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SECONDARY EDUCATION IN TASMANIA

- A review for the Education Department by the Committee on Secondary Education

EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF TASMANIA HOBART MARCH 1977 SECONDARY EDUCATION IN TASMANIA

review for the Education Department by the Committee on Secondary Education.

Education. Department of Tasmania Hobart March 1977. (iii)

Statement by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth after she had opened Bridgewater High School, 15 March, 1977:

The best investment a nation can make for the years to come is therefore in education provided it is in the -right sort. And more than anything else that means having good teachers liAAt and then good buildings and equipment. I have been much encouraged by what I have seen today. The high school is evidence of Tasmania's concern to pro­ vide just this sort of education and the young people we have met give me much confidence. (v)

MEMBERSHIP OF THE COMMITTEE

J.G. Scott, Director of Schools and Colleges, Chairman N.L. Behrens, Principal Education Officer (Services) Secretary N.H. Campbell, Director of Services R.F. Chapman, President, Tasmanian Teachers Federation T.H. Childs, Principal, Riverside High School N.J. Foxcroft, Senior Mistress, Rose Bay High School B.J. Freezer, Senior Lecturer, Tasmanian College of Advanced Education (Mt. Nelson) D.E. Henning, Teacher, Clarence High School M.P. Howard, Senior Mistress, Kingston High School T.C. Johnson, Principal, Campbell Town District School J.P. Kelly, Supervisor of Mathematics J.G. Maddison, Teacher, Wentworth Special School H.J. Shea, Principal, Warrane High School CB. Ward, Superintendent, Northern Region (vii)

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER 1, THE SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL SETTING 1.1 EDUCATION AND THE SOCIAL CONTEXT 3 Key themes in considering the social context 3 Changing social situations 5 Some implications for education 9 1.2 ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT AND SCHOOLING .... 11 Physical development and personality ... 11 Dependence and independence 13 The search for identity 14 The adolescent and his peers 15 1.3 THE PURPOSES OF SECONDARY EDUCATION 16 Purposes arising from politically-based social change 17 Purposes arising from changed educational thinking 19 1.4 CURRICULUM PLANNING AND EVALUATION 23

CHAPTER 2. NEW CONCERNS AND ORIENTATIONS 2.1 THE SCHOOL AND THE OUTSIDE WORLD 3 0 The relationship between schools and the Education Department 33 The role of the individual parent 36 Community participation in secondary schools 38 Using the resources of the community ... 41 2.2 THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT AND OTHER AUTHORITIES 44 2.3 EDUCATION AND DISADVANTAGE 4 6 Disadvantage and the school 46 Socially disadvantaged children 51 Country children 52 Girls 57 2.4 THE TRANSITION FROM SCHOOLING TO WORK .... 59 The nature of the problem 59 The. relationship between schooling and work 59 Present problems with transition 60 The effect of a changing occupational structure 61 (viii)

CHAPTER 2. NEW CONCERNS AND ORIENTATIONS (Cont.) Unemployment among young people 62 The particular problems of early school-leavers 63 Initiatives in the area of schooling and work 65 Recurrent education 69 CHAPTER 3, THE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM 3.1 TEACHING AND LEARNING 78 3.2 GUIDELINES FOR A BALANCED CURRICULUM ... 82 A new method of achieving curriculum balance 82 Guidelines on curriculum areas 83 Learning outcomes 86 3.3 SOME GENERAL CURRICULUM QUESTIONS 88 The reconciliation of general and pre-vocational education 88 Assessment of skills in expression and calculation 93 Misunderstandings between parents and teachers about teaching and learning . 94 Choice and diversity in the program ... 95 3.4 ISSUES RELATED TO PARTICULAR AREAS IN THE CURRICULUM 96 Language and literacy 96 Foreign languages 104 Numeracy 106 Environmental education and other special interests 109 Education through the Arts 110 Teaching about moral and ethical issues 112 3.5 THE EVALUATION OF SCHOOLS AND STUDENTS . . 116 Self-evaluation by secondary schools . . 116 Monitoring standards of achievement . . . 118 The assessment of students 119 Moderation and certification 121

CHAPTER 4. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL 4.1 INTRODUCTION: SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND STUDENT INVOLVEMENT 130 4.2 SIZE OF SCHOOLS 133 4.3 RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TEACHER AND STUDENT 137 (ix)

CHAPTER 4. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL (Cont.) 4.4 AUTHORITY AND STUDENT BEHAVIOUR 14 0 School rules and discipline 140 The use of punishment in secondary schools 142 The problem of severely deviant children 145 4.5 PROVISIONS FOR PASTORAL CARE 145 4.6 THE GROUPING OF STUDENTS 149 4.7 EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN 153 4.8 DECISION-MAKING BY STUDENTS 161 Provision for student choice 161 Student participation in the school organization 163 4.9 SCHOOL MANAGEMENT, DECISION-MAKING AND ORGANIZATION OF STAFF 166 Management and decision-making in Tasmanian schools 166 The leadership function of the principal 168 The processes of participant decision­ making 171 The involvement of the senior staff and the whole staff 173 The organization of staff 175

CHAPTER 5. RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS 5.1 TEACHER EDUCATION AND TEACHER DEVELOPMENT . 18 5 Pre-service education 185 In-service education 187 The special needs of beginning teachers . 191 5.2 SPECIAL SUPPORT FOR NEW SCHOOLS 192 5.3 LIBRARIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION 194 5.4 SUPPORT SERVICES FOR SCHOOLS 197 5.5 RESOURCES FOR CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT ... 200

CHAPTER 6. RECOMMENDATIONS 2 09 Acknowledgements 240 - 1 - INTRODUCTION

This report on secondary education in Tasmania has been produced by a Committee set up by Mr. A.V. Gough, the Director-General of Education, in February 1976. Along with many other educators throughout the world, the Director-General considered that the early secondary years were most in need of review to assist future policy-making. As indicated by the terms of reference, he favoured a study focusing on school organization and the educational program: The Committee is to undertake an examination of secondary education in Tasmanian high schools and district schools. In carrying out this role the Committee is to consider existing provisions and desirable lines of future development with particular reference to the educational program and the organisation of secon­ dary schools.

A committee of fourteen people directly concerned with secondary education was appointed and began the Survey of Secondary Education which provided an invalu­ able source of knowledge on secondary-school practice in 1976. A grant of $5,500 from the Curriculum Devel­ opment Centre enabled the Committee to engage three interstate consultants who worked with principals and teachers in secondary schools to produce reports for the Committee (and also for the Curriculum Development Centre) on desirable developments in the next decade. Written and oral submissions by groups and individuals, both from within the education profession and from the community, provided further valuable evidence to the Committee.

The report is the work of a committed group which sat for 120 hours in full meetings and approximately 200 hours in sub-committee meetings, to say nothing of individual efforts in research and editorial tasks. This group was splendidly supported by three seconded principals who worked in the schools while the Survey of Secondary Education was being completed, by those in schools who provided time and information and by many inside and outside the Education Department who prepared papers for the Committee.

As the report developed it became clear that al­ though the report had been requested by the Director- General of Education, its major audience would be those who work in Tasmanian secondary schools. If the review - 2 - does not reach that audience in a significant way in the next decade, it will have failed. The Committee will be surprised if this happens since, throughout the review, extensive use has been made of the recent ex­ periences of schools.

The core of the Report is the two chapters dealing with the educational program and the organization of schools (chapters 3 and 4). The major emphasis of the Committee come out most clearly in these two chapters: * As indicated in the Survey of Secondary Edu­ cation schools do seek guidelines and support from the Education Department. The Report en­ deavours to provide these guidelines and to identify areas that need support by the system. * Educational programs are about aiming for excellence in all kinds of human potential; the Report suggests paths which it hopes will lead to quality in secondary education and an in­ creased level of student involvement in their school experience. * Learning is closely associated with human re­ lationships; the report suggests ways of organizing schools and setting-up learning situations which support the development of good relationships between all those in schools.

The Committee has responded to what it sees to be the wishes of schools by defining the limits of school autonomy. This has. been done to guide school staffs in shaping their own philosophies to purposeful education programs, in establishing school organizations sympa­ thetic to those programs, and in developing self-evalu­ ation procedures which enable them to make an on-going review of their activity.

This particular review of secondary education is timely in that the Tasmanian Education - Next Decade Committee has just begun a major review of education (from Kindergarten to Year 12) in Tasmania and plans to present a report during 1977. The secondary report will provide important material for consideration by the T.E.N.D. Committee.

The Committee formally acknowledges the generous assistance and co-operation it has received from the Curriculum Development Centre, the Education Department of Tasmania and those many individuals who showed their interest in the future of our students.

J.G. Scott, CHAIRMAN COMMITTEE ON SECONDARY EDUCATION. - 3 - CHAPTER 1 THE SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL SETTING

1.1 EDUCATION AND THE SOCIAL CONTEXT At the present time the face of the world is being trans­ formed by a new technology and the world is changing so­ cially and culturally. Torsten Husen has described our present situation as one of "accelerating change" (1) and we accept that an urgent task for educators is to examine our society and the changes that are taking place in order to identify those purposes and provisions in schools which have a continuing validity and to recog­ nize the "signs of the times" by building new structures and developing in new directions. In discussing these developments the Committee does not wish to attempt an in-depth sociological analysis of our society but to identify and discuss significant trends that have influ­ enced its thinking about Tasmanian secondary education. In some respects the State of Tasmania has distinc­ tive characteristics: it is a small community (in 1976, 405,000) which is to some extent isolated from the rest of Australia and insular in character. The life-style is different and the pace of life slower than in the large urban centres of Australia. Nevertheless Tasmania will not be exempt from social trends that are evident in Western democratic societies generally and, in think­ ing about future patterns in secondary education, it is necessary to take these trends into account.

Key themes in considering the social context The Committee believes in a social and economic order which will support all members of society and enable them to achieve their proper dignity. It looks for a society established on the basis of social justice: it is not that all differences in income or educational attainment will disappear but that inequalities should not derive from circumstances of social position or place of living. One of the questions which needs to be considered is the extent to which these inequalities can be removed by practical reforms in work situations or in the educational system or whether they need changes in the social and economic structures of our society.(2) The Committee recognizes that changes of the sort that have been described in the previous paragraph have inevitably called into question values that were formerly accepted generally. In modern society we can point to a loss of certainty in traditional forms and assumptions and to a questioning of some structures and authorities - 4 - in society. We most often consider these tendencies in relation to moral and religious values and a significant phenomenon in the present century has been the decline, in Western societies, of adherence to organized religion. But our society is also one which values affluence, com­ petitiveness and materialism and these are equally being called into question and are challenged as adequate foundations on which a society can be built. Our society is one which accepts that its different members will hold a diversity of values but one of the "signs of the times" is a questioning of a material and exploitative set of values in favour of an emphasis on a caring relationship between people and the development of communities which allow for personal development.(3) One does not need to drop-out from the technological society to be concerned that:

Western culture lacks the shaping force of an ideal...., or if it has an ideal, it is an orthodox 'knowledge ethic' which is.... (unable) to gain acceptance among the majority of those we educate. (4) The Committee believes that social units should be sufficiently small to facilitate the development of good relationships between participants. In a modern society it is necessary for us to work in or respond to large organizations and to deal with forces beyond the capacity of an individual to control. (5) Many individuals find it difficult to view their own contribution in perspective or, indeed, to define their own identities.(6) The Com­ mitee recognizes the value of individuality but also sees the importance of self-identity and self-esteem, and is conscious of strains on the individual in modern society. In referring to the transformed status of adult education a recent O.E.C.D. article suggested that: For the modern adult, to live is to face the fre­ quent necessity of adjusting to new pressures; if an adult cannot learn how to adjust, he may be left materially and psychologically stranded. (7) As expressed in the school in society Report "the prob­ lem, which is of tremendous significance to the school... becomes how to fashion a way of life such that security, identity and individuality can be retained in an increas­ ingly organized society."(8) As educators we need to be aware of the pressures on young people, causing anxiety in some about their future and the purpose of their life. The present trend in society seems to be for large organizations to occupy an ever larger place. In the longer-term, however, rapid change in society may re­ quire bureaucracies to make adjustments that they are too rigid to achieve.(9) At present three lines of development can be identified. One is the attempt to provide increased support for individuals within organ­ izations, indicated at one level by the notion of in­ dustrial democracy. A second line of development is that new forms of work organization may evolve which will enable the development of smaller organizations pro­ viding more fully for the needs of society and the individual. At the same time it should be recognized that many individuals, particularly young people, reject authoritarian situations and attempt to avoid conforming to the demands of organizations(10) These lines of development have implications for educational organizations, some of which will be explored later in the report.(11)

In one important respect Tasmania is in a fortu­ nate position. During the present century many coun­ tries have experienced a rapid urbanization with an associated loss of community and a gradual decay of rural centres. Indeed E.F. Schumacher, in his book Small is Beautiful, suggests that:

"The all-pervading disease of the modern world is the total inbalance between city and country­ side, and inbalance in terms of wealth, power, culture, attraction and hope... To restore a proper balance between city and rural life is perhaps the greatest task in front of the mod­ ern world."(12)

Australia as a whole is highly urbanized but in Tasmania there is a balance between city, town and country.(13) Whereas in other places there is a need for a reversal of trends to greater centralization and urbanism, in Tasmania the need is to maintain the pre­ sent balance. Its problems are not connected with the attractiveness of the community but with the need to secure a sound economic future, to reduce the pre­ sent loss of young people to larger states and to tackle the existing disadvantages of country children effectively.

Changing social situations From the standpoint of the key themes which have been described the Committee has referred to the follow­ ing areas of change in society. (a) Communication technology and the growth of information. Any consideration of education at the present time needs to recognize the extensive technol­ ogical developments which have taken place in this century and the.ever-increasing rate of growth in information. In this context it is necessary to emphasize the impact of the media and new forms of communications on education. - 6 -

In the school in society Report major issues concerning the media were considered.(14) The existence of an 'instant world society(15) the need for discrimination in coping with a massive input of impressions, and the poten­ tial value of the media were described. We have already reached a situation where much of the knowledge that previously had to be gained in formal ways is now obtained from an information-rich world outside the classroom. The media, and particularly television, are important in the development of attitudes and values and form one of the major influences on young people in our society.

(b) Reaction against a technological society An increasing number of individuals have adopted life-styles rejecting a stratified and materialistic society in favour of one based on placing an increased value on living in a community and a consistency with "human­ ity's place in the biosphere."(16) More gen­ erally there has been a reaction against science and technology that is linked with a perceived threat to the environment and to the planet itself. Schumacher, for example, suggests that: Technology recognizes no self-limiting principle... It therefore does not possess the virtues of being self- balancing, self-adjusting, and self- cleansing... In the subtle system of nature, technology, and in particular the super technology of the modern world, acts like a foreign body, and there are now numerous signs of rejec­ tion. (17) Concern about the problems and dangers resul­ ting from the advance of technology are widely voiced. What may be brought into question is the assumption that more and "better" technol­ ogy will cure the ills technology has created (18).

(c) A changing role for women and the family In recent years there has been a reconsidera­ tion of the role that women should play in so­ ciety. Now there would seem to be a general acceptance that women should be equal partici­ pants in whatever field of activity they en- - 7 - gage in. An increasing proportion of married women has come into the labour force with, in some cases, resultant tensions between home and work roles. At the same time social changes have placed pressures on the family and there have been changes in the functions exercised by the family. Families are smaller and perform fewer activities in common while many tasks formerly carried out by the family are now considered appropriate to the school.(19) We can point to widespread family breakdown with consequent effects on the young. Yet the family is a remarkably resilient social phenomenon and every piece of research in this field would point to the great importance of the family in the determination of the life- chances of its members. In a world where in­ dividuals are subject to greater pressures and have to cope with large organizations, the family would seem to have an enhanced role to play in giving support for all its members.

(d) Growth of a young culture In our society "adolescence" is a clear stage in life "produced by a delay in the assump­ tion of adult roles."(20) Fostered by modern media and by affluence, the distinctiveness of "youth" as an element distinct and even segregated from other groups in society has been encouraged. In part this has been de­ liberately sought for economic ends, with a consequent demand for goods that appeal par­ ticularly to adolescents and take advantage of their affluence. This pressure to con­ sume, to conform to the image of the teenager that has been created, causes tension because most adolescents remain financially dependent on their parents, especially with the exten­ sion of the period of formal education. Reference has already been made to the rejec­ tion by youth of many of the values and pre­ occupations of their elders: we can speak of a "youth revolt" but also recognize that this is in considerable measure an idealistic re­ sponse to the hypocrisy and materialism of their elders. Of particular concern to the Committee has been the development of struc­ tural unemployment which impinges most strong­ ly on young people. A consequence of this is that many young people feel locked-out of se­ quences leading to success and to a place in soc iety. - 8 -

(e) Changes in the world of work Due to technological innovation and, spec­ ifically, mechanisation and automation, employment is changing in nature. Important structural change has taken place in the labour force, with a movement away from farm jobs and manufacturing and a rapid growth in service industries. In Tasmania, as in other places, the demand for workers in unskilled and semi-skilled jobs is diminishing while thatfor white-collar workers is increasing. In the future a fixed commitment to a single vocation will be less common than today so that in the normal course of a working life an individual is likely to engage in retrain­ ing. Movement to a different occupational sector altogether is already becoming nece­ ssary. This means that the individual will need to be willing to periodically undertake retraining or, in the case of the professions, to accept the need for continued learning.(21)

As the School in Society Report indicated, one of the consequences of these changes is that it will no longer be possible at school to ac­ quire the job-skills that will last a life­ time. (22) In this respect the school in society Report suggested that"education must provide a basis upon which the skills can be developed, rather than teach the skills themselves." (23) Perhaps the point most necessary to stress is that individuals need to obtain an education which will help them to be adaptable and re­ sponsible, precisely so that the changing requirements of employment can be fulfilled. (24) The changes that have been referred to in this discussion have major implications for young people in the years after they leave school. Young people sometimes feel their fate is in the hands of experts and distant bureaucrats, they feel reluctant to enter jobs that they consider'degrading and they are subject to structural unemployment that lies outside their control. The Committee is concerned about this present-day situation and will take it up in the body of its report.(25)

(f) Leisure On present trends our society is likely to become more affluent while at the same time the hours spent in paid work may decrease, though more slowly than has frequently been suggested. - 9 -

To take up the sustaining role of the family referred to previously it can be suggested that, in the future, families will have in­ creased opportunities to engage in leisure time activities. In the future it can be suggested that the role of educational in­ stitutions will become wider: to provide education for leisure and the recurrent ed­ ucation demanded by changes in society and the labour force. Work and leisure are not totally separate compartments of life and there is an important need for policies and initiatives that reflect their interdependence. (26).

Some implications for education The Committee has referred above to many ways in which individuals and groups in society are responding to changes in society. However, it wishes to draw- particular attention to the following educational im­ plications . 1. In the immediate future there is considerable economic uncertainty and in the longer-term future there is doubt about the continuance of economic life as it has been developing over the last 150 years. Schools are rightly concerned at the present time with the prob­ lem of unemployment among young people and with the danger that individuals will lose in self-esteem and human dignity as a result. In the long term we can suggest that less of the worth that an individual gives to him­ self should be derived from work, and accept that this has important implications for what we convey to students about their future. In the short-term, however, we need to give support to those who are unemployed. 2. All that has been said about changes in the nature of working life, about the need to reduce inequality and seek social justice and about the demand of society for more flexible and adaptable individuals leads to the conclusion that people will need to accept a greater measure of self-control and responsibility over their own futures and be able to take initiatives themselves. (27) In the area of work and leisure it is not enough "to make available opportunities for rewarding work and for the various kinds of leisure that complement rewarding work."(28) It is not enough to create alternatives to - 10 - continued formal education for older adol­ escents. As well, it is necessary to help students develop the ability to identify alternatives and make choices so they will be able to take advantage of these oppor­ tunities. In respect to achieving social justice, it was suggested to the Poverty Inquiry that: Inherited status or the accidents of place of residence should not affect the opportunities of children to attain a given level of education, to enter the field of work they prefer or to choose a life-style in accordance with their own values.(29) Consequently, in the secondary school, choices affecting later chances in life should be deferred for as long as possible and schools must be flexible enough to allow students to revise their choices at a later stage. As educators, one of our main purposes must be to educate people so that they have the capacity to make choices, especially those that affect their later educational oppor­ tunities and their entry to working careers. Many of the forces that have been described lead to the conclusion that education, though not necessarily formal educational institu­ tions, will have an enhanced importance in the future. Husen has used the term "the learning society" to describe the society that will be required in the future. We have already drawn atten­ tion to the enlarged role for education in terms of leisure and recurrent education. Husen suggests that increasingly society will confer status less on the basis of passed-on social background or inherited wealth and more on the basis of ability and education with individuals having more equal opportuni­ ties to attain this status.(30) An immediate policy conclusion deriving from this belief is that, if lack of educational qualifications is a cause of inequality, those who left school at an early age "must be given the opportunity to make up lost ground at appro­ priate periods during their adult lives."(31) Eut more generally, in a world transformed by the knowledge explosion and by new ways of getting information, education provision will become more diversified and less concen­ trated in formal institutions. Certainly the - 11 -

trends point to the need for educational institutions to be responsive to a rapidly changing society, flexible in their programs and sensitive to the needs of individuals.

1.2 ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT AND SCHOOLING In the brief overview that follows, it is not the Committee's intention to examine in depth all facets of adolescent development but to select several im­ portant ideas, the implications of which are taken up later in the report.(32) In considering this subject: The first thing which must be understood is that secondary students are not the same as primary school children. They have crossed the threshold into adolescence. This means that they are be­ coming conscious of their own selfhood and be­ ginning to ask the identity questions: Who am I? How do other people see me? Am I what I believe myself to be or am I what others see? (33) Although it is impossible to tie a stage of de­ velopment to a particular age or year-group for all students, for the purpose of this summary adolescence is considered as two distinct but merging phases. Early adolescence, the period from about two years before puberty until about a year after puberty is a period of instability and anxiety "....with psy­ chological change, emotional disturbance, rebellion against authority, loss of identity and consequent insecurity; later adolescence when autonomous ident­ ity is established, capacity for abstract thought develops, when personal and social relationships become essential, when idealism, often unrealistic is rampant, but when also adult status is near and the future important.(34)

Physical Development and Personality The actual physical changes taking place during adolescence are well known but too often, while the attendant emotional and behavioural patterns are ack­ nowledged, their implications are not. For many adolescents the physiological changes in puberty may be embarassing and psychologically up­ setting and become manifest in a lack of confidence while the adolescent seeks an image of his ov/n iden­ tity. In the educational context, some pupils pass the whole stage of early adolescence with little dif­ ficulty while others may 'lose' up to two years in it. - 12

This loss is caused by variations in the individual's behaviour patterns causing him during some periods to concentrate and attain well in school while other periods are characterized by lack of concentration, withdrawal or aggressive behaviour. An individual approach to learning would seem to be the most appropriate method during this period, rather than one in which a group of students are expected to advance through knowledge in orderly ranks. The erratic behaviour observed in many ad­ olescents indicates the undesirability of the school, parents or students making significant educational choices which would mean the student being locked into an educational sequence with obvious repercus­ sions for the student's subsequent life chances. Such decisions should be left until the period of late adolescence when "...much of the disturbance of early adolescence is markedly diminished, sexu­ ality and emotional development have to some extent been assimilated, and blind rebellion from childhood replaced by more critical appraisal of adult behav­ iour."(35) It is clear that adolescents in the early phase need help to express their tensions, confusions and pent-up feelings, a role that to some extent can be fulfilled by the school. Creative and expressive activity, whether physical, practical or 'aesthetic' should have a central place in the curriculum. The opportunities that drama provides in allowing stu­ dents to play out problems that cannot be expressed directly should be considered in designing suitable educational programmes for young adolescents.

After the disruptions of early adolescence diminish, a noticeable cognitive development takes place amongst adolescents. This is indicated by a development in the capacity for abstract learning and a delight in using it. Obviously, individual capacities must be carefully observed and acknow­ ledged here but in general terms "...the new found intellectual capacity for abstract reasoning should be utilised by devising a curriculum which encourages speculative as well as analytical intellectual pro­ cesses. "(36) It xvould be inappropriate, therefore, to give an undue place to exercises in set problems or memorising factual knowledge but to emphasize a consideration of "human" problems and imaginative ideas. - 13 -

Dependence and independence The physiological maturing normally completed by the end of early adolescence is accompanied by a drive to leave behind the dependency of childhood, and later by a desire to be adult which continues through to the end of adolescence. Though the se­ quential stages of becoming adult are generally the same in different social classes, the timing can vary. In lower status socio-economic groups the pressures are on the side of rapid maturing and the early assumption of adult roles, including that of being self-supporting through entry to the world of work.

Because of the drive to leave behind the de­ pendency of childhood there is a feeling of ambiva­ lence and uncertainty among adolescents who are not sure whether to act like children or adults. They may manifest this uncertainty by challenges to the authority of parents and other authority figures such as teachers. Students may bring a feeling of rebellion from an incident in their home and certain teacher behaviours may aggravate the position. Teachers need to be sensitive to the real nature of such behaviour. The ambivalence was shown in the research carried out for the Committee on the sub­ ject of student choice where students wanted more freedom to make choices of their own but also wanted more support from both teachers and parents about the important decisions they had to make. (37)

In secondary schools it is inevitable that adol­ escents will feel resentful of adult status and the authority of the teachers. Students will react in different ways. A few will show open hostility or seek to ingratiate themselves with the teacher but, as suggested by Pusey, many more will seek to "re­ main as faceless as possible" and limit the extent to which they will personally involve themselves in the educational process. (38)

In their attempts to become adult, adolescents de­ mand privileges but view the attendant responsibilities as onerous because they are being imposed by adults. Parents need to be sensitive to the need of "letting- go" from an authority appropriate to the earlier stage of childhood. At the same time teachers should mean it when they invite adolescents to make their own decisions and should not "feel betrayed or snatch back the free- 14 dom if the decision is not the one they would have made" (39) Many adolescents experience a fear of not achieving goals or what is expected of them by their peers or adults so, although they want independence, there is often secret relief when adults add the weight of their authority for or against a particular line of action. Therefore they need a sense of security that comes from knowing that their inadequacies v/ill be tol­ erated, at least by adults, if they are revealed. The school can best meet the needs indicated above by imposing as few rules as possible while insisting that these are kept by making known the reason for rules and their necessity for corporate living; by giving some responsibility to students for their own behaviour, without expecting too much success too soon; and by humanising relationships between teacher and student.

The search for identity The central theme of adolescence is the search for identity, of finding a sense of self in relation to the world at large. Simply becoming aware of new potenti­ alities can be unsettling and adolescence is a time of painful sensitivity and insecurity. Finding an identity is as much a matter of constructing an identity as of discovering who one already is and the adolescent often tries on ready-made identities to see how well they suit. Few adolescents feel really in control and, to disguise this, they learn to rationalize their behaviour, for ex­ ample by reference to what "everyone" is doing. At this time, contacts with adults of all ages and backgrounds are essential for the development of ident­ ity and the establishment of personal ethical codes. These are based on adult models and need to be practised among adults. It is thus particularly necessary during this period for teachers to behave as normal human adults of equal status, though greater experience, and for either the human resources of the community to be brought into the school or for students to go out to use them.(40)

Underneath the superficial manifestations of fads and role-playing a thread of idealism runs through much of the behaviour of the adolescent. In early adolesc­ ence, idealism comes from wanting to enjoy new-found powers in a freedom uncontaminated by the practical de­ mands of life. The young adolescent tends to view him­ self as pure spirit and as long as he can hold on to this view he can keep going, often on a high plane. Teachers need to be able to recognise the high points of this idealism and capitalise on it. But when, in re­ sponse to some minor personal setback, at home or at school, the adolescent feels alone and helpless, he be­ comes prone to depression. Teachers need to be con­ scious of this and should not see challenging or sullen - 15 - behaviour as directed against them personally. As soon as teachers react this way the 'blame' becomes trans­ ferred to the teacher and the student feels exonerated from responsibility for his own actions.

The adolescent and his peers The adolescent is concerned about status with im­ mediate peers and strives to be as little different from them as possible. The feeling of being part of a family that exists in childhood cannot immediately be replaced and security is found in the peer group which becomes a most influential factor in determining attitudes. The dependence of the adolescent on peer- group standards is compelling, and it is expecting too much to say that young people should have sufficient moral character to resist group pressure. It is only in late adolescence that some young people define ab­ stract standards against which to measure their own be­ haviour . Adolescents are subject to group pressure in two different ways. On the one hand, there is pressure to behave in ways that are seen to be characteristic of adults and on the other there are pressures not to be­ have in the ways the adults expect. In many respects the latter is more significant for schools. Some re­ search indicates that peer-group pressures discourage the valuing and pursuit of academic interests, lead to many students either significantly over or under­ achieving and tend to make students achieve only when their peers provide support for the effort. The desire of the adolescent to avoid appearing very different from his peers is a tendency that teachers need to recognize. The importance of the peer group at this age gives schools a chance, not at present very much taken, to develop group activities within the curriculum, adding purposeful and informed action by the group to the kind of generation of group values that takes place in play­ ground and after-school groups. The present organiza­ tion of schools into strict age-cohorts makes difficult what is another necessity for a positive peer group - that it should contain a proportion of late adolescents who, to some extent, have already established their identities, are beginning to adopt more adult behaviour patterns and are not hostile to school.(41) The adoption by some schools of vertical groupings of students for pastoral care is consistent with this need. The security and affirmation offered by the peer group tends to re­ inforce rebellion against authority. This heightens the need for the school to consider the approaches sug­ gested in our discussion of dependence and independence. 16 -

The Committee is anxious that its comments about adolescent development should not be taken as the last word on the subject and it is aware that other ap­ proaches offer valuable insights into the process of education. However, the Committee considers a develop­ mental approach will be the most helpful to teachers and administrat ors in the vitally necessary task of gaining an increased understanding of adolescence.

1.3 THE PURPOSES OF SECONDARY EDUCATION During their time in secondary school, young people grow from late childhood and early adolescence to something approaching maturity. Some of this development - in physique, social competence, some aspects of accultura­ tion and an increased capacity for abstraction - will take place whether or not there are schools. It will result from the mere passage of time and the effects of living in a society and being exposed to its media. However, there are schools, attendance is compul­ sory, and the role of student is notv the lot of all young people. The implication is that the school has purposes that are not being served by any other insti­ tution. It appears that these purposes have become more wide-ranging over time by a process of accretion where­ by new purposes are superimposed on older ones, some­ times subsuming them but never entirely obliterating them. One of the major causes of uncertainty about school programs is that schools are from time to time invested with new purposes, but they find it difficult to shed old ones. Some new purposes spring from polit­ ical moves for social change and some are educational consequences of social change, being adopted by schools as a means of coping with the pressures generated by political ideas. From the accretion the school system makes judg­ ments about the relative weight it will give to items in the set of purposes that may be identified and it is through recommendations based on this weighting that major policy guidelines may be given to schools. It is also through its own fine tuning of this weighting of purposes that the school is able to accommodate to the needs of its own community and express its difference from its neighbours. The following view of the evolution of the purposes of secondary education allows the main thrusts to be identified and analysed in a way that may help users to assess the weight they should give to each of them. The order in which the purposes are described does not indicate any judgments about their relative importance but follows from the semi-historical method of examin­ ation. In its discussion the Committee has not attempted - 17 to resolve the tensions or contradictions between different purposes. It is in the body of the report that the purposes emphasized by the Committee are in­ dicated .

