far as level and location were concerned. Triangulation of sources was a feature of the studies.
Findings
The findings reveal that the schools were able to explain the links and that it was possible to map the cause-and-effect chain. Schools used their autonomy to select staff and allocate funds in their budgets, each being capacities that came with a higher level of autonomy. Leadership was important.
Research limitations/implications
The paper cautions against generalizing the findings.
Originality/value
There is international interest in the extent to which granting public schools a higher level of autonomy than has traditionally been the case in various national settings has had an impact on student achievement. These case studies go part of the way in describing what schools do when they successfully take up a higher level of authority and responsibility as one strategy in efforts to raise levels of achievement.
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WITH the Pompey doldrum in mind, many misgivings were expressed about the Rothesay conference as the delegated gravy trains raced north to Glasgow. (Incidentally Sir Brian…
Abstract
WITH the Pompey doldrum in mind, many misgivings were expressed about the Rothesay conference as the delegated gravy trains raced north to Glasgow. (Incidentally Sir Brian Robertson will find comfort in our belief that rail travel is the most satisfying way to attend conference with corridor exchanges and dining car badinage shortening the long haul).
With the Pompey doldrum in mind, many misgivings were expressed about the Rothesay conference as the delegated gravy trains raced north to Glasgow. (Incidentally Sir Brian…
Abstract
With the Pompey doldrum in mind, many misgivings were expressed about the Rothesay conference as the delegated gravy trains raced north to Glasgow. (Incidentally Sir Brian Robertson will find comfort in our belief that rail travel is the most satisfying way to attend conference with corridor exchanges and dining car badinage shortening the long haul).
Jim Watterston and Brian Caldwell
The purpose of this paper is to review strategies to build capacity for school improvement in Australia. The focus is on public schools and strategies adopted for the system as a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review strategies to build capacity for school improvement in Australia. The focus is on public schools and strategies adopted for the system as a whole.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper traces developments from a national perspective and makes a case for the key contemporary policy shift that has provided the platform for a new era of educational reform. Two contrasting case studies are described in order to demonstrate the pathways embarked on by a large jurisdiction, namely the State of Victoria, which has led the nation in terms of devolved decision‐making for public schools, and second, a much smaller jurisdiction, the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), which is introducing a range of reforms to give public schools much greater autonomy in order to achieve improved performance. The paper concludes with a “futures” view of how strategies may continue to evolve. Shifting the language from “improvement” to “transformation” is canvassed.
Findings
It is concluded that a key to success has been to align strategies among different levels of the school system: central, regional/district, school and classroom. The possibilities for moving beyond improvement to transformation are canvassed.
Originality/value
The value of the paper lies in its up‐to‐date account of system‐wide efforts to improve schools and a summary of evidence on their impact. The paper is of particular interest to school and school system leaders as well as those engaged in the study of educational policy and educational leadership.
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In revisiting the very first ethnographic research the author ever completed has ‘unearthed’ a significant project that speaks to policy makers, educators and teachers with a…
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In revisiting the very first ethnographic research the author ever completed has ‘unearthed’ a significant project that speaks to policy makers, educators and teachers with a greater impact than it did when written and shelved over a decade ago. This insider’s journey in reclaiming teaching, conducted within a public high school in Australia, captures the author’s experiences of daily events and is intertwined with the narratives of other teachers interviewed. This ethnography occurred during the implementation of a ‘School Development Plan’ that was sweeping swiftly though the institution. The execution of this plan was unreservedly implemented with little, if any, consultation, explanation or collaboration with the teachers on site. Even though it had been anticipated, and indeed encouraged to publish from this nascent thesis, it did not happen. In reaching for it once again off the shelf, dusty and neglected, was the discovery of a ‘lost thing’. This was a recommendation ‘found’ on the final pages of the thesis; that if one should choose to partake in a similar journey in reclaiming teaching, then they would be wise to garner the support of significant ‘others’. Throughout this chapter, the author finds her own silenced voice (no longer a nom de plume) and the voices of her neglected colleagues to ‘speak back’ to neoliberal policy practice with renewed confidence and clarity. It is the teachers’ voices within their collective ‘present’ that this ethnography unifies and provides transforming nexus points and dialogic spaces to discover, and also maintain hope, possibility, trust, respect and relationships in teaching.
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Joseph Calvin Gagnon and Brian R. Barber
Alternative education settings (AES; i.e., self-contained alternative schools, therapeutic day treatment and residential schools, and juvenile corrections schools) serve youth…
Abstract
Alternative education settings (AES; i.e., self-contained alternative schools, therapeutic day treatment and residential schools, and juvenile corrections schools) serve youth with complicated and often serious academic and behavioral needs. The use of evidence-based practices (EBPs) and practices with Best Available Evidence are necessary to increase the likelihood of long-term success for these youth. In this chapter, we define three primary categories of AES and review what we know about the characteristics of youth in these schools. Next, we discuss the current emphasis on identifying and implementing EBPs with regard to both academic interventions (i.e., reading and mathematics) and interventions addressing student behavior. In particular, we consider implementation in AES, where there are often high percentages of youth requiring special education services and who have a significant need for EBPs to succeed academically, behaviorally, and in their transition to adulthood. We focus our discussion on: (a) examining approaches to identifying EBPs; (b) providing a brief review of EBPs and Best Available Evidence in the areas of mathematics, reading, and interventions addressing student behavior for youth in AES; (c) delineating key implementation challenges in AES; and (d) providing recommendations for how to facilitate the use of EBPs in AES.
Certain elements of Hayek’s work are prominent precursors to the modern field of complex adaptive systems, including his ideas on spontaneous order, his focus on market processes…
Abstract
Certain elements of Hayek’s work are prominent precursors to the modern field of complex adaptive systems, including his ideas on spontaneous order, his focus on market processes, his contrast between designing and gardening, and his own framing of complex systems. Conceptually, he was well ahead of his time, prescient in his formulation of novel ways to think about economies and societies. Technically, the fact that he did not mathematically formalize most of the notions he developed makes his insights hard to incorporate unambiguously into models. However, because so much of his work is divorced from the simplistic models proffered by early mathematical economics, it stands as fertile ground for complex systems researchers today. I suggest that Austrian economists can create a progressive research program by building models of these Hayekian ideas, and thereby gain traction within the economics profession. Instead of mathematical models the suite of techniques and tools known as agent-based computing seems particularly well-suited to addressing traditional Austrian topics like money, business cycles, coordination, market processes, and so on, while staying faithful to the methodological individualism and bottom-up perspective that underpin the entire school of thought.