thanks Tom you explained the Tensions well! An aspect of this that may emerge is the increasing trend of students to do unscored VCE and not sit exams. It was about 10% but moved higher in recent years (would like to get the exact %). A scenario could possibly be the students could exercise their agency for their own well being & interest by not sitting exams. That would change the narrative.
Interesting thought! I know from my experience, we had our unscored students working towards personal goals that would support them in the future (i.e. an aspiring kindergarten teacher had greater headspace and time set aside to get some practical experience with our preps). However, the push by some schools (as I have heard anecdotally) to make this decision on behalf of students (to keep median scores up) contribute to the neoliberal imaginary. I wonder what might happen if this % continues to increase?!
I’m flattered you consider me a progressive type (I’m sure there are times I deviate!). Yes, well the community consultations to determine the overarching aims and purposes were hardly representative (around 900 people were involved). I guess what I’m trying to explore in these posts is how our “common sense” narrative of education means that politicians don’t really care about it. But I guess the next step is to find out how much tax money was used to make this and get my money back…
Indeed, there’s not many genuinely pulling apart the threads of educational ‘common sense’, just like our culture, it’s the water that surrounds us, so to speak. Can I have a some of the money when you reclaim it?
Wrapped in ideal language the Mpartnwe Declaration is hard to realise; nevertheless, we should all be moving forward to actualise it. The tension and conflict is not only in the aspirational language but also within the system responsible for administering and delivering on the set goals. Is it any wonder that the Mpartnwe Declaration now sits as an example of well-sounding rhetoric without any OECD evidence that it has made significant gains through other policy and education administration to continuously improve educational outcomes for all of our young Australians.
As you say there are certainly contradictions between this agreement and the actions of governments, my thinking is that is all comes down to the assumptions at play (i.e. world class education assumes a “good” citizenry, therefore no need to focus on addressing that core aim directly through policy). This declaration is supposedly to underlie state actions towards education until 2029, maybe there’s still time for it to make a difference!
thanks Tom you explained the Tensions well! An aspect of this that may emerge is the increasing trend of students to do unscored VCE and not sit exams. It was about 10% but moved higher in recent years (would like to get the exact %). A scenario could possibly be the students could exercise their agency for their own well being & interest by not sitting exams. That would change the narrative.
Interesting thought! I know from my experience, we had our unscored students working towards personal goals that would support them in the future (i.e. an aspiring kindergarten teacher had greater headspace and time set aside to get some practical experience with our preps). However, the push by some schools (as I have heard anecdotally) to make this decision on behalf of students (to keep median scores up) contribute to the neoliberal imaginary. I wonder what might happen if this % continues to increase?!
It seems like us progressive types are all about Mpartnwe declaration but no one else is interested in it; it seems to lack political pull.
I’m flattered you consider me a progressive type (I’m sure there are times I deviate!). Yes, well the community consultations to determine the overarching aims and purposes were hardly representative (around 900 people were involved). I guess what I’m trying to explore in these posts is how our “common sense” narrative of education means that politicians don’t really care about it. But I guess the next step is to find out how much tax money was used to make this and get my money back…
Indeed, there’s not many genuinely pulling apart the threads of educational ‘common sense’, just like our culture, it’s the water that surrounds us, so to speak. Can I have a some of the money when you reclaim it?
Wrapped in ideal language the Mpartnwe Declaration is hard to realise; nevertheless, we should all be moving forward to actualise it. The tension and conflict is not only in the aspirational language but also within the system responsible for administering and delivering on the set goals. Is it any wonder that the Mpartnwe Declaration now sits as an example of well-sounding rhetoric without any OECD evidence that it has made significant gains through other policy and education administration to continuously improve educational outcomes for all of our young Australians.
As you say there are certainly contradictions between this agreement and the actions of governments, my thinking is that is all comes down to the assumptions at play (i.e. world class education assumes a “good” citizenry, therefore no need to focus on addressing that core aim directly through policy). This declaration is supposedly to underlie state actions towards education until 2029, maybe there’s still time for it to make a difference!