Purposes arising from politically-based social change Five political ideas have been selected as the source of significant additions to the range of pur­ poses of education. These are the ideas underlying compulsory elementary education, selective secondary education, the raising of the school leaving-age to sixteen, the introduction of comprehensive secondary schools and the allocation of resources on a needs basis. The basic purpose of the introduction of compulsory elementary education was to provide a work force with enough numeracy and literacy to meet the needs of an in­ dustrial economy. Along with this went a subsidiary but important purpose of developing attitudes and beliefs consistent with an industrial culture dominated by a work ethic. One has only to look at the high moral tone of reading books, history stories and the like as late as the 1920's to realise the truth of this. There is still an important body of opinion in the community that these are the major purposes of education. Of course the concept of preparation for work has now been modernized and broadened to include the secondary school since it has become the threshold between schooling and work. It has been modified in other ways as well. For a time some new secondary schools were frankly vocational, but this disappeared with the raising of the school leaving age, and vocational training in the narrow specific sense is not now regarded as a purpose of the secondary school. This is a rare example of the aban­ donment of a purpose that the school once fulfilled. The increasing sophistication of some forms of work has entrenched the concept of qualifications for entry to jobs and to training. This thrusts on to the school the responsibility for sorting and classifying its students, so that employers can make preliminary judgments about the suitability of candidates for em­ ployment. In fact, the school has accepted this classi­ fying function as one of its purposes, not so much be­ cause it believes it really ought to do it, as because, in the exercise of its caring purpose, it wants to pro­ tect its students from the range and inconsistency of the tests that potential employers may use. This, in turn, points to another subsidiary purpose of the school which sees itself serving its students at least as well as their potential employers, and. so accepts that one of its purposes is to enable students to leave with the best possible record of school attainment. - 18 -

The purpose of secondary education related to pre­ paring young people technically to work may then be summarised as follows:

* To develop basic competence in numeracy and literacy * To introduce young people to the norms of the culture in which they live * To assist the selection processes of society by classify­ ing and ranking students at the school exit-point * To enable students to leave school with the best leaving certificate they are capable of gaining. The purposes related to preparing young people psy- choligically for work will be considered later. Selective secondary education was an outgrowth of the concept of a leadership group selected by back­ ground and training to manage the affairs of govern­ ment, government agencies and industry. In keeping with the political concept of a meritocracy, selective education became centred on a group of intellectually- demanding academic subjects which had achieved high status because of their exclusiveness. It served a utilitarian purpose of maintaining the political status of a ruling class, of developing a cultured and inform­ ed elite, of providing a training for scholars who would continue to develop and expand knowledge, and, as it came to embrace the sciences, served to foster the expertise needed for continuing technological develop­ ment. Exponents of "disciplined study" throughout the course of secondary schooling would tend to dissociate themselves nowadays from the first two of these utilit­ arian purposes, but there is still an influential body of opinion that would argue, on the basis of the re­ maining ti\ro, that education should be an introduction, at least for some students, to the study of the trad­ itional disciplines in more or less the traditional way Therefore a purpose of secondary education remains

* To provide courses in the traditional disciplines for students who are capable of profiting from them. In its early years, raising of the school leaving age to sixteen did not challenge the concept of selec­ tive secondary education. Instead it tended to rein­ force, it by the retention of selection tests, the pro­ vision of separate schools and the belief that in the nev/ schools education should be practically based and mediated through experience rather than through books and abstractions. That this goal of a suitable form of education was never fully realised, and that the notion of separate schools soon fell into disrepute does not negate the purpose that springs from the provision of secondary education for all:

* To provide an education suited to their needs and capacities for all students in the secondary age range - 19

This purpose derives from an approximate conjunc­ tion of a political philosophy aiming to equalise the opportunities for education, an economic situation that called for a delay in the entry of young people to the work force, and a consequent social need to keep them off the streets. The first of these - a political view of social justice - underpins the decision to establish compre­ hensive secondary schools with entry open to all stu­ dents. The intention was that the selection for a particular type of schooling should not irrevocably determine life-chances, particularly when the selection was made too early, was made by the wrong people, and was likely to be wrong anyway. By the same argument, the comprehensive school now has an obligation to avoid the self-fulfilling prophecies of the selective school system, to open up opportunities rather than to close them off and, particularly, to allow students with specific strengths to develop them to the full. Thus, comprehensive secondary schools add a new dimension of equality of opportunity to the idea of uni­ versal secondary education:

* To foster the ideal of equality of opportunity by providing an educational program in which decisions determining future life-chances are deferred for as long as possible and a learning environment in which social and intellectual differences are de-emphasised. Recent initiatives by the Schools Commission to identify and compensate disadvantaged groups (e.g. coun- .try children, children from deprived areas in cities, girls) have been reinforced by the Education Depart­ ment's policy of distributing general Schools Commis­ sion funds on a needs basis. This identifies a further purpose which the school is now expected to fulfil:

* To act as a compensating agency for students who are disadvantaged or handicapped in some way The purposes identified so far are largely socio­ economic in thrust and in the main express a view about the desirable outcomes of schooling. They are an expres­ sion of adult, lay, political thinking.

Purposes arising from changed educational thinking Existing alongside these political purposes, and to some extent generated because of them, are a set of what might be called educational purposes. These spring from psychological, sociological and pedagogical con­ siderations, they tend to be expressed in the process of schooling rather than the outcomes, and they are articu­ lated by professionals rather than by laymen. 20 -

Perhaps it is the teachers' preference for these process purposes, which are the stuff of the "education" in teacher education, and a degree of disdain for the ones concerned with outcomes, which smack of "training" and are virtually neglected in teacher education, that lead to the misunderstandings that occur between schools and their communities. In the social context, two important points should be made about changes to which schools now have to re­ spond. First, when the basic framework for the organ­ ization and curriculum of the secondary school as we know it today was established, only a very small pro­ portion of the adolescent population entered secondary school, and a much smaller proportion completed second­ ary schooling. Most adolescents entered the adult society early and began, generally at work, to learn to be adults. Secondly, the modern growth of the media - newspapers, magazines, radio, and most of all television has so enriched the amount of information available in homes and in the community that the traditional role of the school as the main source of information becomes less important. Coleman coined the phrase "information-rich and action-poor" to describe the existence of young people in modern urban societies. As Husen described the situation: Instead of entering the adult world to learn adult roles at the beginning of their teens, young people now find themselves in institutions where they have little or no contact with adult society until almost the end of their teens... In former days young people were absorbed early into an adult world that was admittedly harsh but packed with action.(42) The point of this is that an awareness of these social changes and of the turbulent nature of adolesc­ ence suggests the need for the school to be a place where emphasis is at least as much on action as on in­ formation, at least as much on giving students a chance to perform responsible adult tasks as on making students be docile pupils. Since during their time in the second ary school adolescents come towards maturity, the school must give them the opportunity to do some of the meaning ful things that mature people do. From this situation, the following purposes of secondary education emerge:

* To provide meaningful activities that will allow students to experience the transition from adolescence to maturity in order to fill the gap in "learning to live" that has been created by the modern extension of childhood. * To give students an understanding of themselves and their search for identity in a culturally-induced adolescence - 21

* To give students an understanding of the world of work and guide their entry to it * To provide an environment where young people can make significant choices and abide by them without being permanently damaged by the consequences * To develop powers in handling information from various sources with discrimination and purpose Commenting on a theory of learning, the "School In Society" Report said...

"V/e have a view of man as a unique individual, re­ sponsive to his environment and particularly to his fellows. Seen in this light, the most signif­ icant of man's needs are threefold.

The first is for a sense of acceptance: the need for approval, admiration, appreciation, love. The second is for a sense of adequacy, of growth: the need to participate, contribute, create. It is only against this background that there is meaning in speaking of man's mental processes. Man does not learn as an isolated intellect, but as a whole person, involving his knowing, remem­ bering and thinking, and also his choosing, re­ ferring, rejecting, hating and loving. Equally, man does not learn as an isolated person, but as a person involved in interaction with others. In the need for acceptance, approval, admiration and love, man requires to give as well as to receive in order to grow as a person. In the need for adequacy, man is not only involved in contributing himself in what has been called the "drive for competency", but in joining his own contributions to those of others. From this view-point, altru­ ism and co-operation are as basic as egotism and self-seeking.

...This trio of needs - appreciation, partici pation and insight - is both the requirement and the sign of a healthy personality.(43) It is from thinking such as this that "...The pressure has grown to make individuals and their full personal development the central aim of education... It is the growth of the whole person - (his) affective, cognitive and physical capacities - that has become the goal." (44) Expressed at the level of the purposes identified elsewhere, this broad statement about caring for the whole development of the student suggests the following

* To help students to develop competencies - practical, intellectual, expressive, social - that will give them a sense of their own adequacy - 22 -

* To develop quality relationships between teacher and student, student and teacher, and student and student as a pre-condition of effective learning * To develop the powers of students in the use of lan­ guage We live in a society whose values are uncertain and conflicting. The society is becoming more complex, problems are increasingly global and, as we come to know more about the physical environment, we become more aware of its limits. We face a situation of in­ creasingly needing to act in concert and increasingly valuing individual freedom of action. The individual is beset by problems and often lacks both the under­ standing to cope with them and adequate support from other people. The following purposes face up to the issues raised here that are of concern to young people now or in the immediate future:

* To provide a stress-free situation in which issues of norms and values in a pluralist society may be clarified, and in which development of students' own values can take place * To provide realistic insight and genuine participation in social, political and ethical issues at a local, national and international level * To provide an understanding of the physical environment, and of man's physical development, abilities and needs * To provide the care and counselling that will prevent personal problems of students from hampering full development A point that is often overlooked is that the pro­ cess purposes discussed above have to be fulfilled to permit the achievement of the outcome purposes discussed earlier. That the visitor to the school, or the parent discussing school with a child, becomes predominantly aware of the process purposes does not necessarily mean that the school is not concerned with the outcomes that society expects. That misunderstandings occur in matters such as this suggests that one of the purposes of second­ ary education is:

* To relate schooling to life in society so that it may both reflect the prevailing culture and challenge its assumptions, and so that it may be seen to be involved in the community and not isolated from it

Concluding comments The Committee has not compiled this statement of the purposes of secondary education simply as an academ­ ic exercise. It was done in the first instance to clarify the thinking of the Committee itself, and it is anticipated that schools will- use it for the same purpose. - 23 -

At no time does the Committee attempt to list the purposes in a preferred order, but throughout the Report it emphasizes aspects of secondary education that reflect the importance attached to particular purposes. The list of purposes is by no means exhaustive, but it does represent some major thrusts which, used as a checklist, may help schools to determine their own objectives and priorities and to develop a frame­ work for self-evaluation.

1.4 CURRICULUM PLANNING AND EVALUATION The preceding section of this Report has attempted to analyse the purposes of secondary education. That the Committee felt the need to make this analysis, and saw inadequacies in the statements of purpose in the 1968 School in Society Report, illustrates that the fundamental goals of the school, as well as the methods and tech­ niques of teaching, are not immutable and universal. Purposes are constantly being modified, in emphasis if not in essence. Moreover, the purposes identified above have in them some elements.of conflect and con­ tradiction, and the relative importance of each one is open to debate. It therefore becomes apparent that such statements need continual review and interpre­ tation. Such continuity is essential if we are to avoid the temptation, in the course of an occasional review, to over-react to a contemporary political or economic situation. In arriving at its statement of purposes, this Committee of professional teachers has tried to interpret the wishes of the general electorate as expressed in submissions to the Committee, or as de­ rived from the experience of Committee members with their communities. The Committee, conscious of com­ ments made about a "loss of nerve" by Education De­ partments in Australia (45), believes that it remains the responsibility of the Education Department to "think out, analyse, assess and bring up for debate a coherent overview of the curriculum in the State's schools."(46) The Committee "considers not only that this should be an ongoing process, but that the Department, while taking the initiative in it, should fully involve teachers and other community groups. Therefore, the sections of the Report dealing with general consid­ erations as to the direction in which secondary edu­ cation should go should be seen as an initial v/orking 24 - paper for a Standing Committee on Secondary Education, whose function would be to identify or to generate an overview of a set of purposes, values and processes for schooling which would be desirable for society at large in the present and in the future.* Such a Standing Committee would be representative of teachers and laymen, and would meet fairly infre­ quently. It would make recommendations about a core curriculum, not necessarily based on traditional sub­ ject or discipline areas, and certainly not intended to occupy the whole of the time available for schooling, which would prescribe a framework within which school initiatives in relation to the core curriculum might be taken, and around which schools might take initiatives in curriculum areas of their own choosing. This stance by the Committee appears to place sev­ ere limitations on the concept of diversity between schools, and therefore it should be explained. Al­ though there seems to be a popular trend toxvards in­ creasing autonomy for local communities, schools, teachers and pupils, there are strong arguments for retaining central control over certain elements of schooling and curriculum development. Among the areas to which these arguments are applied are: formulation of general educational policy; ensuring an appropriate distribution of resources; providing research and support services; organizing teacher education and development; maintaining academic standards through­ out the system;, and ensuring easy transferability of students between schools. While a central authority with these responsibilities cannot avoid exercising control over unlimited diversity, the Committee believes that it does not thereby predetermine the kind of materials and the conditions which might be found in schools in a way, or to an extent, that would be detri­ mental . The point is that if there is agreement about the areas of activity and the kinds of experience that schools should make available to all students, there is also agreement that there is a variety of acceptable approaches to these areas, and it is in the development of approaches, emphases and supporting materials that school-based planning is called for.

* The Committee see great benefit in there being a single standing committee for the whole range from Kindergarten to Year 12 but recognizes that it is not within its terms of reference to make such a recommendation. 25 -

Within the core areas, teacher or school-based initiatives lie primarily in teaching approaches, in­ cluding experimentation with methods of assessment and evaluation, and in adapting and tailoring materials to the individual needs of single students or groups of students. Outside the specified core areas, initiatives are open to teachers and schools in all aspects of curriculum development - creating new courses, units and projects; producing and trialling materials; and if so inclined, diffusing ideas to other schools in the system. Overall, the task of the school is to interpret a general curriculum policy in the light of both its re­ sources - staff, buildings, materials and community facilities - and the character of its students - abili­ ties, interests, life-needs and backgrounds. It will therefore be concerned with developing its own views about teaching and learning, with planning a balanced organization of curriculum experiences for groups and individuals, with selecting or developing appropriate resource-materials, with meeting particular local needs or capitalizing on particular local resources, and with formulating a suitably co-ordinated school policy. As it does this, it will be reacting to the curriculum overview discussed above and feeding back information to modify or amplify it. This pattern of curriculum development helps to clarify thinking about evaluation of the curriculum itself, as distinct from the evaluation of students: There are two separate levels of curriculum evaluation. One is to do with the "Tightness" of the general curriculum goals, and the other is concerned with the effectiveness of a particular way of meeting these goals. The evaluation of general goals is a matter of value judgments and consensus. It depends on dis­ cussion and feedback which, as indicated Nabove,' should be a continuing process, and for which a forum such as the proposed Standing Committee should be provided. However, the provision of such a forum is not sufficient in itself; it is also necessary to develop feedback methods which would give the Standing Committee material with which to work, and a sense of purpose in this work. The evaluation.of the effectiveness of particular curriculum approaches is a much more objective matter. Much can be done by measurement of achievement, or close observation of processes to 'determine whether a particu­ lar technique or organization does in fact do what it claims to do, or whether one set of materials is more effective than another. Evaluation in areas of this kind must of necessity be school-based, although to be effective it will need support from outside the school. - 26 -

It appears to the Committee that clarification of the school's purposes, and the assessment of the effect­ iveness of the total school curriculum in meeting these, is the starting point for any program of school-based curriculum development. The co-ordination of this clarification and evaluation, and the institution of a regular process of evaluation, should be the responsi­ bility of a senior member of staff. It is now a firmly established principle that each school should be able to account for the quality of its own work. This does not mean that judgments by outsiders - either profes­ sionals or the "school's lay community - are unnecessary or .inadmissible. It is not who makes the judgments, but who makes use of them, that is important. The view of the Committee is that each school should make use of as many opinions as it can obtain so that it can evalu­ ate itself and its program and determine where improve­ ments can be made.

It should not be imagined that the levels of activity in curriculum development will be as clearly defined in practice as they are in the principles out­ lined here. Some of the requirements for the success­ ful operation of this process are discussed later in the report.(47) It is hoped, however, that the present discussion may clear up some of the confusion that at present surrounds the notion of school-based curriculum development. - 27

CHAPTER 1

REFERENCES

1 Torsten Husen, The Learning Society (London: Methuen, 1974), p. 231.

2 Reference is made to the view of Husen that "Edu­ cation cannot serve as a substitute for economic and social reforms" (The Learning Society, p. 140)

3 See A.C.T. Interim Education Authority, secondary Education for Canberra. Chairman: R.J. Campbell, (Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Ser­ vice, 1973), pp. 23-24.

4 R. Wilson, "Dropping out from Doomsday", British Journal of Educational Studies 23 (1975): 115. 5 Tasmania. Education Department, The school in society: the report of the committee set up to investigate the role of the school in society. Chairman: P.W. Hughes. (Hobart: Education Department, 1968), pp. 11-12.

6 See Husen, The Learning Society , p. 232.

7 J. Lowe, "Learning Opportunities for Adults", The O.E.C.D. Observer 77 (1975): 6.

8 School in Society Report, p. 12.

9 See Michael Crozier, The Bureaucratic Phenomenon (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1964), p. 198.

10 See Frank Musgrove, Patterns of Power and Authority in English Education (London: Methuen, 1971), pp. 139- 14 0 and Secondary Education for Canberra, p. 24.

11 Refer particularly to sections 4.8 and 4.9.

12 E.F. Schumacher, Small is Beautiful: a study of economics as if people mattered (New York: Harper'Row, 1975), p. 170.

13 Peter Scott, "The hierarchy of central places in Tasmania", Australian Geographer 9 (1967): 134.

14 School in Society Report, pp. 14-15.

15 Ibid., p.12. 16 Evidence to the Committee from the Environmental Teachers Association of Tasmania.

17 Schumacher, Small is Beautiful, p. 122. - 28 -

18. See Wilson, "Dropping out from Doomsday", pp. 256-257.

19 See Husen, The Learning Society , p. 223.

20 L.J. Stone and J. Church, Childhood and Adolescence: a psychology of the growing person. 3rd ed . (New York: Random House, 1973), p. 418..

21 See C. Duke, "Australian Perspectives on Lifelong Education", Australian Education Review 6 (1976): 92.

22 School in Society Report, p. 12.

23 Ibid., p. 13.

24 Note the discussion in section 3.3 of this Report of "The reconciliation of general and pre-vocation- al education."

25 Note section 2.4 of this Report, "The transition from schooling to work".

26 Stanley Parker, The Future of Work and Leisure (London: Paladin, 1971), p. 142.

27 Michael Pusey, Dynamics of Bureaucracy: a case analysis in education (Sydney: John Wiley, 1976), p. 115.

28 Parker, Future of Work and Leisure, pp, 14 2-143.

2 9 Neville Behrens, Schooling and Work: a study of twenty- three year olds in Tasmanian urban and rural communities (Hobart: Education Department of Tasmania, 197 5) p. 6.

30 Husen, The Learning Society, p. 238 .

31 Lowe, "Learning Opportunities for Adults", p. 16.

32 See particularly sections 4.3 and 4.4.

33 Pusey, Dynamics of Bureaucracy, p. 94.

34 Stone and Church, Childhood and Adolescence.

35 Tim McMullen, "The 'Lower' Secondary Stage: prob­ lems and possibilities". Draft report for inter­ national seminar on Compulsory Secondary Education: problems and possibilities (Paris: O.E.C.D., 197 6), p. 33 .

36 Ibid., p. 36. - 29

37 Harry L. Dodson and Fran M. Broadby, student Decision­ making in Tasmanian Secondary Schools (Hobart : Education Department of Tasmania, Research Branch, 1976).

38 Pusey, Dynamics of Bureaucracy, pp. 9 5-96. A working s-- party for the Committee reached a similar conclusion rk: that many students "while outwardly conforming to regulations, opt out spiritually" (Ron F. Fitzgerald et.al. "Secondary Students at Risk in Tasmania". 3ng Consultant's Report to the Committee (Hobart, 1976, 92. mimiographed), p. 9.

39 Stone and Church, Childhood and Adolescence ,p. 483. 4 0 McMullen, The Lower Secondary Stage, p. 34. rt 41 Ibid., p. 32. ion- 42 Husen, The Learning Society , p . 15. |n 4 3 School in Society Report, p. 18. 44 McMullen, The Lower Secondary Stage, p.4. 45 Brian V. Hill, "Education for the Year 2000". Catalyst 7 (November 1976): 8; Curriculum Devel­ opment Centre, Submission to the Education Department of h Victoria Curriculum Services Enquiry (Canberra: C.D.C., 1976), p. 17, 19-20; Ron T. Fitzgerald, Evidence to the Committee (Minute 65)

y- 46 Curriculum Development Centre, Victorian submission, p. 21. I 47 Note section 5.5 of this Report, "Resources for curriculum development." I I I t I I I I 30 - CHAPTER 2 NEW CONCERNS AND ORIENTATIONS

The structure of the Tasmanian education system has not changed since the last major review was carried out in 1968 by the School in Society Committee. So far as secondary education is concerned, the provision of comprehensive high schools and district schools for Years 7 to 10 and secondary colleges (in 1968 called "matriculation colleges") for Years 11 and 12 has continued. The roles of administrators, principals and teachers have not basically changed, though there have been some changes in powers, especially with schools being given increasing autonomy. Schools have been given more responsibility for developing their own programs and evaluating their own progress. That secondary schools should provide a general education in the Years 7 to 10 has continued to be accepted by the system. Nevertheless, in the last few years there has been an increasing awareness of the need for schools to respond to concerns that were not as fully perceived earlier. Four such concerns are discussed here: the relationship of secondary schools to the community they .are serving and to the education system as a whole; the importance of closer links between the education system and the wider Tasmanian community; the need to provide more fully for disadvantaged students, those whose chances in education and in their later life are at risk; and, finally, the transition of students fro.m school to the world of work. These concerns form the subject of this chapter of the report.

2.1 THE SCHOOL AND THE OUTSIDE WORLD A school will decide in a hundred ways what kind of human beings to produce: when it decides to run a Scout troup rather than a ... Cadet Force; to stream or to de-stream; to teach Chinese or Persian or commercial French; to enforce or to abolish school uniform; to have prefects elected or nominated; to let boys sit with girls. These vital decisions - and a thousand others - wil-1 be made by the teachers themselves; they need the ratification, of no higher authority; they are, in the strict sense, irresponsible. (1) - 31 -

The education system is no longer an island by itself in society, but is closely inter­ twined with its other sectors. (2)

These two quotations express opposite poles of opinion about the relationships between the school and the outside world.

One conceives of the school as a closed system, almost the property of the principal and teachers, which has clearly defined functions and a set of resources with which to carry them out. In this view, education towards a set of goals inherent in education itself is a process that is understood by the professional teachers because of their training and collective experience. The professional teachers expect to be trusted to set up an organization that will run smoothly in a planned and regulated way, and lead to an effective personal and social devel­ opment of each student. This development will take place through the study of a set of subjects, each with a life and logic of its own which is independent of social pressures and takes its value from its own inherent worth. These subjects are the avowed curriculum of the school.

The recognition by the school of the existence of a world outside is given by means of "extra­ curricular" activities which may range over a wide field and may involve outside people and resources, but which do not impinge in any significant way, except perhaps as an irritant, on the professionally- determined curriculum of the school. The mechanism for controlling this process is a hierarchial organiz­ ation to which the access from the outside world is usually through the top.

The effective outcome of this organization is a closure against outside influence that leads to a reduction in the power of the school because it denies the school an effective base of community support or professional advice.

The opposite pole conceives of the school as a responsive extension of the community in which it is set, open to influence both by and on the community, with community used in a dual sense - in one aspect it is the community of teachers, pupils, and parents xtfho use the school, in the other it is the total community of state, nation and world. 32

It conceives of the school as only a part of the learning resources available to students, of subjects as means to an end and not ends in themselves, and of responsiveness to community- needs as an integral part of the school's role.

It sees the professional staff able to determine and express acceptable socially-oriented outcomes of schooling in a way that secures positive community support, the community enabled to understand the purposes of the school and to make its resources available to meet them, and an organization flexible enough to allow the exchange of ideas between school, professional advisers, and community at all levels.

It conceives of the curriculum as the total pattern of learning deliberately planned by the school and experienced by students and therefore has no place for the notion of "extra-curricular" activity. It has a set of goals that is at once wider, more explicit, and more attuned to observed needs than those considered at the other pole. It sees schooling as a part of the fabric of the community, and not as a separate compartment of life in which students are isolated for some part of each school day.

There are problems in such openness. Chief among them is the difficulty for professional teachers in communicating what they know to be good "education" to laymen who often take a pragmatic and materialistic view of the purposes of the school. This difficulty in communication leaves teachers with the fear that giving too much power to the community might result in the distortion of the total balance of the program. This fear is based on a belief, that the sharing of power means a reduction of power for the teachers who have it at present.

The Committee does not accept this view of the consequences of opening the school to the community. It believes that the power of teachers to be effective will be increased if there is an increase in the power of the community to influence, and therefore understand, what is happening in the schools. 33 -

A similar view of power was expressed to the Committee by the Tasmanian Teachers Federation: We do not see the growing autonomy of the school as an alternative or an opposition to community participation but rather as a natural corollary to it. As communities develop and schools grow closer to their communities, variety in education should follow and this will place more responsibility on the individual school.

The Committee accepts each of the viewpoints outlined above as extremes, but takes the view that many schools at present are closer to the first than to the second. It would want to see a shift towards far greater involvement of the school in the life of the community, in order to enable the school to serve the community better, and also in order to increase the power of the school to have this service appreciated and supported. Some aspects of the ways in which this shift in emphasis may be achieved are discussed in the following sections.

The relationship between schools and the Education Department

One of the characteristics of Australian education systems in the past was the exercise of a binding central control over schools in all matters. Such a description no longer represents the situation in Tasmania for significant areas of decision-making are now exercised at regional and individual-school levels.

The present situation is one in which a school operates within important constraints, particularly those of finance and staffing, but within these limits is able to develop its own curriculum emphasis and school organization. These opportunities to be involved in decision-making result in a considerable degree of autonomy and, as a natural consequence, an increasing diversity between schools. However, in the Tasmanian community, there would be a general recognition that there must be limits to the extent to which government schools can act as fully independent institutions. The central administration cannot yield to demands for freedom from supervision for this would be a renunciation of the necessary requirement that in a state education-system schools must be held accountable both to the Education Department and Minister responsible to Parliament for the school system and to the community which they are ultimately serving. In fact it is considered that this reality is understood by schools and there is less interest in the question of "full autonomy" than in the last decade. 34

It would appear that there are some areas where schools want outside support and involvement, such as the advisory role of superintendents, supervisors and consultants, and positive support from the Department for what they are doing.

Generally in the evidence the Committee received, support was given for the idea of diversity between schools rather than uniformity throughout the system. The moving away from the idea that every school must follow one particular pattern to achieve success and the greater freedom in decision-making given to schools were seen to be factors resulting in diversity.

Evidence from the Survey of Secondary Schools showed that of the 70 schools surveyed 22 stated that they "frequently" experienced tensions with the central administration, while 22 said "occasionally Delays with buildings, lack of parent and teacher consultation in planning of buildings, inadequacies in buildings which meant that buildings determined the sort of organization the school has, dissatis­ faction with the staffing formula, and the lack of opportunity for the individual school to match new teachers with positions, philosophies and other staff members were most often cited as causes of tension between schools and the central administration.

The present policy of the Education Department is that secondary schools will and should become more diverse. The policy can be summarized as follows: Diversity of schools is seen as desirable because the profession is at a point where its members in each school and college should work out what has to be done and how it should be done for the particular school community which is being served. Within the school's own policies that are developed by its staff it must be possible to accept diverse approaches by individual teachers. (.4) From the central administration's desire to foster diversity several features must follow. First is the need for an increased opportunity for parents to choose the school they wish, their children to attend. Secondly it is imperative that the school has some say in the selection of its staff in order that the " .... school will be able to work as a community of like minded people and not be a collection of suspicious and warring camps more concerned about the destruction of an opposing view than the welfare of the school itself". (.5) 35 -

Thirdly, the schools need the positive support of the Department for the decisions that they have in fact been given the responsibility to make. At the present moment the schools feel they are often left to do their own PR work and to defend themselves from criticism both from within the system and from the public. (6)

The Committee's view is that the most profitable approach to the question of school autonomy is not to attempt a precise definition of the nature and levels of autonomy but to focus on the question: "At what level should decision-making be exercised?" The presumption should be that decisions will be made by staffs within schools except for those matters which require definition at central and regional level.

The Committee is in favour of an evolutionary process of devolving responsibilities to schools and wishes to encourage this process. The implications of this principle are examined in relation to the following areas: (a) in relation to curriculum development the Committee believes that, within broad guidelines developed for the total system, each school should be able to develop its own approach to secondary education. This report has made recommendations about a core curriculum for all secondary schools and has indicated features about school organizations that should be followed in all schools. (7) The Committee envisages that each school will take this framework and, through full involvement of the staff and including consultation with the community, develop its own approach to secondary education.

(bJ Evaluation of the school program and organization is seen by the Committee as being a matter of on-going self-evaluation by the full staff of the school and as a process in which schools would call in professional advice from outside the school.

(cJ Although the Committee wishes to see schools involved more deeply in their own staffing, it does not accept that schools should have the sole authority to select teachers. 36

Consultation between staffing officers and schools has been extended considerably in recent years, especially in relation to the fields of teaching required of new members of staff but needs to be extended so that in-coming teachers have views about secondary education that make it possible for them to work with other teachers in the school. For this to happen schools will need to develop statements about their aims and approaches to secondary education and use the resources of the Department to make these statements known.

(dj The Committee accepts that increased autonomy for schools requires a high level of administrative leadership within the school. Accordingly it is accepted that appropriate ancillary staff need to be made available to secondary staff and that school administrators need to be provided with the opportunity to acquire professional leadership skills through appropriate in-service education.

The role of the individual parent The Committee acknowledges that parents are the first and foremost educators of their children. The influence of the home has always been known to be important, and many surveys carried out have shown the large part that parental attitudes play. Although there are changes in the attitudes of parents as their children grow older, the interest shown in such things as school functions, the provision of books in the home and general encour­ agement and support for the child's effort to learn, all play a significant part in a child's general progress. (8) Thus, the part that parents play is so decisive that their failure in this role cannot be readily compensated for by any other social agency. Parents cannot cease to be involved in their children's education when they enter school; their responsi­ bilities continue and their right to be involved in the life of the school is emphasized.

In a number of submissions to the Committee, the need for parents to be able to exercise a choice between different Government schools was urged. Until recently, such a choice would not appear to have been necessary since each of the high schools had an essentially similar organization and program. - 37

Accordingly, a system of zoning which directed all children from a primary school to a particular high school was adopted. Now there is increasing diversity between schools and the development of distinctive approaches to school organization and the educational program. Given the role of parents that has been described, the Committee is of the opinion that a greater degree of choice be provided at the time the child is about to begin secondary schooling.

In the view of the Committee it is very desirable that a choice of secondary school should be exercised once only, at the very beginning of the child's secondary education. Given the preceding statement about diversity between schools, there are strong arguments for keeping a student at the same school for the four years, 7 to 10. A change of residence or severe personal problems may necessitate a change but it should not otherwise be undertaken. In providing for parental choice between secondary schools there must be restraints arising from economic considerations. The Education Department should not be required to meet additional costs related to transport or accommodation in schools and hostels. Schools should accept a responsibility to enrol any eligible students from the zones they now serve and should admit other applicants up to the enrolment determined by the Education Department. Within these restraints the Committee seeks the introduction of a controlled de-zoning policy based on the wishes of parents for their children's education and on no other criteria.

The Committee considers that parents should be closely involved in the important decisions that are made about or by students in the course of their schooling.

In a child's school career there are several important decision-points such as the choice of subjects and courses or the decision to leave school or to continue to Higher School Certificate studies. There is a tendency for parents to leave such decisions to their children whereas the students themselves want more parental support at these times. (9) We hold the view that involvement and counselling by parents at these times is of key importance and are a necessary part of the parent's educational responsibilities. - 38 -

For the school and for such agencies as the Commonwealth Employment Service or institutions of further education, an important implication is that parents must be provided with the necessary information for them to assist.

The Committee believes that the education system needs to take the initiative in developing greater parental involvement in the education of their children. In general school administrators and teachers need to acquire greater expertise in building up good relationships with parents. This should be an important part of pre-service education and teacher-development programs. More specifically, there are many situations which call for the school to go out to the parents. Sometimes one of the senior staff from the school or a teacher with appropriate skills and sensitivity may be the most suitable person to make these visits. However, the Committee recognizes that some situations call for a specialist support for the school and the Committee considers the employment of home-school liaison officers to meet special needs should have a high priority in the allocation of additional resources.

