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AUSTRALIA Académicos apoyan ‘huelga estudiantil’ sobre cambio climático

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Oceanía/Australia/www.universityworldnews.com

Cientos de académicos se unieron a decenas de miles de estudiantes universitarios y universitarios en una protesta nacional en Australia el viernes como parte de una «huelga estudiantil» mundial dirigida a persuadir a los políticos para que tomen medidas urgentes contra el cambio climático. 

Cerca de 800 académicos de docenas de universidades australianas firmaron una carta abierta expresando su solidaridad con los estudiantes y miles asistieron a mítines de protesta en 50 ciudades de todo el país. 

Según CNN, el canal de televisión paga estadounidense basado en las noticias, los estudiantes estaban «saliendo de las aulas en más de 100 países para protestar por la inacción climática». Los estudiantes que protestan dicen que sus gobiernos han fallado a las generaciones futuras al no reducir las emisiones y frenar el calentamiento global.

Al igual que en otras partes del mundo, la huelga australiana se inspiró en la adolescente sueca Greta Thunberg, quien inició el «ataque por la acción climática» en agosto del año pasado. 

Las manifestaciones nacionales de protesta en Australia comenzaron al mediodía en las ciudades regionales y capitales y siguieron las protestas estudiantiles en todo el país por la inacción del gobierno federal sobre el cambio climático. 

La protesta del viernes se produce meses después de que los estudiantes salieron de sus clases por primera vez para protestar por la inacción climática del gobierno. Las huelgas fueron condenadas, y siguen siendo, condenadas por los conservadores de Australia, incluido el primer ministro Scott Morrison.

Aunque su gobierno no ha tomado medidas para contrarrestar los efectos del cambio climático, que son cada vez más evidentes, Morrison se unió a comentaristas conservadores para condenar la huelga. 

Les dijo a los estudiantes que deberían ser «menos activistas» y dejar que los políticos y no los escolares se encarguen del problema. 

Un estudiante manifestante observó: «¿Sí, pero de quién es el futuro?». 

El viernes, los estudiantes australianos participaron en un día de protesta mundial, con académicos y quizás millones de estudiantes en más de 90 países participantes. 

Esta vez, también, los estudiantes fueron apoyados por grupos comunitarios más amplios en Australia, con sindicatos y académicos e incluso muchos políticos se unieron a las protestas en todo el país.

Los estudiantes de la escuela, muchos de ellos todavía vistiendo sus uniformes, tenían letreros con lemas como «El clima está cambiando, ¿por qué no lo estamos?» Y «Hacer que la tierra se enfríe de nuevo». 

En las reuniones de protesta, los estudiantes pidieron que se detuviera la apertura de una nueva mina de carbón en el centro de Queensland que está siendo planeada por un multimillonario indio. 

Los estudiantes dijeron que la mina de carbón debería abandonarse y que no se abrirían nuevas minas de carbón mientras que el país cambió a energía 100% renovable para 2030. 

En una respuesta típica del lado conservador, Christopher Pyne, un importante ministro del gabinete federal, dijo a un entrevistador de televisión que los estudiantes debería estar en la escuela

“Por lo general, las huelgas ocurren cuando los empleados retiran su trabajo de un empleador, por lo que no estoy seguro de por qué los estudiantes se retiran de la escuela. «Sólo daña su educación», dijo Pyne. 

Pero Peter Garrett, ex cantante pop, activista ambiental y ex ministro de gobierno laborista, elogió la acción de los estudiantes. 

«La idiotez condescendiente de los negadores del clima es despreciable», dijo Garrett. 

«Como ex ministro de educación federal, aplaudo a los muchos jóvenes australianos valientes que [están] en vigor».

Fuente: https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20190315130720883

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Australia should start planning for universal tertiary education

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Oceania/ Australia/ 19.03.2019/ Source: theconversation.com.

Australia is often characterised as having a mass higher education system. In fact, it could be called near-universal. According to the 2016 Census, 56% of Australians aged 15 years and over – 9.6 million people – hold a post-school qualification, up from 46% in 2006.

Universal education does not mean every Australian should attain a higher education or tertiary qualification. It means every Australian should be given the opportunity to get one if they want.

