Gonski 2.0 funding in Australia

Principals in the main will be pleased that Gonski 2.0 has now been federally legislated.  The needs- based funding that it provides should allow Principals to apply for funds to create flexible situations like aide support for an autistic child in a main stream classroom, or to pay for a researcher to find alternative learning programs for main stream students who are battling to master the basics to move on to new learning, especially in subjects like mathematics.  The latter is not a matter of being 'behind' and 'catching up' it is more about ensuring that gaps in the learning mastery do not develop.  Some students take longer to master processes and concepts and given best practice teaching should be able to progress at a rate suitable to their learning capacities.

Even prior to Gonski 2.0 I am sure many Principals were already spending part of their one line budgets creating these flexible learning arrangements.

I had to allow myself a small chuckle over the the current Prime Minister almost crowing about Gonski 2.0 being needs-based funding.  Maybe the federal politicians of today's Australia cannot recall or did not know that in the period 1972-1974 the famous Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam commissioned Professor Karmel to carry out an investigation into school education across Australia.  The resulting Karmel report recommended needs-based funding.  Another example of the circularity of educational change that has haunted me all my professional life with its consequential waste of money on ill-conceived change or change that doesn't last.  Enough already with this blast from the past.  May Gonski 2.0 make appropriate learning more available to every Australian school student.



May the Force be with you!



GD

Should autistic children be educated in the main stream classes?

Senator Pauline Hanson an outspoken Australian federal senator thinks not.  Her argument is that these children take up too much of the teachers' time detracting from the education for the bulk of the class members.

I am not a Pauline Hanson fan however we need to note that she clearly wanted the best for these children but with them having special school placement.  Of course she received widespread criticism and rightly so as these children do very well in main stream classrooms provided the teacher has the support of a teacher aide to assist with their special needs.

Obtaining the aide time is not always easy.  As an ex school principal I could not allow one student to disrupt the whole class on a regular basis and create huge tensions for the teacher.  I would move heaven and earth to ensure aide time so that the autistic child could stay in the main stream.

Just this week I had a grandmother of an aspergers lad comment on Ms Hanson's comments and agree with her.  The grandmother indicated that her grandson used to call out very disruptively in class and that the only way he could be kept in the main stream was to have an aide.  Fortunately his parents had the funds to pay for an aide.  The lad in question is now a young man who has university qualifications and has lectured at university level.  He is a very well rounded and adjusted citizen who has done extremely well.

Perhaps Pauline Hanson would be better placed not to comment on matters outside her realm of expertise.  It is not the first time she has done this.  However my anecdote about a real situation allows us to see Ms Hanson's comments in a realistic context.

May the Force of reason be with us!


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Phonics in Australian schools

Phonics has made a resurgence across Australian formal primary (elementary) schooling, but still receives bad press in that some consider it a learning experience from the past.  It is one of a number of strategies to enable students to learn to recognise words for reading and writing (spelling).

I am glad to see this resurgence as long as it does not become the dominant way for students to achieve word recognition.  There is a list of sight words that phonics does not assist in recognising so sight recognition is also vital.  Students also pick up on recognising words from the context in which they appear.

If I were back as a school principal of primary (elementary) students I would encourage the professional judgement of my junior school teachers to know how to best employ phonics, but I would require that it be part of the word recognition bag of strategies.

Effective writing generally relies on accurate spelling unless an author is trying something different (....being cute if you will).  Reliance on spell check is okay but I've got to confess I feel concerned at an over reliance on this technological assistance.


May the Force be with all professional educators.


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The student wellbeing movement across Australia

For thinking principals student wellbeing has always been a prime focus.  It is fair to say however that student wellbeing is now a contemporary movement across Australian schools.

Schools are motivated to not take student wellbeing for granted as part of effective teaching but set out to survey students regularly to ascertain how they are feeling about school in particular.  I support this sharpened focus and regard student wellbeing as the number one criterion of an effective school.

Bethany Hiatt "Kids face questions about sex and bullies", The West Australian, 6 June 2017, p14) reports that The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) is considering the feasibility of a national survey of students' emotional health.  In my own state of Western Australia (WA) she reports that the WA Education Department indicated that public (state) schools "could select from publicly and commercially available surveys to suit their needs."  She also indicates that New South Wales has an online survey titled Tell Them From Me with a primary (elementary) and secondary (high) school versions.

I urge all my principal colleagues to get really serious about sampling student wellbeing regularly as students who feel safe, respected and even loved at school have a wonderful platform for effective learning of the academic outcomes as prescribed in the curriculum their school follows.  Win over the disillusioned students and those of low motivation about school by showing that you care about every one of them every day.

How many students love coming to your school each day?


May the Force be with you!



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