Community participation in secondary schools (10) In recent years community involvement in schools has emerged as a central issue in Ausralian education and one in which tension between teachers and some parents and other members of the community has been apparent. The Australian Schools Commission has fostered the developing relationship between the school and community and has suggested that : Several factors lie behind the increased movement for community participation in the school. As people become conscious of the uncertainties and conflicts concerning the functions and values of schooling, they may seek to play a greater part in the resolution of these problems. At the same time a general trend towards participation and away from acceptance of remote control must inevitably affect the relationship of the school to the community it serves. Some parents and parent organisations seek to participate in the control of schools and in the process of decision-making within schools. This desire raises important questions: What kind of decisions are made and should be made at school level? What roles can members of the community play within the school? Can they play a meaningful role within traditional structures? (ll) - 39

The Committee belives that the efforts that individual schools have made to involve parents and the community should be continued and expanded and that diverse forms of involvement be encouraged. It must be recognized that this objective is a long-term one and schools should not become dis­ couraged if early efforts to involve parents and the community meet with a lack of response. Among the forms of community involvement the following may be instanced:

(.a) The Committee wishes to support and encourage the trend of recent years where some schools have made their facilities available for school-sponsored activities generally, and for meetings of outside bodies such as scout groups, the YMCA, film societies, sporting and hobby clubs. It is necessary however to draw attention to the fact that widespread and full use of school facilities requires the employment of caretakers and maintenance personnel so that the school can serve its normal educational function without disruption. (b) The Committee recognises the valuable work performed by the Parents and Friends Associations and wishes to encourage their activities, particularly where help is given in essential aspects of school life such as sporting activities, library assistance, helping in the school canteen, to name but three. Such activities, apart from directly assisting the school, provide opportunities for close contact with other parents, individual teachers and students. Cc) Finally the Committee recognises that within the community there are skills which should be tapped by the school. These skills may range from a mother or father helping their child with a specific learning difficulty to assistance given in the area of vocational guidance by experienced people. In addition, parents with particular knowledge and skills could be used, on occasions, in the classroom.

The most sensitive aspect of parental and community involvement is the extent to which those who are not members of the staff should be involved in decision-making in relation to school organization and the school program. - 40 -

There would seem to be a tension between such an involvement and the professional autonomy of the teachers, an autonomy that derives from their expertise in the field. The Committee does not believe, however, that this tension is necessarily unhealthy. It would be inaccurate to present it in terms of a conflict in which any participant needs to feel threatened. In this subject it would seem necessary to indicate clearly the nature and boundaries of involvement. The Committee sees the situation in terms of consultation rather than management and of an advisory role rather than a controlling one. Some features can be identified:

(a) Consultation with parents and the community should be part of the process by which the school determines its program and organization and engages in self-evaluation. (bj There are members of the community who can be very useful to schools in decision-making because of their expertise. A generation ago this was recognised by district schools in using local farmers to give advice on the school farm. A current example is the assistance which parents with expertise in long-term financial planning could give to schools as they are given increased financial responsib­ ility. (.c) The need for consultation with parents • is particularly desirable in relation to major developments within the school, including those involving finance. The involvement of community representatives required by some Australian Schools Commission programs serves as a model in this respect. The Committee would see this need as being met by involvement in the decision-making process and not merely by the validation by parents of decisions previously reached by the staff. The sort of consultation described above would not require a formally structured body. The Committee opposes the imposition on schools of a "Parent- Staff Council" or a "School Board". To legislate for all secondary schools to have such Councils would seem unproductive and alien to the evolutionary process which is characteristic of the present situation. Rather, the Committee would encourage the formation of a formal body only if the school and the community both consider that it would be appropriate. The emphasis of the Committee is not on the establishment of a new structure but on the need for schools to give greater emphasis to the consultation of parents and the community and to the gradual development of consultative processes - 41

Using the resources of the community The Committee considers that the resources and facilities actually provided by the Education Department should not be seen as indicating the boundaries of the school program. Each school should add to these provisions by drawing on the resources available in its community.

There is a growing acceptance of this principle by Tasmanian secondary schools, and in the Committee's Survey of Secondary Education, most saw the use of community resources as valuable. (12) However, most saw this value in terms of activities that might in one concept of the curriculum be called "extra­ curricular" rather than in extensions of the curriculum by this means. For example, students go out of the school to use sporting facilities and vocational resources, or to engage in cultural activities and community involvement programs, and bring in visitors to schools to assist with extra­ curricular activities.

The value of using community resources was strongly supported by several of the groups who gave submissions to the Committee while our commissioned research on student decision-making indicated that students see value in the use of community resources, would like to make suggestions about such use but seemed uncertain about the likely response which teachers would make to these suggestions. (13)

It would be unrealistic to ignore the difficulties involved in the school use of community resources. There is a limited range of such resources available to schools in isolated rural areas, and in urban areas there is likely to be competition and duplication as some resources are sought by a number of schools. This latter point leads to the danger of the over-use of some resources, and the possible closing of them to all schools. Because of this danger, it is important that the value attached by schools to the use of community resources should be made known by a deliberate effort, directed especially to the organizations and places most frequently used by schools.

The Committee has agreed that a school's program of outdoor education should be integrated with its program of indoor education. This impliesrthat outdoor education programs must be carefully planned to match the school's aims and objectives for the students involved. - 42 -

Evidence from one of the teachers most centrally involved in outdoor education indicated some of the pitfalls that come from lack of planning: It is possible that outdoor experiences can become an additional cross to bear and may serve as a form of entertainment or escape for some teachers. It can, in some cases, add to the haphazard nature of many school experiences for its students and serve only to depart further from general education obj ectives. If schools accept the basic idea of integration they have available to them in Tasmania a rich and varied environment - urban, rural, bush, mountain i and seashore - which can assist them in achieving their objectives with students. These objectives lie in all the major areas of student development. Some outdoor education experiences will emphasise intellectual development, others physical develop­ ment , many will be geared to developing environmental, cultural and social understandings, but the opportunity for all of these is increased with individual students as new stimuli outside the school environment are presented.

Evidence given to the Committee suggests that a major benefit deriving from outdoor education is that relationships between teachers and students are improved. However, it is clear that to engage in an unplanned outdoor experience in the name of "better social relationships" is unproductive. Rather, the closer relationships come as a result of engaging in a prepared and structured program of learning and activities in different fields.

The integration of outdoor education within the school's total learning program also implies that outdoor education should be planned for all students. It follows that schools need to look carefully at the stages of intellectual, social, physical and emotional development of students when they come to plan their activities for Years 7 to 10. For example, the physical challenge in an adventure activity for all must be appropriate to the physical development of the particular students in the group and not that of the teacher or to later or earlier year groups.

Outdoor education experiences for all students should therefore take preference over specialist experiences for a few. - 43

This is not to decry such specialist experiences, but to point out that they usually require a low pupil- teacher ratio and usually absorb the time of a teacher with particular talents in outdoor education. The planning should be such that the school's program, developed as outlined above, will provide the experiences throughout the year in priority areas of student development.

The quality of teacher leadership in outdoor education must be the continuing concern of Education Department, pre-service and in-service training and school administration. What the Committee has said about pupil-teacher relationships and about student decision-making and consequences has application in this area. The Committee accepts evidence presented to it that teachers involved in living away with students require a social maturity themselves and a capacity to deal with complex social situations. They require a particular ability to project guidelines for behaviour that are meaningful to the students as well as being, socially acceptable. The teacher's knowledge of the student and the environment as well as the subject is underlined here. This is particularly the case in activities involving physical risk to students such as canoeing, bushwalking, caverneering and rock climbing. The Committee considers that there are some high-risk activities such as hang- gliding or scuba-diving in which the school should not become involved. In these areas it would seem more appropriate for students to join groups outside the school and rely on skilled and experienced leadership from adults in those groups.

In general, the use of community resources calls for a school organization which is flexible enough to allow students to leave the school for sufficient time to make use of an external resource, and to allow a visitor to the school who is not trained as a teacher to work in a group size and a climate that he can manage, and to have some induction before working with pupils.

A parallel requirement is for the co-ordination of resource use on a regional or local basis. The Committee is attracted by the notion of the Regional Advisory Council that has been established in the northern region of the State and would see value in the extension of this concept to other places. - 44 -

Summary If schooling is to be a part of the fabric of the community and not a separate compartment of life then there must be a greater responsiveness by the school to the outside world and a greater interaction between the two. The decision to relinquish a binding central control over schools and the extended opportunities that exist for individual schools to be involved in decision-making about their program and organization have resulted in a degree of diversity between schools. This diversity has support from the Education Department, the schools and the public. A logical consequence of diversity is that parents need to be given some choice with regard to which school they send their children and the consequent necessity for schools to formulate their aims and philosophies and make these known to parents and teachers. It must bring about greater participation of parents and the community and a need for schools to explore avenues whereby this participation can be expanded and be fruitful to all concerned.. . It opens up ideas on the school .making increased use of the resources available in the community and the community having greater use of the resources of the schools.

2.2 THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT AND OTHER AUTHORITIES One of the insights gained by the Committee in the course of its deliberations is that education cannot be seen as a system separate and closed off from other aspects of the life of the community. We would see it as necessary for educators to influence and be influenced by those responsible for other aspects of social and economic life in Tasmania. This view has implications for policy development and the administration of education at several different levels. Special mention has been made elsewhere of the need for a standing committee on secondary education which would involve representa­ tives from the community in considering the purposes of education. (14J But the Committee has identified three other areas where co-ordination or consultation seems to be required.

(aj Educational planning must be integrated and co-ordinated with other economic and social planning" On many occasions in the course of its work questions of social policy and developments in society generally' have been raised with the Committee. The development of an appropriate policy on employment and the task of strategic planning for the State of Tasmania as a whole can be instanced in this respect. - 45 -

The Committee believes that educators have a legitimate role to play in the development of government policy in these areas. Such a development involves government attitudes to policy-making and it seems beyond the capacity of the Committee to suggest changes. Nevertheless, the Committee believes that the Education Department should seek to be involved in relevant governmental structures and that educators have an important role to play as individuals in the development of community attitudes towards social and economic questions.

Solutions to some problems in our community are beyond the powers of any single government department and require a co-ordinated approach by all of the agencies involved. The maintenance of country communities, the development of initiatives to assist unemployed young people and the development of new housing suburbs are problems which can be instanced. In the latter example, the Committee is aware of the initiatives which the Housing Department has taken in its recent planning and believes that the continuous involvement of all departments from the initial planning stages should result in new suburbs with properly integrated services. With new developments such as Rokeby or Bridgewater it may be appropriate to establish a special agency to be responsible for all aspects of development in the initial years.

The Committee has been concerned at the range of evidence it received about problems in the delivery of welfare services. (15) In a number of cases, several different agencies have a concern for a particular family and there are difficulties in ensuring a proper co-ordination between these agencies. The Committee endorses the team approach to problem students which has been adopted by the various agencies providing educational services within a region. - 46 -

The Committee considers that this approach should be used whenever educational services are offered and that it serves as an appropriate model for the delivery of welfare services by different departments and agencies. The conclusion that action needs to be taken to bring about a more rational and integrated approach seems inescapable.

(c) In the provision of resources by government departments any duplication should he avoided. In several areas of resource provision it would seem possible to provide a better service and obtain economies by means of co-ordinated planning. Such a view was argued, for example, by the Rokeby Action Group in relation to the provision of library facilities in the new suburb of Rokeby. (16) Generally in the State of Tasmania there has been considerable progress towards the integration of library services. (.17) It was suggested to the Committee that the cost of providing educational facilities is now so great that more intensive and continuous use is essential. Consequently the providers of different educational and recreational resources need to co-operate so that the widest possible use of facilities can take place. This co-operation should involve not only government instrumentalities but also voluntary agencies and other community Groups

2.3 EDUCATION AND DISADVANTAGE Disadvantage and the School During the last ten years an increasing body of evidence has shown that some groups in Australian society - the poor, country children, migrants have a reduced level of participation in education and reduced chances in life as a consequence. Students belonging to these groups have been described by the Poverty Inquiry as "children at risk". At the same time, important initiatives have been taken to increase the participation of disadvantaged groups in education. This concern has been given a major impetus by the publication of the final report of the Poverty Inquiry in December 1976. (18) - 47

This report provides the first comprehensive body of evidence about poverty and education in Australia and is one of the most important documents available to this and future reviews of education.

The Committee wishes to emphasise the value of the approaches that have been developed and funded by the Australian Schools Commission but recognizes that the major responsibility for assisting disadvantaged groups remains with State departments. A continuing concern of State systems has been the attempt to provide equally for schools, irrespective of their location or the characteristics of the children attending them. The acceptance of this ideal remains one of the proud features of State education in Australia. At the same time the genuine professional concern of teachers for dis­ advantaged children is also to be commended: they are anxious to identify students at risk and to respond to their needs though perhaps wanting guidance on how to do these things. (19) Despite these positive attitudes by systems and teachers the task of overcoming disadvantage has proved a difficult one. The provision of all students with equal opportunities has been shown to be insufficient positive discrimination such as that recommended by the CENRA Committee in Tasmania for country children is necessary. (20) In a large secondary school it is difficult to recognise and respond to the special needs of disadvantaged students. (21) The first need is for teachers who are committed to meeting the needs of disadvantaged students but a particularly high level of professional performance is also required. The importance of this has been underlined by the Poverty Inquiry: Our evidence clearly indentifies the quality of teacher-student interaction as a major influence among young people with whom we have been directly concerned on both their schooling and their expectations of success. (22) In this light it would be wrong to merely take special action in a few disadvantaged schools or areas. Rather, all schools need to recognise the problems of children in at-risk groups and to develop strategies for tackling these problems.

Implicit in the previous paragraphs is the Committee's commitment to the task of meeting the needs of disadvantaged students. 48

The Committee accepts and reaffirms the ideal that all groups in societyshould be able to share equally in education and that children's chances in life should not be reduced by their social origins, their sex, or the place in which they live. Social justice demands that the inequalities revealed, for example, by the Poverty and Education report, should be reduced. The conclusions which the Committee has reached about the organization of the curriculum is consistent with this view of educational opportunity. In this respect the maintenance of a common curriculum and the postponement of significant choices during the compulsory years can be instanced. (.23) Similarly the Committee stresses the need for compensatory education to help those with reduced attainment originating in their home environment. This does not mean, however, that the Committee contemplates, let alone seeks, a situation in which educational outcomes will be equal between students. The Committee recognises that inequalities will result from individual excellence in intellect and work. Our egalitarian values accommodate this difference and it is the inequalities resulting from social origins or other background characteristics that we wish to see minimised.

The discussion so far has begged one crucial question: to what extent is it possible for schools to take action that will effectively reduce disadvantage? One view is that educationists have had exaggerated expectations about the extent to which education can be the means of reducing social inequality and that this has led to inevitable disillusionment. (.24) On this view other strategies such as a redistribution of incomes or action directly with adults in the community is necessary. One interpretation of research evidence is that differences between schools contribute as little as 15 per cent to variations in educational attainment, the main factors being genetic and home influences. (25)

This is, of course, a complex subject in which there is a diversity of views among eminent scholars in the field. The Committee does not pretend to write the final word on the subject but its position can be summarised as follows: formal education is not the most effective way of bringing about a just society but it is of great importance in increasing or reducing the life chances of the individual. - 49 -

The following conclusions amplify this statement: (.1) There are many inequalities that affect education but cannot be solved through it: an inequitable distribution of income, the large number of Australian?with an income below the poverty line, the isolation in Australia between the elite in government and commerce and industrial workers, and the longer-term problems of country communities can all be instanced. (26) Such problems demand a broad range of social policies and schools should resist suggestions that they can solve these problems alone. (2) Schooling is of crucial importance with respect to an individual's chances in life. The school affects the way people think about themselves, how they relate to each other and the sort of work they enter. The following quotation from the Poverty Inquiry summarizes the position: In our society, it is clear that certain life chances are increas­ ingly determined by formal education. 'Education becomes the prerequisite of entry to most occupational roles in the community.' Successful learning at school stands out as a major determinant of entry into satisfying and well-paid employ­ ment. (27) (3) With the Poverty Inquiry the present Committee considers that an increase in the life-chances of disadvantaged students depends very much on what schools do. The Poverty Inquiry investigated the possibility of focusing on strategies outside the school system but, on the basis of what has been the most compre­ hensive investigation of education in Australia, was led back to the conclusion that it was necessary to concentrate on educational provision and that schools do make an important difference. (28) Schools that are concerned about disadvantaged students, have wisely-conceived policies and are provided with adequate resources for learning, are able to enhance attain­ ment and thus improve the life-chances of disadvantaged students. (29) 50

This concern should be seen in the context of the needs of disadvantaged students: We wish to stress the importance of schools as society's main agency for teaching and learning at a time when increased knowledge and awareness are essential to personal well-being and life chances. Young members of disadvantaged minorities are especially dependent on schools to help them understand themselves and the demands a changing society is making on them. They need to develop the traditional skills associated with formal learning: ability to comprehend and process information, communicate ideas and become competent to assume responsibilities as young adults. The fact that, the schools are fail­ ing to enable many young people to acquire these skills is a matter of great concern. (30)

(4) It is also necessary to be clear that action beyond schools is also necessary, particularly in relation to parents and the community. The crucial importance of raising the expectations of disadvan­ taged parents about education should be stressed. Home background has consist­ ently been found to account for much of the variation in school attainment. For example, some parents are in a position to intervene and help and certainly exert pressure to ensure that checks due to the disturbance of adolescence are temporary. According to McMullen working-class pupils often do not have the same support and may react by dropping out of the whole learning process. (31) It is thus very important that the school is accepting and supportive of these students.

Having stated its general conclusions about disadvantage and schools the Committee wishes to focus specifically on particular groups that form disadvantaged minorities in our society: socially- disadvantaged children, country children and girls. Migrant children also form such a group but are considered separately in this report. (32) - 51

Socially Disadvantaged Children Clear evidence was available to the Committee that Tasmanian children from socially-disadvantaged families participate less in school than those from higher status families. In this respect Tasmania conforms to the national pattern, as the following conclusion of the Poverty Inquiry indicates: Children from lower status families not only participate less in schooling but are less able to negotiate the school structures in ways normally considered successful..... Even among children of the same high ability groupings, those from higher status families have a much greater chance of completing secondary schooling than those from lower socio-economic groups. (33) The Committee believes that there are no simple solutions to the problem that has been identified. Early school leavers are drawn predominantly from the socially disadvantaged families and we believe that the recommendations made later in this chapter about early leaving will improve the life-chances of their children. (34) It has been suggested to the Committee that some school practices such as streaming or the suspension of students may unintentionally increase inequal­ ities between poor students and other students and the Committee's recommendations on these practices should be seen in this context. (35) A report from a Committee working party on "Secondary .students at risk in Tasmania" emphasized the problem of recognising these students. It was concluded that One of the main problems connected with children disadvantaged by social factors lies in the recognition of those . students who need special help. Account , should be taken of such clues as truancy, seeking of exemptions to leave school before the minimum leaving age, sudden changes in academic behaviour, marked, for example, by aggression or withdrawal. (36) The priority of the working party that "the process of documenting particular aspects of disadvantage can begin and be maintained as the student proceeds through the educational system" is endorsed by the Committee. 52 -

Given the importance attached by the Poverty Inquiry to teacher-pupil interaction it is note­ worthy that evidence furnished by the Tasmanian Teachers Federation suggested that school size may be especially important in low socio-economic status areas where teachers have a particular need to identify with children and their problems both in and out of school. (37) The Federation also put forward evidence supporting the need for personnel to make home visits and for liaison with other bodies where there were home problems. The Committee endorses both proposals and accepts the recommendation of the Poverty Inquiry on the matter of home visits: "Procedures be adopted, including the practice of regular home visits by school-based personnel, to establish effective communication especially with poor families''. (38) The general need for support services to assist schools in coping with disadvantaged children is taken up later in this report. (39)

Evidence was made available to the Committee indicating that financial hardship is frequently a factor in the decision by a student to leave school early. (40) The Committee considers that schools should have access to emergency funds to ensure that no students are limited in their participation in school programs because of family poverty. (41) It also suggests that consideration be given by the Education Department to a review of means-tested personal allowances, including the desirability of making the allowances at present provided only at fourth-year level available for all the compulsory secondary years (7-10). (42)

Country Children In the introduction to this report reference has been made to the many sources of evidence gained by the Committee. Across this range one of the most striking features was the concern expressed about the disadvantages faced by country children. Not only professional educators and researchers but also members of the public pointed to the need for the Committee to put forward proposals for improving the situation. We are most anxious to respond to this evidence and consider that our recommendations about country education are among the most important in our report. 53 -

The provision of educational facilities for country areas and the need to give children living in rural centres adequate schooling has been a key concern of Australian educators since colonial days. But in the new concern about disadvantage that has been developing over the last ten years attention was initially focused on the particular problems of those living in the inner areas of the capital cities. The present initiatives respond to clear evidence from research that country children as a group are not sharing equally in education. A major research project undertaken in Tasmania has shown that an undue proportion of early school leavers comes from country schools, that the lower level of participation is particularly marked in the later years of secondary education, that most country children have had to leave their own district to find employment and that country children have found it more difficult than city children to find employment that offers good pay, security, status in the community and prospects of advancement. (43) A smaller proportion of students from country high schools than from city high schools continue on to Higher School Certificate level.(44) Other research available to the Committee has shown that country children have lower levels of attainment in tests of literacy and numeracy than city children.(45)

One of the difficulties which the Committee has had to face in considering this evidence is that there is an absence of agreement in Australia as to the causes of the unequal participation by country children and consequently an absence of any consensus about the measures which should be taken to overcome it. In this respect the Committee welcomes the provision which the Australian Schools Commission has made for projects in selected country areas addressed to increasing our understanding of the nature of rural disadvantage and developing strategies for overcoming it. (46) Later in this section of the report we shall deal with the question of providing adequate educational resources by the Education Department. However, unequal provision is certainly not the only difficulty and probably not the major one and it is necessary to give consideration to other factors.

It is clear that one of the potent factors operating in country areas is that country parents and country children themselves have hopes for their future, expectations about the schooling they will complete, and aspirations about the work they will enter that are lower than those of their city counter-

Parts. C47) - 54

In a sense they are less ambitious and in a competitive, materialistic society this is to their cost. There is some evidence that teachers going to country areas have reduced expectations about the ability and potential of country children. The existence of a lower level of educational and employment expectation among parents, teachers and children is very important but it is not easy for the Committee to recommend ways of overcoming the problem. Certainly this is an area in which there is a need for increasing co-operation between home and school and the Committee commends to country schools initiatives aimed at increased parental and community involvement in schools. This seems likely to be an important way of raising parental expectations, especially for the families who share the double disadvantage of being poor and living in the country (more than a third of Australia1 poor live in sparsely populated rural areas). (48)

It is also necessary to emphasise strongly that the underlying problems of rural Australia lie outside the area of education. The Committee accepts the conclusion of a Tasmanian report for the Poverty Inquiry on this matter: In considering the problem of rural disad­ vantage it should be emphasized that simply to set aside further resources for country schools will not be enough. The complex problems of our country communities are embedded in the prevailing economic and social fabric in Australia and to concentrate on any single aspect of rural disadvantage will be inadequate As a nation we have permitted the gradual destruction of country communities and it is perhaps time that our society reappraised its attitude to them. (49) At both national and state levels there would seem to be a need for bodies, representative of a range of interests and responsibilities, to address themselves to the future of rural communities. So far as educators are concerned it is necessary for the Committee to point out the danger of having unrealist- ically high expectations about what will be achieved through action in the single area of education.

Despite the sentiments expressed in the previous paragraphs the Committee accepts that it must address itself to the question of the provision of educational resources in country areas. Several submissions to the Committee focused specifically on this problem. - 55

It was suggested that the provision of educational services for country children did not match that for city children. (.50) Problems of staffing, capital works and maintenance, educational resources such as equipment, and library services, were instanced. The particular difficulties of teachers in country areas were mentioned by several of those making submissions. (51) Particular attention was given in several submissions to the position of district schools. Evidence was put forward about the advantages of small schools, the need for local initiatives and the central position of district schools in relation to the community they serve. (57J Those giving evidence on this point emphasized not further consolidation but upgrading so that district schools offered a comparable education to urban high schools. One submission argued that district schools do not have the same status or give the same opportunities as city schools but they should be upgraded to become "junior highs" and take all children from the area until the end of Year 8. (52)

After considering the range of evidence available the Committee has accepted a number of recommendations that together make up a redirection of approach to secondary education in country areas. The Committee is concerned that any structural limits to full opportunity in Years 7 to 10 should be recognized and reduced. (54) In this regard the Committee has adopted the overall Stance that students in Years 7 to 10 should be educated in their local secondary school wherever possible. Such a recommendation is made possible by the Committee's approach to the secondary curriculum which emphasizes experiences in each year in six different areas rather than a proliferation of courses and levels which the small country school is unable to provide. The Committee supports the initiatives taken by the Education Department to improve educational provisions in a number of district schools so that all children from the district can be retained, for secondary education. It considers that, when provisions have been extended in this way, the practice of bussing students to a high school should not continue.

The Committee is aware that, partly arising from evidence gathered during the course of its deliberations, a departmental committee has been set up to review the future of individual district schools. The Committee recognises that this review may show some district schools to be too small to provide their secondary students with an experience which will be equal to that of students in larger schools and accordingly recommends that the minimum enrolment required for a secondary school catering for students in Years 7-to !0 should be about fifty. 56

The Committee envisages that alternatives for schools with a smaller enrolment will vary from one situation to another. The alternatives include closure, the provision of external studies, the bussing of children to a larger secondary school after Year 8, the development of individual study programs and increasing hostel subsidies. The Committee envisages that the range of these alternatives will be. considered by the district school committee.

The Committee recognizes the important redirection of policy implied in its stance of providing secondary education within local districts and the importance of its recommendations for district schools. In accepting these principles it. expresses confidence in smaller secondary units. It believes that its recommendations about the educational program and school organization will assist these schools and enhance their viability.

The Committee supports the call of the CENRA report for positive discrimination in favour of country children. (55) It is not a question of country schools being less well provided with staff and of other resources but of compensatory provision in recognition of the disadvantages of country students. The first need is for incentives for teachers to work in country schools and to be satisfied to remain there for some time. As expressed by the Committee's working party on children at risk: Rural children should be taught by teachers trained to recognise the special problems they face and who can work with students and their parents to overcome barriers to successful learning. These teachers should appreciate differences in culture, be able to become part of local social networks and build upon the distinctive strengths of country people. (56) In this respect the Education Department is in the process of reviewing incentives for teachers in isolated schools while the present government is committed to improving teacher housing in country areas.

The Committee recognizes the need to provide country children with specialist staff and facilities comparable ivith those available to city children. In evidence to the Committee the'areas of music teaching and library provision were shown to be areas of special need. - 57 -

In the area of music it would seem necessary for new ways of providing services to be developed, for example by sharing teachers between adjacent schools or developing specialist skills in some classroom teachers. The area of library provision would seem particularly important because of the absence of resource materials in many country homes while the recent review of school-library provision highlighted problems in providing adequate library facilities in many country communities. [57)

Several reports about country schools have drawn attention to the problem of providing a wider cultural experience for their students. In recent years there has been an extension of visits by groups to country schools and of trips by country children to larger centres so that they can gain cultural experiences denied to them locally. (58) The Committee endorses both approaches and commends initiatives such as the Education Department's financial support of the "Theatre in Education" group. Several submissions drew the attention of the. Committee to the need for support staff in country schools and the Committee recommends the provision of student counselling in relation to vocational choices, further education and welfare.(59)' In our report we have seen career education as school based and we would accept the view of the Poverty Inquiry that there is an urgent need for action to "increase the knowledge and options of rural children so they may realistically choose between rural and urban pursuits The task of informing people of their prospects both locally and in the city must be taken up by schools." (60)

Girls Evidence to the Committee suggested that both males and females in our society are disadvan­ taged by sexism but that women are more seriously handicapped. (61) This evidence detailed the ways in which this disadvantage is reflected in the school system and argued for the appointment of a committee to implement the approaches recommended in the report Girls, Schools and Society. (62) Its recommendation that a full-time officer work as a resource person and an initiator of action such as a review of classroom materials has already been implemented. Particular concern was expressed to the Committee about the traditional approach in schools of regarding particular subjects as specially for girls or for boys. (63) - 58

After considering the range of evidence available to it on this subject the Committee concluded that, in terms of retention in secondary education, girls do not form a disadvantaged group. However, in terms of the types of courses undertaken by girls, their expectations about future careers and the limited range of occupations open to girls after leaving school it is clear that they can be described as disadvantaged. (64) Accordingly, the Committee calls on schools to review their current programs and organizational policies to ensure that these do not discriminate against girls.

Conclusion In this section of the report many important recommendations have been put forward about tackling the disadvantages of particular groups of students but the Committee wishes to reiterate the importance of seeing many other sections of the report as being relevant to this question. The Committee has set its face against the kind of streaming or choice-making by students in the compulsory years that foreclose options available to them at a later stage. In the view of the Poverty Inquiry such practices by a school settle individual destinies and make the school itself relatively powerless to overcome the disadvantages of parental and social-class background. In very large measure the whole problem of disadvantage is that of increas­ ing the choices open to students and of maintaining the willing' and fruitful participation of disadvan­ taged students until they are able to exercise wise choices about their future and until a wide range of alternatives is open to them. The Committee has also put forward in other parts of this report important recommendations about Principals and teachers and we see the quality of staff-student interaction as critical in helping children at risk.

Increased parental and community involvement in education and the development of the possibility of recurrent education are also highly relevant to a consideration of disadvantage. But we conclude this discussion by highlighting two aspects of central importance: (.1) The whole consideration by the Poverty Inquiry of poverty and education was focused on the vulnerability of early school-leavers. These are the students whose choices in life are most limited and this is likely to be increasingly the case in our society. 59

Early school-leavers are drawn particularly from disadvantaged groups in our society and the key aspect of tackling disadvantage is to remedy this situation. (65) (2) Equality of opportunity cannot be achieved by educational policies alone. A concerted and co-ordinated effort by many experts and administrators is required to offset the hitherto fragmented application of resources and effort. Compensatory education alone just does not work and there is an urgent need for new structures that will bring together people and resources from different gov­ ernment departments and voluntary agencies.

2.4 THE TRANSITION FROM SCHOOLING TO WORK The nature of the problem There has been a growing awareness in Australia over the last two or three years that students who leave secondary school are experiencing major problems of transition to work situations. Within the last six months, indeed, three important reports have given major attention to this problem .(66) The Committee wishes to emphasize the complexity and multi-faceted nature of the problem. As suggested by the O.E.C.D. Examiners we should view the transition from schooling to work "not as an event but as a process and as an aspect of the wider issue of the relationships between school and society." (67)

The Committee's discussion in this report falls into two sections. In the first an attempt is made to state clearly the complex of problems in the schooling and work area. In the second we will be endeavouring to clarify the contribution that the school can make in this area, the extent to which problems need to be dealt with by other agencies in society or by a co-operative approach, and the specific new initiatives which the Tasmanian education system should take.

Ihe relationship between schooling and work At the present time in Tasmania the majority °f students leave school during or at the end of the secondary school and do not continue to Higher School Certificate study. 60

In consequence high schools and district schools must be directly concerned with the way in which their students are subsequently able to enter the labour force. The problem is, of course, wider than this and there are problems of transition to work which are the particular concern of tertiary institutions, secondary colleges and the institutions of technical and further education.

In Tasmania we have unashamedly accepted the need for secondary schools to offer a general rather than a vocational education. However, one of the unanticipated consequences of this orientation seems to have been a certain lack of interest by the school in the world of work and, in particular, the experiences of students during the early years after leaving school. What is happening now is that schools are coming to realize that the two stages in life cannot be seen as clearly marked off from each other. The courses which a student takes at school, the stage at which a student decides to leave school, the person he or she is on completion of secondary education and the knowledge the student has about the world of.work have a continuing effect on the student's life. Consequently, in Tasmania we now see that schools need to be better informed about the student's subsequent experience and to contribute to reducing the problems of transition.

Present problems with transition There seems to the Committee to be a very real danger of confusion between the particular problems associated with unemployment among young people and the longer-term problems associated with the trans­ ition between schooling and work. The O.b.C.D. Examiners have pointed out: Transition problems are not necessarily overcome when everyone who leaves the education system finds a job of some sort very quickly." (68) One of the longer-term problems is "credentialism" - the raising of the educational qualifications required by employers for particular jobs even though the content of those jobs has not changed. As suggested by the O.E.C.D. Examiners this not only results in inefficiency but in personal unhappiness for those "with intrinsically adequate educational qualifications (in) finding jobs or holding the ones they have." (69) A further dysfunction is in the current provisions for counselling and transition services. These have been widely criticised and it can be suggested that "young people leaving school do not receive adequate information or guidance to prepare them to make a decision about their careers." (70) 61

There is one fundamental aspect of this subject which the Committee wishes to express in very strong terms. It is clear that at present some important changes in Australia's occupational structure are taking place and there is a problem of unemployment among young people that it is quite beyond the powers of the school to solve. The Committee accepts that "decisions on occupational choices should be less haphazard, and the process of transition smoother, than appears to be the case at present." (71) But schools are not responsible for the structural changes which underlie the present situation and they do not accept being held to account for it. The best career education and counselling and the most job-oriented curriculum will not help secure a smooth transition to work if jobs are not available. In this section of the Report the Committee has made strong recommendations about career education, providing support for students in the transition period and contributing to co-ordin­ ating structures directed towards the major problems in the field. But the underlying problems can only be overcome by a major review of the directions which social and economic trends are taking and by the accep­ tance by the Australian society of the need for reforms that will improve employment opportunities for young people. (72) We should be realistic about what can be achieved through career education, no matter how well-conceived and generously provided with resources. We should not emphasize the moral benefits of work if there are no jobs for many students or if the nature of some jobs is degrading. We should not presume entry to career ladders since only about a quarter of our students will enter jobs with security and possibilities of advancement.