The distinction between “mass” and “universal” is not just an academic one. Viewing higher and tertiary education as universal could help an incoming government better design policy. All Australians need to be prepared for, informed about and able to make a choice that is right for them about whether or not to pursue post-school education.

Needs-based funding of schools

If the government could do one thing to improve post-school education outcomes, it needs to happen in our primary and high schools. Prior academic achievement is one of the main predictors of higher education aspiration and success. In some studies it’s the main factor.

Needs-based funding puts more money into education. In particular, it puts more money into the schools and students who need it most.

The Gillard-led Labor government recognised the importance of this approach by adopting a needs-based school funding model. The Turnbull-led Coalition government reaffirmed this commitment, with the specific aim of helping under-achieving students focus on improvement.

This coming election, look closely at what positions the Coalition and Labor take on needs-based school funding. Both have signed up in principle, but there should be a clear commitment on how much extra money will be provided. This is not the same as simply spending more money to maintain standards in an ever-expanding system.

There also needs to be a clear explanation of how that money will be spread around, to ensure those furthest behind get the resources they need to catch up.

It’s not university or TAFE

Too many Australians – and successive governments – think in terms of students having to make a choice between university or vocational studies or neither. Tertiary education policy shouldn’t be seen this way.

For many people, the false trichotomy of degree-or-trade-or-job is locked in way too early by social and family expectations, and curriculum choices. Greater flexibility in how lifelong education is understood and explained (in terms of pathways and options) needs to be developed at the policy level.

This isn’t about merging the vocational and higher education sectors. That is neither necessary nor desirable. All tertiary education providers play a part in delivering lifelong education opportunities.

What is needed is more cooperation between state and federal governments. They need to be able to coordinate on how these various organisations will be funded and how students will be financially supported.

In many cases, there are fewer financial barriers to doing a university degree than a vocational course. This can lead some students to make a choice that seems right for them, but over the long term doesn’t work out.

The good news is all the pieces are there – even if they don’t quite fit together yet. The Coalition government has made great strides in how students can access loans for vocational courses. But the VET fee capmeans some vocational courses still result in the student having to cover the excess up front, which is not the case for higher education degrees.

For example, an Australian student studying a Diploma of Business in 2019 would have a loan cap of just over A$5,000. They would have to cover the rest of the cost of the course. Depending on the provider, this could be several thousand more.

If the same student chose to study a Bachelor of Business at a university, they would have access to a loan for the full amount, which would be more than A$30,000 for the entire degree.

Against this, students can be more sure they’re getting what they pay for from universities than from vocational education providers. The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency is responsible for the registration and quality oversight of all higher education providers, public and private.

The vocational training sector could benefit from a similarly national and coordinated approach to quality assurance. Given there are more than 5,000 vocational providers, a more realistic approach might be to provide a similar oversight (or even expand TEQSA) to cover all courses offered by the public TAFES, to begin with.

Whoever forms the next government needs to finish the job of creating a more unified structure of financial support and pathway information. It should allow students to think first and foremost about what skills and knowledge are right for them and not about what the institution they’re going to or the degree they’re going to do is called.

Making Australian higher education look more like, well, Australia

The foundation of the Australian higher education system is built on two broad principles. The first is that they exist for the betterment of the nation. The second is that the doors of universities and other higher education institutions are open to everyone. This is actually written into the founding acts of our oldest universities.

The journey towards realising the second principle has been long, rocky and as yet uncompleted. Too many groups of students still remain under-represented. These include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people with disability, those living in regional areas and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

Progress has been made and much of the big policy picture has been painted. In particular, more institutions have been created to better meet demand, a demand-driven system of funding has been introduced so there is federal funding for each student place, and an income-contingent loan scheme has been provided to remove many of the upfront financial barriers to accessing university.

But finishing the picture requires a final push. Committing to a sustainable, needs-based funding of school education and harmonising the support structure for vocational and higher education would go a long way towards achieving this goal. It may be enough, but if not there is another thing that would work – quotas.

Quotas are contentious, as recent political debate shows. It’s likely the concern would be raised that quotas would ignore the very different institutional profiles that are in play. For example, a regionally based university is going to find it easier to recruit regional students than one in a CBD.

One solution would be to apply the quota at the sector level, rather than the institutional level. The government could then enforce the quotas in a number of ways. It could use performance-based funding to reward the universities doing the heavy lifting. Or it could allow the universities to virtually trade between themselves.

