Education Reform: The Unwinding of Intelligence and Creativity (Explorations of Educational Purpose Book 28)

This book pays special attention to the impact that a student's early childhood and socioeconomic status has on his or her educational achievement. It argues that discussions of education reform need a broader scope, one that encompasses a student's background as well as standardized testing, merit pay for teachers, and other issues regarding the quality of the teaching and learning. __Education Reform: the Unwinding of Intelligence and Creativity__ features cases and examples from schools in Australia, the USA, and Britain. It offers a breadth of coverage, from early childhood to effective teaching and learning to teacher pay and conditions, standardized testing and public and private (independent) schooling and universities as well as creativity. It also includes summaries of educational policies in many developed countries.Reforms which emphasize concern for early childhood, school leadership and respect for teachers are contrasted with ones based on standardized tests, private schools and sacking bad teachers. Foreword 8 Preface 10 Acknowledgments 13 Contents 15 Abbreviations 21 1 What Do We Expect of Education? 22 1.1...The Value of Education 22 1.2...Education: Its Purpose 24 1.3...The Issues for Reform 25 1.4...Economics, Community and Inequality 27 1.5...Australia: Economic Background 27 1.6...Education Reform in Australia 29 1.7...Where Should We Start? 31 1.8...The Questions to be Answered 32 References 35 2 A Word on Economics 36 2.1...Economics and Education Reform 36 2.2...The Basics of Neoclassical Economics 37 2.3...Individuals and Choice: Limits to Government 39 2.4...Privatisation of Government Services 41 2.5...The Global Financial Crisis and Its Consequences 42 2.6...An Alternative View: Lessons from Behavioural Economics 46 2.7...Reciprocity 47 2.8...Mirror Neurons and Belongingness 48 2.9...Neoclassical Economics: Adam Smith Made Small! 49 2.10...The Consequences for Education 50 2.11...The Irrelevance of Market Economics 52 References 54 3 Community and Inequality: Part 1: Creating an Enabling Environment 57 3.1...The Importance of Socioeconomic Status 57 3.2...The Real Wealth of Nations: Human Development 60 3.3...Unequal Society and Its Cost 62 3.4...The Great Divergence: Why Nations Fail 64 3.5...Personal Development, Home Environment and Child Wellbeing 67 3.6...Urban Youth in the US and the UK 69 3.7...Education Reform and Economic and Social Disadvantage 71 References 71 4 Community and Inequality: Part 2: Australia 74 4.1...Inequality in Australia 74 4.2...Indigenous Australians 77 4.3...Indigenous Education and the Home 78 4.4...Community and Responsibility 79 4.5...The Northern Territory Intervention 80 4.6...Self Determination: Sovereignty Matters! 85 4.7...Closing the Gap 86 4.8...Hope for the Future? 88 4.9...Overcoming Inequality: Self-Determination and Ending Discrimination 90 References 92 5 Early Childhood: A World of Relationships 95 5.1...The Critical Importance of Early Childhood 95 5.2...Pioneer Studies of Early Childhood 97 5.3...The Nature of Early Experiences 99 5.4...An Environment of Relationships: Healthy Development 100 5.5...Personal Development and the Home Environment 102 5.6...Attachment Theory, Mothers Memories and Mothers Roles 104 5.7...Policies on Parental Leave in Europe and Australia 106 5.8...A National Early Childhood Development Strategy in Australia 107 5.9...Economic Benefits of Early Childhood Intervention 109 5.10...Early Childhood is the Critical Time 110 References 111 6 Effective Teaching and Learning Part 1: John Hattie, Graham Nuthall and Jonathan Osborne 114 6.1...The Importance of Teachers 114 6.2...Some Initial Observations 116 6.3...John Hattie: The Teacher, Not the School, Makes the Difference 117 6.4...Productive Pedagogy 119 6.5...Formative Evaluation 121 6.6...Graham Nuthall, What Goes on in the Classroom? 