The effect of a changing occupational structure In any discussion of the employment opportunities of young people it is vitally important to distinguish the effects of cyclical unemployment to which solutions are conceivable in the long-term within present structures from the effects of structural changes in employment which can only be overcome if there are changes in social and employment policies. In Tasmania we can point to the dramatic reduction in farm jobs over the past generation and the consequent migration of young people to urban areas. (73) Further, the Tasmanian economy is not growing rapidly and a continued migration of young people to other states in a search for better opportunities can be anticipated. (74) For Australia as a whole an absolute decline in vacan­ cies for unskilled workers and a slowing of the employment growth rate in manufacturing industry have been predicted. (75) 62 -

There has been a rapid increase in the Labour force participation of married women and this is " particularly in the kind of jobs in which they are competitive with the less well quali­ fied school leavers." (.76) The conclusion of the O.E.C.D. Examiners was that future prospects for the employment of young people are not bright. In the short-term the present high levels of unemployment seem likely to continue. Even when there is recovery in economic activity " unemployed young people are likely to be absorbed more slowly than more experienced adult workers." (77)

On the basis of the written and oral evidence presented to us, we endorse this rather gloomy prognostication. It is within such a context, we believe, that the problems of transition from school to work must be studied and within which policies for the next decade must be planned. (78)

Unemployment among young people The very high levels of unemployment among school leavers and other young people in Australia and, particularly, in Tasmania concern the Committee very greatly. The Committee is aware that, given our society's values and expectations, most indi­ viduals will regard themselves as having lost human dignity if subjected to extended unemployment. The Committee is concerned about the long-term effects of unemployment on the individuals concerned and on our community as a whole.

The Committee welcomes the initiatives which are currently being taken to develop support structures for the young unemployed in Tasmania and warmly endorses the allocation of resources which the education system is making to these initiatives. Again, the transition problems of individual students can be eased through appropriate counselling and the general awareness of students about the world of work and the possibility of unemployment can be increased. However, the Committee considers that short-term measures are not the major response v/hich the education system can make to the present situation. It is also necessary to look to long-term solutions. Many of these are outside the competence of the education system though we believe that educators should be involved in the development of social and emnloyment policy. 63

The distinctive role of the educator however is in the creation of new combinations of work and education for young people after they have completed the period of compulsory education. The O.E.C.D. Examiners reached a similar conclusion: The real solution to the problem of long term youth unemployment must, we believe, lie with more effective arrangements for education and training in the light of the job opportunities that are likely to be available when economic growth resumes. (79)

The particular problems of early school-leavers The Committee has received evidence about the post-school experience and prospects of students who have left school before completing the period of compulsory education.(80) It is apparent that early leaving has continuing consequences that are likely to reduce permanently the life- chances of the individual. The choices which early leavers are able to make about their life are more limited than those of other students. Early- leavers are more likely to be unemployed or to find themselves in job sequences that are not satisfying and lack any future. Early school-leavers have generally liked school less than other students and it seems probable that they are less likely than others to take opportunities for second-chance learning. The Committee considers that principals and teachers should see the wish of a student to leave before the end of Year 10 as a danger signal and should be aware of the likely consequences for those who do leave early.

It is in the context of this evidence about early leavers that the Committee has considered the question of compulsory education. The Committee supports the existing provisions for compulsory education and accepts that, in some circumstances, it will be necessary to exempt students as provided in the Education Act. However, the Committee would see every exemption as a sign that the individual is at risk and support such a policy only on two assumptions: (1) that there is recognition in the curriculum and in career education of the needs of early school-leavers; and (2) that there should not be a sharp break between schooling and the subsequent experience of the individual but a transition neriod, such as that called for the A.s.e. Report for 1976-1978. (81) 64 -

The Committee is aware of the arguments in favour of reducing the period of compulsory education and recognizes that existing legal provisions make it possible for many students to leave before completing year 10. However, the Committee considers that to reduce the period of compulsory education would have adverse consequences for disadvantaged groups of students and would lead to greater inequalities in educat­ ional participation than at present.

It is apparent that there is a relationship between early leaving and the experience of school so that many of those who leave early are low- achieving or under-achieving students and students who like school less than others. The Committee considers that the present curriculum is inadequate in that it seems neither relevant nor satisfying to these students. The practice of requiring all students to study basic subjects for several periods each week may not be the right sort of education. Part of this relevance lies in the achievement of a basic competence in literacy and numeracy but the Committee is not prepared to accept that all students should be brought up to a pre-determined level before being able to leave. (82)

The view of the Committee is that schools should give low-achieving students experience of basic skills in a satisfying practical situation in which, for example, writing is related to experiences undertaken in the course. In one high school a child-care program offers students a range of courses, many in practical situations and gives students some status at the end (including a certificate from the school), thus emphasizing the worth of the program. There is a considerable need to develop other similar courses. Our industrial arts teachers have a particular role to play in the development of courses that are broadly conceived as giving an understanding of technology and skills of general value of modern life and thus contributing to general education rather than to pre-vocational education.

The Committee also wishes to stress the particular importance of career education for students who may leave school early. This should be aimed at conveying an awareness of the importance of skills in work- situations and at developing an understanding of the world of work, including the reality that there may not be a job available and that this is not the fault of the individual. - 65 -

Finally, the Committee wishes to reiterate its view that leaving school should not be seen as a final and decisive break with education institutions. New patterns of experience that involve elements of both work and school are needed, especially for students who have had to leave school before the end of Year 10 and have found full-time employment in unskilled or semi-skilled work. Such young people need to be provided with opportunities to acquire work-related skills and to be given better chances for work that offers security, stability and a future.

Initiatives in the area of schooling and work 1. The responsibilities of the school The Committee accepts the view that an important responsibility of schools is to prepare students for entry to the labour force. Perhaps the key part of this responsibility is to be interested in and well informed about the subse­ quent experience of students, especially those who have had to leave school early. It has been suggested to the Committee that the initiation of support for school leavers will very largely be a responsibility of educators and that no other agency or group, such as employers, will be as interested as the school in this group of young people. If so, an extension of the present concerns of principals and teachers will be required.

One of the views emphasized by the Schools Commission in its 1976-1978 report, relates to the boundary between schooling and later experience. For those who leave school and go directly into employment at the end of compulsory schooling or earlier, the Committee considers that this boundary should be much less clearly drawn. (83) At the administrative level the implications of this view have been clearly identified by the O.E.C.D. Examiners The most important 'transition' we were examining is in essence a transition from the primary responsibility of the education authorities to what we believe should be the joint responsibility of the education and employment authorities. Unless relationships between the two bodies are strong and unless their policies are coordinated any problems of transition are likely to be exacerbated. (84) 66 -

2. General education and the transition to work Later in this report the Committee takes up the tension between the general and pre^vocational possibilities of the secondary curriculum. (85) Here it is only necessary to indicate that the Committee sees career education and the development of basic skills as taking place as part of the total process of education and in a general education program. However, it accepts that some change of emphasis in the educational program is required. The dilemma for schools is that there is a tension between developing the competencies required by students and avoiding decisions that will limit the choices a student can make about his future, for example of successfully completing H.S.C. studies. (86) The Committee accepts that decisions made about secondary students or by them have consequences that are particularly damaging but recommends that individual students should be able to follow study units in Year 10 that will sharpen particular competencies required in the labour market.

3. Career education The Committee accepts the definition of the Milligan Working Party that "career education is considered to be a long-term process involving knowledge of self, the world of work and the development, of decision-making and planning skills"(87) and considers that education about work is an important part of the educational program of second­ ary schools. Principles underlying career education should include the following: (a) Career education should be integrated into the curriculum and should not be seen as a new subject. At present, Social Science units are an important part of career education and the Committee would support such provisions and seek their extension into other subjects, including industrial arts. (b) Career education is an aspect of the secondary program that the Committee sees in developmental terms and not as a topic confined to the final year of a student's school career or to Year IU students. (88) (c) Career education should be aware of the danger of concentrating on white-collar jobs and the skilled trades and stress the worth of all forms of labour. 67

Consistent with these principles, the Committee seeks the provision of career education through a sequence of experiences developed from Years 8 to 10. Guidelines for such a program need to be prepared for schools. The Committee considers that present efforts to give secondary students an understanding of the world of work and a knowledge both of the range of jobs and of how to conduct a job search do not meet the needs of a sufficient proportion of secondary students. The Committee considers that the principal responsibility for career education should rest with the secondary school. (89) Career education is seen to be an area where schools will need additional resources. The Committee believes that each secondary school should have a member or members of staff to carry out the following tasks: * to give guidance about school courses appropriate to particular vocational aspirations; * to feed all sorts of information about the world of work into the school; * to organize work-experience programs; * to help some students actually get a job; and * to follow-up school-leavers, especially those who have been granted exemptions. The Committee is aware that, in some States, full- time careers teachers have been appointed to some schools and considers that the allocation of staff to secondary schools should provide for this responsibility. However, the Committee considers that there is a considerable value in such a role being exercised by those with some teaching responsibilities. It emphasizes the importance of selection of staff (in which the experience of the individual in occupations other than teaching would seem relevant) and of the provision of appropriate teacher development programs. While the Committee wishes to see the school accept a greater responsibility for career education, it recognizes the supporting role of other agencies such as the Commonwealth Employment Service. The Committee has noted that the Department of Labour and Industrial Relations, in its evidence to the O.E.C.D. Examiners, welcomed the increased role schools were beginning to Play in this area and saw its own role as "supportive". (90)

4• Work experience programs The Committee recognizes the value of work experience programs and wishes to encourage their further development. However, the Committee sees 68 the value of this experience as being in its contribution to the total education of the individual and not as the principal way by which a student will be able to exercise a vocational choice. This view is shared by the O.E.C.D. Examiners: Their main purpose is, or should be, to help children to relate their school experiences to the world in which their parents live, which they see and hear discussed in the media and in which they themselves will have to live. They can also help acquaint students with working conditions in at least a limited range of jobs. (91) The Committee is aware of the problems of co-ordination in this area and welcomes the approach that has been already adopted of appointing a state-wide co-ordinator. This is an area of very sensitive negotiation and much could be lost if schools fail to work in a co­ ordinated way and overload the resources that are made available. The Committee recognizes that such schemes must be limited in scope and not all students will be able to participate. It believes that disadvantaged students should be given priority in such schemes. As indicated by the Milligan Working Party: work experience schemes are not a panacea for the problems of transition from school to work. Nevertheless they constitute a useful means of introducing secondary students to the world of work, and contributing to their personal development. They may also assist the employer to gain a better understanding of youth and of their attitudes towards life and work. (92)

5. New combinations of work and education Earlier in this section of the report we emphasized the view that the transition from schooling to work is a process and not an event. Consistent with this view the Committee wishes to support the progressive development of new provisions which combine practical, work-oriented activities with continuing study. (93) The O.E.C.D. Examiners have also called for: structured educational and training experience to about the age of 18. We are referring in particular to the possibility of combining structured education or training courses in educational institutions and on the job, and we feel it important that this be regarded not only as a responsibility of the education and employ­ ment authorities, but of industry - employers and unions as agents of society as well. (94) 69 -

The Committee sees the greatest need as providing for students who have left school before the end of the compulsory period of education. For such students, there should be a period of transition in which work is seen as a learning experience and in which a combination of part-time education and part-time work is available. In this period, the Committee believes that it should be a responsibility of employers to include an element of learning for young workers and to themselves accept a teaching responsibility for some of the basic skills and knowledge required by work situations. The improvement of work situations is one of the strategies that should be fostered in any program of improving the transition from schooling to work. (95)

6. Structures for improved consultation For the Committee one of the most important needs to emerge in this area is improved consultation between employing authorities and education authorities. Both the O.E.C.D. Examiners and the Milligan Working Party have made suggestions along these lines while the following recommendation of the Poverty Inquiry is accepted by the Committee: The Minister for Education in each State (should) establish a permanent consultative committee, to include representatives from education, industry, social welfare, recreation and other relevant areas to study the process of transition from school to work and from adolescence to adulthood, to facilita co-operation between departments and organisations concerned with the process, and to encourage experimentation and evaluation in this critical area. (96)

Recurrent education The Committee holds the view that education is a life-long process but that, because of changes in societ and the implications of these for individuals, it will, become increasingly necessary for people to return periodically to learning institutions for further study. Accordingly, the Committee accepts the importance of recurrent education and supports the development of second-chance education providing for those who want further secondary education. The Committee sees second chance education as a potential solution to some of the problems of transition from school to other activities. The Committee considers that there are several alternate places in which recurrent and second-chance education might be offered. The existing secondary colleges and technical colleges and the developing community colleges are of central importance. Other needs will best be met outside formal institutions - in adult education programs, external-studies services 70 - or in an informal group of adult students studying together. For some needs, however, the Committee considers that our secondary schools have an important service to offer. A full examination of the whole area of recurrent education is clearly beyond the terms of reference of this Committee. Nevertheless, it is clear that the first priority at the present time is to make provisions for those students who wish to return to complete a full education at secondary level. Priority should also be given to the entry of disadvantaged groups into further education. As indicated by the Poverty Inquiry this will require the creation of new opportunities for learning through diverse and flexible approaches which are linked to individual needs. (97) In this respect, it is relevant to refer to the major barrier to participation at present: the inability of older students to support themselves financially on re-entry to full-time education. The Committee wishes to encourage principals to respond to the needs of students for second-chance education and to make provisions for them to be admitted to the school when this is sought. The Committee considers that for some students the secondary school may be the best venue for their second-chance learning and if they seek admission they should not be re­ directed to other institutions. CHAPTER 2

REFERENCES 1 Frank Musgrove and P.H. Taylor, Society and the Teacher's Role (.London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1969), pp. 1-2.

2 Torsten Husen, The Learning Society (London: Methuen, 1974), p. 224 .

3 Submission to the Committee by the Tasmanian Teachers Federation, p."4. 4 Statement on "Autonomy and Diversity" made to the Committee by the Directorate of Schools and Colleges. 5 N. G. Curry, Moral Standards and Religious Education . Address given at the 1975 Conference of the Australian High School Principal's Association, p. 4.

6 Peter Lang, Consultant's Report to the Committee, 1976, p. 9. 7 See Section 1.4 and Chapter 4. 8 Great Britain. Department of Education and Science, Children and their Primary Schools: a report of the Central Advisory Council for Education (England) . Vol. I: The Report, Chairman: Lady Plowden (London: HMSO, 1967), pp. 34-36. 9 Harry L. Dodson and Fran M. Broadby, Student Decision­ making in Tasmanian Secondary Schools (Hobart: Education Department of Tasmania, Research Branch, 1976), p. 4. 10 The School in Society Report drew attention to the decreasing importance of the neighbourhood community (paras. 41, 42). In some country towns, the feeder area of the high school may be a geographic and economic entity but most urban high schools draw their pupils from an artificially-bounded slice of a continuously built-up area. Consequently, the extent to which urban high schools can be neighbour­ hood schools is strictly limited by the nature of modern communities. When we refer to the "school community", or "community and school" we are, in most situations, referring to a community consisting of staff, pupils, parents and other members of the public using the school. The "community" is the group with a common interest in the school and a shared involvement as users of the school's resources. 11 Australia. Schools Commission, Report for the Triennium 1976-78. (Canberra: AGPS, 1975), p. 112. 72

12 The Committee conducted a survey of all Tasmanian high schools and district schools in 1976. Evidence from this source is cited as follows: Survey of Secondary Education, Questions Q2.

13 Dodson and Broadby, Student Decision-Making, p.16. 14 Note Section 1.4 of this Report.

15 Ron T. Fitzgerald, et.al., 1976, "Secondary Students at Risk in Tasmania", Consultants Report to the Committee (Hobart; 19 76, mimeographed), pp. 9-10.

16 Submission to the Committee by the Rokeby Action Group, p.10.

17 W. L. Brown, Libraries in Schools, Colleges and the Community. A Report to the Tasmanian Minister for Education (Hobart: State Library of Tasmania, 1976).

18 Commission of Inquiry into Poverty, Fifth Main Report, Poverty and Education in Australia. Commissioner: R.T. Fitzgerald. (Canberra: AGPS, 1976).

19 A major aim of the R.T. Fitzgerald consultancy was to aid in this task.

20 Tasmania. Education Department, The Educational Needs of Rural Areas: report of the committee on educational needs of rural areas. Chairman: R.F. Scott. (Hobart: Education Department of Tasmania, 1971), p.19.

21 Fitzgerald, Poverty and Education, p. 83. 22 Ibid, p.88.

23 Cf. Tim McMullen, "The 'Lower' Secondary Stage: problems and possibilities." Draft report for international seminar on Compulsory Secondary Education: problems and possibilities (Paris: O.E.C.D., 1976).

24 Ibid, p. 4.

2 5 L. Emmerij, Can the School Build a New Social Order? (Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1974), p. 135.

26 See Bill Ford,"The Increasing Isolation of Traditional Decision Makers from the Industrial Workers of Australia", A.B.C. Radio 2 Broadcast 25th July, 1975; Neville Behrens, Schooling and Work: a study of twenty- three year olds in Tasmanian urban and rural communities (Hobart: Education Department of Tasmania, 1975); and Fitzgerald, Poverty and Education, p.10.

27 Fitzgerald, Poverty and Education, p. 9, 11. - 73 -

28 Ibid, p. 4. 29 See D. Byrne, B. Williamson and B. Fletcher, The Poverty of Education (London: Martin Robertson, 19 7 5) and Gilbert Peaker, An Empirical study of Education in Twenty-one Countries (New York: Wiley, 1976).

30 ' Fitzgerald, Poverty and Education, p. 88. 31 McMullen, "The Lower Secondary Stage".

32 See section 4.7 of the Report. 33 Fitzgerald, Poverty and Education, p. 27. 34 See pp. 63-65. 35 Cf. Submission to the Committee from the Welfare Branch; and Tony Knight, "Powerlessness and the Student Role: structural determinants of school Status," Australia and New Zealand Journal of Sociology, 10 (1974): 112-117. See our conclusions on streaming, pp. 149-152 and on suspension, pp. 143- 144 .

36 See Fitzgerald, Consultants' Report, p. 8. 37 Submission to the Committee from the Tasmanian Teachers Federation, Appendix 2. 38 Fitzgerald, Poverty and Education, Recommendation 3.10, p. 233. 39 See section 5.4.

40 Behrens, Schooling and Work, p. 139. 41 Cf. Fitzgerald, Poverty and Education, Recommendation 3.4, p. 232. 42 Cf. Ibid., Recommendation 3.1, p. 232. The Fitzgerald Consultant's Report also concluded that special funding for this purpose should be provided, p. 11.

4 3 Behrens, Schooling and Work, p. 95. 44 This is shown from the following figures: 34.3 per cent of entrants to metropolitan (Hobart) high schools entered secondary colleges in 1977; 25.5 per cent of entrants to high schools in other urban (Launceston, Burnie, Devonport) high schools did so; 18.5 per cent of entrants to high schools in country centres entered secondary colleges in 1977. - 74 -

45 Lloyd D. Blazely, Survey of Basic Skills of Reading and Numeracy of J4 Year Old Tasmanian Students. Research Study no. 21, (Hobart: Education Department of Tasmania, 1976J, pp. 7-8; Fran M. Broadby, Survey of Basic Skills of Reading of JO Year Old Tasmanian students. Research Study no. 27, (Hobart: Education Department of Tasmania, 1977), p. 6.

46 Australia. Schools Commission, Report for the Triennium 1976-1978; and Australia, Schools Commission, Report: Rolling Triennium 1977-79 (Canberra: AGPS, 1976).

47 Cf. Fitzgerald, Poverty and Education, p.64.

48 Ibid. , p.8. 49 Behrens, Schooling and work, p. 198. Cf. Fitzgerald, Poverty and Education, p. 70. 50 e.g. submissions from the District School Principals Association, p. 1; Bruce Ross, p. 4; Northern Tasmanian Regional Council for Social Development, p. 4; and Scottsdale High School Staff-Parent Committee, pp. 3, 5, 11. 51 e.g. submissions from Scottsdale High School Staff-Parent Committee, p. 4; and Tasmanian Teachers Federation, p. 4. 52 e.g. submissions from the Tasmanian Teachers Federation, Scottsdale High School Staff-Parent Committee, and the Student Association of the Tasmanian College of Advanced Education (Mt. Nelson). 53 Submission from Mr. P. Pickering, Rural Science teacher, pp. 2-3. 54 Cf. Fitzgerald, Poverty and Education, p. 64.

5 5 Educational Needs of Rural Areas, p.13.

56 Fitzgerald, "Consultant's Report", p.13. 57 Ibid. 58 Cf. Fitzgerald, Poverty and Education, Recommendation 3.39. 59 The Fitzgerald Consultant's Report recommended that "every school should be equipped to counter the various handicaps incurred by children who are poor. To this end the Government should give a high priority to the training of teacher counsellors, teacher social workers and teacher home visitors. They would be people who remain in the teaching situation, understand how schools operate and can undertake additional tasks in order to assist - 75 -

children at risk. The staff of every large school should contain at least two experienced teachers with special training in social welfare. Smaller schools should be provided with the necessary back up facilities on a district and regional basis to function in a similiar manner," pp. 10-11.

60 Fitzgerald, Poverty and Education, p. 70. 61 e.g. submission to the Committee from the Women's Electoral Lobby. 62 Australia School Commission, Girls, School and Society. Report by a study group to the Schools Commission (Canberra: Schools Commission, 1975). 63 Submission from the Tasmanian Teachers Federation, p. 5. 64 The Poverty Inquiry has drawn particular attention to "the differential career information provided to girls and the different expectations held of them," p. 22; see p. 123 for their recommendations on the development of new career information for girls. 65 See pp. 59-60.

66 i.e. Fitzgerald, Poverty and Education; Australia. Commonwealth Department of Education, Transition from Secondary Education to Employment. Report of a Working Party, B.C. Milligan, Acting Chairman. (Canberra: AGPS, 1976); and O.E.C.D., Education Committee, Review of Educational Policy in Australia: examiners report and questions (Paris : O.E.C.D., 1976) .

67 0 . E . C . D ., Examiners Report, para. 20.9.

68 Ibid. para. 101. 69 Compare the Poverty Inquiry conclusions about the "certificate barrier" which exists in spite of the absence of any Australian research showing that a year or two more of schooling "is a significant discriminator between the suitability or efficiency of workers in comparable jobs," p. 137.

70 Fitzgerald, Poverty and Education, p. 119. O.E.C.D. Examiners Report reached a similiar conclusion, para. 168.

71 Milligan, Transition from Secondary Education to Employment, p. 117. One long-term change that would directly involve schools would be to reduce the flood of school- leavers onto the labour market at a single period in the year. The possibility of a progressive release of students who have completed a full four- year program would seem worth considering. 76 -

73 Behrens, Schooling and Work, pp. 69-71 and 94-95.

74 Ibid. pp. 93 and 97-98. 75 O.E.C.D., Education Committee, Review of Educational Policy in Australia: examiners report and questions (Paris: O.E.C.D., 1976J , para. 124-125 .

76 Ibid. para. 117. 77 Ibid. para. 122. 78 Ibid. para. 124-125. 79 Ibid. para. 126 80 Behrens, Schooling and Work,pp. 199-202. The Poverty Inquiry was also concerned about the continuing effects on early school leavers, pp. 71-7 5.

81 Schools Commission, Report for Triennium 1976-1978, p. 122. 82 The Committee supports the view of the Australian Schools Commission, Report for Triennium 1976-78 that: "A basic plateau of competence is needed by all children if they are to become full citizens able to exercise options. Some children and young people need more assistance and time to reach this plateau than others, and resources should be distributed and approaches varied in an effort to meet this need." p. 7.

83 Schools Commission, deport for Triennium 1976-78, p. 122. 84 O.E.C.D., Examiner's Report, para 12.

85 See section 3.3 of this report.

86 O.E.C.D., Examiner's Report, para 88. 87 Milligan, Transition from Secondary Education to Employment, p. 117. 88 The Poverty Inquiry has also emphasized a developmental approach avoiding the traditional "one-shot" method, p. 125. 89 Cf. Fitzgerald, Poverty and Education: "We believe that schools must take full responsibility for career education, placing particular emphasis on the needs of poor and educationally disadvantaged students," p. 134.

90 O.E.C.D., Examiner's Report, para. 167. - 77 -

91 Ibid., para 176.

92 Milligan, Transition from Secondary Education to Employment, p . 119.

93 Fitzgerald, Poverty and Education,• p. 142.

94 O.E.C.D., Examinee's Report, para. 131.

95 Note also the Milligan working party recommendation that employers should be encouraged to provide counselling services and training programs, p. 121. 96 Fitzgerald, Poverty and Education, p. 179.

97 Fitzgerald, Poverty and Education, p. 162. - 78 - CHAPTER 3 THE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM

3.1 TEACHING AND LEARNING In the first chapter of this report the Committee has attempted to present some important ideas about society, students, and the purposes of secondary education. Since teaching and learning are the two major expectations held about schools, it is necessary to discuss some essential features of these two activities, and to con­ sider the relationship between them, before considering the general organization of the school curriculum.

A necessary condition of teaching is that the teacher should intend the student to learn something such as a belief, some facts, a skill, an insight. There are two parts to this function of the teacher, the indicative aspect and the student-centred aspect.

First, the teacher's activities will indicate, explicitly or implicitly, the "something" that it is intended the student should learn. This is one of the problems that teachers face when they set up conditions for independent inquiry. How can they indicate what they expect each student to be learning? For example, even in the typical "project" assignment, to take a strongly teacner-controlled case, is it the techniques for gathering the information, the information itself, or both, that the teacher expects to be learned? As the variation in the activities of different students increases, so does the difficulty of the teacher in indicating to each what the teacher intends him to learn. This explains why activities like demonstrating, telling and proving, which provide excellent means for indicating an intention, have always played such a central part in teaching. It also explains why, when these are missing, students sometimes feel that they are learning nothing.

Secondly, the teacher's activities will be centred on the pupil, to the extent that they must take place at a level where the pupil can acquire what it is intended he should learn. The task of the teacher is to bridge the gap between the knowledge, skills or state of mind of the learner and what he is to learn, and to ensure that the gap is not too wide to be bridged. As Hirst has indicated this applies irrespective of the teaching method favoured:

...In these terms opposing virtues and defects have tended to characterize both traditional - 79 -

formal teaching methods and more contemporary- progressive alternatives. Traditional teaching methods have above all concerned themselves with the indicative features of these activities, often meeting the present learning state of the pupils in an over-generalized and inadequate way. In reaction, more progressive methods have tended to cater extremely well for the present learning state of individual pupils, but at the expense of the necessary indicative features that teaching activities must embody. It is not that either group of methods is of itself necessarily deficient as teaching activities, and each might well have its place according to what exactly is being taught and to whom. What is important is that we come to realize that in all teaching activities both these necessary features need the fullest respon­ sible consideration. (1)

The Committee regards the indicative and student- centred approaches to teaching as poles of a continuum of teaching techniques available to a school. All points on the cont inuum of teaching techniques are legitimate, and any technique is likely to be disabling if used exclusively.

What has been said above is that, in the teaching activity, the intention resides in the mind of the tea­ cher. It may be asked how this can be reconciled with the Committee's view that students also bring intentions to school? The key appears to lie in the teacher's awareness of "the state of mind of the learner" - that is, in the teacher's readiness to respond to the interests, motivations and degree of maturity of the learner. On many occasions one or another of these will make it feasible to initiate the learning experience intended and wanted by the pupil. When the teacher approves of what the pupil wants to do, and provides him with the resources and the opportunities to do it, he indicatively expresses that his intentions coincide with those of the student as far as the immediate activity is concerned.

However, the skilled and sensitive teacher who knows the learner will seize the opportunity to express indicatively other learning which he intends the student to acquire by making suggestions, asking questions, seek­ ing explanations, influencing personal encounters, stim­ ulating flagging enthusiasm, and so on. Even when the 1nitiative comes from the student, it remains the responsibility of the teacher to have some intention about what the student will learn. However, this intention needs to be related to the readiness of the student to accept it. - 80 -

s Writing in The Learning Society, Husen says: ... I believe that one of the most overriding problems of the present teenage school is how young people are to be given opportunities to learn meaningful things and not to be deterred by the teaching to which they are exposed - for all its good intentions. (2) The play on the word "intention" is not a slip. It provides a link between what has been said previously and the point Husen goes on to make - that the teacher determined program is extremely demanding on the teachers themselves because they are continually frustrated by the reluctance of students to become involved in it. As the Sydney study 12 to 20 showed, there is a danger that the secondary school: selects out from the mass of pupils a scholarly type, to which it accords success. Rather than promoting the development of intellect generally, it makes intellect a speciality, associated with a certain type of work and aimed towards a certain path in life. (3) The conclusion of the inquiry into Poverty and Education in Australia was that, where this occurs many students will opt out of the academic process and "while out­ wardly conforming view schools as something separate from their everyday lives." (4)

The discussion so far has been mainly concerned with teaching. The first point that the Committee wishes to make about learning provides a link between the two activities. Students will simply go through the motions of the academic game unless the subject matter which they confront is seen to be meaningful and interesting and personally relevant to them, and purposeful in the mind of the teacher. As Stone and Church say:

Scientists and philosophers as well as novelists and poets have been grappling for years with exactly the same cosmic problems that fascinate and frighten the adolescent, and it does not debase the wisdom of the ages to take time to find its relevance for the adolescent and his concerns. (5)

A second point to be made about learning is the crucial role of language and experience. Learning comes about through talking and doing - asking questions, testing half-formed thoughts, demonstrating, gesticul­ ating, expressing feelings, and handling material. Of these, language is pre-eminent since, much as teachers might wish otherwise, many of the issues which students will confront in school must be mediated by words. The relevance discussed above "is most likely to emerge when the adolescent is allowed to do his share of the - 81 - talking, both to the teacher and back and forth with his fellows." (6) The need for the teacher is to be alert to the way the language used by the student shows what he has grasped and what he has failed to understand, and this in turn calls for all teachers to develop a sensitivity to the way they and their students use language.

Thirdly, learning is a socially-interactive process. The quality of the interactions within the group of teacher and students has a powerful influence on the quality of the learning. A view of learning as interaction leads to the involvement of all members of the group in roles of both student and teacher, and explains why secondary schools are tending to reduce the time spent on silent work and private study.

Fourthly, students differ from each other and learn different things from what the teacher may take • to be the same situation. The difference lies in such things as : biological characteristics, temperament, width and variety of interests, relations with peers, relations with family, membership of social groups, nature of home and neighbourhood, beliefs and attitudes ... In other words, it is not possible by any manner of grouping to eliminate, or even greatly reduce, the range of differences between human beings. (7)

Related to this is the fact that human development is a gradual, stage-by-stage process that is not amenable to great acceleration. The provision of a particular kind of learning for a group of students at a given moment in time is bound to be out of phase with the development of most of the group. This points to the potentially disastrous consequences of a school program which gives students only one chance to succeed in or drop out of a particular kind of learning. (8)

The emphasis in this discussion of teaching and learning is on involvement, quality relationships and meaningful activities. The Committee regards these as essential ingredients of a school program that will not be so shaped by the teacher's future- oriented intentions that students see it as isolated from adolescent interests and social life. - 82 -

3.2 GUIDELINES FOR A BALANCED CURRICULUM A new method of achieving curriculum balance Thinking about balance and choice in the curriculum has been inhibited for a long time by the notion that a suitable starting point for planning is the selection of a sample of content from the vast body of knowledge that has accumulated about man and the universe. Selecting for each student a balanced set of subjects from the range that the school offers has been the traditional method of making a preliminary sorting of the sample. After this, the content of the syllabus for a subject represents a further sampling of the possibilities that exist within the predetermined framework of the subject. Once the subject framework has been established there is a tendency to teach a subject simply because it is "there" and without considering the purposes of this particular sampling of knowledge or if it meets the needs of individual students.

In the past twenty years, attempts have been made to formulate a curriculum approach that is more purpose­ ful and that has a reduced emphasis on content. The two main lines of this thinking have been either to sharpen thinking about the subject disciplines so that the process of the disciplines becomes more import­ ant than the content, or to integrate the disciplines so that a multi-disciplinary approach can be brought to bear on large problems.

Neither of these lines of development has lived up to its promise: the first because some teachers feel secure enough in their own disciplines to make them relevant to the needs of the adolescents described in chapter 1 of this report; the second because suitable facilities are often a barrier and some teachers are ill- suited to work with a team in directing the use of a variety of disciplines to a problem.

Nevertheless, the Committee believes that, in its review, it should challenge the present concept that curriculum balance is achieved through providing a choice between subjects. Such an approach has a strangling effect on the flexible organization of the school and serves to predetermine the purposes of education for teacher and student. The Committee inclines to the view that, after the age of twelve, there are very few specific items of information or discipline content that society requires all students to know. Therefore it believes that balance in the curriculum should be conceived in terms of a range of activities and experiences which might be offered in a variety of ways. The organ­ ization of these activities and experiences may be through subject disciplines, integrated approaches, or the study of major topics. The choice between these - 83 different ways of organizing the curriculum is one of the curriculum decisions that each school should make in the light of its own philosophy and resources.

Guidelines on curriculum areas The Committee has identified a core of six broad areas of activity in which the school should attempt to involve all students. These are: language, mathem­ atics, gaining insights into the physical environment, gaining insights into the social and cultural environ­ ment, experience in the arts and crafts, and a consideration of the problems of humanity that concern and puzzle adolescents. In addition to these six areas the Committee considers that all students should be involved in physical education.

In presenting this list, the Committee is anxious to avoid the interpretation that these areas can be covered by selecting from each a subject of the current kind that seems to fit it fairly well. Although each of the areas defined by the Committee has subject connotations, it sees all of the subjects as at present conceived contributing to most areas, and none of the areas, even mathematics, being exclusively the concern of one of the present subjects. The broad areas of activity, then, are not aligned with subjects, although some subjects might well be modified to con­ tribute to the program envisaged by the Committee.

In defining areas of activity in this way, the Committee is offering schools the kind of broad guidelines referred to in section 1.4 of the report. (9) Because these areas of activity apply to all students and cut across subject boundaries, they become the concern of all teachers. Some of the matters which should concern all teachers are discussed in the following paragraphs.

The crucial importance of a sensitivity to language development is mentioned several times in this Report, as is the fact that "doing" and "experiencing" is an essential ingredient of this development. The Committee is unequivocal in its view that this area is the respon­ sibility of all teachers, and has recommended forms of teacher education to increase awareness of, and effectiveness in, the use of language as a learning tool. The place of foreign languages as a part of this area will be dealt with later in this chapter.

Mathematics, in the development of the basic skills °f computation, algebra and geometry, has applications in all areas, including the arts. For some students mathematics itself may be an expressive and artistic activity. Mathematics may be considered as a human 84 - endeavour whose nature and characteristics have played, and continue to play, a significant role in the life of man and in his affairs. For some students, mathematics has a fascination that arises from its sheer intellectual challenge.

The development of insights into the physical, social and cultural environments is almost self- explanatory. This has traditionally been the preserve of the scientists and social scientists. The point that the Committee wishes to make is that experiences in literature, the arts and mathematics should be more consciously directed towards this same end than they have been in the past.

The area of the visual and performing arts embraces art, music, drama and craft. Experience of these should not be confined to the classroom but also involve students in such things as performances and exhibitions. The Committee considers that students should have experience in this area throughout the Years 7 to 10. The visual and performing arts have applications in all areas of learning. The Committee considers that, in addition to this general experience, students should be given the opportunity to achieve real competence in one or more of the arts and hand skills. Activities in this area are not only rewarding in themselves but have a powerful role to play in the growth of the whole person, the development of language, the under­ standing and experience of mathematical concepts and the representation of physical and cultural phenomena, and offer a valuable means of opening up problems for discussion.

The consideration of problems that concern and puzzle adolescents should occur frequently in the areas of activity already discussed. It should not come as a surprise to students that the material they encounter in the ordinary course of the school day is of concern to adults. However, particular provision should be made, preferably without developing a new "subject", to deal with topics such as adolescence and the search for identity, personal relationships, health education and sex education, moral and ethical issues, consumer education and career education. DIMENSIONS OF A CORE-CURRICULUM FOR SECONDARY EDUCATION

WHAT THE AREAS OF ACTIVITY STUDENT GAINS FROM The The The Problems THE "AREAS OF investigation investigation of Arts and of concern Language Mathematics ACTIVITY" of the physical the social and Crafts to adolesc­ environment cultural * ents ** environment

CONTENT - items of information - descriptive concepts

SKILLS - power over language - intellectual abilities - practical skills - social and personal skills

VALUES - personal values - cultural norms

i

Note that the Committee also * that is art, music, drama ** including the search for includes physical education and craft identity, personal relation­ in the core-curriculum. ships and sex education, moral and ethical issues, consumer education, career education - 86 -

Physical education is a special case. It cannot readily be related to the areas of activity identified in this Report but, in keeping with an emphasis on the growth of the whole person, the Committee sees physical education as an essential part of the school program for all students. The Committee supports the contin­ uing development of physical education along the line of individual, non-competitive activity which now operates. The Committee feels impelled to draw attention to the dietary and postural problems of many of our secondary students. Tackling these problems requires action in both the home and the school. While teachers of physical education have a particular responsibility here, they need support in the educational program generally.

The Committee considers that all students should work in each of the major areas of activity throughout the four years of secondary schooling. At this stage the Committee does not define the time to be spent in this general education. It does, however, take the view that this is not the total program of the school. Provision should be made for some students at some time to choose areas of activity that have not been defined above. Especially in the later years, students will benefit from, and be motivated by, studies which have an obvious relevance to their present or future lives. Sometimes such studies will be an addition to the core curriculum (e.g. shorthand, driver education) and sometimes they will be an expansion of one of the areas of activity (e.g. physics, geography, Tasmanian history, ornithology).

Learning outcomes The curriculum framework described in the previous paragraphs provides a broad view of what the student does in school. It is incomplete without an indication of what the Committee considers that the student should gain from this doing.

Students come into the secondary school with different backgrounds, motivations and capacities, and it is possible that schooling may increase differences between students in some respects. Engagement in these activities should therefore be of a kind that will permit each student to take from school his own package of content, skills and values.

In relation to content, he will have collected a number of bits and pieces of information, definitions, and experiences with materials and instruments which he may or may not remember, but which build descriptive concepts into his experience. An awareness of three types of descriptive concepts - classificatory, relational and operational - is useful. (10) Briefly, a - 87 classificatory concept is based on the identification of certain features as being characteristic of a" group in common, a relational concept includes ref­ erence to a relationship between two or more attributes, and an operational concept consists in a way of doing something - a "know-how". Of course, concepts are not usually taught as such: they are acquired by each individual as a result of his own experience, and widened or refined as new experiences are added.'

In relation to skills, he will above all have increased his power over language in its various forms and purposes, and thus will have increased his power to learn. Consequently he will increase his range of intellectual abilities in that group of activities variously called critical thinking, problem solving, creative thinking, imagination, interpretation and understanding.

He will have developed at least one practical skill to a level where he has real competence in it. This is regarded as an essential outcome of the experimentation with a number of materials that may take place in the early stages of secondary schooling. He will develop the social and personal skills that enable him to work and play with others and to copy with his own adoles­ cence and his progress to maturity.

In the area of values, his experiences will lead to the development of "interests, attitudes, appreciations and values that reflect some feeling, some degree of acceptance or rejection." (11) A set of valuative concepts will be built into his experience which help him to manage his own sensitivities and feelings, to be aware of appropriate occasions and modes for expressing them, and to make his own adjustment or contribution to the often conflicting cultural values of his society.

The Committee believes that, of these outcomes, •the school is above all responsible for the intellectual ;ones. Its position can be summed up in the following '.'quotation from Broudy: There is no denying the importance of socialisation factors in schooling, and certainly the school should be a good place to live, just as a home, hotel or hospital should be. But the distinctive feature of a school is that it is a place for formal learning as well as living. (12) While acknowledging that the effectiveness of formal learning is dependent on the right conditions, the Committee concludes this section of the Report with some observations about intellectual goals. 88 -

Most students in the first two years of secondary schooling have developed some capacity to perform logical operations, such as defining, explaining, assessing worth, conditional inferring, classifying, comparing and contrasting, designating, reporting, stating, substituting, describing and forming opinions. This does not mean that at this time they can perform these operations adequately. It means only that they are at a point in their lives when they can begin to refine and perfect the use of these operations and find satisfaction in doing so.

The Committee does not imply by this that the prime need is for a "bookish" academic education, because logical thinking is not confined to writing. Rather the Committee is making the point that, unless the content which the student experiences, even in the most apparently practical situations, is used by the teacher to bring about a development in the power of the student to perform logical operations, the student fails to learn the potential relationships between various aspects of his experience, and is not assisted in the concept formation to which schooling should lead.

The task of the teacher is to lift the degree of refinement, the rigour and clarity with which these operations are performed in the classroom above the level to be found in ordinary conversation. To do this, all teachers must provide for the student to become aware of what these operations are and to become critical of his own performance of them.

These operations, of course, cannot be performed in a vacuum. They must be based on information of some kind, and so it is also a responsibility of the school to increase the power of the student to collect, assemble and retrieve information.

3.3 SOME GENERAL CURRICULUM QUESTIONS The reconciliation of general and pre-vocational education In 1968 a major review of Tasmanian education by the School in Society Committee definitively concluded that schooling to Year 10 should provide a general education, "an education emphasising general ideas, knowledge and skills, i.e. those which have the widest and most significant relevance." (13) In the present review the Committee on Secondary Education has attempted to balance two needs: first, the requirement for a general education that follows from the way in which society is developing and from -T~~ the Committee has formed about the process - 89 - of secondary education and secondly, the widespread demand not only from employers but from educators that schools need to be more aware of the world of work.

The Committee's basic thinking is in a life-cycle framework in which secondary education should not be clearly distinguished from the subsequent life- experience of students. Accordingly it has accepted that secondary education must take account of student's subsequent entry into work or a further stage of education. This "taking account of" is seen as relating both to the organization of schools and the provision of a curriculum which can be seen to be related to a future for the individual.

So far as school organization is concerned it is the life-determining choices that students make at school that are important: the choice of particular courses, the streaming of students, the decision to leave school at a particular stage. In short the crucial element is the process by which students can become locked into or out of the sequences that lead to success in gaining a job, access to a career or to further education and, eventually, access to a given position in our status-conscious society. It is in the recommendations made later in this report about the grouping of students, about support for students when they have to make important decisions about their future and the postponing of life-determining choices for as long as possible in the secondary school that the Committee has most clearly demonstrated its concern about the transition from schooling to work and the pre-vocational element of education.

However, in this section of the report the Committee is concerned with questions of the overall scope of the secondary curriculum. It recommends that the appropriate education for young people at the present time in the development of our society is a general education. This "general education" require­ ment is not met through the provision of numerous, different courses in order that all students can get at least some kind of elaboration. Rather we mean by "general" that: What is taught should consist of those central skills, ideas, and evaluations which can be most significantly and widely used in order to deal with life in our times. This notion is in contrast to that which holds general education to be a survey of generally everything. (14) 90

This view follows not only from the primacy which the Committee would give to producing competent persons who "think and feel as educated men and women feel" (15) and are more able to experience a rewarding and fulfilling life through their possession of practical skills and their ability to use leisure constructively. It has also been accepted because the Committee is convinced that a general education offers a much better preparation for a future working life than an education which takes a narrower view of vocational competence.

In its evidence the Committee received a small number of submissions which challenged the view that our secondary program should be general. These submissions argued for a much stronger pre-vocational emphasis. It was suggested that priority should be given to meeting the "demands of employers", that much greater attention should be given to "the basic skills", and that students should be trained in school in ways of presenting themselves to future employers and customers. We have heard much in the general community in recent months about the responsibility of schools to give employers a "suitable product", as if the schools were a components factory supplying a manufacturer with a part he could use in his enterprise. The Committee considers that such views are not only alien to the purposes of education but are also unrealistic in terms of the demands of modern work.

The educational program of secondary schools needs, to include a general orientation to the student's future involvement in work. However, schooling should not be seen as a preparation for particular vocations: this would be anachronistic, relating to a world that has passed. As the School in Society Committee said:

Vocational competence today depends less on the hand skills of manual labour, craftsmanship or mass production, and increasingly on a general education. The general demands of society are such that a broad preparation is necessary, a preparation on which a variety of highly specific skills and knowledge may be developed at a later stage. (16) Modern society also demands that schools should encour­ age an intellectual development that will assist workers in their own re-education as they change or are required to change from one job to another.

The long-term needs of the individual, then, are best met by a program of general education. But the prospects for the individual are also that he is likely to experience problems in choosing an occupation wisely, - 91 -

in getting a job and in adjusting to the demands of work situations. Many of the criticisms received by the Committee that schools have acted without sufficient regard to what students are going to do next, and have not been sufficiently alert to the problems faced in the transition period, seem to be valid.

In accordance with the needs that have been described the Committee accepts that within the program of general education some change of emphasis is now required. Two of the elements of this change are discussed in full elsewhere in this report. First, the Committee acknowledges that schools need to be more informed about the world of work and the work situations its students enter. Students should be provided with support from the school during their period of job search. The Committee has referred in detail to this support in Chapter 2 of the Report. Secondly, the Committee accepts that gaining knowledge of future employment opportunities is an important part of the development of insights into the social and cultural environment. This new emphasis has also been 'taken up fully in an earlier section. Finally, the needs of the employing authority need to be. recognised in a renewal of our attempt to produce competent persons. It is this last need which will be explored in the present discussion.

The Committee accepts that employers legitimately seek young workers who possess " a sound knowledge of the basics" and are flexible and able to accept responsibility. This is in accordance with the views of competence that the Committee sees as arising from a general education. But it is clear that the changing demands of modern work are leading to a change in employer expectations about their recruits. Employers are seeking young workers who not only are competent at the "basics", not only are obedient, submissive and willing to carry out mundane tasks cheerfully but also are flexible, able to adapt to changing circumstances and able to accept greater responsibility than was expected of young workers in the past.

The Committee would suggest two things to employers about these expectations. In the first place, there would appear to be some degree of incompatibility between the demands. The Committee doubts if the young worker who is passive and unquestioning will also be prepared to exercise initiative and demonstrate adapt­ ability. It also doubts if subjecting students to more exercises in the basics will either increase the level of competence or be able to educate students to flexibility, adaptability and the ability to communicate. Ir* the second place, the Committee would suggest that some expectations are unrealistically high, especially Wlth respect to those school leavers recruited at the the period of compulsory schooling or at an even earlier age. 92 -

The overall effect of the change of emphasis that the Committee is suggesting is that there should be some redirection of the education program as students near the end of their time at school. If its recommendations about career education are accepted there should be a gradual increase in aware­ ness of the world of work as secondary education proceeds. At the same time individual students should, especially in Year 10, be provided with units in their course that sharpen the general competencies needed in the world of work. Thus it would be possible for most students to leave school with an acceptable level of competence in computation, writing and verbal communication.

So far in this section attention has been concen­ trated on the majority of students who enter employment direct from the secondary school. However, the Committee has also been concerned with the relationship between education in Years 9 and 10 and education in secondary colleges. The major need would seem to be for improved communication at local level. Close liaison between each secondary college and its feeder schools is essential, particularly through the development of continuing contacts between the senior staff in the respective institutions. Further, students who know in Year 10 that they wish to undertake H.S.C. study should have the opportunity of undertaking units enabling them to sharpen their skills in such areas as essay-writing. The Committee believes that certif­ icate requirements are end-points that will be attained by many students before the end of Year 10. Such students should have the opportunity of undertaking units directly related to the next stage of their education or extending them in particular subject- fields. The Committee wishes to encourage secondary schools to utilize the possibilities that exist for such arrangements.

Whether the students are entering the labour force or continuing to secondary colleges, the later second­ ary years are when the long-term preparation for the individual's whole future is seriously undertaken. Nevertheless the Committee firmly rejects the view that secondary education should be designed either to meet a demand from employers for young workers with skills or competencies for particular occupations or to train students in the skills to be used at a later stage of education. The secondary system and individual schools must be prepared to say that employers or secondary colleges have the major responsibility for developing the skills and attitudes specifically required in that activity or institution. - 93

Assessment of skills in expression and calculation The Committee is concerned that certificate awards in the present subjects of English and Mathematics do not pinpoint the ability of the student to read, write and calculate, since these activities are relatively minor aspects of Year 10 assessment.

This situation is potentially harmful from two points of view. It means that employers as users of the School Certificate do not receive the information that they think they are getting when they obtain details about performance in these two subjects, and it throws doubt on the standard of the School Certificate when examples can be shown of students who gain awards at the highest level in English or Mathematics and yet make simple errors or lack elementary skills. This happens often enough to be disturbing, despite a general correlation between good performance in the broad subjects and their underlying basic skills.

There is a general teacher resistance to the assessment of calculation and English expression as separate skills. This arises from a fear that if these skills are identified as important, too much emphasis will be given to them at the expense of other more broadening activities. If the approach recommended by the Committee for a school-wide concern for these skills is followed, this need not be so. The responsib­ ility for this skill development is not solely the concern of teachers of English and Mathematics. Teachers in all areas need to be conscious of, and accept, this responsibility.

The Committee would not want to see a new subject of English Expression introduced to the school program. It is not quite so certain about Calculation. Either way, it is interested in the possibility of having the results of an ability-type test in these two areas recorded on certificates as a means of making certific­ ates more pertinent to the purposes for which they are used. At the same time, the results of such testing would indicate to a school the effectiveness of its program for the development of language and calculation skills across the curriculum.

The Committee is not prepared to make a firm recommendation on this matter at present. It simply raises the problem in the hope that discussion in the schools might clarify the issues involved and eventually increase the value of whatever certificates are given. - 94 -

Misunderstandings between parents and teachers about teaching and learning Teaching and learning methods are not static and there is a vital need to acquaint parents with new developments in education. The need for this was evident in the submissions received by the Committee which alleged a lack of numeracy and literacy among students. The solutions offered in these lay sub­ missions were remarkably similar - a return to the teaching of formal grammar, rote-learning of tables, regular spelling tests, punctilious attention to the correction of errors and an improvement in the standard of handwriting.'

Submissions from professional teachers were at variance with these ideas. They aimed at the same goals, but they "favoured a less direct and more humane approach based on a view of the value of motivation and gradual development. For example, they took the view that the anguish of learning grammar as a weekly routine stifled and eventually killed confidence to go on learning. At .the same time they acknowledged the value of formal teaching for appropriate content items. Teachers seemed to consider it was more important for a student to be able "to think, intuitively, imaginatively, critically, socially, naturally, logically, internation­ ally, historically, musically, artistically, specifically and so on" (17) than to be rejected because he failed a grammar test. The view is that the development of lan­ guage power develops naturally from the use of language in a variety of situations.

There is confusion in the minds of the public about the relative merits of the various teaching methods. The kind of argument from the professionals quoted above does little to reduce it. It is vitally necessary for professionals to provide students and parents with "demystiflying" information. For example, simply to say that open education is the ability to use a variety of methods, as the situation demands, reduces the kind of polarization which seems to surround the term.

Parental participation in the school and school involvement in the community is one obvious means of reducing misunderstanding. Another is the use of good quality publications, well-managed public presentations, and the careful briefing of teachers taking part in "parent-teacher" evenings so that they are able to be informative and helpful to parents.

There is a particular problem in dealing with the non-English-speaking parents of migrant children. The Committee is conscious of the fact that the failure of these parents in particular to understand what the school is about is making the children the victims of - 95 - a special disadvantage which is often overlooked because the children themselves do not appear to have language difficulties.

Choice and diversity in the program The Committee has identified a number of areas of activity which should be included in the program of all students for the four years of secondary schooling. It has also adopted as principles that life-determining choices should be deferred for as long as possible, that schools should develop diversity within a broad general framework, that students should have a degree of choice about the programs that they follow, and that rewards for achievement should not be deferred for too long.

The principle of deferring life-determining choices applies particularly to the early years of secondary schooling. In accordance with the ideas already expressed about general education, the Committee favours a common course for the first two years during which period there are no organizational requirements for specialization. This should not prevent some students from going as far as they are able, but they should do so within a common framework which would mean that no students are shut out.

In the later years several courses of action are available for covering the areas of activity identified by the Committee. For some students this would be done by continuing the attempt to realize the full potential of a limited range of subjects. For others again, alternative courses such as that for low-achieving students mentioned earlier in this Report might be the vehicle for a substantial part of the general education program. (18)

The Committee recommends the development of unit courses of the semester type as a means of letting students see results in a short time. The development of such units would also provide one means of giving choice to students. Additional enrichment units within the general framework should be developed to cater for the needs of students who reach proficiency quickly in the basic units. Further units again in the later years to sharpen study skills and pre-vocational competencies should be available from the range of skill units mentioned above, or individual preferences, which by the Committee's definition fall outside the framework of general education. 96 -

In developing a program offering the kinds of choices and variety indicated above, the responsibility of those involved in student guidance should be to look, not to the subjects chosen by groups of students, but to the coverage of the areas of general education, and the rigour of the program, followed by each student. In other words, it is not the number of subjects, but the range of activities that they encompass, that should be of concern to those advising about individual students' programs.

3.4 ISSUES RELATED TO PARTICULAR AREAS IN THE CURRICULUM Language and literacy It is not sufficient to see the language of the class­ room merely as the medium of classroom communication. Recent research has clearly demonstrated that using language is the means to learning and is consequently the basis of the whole educational process. As the authoritative Bullock Report states: "Learning and the acquisition of language are interlocked at all stages and in all subjects." (19) The significance of language in education is amplified in the following statement from R. Gulliford:

Language is the economical and efficient means of preserving the results of learning and thinking, applying them in new situations and modifying them with experience. Words play an important part in thinking itself, facilitating the reasoning processes with which the child examines and orders his experiences. This relationship between language and thinking is the primary reason why everything possible should be done to remedy language deficiencies. (20)

There is a growing awareness amongst teachers that language is inextricably bound up with all the learning that goes on in schools and they are "... prepared to consider what needs to be done to improve (their) procedures in schools in such a way that language becomes a facilitating force in learning rather than a barrier bristling with formidable difficulties". (21)

The question of literacy cannot be divorced from a discussion of language for it is an individual's facility in using language appropriately, at a level commen­ surate with his age group and intellectual ability, which is the measure of his degree of literacy. It has been extremely difficult to define a measure of literacy in specific terms for there is a great divergence of 97 opinion as to what standard should be achieved by each age or ability group. There is uncertainty about whether such standards are those of basic functional literacy, levels of literacy needed to enable further study at the post-secondary stage, or those allowing an individual to undertake job retraining. There is also uncertainty about the terms in which standards should be expressed.

In seeking a suitable delineation of the problem, the A.C.E.R. in a recent survey of the literacy of 14 year olds was guided by the definition adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1963:

A person is literate when he has acquired the essential knowledge and skills which enable him to engage in all those activities in which literacy is required for efficient functioning in his group or community, and whose attainments in reading, writing and arithmetic make it possible for him to continue to use these skills towards his own and the community's development and for active participation in the life of his country. (22)

The report of the Schools Commission for the 1976- 78 triennium stressed the necessity for students to attain basic competencies that allow them to achieve power over the circumstances of their own lives. (23) It also noted that students who do not handle language effectively at the end of the primary years are going to be disadvantaged throughout their secondary school­ ing. Failure to gain a level of success in schooling which gives job choice and the possibility of job training and retraining imposes severe limitations on the individual's ability to function effectively in a society where credentials play so important a part. The implications regarding literacy raised in the U.N. statement and the Schools Commission Report indicate the underlying concerns of the current debate on literacy. One submission received by the Committee pin-pointed the specific concerns for secondary educ­ ation when it stated that:

The recent A.C.E.R. inquiry into the literacy of 14 year olds has highlighted two aspects of the problem. It is certain that many of our adolescents are not attaining the standard of literacy of which they are capable .... or required for them to benefit fully from many secondary school courses. (24) 98

There have been allegations that the number of students not attaining the levels of literacy of which they are capable is increasing. It should be noted that such allegations cannot be statistically substantiated because of a lack of previous evidence with which to compare current findings. This does not mean to say, however, that educators can afford to be complacent. The A.C.E.R. study has made it quite obvious that a problem exists. Now that the implications of language for the total learning process are being fully realized it is essential that educators seek the means of remedying the situation.

In this respect the Committee has paid particular attention to the memorandum to all Tasmanian schools which the Director-General of Education circulated in May 1976 and which provided policy guidelines for schools. (25) The Committee endorses this memorandum and repeats the following policy guidelines:

(a) There is a need for a sizeable number of pupils other than those labelled'remedial' to have a continuous program designed to develop literacy and numeracy skills. This program should be related to and supported by all subject areas. The program should be the responsibility of all staff, not just teachers of English and Mathematics.

(b) All teachers need to consider very carefully to what extent their own programs build on what has been learned, leading to understand­ ing as well as the acquisition of basic facts. Some children move from one primary level to the next and then into secondary school unable to read and calculate effectiv­ ely. This must be recognized and acted upon. As well as providing a sequential program of learning appropriate to the general level of ability in a class, every teacher must ensure that as many children as possible achieve a basic level of competence in literacy and numeracy skills and comprehension.

(c) The organization of the school needs to allow for more individual counselling by teachers rather than reliance on testing to a group norm. Students should be provided with constant feedback on progress and with motivation for further effort. The teacher should recognize that all children do not reach the same stage of competence in the same time. They must be prepared to accept a child at his individual stage and work with him from that point. - 99 -

Cd) The use of assignment cards, exercises, and kits of learning material needs to be examined critically. Steps should be taken to ensure that students produce a reasonable amount of continuous writing and speaking and are not confined to one- word or one-sentence 'completion-type' answers. (26)

The memorandum also referred to the development by the Education Department of a services policy in the area of literacy and numeracy. This initiative, including an expanded in-service education program, the provision of reading materials and the monitoring of standards of literacy and numeracy, is taken up later in this report. (27)

The Committee is concerned that the question of literacy should be seen within the framework of an overall language-program in the secondary school. Consequently, the Committee is not content simply to provide the policy guidelines stated above but wishes also to draw attention to the basic principles and concerns upon which a sound language program should be based.

As a means of understanding the language with which children come into contact and are expected to cope, the model proposed by Britton has been widely accepted. (28) This postulates three kinds of language.

First there is transactional language which is the language used to get things done, to inform, advise, persuade or instruct people. This is the formal and impersonal language which teachers tend to expect in many school exercises.

Secondly, there is expressive language which is language close to the self. It reveals the speaker, allows him to verbalize his consciousness and display his close relation with a listener or reader. Express­ ive language is often not explicit because the speaker or writer relies upon the listener or reader to inter­ pret what is said in the light of a common understanding. As a consequence, the meaning of the expressive utterance may vary according to the situation. Further, since expressive language submits itself to the free flow of ideas and feelings, it is relatively unstructured. - 100 -

Thirdly, there is poetic language in n/hich the words themselves, and all they refer to, are selected to make an artistic arrangement or formal pattern. The function of a piece of poetic writing is to be an object that pleases and satisfies the writer and the reader's response is to share that emotional satisfaction. In this sense it constitutes language that exists for its own sake and not as a means of achieving something else.

The expressive type of language is the personal and social language of students. It is that language with which they feel most comfortable. At some time, most probably in the secondary school, students will make the disconcerting discovery that their own language is not entirely acceptable to teachers.

Many expressive and personal functions of language are now - or appear to be - viewed less favourably than explanation, narration and reportage, all demanding a degree of explicitness and coherence alien to the normal speech habits of the ... child. (29)

Many students, for example, come into the secondary school ready to explore and share their experience in an anecdotal and personal manner. They often cease to do so quite quickly as they perceive that teachers consider anecdotes to be irrelevant. The result is clearly described by the authors of Language, the Learner and the School. What emerges is a - confrontation between their comfortably acquired mother-tongue and the varieties of language which have grown up around institutionalized areas of learning. In many of these areas special demands are made on their thinking - they are expected to reason, speculate, plan, consider theories, make their own generalisations and hypotheses. These are in many respects language activities, that is, language is the means by which they are carried out, the means therefore, by which children do much of their learning. The effort to formulate in the pupil's own words the appear­ ance of something, or to draw conclusions from an experiment, or to express the significance of an historical document is an essential part of the learning process, for he will be using language to give meaning to his experience .. (The student's) healthiest need is to make sense in his own terms of what he is learning. It will take many years of development before his situation begins to approach that of the scientist, historian, technologist, etc. (30) 101-

I£ children are to develop competence in objective, impersonal, transactional patterns of language, this development must grow out of the confident use of personal, expressive language and a conscious evaluation of the new form of language presented to students in textbooks and by the teacher. Children cannot be expected to understand this kind of language and use it competently on entry to school. Rather, it should be a gradual learning-process. Early excursions into the objective, impersonal form of language in the secondary years will and should include the student's subjective responses to the experiences presented to them, and these should be understood and tolerated. In order to facilitate the move towards generalization and conceptual thinking, the approaches adopted in the classroom must permit the personal proc­ ess of relating the new knowledge to the individual student's existing store of knowledge and items. Hence the need for students to talk in groups and for open- ended methods of writing-up information.

Teachers must be continually aware of the necess­ ity of organizing classroom procedures which enable students to move through a personal, expressive use of language towards greater competency in objective, transactional language. This is a highly individual process in which it is inappropriate to expect students to internalize language styles, imposed by the teacher, until each becomes ready for them at his own time. The transition from expressive to trans­ actional language use is a developmental process, and for some time and in varying amounts, the two modes will be intermingled.

In summary teachers must be aware of the language of children and must realize its implications for learning and thus for classroom practice. One aspect of this awareness is an understanding of the importance of language - reading, writing, listening and talking.

Talking and listening precede reading and writing. The often tentative and incomplete quality of much of student talk has caused many teachers to consider student talk as unproductive. Teachers have therefore limited the opportunities for oral activities. However, talking establishes a social unit, and at the same time oral activities are valuable for developing confidence experimenting with new language, shaping ideas, and expressing doubt, difficulty and confusion. Therefore, student talk will be tentative and will reveal incom- P ete understanding as they try to make sense of new knowledge and experience. - 102 -

Listening is basic to the acquisition and devel­ opment of language. It is also fundamental to learning. Yet research shows that people listen very badly. Thus the claim is made by Nichols and Stevens that the average listener is only 25 per cent efficient. (31)

In the same way that children are disadvantaged readers who come from homes lacking books, or have parents who do not spend time reading with them, so it would appear that children are disadvantaged listeners where there is a lack of suitable listening situations either in the home or in the school. (32) Andersch, Staats and Bostrom present this situation lucidly: In a family situation, both the children and the parents must be good listeners if they are to get along satisfactorily solving the mutual complex problems of family life. Too often parents end up talking to themselves; the children don't listen because the message being sent is not what they want to hear. Parents sometimes encourage children to talk, but because of preoccupation with more pressing matters pay little attention to the comments of the children. (33)

To overcome listening disadvantage and to improve the 'quality of listening1 teachers should be aware of the ways by which recent research indicates that ' improvement may be obtained. (34)

The teacher who listens to his students not only gains valuable insight into the student's thought patterns, and thus the effectiveness of the learning which the teacher hopes has taken place, but also:

those who practice listening found it to be one of the most powerful and influential factors in human relations. It is a magnetic and creative force. In fact, those who listen to us are the very ones towards whom we move. Listening to us creates us, unfolds and expands us. Ideas begin to grow and come to life within us. The same thing happens when we listen to others ... (34)

Since books represent the chief means by which students learn the varied adult patterns of language and when they should be used, reading and language development are inextricably linked. Thus, a wide variety of reading material needs to be readily avail­ able, textbooks being but one source. Teachers must - 103 - be aware of the difficulty of many textbooks which seem to be addressed more to the teacher than the student. Many students cannot cope with the kinds of linguistic difficulty confronting them in the language of textbooks. Further, teachers must be aware that:

Every intellectual discipline has a set of symbols whereby it encodes concepts peculiar to itself; ordinary discourse is inadequate to decode it. This gives a more urgent, albeit somewhat different meaning to the slogan that every school department teaches reading and writing. It means that the symbolic skills peculiar to a logically organised subject are not being taught by the English department as part of a general rhetoric and must be taught as part of the discipline. (36)

Students coming into secondary schools may well have been taught basic reading skills by contact with narrative and descriptive materials. It does not follow that students with a high degree of skill in reading material of this kind will necessarily have the same degree of facility in reading writing of a transactional kind, i.e. the language of text­ books. Schools have tended to overlook the necessity of helping students to learn to read textbooks. This type of" reading in secondary schools should.be treated as a branch of the logic of the subject matter being taught. Thus all teachers in all subjects need to be involved in this aspect of the school's language- development program. In-service education is therefore required to ensure that all teachers know how to teach reading.

Writing needs to be purposeful and in the early secondary stages should allow for the expression of the writer's own ideas and his way of seeing things. Written work asks for the teacher's attention and interest more than for his marks, but all too easily the writer feels that the message itself and his effort to communicate it are of less importance than the accuracy of the writing. Teachers should be aware of the variety of purposes for which writing may be used, and pupils should be clear about the audiences for whom they are writing. Care and. accuracy in presentation result from good attitudes towards writing rather than from information about the technicalities of writing. Favourable attitudes are likely to be fostered by an awareness of a real audience and teachers working with individual pupils - 104

The responsibility of all teachers for developing the language skills of their students has already been mentioned-but needs further emphasis. The realization that language is the basis of learning is the key to this responsibility. Until recently it was considered that language skills .should be acquired in "English" and these skills utilized by teachers in all other subjects. However, recent evidence shows that language skills are best'developed when the student is engrossed in situations in all subjects which call forth a variety of language uses rather than when 'the skills' are taught in isolation. Further, teachers at the secondary school level cannot assume any longer that the total responsibility for attainment of sufficient levels of literacy rests solely with primary school teachers. The acquisition of language skills is an on-going process and teachers in secondary schools must be adequately equipped in theory and practice to aid in this process.

Foreign languages The Committee considered a comprehensive and-fully- documented report on "Foreign Language Teaching in Tasmanian Government Schools". (37) While it was impressed with the amount of material collected, and with the logical way in which it was presented, it did not accept the fundamental argument that foreign lang­ uage study is good for all students throughout four years of secondary schooling. Its reason for this is that it does not feel that the schools can change community attitudes and lack of student motivation by compulsion, and it does not believe that compulsory school-language study is essential for developing the kind of international understanding on which the Foreign Language Report leans so heavily for justification. (38) This Committee believes that such understanding is just as easily and effectively achieved by modern media resources and experiences, although it recognizes that language learning will supplement other sources of experience for some students.

The view of-the Committee is that foreign-language study should be an integral part of the curriculum, but that it should not be compulsory for all students for ail years. (39) It believes that all students should have some experience of language: study, of at least one term's duration, and that thereafter, some students may discontinue this study, others continue it, and others reinforce it by taking up a second or third foreign language, if necessary by transferring to another school. It also believes that the opportunity to return to foreign language study should be provided at all stages of the secondary program. - 105 -

The Committee considers that the language curriculum should be reviewed to give due prominence to the primary aim of inter-cultural understanding; to provide a range of activities suitably diversified in terms of content, learning activities and expected outcomes to suit the whole range of abilities; and to reflect the findings of contemporary scholarship about the nature of language and the psychological bases of foreign language learning. In specifying achievement, however, it would not agree that this should be defined in terms of the time spent in foreign language study. (40)

While recognizing the need for teaching methods to be adjusted to the abilities of students, the Committee would not support a prescription of homogen­ eous groups for language learning, nor would it make prescriptions about class sizes. (41) It does, however, recognize the need for language classes to be spread through the week and deplores the provision of double and triple periods as timetable expediencies. (42)

In the matter of resources, as a general principle the Committee is opposed to the development of resources for the exclusive use of one subject field. While rooms may be set up for language teaching, it is not considered that these rooms and their equipment should be used exclusively for language teaching even when they are used for this purpose for the majority of the time. (43) The Committee takes the view that all materials should be in the first instance be a part of the school's resource materials centre.

The need for evaluation to be closely tied to the teaching goals and methods is accepted, and the Committee would wish to see curriculum committees and the Supervisor of Foreign Languages doing all in their power to bring this about.

The choice of a first foreign language should be based on community needs and desires as far as this can be matched with practical and instrumental motiv­ ation for students, the use of the Roman alphabet in the written form of the language, and the availability of resources and trained staff. The Committee realises that this will lead to the provision of French for some time, but looks to the rapid development of German, Italian and, particularly, Indonesian.

Teacher education should provide for the develop­ ment of advanced oral fluency in undergraduate courses, as well as for courses in socio-1inguistics and psycho- linguistics. However, teacher training should not - 106 - produce specialists so concentrating on language that they cannot share other teaching in the school; nor can the qualifications for language teaching be made significantly more demanding than those for other teachers. (44)

Numeracy During 1976 the Research Branch of the Education Department conducted a survey of numeracy among 14 year olds in government schools. It concluded that:

It is apparent that the lack of number skills... is more widespread and more severe than has been assumed by many people. It is probable that many of the current remedial programs may not be sufficiently effective. (45)

This conclusion has been reached in a more intuitive way in a number of quarters. Teachers themselves have an unease, employers are convinced that there is a lack of basic numeracy in school leavers, and the community at large is apprehensive. Allied to all this is evidence of a social opting-out: many people, while insisting on the value of mathematics for all, consider it socially acceptable to be a mathematical dunce, continually confess to total inadequacy in the field and treat the mathematically able with suspicion. This could well be a defence mechanism to cover a deeply-felt inadequacy but it has definite carry-over into attitudes that students bring to school. It sets up a conflict in the minds of the students between the expressed need to become accomplished mathematically and the knowledge that it is 'all right' not to be.

The concern is essentially that many students cannot calculate accurately. It is difficult to establish the exact cause but it is apparent that by the time students enter secondary school the problem is in existence and so it would seem that the initial attack must come earlier. There is an awareness of this fact in primary schools and many initiatives are being taken. There is also increasing recognition of the need for a more adequate preparation of all primary teachers in mathematics. However, the Committee strongly feels that these initiatives should not preclude further action being taken in secondary schools. - 107

Perhaps the first need is for teachers to recognize that many students enter secondary education with a record of failure, a dislike of the subject and a fear of further failure. If fear and dislike could be reduced or eliminated from mathematics classes the learning would almost inevitably improve. Teachers need to accept that students require a period of time to put this failure behind them, whereas giving them "more of the same" has a tendency to reinforce failure. Many teachers of Year 7 start off by giving a series of tests in the four basic operations. Their aim is well-intentioned - to discover the individual weaknesses of each student in these operations with a view to carrying out remediation.- but the Committee considers it preferable to start the year with a unit of work that can be exciting, interesting and involve practical activities both inside and outside the classroom. Such an approach does not rely heavily on any previous factual knowledge and makes it possible for most students to be successful, with beneficial consequences for their future attitude to mathematics. In this context, diagnostic testing for individual weaknesses in the four operations is seen as coming later and much more incidentally. Information thus gained is most valuable after interest and excitement has been aroused. The achievement of mastery in the basic operations is seen as coming more quickly after students realize that it is necessary in order to gain maximum enjoyment and success.

The Committee considers that, consistent with its overall approach to the grouping of students, all Year 7 Mathematics groups should be heterogeneous. (46) This reduces the problems of failure referred to above. It gives every student the opportunity to make a new start and to benefit from the stimulus of working alongside the mathematically able.

The task for the teacher of Mathematics is well described in the following quotation:

An important aspect of primary mathematics must be enjoyment. This must come through many facets besides recreational situations, success, challenge, relevance. This is no small order, but important in a community which places such high importance on the subject but has such poor memories of it from their own school days. Mathematics is contributing highly to the alienation of the community from education. This process must be arrested .. . But how? Teachers must be operating within subject content on which they have competence and confid­ ence and hence a positive attitude. Pupils must - 108 -

be learning basic skills with which parents can assist and they must be undertaking mathem­ atical activities, free from special jargon and background, on which they can communicate with their parents. (47)

The Committee accepts that these sentiments are equally valid for secondary mathematics.

Just as it is important for all secondary teachers to have a knowledge and understanding of the learning steps associated with learning to read, so it is necessary for teachers of Mathematics to be well versed in the steps necessary for the successful learning of the four basic operations. The Committee accepts that these must be given greater emphasis in both pre­ service and in-service education programs.

The Committee also considers that all teachers, including those of Mathematics, need to be aware of the reading levels of their students, since these affect the extent to which they are able to use texts. In this respect the Committee attaches great importance to the following evidence from the Supervisor of English in the Education Department:

It is obvious that primary school children passing into secondary schools at eleven to twelve years of age are far from mature readers ... The problem has been accentuated by the prescription of texts whose readability level is considerably in advance of the capacity of many students. Simple tests of readability levels that have been conducted over the last two years have shown that this is so. These tests, too, have taken into account only word and sentence length and have not consid­ ered sophistication of concepts, degree of abstract­ ion or unfamiliarity of style. (48)

The Committee accepts the view that "all teachers need to be aware of the importance of language style and usage in the textbooks and written materials avail­ able across the curriculum and in the language used in the learning interaction...." (49)

As has been outlined in the introduction to this report, the Committee has gathered a comprehensive body of material about secondary education in Tasmania. However, little evidence was presented to the Committee about mathematics or, specifically, numeracy. Several comments were made about a "decline in standards" but - 109 - evidence to substantiate the allegations was absent. In this context the Committee has been cautious in laying down guidelines for schools in these areas. Reference has been made in the previous paragraphs to the attitudes which secondary teachers of Mathematics should have, to the key importance of Year 7 provisions for Mathematics and to the long-term importance of teacher education for Mathematics. The Committee also wishes to draw attention to its support for a program of monitoring standards of achievement in the area of numeracy. (50) Finally, it has been suggested to the Committee that "calculation" should be identified as a separate field for certification at Year 10 level. The Committee does not wish to endorse such a suggestion at the present stage but suggests that schools should discuss the proposal.

Environmental education and other special interests Evidence presented to the Committee by a number of interested groups has suggested that additional subjects should be introduced into the school curric­ ulum to cater for their specific needs. (51)

It is the view of the Committee that subjects such as environmental education could, and should, be developed within the framework of the general program rather than picked out as separate curriculum areas. Students should be encouraged to view the environment from an objective point of view; then, on the basis of observed fact and accumulated data, proceed to other levels of analysis, make value judgements and consider social effects.

Whereas initial consideration of the environment will probably occur in the science program, it is envisaged that any detailed study properly could arise not only in the natural and physical sciences but in technology and the social sciences as well.

Rural Science (or that science which has a bias towards studies related to the land and its products), !f regarded in this way, could be a vehicle in the science area of the Committee's classification of knowledge. "Concentrating on the student's immediate environment" makes this kind of science particularly relevant in most parts of Tasmania. - 110 -

Education through the Arts The Coinmittee has had access to some of the material developed by a group preparing a report on "The Arts in Education". (52) The full report will be available by the time this Report is published, and so it is not necessary here to do more than to survey the recommendations about the secondary school that the Committee on Secondary Education considered.

The Arts in Education group believes that all students should experience a range of the Arts in a co-ordinated arts curriculum which emphasizes the related arts and extends over the first four years of secondary education. Such a program would be built about the areas of visual arts, speech/drama, craft and music/dance.

It would provide for every secondary student to engage in a study in depth of at least one art form over an extended period. In addition there would be an opportunity to do short-term elective studies cover­ ing experience with materials, such as wood, threads, enamel, dye, sounds, etc.; projects which might include historical research; shared activities in craft, music, drama, visual arts and dance disciplines.

The program would be backed by opportunities for attendance at professional performances and exhibitions on a continuing basis.

The timetable would be flexible enough to incorp­ orate the concentration of time that will be necessary for these activities, both in school and in the opportunities for the out-of-school attendances, and for the kinds of sharing with the community, including parents, primary feeder-schools and the community generally that is essential for understanding of the program and full development of it.

While generally endorsing the proposals made by the Arts in Education group the Committee would wish to see a wider definition of the crafts, to incorporate the development of the hand-skills that are at present included in the secondary school program. In saying this the Committee wishes to emphasize that it does not support the maintenance of the status quo with respect to the arts in education. It believes that not enough has been made of the potential of the performing and creative arts in a program of general education for all students. With the qualifications expressed above the Committee endorses and itself puts forward the recommendations of the Arts in Education working group. - Ill -

On the basis of evidence presented to it, the Committee has given particular attention to the place of music in secondary education. The value of music courses in schools tends to be little understood by the community who all too often take the pragmatic view that it is of little value because very few students choose a career in music. The Committee, on the other hand, wishes to emphasize the importance of music in our culture and the consequent desirability of helping students in their appreciation of music, including the development of discrimination within the popular-music field. The Committee is aware of the importance given to creative activity in present-day approaches to music in education and endorses such an approach. Again, learning a musical instrument encourages self-confidence and self-control and makes for more competent individuals. Music is an art form that permeates society and can be a life­ long recreation or hobby. Recorded and broadcast music has revolutionized leisure so that it is possible to say that "Music is today the central fact of lay culture" (53).

The music teacher needs to adopt an approach which broadens and supplements home-derived attitudes to music and the arts. With many children, this will mean starting with one of the forms of popular music to enable children to assess the sort of music to which they listen. Where children learn an instrument, privately or in school, it is necessary to make this a challenging experience.

The key principle is to start "where the children are" in music. (54) Consistent with what it has said about the Arts in education the Committee supports an approach aimed at giving all children a general aware­ ness of music and at encouraging children with talents to go beyond this.

The Committee wishes to emphasize that it sees the principal need in the area of music as being an improved supply of teachers. Evidence to the Committee showed clearly that too few music teachers are avail­ able at the present time. It also suggested that existing pre-service courses lack balance in that they give insufficient specific preparation for school music and for the future of trainees in the classroom. The Committee has taken this matter up in the section of the Report dealing with pre-service education. (55) - 112 -

Teaching about moral and ethical issues In the course of its work and in this report the Committee on Secondary Education has not attempted to determine guidelines about the place of religious education in Tasmanian secondary schools. This does not arise from a lack of interest in this area and it should not be inferred that it is an unimportant matter. Rather the Committee has felt constrained by the public controversy that arose about the religious education courses that were developed on the basis of principles outlined in the School in Society Report and the cessation of the trials of material prepared for these courses. The Committee is aware that the matter of religious education will be considered for all government schools by the public enquiry into education set up by the Minister for Education in 1976. In this context a departmental review would clearly seem to be inappropriate.

Notwithstanding the decision which the Committee has reached about the consideration of religious educ­ ation it does wish to refer to the wider question of teaching about moral and ethical questions in secondary schools. This implicit acceptance of a separation between moral education and religious education seems inescapable until the TEND Committee has provided general guidelines in the area.

The Committee wishes to emphasize its appreciation of the prime importance of the home in the moral education of children. However, it also wishes to state clearly its belief that it is impossible for schools to avoid an involvement in moral and ethical questions. As the Newsom Report has put it: "Teachers can only escape from their influence over the moral and spiritual development of their pupils by closing their schools." (56) Even if there is no formal provision, moral and ethical values will be informally imparted by the teacher through what he says and does and by the way the school as an institution impinges on the student. We can speak, then, of a continuous, incidental, hidden curriculum that operates, for example when the school deals with such situations as theft or insistence on obedience to the rules it considers necessary for living with others in the school. Accordingly, every teacher plays a role in moral and ethical education and should recognize the responsibil­ ity this brings. That teachers do attach importance to this aspect of their activity is supported by evidence from England that: - 113 - Eighty per cent of teachers questioned mentioned in some form or other the school's responsibility to help children develop an evaluative framework and to get on with others. Also 70 per cent of pupils questioned saw moral and social education as necessary for the school. They also thought the school should do more. (57)

This incidental education in moral and ethical issues relies for its quality and effectiveness on the sensitivity of individual teachers. The Committee acknowledges that teachers do take up this responsib­ ility but considers that these matters cannot be left on an ad hoc basis. As Hirst points out:

Moral education cannot simply be left to the general influence of the school even if that includes a properly constituted way in which the individulals interests are fully safeguarded Adequate education in this area, as in any other which involves a great deal of understanding and intellectual mastery, necessitates much explicit learning. (58)

A similar view has been expressed by the English Schools Council team working on a moral education proj ect: We cannot afford to assume that boys and girls will find solutions to their contemporary problems without a conscious effort being made to support and help them. The evidence is that they will not. (59)

Accordingly the Committee considers that schools should offer a program that provides for the consider­ ation of moral and ethical issues in an explicit way. The Committee does not see this program in terms of the inclusion in the curriculum of a new "subject" called Moral Education. But it does see moral and ethical questions having a significant part in the areas of activity it has defined. For example, it is hard to conceive of an area called "problems .of concern to adolescents" that does not continuously raise moral and ethical questions. Because of the work at present being undertaken by the TEND Committee, it is not appropriate for a departmental review to lay down guidelines for all schools by which a moral education program would be included in the core curriculum of secondary schools. Rather the Committee on Secondary Education considers that this is an area where schools can take initiatives and develop an approach of their own. Some schools may wish to use an existing religious education program as the vehicle for dealing with moral and ethical issues. This would - 114 -

be consistent with the view expressed by Curry that a religious education program "can make a significant contribution to the development of individual moral standards." (60)

In considering explicit provision for moral and ethical issues schools may find the following comments on the nature of moral education to be of assistance. As viewed by the Committee, moral education is not so much a consideration of the rules, prohibitions and conventions of our society as a matter of developing personal guidelines for dealing with situations they will have to face as young people. A paper prepared for the Committee pointed out that "People are often afraid of the word 'moral' and anxious about the idea of passing on a set of authoritarian rules to children." (61) A more appropriate task for moral education has been expressed by the Schools Council group:

We want boys and girls to learn to choose, to decide what in a particular situation they will do so long as it is only consistent with taking the needs, interests and feelings of others into consideration as well as their own. (62)

The concerns of a program in moral and ethical questions are well summarized in the following quotations: A. The program needs to be flexible and accept that students will be involved in issues outside the school: Moral education cannot be carried out simply by making pupil's behaviour conform by the external imposition of even the best rules through punish­ ment and reward. Nor is it achieved by their simply being told what to do, nor again by their having teachers as suitable models for behaviour. Their role-taking, in both thought and action, in ways that will promote their understanding, is the crux of the matter ...external authority must therefore be as indirect and as flexible as is reasonable whilst retaining its authority. In particular, the flexibility must be such that pupils can make mistakes of a certain seriousness and consequence for them, provided these are in no major sense ultimately to their harm. And the use of this flexibility in even more adult and responsible ways must be positively encouraged by teachers, not inhibited ...non-involvement in contemporary society and its moral issues, many of which are, of course, tied to matters of political debate, is a mark of school curricula and indeed of school teachers. By sheer omission, if nothing else, many schools educate pupils as if social involvement outside their walls were immaterial, - 115 -

a point of view in direct opposition to all that rational autonomy stands for. (63)

B. The program must be relevant to adolescents and not consist merely of discussions about theoretical situations: It must be the real life of the pupils that is focused on, not the real life of adults ...There is a tendency to think of Moral Education as simply a matter of the discussion of suitable material... that is...much too limited an approach. At the centre of Moral Education then should be the study of, and involvement of the pupils in, particular moral activities that they are able to see as important. That means on the one hand, involving them in the details of the life of the school community and using that fully as an educational instrument both theoretically and practically. On the other hand, it means involving pupils significantly in moral issues in the society out­ side the school, again not only theoretically but in action as well. If both these are done they will provide opportunity too for the development of social skills without which the moral life can be only too easily vitiated. (64)

C. The program will aim more at raising consciousness of key moral and ethical questions than at providing all the answers: In many ways the most important task the school faces in the development of moral standards is to help students first become conscious of the questions which need to be asked, and then to find the answers to the questions which have become explicit. Often the role of the staff will be a listening one as children are encouraged to articul­ ate their doubts and make explicit their assumptions. (65)

Finally Hirst sums up what he sees to be the importance of moral and ethical education and expresses the think­ ing of the Committee about its place in the curriculum of the school:

What we shall have to do, if our society is not to become morally degenerate and return to control by force, is to refashion it so that reason can in fact prevail. To this end, Moral Education in schools has something to contribute, even if alone it is powerless against social institutions. We need the next generation to be more moral than we are and that means more committed to reason. (66) - 116

3,5 THE EVALUATION OF SCHOOLS AND STUDENTS Self-evaluation by secondary schools At several points in this Report the Committee has referred to the process by which the program and organization of secondary schools should be evaluated. It proposes that there should be a common set of educational purposes for Tasmanian secondary schools and a common core-curriculum. (67) Within this general framework a variety of acceptable approaches is envis­ aged and, outside, the specified core areas, all aspects of curriculum development are seen as the responsibility of the school. (68) The Committee acknowledges that its recommendations set limits to the degree of diversity between schools and there is a clear expectation that all schools will work within the general policy estab­ lished by the Education Department. This implies that the administration will not abdicate its responsibility to exercise a general supervision over schools with respect to guidelines developed for the whole system. (69) However, the Committee does not see this general policy for the system as being inconsistent with a process of evaluation that is school-based. It has previously stated that "it is now a firmly-established principle that each school should be able to account for the quality of its own work." (70) The evaluation of schools is thus seen to be a process of self- evaluat ion.

Before defining in greater detail its conclusions on the evaluation of schools the Committee would like to refer to the work of previous departmental committees considering the subject. In large measure the present Committee is endorsing a growing consensus about school evaluation that has been developing over the past six years. In 1971 the inspection Report reached the following conclusions about the evaluation of schools:

The essential proposition about the evaluation of schools is that the school staff should make their own appraisal of their own school. This procedure gives the headmaster an opportunity to draw his staff together in a common search for a corporate policy. The resulting document becomes the frame of reference for discussion with visitors to the school. (71)

When staffs set about writing their own statement of their policy they will question much of what they have been doing. This will create a need and an opportunity for consulting staff (super­ visors, in-service training officers, academics etc.) to help them. Such people will then be, so to speak, on the 'right side of the fence'. The - 117 -

staff will be able to turn the authority of these people to their own purposes. The school will be open to their contributions and they can then be perceived as helpers rather than as potentially threatening interlopers. This could certainly give in-service education a place in the heart of the school. (72)

In 1973 a Committee representative of teachers, supervisors and superintendents was established under the chairmanship of the Director-General of Education. It reached a consensus on the evaluation of schools and expressed this in an interim report. Its recommend­ ations included the following: Recommendation 11: That the regular overall report on the work of a school by superintendents be discontinued. Recommendation 12: That schools adopt a policy of increasing self-evaluation as a means of improving the quality of the education they offer to pupils, that this self-evaluation be extended to involve all members of staff, and that it be progressively documented as a basis for discussion within the school, and with officers of the Department's advisory services.

Recommendation 15: That observations intended to improve the quality of education in a particul ar school be sought from visiting departmental officers and other persons invited by the school, and that these be made for the school and not be filed as part of the departmental record of the school.

Recommendation 15: That as the occasion arises the regional superintendent or another appropriate officer should report on particular aspects of the work of a school or the group of schools with which he is concerned. (73)

Since 1973 practice within the Education Department has been broadly consistent with these recommendations though schools have perhaps not been given sufficient encouragement to engage in the process of self-evaluation envisaged by the Organization Committee. The Committee on Secondary Education endorses the conclusions of the Organization Committee but expresses its conclusion in the following propositions: - 118 -

(1) The Committee considers it essential that a secondary school should make a specific appraisal of what it is doing and reach agreed conclusions about its program and organization. The Committee considers that a school which simply follows established routines and adopts a piecemeal and ad hoc approach to curriculum innovation will be ineffective. The Committee considers that each secondary school should initiate a process of self-evaluation of its program and organization. This process should be long-term and ongoing.

(2) The Committee recommends that a senior member of staff should assume responsibility for initiating a review of the school's curriculum and for co-ordinating the ongoing process of self-evaluation. The evaluation should be designed so that the whole staff of the school is involved.

(3) Other professional opinion, either from the Department or outside it, should be brought in either to assist in the review or to comment on the results. Such opinion is seen as providing valuable ideas for the school itself to Use. (74) As indicated earlier in the report, the process should also involve consultation with the community served by the school. (75)

(4) Staff leading the self-evaluation program in schools should be given the opportunity to develop special knowledge of techniques of eval­ uation through appropriate in-service programs and the opportunity to consult together. The Committee recommends that suggestions to schools about the conduct of self-evaluation should be prepared by a working party consisting of teachers who have already had a particular involvement in such a process and appropriate resource people.

Monitoring standards of achievement Reference has been made in this report to opinions expressed to the Committee that there had been a "decline in standards". Evidence to substantiate these opinions was lacking and the recent tests of literacy and numeracy do not provide evidence allowing perform­ ance now to be compared with the performance of students in the past. However, the Committee feels that schools are in need of protection from false criticisms and comparisons and therefore supports a monitoring process such as that recommended in England by the Bullock Committee: - 119 -

We are in no doubt of the importance of monitoring standards of achievement in literacy, and of doing so by using the most sophisticated methods possible. There will always be keen interest in the movement of standards, and it is perfectly natural that there should be. Where there is no information there will be speculation, and the absence of facts makes room for prejudice. We began the Report by pointing out how difficult it is to make reliable statements on standards of English today in comparison with those in the past. Opinion on this issue tends to polarise, and the lack of objective data is a serious handicap to rational discussion. Information of the right quality will be of value to teachers and researchers and will be a reference point for policy decisions at the level of central and local government. (76)

Accordingly the Committee endorses the decision of the Education Department to commence a regular monitoring of standards of achievement in literacy and numeracy. (77) In doing so the Committee sees the results as important in dealing with uninformed comment and in providing schools with valuable information for the development of priorities.

The assessment of students The Committee is concerned about the nature of the present assessment program in schools in the light of the uncertainty that many teachers feel about the purposes for which assessment is carried out. In distinguishing between assessment that is part of the teaching and learning program and that which has been devised for some external purpose the committee identified two major purposes. The following quotations give an appropriate context in which to consider assessment as part of the normal teaching program:

The teacher is concerned with the rate of growth that each child is making towards achieving the course objectives.

The teacher must know the level of each child's achievement. Before the child embarks upon a new topic or an extension of an old one, it is common sense to determine if the child has the necessary background of experience and mental maturity to undertake the task.

The teacher can use the results of (assessment) as a means of encouraging further efforts; the - 120 -

child is allowed to see his own strengths and weaknesses and is encouraged to act upon this knowledge.

The teacher can, of course, use the results of (assessment) to provide valuable data in reporting the child's progress to parents. Upon this information parents may make decisions about their child's future education. (78)

The information supplied by schools in the Survey of Secondary Education, in addition to the above sees two major factors in the assessment of students. First, diagnostic testing is seen as being of the greatest importance in relation to the acquisition of particular skills. Secondly, there is value in assessing the degree of mastery of a section of a course or of progress through a series of units. (79)

When the school has information on student progress the Committee is concerned that this information is transmitted to parents. Teachers need to be truthful with parents about a student's achievement as seen against his potential. Only a discussion between parent and teacher is likely to achieve the necessary under­ standing in this sensitive area. In these discussions and in other forms of reporting to parents the Committee favours the use of comments rather than statistical information.

The Committee recognizes that grading for external purposes is an important function which is placed on schools by society. In this process the Committee sees the need for not only educational achievement but also the personal qualities of students to be recorded. Although the Committee recognises that this sorting and classifying function could have undesirable effects on the whole school program it believes that this process is better carried out by schools than by external agencies such as employers.

In spite of this the Committee is most emphatic that the whole schooling process should not become one of sifting and sorting simply because a classification is required by some outside agencies at the end of the compulsory years of schooling. Even though a final assessment needs to be made for external purposes the Committee is strongly opposed to schools organizing the early years of secondary education so that a final classification can be made easily. Consequently the Committee insists that choices be kept open for students and not closed by limiting practices such as: - 121 -

* streaming in the early years of secondary education; * setting which does not take account of all the purposes of education; or * placement of students in courses which cannot lead to outcomes compatible with potential or ambition. The Committee would see such placements as occurring only where there has been consultation with parents and agreement reached. The Committee expects schools to keep opportunities open by - * delaying the classification of students for external purposes for as long as possible. This can only be done if systems of report­ ing are developed which describe a student's specific achievements rather than study at a general 'level' within a course; * building remedial and extension units into courses of study; * acknowledging in time-tabling that different students need different lengths of time to achieve the same objective; * providing 'recovery' units to help students overcome major deficiencies; and * allowing students to attempt a course or unit after due counselling rather than refusing permission because failure seems likely.

The Committee sees a need for schools to match assessment and certification with its demand for flexibility so that students, particularly in Year 10 may study topics relevant to their probable future occupation or indulge in further study in areas where they are weak or simply desirous of studying further in an area. In short, the Committee sees Year 10 as different from all other years of schooling in that relevant choices are opened up for all students.

Moderation and certification Evidence received by the Committee from both high and district schools indicated dissatisfaction with current practices in the areas of moderation and certification. Whereas a significant proportion of high - 122 - schools (approximately 65 per cent) indicated that they would, at some time in the future, discontinue involvement in the Schools Board moderation and certif­ ication procedures, the proportion of district schools wishing to do so was considerably smaller (approximately 20 per cent). (80) .

The Committee assumes that the Schools Board of Tasmania is also concerned because in a statement issued in March 1976, the School Certificate Committee, while expressing satisfaction with the distribution of levels, stated:

However, the regional differences in the distribution of levels and the distribution within particular schools in some regions still concern the Committee. Moderation Consultants, Regional Moderators and Regional Councils should expect a dis­ tribution of levels which more closely parallels the state pattern.

When a consultant to the Committee discussed this matter with the senior staff in a number of schools doubt was expressed about the value of moderation in the comparability of standards. (81) However, all agreed that the moderation process did not limit the develop­ ment of their subject fields and most felt that moderation meetings provided a useful forum for the exchange of ideas. If this trend is repeated in other schools it is clear that teachers do not regard moder­ ation meetings as achieving the purpose for which they were designed.

It is interesting to compare these meetings with those in West Australia where moderation is perhaps further than Tasmania along continuum towards control with its added dimension of compulsory comparability tests ... In this context it is significant that only one independent school in Western Australia does not participate in moderation whereas the tendency in Tasmania has been for schools to withdraw. Apart from maintain­ ing the status quo two possible alternatives facing the Schools Board are to either pull out entirely and let the school's issue their own certificate in Year 10 or to put more 'teeth' into its moder­ ation procedure and possibly limit itself to subjects that it can competently moderate. (82) - 123 -

It is the opinion of the Committee that the School Certificate (Preliminary) awards and certific­ ate issued at the end of Year 9 be discontinued and that the School Certificate as it exists be phased out and be replaced by certificates issued by individual schools. These certificates could, and should, include not only statements of achievement but also give an indication of the degree of individual participation in all aspects of the school curriculum. This might relieve students of the need to complete three or four years study in an area in order to gain recognition on a certificate.

In order to ensure public acceptance of school certificates by employer groups and the business community at large, the Committee considers it important that guidance on minimal skills in at least some curriculum areas, be given to schools by the Education Department. The Committee accepts the need for the Department and schools to be in continuous communication with employing authorities about certification. The increased emphasis on assessment of student performance over a wide range of activities indicates a need for the inclusion of units on assess­ ment, in all its aspects, in the in-service and pre-service training of teachers. - 124

CHAPTER 3

REFERENCES

1 P.J. Hirst, "The Logic of the Curriculum" Journal of Curriculum Studies 1 (May 1969) : pp. 14 2 -158 .

2 Torsten Husen rhe Learning society (London: Methuen, • 1974) , p. 117.

3 W.F. Connell et al., 12 to 20: Studies of City Youth (Sydney: Hicks Smith, 1975), p. 222.

4 Australia. Commission of Inquiry into Poverty, Fifth Main Report, Poverty and Education in Australia R.T. Fitzgerald, Chairman (Canberra: AGPS, 1976), p. 113.

5 L. Joseph Stone and Joseph Church 'ChiIdhood and Adolescence 2nd ed. (New York: Random House, 1968), p. 507.

6 Ibid, p. 507.

7 Tasmania. Education Department, school in Society: report of the Cononittee set up to investigate the role of the school in society, P.H. Hughes, Chairman (Hobart: Education Department of Tasmania, 1968) p. 21.

8 In this respect note the Committee's discussion on physical development in adolescence on pp.11-12.

9 See pp. 23 - 26 . 10 This idea is more fully developed in Harry S. Broudy, B. Othanel Smith and Joe R. Burnett, Democracy and Excellence in American Secondary Education. (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1964), Ch. 8.

11 David R. Krathwohl, Benjamin S. Bloom and Bertram B. Masia, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: the•classification of educational goals. Handbook II: affective domain. (New York: David McKay, 1964).

