Australian education

Oceania/ Australia/ 14.01.2020/ Source: www.timeshighereducation.com.

Australia’s international education representative body is vowing to curb its carbon emissions, as the bushfire emergency elevates climate consciousness across the scorched country.

The International Education Association of Australia is developing a carbon neutral policy to mitigate the climate impacts of globetrotting education leaders. Meanwhile the leading university body is joining education minister Dan Tehan’s crisis meeting on the bushfires.

Mr Tehan said Prime Minister Scott Morrison had asked him to call the meeting of the sector’s representatives “to hear first-hand how the bushfires have impacted education, and how our government can help”.

The summit, scheduled for 15 January, echoes similar forums of key players in other sectors. It will focus primarily on schools and childcare centres, where the summer break ends much earlier than at universities.

But Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson said the meeting offered an opportunity to thrash out how her members could continue supporting affected communities.

“University expertise is being deployed to help the community make sense of the crisis, across almost every aspect,” she said.

Ms Jackson highlighted the need for clear communication with international students during the crisis. She said students heading for Australia should contact their prospective universities if they had queries or concerns, while those already in the country should “reach out to university support services if they feel distressed or anxious”.

The support has not all been one-way, with international students among those contributing to the relief effort. International media has carried a story about Mark Yeong, a Singaporean student at the University of Sydney who joined a volunteer firefighting brigade.

International education representatives from Australia’s eight states and territories are also putting together a joint statement on the bushfire emergency, in collaboration with the education and trade departments and IEAA.

Its primary focus is ensuring the safety of current and incoming foreign students, in line with provisions outlined in a “collaborative marketing framework” developed a year ago by the Council for International Education, which is convened by IEAA chief executive Phil Honeywood.

The provisions are designed to coordinate the sector’s responses to critical incidents, and to ensure that jurisdictions do not profit from each other’s misfortunes in situations like the bushfire crisis.

Mr Honeywood said the disaster had also presented an “appropriate time to have a comprehensive look at the carbon footprint situation and to lead by example”. He said that given their considerable domestic and overseas travel, international education representatives needed to find ways to alleviate the climate impact.

This included encouraging webinars and teleconferences as an alternative to international travel. When flying became unavoidable, education representatives should support measures offered by airlines to mitigate the carbon footprint, such as paying for trees to be planted.

He said the industry should also look at ways of reducing the far greater carbon footprint generated by the international travel of students themselves. An obvious measure was to put more resources into branch campuses rather than focusing on onshore recruitment.

“Australia has not been very good on transnational education,” he said. “Surely it’s part of our mission as a sector to be more accessible to the largest number of students possible…to provide world class education in countries where it’s not readily available.”

He said the policy was expected to be approved by the end of February.

Source of the notice: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/australian-education-bodies-take-action-bushfires-still-rage

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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:

Australian schooling promotes both equity and excellence
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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