For example, a university with a below-average enrolment of regional students could “purchase” the excess from a university with an above-average enrolment. The students would not actually move institution, but the money would. This would mean the university with the extra enrolments would receive additional financial support to help with the costs associated with supporting these students.

 

Source of the notice: https://theconversation.com/australia-should-start-planning-for-universal-tertiary-education-110783

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Australia: School students left ignorant of Indigenous massacres, history teachers say

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Oceania/ Australia/ Source: www.theguardian.com.

Australian history teachers want to cover the history of massacres against Indigenous people during the colonial era but are squeezed for time in an already overcrowded curriculum, educators say.

On Monday, Guardian Australia launched a special report entitled The Killing Times, which details a record of state-sanctioned slaughter including mass shootings, poisonings and families driven off cliffs.

A Macquarie University senior research fellow, Kevin Lowe, said the topic was “scantily” covered in New South Wales and Queensland schools.

“It’s an issue that goes directly to the heart of the inability of the nation to come to terms with a history which they aren’t willing to own,” he told the Guardian.

“You talk to students and say, ‘When was the last massacre in Australia?’ and they are gobsmacked to realise there were massacres in Australia right through the 1920s. People say, ‘Nah, nah, nah, that can’t be true.’”

Lowe, a Gubbi Gubbi man from south-east Queensland, is a former history teacher and curriculum evaluator in NSW and Queensland. “There is the capacity for teachers to teach this stuff,” he said. “What’s missing is the narrative that goes with it.”

The History Teachers Association of Victoria executive officer, Deb Hull, said when it came to coverage of the frontier wars in classrooms, the problem wasn’t the curriculum but limited time.

“History is being squeezed out,” Hull said. “A lot of schools will say, ‘We’re all about Stem’ [Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics].’ Then everybody looks surprised when people don’t know the history of their nation.”

She said it would be possible for the massacres to be mentioned in passing but it depended on individual schools as to how they were covered.

“Teachers really want to teach this well, there’s a real desire to be part of this truth-telling,” she said. “The resistance is not coming from history teachers.”

The former prime minister John Howard railed against students being taught a “black armband view of history”, but Hull said that was inaccurate.

History teachers were rather trying to teach young people to look through a historical lens, examine evidence, weigh up its significance and consider different perspectives.

“You go into it [asking] ‘What can we know and how can we know it?’” she said. “It’s not to make them feel bad or not to make them feel good.

“One of the great dangers is when you want history teachers to teach values. That’s an utterly inappropriate thing for a history teacher to do.”

A Deakin University genocide studies scholar, Donna-Lee Frieze, said in the past 12 years she had observed a lack of prior knowledge among her students at tertiary level.

“The majority of students who come into my unit on the genocide or the Holocaust have complained they have not been taught about the Indigenous massacres or the stolen generations, in particular, during their school years,” Frieze said.

Canada is the star example of a country covering its history of genocide against its indigenous people well, Frieze said.

Sophie Rudolph, from the University of Melbourne’s graduate school of education, said it would be possible to complete 12 years of education without hearing about the massacres.

It was important to consider who was teaching the content in classrooms, she said, and how they were teaching it.

“Is it non-Indigenous people [doing the teaching] and what kind of ethical dilemmas does that raise in terms of whether that content is treated respectfully and in a way that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities would be happy with?”

Source of the notice: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/mar/05/school-students-left-ignorant-of-indigenous-massacres-history-teachers-say

 

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Australia’s education system needs transforming

Nicholas Stuart
By Nicholas Stuart. 

Labor’s education spokesperson is threatening to prevent students with a low ATAR from studying education. Exactly how Tanya Plibersek would do this and what mechanism she’d use to achieve her goal isn’t clear. After all, the whole premise of our tertiary system is that universities are independent – although there are always ways around minor issues like this for a determined autocrat.

Besides, nobody would want vice-chancellors to be forced to choose between their principles and a bucket of money; you’d be knocked over in the rush. The result would not be an academic dilemma so much as a foregone conclusion.