12 Broudy, Smith and Burnett, Democracy and Excellence, p. 9 . - 125 -

13 School in Society Report, p.40. 14 Broudy, Smith and Burnett, Democracy and Excellence p.10. 15 Ibid, p. 45.

16 School in Society Report, p.38,

17 Submission to the Committee by B.W. Ross, p. 2 .

18 See p. 64.

19 Great Britain. Department of Education and Science, A Language for Life, Sir Alan Bullock, Chairman, (London: H.M.S.O., 1975). 20 R. Gulliford, Backwardness and Educational Failure (Slough: N.F.E.R., 1969), p.30.

21 Douglas Barnes, et al., Language, the Learner and the School (Ringwood, Victoria: Penguin, 1971) p. 160. 22 Quoted from J.P. Keeves and S.F. Bourke, Australian Studies in School Performance, vol. 1: Literacy and Numeracy in Australian Schools (Canberra: AGPS, 1976) p.6.

23 Australia. Schools Commission, Report for the Triennium 1976-1978 (Canberra: AGPS, 1975) p.7.

24 Submission on Literacy from Supervisor of English, J.C. Horner, p.1.

25 Memorandum from the Director-General of Education to all Tasmanian schools, 20th May, 1976.

26 • Ibid , pp. 2-3 .

27 On in-service education see p. 187; on support services for schools see p.197.

28 Evidence supplied to the Committee by Mr. John Annells . - 126 -

29 P. Creber, "The Ordeal of Transition". Quoted in evidence to the committee by Mr. John Annells.

30 Barnes, Language, Learner and School pp 161-2.

31 R.G. Nichols and L.A. Stevens,Are you Listening? (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1957), p. ix.

32 John G. Maddison, "Open to Listen?" Language in Education (Curriculum Centre, Education Department of Tasmania), 3, 1 (1977): 1-12.

33 E.G. Andersch, L.C. Staats and R.N. Bostrom, Communication in Everyday Use (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1969), p. 204

34 A. Wilkinson, L. Straata and P. Dudley, The Quality of Listening (London: Macmillan, 1974).

35 C.E. Cowman, Streams in the Desert (London: Marshall, Morgan and Scott, 1971), p. 191.

36 Broudy, Smith and Burnett, Democracy and Excellence p. 169. 37 Tasmania. Education Department, Foreign Languages in Tasmanian Government Schools.' (Hobart: Education Department, 1976).

38 Ibid.

39 Ibid. Cf Recommendation 3, p. 57

40 Ibid. Cf Recommendation 7, p. 62

41 Ibid, Cf Recommendation 12, p. 64

42 Ibid, Cf Recommendation 13, p. 64

43 Ibid, Cf Recommendation 10, p. 63

44 Ibid, Cf Recommendation 16, p. 65

45 L.D. Blazely, Survey of Basic Skills of Reading. and Numeracy of 14 Year Old Tasmanian Students (Hobart: Education Department, 1976) p.12. - 127 -

46 See p. 152.

47 Robert McCreddin, "Primary Mathematics: the view­ point of a secondary mathematics teacher", in Primary School Mathematics in Australia: review and forecast, ed. Peter Jeffery (Hawthorn: A.C.E.R., 1975), p. 72.

48 Submission from J.C. Horner, p.1.

49 Submission from H. McCann and J. Shelton Tasmanian College of Advanced Education (Mt. Nelson) p. Io

50 See pp. 118-119.

51 For example, on environmental education submissions were received from the Environmental Teachers Association of Tasmania and the Tasmanian Environ­ ment Centre; P. Pickering and the Northern Regional Council for Social Development made submissions on rural science education.

52 Tasmania. State Steering Committee on Education and the Arts, Study of Education and the Arts: Tasmania, H. Beth Parsons, Convenor. Submitted to the Australian Schools Commission, April 1977.

53 George Steiner, Language and Silence (Ringwood, Victoria: Penguin, 1969), p.50.

54 Evidence to the Committee from the Supervisor of Music, Education Department of Tasmania.

55 See pp. 186-187.

56 Great Britain. Ministry of Education. Half our Future: a report of the central advisory council for education. (London, H.M.S.O., 1963) p. 53.

57 P. McPhail, J.R. Ungoed-Thomas and H. Chapman, Moral Education in the Secondary School. Schools Council Project in Moral Education. (London: Longmans, 1972), p. 24, 26 - 128 -

58 P.H. Hirst, Moral Education in a Secular Society London: University of London Press, 1974), p. 108.

59 P. McPhail, Moral Education in the Secondary School p. 7.

60 N.G. Curry, "Moral Standards and Religious Education". Address given at the 1975 Conference of the Australian High School Principals Association, p. 5.

61 John Maddison, "Moral Education in the Secondary School". Position paper prepared for the Committee December 1976, p.2.

62 P. McPhail, Moral Education in the Secondary School p. 12.

63 P.H. Hirst,Moral Education^. 106.

64 Ibid., p. 113.

65 N.G. Curry, "Moral Standards and Religious Education", p.7,

66 ' P.W. Hirst, Moral Education, p. 150.

67 See pp 23-26 and Section 3.2

68 See p. 25.

69 See pp. 33-34.

70 See p. 26.

71 Tasmania. Education Department. The inspect ion of Schools: report of committee set up to recommend on inspection of Tasmanian schools. (Hobart: Educat ion Department, 1971) p.2.

72 Ibid. - 129 -

73 Tasmania. Education Department, Organization Committee, "Interim Report on the Organization of the Education Department", October, 1973 , pp.11-13.

74 See p. 34.

75 See p. 40.

76 Bullock, A Language for Life, p.36.

77 Memorandum from the Director-General of Education to all Tasmanian Schools, 20th May, 1976.

78 Victoria, Education Department and the Australian Council for Educational Research, Background in Mathematics. (Melbourne: Education Department of Victoria and A.C.E.R., 1972), pp. 249-250.

79 Survey of Secondary Education, Question P3.

80 Ibid, Question 06

81 John Nolan, Consultant's Report to the Committee, p. 8 .

82 Ibid, p. 7. - 130 - CHAPTER 4 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL 4.1 INTRODUCTION: SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND STUDENT INVOLVEMENT

In recent years there has been a growing appreciation of the central place of the school organization in any consideration of secondary education. The way in which students are grouped in the school, the attitude of the school to questions of student benaviour and the involvement of the staff of the school in decision­ making are examples of crucial areas that have import­ ant consequences for the involvement of students in the life of the school and for their achievement in school. We are aware that what a student learns from school is not just a consequence of the program of learning but of the school organization. This "hidden curriculum" of what the student learns from the schools rules or the streaming of students, for example, is an important part of our thinking about secondary education. (1)

On a number of dimensions it is possible to identify different beliefs about how secondary schools should be organized. For each of the following dimensions there is, of course, not a simple dichotomy but a continuum of beliefs:

bureaucratic direction of school policy compared with teacher participation in the development of school policy;

a high degree of formalism in relationships between teachers and students compared with attempts to create more relaxed relation­ ships and diverse contacts between teacher and student;

tight organization into subject departments compared with use of teaching teams and broader subject fields;

teacher specification of student tasks compared with provision for self-direction of learning by students;

streaming or tight setting compared with flexible grouping and general use of heter­ ogeneous groups; and - 131 -

'Box' characteristic in use of buildings, staff and pupil grouping compared with 'Flexibility' characteristic in use of buildings, staff and pupil grouping.

Most Tasmanian secondary schools cannot be described in terms of a consistent adherence to one of the extremes in the set of dimensions described. In analyzing the results of the Survey of Secondary Education with respect to school organization the difference between schools were found to be less obvious than might have been anticipated. It may be the case, however, that within the same school there are members of staff with conflicting values about how the school should be organized. An import­ ant aspect of the Principal's leadership role would seem to be the reconciliation of these tensions so that the organization is not fragmented and the staff polarized. (2)

In its consideration of school organization the Committee has focused on three principles:

1. Fostering good relationships. The key principle of the school organization must be that it facil­ itates the establishment and development of good relationships among the staff, among the students, and between teachers and students. Part of the argu­ ment for this emphasis is that students need a personal security that has its foundation in good relationships between teachers and students and the presence, in each year, of an adult in the school with whom students can identify.

2. Flexibility in organization. The Committee accepts that relevance and student involvement are necessary ingredients of a secondary-school program and that to meet these needs the school organization must be flexible. Ways in which this will be shown include the following:

providing different-sized groups for different purposes rather than working with a full-class group of, say, thirty students all the time; making some provision for students to progress at their own rate, and at times, to pursue their own interests; and

offering a basic course together with short courses so that not all students spend the same time on a particular activity. - 132 -

3. Participation. The Committee believes that the staff of the school should be able to participate in decision-making as fully as possible. Such participation derives directly from the nature of the school as a learning institution and from the teacher as a professional person. Consequently a model of organization that may be appropriate to a public-service bureaucracy or to a business enterprise properly concerned with making profits will be inappropriate to a school. The Committee wishes to assert its belief that schools must be given a major responsibility in the development of their organization and program and that all members of the school staff must be given the opportunity to participate in policy-development and decision-making within the school. Elsewhere the Committee takes up the involvement of students and the community in the school organization. (3)

The subjects dealt with in the remainder of the chapter are related directly to these themes. The next section on school size (4.2) presents the strongly- held belief of the Committee that schools must be smaller if good relationships are to be developed and if staff are to be able to play their proper part in the school. The following three sections take up the theme of developing good relationships between teachers and pupils and focus on the need for a "caring attitude" by the staff towards students. The section on the grouping of students (4.6) is central to the chapter: it is in the way that it groups its students for teaching that the school most clearly demonstrates its assumptions about school organization and about how student learning should take place. A particular problem associated with this grouping is provisions for exceptional children. The discussion in this section (4.7) is broad and includes some aspects of the educational program provided for these students. In the final sections of the chapter two aspects of decision-making are taken up: in sect ion (4 . 8) the limited role played by students in decision-making is examined and in (4.9) the key subject of school manage­ ment and decision-making by staff is discussed. One of the important aims of this section is to give support to principals in developing their role of educational leadership in the school.

Secondary schools provide a program aimed at interesting and involving their students. On the other hand, many students may see the school as something that has an existence entirely external to themselves and as something that does not affect their lives outside the classroom. Some students, indeed, may feel alienated from the school and hostile to it. In - 133 -

concluding this introduction the Committee suggests that student involvement is largely a consequence of school organization and the extent to which the school is a caring community, flexibly organized and based on the need to develop good relationships between its members.

4.2 SIZE OF SCHOOLS Over the range of evidence available to the Committee from members of the teaching service and members of the community, from consultants, from the Committee's own survey of secondary schools - general concern was expressed about the size of secondary schools. The overwhelming weight of evidence and opinion presented was that most of our existing high schools are too large and, as a consequence, too impersonal. The Committee is aware that there is a body of opinion which favours larger schools but this was not expressed in any of the large number of submissions made on the subject of school size.

It was pointed out to the Committee that the original intention in establishing comprehensive high schools was not that they should be large institutions. The then Director of Education, Mr. D.H. Tribolet, wrote of his observations preceding the policy decision in favour of comprehensive schools: "....my experience in the United States suggests that large schools are not necessary." (4) Certainly current opinion in Tasmanian schools is that the high schools have become too large. A report on the subject prepared by the North West branch of the High School Principals Association concluded: "It was felt that the policy of allowing schools to grow to enrolments of 800 and more has been one of the worst features of Tasmanian education". (5) But the most striking evidence on current opinion came from the Committee's own Survey of Secondary Education. It was found that no fewer than seventeen schools, or half of the high schools in the State, saw the reduction of school size as one of the aspects of secondary education that most needed attention. (6)

It is often asserted that evidence about the effects of school size is lacking but on the basis of its deliberations the Committee would challenge this view. Research does show that the quality of relationships between teachers and students is crucial and the evidence available to the Committee shows that it is related to the size of the school. Similar conclusions are reached in the literature on second­ ary education: - 134 -

Small schools have widely recognized positive aspects. They offer opportunity for intimacy among students and teachers, for the close knowledge of each other which fosters peaceful relations and for peer interaction which is the most fertile source of learning. (7) A large enrolment makes ....difficult the necess­ ary individual care which, above all, the adol­ escent pupil needs ...and increases significantly the proportion of really disruptive pupils. (8)

It can also be accepted that the size of groups within the secondary school is important for the development of good relationships. One suggestion to the Committee was that units of six teachers working with 120 - 130 students were ideal for many activities. (9) School size is usually considered in terms of its effects on students but its consequences for staff members were also drawn to the attention of the Committee. It was argued that, when a school staff exceeds 35 to 40, there is a real danger of a break-down of communications and good relationships between staff members and the appearance of distress symptoms on the part of the Principal. It was suggested that in large schools personal survival becomes pre­ carious, educational aims less realizable and effective pastoral-care more difficult.

The Committee considers that the view of the school curriculum developed in this Report makes it possible to envisage secondary schools smaller than most high schools are at the present time. In the past, the Tasmanian school system has accepted that the curriculum should offer many subjects and many levels. On such an assumption, it was necessary to have a fairly large school since only then could a full provision of courses be within the bounds of economic possibility. The Committee agrees with those authorities who do not see it as being necessary to offer such a wide range of courses. It is unequivocal in its stand that the quality of personal relation­ ships is more important.

There are many district schools with small secondary sections which can provide a good educational program and are able to offer as wide a range of courses as the larger schools. A further indication that the variety of courses is not dependent on size is provided by Tagari, a school with a single-year enrolment of 52, which has been able to offer a range of experiences as wide as that in the large high - 135

schools. It seems clear that the restraint on courses is not that of size, but of established procedures. The Committee therefore favours a reduction in the accepted size of secondary schools and a recognition that the minimum viable size is much smaller than has been generally accepted to date. Schools should not be allowed to grow to the size that some have in the past.

Before going on to consider size in more precise terms, two recent emphases should be examined. The first is that, in the past, there was a far greater degree of specialization in the curriculum and in the fields of involvement of teachers than at present. There is a continuing trend away from narrow course- specialization and increasing numbers of teachers in high and district schools are showing a willingness to emphasize the total development of the child, to join a team of teachers planning a whole curriculum for a group of students (e.g. a year-group) and to teach across the curriculum rather than to special­ ize narrowly. The training of future teachers must be such that it will give beginning teachers skills to operate in the situations described. A consequence of this development in the teaching force is that smaller secondary schools can be contemplated with greater equanimity than was the case in the past.

The second emphasis concerns the relationship between the school and the community. There is a growing acceptance that there are many resources, both physical and human, outside the school which can be drawn on. Thus "smallness" does not impose as many limitations as has previously been thought There are increased possibilities of sharing and so the small school can be supplemented and expanded in many Ways.

In considering policy recommendations on school size the Committee recognizes that only limited changes can be made to the size of existing schools. In some situations there can be re-organization and the Committee has been encouraged by examples in Tasmania of organizing large schools into smaller units. The Committee supports such initiatives but stresses that this must not be at the cost of staff unity. In other situations, the enrolment of large schools can be permitted to run down as the populations of their feeder areas change. Further­ more, existing schools should not be allowed to grow any larger through the provision of accommodation for additional students. - 136 -

Nevertheless the Committee sees its conclusions as having the greatest implications for the new schools that are built in the future and puts forward the following guidelines. The Committee recommends that for high schools an optimum size of 500 students be adopted. It reluctantly accepts that this might need to be capable of temporary extension to 700 to meet particular short-term needs. The Committee strongly voiced the view that 700 should be the absolute maximum enrolment in a secondary school. It recognized that in other situations high schools with an enrolment of less than 500 would need to be built.

In relation to district schools the Committee considered the question: "how small is too small?". It recognizes that district schools with considerably fewer than 250 students provide a good educational program and considers that the lower limit for second ary classes should be about 50 students, except where particular circumstances mean that special provision has to be made for smaller numbers. The Committee has already affirmed in this report its strong belief that country children should, wherever possible, be educated within their own district. (10) It consider that the determining factor in the establishment or continuation of secondary classes should be the cap­ acity to offer a quality program with experience in the six areas of the curriculum identified earlier, rather than the size of the secondary enrolment.

The Committee recognizes that the High School Building Design Committee is already working on educational specifications and design criteria for the next group of high schools to be built in the State. However, the Committee envisages that its recommendations, if accepted, will provide guidelines for the Building Design Committee in this task. The Committee on Secondary Education accepts the need to build a number of high schools on a sing le plan and believes that administrators and teachers should be prepared to accept a greater degree of standard­ ization in buildings than has been the case in the past. Finally, the Committee wishes to point to the evidence it has received, especially from a con­ sultant who looked at two recently-built high schools about the key importance of variety in tlie kinds of space provided. (11) A proper balance between open and closed spaces in a school would appear to be a key principle in ensuring this flexibility. The Committee considers that the appropriate departmental authorities should explore ways of incorporating this increased flexibility into new schools. - 137 -

4.3 RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TEACHER AND STUDENT Much research indicates that the quality of relation­ ships between teacher and learner is crucial, that education is a personal process and that changes should be geared towards increasing the personal approach based "on the concept of freedom in the responsible, disciplined sense" (12) and avoiding the impersonal, mechanical, authoritarian, external-control view.

In secondary schools at present it is possible to identify three views about What schools should be doing, views which have implications for the kind of relationships which will develop between teacher and student. In evidence to the Committee, Dr. R.T. Fitzgerald suggested that:

Some teachers focus on instrumental goals and stress the need for children to obtain 'good jobs'. Another group of teachers focus more on expressive aims and are unhappy with the ranking and sorting function of schools. This group feels that the schools do not do sufficient to help students in their personal growth. A middle group of teachers have no clear concept of their role. (13)

Personal growth appears to be quickened by interaction between people and retarded in the degree to which such interaction is inhibited or discouraged. (14) A major O.E.C.D. report on secondary education lends support to the view that the humanizing of reiationsnips between teacher and student is the key to educational progress. (15) The Committee accepts these views and urges that the teacher should give first importance to the task of getting to know children and to care for them rather than with teaching a particular field of knowledge.

However, in asserting that the establishment of personal rather than impersonal relationships between teacher and student is crucial, it is not to say that the teacher is not intending to teach something or that the school program is relegated to a subordinate role. Personal relationships are developed through carrying out a structured though flexible program. Neither does it imply a diminishing of the actual responsibility or professional status of the teacher, although it removes him from the central place on the stage. - 138 -

In assuming the role of facilitator of learning, rather than the causative agent, he simply accepts a reconstructed definition of teaching. Teaching is no longer seen as a process whereby information is transmitted from teacher to learner by some mysterious yet mechanical process. (16)

An overwhelming amount of evidence available to* the Committee supported the view that the develop­ ment of sound personal relationships between teacher and student is essential. Dodson and Broadby found in their research study, Student decision making in Tasmanian secondary schools that, although students wanted more responsibility, they also wanted more help from adults - parents, teachers and guidance officers - in relation to particular decisions. (17) They had disregarded the "going it alone" position in relation to making decisions and wanted adults to give them more assistance with the process. Dr. Fitzgerald similarly considered that students want teachers who can care for •them as well as teach them. (18)

The security of the students is seen to be significant in aiding the development of worthwhile relationships between teacher and student. In order to create a sense of security amongst the students school-rules, clearly stated and available for reference, are necessary, although they should be as few in number as possible, and adhered to.

If the aim is to develop good personal relation­ ships in the school, then some forms of organization are better than others. The Committee suggests that schools consider the possibility of providing flexible blocks of time in which several teachers would be involved with a group of students in the teaching of more than one area of curriculum activity. Limiting the number of pupil-teacher contacts is stressed as being particularly significant in aiding the develop­ ment of good relationships. Organizational provisions such as sub-schools, vertical grouping, Year 7 "block" and special pastoral-care arrangements are seen to be significant in promoting security and allow­ ing the development of sound personal relationships between teacher and student.

Such relationships are seen as being enhanced, by contact outside the classroom. A report from one high - 139 school on its program of outdoor education suggested that one of the important by-products of the program was its value for the development of good relation­ ships. (19) Outdoor education initiatives, musical productions, school socials, school sport and activity programs are examples which can be instanced of activities which provide outside-the-classroom contact.

There is a need for teachers to be given more knowledge and awareness about the ways in which they can build up relationships. The Committee supports the view of Dr. Fitzgerald that increased attention should be given to this area in teacher education - both pre-service and in-service. (20)

In the final section of its discussion of relat­ ionships between teacher and student the Committee turns to the key area of the transition of students from primary to secondary schools. Many submissions to the Committee saw this as leading to insecurity among some students. A primary school pupil is usually taught by one teacher but, on transfer to the secondary school, the student finds a less personal relationship because of the many teachers with whom he comes in contact.

The general nature of provisions which should be made by secondary schools has been indicated in the Plowden Report:

Children, like adults, enjoy and are stimulated by novelty and change. But if change is to stimulate and not to dishearten, it must be carefully prepared and not too sudden. The new school must know of the old school's ways to carry on where it left off and neither to repeat what is already known nor to jump unthinkingly ahead. (21)

In Tasmania, evidence from the Survey of Secondary Education showed that virtually all high schools arranged for staff to visit feeder schools to talk with incoming students, most arranged meetings between primary and secondary teachers, and about a third arranged to talk to parents. (22) From this survey it is clear that most high schools are conscious of the need to minimize transfer difficulties and are taking steps to do this. The Committee wishes to encourage schools to continue and expand these efforts. It was suggested that an important need at the present time is for high schools to review the efforts they are making in this area and to evaluate their effectiveness. The Committee is inclined to the view that the major way of reducing transfer - 140 -

problems is for schools to organize a Year 7 program and pastoral-care arrangements that provide a sense of security and belonging among this group of students. One specific suggestion made to the Committee was that an exchange of teachers working with Year 6 and Year 7 students should be organized. It sees considerable merit in enabling a Year 6 teacher to transfer with a group of students but recognizes the existence of difficulties in implement­ ation of such a program. The Committee supports the establishment of pilot programs for such an exchange of teachers over a whole year or for a shorter period.

4.4 AUTHORITY AND STUDENT BEHAVIOUR School rules and discipline In the regulation of school life the Committee sees no point in confronting students with a set of rules that covers every aspect of their behaviour. It supports the view made in several submissions that guidelines or broad statements of school rules are a much better way of leading ultimately to self- discipline. As an Australian inquiry into discipline in secondary schools suggested: "Rules should be the expression of a definite education policy and should not only regulate student behaviour but develop a sense of social responsibility and respect for others." (23) Students need to be convinced that rules have some justifiable basis. For example, it is obvious that safety rules must provide for control in potent­ ially dangerous situations which could arise in such areas as science laboratories, art rooms, home economics rooms and workshops. The Committee also considers that provision must be made for the continual review of rules and this process ideally should involve the participation of the school staff, students and parents.

Studies arranged by the Committee provide information on some of the matters discussed above and show that present Tasmanian practice departs somewhat from these principles. Of a group of Year 10 students only 55 per cent said that their school had a written set of school rules. (24) The Committee's Survey of Secondary Education gave a similar result: approximately half of high schools and district schools in the State have no written statement of rules. (25) Interestingly, the Committee found that 72 per. cent of Year 10 students felt their school should have a written set of rules, perhaps to reduce uncert­ ainty in relation to school authority.

In relation to reviewing school'rules, the Survey of Secondary Education found that, only five schools' carried out reviews involving both staff and students. (26) Our research among Year 10 students found that only 28 per cent had played any part in making school rules whereas 90 per.cent felt they should do so. (27)

In the matter of school rules the Committee has been most attracted to the view put forward in a recent OiE.C.D. review of secondary education:

The rebellion against the dependency of child­ hood which shows itself in aggression towards parents and teachers and unthinking disregard' of the roles they impose, is hard to control. The school needs to impose as few rules as possible while creating a sense of security by insisting on these being kept to, to give some responsibility to pupils for their own behaviour - without expecting too much success, and above all to humanise the relationships between teacher and pupil. This latter is perhaps the key to progress: the teachers need to feel and be seen in their relationships with pupils as equal but more experienced adults, thus providing possible "models" for adult behaviour. (28)

This view about school rules and the relationship between teacher and student should be seen in the context of the temptation to draw up detailed rules covering a wide range of student activity and behaviour. The dangers of such a development are spelled out in the following quotation from Dynamics of Bureaucracy:

As the, principal is forced to elaborate the rules, so the teachers are bound to apply them _t.o._.the students. This multiplies the dis­ cipline problems, creating new uncertainties and hence a need for still more rules and so on.' As the rules tighten, the teachers have greater difficulty in- forcing the students to comply with them and so they expect more and more • "backing" from the principal. The teachers will demand that he should uncondition-. ally support them in every conflict with the - 142 -

students. The teachers commonly expect the principal to use sanctions and to disregard whatever argument a student might make in his own defence. (29)

This quotation raises questions about the authority of the teacher which are considered in the following paragraphs. The authority of the teacher is derived from two sources. In order to enable the teacher to perform his task in the classroom a hierarchial order is established which gives him authority which is upheld by the law. The second source of authority is expressed by R.S. Peters in the following statement:

Teachers occupy the role of the experienced in the subjects in which they have specialised. They are put in authority by the community because they have qualified as authorities, to a certain extent, on those forms of knowledge with v/hich educational institutions are concerned. (30)

This means that the teachers, rather than passing on to the ignorant the body of knowledge which they have managed to memorize, are concerned with teaching their pupils how to think and not with telling them what to think. Thus, they introduce others to the procedures by which bodies of knowledge have been established gradually. In short, the teacher as an authbrity on his subject aims to bring his students by degrees to a position where they will be able to manage without him.

It is recognized that discipline in schools is often affected by factors over which schools themselves have no control, for example, they may relate to admin­ istrative decisions made centrally regarding the provision of materials and resources, the quality of the school environment, its buildings and recreational .areas, frequent changes of staff or the home environ­ ment of the children.

The use of punishment in secondary schools In order to maintain satisfactory learning conditions in secondary schools, students must conform to the discipline that the school considers necessary. (31) The Committee emphasizes the need for the individual teacher to be involved in the resolution of problem situations and stresses that problems cannot simply be passed on to the vice-principal or principal. At the same time, after problem - 143

behaviour has arisen on several occasions, help is needed and the Committee would see ah important part of the role of senior masters and senior mis­ tresses in secondary schools as providing this help. Tn some cases assistance needs to be available from support staff such as guidance officers and social workers. Thus, most problem situations should be resolved without the use of punishments, especially of the more severe kind. However, the Committee has given careful consideration to the use of punishments of different kinds in secondary schools and reports its conclusions in the following paragraphs.

(1) Corporal punishment. Although most schools use. corporal punishment rarely, the Committee was provided with evidence that the regulations are not always followed. The- Committee considers that, while a provision remains for the use of corporal punishment as a 'last resort' there will be a contin­ uing danger of such abuse. Corporal punishment is sometimes used as an immediate way of resolving a problem because teachers lack sufficient time in class to deal with disciplinary problems. In some instances the use of corporal punishment can be an important bar to the learning process and to the development of good relationships between student and teacher. Other concerns about corporal punishment were expressed to the Committee. Among these the Committee gave particular note to the argument that .a different range of punishments for boys andfor girls should not be accepted.

It is clear that some of the situations which lead to the use of corporal punishment at the present •time could be resolved more easily if more adequate support services for teachers were available. In spite of this, the Committee does not accept that abolishing corporal punishment should be deferred until some future time when an unspecified level of support services is available.

In the context of these considerations the Committee believes that the use of corporal punishment in schools be abolished immediately. This view had majority but not the unanimous support of the . Committee. In making this statement the Committee indicates its awareness that it will require some schools to undertake a revaluation of their approach to deviant students.

2. Suspensions. Evidence was supplied to the Committee that there were inconsistencies in. the way.that some school principals interpret and apply the regulations pertaining to the suspension of - 144 - students. In some cases, such as smoking and truancy, it was submitted that suspension would be counter­ productive. One major concern was the growth of an informal system of suspension which appeared to be outside the scope of the regulations made under the Act. As a result of the above submissions the Committee gave considerable attention to the use of suspensions and came to the conclusion that the suspension of a pupil must not be seen as a punish­ ment or a means of treating an offender but as a technique for defusing a volatile situation, for pro­ tecting the parties involved or for gaining time to marshall the resources needed to solve the problem.

The Committee recognizes that suspensions are necessary in some situations but holds firmly to the opinion that their widespread use should be discour­ aged. The Committee recommends that the use of suspensions be closely controlled and that the prov­ isions of the Act be followed without deviation.

3, Withdrawal or transfer of a student. The Committee considers that if a student is withdrawn or transferred either from a class or a school it should be for positive reasons. The student who is passed from school to school, because each, finds that it cannot handle his problem, receives no help and the problem is simple being passed on to other teachers to find a solution.

Personality clashes between teacher and pupil can, in larger schools at least, be overcome by transfer of either teacher or pupil to another class.

If a pupil has to be removed from a class for a considerable time, then the decision should be made after consultation involving the teacher, senior staff, support services and parents.

It is recognised that because both teacher and pupil are human, this sort of situation can arise and that transfer may be the best and fairest solution.

4. Expulsion. There was general agreement by the Committee that the present provisions for expul­ sion are adequate. Such a course of action should not be undertaken lightly and full weight must be given to all the circumstances of the case. Leaving the final decision on this matter in the hands of the Minister is supported by the Committee. - 145 -

The problem of severely-deviant children The Committee is of the opinion that the establish" ment of smaller schools and the devolution .of authority to smaller units within the school will eliminate many of the discipline problems which now exist in the larger schools and will make it less likely that extreme punishments will be necessary. Nevertheless ,: the Committee knows that the problem of dealing with, severely-deviant students will remain and accepts that schools need back-up services to assist with this small group. For severely-deviant children it may be that a residential school is the best answer and such children could well be recognized as "special" in the same way as those with other handicaps. In a later section of this chapter the Committee takes up the provision of a unit external to the school for maladjusted students. (32) It also suggests that the Education Department give consideration to the - "need for units within some appropriately-located schools in which professional-support staff (e.g. a guidance officer, social worker) could work to defuse a problem situation before returning the student to his normal routines. The essential feature of this possibility is that the professional-support staff would be readily available to deal with a problem whenever it arises. It must be recognized that such a development would have important implications for the provision of support staff by the Education Department.

The Committee recognizes that the solution proposed in the previous paragraph could not realistically apply to small secondary schools in country areas. Here the only feasible way of assisting with problem students would seem to be the availability of experienced, competent staff to give support to inexperienced teachers.

4.5 PROVISIONS FOR PASTORAL CARE The-Committee has already indicated in this chapter the necessity for the staff and school organization .to.express a general caring attitude towards students for "unless we get relationships right we cannot get the kind of learning we want." (33) Although it is recognized that teachers are involved in pastoral care in the day-to-day teaching situation, schools have developed a variety of organizational structures which make it possible for one teacher to work closely, and get to know, a small group of children. - 146

These provisons are known by a variety of terms - tutor groups, counselling groups or pastoral care groups. For the purposes of this report the Committee accepts the term "pastoral care" because of its wide use throughout the literature. Despite its non- educational connotations it does seem to provide the most suitable expression of the activity under discuss­ ion. The importance of such provisions has been well described by the English educationist, Hugh Cunningham:

Pastoral care within out comprehensive schools is increasingly concerned with ensuring that the set of relationships within which individual pupils operate, both within school and between school and community, are the best possible for the realisation of educational potential. There- fore, its organisation aims at promoting under- I standing of the education offered by the school • and at the development of the social skills needed to cope with the demands created ... It cannot be emphasised enough that pastoral care is concerned with educational aims, not a set of social aims added on to the traditional aims of the school. The concern is with the number of life choices education makes available to the individual pupil, accepting that the social and economic situation of the pupil and his family is the major factor in the life possibilities of the pupil. (34)

The Committee emphasizes that: "The major concern of the pastoral organization is in ensuring that the needs of individual pupils find scope and satisfaction in the work offered. (35) This requires that pastoral teachers determine the weaknesses and strengths of the students in their care so that the individual student's educational potential may have a greater chance of being realized. There may need to be modification of the curriculum to cope with individual difficulties and it is this factor that Cunningham sees as the justification for appointing senior teachers to pastoral care systems because it is they who "will have the experience and standing to act upon the curr­ iculum so that the pupil's needs may be met. (36)

There can be no doubt that there is a social element of pastoral care aimed at providing "the social knowledge and competence which will enable students to function within their adolescent world and thereby more effectively in their adult world." (37) Pastoral teachers need the support of counsell­ ors and guidance officers so that they do not become overwhelmed by the welfare element of pastoral care and lose sight of their role in helping the students achieve their potential in the area of the curriculum. - 147- -

Both the educational and the social objectives of pastoral care can be justified because it is through their realization that the personal security of the individual student can be achieved. In summary, Schools need a strong pastoral care system not as an addition to a social services safety net to catch the socially maimed and wounded, but to achieve educational aims. There will be a welfare element. There is a need for . close co-operation with other agencies, but above all the pastoral care of a school must inform and shape its organization and curric­ ulum so that individual difficulties may be overcome and potential realised. (38)

Evidence received by the Committee indicated a widespread acknowledgement of the necessity of - making provision for. students to identify with a teacher or group of teachers. This was seen to dev­ elop a feeling of security in students and to facil­ itate the development of a caring attitude by teachers towards students. The survey of Secondary Education revealed that both high and district schools consider that small pastoral-care groups were the most important factors in developing person­ al security amongst students.. (39)

The administration of the school must be so designed that pastoral care of students is possible and that each student knows whom.to approach for advice, assistance or sympathy with problems." The' evidence recognized that the more a teacher has contact with a group of students, the more he is likely to exert a pastoral-care role. Thus it is desirable either for the pastoral teacher to teach the children.in his group or remain with the pastoral * group, over a long period of time. The vertical grouping of students for pastoral care adopted in several Tasmanian secondary schools is seen as one way of providing this continuity. Another advantage . of a vertical group is that it, contains older students who are beginning to adopt more adult behaviour patterns which present models, for the younger students.