123 6.7...Learning Outcomes: TIMMS 127 6.8...Jonathan Osborne and Argumentation in Science 128 6.9...Knowledge of Effective Teaching and Learning is Ignored 129 References 130 7 Effective Teaching and Learning Part 2: Lessons from the US 132 7.1...School Reforms in the US: Follow Through and Direct Instruction 132 7.2...US Reforms: The Last 20 Years 134 7.3...The South Side of Chicago 135 7.4...Nested Learning Communities and Accountable Talk 139 7.5...Ricky DuFour and Professional Learning Communities 142 7.6...Class Size Matters in Early Grades When Carefully Planned 143 7.7...A Note on Homework 145 7.8...What do Children Want from School? 146 7.9...Leadership, Student Engagement and Support 147 References 149 8 Teacher Pay, Performance and Leadership 151 8.1...The Call for Accountability 151 8.2...Teacher Performance and Evaluation 154 8.3...Merit Pay 156 8.4...Teacher Certification, Evaluation, Career Paths and Rewards 158 8.5...School Leadership: Leadership in Education 159 8.5.1 Transformational Leadership 160 8.5.2 Transformational Leadership in the School 161 8.6...International Perspectives on School Leadership 163 8.7...Teacher Profession and School Leadership 164 References 165 9 Public or Private Schools, Tests and League Tables, Parental Choice and Competition in Australia, the USA and Britain 168 9.1...The Australian School System 168 9.2...Australia and Government Funding of Independent Schools After 1996 169 9.3...Student Socioeconomic Background and School Environment 171 9.4...The Rudd and Gillard Australian Governments and Independent Schools 172 9.5...Choice and Competition in the US School System 173 9.6...Independent Schools in the UK 174 9.7...Market Mechanisms 175 9.8...Tests and League Tables: A Democratic Right to Know? 176 9.9...Evidence is not Always Sufficient! 177 9.10...No Child Left Behind (NCLB) 178 9.11...Standardised Testing in the UK 181 9.12...Value-Added Tests 182 9.13...Intrinsic Motivation 182 9.14...Important Issues Missed 183 9.15...Effective Student Engagement and Ineffective Standardised Tests 184 References 186 10 Curriculum Matters 190 10.1...What Should Students be Taught? 190 10.2...A National Curriculum 193 10.3...The History Wars 195 10.4...Science Education for What? 197 10.5...Science Education in the European Union 200 10.6...Mathematics: Not Just Skills but a Discipline Requiring Understanding 201 10.7...Curriculum Reform Must Focus on Understanding and Intellectual Development 202 References 204 11 Creativity to Free Choice Learning 207 11.1...What Creativity is 207 11.2...Creativity is What Makes us Human 209 11.3...The Arts in Schools 211 11.4...Reggio Emilia 212 11.5...Success and Failure at School 213 11.6...Organisations Encouraging Creativity and Innovation 214 11.7...Free Choice Learning: Learning in Informal Settings 215 11.8...Lifelong Learning and Public Broadcasting 218 11.9...Education Means Creativity Means much more than School 218 References 220 12 International Comparisons 222 12.1...Misinformation and Urban Mythologies 222 12.2...Successful Schools 225 12.2.1 Finland 226 12.2.2 New Zealand 227 12.2.3 China 229 12.2.4 Singapore 230 12.2.5 Japan 231 12.2.6 Canada 232 12.2.7 Korea 234 12.2.8 Sweden 234 12.3...Lessons from PISA 2009 for the US (and Other Countries) 236 12.4...Successful Systems Share Common Feature: All Children Can Learn 238 References 240 13 Universities and Tertiary Education 242 13.1...Universities and Society 242 13.2...Issues for Universities 243 13.2.1 Issues of Access 245 13.2.2 Corporatisation, Managerialism and Leadership in Universities 246 13.2.3 What do University Students Know? 250 13.3...Tertiary Education Reform in Australia 251 13.4...The Bradley Review in Australia 253 13.5...Assessing the Value of Universities 255 13.6...Universities and Research: Why Can’t We Have a Silicon Valley in Australia? 