Not that the minister, Dan Tehan, offers us much of an alternative. He spent most of Tuesday fulminating about the need for discipline, more discipline. One almost suspects he’d bring back the cane if he had his way  …

The real surprise is that Plibersek didn’t think to simply pay teachers more money. Maybe she’s unaware this is the usual way of increasing job applications.

The other way of boosting enrolments is to offer discounts on university training or even pay people to study. That’s what we do for the military. Putting someone through the Defence Force Academy costs more than half a million, even before actual officer training.

Perhaps that’s why Labor’s reluctant to offer discounts to anyone studying education: it would create a precedent.

Nursing, for example, is another profession that would benefit from discounted degrees. But offering scholarships would distort the market, and soon you’d be making a mockery of the tertiary system Labor was so proud of creating.

Much easier just to wave a big stick.

But either we have a free-market or we don’t. The reason high-scoring students clamour to work as doctors, lawyers or (shudder) even accountants, rather than embracing the excitement of teaching, is because such jobs generally pay better and offer more prestige. And not everyone is cut out to deal with the excitement and challenge of coping with thirty tired, fractious and nettlesome teenagers between 2.30 and 3 on a cripplingly hot Friday afternoon before the final bell for the week. Addressing the shortfall of high scoring applicants might have more to do with these downstream issues than anything the universities are capable of addressing.

The saddest aspect of Pliberseck’s call for higher entry standards is, though, that it suggests she doesn’t ‘get’ what education is all about.

Its central purpose is to change people; developing their capacity and adding to their natural ability and knowledge. Pliberseck seems to be suggesting that everyone’s intelligence is fixed; set in stone and measured perfectly by the HSC.

Which leaves the entire purpose of university education as something of a mystery. Isn’t it meant to stimulate and extend students? Is everyone to be forever categorised as a low, or high, achiever simply because of a mark in year 12? Is this really what she’s suggesting?

None of this is to suggest that education in Australia couldn’t be significantly improved – it can. It’s just a pity that Labor’s now playing the easy game, focusing in on low scores, rather than coming up with creative ideas to boost the averages. It’s also highly doubtful that more regulation, or arbitrary cut-offs, will provide any solutions no matter how popular such knee-jerk, simplistic and popular positioning may prove to be. Nothing Plibersek has said is likely to boost student interest in the subject – rather the reverse.

This is a shame because there are so many easy, dramatic, and creatively productive changes that could transform education.

Take starting ages. State governments don’t yet seem to have discovered that children are born all through the year. Yes, that’s right – every month! Schools, however, only begin once during this same period. This means, inevitably, that many students haven’t achieved the right degree of maturity to begin school: they have to be pushed forward or held back. Think of how much better it would be if there were two commencements each year, just as for universities. Parents would love it! It would be good for children, so why don’t the politicians push it?

Is it really too hard and too difficult? Or are we just too lazy?

And later, in secondary school, students are told they need to master STEM subjects to understand computing. Why not just engage students imagination by introducing coding and programming as separate subjects. Mike Cannon-Brookes, the Atlassian co-founder, funds a team traveling to schools in NSW to do exactly this. He’s engaging students and stimulating them with real-world challenges. They’re responding. Why is this beyond the imagination of our politicians?

Unfortunately, curricula departments across the nation seem more concerned with polishing their current offerings instead of standing back to consider which skills might best assist students to engage as future citizens. This is understandable, but it’s not a way to embrace the sort of transformative change we need. Perhaps (and I hate to admit this) even learning about SMSF’s at school might have better helped me navigate the modern world than understanding how the steady development of the Spartan navy allowed it to eventually claim victory in the Peloponnesian War. And how about the urgent need to boost the learning foreign languages (and not necessarily Ancient Greek)?

There’s far more to worry about in our tertiary education sector than the entry scores for particular courses.

Source of the article: https://www.smh.com.au/education/australia-s-education-system-needs-transforming-20190115-p50ri6.html

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Australian teachers are ‘at the end of their tethers’ and abandoning the profession, sparking a crisis

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Oceania/ Australia/ 23.01.2019/ Source: www.news.com.au.

Australia is facing an education crisis as hordes of disillusioned and burnt-out teachers flee the profession, with potentially damaging ramifications for the whole country.

Former educators have spoken to news.com.au about the “miserable” conditions driving an estimated 40 per cent of graduates to quit within the first five years of entering the workforce.

And at the other end of the spectrum, a growing number of veterans are walking away from the job in frustration.

“By the time I walked out of that classroom on my very last day as a teacher, I didn’t feel any sadness or regret — just relief,” former teacher Sally Mackinnon, who quit after 13 years, told news.com.au.

“I was at the end of my tether. My time was up. I didn’t want to be a teacher who just didn’t give a crap and was turning up for a job. Kids deserve more than that. They deserve passion and energy. But it’s so hard to maintain that, and I wasn’t alone.”

Research and first-hand accounts of former teachers indicates a potent mix of stress, workload, parental abuse and pay are combining to push many to breaking point.

A decade since leaving, Ms Mackinnon knows of only one or two ex-colleagues who are still employed full-time, with most having left or moved to part-time hours.

“These are really good teachers,” she said. “That makes me really sad.”

Up to 40 per cent of graduate teachers quit the profession within the first five years of work, sparking a national education crisis.Source:News Limited

Adam Voigt became a school principal at just 35 after a long run as a respected teacher, but he also walked away from his dream career due to its crushing reality.

“It’s not just about paying teachers more. It’s not just about improving conditions. We’ve got to get sophisticated about how we tackle the problem to meet the entire workforce’s needs.”

A BROKEN SYSTEM

Since leaving, Mr Voigt has become an education consultant who works with individual schools to improve their culture and conditions, addressing the issues forcing teachers out.

“If you view the education workforce as a bucket and you want high-quality water in it, you can pour better quality in or you can fix the two big holes in the bottom,” Mr Voigt said.

“The first thing most would do is fix the holes, but we’re not.”

Labor this week announced a plan to raise university entrance scores for education degrees, in a bid to lift teacher quality.

While it was an “admirable” idea, Mr Voigt said it would do little on its own to help.

“Nationally, we need to have the uncomfortable conversation around pay and conditions. Tanya Plibersek wants the same level of competition to get into teaching as you find with medicine. You’ve got to pay teachers like doctors then.

“What’s the point of luring them into teaching degrees if they quit after a few years of working? It’s a waste of time and energy.

“We can’t wait until teachers are completely wrung out to deal with why they’re unhappy. We need to figure out how we’ve gotten here in the first place.”

Growing up, Ms Mackinnon loved school and adored her teachers, and always wanted to follow in her mum’s footsteps by becoming an educator.

After graduating, she went to university and then achieved her lifelong dream, which she “absolutely loved”.

“I threw myself in 100 per cent. I was dedicated and did the long hours, my life revolved around the classroom,” she said.

“But at about the 10-year mark something happened. I wasn’t sure I could continue to work as passionately as I had. It was time to move on.”

A combination of factors contributed to tear away at her spirit — the constantly growing and enormous burden of administrative tasks one of the big issues.

“I went from being able to spend most of my time dedicated to my students, planning great lessons and putting my energy into my classroom, to being taken over by meetings, paperwork and checking boxes for the sake of it,” Ms Mackinnon said.

It’s something Mr Voigt can relate to, saying the role of a principal has shifted from school leader and mentor to corporate manager.

Most of the paperwork he had to do was “pointless” box-ticking and red tape that offered little-to-no value to the school environment, he said.

“There was a study about how principals spend their time and less than one per cent was talking to teachers about students. That should be the core business of their role.

“For principals, it’s the administrative load they’re expected to carry. The sheer volume of paperwork is absolutely enormous. What you’re expected to deal with and the hours you’re expected to work are huge.

“They’re sitting in their offices forced to write reports and do admin when they should be helping teachers to become better teachers.”

Another factor that current and former teachers say is making the job a nightmare is the attitude of parents, which seems to have shifted dramatically in the past decade.

Mr Voigt said the “blame game” was becoming worse, with mums and dads expecting schools to be a single solution for every requirement.

“We wind up crowding schools with nonsense. Instead of teaching kids how to learn and to be good citizens, we teach them how to drive, how to eat, how to have manners … all of those things that take up precious time.”

The biggest losers from the teaching crisis will be Australian students — and that will have long-term ramifications for the whole country.

The biggest losers from the teaching crisis will be Australian students — and that will have long-term ramifications for the whole country.Source:istock

And when a kid gets in trouble, the teacher inevitably does too, he said.

“Thirty years ago, if you got in trouble at school then you were in trouble twice — once there and again at home,” he said.

“Now, the parent goes down to the classroom and thumps desks and complains. We’re no longer on the same page about turning these kids into good citizens. We’re arguing about who’s right.”

An assistant principal in Sydney, who asked not to be named, said educators were now focusing on how to deal with aggressive parents.

“Part of initial meetings with my new colleagues at a new school included plans to support me as I cop abuse from both parents and students.

“We (are meant to) report each incident that occurs … but many don’t because they simply don’t have time.”

Ms Mackinnon also said students and their parents began to change as she was leaving the job — something her teacher friends say only got worse with the rise of social media and smartphones.

“The perception of being a revered position has gone and it’s quite thankless,” she said.

TEACHERS ARE MISERABLE

Ms Mackinnon entered a new career as a personal stylist and started her own business in Melbourne 10 years ago, which has been a huge success.

She’s occasionally asked if she misses her former life and whether she ever considered going back one day.

“I feel sad to say it, but no, absolutely not,” Ms Mackinnon said.

“I caught up with a girlfriend recently who is still teaching and she said her job feels more like being a policewoman. She’s one of the few that still is teaching, by the way. Most of my friends have either left or gone part-time.”

Sally Mackinnon quit teaching and started a new career as a personal stylist and said she hasn’t looked back.Source:Supplied

Another former teacher, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said there was a risk of future educators “becoming so disillusioned that they don’t enter it in the first place”.

“Teaching is the most incredibly rewarding job and I’d hate to see there ever being a time when society runs out of quality teachers,” they said.

Meanwhile, the former assistant principal said he was burning out and “doing damage to myself” but, since leaving, couldn’t be happier.

“It’s mainly about the workload and level of disrespect from parents,” he said.

There was a growing awareness about the issues facing teachers — and the national consequences of the exodus from the workforce, Mr Voigt said.

It’s not just young teachers quitting — veterans at the other end are also burning out and leaving.

It’s not just young teachers quitting — veterans at the other end are also burning out and leaving.Source:Supplied

However, the conversation still has negative undertones that needed to be addressed.

“People seem to have lost trust in schools and teachers over a long period of time,” Mr Voigt said.

“The conversation is about how they should just be happy because they get to knock off at 3.30pm and they get lots of holidays. The teaching workforce isn’t soft. They’re representative of any workforce and they’re landing in awful conditions.”

CHILDREN ARE SUFFERING

The consequences of the worsening issue affect more than just parents, with Australia running the risk of an entire generation of kids receiving a sub-par education.

A report by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership warned the mass exodus of teachers would lead to “the loss of quality teaching graduates, which could in turn impact the development of a strong workforce of experienced, high-calibre teachers”.

For graduates, most enter the profession with “positive motivations to teach … and a desire to be good teachers”, the report said.

But a high workload and a lack of support cause many to become disillusioned and exit early into their careers.

Across the board, a government report in 2014 indicated that 5.7 per cent of the teaching workforce was walking away each year.

“The students will suffer,” Mr Voigt said. “They already are. We have a big problem and we need to do something.”

In a paper for the Australian Journal of Teacher Education, Shannon Mason from Griffith University said teacher attrition is “costly, both for a nation’s budget and for the social and academic outcomes of its citizens”.

And the problem would be worst-felt in non-metropolitan areas, in undesirable schools and in specific discipline areas such as senior mathematics and science, Ms Mason warned.

“The teaching profession is becoming devalued in a context of heightened pressure to perform on standardised testing, intensificration of teachers’ workloads and a broadening of the role that teachers play in the lives of their students,” she said.

Source of the notice: https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/australian-teachers-are-at-the-end-of-their-tethers-and-abandoning-the-profession-sparking-a-crisis/news-story/43c1948d6def66e0351433463d76fcda

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Why we need to take food education in Australian schools more seriously

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Oceania/ Australia/ 07.01.2018/ Source: theconversation.com.

Schools are expected to do a lot of important things. We frequently hear calls for schools to make children job-ready, help drive economic innovation, provide them with greater literacy and numeracy skills, maintain social cohesion and fairness through anti-bullying and gender equity programs, prevent obesity and promote students’ mental health. And much more. So what is happening about food in secondary schools?

The renewal of interest in food issues

In recent years, there has been a renewal of interest in food education, particularly in secondary schools. This is partly encouraged by celebrity chef television shows, the surge in obesity, growing unease about our environmental impacts, and the diverse, multicultural nature of contemporary Australian food. This range of interests is reflected in what is being taught in Australian schools.

The renewed interest is seen among various international innovations. One example is compulsory cooking programs in English and Welsh schools. These programs require students to develop an enjoyable meal repertoire consistent with the UK dietary recommendations, and sustainably source school food.

An associated venture is the Food Teachers’ Centre in London. This provides in-school professional development for food teachers.

How is food education taught in Australian secondary schools?

The current Australian curriculum splits food education into two streams: the health and physical education (HPE) stream and the design and technologies stream. Nutrition principles are taught in the HPE stream and food skills (such as cooking) are taught in the technologies stream. If a school is fortunate enough to have a year 7 or year 8 home economics course, the two streams may be combined in the one course.

The duration of food education courses in secondary schools varies a lot, from none to one or two hours a week, often for a year or less. At senior levels (years 11 and 12) elective subjects are offered in the various states and territories such as Food Technology or the new food studies curriculum in Victoria.

Research with home economics teachers in Queensland and elsewhere in Australia suggests time and resources are often inadequate for teaching the diverse knowledge and skills associated with food.

 

Aspects of food may be taught in science (such as food chemistry) or in humanities (such as cultural foods and environmental issues) or in PE. But most food education happens in home economics, and contrary to many people’s opinions, it is alive and well in many parts of Australia.

Food education takes place in preschools, primary schools and secondary schools, though in different ways and to different degrees. Programs like the kitchen garden scheme have been well received.

Many teachers deal with food, in all its aspects, across the school years. These include activities like growing food in school gardens, cooking it, analysing its nutritional properties and environmental impacts, exploring local farms, shops and food markets, taking part in BBQ or Masterchef style competitions and catering for schools and Fair Food Universities.

Research in secondary food education

A growing evidence base, mainly in the US, Canada, western Europe and Australia suggests food literacy and skills education programs lead to greater confidence in performing practical food skills, such as planning and preparing meals, interpreting food labels, basic food safety, food regulations. This, in turn, is associated with healthier dietary choices.

Australian research in this area has grown strongly over the past ten years. It has provided evidence for the establishment of several food literacy frameworks with focuses on food gatekeepers and families as well as broader environmental aspects of food systems.

Understanding how to read food labels can help people make healthier choices. from www.shutterstock.com

Recent research has shown many secondary school food teachers tend to favour practical domestic skills and associated knowledge. They express less interest in broader historic, social, environmental and ethical issues. Food and health professionals remain strongly supportive of food education – especially for acquiring practical skills – as does the general public.

Our recent work has also examined the views of parents and recent school leavers who live independently. Although they hold a broad spectrum of opinions, around two thirds see food education as an important life skills subject. Most think it should be compulsory for between one and three hours per week in each of years 7 to 10. These views contrast sharply with the priorities of most secondary schools.

Current and future challenges

Food education in Australian secondary schools is now facing several challenges. These challenges are related to changes in population health status, changing food patterns, food technologies, food and beverage marketing and environmental impacts.

The fundamental question is: Does it meet the present and future life needs of students and their families? At present, food education tends to be patchy, with some emphasis on students’ acquisition of food preparation skills but lesser coverage of environmental and social issues, marketing practices or family dynamics.

Possible solutions include providing more intensive education about food in university teacher education programs and continuing professional education for food teachers. These teachers also need more adequate timetable allocations and resources.

A comprehensive food education framework from pre-school to senior secondary school is required to prevent repetition and reinforce skills learned in the early years. This has begun in the UK and in the RefreshED program in Western Australia. A more focused curriculum across all years of education is required. This should be accompanied by continuing evaluation of the impact of food education on students, their families and the wider population.

Source of the notice: https://theconversation.com/why-we-need-to-take-food-education-in-australian-schools-more-seriously-106849

 

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Australia: Student protests show Australian education does get some things righ

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Oceania/ Australia/ 10.11.2018/ Source: theconversation.com.

