Every Child Above Average

Garrison Keilor used to introduce his radio show “The Prairie Home Companion” with a similar boast. It is a tribute to educational standards everywhere that so few people would laugh.

The latest emergence of the perennial debate about government school educational standards reminds me a little of this quote. Read the articles in detail and worthy argument emerges from both sides. I fear the large majority will read only the headline and view the cartoon below “School standards: What can we do?”.

Virtually all parents want their children to succeed. If this is achieved at the cost of others, then so be it. What would you think of parents who knowingly enrolled their child in a school they knew to be inferior when they had an alternative ? The level of sacrifice that parents are able to make (or willing to suffer) varies. Some endure longer trips to school. Others move house. Still others pay large sums of money. Most accept that reality comes short of perfection and endure some practices and value systems with which they disagree such as uniform, punishment, competition, cadets etc.
We all want our children to be above average.

Current government education mythology tells us that they are all above average … in different ways. We must value diversity and give equal weight to macramé and mathematics.

“Valuing Diversity” has become the most prominent and pervasive ethic pushed by the government education system. The “stardards” debate is an attack on this ethic. Richard Teese argues that a one dimensional snapshot gives a biased view of a multi-dimensional and changing education system. He argues for “flexibility and options” – diversity. Bob Birrell argues that educational statistics can reveal worrying systematic trends that require action. He reveals that most students from independent schools and selective government schools are above average in key academic subjects. Amazing ! This would not be so bad if it wasn’t for the fact that most students from ordinary government schools are below average ! Lake Wobegone !

I feel a bit like Frodo between the Two Towers in the Lord of the Rings. Come down and listen !

What do parents want ?

Start here because these are the people that created the problem in the first place ! Parents want their child to be above average. They want a happy school experience for their child which keeps them interested, committed and growing in all ways. Thus, they want the school to be safe, friendly and to offer a range of experiences beyond the most important academic subjects. Fine. Can do.

Parents also want to know how is their student achieving compared to the other students in the school or the state (“peer referenced”) and in relation to some external standard such as a course textbook (“criterion referenced”). Fine. Can do. Although, the accuracy of the system used in government schools is abysmal (CSF - Curriculum Standards Framework). Parents don’t get an accurate picture until their child has left the school VCE it is too late ((VCE ENTER - Victorian Certificate of Education Equivalent Tertiary Entrance Rank)

But there’s more !. Some parents also want the school to patch up problems ranging from inappropriate tendencies to farting, bullying, drug taking or homicide. Oh, they also do not want their child near any other child with problems.

This we can only do if we redefine the curriculum around the “Fourth R – Relationships”. If you are already competent in this area, we can use you in the ennobling quest to help others rather than the elitist quest to help yourself get even further above average.

What do students want ?

“Different things on different days. Nothing daggy and old fashioned. Something I will use the day a leave school. Whatever will get me the right score for vet science.”

The ivory towers speak of curriculum that is all relevant and engaging. What they describe is really entertainment, and this is what some school curricula are increasingly transforming into. Ask virtually any group of adolescents, to find that all the finest achievements of human civilisation fall under the category of “boring” (Teachers who value them should feel in good company !). Many teachers are retreating from content in the face of a system that continually celebrates the froth and bubble of fun activities and decries old fashioned learning. They explain that learning “how to learn” is more important than actually learning “something”. Presumably, these skilled students will study photosynthesis spontaneously after they heave school.

The point is that we cannot base a curriculum plan on adolescent preferences formed by an anti-intellectual media and emboldened by peer pressure. Even to partially acquiesce to it in the wasteland of years 9 and 10 is an admission of failure rather than a celebration of maturity.

What does the state want ?

The state government wants to keep parents happy with government schools at the lowest cost possible.

It wants all schools to deliver above average educational outcomes to all students regardless of sex, race, creed or class (Seriously !).

It wants schools to hold and repair as many social problems as possible and deliver as many social services as possible (often referred to as the “one stop shop” approach).

It wants to maintain control over schools so that it can avoid politically explosive successes and failures. (This would be taking diversity too far !)

It needs to give just enough power to schools so that they can be blamed for falling short of the latest government regulation or promise.

What do teachers want ?

Teachers considerations should be last because they are the paid servants of the stakeholders above. Nevertheless, they are also the most likely to know what practical measures will actually produce improvement “at the chalkface”.

Teachers want high quality curriculum materials that are sanctioned by the state. Currently, teachers are given a photo of a beautiful building (a “framework”) and told to develop the detailed blueprints themselves (lesson plans) as well as build it (select, teach, assess, correct, reflect) !

Teachers want school administrators who believe in the importance of learning and remove students who interfere with this process (usually temporarily, sometimes permanently). Currently, government schools push virtually all students back into classrooms even after extreme misbehaviour such as assault, drug-pushing and disruption.

Secondary teachers want a classroom where they can collect teaching aids to invigorate the classroom for their students (and themselves). Currently, teachers of the most important subjects in secondary schools teach in 4 or 5 different classrooms each day (Surely all they need is a textbook and a blackboard !).

What do we need to do ?

Often consideration of these issues ends in a sense of paralysis brought on by the recognition of complexity, interdependence and mutually exclusive goals.

1. Reaffirm the centrality of learning in schools.

De-emphasis the role of schools in the delivery of other social programs such as drug education, sex education, road education which bend the curriculum away from a balance generalism as surely as a kit from the tobacco industry.

Support schools by empowering them to expel students more easily. Attending the closet school to home should not be considered an inalienable right.

2. Reaffirm the centrality of striving for academic excellence in all schools.
Academic subjects should be openly acknowledged as the “first among equals” so that schools can justify organisational preference for them e.g. more classes in the morning, special rooms developed and set aside, streamed classes to meet the needs of students across a range of ability levels

We can’t all be above average