257 13.7...Universities and Skills Training 258 13.8...Teacher Training 259 13.9...The Importance of Government Investment in Tertiary Education 259 References 261 14 Policy Development in Education and Schooling in Australia 264 14.1...Public Policy and the Education Debate 264 14.2...Australian Students Educational Achievement 265 14.3...The Rudd and Gillard Education Revolution 268 14.4...The State and Territory Ministerial Declarations 268 14.5...Australian Business 269 14.6...Australian Literacy and Numeracy 269 14.7...Testing Australian Students: NAPLAN and My School 270 14.8...Improving Australian Teaching Standards 273 14.9...The Gonski Review 274 14.10...States Announce Their Own Education Policies 283 14.11...Funding the Gonski Reforms; the National Plan for School Improvement 285 14.12...Education Reform: A Future of Equity or a Future of Privilege? 289 References 292 15 Concluding Essay: What Have We Learned and Where are We Going? 295 15.1...Centuries of Thought and Decades of Research: Critical Conclusions 295 15.2...Early Childhood 298 15.3...Schooling, Schools and Teaching 299 15.4...Community and Inequality 303 15.5...Universities and Other Places of Learning 309 15.6...Misinformation and Its Consequences 310 15.7...The Future of Australian Education Reform 311 15.8...Everything is Connected 315 References 316 16 Postscript: Australian Educational Futures After the 2013 Federal Election 319 16.1...A New Australian Government: Policies Compared 319 16.2...The Human Development Report 322 16.3...Adult Literacy and Numeracy 324 16.4...Challenges for a New Government 325 References 327 Index 328 Front Matter....Pages i-xxi What Do We Expect of Education?....Pages 1-14 A Word on Economics....Pages 15-35 Community and Inequality: Part 1: Creating an Enabling Environment....Pages 37-53 Community and Inequality: Part 2: Australia....Pages 55-75 Early Childhood: A World of Relationships....Pages 77-95 Effective Teaching and Learning Part 1: John Hattie, Graham Nuthall and Jonathan Osborne....Pages 97-114 Effective Teaching and Learning Part 2: Lessons from the US....Pages 115-133 Teacher Pay, Performance and Leadership....Pages 135-151 Public or Private Schools, Tests and League Tables, Parental Choice and Competition in Australia, the USA and Britain....Pages 153-174 Curriculum Matters....Pages 175-191 Creativity to Free Choice Learning....Pages 193-207 International Comparisons....Pages 209-228 Universities and Tertiary Education....Pages 229-250 Policy Development in Education and Schooling in Australia....Pages 251-281 Concluding Essay: What Have We Learned and Where are We Going?....Pages 283-306 Postscript: Australian Educational Futures After the 2013 Federal Election....Pages 307-315 Back Matter....Pages 317-320 This book pays special attention to the impact that a student's early childhood and socioeconomic status has on his or her educational achievement. It argues that discussions of education reform need a broader scope, one that encompasses a student's background as well as standardized testing, merit pay for teachers, and other issues regarding the quality of the teaching and learning. Education Reform: the Unwinding of Intelligence and Creativity features cases and examples from schools in Australia, the USA, and Britain. It offers a breadth of coverage, from early childhood to effective teaching and learning to teacher pay and conditions, standardized testing and public and private (independent) schooling and universities as well as creativity. It also includes summaries of educational policies in many developed countries. Reforms which emphasize concern for early childhood, school leadership and respect for teachers are contrasted with ones based on standardized tests, private schools and sacking bad teachers. This book addresses the notion that education reform must be tied to issues of community inequality which are the principal contributors to low achievement. Bluntly put, education is not the way out of poverty, but reducing poverty is crucial to education