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Waiting for Gonski: How Australia failed its schools
Why is education in Australia failing?
Where did we go wrong, and how do we fix it?
The Gonski Review seemed like a breakthrough. Commissioned by Prime Minister Julia Gillard and chaired by leading businessman David Gonski, the 2011 review made clear that school education policy wasn’t working, and placed a spotlight on the troubling and growing gap between the educational outcomes of disadvantaged children and their more privileged peers.
Gonski proposed a model that provided targeted funding to disadvantaged students based on need, a solution that promised to close the gaps and improve overall achievement.
And yet, over a decade later, the problems have only worsened. Educational outcomes for Australian schoolchildren continue to decline, and there is a growing correlation between social disadvantage and educational under-achievement. So why hasn’t Gonski worked, and what should we do now?
Written by teachers Tom Greenwell and Chris Bonnor, Waiting for Gonski examines how Australia has failed its schools and offers inspired solutions to help change education for the better.
Where did we go wrong, and how do we fix it?
The Gonski Review seemed like a breakthrough. Commissioned by Prime Minister Julia Gillard and chaired by leading businessman David Gonski, the 2011 review made clear that school education policy wasn’t working, and placed a spotlight on the troubling and growing gap between the educational outcomes of disadvantaged children and their more privileged peers.
Gonski proposed a model that provided targeted funding to disadvantaged students based on need, a solution that promised to close the gaps and improve overall achievement.
And yet, over a decade later, the problems have only worsened. Educational outcomes for Australian schoolchildren continue to decline, and there is a growing correlation between social disadvantage and educational under-achievement. So why hasn’t Gonski worked, and what should we do now?
Written by teachers Tom Greenwell and Chris Bonnor, Waiting for Gonski examines how Australia has failed its schools and offers inspired solutions to help change education for the better.
- GenresNonfictionEducation
384 pages, Paperback
Published March 1, 2022
21 people are currently reading
130 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 28, 2022
Its quite frustrating as a primary school teacher in a disadvantaged public school to see the way school funding has been politicised and used, by both sides, to keep Australian students at a disadvantage.
Needs based funding is the simplest and most sensible way to ensure students are given similar opportunities.
This is an exceptional story of Gonski and the reasons Australian schooling is likely to never be fair and equitable. We need to make some big changes.
Needs based funding is the simplest and most sensible way to ensure students are given similar opportunities.
This is an exceptional story of Gonski and the reasons Australian schooling is likely to never be fair and equitable. We need to make some big changes.
April 10, 2022
Very comprehensive review of Gonski - I sincerely hope it will be read by many, not just teachers!
April 10, 2023
The kind of ‘must read’ book for people still engaging with the otherwise silent funding issue within Australia. The detail is exhaustive and at times exhausting reading - but the events and reporting here are very important to have in one place.
February 27, 2025
Successive labor and Liberal governments have been complicit in the continuing disparities of access and outcomes in the Australian education system. Both parties have failed to "grasp the nettle" of needs-based, sector-blind funding. They have sacrificed their principles for short term vote winning (what's new?). There have been one or two exceptions (like Piccoli in NSW), but they have been pushing "it" uphill against the inertia of entrenched interests. This book is firmly data-based and full of useful graphics.
October 5, 2022
A great top-to-bottom review of the public school system in Australia - and how it got to where it is today. The authors aren't afraid to come across as 'radical' in their beliefs - and it is desperately needed. Private schools not only deepen lifelong inequality of opportunity in Australia - they also ask everyday Australians to foot the bill.
April 22, 2022
Phenomenal. Important. A must read for anyone involved in Australian education.
January 20, 2023
Very long and wordy - I think they could have reduced this by at least 50 pages. There’s a table near the end that goes over 2 pages that summarises the problems / solutions needed. I feel that you could read that alone and get what you needed - otherwise it’s about the politics and drama around politicians.
April 27, 2023
Totally fascinating, and also the most infuriating book I've read in a long time. Not that the shittiness of church organisations should be any surprise at this point, but it is still disgusting to read about. And all the middle class and wealthy Australian families lying to themselves about what they're buying with their private school fees - not choice, in fact, but segregation.
August 28, 2022
A very well researched and thorough review of Gonski.
April 24, 2023
3.5 ⭐️
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews