What do you think?
Rate this book
Changing Australian Education: How Policy Is Taking Us Backwards and What Can Be Done About It
Public education in Australia faces challenges as never before. While politicians and media pundits agonise over the latest NAPLAN results, lamenting falling standards, teachers are leaving the profession in record numbers, disillusioned with the pressures of their working environment and the lack of trust in their work by policy makers. What is the answer? How should Australian education change to better meet the needs of students, teachers and our complex, rapidly changing society?
In this important new book Emeritus Professor Alan Reid argues that it is time for a new narrative in Australian education policy and practice. He states that for too long education has been dominated by a standardization discourse with its origins in neoliberalism and an emphasis on education as a private commodity rather than as a public good. He presents detailed research to show that the standardization approach, particularly its market-oriented emphasis on high stakes testing, competition between schools and uniformity has, over the past 30 years of its dominance of the policy agenda, made the work of schools more difficult and failed to address the challenges of the future. The book offers instead a new vision of education that is futures-focused and prizes flexibility, adaptability, collaboration, and agility. Its policy features include student-centered teaching approaches, integrated and project-based learning, inquiry, formative assessment and teacher autonomy. The book uses a case study of the fourth industrial revolution to model the features of this approach, including new directions for curriculum, pedagogy, and school and system cultures. Importantly it shows how educators must be brought back to center stage in educational policy making.
This ground-breaking work offers a positive vision for the future based on a recognition of the value of education as a builder of strong and adaptable communities.
"At the heart of the book is a penetrating critique of neoliberalism and the damaging effects it is having on education and society. It draws on historical insight, sociological curiosity and case studies to illuminate the shortcomings of existing policy settings ... It should be essential reading for policy makers, educators, parents, and anyone interested in the current state of Australian education.'
Professor Barry Down, School of Education, Murdoch University.
In this important new book Emeritus Professor Alan Reid argues that it is time for a new narrative in Australian education policy and practice. He states that for too long education has been dominated by a standardization discourse with its origins in neoliberalism and an emphasis on education as a private commodity rather than as a public good. He presents detailed research to show that the standardization approach, particularly its market-oriented emphasis on high stakes testing, competition between schools and uniformity has, over the past 30 years of its dominance of the policy agenda, made the work of schools more difficult and failed to address the challenges of the future. The book offers instead a new vision of education that is futures-focused and prizes flexibility, adaptability, collaboration, and agility. Its policy features include student-centered teaching approaches, integrated and project-based learning, inquiry, formative assessment and teacher autonomy. The book uses a case study of the fourth industrial revolution to model the features of this approach, including new directions for curriculum, pedagogy, and school and system cultures. Importantly it shows how educators must be brought back to center stage in educational policy making.
This ground-breaking work offers a positive vision for the future based on a recognition of the value of education as a builder of strong and adaptable communities.
"At the heart of the book is a penetrating critique of neoliberalism and the damaging effects it is having on education and society. It draws on historical insight, sociological curiosity and case studies to illuminate the shortcomings of existing policy settings ... It should be essential reading for policy makers, educators, parents, and anyone interested in the current state of Australian education.'
Professor Barry Down, School of Education, Murdoch University.
- GenresEducationNonfiction
352 pages, Paperback
Published February 1, 2020
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 13, 2024
5/5
I found this book so full of insight, in the first half I was bobbing and nodding my head in enthusiastic agreement on almost every page.
Alan Reid breaks his critique of education in Australia into four distinct parts.
In part 1 he puts forth a comprehensive and critical analysis of the neoliberal foundations of education in Australia. The damaging effect of this approach is shown by exploring the disparity between our public and private schools in terms of funding, resourcing, and social-economic status; the impoverishing of the principle of public education; and the de-professionalisation of educational leaders.
In part 2 Reid examines how privatization and standardization have narrowed our view on what education should be, reducing it to data points over something that is more holistic. He also decries the abundance of ‘think tanks’ in the educational research space.
Part 3 explores how the narrative on education could be changed. The fundamental point is that there must be a clear purpose to education that the whole community can see the point in, and that education will equip students for the modern problems of the 21st century.
Part 4 explores new directions which could be taken to shift education towards a more viable and inclusive future. The implications for curriculum, pedagogy, and school and system culture are at the forefront of Reid’s mind.
The only other review here for this book (Steven Kolber’s) sums up my thoughts as well. This book is clearly under-appreciated, yet it deals with a problem that is at the centre of our education system. If we continue to go along in a business-as-usual way, public education will continue to diminish, and education as a whole will become more segregated between those who can afford it and those who can’t.
I will also note, I gave a 5-star rating for this book’s content. Like all academic texts, the writing here was not always as clear as it could have been.
I found this book so full of insight, in the first half I was bobbing and nodding my head in enthusiastic agreement on almost every page.
Alan Reid breaks his critique of education in Australia into four distinct parts.
In part 1 he puts forth a comprehensive and critical analysis of the neoliberal foundations of education in Australia. The damaging effect of this approach is shown by exploring the disparity between our public and private schools in terms of funding, resourcing, and social-economic status; the impoverishing of the principle of public education; and the de-professionalisation of educational leaders.
In part 2 Reid examines how privatization and standardization have narrowed our view on what education should be, reducing it to data points over something that is more holistic. He also decries the abundance of ‘think tanks’ in the educational research space.
Part 3 explores how the narrative on education could be changed. The fundamental point is that there must be a clear purpose to education that the whole community can see the point in, and that education will equip students for the modern problems of the 21st century.
Part 4 explores new directions which could be taken to shift education towards a more viable and inclusive future. The implications for curriculum, pedagogy, and school and system culture are at the forefront of Reid’s mind.
The only other review here for this book (Steven Kolber’s) sums up my thoughts as well. This book is clearly under-appreciated, yet it deals with a problem that is at the centre of our education system. If we continue to go along in a business-as-usual way, public education will continue to diminish, and education as a whole will become more segregated between those who can afford it and those who can’t.
I will also note, I gave a 5-star rating for this book’s content. Like all academic texts, the writing here was not always as clear as it could have been.
June 16, 2023
An under appreciated book, deserves more plaudits and acclaim - covers so much important content and some truly central and core ideas. PISA; philanthrocapitaism; neoliberalism and so much more. My copy is deeply annotated and inscribed with so many notes, I’ll be referencing aspects of this book heavily.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews