A social history of school education in Australia, from dame schools and one teacher classrooms in the bush, to the growth of private schools under public funding in recent years.
This book seeks to critically examine the impacts of 'grand designs' in public policy through a detailed historical analysis of Australian schooling reforms since the 'education revolution' agenda was introduced by the federal government in the late 2000s. Combining policy analyses and interviews with senior policy makers and ministerial advisors centrally involved in the reforms, it offers a detailed interpretive analysis of the complexities of policy evolution and assemblage. The book argues that the education revolution sought to impose a new order on Australian schooling by aligning state and territory systems to common policies and processes in areas including curriculum, assessment, funding, reporting and teaching. Using a theory and critique of 'alignment thinking' in public policy, Savage shows how the education revolution and subsequent reforms have been underpinned by uncritical faith in the power of nationally aligned data, evidence and standards to improve policies and unite systems around practices 'proven to work'. The result is a new national policy assemblage that has deeply reshaped the making and doing of schooling policy in the nation, generating complex questions about who is steering the ship of education into the future. The Quest for Revolution in Australian Schooling Policy is a must read for education policy researchers, policy makers, education ministers and school leaders, and will appeal to anyone with an interest in the complex power dynamics that underpin schooling reforms.
Despite the Australian Constitution implying school education to be a state responsibility, the Commonwealth has increasingly interfered with state school education. The Australian Government Muscling in on School Education therefore offers a historical account of this government involvement in Australian education, from federation to the present day, providing a much-needed, fully updated and relevant overview the topic. Arguing that education has become an arena for competing political forces, this book examines the powerful influence of the Commonwealth over education and the political motives behind it, exploring how politics influences aspects of the curriculum, teaching standards, assessment and reporting, funding, teacher selection and policy more broadly. Ultimately questioning whether this influence is in the interests of the members of the community who depend on education, the book holds government engagement in education to account. Taking the major epochs of federalism as an organizing framework, the book’s chapters include explorations of: The efficiency dynamic and the progressive years (1919–39) Postwar imperatives and the Menzies years (1949–72) Coordinative federalism and treading softly: the Whitlam years (1972–5) and Fraser years (1975–83) Corporate federalism: the Hawke/Keating years (1983–96) Supply-side federalism and globalization: the Howard years (1996–2007) National control and the Rudd, Gillard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison years (2007–15) A thorough and significant examination of the historical engagement of the Australian government in education, this book is essential reading for student teachers and postgraduate students in education studies and politics.
The Future of Australian Legal Education Conference was held in August 2017 to mark the 10th anniversary of the Australian Academy of Law (AAL), the 90th anniversary of the Australian Law Journal (ALJ) and the 30th anniversary of the Pearce Report on Australian Law Schools. The conference provided a forum for an informed, national discussion on the future of legal study and practice in Australia, covering practitioners, academics, judges and students.
A History of Australian Legal Education examines the history and development of legal education in Australia by tracing the establishment of university law schools and other forms of legal education in the States and Territories from the time of European settlement in 1788 to the present day. While early Australian legal education was founded on historic practices adopted in England and Wales over many centuries, the circumstances of the Australian colonies, and later States, have led to a unique historical trajectory.The book considers the critical role played by legal education in shaping the culture of law and thus determining how well the legal system operates in practice. In addition, it examines a major challenge for legal educators, namely, the tension between 'training' and 'educating', which has given rise to a plethora of inquiries and reports in Australia. In the final analysis, it argues that legal education can satisfactorily meet the twin objectives of training individuals as legal practitioners and providing a liberal education that facilitates the acquisition of knowledge and transferable skills.
Teaching Aboriginal Studies has been a practical guide for classroom teachers in primary and secondary schools, as well as student teachers, across Australia. Chapters on Aboriginal history and culture, stereotypes and racism, government policies and reconciliation provide essential knowledge for integrating Aboriginal history and culture, issues and perspectives across the curriculum. This second edition of Teaching Aboriginal Studies encompasses developments over the past decade in Aboriginal affairs, Aboriginal education and research. It features a wide range of valuable teaching sources including poetry, images, oral histories, media, and government reports. There are also strategies for teaching Aboriginal Studies in different contexts and the latest research findings. The text is lavishly illustrated with photographs, posters, paintings, prints, ads and cartoons. Teaching Aboriginal Studies is the product of consultation and collaboration across Australia. Remarkable educators and achievers, both Aboriginal and other Australians, tell what teachers need to know and do to help Aboriginal students reach their potential, educate all students about Aboriginal Australia and make this country all that we can be. 'The importance of this book cannot be overestimated. We have been insisting for years that pre-service teachers be required to learn about Aboriginal history, culture and identity, and that it be regarded as integral to qualifying for their education degrees.' Lionel Bamblett, General Manager, Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Inc.
This handbook offers a global view of the historical development of educational institutions, systems of schooling, ideas about education, and educational experiences. Its 36 chapters consider changing scholarship in the field, examine nationally-oriented works by comparing themes and approaches, lend international perspective on a range of issues in education, and provide suggestions for further research and analysis. Like many other subfields of historical analysis, the history of education has been deeply affected by global processes of social and political change, especially since the 1960s. The handbook weighs the influence of various interpretive perspectives, including revisionist viewpoints, taking particular note of changes in the past half century. Contributors consider how schooling and other educational experiences have been shaped by the larger social and political context, and how these influences have affected the experiences of students, their families and the educators who have worked with them. The Handbook provides insight and perspective on a wide range of topics, including pre-modern education, colonialism and anti-colonial struggles, indigenous education, minority issues in education, comparative, international, and transnational education, childhood education, non-formal and informal education, and a range of other issues. Each contribution includes endnotes and a bibliography for readers interested in further study.
Collection of essays and case studies outlining Australian book production and consumption, from the 1880s to the end of World War II. Explores all aspects of print culture including authorship, editing, design and printing, publication, distribution, bookselling, libraries and reading habits. Includes photos, contributor notes, bibliography and index. Two further books in the 'A History of the Book in Australia' project are planned. Lyons is Professor of History at the University of New South Wales. He has previously written (with Lucy Taksa) 'Australian Readers Remember'. Arnold is Deputy Director of the National Centre for Australian Studies, Monash University. He has previously co-edited the 'Biography of Australian Literature: A-E'.
Schools are livelier and more humane places than they were a generation or two ago. But many things are going badly in the basics of school life — in behaviour, discipline, school refusal, bullying, engagement, mental health, wellbeing — as well as in learning. Too many start behind, stay behind, and then leave early, unhappy and ill-equipped. The standing and morale of teachers are at a low ebb. Repeated attempts at reform large and small, local and national, haven’t worked. The “education revolution” of the Rudd–Gillard years failed. And yet thinking and policy continue to be dominated by its language of “performance” and “accountability,” its tests, MySchool, “national approach” and “school reform agreements” and its stunted view of what schools can be. Unbeaching the Whale offers a more generous way of thinking about schools. It insists that they can and should deliver twelve safe, happy and worthwhile years for everyone. It argues compellingly for a different kind of reform — of governance, of the sector system, and above all of the daily work of students and teachers. Pungent, sober, inspiring, urgent, Unbeaching the Whale is that rare thing, a book about schooling that is lucid, jargon-free, challenging and gripping. Dean Ashenden has worked in and around schools as a teacher, academic and consultant, and in journalism. He has contributed to all major print outlets and to many professional, academic and social affairs journals. His previous book, Telling Tennant’s Story, was inaugural winner of the Australian Political Book of the Year Award. He is a Senior Honorary Fellow at the University of Melbourne.