Australia’s education system often suffers a barrage of criticism – claims of stagnant or declining NAPLAN results, slippage in international comparisons and rankings, and an irrelevant curriculum, tend to draw the attention of politicians, the media, and the Australian public.

It’s not often we are able to celebrate what’s right in Australia’s education system. But yesterday’s student presence at Parliament house and Friday’s protests where more than 15,OOO Australian students skipped class to demand greater action on climate change should be cause for celebration.

Far from being concerned about an afternoon off school, parents should feel satisfied schools and teachers are doing their job. Participation in these protests meets many of the key goals of our current education system, including students’ capacity to engage in, and strengthen, democracy. Rather than proof of a flawed education system, politically active and engaged students are evidence many aspects of our education system are working well.

Students want action on climate change

Protests called out the federal government’s lack of action on climate change during the protests. Wednesday’s parliament house rally specifically targeted the Adani coal mine project. Students were also seeking an audience with the prime minister to have their concerns heard.

The government’s response to these protests has been, at best, dismissive. Students’ actions have not been recognised as a genuine attempt to engage in robust democratic debate about climate change. Before Friday’s walk-out, Scott Morrison relegated students to the confines of their classrooms, “what we want”, he argued, “is more learning in schools and less activism”.

The students are right: activism is learning. Lukas Coch/AAP

Other members of government have been equally off-hand. Senator James McGrath was more concerned with a spelling error on a single student’s placard than the basis of their grievance. Resources minister Matt Canavan deemed protests as nothing more than a quick ticket “to the dole queue”.

The government’s response is both misinformed and misdirected. Beyond the obvious lack of recognition of political protest as a fundamental pillar of democracy, and means to political change, it also demonstrates a lack of recognition of the goals of Australian schooling, as outlined in our Melbourne Declaration.

The Melbourne Declaration and the role of education

The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australiansis a document signed by all Australian education ministers which outlines the mandated knowledge, skills and values of schooling for the period 2009-2018. The declaration is a national road map for education and a statement of intent by both federal and state governments, across partisan lines.

The declaration outlines two key goals:

  1. Australian schooling promotes both equity and excellence
  2. all young Australians become: successful learners, confident and creative individuals, and active and informed citizens

It’s the first goal that gathers public attention as excellence and equity, in the form of measurable academic outcomes, dominates public discussion (think NAPLAN, My School, and PISA). More often than not, we’re told it’s here we’re getting things wrong.

In the second goal, the declaration attends to the broad purpose and significance of education. That is, the democratic purpose of education, as an avenue for students’ successful participation in civil society. If events of the last week are anything to go by, our students are all over goal two.

Students at a rally demanding action on climate change in Sydney, Friday, November 30, 2018. Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Sustainability is a stated priority in the Australian curriculum. Beyond understanding sustainable patterns of living and impacts of climate change, students are expected to develop skills to inform and persuade others to take action. Through these protests, relevant sections of the Melbourne Declaration read like a tick-list of student achievement. Students have demonstrated:

  • the ability to think deeply and logically, and obtain and evaluate evidence
  • creativity, innovation, and resourcefulness
  • the ability to to plan activities independently, collaborate, work in teams and communicate ideas
  • enterprise and initiative to use their creative abilities
  • preparation for their roles as community members
  • the ability to embrace opportunities and make rational and informed decisions about their own lives
  • a commitment to participate in Australia’s civic life
  • ability to work for the common good, to sustain and improve natural and social environments
  • their place as responsible global and local citizens.

The Melbourne Declaration is a recognition that education is more than a classroom test and more than measurable results. This is not to suggest the much lauded 3R’s (reading, writing and arithmetic) are not important in education – they are. Rather, it’s an understanding that education and learning is also, and importantly, social, and sometimes immeasurable in nature and practice.

Australian students’ activities over the past week evidence their knowledge and capabilities in an education system valuing both economic and democratic functions of education.

Rather than dismiss students’ actions as ill-informed or misdirected, or deny their capacity to effectively participate in democratic processes, we should recognise their learning and achievements. Let’s celebrate this achievement in Australian education, and encourage their capacity as active and informed citizens within our democracy.

Australian students understand progress happens when individuals join together to demand change. Politicians, take heed.

Source of the notice: http://theconversation.com/student-protests-show-australian-education-does-get-some-things-right-108258

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