The.Committee believes that there is a variety of organizational structures which provide contact between the pastoral teacher and students outside that period of time allotted for pastoral care. Team- teaching approaches, or a "block" provision for a year group can be instanced in this respect. The importance of. interaction between the pastoral teachers and their students in social and cultural activities outside the school'should not be overlooked. - 148 -

One consultant who reported to the Committee observed that class teacher groups served more an administrative function than a pastoral-care function since the time available was sufficient only to check the attendance and to read the daily newsheet. (40) He also observed that in many cases this period was placed at the end of the day which was not conducive to good teacher-student interaction. The administrative need to check attendance and provide a means of communicating necessary information should be recognised in the organizational structures of the school as having a place quite separate from that of the pastoral-care function.

The Committee believes that the main role of the pastoral-care teacher is to accept overall responsibility for the total course being followed by a student. It recommends that schools set aside a time in the week in which the teacher can discuss with individual students the work they have accomp­ lished over the previous week and the work they are planning to do. It considers that in this way the student's total study program can be effectively co-ordinated and a responsible teacher made aware of gaps and deficiencies in his progress. The Committee strongly emphasizes that such a review should be "across the curriculum". Given the importance of this responsibility it should be seen as part of the teacher's load. The Committee consid­ ers that, when problems arise with a particular student, the pastoral-care teacher should be the first in the chain of referral to whom a problem should be addressed.

So that pastoral- care teachers may carry out the role effectively senior masters should provide them with an outline of what is being planned in their area of responsibility over a month or a term. This would assist the pastoral-care teachers to provide individual students and parents with longer- term information about what they are to be doing in each area. Most parents want to be able to help their children and to discuss their progress with them but are at a loss unless they have some guidance of the kind suggested. Such guidance assists the pastoral system to promote "greater involvement in the life of the community by the school, and by the community in the school". (41)

The Committee believes that pastoral-care time could be appropriately used for the discussion of problems facing young people. These problems are most usefully discussed when they arise from real situations. It was suggested to the Committee that - 149 -

the Curriculum Branch should prepare material on these problems, to be available for pastoral teachers to use as required. In no way should such an approach be prescriptive.

Pastoral-care responsibilities should be given increased recognition so that they cease to be "tacked on" to the other duties of teachers.. The prime importance of'pastoral care will be accepted by all when all staff are involved. The Committee's view is that all members of staff have a responsibility for pastoral care and senior staff should take respon­ sibility for a pastoral-care group as part of their duties. Given the importance of pastoral care and its dependence on the competence and enthusiasm of teachers, the Committee considers that it should have a high, priority in teacher development activities..

4.6 THE GROUPING OF STUDENTS Within a general structure of comprehensive secondary education the internal organization of schools, is the prerogative of the Principal arid the staff of the school and there may be considerable differences be­ tween schools in the way children are grouped for teaching.

There are two basic ways of grouping students: dividing them into different 'groups on the basis of their assumed ability or achievement and teaching them in homogeneous groups (streaming or setting) ojr allocating them to classes with no prior attention being given to ability (mixed-ability teaching). This difference in grouping appears to be associated with contrasting views about the purposes of schooling. The view that the school is primarily an intellectual agency concerned with the training of the mind, the growth of disciplined thought and the development of superior powers of cultural discrimination would , appear to be associated with an emphasis on the efficiency of homogeneous groups for teaching purposes. Those favouring mixed-ability teaching or heterogeneous classes also emphasize their suitability for academic studies, but_ as_ well stress,, the .advantages of mixed- — - ability groups for helping social interaction between students, for giving them confidence in themselves and for increasing the ability of all students to make choices affecting their later chances in life. This group of educators would maintain that achieve­ ment is as good in heterogeneous as in homogeneous systems and may, indeed, be .improved because students develop higher expectations about what they can achieve. - 150 -

In arriving at a position on the grouping of students the Committee gave particular weight to the adverse effects of categorising students and to the potent effect of teacher expectations in a streamed situation. The way in which this process of categorisation operates is well described by the British sociologist, David Hargreaves:

The teacher must ....beware of those organis­ ational devices of schools which are associated itfith categorisation. Streaming is obviously one such device. Once the pupil is assigned to a stream, the teacher tends to perceive him in terms of the collective category of the stream rather than in terms of his indiv­ idual characteristics. The streaming system encourages the making of generalisations about streams which are then applied to individual pupils in that stream ...It is hardly surprising if the pupils take to them­ selves the attitudes, expectations and predictions exhibited by the teachers and institutionalised in the organisational structure. A self-fulfilling prophecy seems almost inevitable. Nor are these matters easily rectified. Ability grouping within an unstreamed class poses exactly the same sort of dangers. (42)

The way in which this self-fulfilling prophecy affects learning has been the subject of much research since the publication of the well-known "Pygmalion in the Classroom" in 1968. (43) The most recent review of this research confirms the importance of teacher expectations:

Evidence indicating that teachers do form expectations for students' performance is abundant. As noted above, teachers tend to treat students differently depending on their expectations for the students' performance. Moreover, these expectations, and presumably their behavioural manifestations, have been shown to relate to students' academic achievement. (44)

It is also important to refer to evidence that there is an association between a "pro-school subculture" in higher streams and an "anti-school subculture" which was strong in the lower streams. (45) 151

It is the view of the Committee that the damaging' process' of categorisation or "labelling" is most likely to operate when it is built into the organiz­ ation of the school and associated with the formation of groups for teaching. Further, the process may reflect differences in the background which children- bring to school. In the model proposed by the Australian sociologist, Tony Knight, streaming is one of the important ways by which disadvantaged children become "locked-out" of the pattern that leads to achievement in school and society. (46) Streaming is not only an instrument of educational policy but has major social consequences.

Given the damaging effects of categorisation and streaming which have been described in the preceding paragraphs it was gratifying for the Committee to find that school practice in Tasmania reflects an avoidance of sharp differentiation between groups of students. In responding to the Committee's survey of secondary Education nearly all schools indicated they had heterogeneous groups for pastoral-care and teaching purposes in Years 7 and 8. (47) Only two high schools indicated they had homogeneous, streamed groups in these.years. The Committee is aware that, in other schools, students are separated into homogeneous teaching groups in some subjects and most high schools "set" or "tie" groups in Years 9 and 10 to allow subjects to stream if they wish. Nevertheless, these results show that Tasmanian schools' are generally aware of the damaging effects of streaming and labell­ ing students and are anxious to retain mixed-ability groups, at least in Years 7 and 8.

The Committee considers that the following principles should underlie practices for grouping secondary students:

1. Although the organization of schools requires various groupings of students for administration and teaching it is important that administrative convenience does not take precedence over educ­ ational reasons as the criteria for group formation.

2. The first two years of .secondary education should ; be seen as a period in which knowledge of students'' potentialities is built up. During this time schools should ensure that a group is not created that has. a "low-stream image." (48) This is particularly necessary on entry to secondary schools: students should feel they have the chance to "start again" and that they have not .been labelled on the basis of their • previous experience. - 152 -

3. Mixed-ability grouping should be the normal practice in Years 7 and 8 and used where practicable in Years 9 and 10. The Committee considers that specialization and streaming, even streaming for some subjects, should be avoided in the first two years of secondary education. This is consistent with the Committee's view that, in these years, students should not have to make decisions which have a long-term effect on their chances in life. The Committee would distinguish between the formation of separate groups on the basis of ability or achievement and groupings within a class which may be necessary for teaching but which of their nature are flexible.

4. The grading process for certification at the end of Year 10 should not determine the way in which teaching groups are formed. The Committee considers that schools should not base their organization on whole-class groups, streamed by achievement and undertaking year-long courses.

5. In grouping students for teaching purposes the school organization must be flexible enough to allow for the movement of students from one course to another. This flexibility must provide for students to "pick up a subject" at a later stage so that students do not make irrevocable choices. At the same time provision needs to be made for able students to be given experiences that challenge them.

6. The Committee wishes to avoid prescribing any single practice, for schools to follow in grouping students. It is not prepared to say that a particular form of grouping is best in all situations. Particular needs may best be met by a form of grouping different from that normally found in the system or practised in the school.

In Year 7 mixed-ability groups should be the norm and it is envisaged that students will follow a common curriculum, grouping into separate courses being completely avoided. In both Years 7 and 8 the school should provide students with as wide a provision of courses as is possible from its resources. This policy is consistent with the view that a heavy emphasis on sequential learning may be inappropriate at this stage. C49) - 153 -

In YEAR 8 mixed-ability groups should again be the usual practice. At this stage also, divisions within an area of curriculum activity based on differences in ability or achievement should not be made. In Year 8 students should be able to with­ draw from some activities though not from the major areas of the curriculum defined by the Committee. (50) Students at this stage should not be required to follow a specific and fixed'group of studies and in this way be committed to choices that determine their subsequent school experience.

The Committee accepts that, from the beginning of YEAR 9, students should be able to enter into a "course", that is, into a group of studies that reflects their particular interests and aptitudes. This would seem to be the time when more definite decisions about courses are made but the Committee does not accept that it is necessary for effective teaching to separate children into different levels of ability and considers that'mixed-ability groups may be adopted at any stage of secondary education. The Committee considers that the conclusion of the Bullock Committee that "where it is practicable mixed- ability grouping offers most hope for English teaching" can apply to all other subjects in the secondary curriculum. (51) Whatever decision a school makes about grouping students its organization must provide for students to work for some of their time in each of the major areas of the curriculum and be flexible enough to provide for students to change from one group to another on the basis of their effort and achievement and to take up new studies if they wish.

In terms of the grouping of students the Committee envisages that YEAR 10 will follow similar guidelines to Year 9. Again in Year 10 there is no evidence that mixed-ability groups are not appropriate and the need for flexibility to provide for changed circum­ stances remains. Again at this stage, students need to be able to take up new studies on the basis of changed motivations and needs, for example in relation to individual requirements for job entrance. Some choices should only take place at this stage: in particular those determining the level at which a subject may be studied in Years 11 and 12.

4.7 EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN The Committee on Secondary Education gives a high prior­ ity to the development of suitable provisions for - 154 children with special needs.

The following section deals with both the organizational and the curriculum dimensions of the subject. The needs of these students are summarized in the following quotation:

It is widely recognized that a small number of students are so different from the average in one or more dimensions that it is unreal­ istic to expect regular educators alone to serve them adequately. These pupils with special abilities or unusual limitations are known as 'exceptional children'. If these young people are to be given as great an opportunity to achieve their potential as more typical children they require a program of 'special education' ranging from a short period of time to many years. (52)

A few years ago there seemed to be an emerging consensus in Australia that special schools were inappropriate and that children with exceptional needs should be integrated into normal primary and secondary classrooms. Now, however, Tasmanian practice reflects a realization that there is a need for a variety of provisions. We accept the need for children to be integrated wherever possible into normal teaching groups where they may share in ordinary social life. However, there is also a need for special units in normal schools and for special schools.

The different sorts of provision are clearly summarized, in the following quotation:

Special schools cater for only a small prop­ ortion of those pupils who need additional help if they are to develop their full potential. Ordinary primary and secondary schools will, therefore always carry what is numerically the greater responsibility for providing for pupils who need additional help, even though their difficulties are usually less severe than those of pupils in special schools. Both types of provision are vital and complementary parts of what should be an inter-related system, with regular review of pupils, transfer made when necessary and a well organised system for the rapid transmission of essential information. Only in this way can a co-ordinated system of special education be provided that will ensure that each pupil enjoys continuity of suitable educational care. (53) - 155 -

Five particular groups of exceptional children can be identified in secondary schools.

1. Children who are exceptionally talented. 2. Children with emotional and behavioural difficulties or maladjusted children. 3. Slow learners or those children with generally lower intelligence for whom the normal school-program may offer little and thus need a more appropriate educational diet. 4. Children with learning difficulties who, with remedial help, can be expected to . move towards achievement in the normal school program. 5. Children with physical and/or sensory disabilities who have problems in a normal school environment.

Children with special needs form a significant proportion of the school population and hence the provision made for them must be carefully considered. It should be noted that in England a Department of Education and Science Survey found that slow learning pupils constituted 14 per cent of the school population studied. (54) This percentage was similar to that found in the Isle of Wight Survey and the National Development Study. (55) There is no reason to expect any smaller incidence in Tasmania.

The question of adequacy of the variety of provision needs to be answered in terms of the prop­ ortions of pupils quoted above and in terms of the information from the Committee's survey of schools. The, perception of teachers is that there is an' insuff­ icient provision of special schools and of special units in normal schools. (56) This perception needs to be tempered by the following views of those engaged in special education regarding the use of special -education teachers in secondary schools.

In recent years the training of special education teachers has provided high schools with an increasing resource in this area. In 1977 each high school with an enrolment greater than 350 will have a special teacher who will count as 0.3 on the staffing formula for the school. Now a particular need is a supply of trained teachers to country schools, as only those students who suffer serious handicap should be away from home. Steps are being taken to meet this need in - 156

the long term,

However, those engaged in special education advocate that merely training more special teachers is not sufficient. What is required is a more thoughtful use of the resources available in schools. To this end it was suggested that special-education teachers should be able to attend senior staff meetings because it is here that organizational decisions affect­ ing the effectiveness of special teaching are often made.

Moreover, there is a need to define the role of the special - education teacher in the secondary schools. The special-education teacher should be considered in terms of a resource teacher to be used as such by all members of the staff in catering for the special needs of individual students rather than as a last resort for those students with whom other members of the teaching staff are unable to cope. This is riot to say that they do not have an important role in the withdrawal of certain students from the normal teaching situation for specialist attention, whether this be in special units set up in the school or in short-term withdrawal situations after which the student returns to the normal classroom situation.

Effective communication on both formal and informal levels between the special-education teacher and other teaching staff are absolutely essential if the aims of the school's special-education program are to be achieved. This would lead to a better understanding of the pressures placed on special-education teachers and a better understanding of their role in the school.

Career opportunities for special-education teachers must be considered. Many teachers do not want to teach in this area because they think it will limit promotion opportunities. There should also be opportunities for teachers to move out of this area after a period of time if this is desired, in order that objectivity and perspective may be renewed.

The Committee considered the kinds of programs most suited to the different groups of exceptional children to be found in secondary schools.

(a) Talented Children Considerable concern was expressed in the evidence that adequate provision for gifted children is not being made at the present time. - 157 -

The Committee considers that the talented child can, and should, be catered for within the 'normal' school program. School organization should be sufficiently flexible to provide for different-sized groups for different purposes, thus providing opportunities for talented students to work together for some of their time (though not to form permanent groups) and to provide opportunities for students to progress at their own rate. The fact that not all students need to spend the same time on a particular activity has obvious implications for the kind of program suited to these children. One solution is to offer a basic course together with short courses. Whereas much of the time available to such a child could be spent in increasing intellectual power in certain areas, talented children should be encouraged to undertake activities which will promote 'self- cultivation'. Competence in the Arts and Crafts areas could not only provide useful leisure activities and - life skills~but also contribute greatly to the develop­ ment of social maturity in children who, in the main, will be younger than their classmates.

The Committee considered the idea- that talented children may be best catered for in one of a group of neighbouring high schools where special resources- could be concentrated. The Committee would oppose such a concentration which could lead to a scarcity of resources and talented children in one school and make it difficult for it to fulfil its aims for a compreh­ ensive intake. Rather, it supports special-interest centres which are able to accommodate students in out-of-hours activities.

The Committee considers it important that the prog­ ram offered to talented children be determined by the need to ensure balanced development rather than meet the requirements of secondary colleges.

(b) Maladjusted Children

Disabilities suffered by children with emotional and behavioural difficulties are quite different in nature than those suffered by children covered by Special Education in that they are usually (or hopefully) not permanent as with physical impairment. There is, in fact, a greater affinity with normal school situations than with special school arrangements. (57) 158

Children with such emotional and behavioural difficulties require stability, a requirement the ordinary secondary school is able to provide. The pastoral-care system can be valuable in providing stability for these children, as can individual teachers who are seen by the children as advocates and friends. However, there are some children who have not been catered for in the secondary school and thus Brighton E12 functions as a valuable altern­ ative facility within the total education system. (58) Such a unit should fit into a co-ordinated program "that involves a planned and staged withdrawal and reintegration arrangement, with support programs in a normal school or schools." (59)

Evidence to the Committee suggested that there may well be a need for the provision of residential care for some severely-maladjusted children. However, it should be noted that there is a real danger that residential units can become isolated and the children cut off from contact with everyday school situations. The need for such units to be directed towards the reintegration of students into normal schools is stressed by the Committee.

(c) Slow Learners

The Committee considers that curriculum provisions for slow-1 earning students are vitally important and secondary schools need to establish definite aims and objectives for them. Watered-down academic courses are inappropriate as is the provision of remedial assistance to help pupils whose academic short-comings are not remediable. It is important that slow learners develop whatever ability they possess in the basic skills, but their needs are wider than this. The importance of language, especially talking and listening, and the development of practical life-skills may often be overlooked.

How a. school is organized will affect the type of education provided for slow learners. It is hoped that the children will not comprise a segregated unit within the school but that they will be an integral part of school life. In the first two years of a general course, studies should be appropriate to their ability level, with teachers planning suitable programs with assistance from the specia1-education teacner. Under­ standing of the academic difficulties of slow learners is essential if the teachers are to deal adequately with their problems. - 159 -

Slow learners, as well as the other students of the school, should have curriculum options open to them in the later secondary years. Examples of such options could be the development of leisure skills, inter-personal relationships or ability to handle money. The particular vocational needs of these children may well require the introduction of a special program to introduce them to the world of work.

(d) Children with Learning Difficulties The Bullock Report noted that:

A small number of children have severe reading difficulties that cannot be accounted for by limited mental ability or by other readily identifiable factors. All such children should receive a skilled analysis of the nature of their difficulties followed by intensive and sustained help in a remedial centre or reading clinic. (60)

This example of reading difficulties highlights the- need for sound diagnostic procedures to be avail­ able for students with different kinds of learning difficulties so that the nature of problems can be diagnosed and appropriate remedial action initiated. School organizational structures must allow for temporary withdrawal from the normal classroom situation in order that a remediation program may be implemented.

(e) Children with Physical or Sensory Disabilities Children with physical and/or sensory disabilit­ ies may require special consideration rather than a special program. . For example, they may need to be placed near to the front of the class if they are partially deaf or have sight limitations, or be allowed time concessions if a physical disability impedes their movement from class to class. In particular, the Committee supports the principle of modifying and equipping one high school in each region so that secondary, students with physical disabilities can. attend .-

(f) Migrant Children . The Committee received a major submission which drew attention to the educational needs of migrant children and the provisions that are made for them. (61) ' The proportion of migrant children in Tasmanian schools is so small and so scattered among the schools that the kinds of provision recommended for special education seems more appropriate than the provision - 160 - recommended for disadvantaged groups with whom they might logically be associated. In Tasmania such developments as teaching in the child's native language are not feasible because of the thin spread of migrant children and even the provision of with­ drawal classes is proving difficult to make. The important consequence of this is that all teachers need to be aware of the problems of migrant children and be prepared to tackle them.

The Committee applauds the aims of the Child Migrant Education Service, and sees the need for the service to continue for children who are having obvious difficulty with the English language. It is more concerned, however, about the provision being made for migrant children who appear on the surface to be coping with English. The following quotation from the submission made to the Committee merits repeating:

Some of these students, although speaking quite satisfactorily, do not have a wide vocabulary range and do not handle the language efficiently. Most, however, would consider themselves reasonably proficient, would fail to recognise their own deficiency, and, in many cases, they and their parents would feel sensitive about their being singled out for special treatment. (62)

Failure to acknowledge that their English is inadequate, and dislike of being different from their peers, are two aspects of the migrant child's outlook.

The Migrant Education Committee sees that in the future it will need to consider alternatives to its program of withdrawal classes, in order to fit in with the general organization of schools and to reduce costs. They see the possibility of the extra teaching needed by migrant children being given by their classroom teachers, and the child migrant specialist teachers working as consultants and advisers to them. The Committee endorses this line of devel­ opment in provisions for migrant children.

The involvement of classroom teachers in this way, as well as in pastoral-care of migrant children, will require provision for in-service education, since training courses in Tasmania do not cater either for teaching English as a second language or, to any extent, for appreciating the complex problems facing migrant children. - 161 -

4.8 DECISION-MAKING BY STUDENTS Provision for student choice - . Towards the end of the sixties a reaction against excessive central control of the state over the life of an individual developed. One of the outcomes was a trend towards increasing the participation of individuals in decisions that directly affect their daily lives. According to Ben Morris the majority of schools at presen.t are still dominated by the assumption that children do not have sufficient capac­ ity for self-direction to be trusted to work out education programs and life patterns in genuine collab oration with their elders. (63) In opposition to this tradition a number of studies strongly indicate that responsibility for the choice of both the matter to be learnt and the manner by which it is learnt should shift more from the school to the students.

From the Survey of Secondary Education it would appear that high schools give some involvement to students concerning placement in a particular level while in district schools it is more a staff decision.' (64) Staffing and space limitations and inability to cope with required standards are given by schools as reasons for telling students they are unable to attempt some subjects. With respect to student choice the Survey shows that seven out of 66 schools gave students a choice of when in the week they are able to study a. subject. All but four high scho.ols indic­ ated that no students are permitted to work out an individual timetable. Only .six out of the 66 school replies said that older students are given more opport unity to work out individual timetables. Students do not have a choice as to which teachers they will work with.

Objections to student involvement in decision making are often based on the view that this means involvement in major policy decisions of the school or major decisions about the student's own future. In accepting this objection the Committee still sees scope for decision-making by students. It is in the normal area of work undertaken by students that provision for them to make decisions is most import­ ant. The Committee considers that the teaching and learning process should allow for students to take decisions and to live with the consequences of these. It is suggested that the teacher should set up situations and constantly provide opportunities in which students are able to make some individual decisions, about how they should work. (65) This is - 162 - an alternative to always telling the children what to do and when to do it. From the research under­ taken for the Committee it appears that students are seeking such opportunities: * More than two-thirds of those surveyed said they should have the opportunity in Year 10 of working on a topic or project of their own choice. Most said this should be given often. (66)

* More than half of the students surveyed felt they should have some part in decid­ ing when in the week to study basic subjects. (67)

Most felt that, when they had finished set work, they should be able to go on with other work (of any sort) without asking. (68)

With respect to decisions that affect the future school career and future life-chances of the student the Committee believes that it would be quite irres­ ponsible to imply that such decisions should be left solely to students. Indeed the Committee is concerned that students do not receive sufficient assistance from their parents and the school in relation to these major decisions. In this view the Committee received strong support from the survey of student decision­ making. For example, students wanted to be involved in the choice of levels in a subject but wanted greater support and advice from teachers and parents in choices of both subjects and levels. (69)

The Committee considers that it is necessary for teachers to define clearly the areas in which students are able to exercise a choice. Whether to work or not to work at school is not a choice that students should have, nor do they expect it. They depend on the teacher to provide them with guidelines as to their exercise of choice. Having made a decision about how or where they will work, it is necessary for students to accept responsibility for this decision and to follow through the consequences of that choice. It is also necessary that teachers do not expect too much immediate success. If, in the initial stages, decisions made by students are not "good and wise" teachers must not over-react and withdraw decision-making opportunities. 163.

The Committee considers the development of the capacity to make sensible choices to be very import­ ant. Children should be given confidence to make decisions and to trust their own judgement because it will be necessary for them to do this after they have left school. . To develop such a capacity in students is a very skilful process and a very important one. It assumes that a trusting relationship exists between teacher and student. The respect and respon­ sibility offered,by the teacher will be valued by students but the teacher should not expect too much success too soon. Schools, then, should accept that one of their responsibilities is to give students more decision-making skills. The implication, of course, is that young people will be required to make decisions for themselves after leaving school. This would seem to be required by modern life but it must be recog­ nized that some students enter work situations that discourage decision-making.and the acceptance of responsibility by young workers.

Student participation in the school organization In reporting to the Committee a consultant from another education system made the following important observation:

One of the important aspects of student govern­ ment that is perhaps not recognized sufficiently is that it provides an opportunity for students to develop leadership qualities within the school environment. It is particularly import­ ant that this role be given to as many students as is practicable, and in particular to students who have the potential but not the opportunity to participate in a leadership situation outside the school. (70)

From the Survey of Secondary Education ,it is apparent that nearly all Tasmanian high schools and about half of the district schools have a student council, with a further three high schools having special-purpose committees. (71) It appears that smaller district schools have often tried to establish a school council but have not persisted because of the small number of senior pupils available. In almost half of the schools students have been given full responsibility for arranging social functions and a similar number are involved in charity and community work. Other important areas of responsibility are the use of school facilities and consultation about uniforms and fund-raising. In most schools student bodies have been given responsibility for some aspects of school facilities or for both facilities and some aspects of student behaviour. 164

When asked to comment about the effectiveness of student government most schools indicated that they saw it as being valuable for the development of leadership and responsibility and for improving communication between students and staff. (7 2) Some concern was expressed that student councils tend to be involved only with trivial matters and, in some places, lack the respect of staff and students. A further concern is that a student council may tend to concentrate involvement in a few hands, with the majority of students disinterested and content that others have accepted responsibility.

In the research study commissioned by the Committee, Year 10 students generally agreed that there should be a student council and they attached a degree of importance to it: 44 per cent said it played an important or very important part in the running of the school, 43 per cent said it played a fairly important part and 13 per cent said it was not important. (73) Two-thirds of the students surveyed considered that the council should have an important part in the school. Most (88 per cent) said their experience was that suggestions were likely to be accepted by the Principal and staff. Such a response needs to be interpreted, of course, in relation to the importance of matters about which student councils can offer advice.

The Committee considers that some aspects of the role of student councils, as traditionally conceived in secondary schools, are open to serious question. A council with vaguely-defined responsibilities, trekking to the principal with a list of requests seems likely to be counter-productive and worse than having no council at all. With such a council, it is inev­ itable that some proposals will have to be refused or modified, with consequent disappointment and disillusionment.

The Committee believes that student councils must be purposeful and functional, concerned with short- term projects where results can be seen clearly and immediately. Part of the development of student councils should be the definition of areas in which the council can be given responsibility. Of existing functions being exercised by student councils, the following can be instanced in this regard:

community service projects; organization of social activities for students; fund-raising for charities, including the disposal of funds raised for this purpose; - 165 -

expenditure of a sum of money allocated to the council by the school; selection of a proportion of books for the school library.

In the light of these remarks, the Committee sees as valuable other aspects of student government that are being developed in some schools. For example, one successful model seems to be for the student council to form ad hoc committees for particular projects. This seems to be one way of meeting the need to be purposeful and functional, and of including more students than would normally be involved and of catering for a wider range of interest than is the case with a formal council. Other situations, such as school camps, seem particularly appropriate for decision-making by students because, in this kind of situation, the students can more readily see the consequence of their exercise of responsibility.

In any discussion on student government, it is important to be clear about its purposes. The sent­ iments of Frank Musgrove are accepted:

Responsibility is properly linked with power. Pupils are members of a school in a different sense and on different terms from their teachers. To be responsible is to be liable to punishment if things go wrong; pupils cannot be punished like their teachers for the failure of school policies, even if they had a hand in shaping them. Their claim to a share in power is weak. (74)

The extent to which students can participate in school decision-making is limited and any pretence to a school council that this is not the case will lead to frustration and cynicism.

While major school policy is not in the province of student government, opportunities should be taken, when projects are being planned in conjunction with the community, to involve students fully in the planning so that they can have the experience of working purp­ osefully with adults.

The Committee would see the value of experiments in student government as lying primarily in the area of the personal and social development of pupils. 166 -

Through this involvement, students can learn to act in social situations, to communicate with each other and with teachers and to learn what is required if responsibility for a project is accepted. But these ends are more likely to be achieved if the organs of student government are seen as "doing bodies" rather than "demanding bodies". The model proposed here seems much more likely to be successful than one based on pretending to share power with students.

4.9 SCHOOL MANAGEMENT, DECISION-MAKING AND ORGANIZ­ ATION OF STAFF Management and decision-making in Tasmanian schools Although a good deal of the material presented to the Committee made some reference to management, decision-making and staff organization, these references were largely unrelated to one another and tended to deal with the special problems of particular groups. These special problems are discussed later.

Submissions dealt in general terms with the need for the involvement of all teachers in policy decisions, the need for staff decision-making to be concerned with real issues, and the general difficulty of using the full staff meeting as a decision-making instrument. Comments on the constraining effect of some timetables appeared in several submissions, including that from the West Australian consultant. (75)

The interstate consultants had important comments to make on the role of the principal. The Western Australian consultant, discussing the nature of the staff meetings he was able to attend, drew attention to the extent to which the initiative for the content of staff meetings came from principals rather than from the staff as a whole. (76) He saw this as an indication that participation by the staff in school policy-making was more limited than is desirable. Dr. R. Fitzgerald, in evidence to Committee, observed in similar vein that philosophical differences between principal and staff in Australian schools will probably not surface because of the limited opportunities that are made available for real discussion. (77) He went on to discuss the changing role of the principal as schools become more auton­ omous and the requirement for educational leadership as well as straight-forward administration becomes more important. In this context he questioned the extent to which the principal alone could continue to perform the role of gatekeeper for the school. - 167

The general thrust of these contributions was towards wider participation in the management of the school and greater flexibility in its organization.

The following practices and beliefs revealed by the Survey of Secondary Education merit mention in this section of the Report. Forty-two schools have a written statement of objectives for the school, and twenty-five do not. Of the forty-two, twenty- seven have been reviewed in the past year, mostly by the senior staff. (78) The Committee would see this as indicating a low level of participation by staff in making major decisions about policy in the school. In the same vein, of the thirty-three schools which have a written statement of rules, twenty-two had participation by staff, and in a few cases students as well, in the compilation of the statement. (79)

By and large, the existence of a hierarchy is reflected in the matters discussed in this section of the Survey. Major school decisions tend to be made by senior people, and less sweeping decisions tend to be made by general staff. In matters of discipline there is generally a chain of referral, with referral to vice-principal or principal regarded as "most serious".

Staffs showed a general reluctance to be involved in the appointment of teachers to the school. (80) The appointment of a principal was overwhelmingly seen as a responsibility of the Department alone. Even in relation to the appointment of teachers, no more than half of the school staffs would seek to be involved in any way. The other half would see this as a responsibility of the Department alone.

With the foregoing material as a guide, the Committee found that it was necessary to seek further material on which to base its conclusions in this area. As a first step it settled on the following generalizations about organizational decision-making from " Organisational behaviour in schools" by Owens:

1. Effective participation by teachers in meaningful decisons does "pay off".

2. Teachers do not want to be involved in every decision, nor do they expect to be.

3. An important task of the principal is to distinguish between decisions in which 168

teachers should be involved and those which should be handled in other ways.

4. The roles and functions of teachers in decision­ making can be varied according to the nature of the problem. (81)

Although these generalizations emphasize the importance of participation in decision-making, they imply a good deal about the importance of leadership in an organization, and so the Committee turned first to consider the leadership function of the principal in a secondary school.

The leadership function of the principal The Committee believes there would be general acceptance of the view that "a school easily loses coherence and confidence unless the leadership is strong". (82) In considering what is meant by the term "strong" in this quotation the Committee would not see the Principal as being authoritarian or "tough" so much as having the qualities of sensitivity, sympathy and consideration. The problem for the principal is to give the staff the confidence that comes from effective leadership and the sense of purpose that comes from secondly based participation in policy-making.

Howie puts the situation succinctly: (The Principal cannot) .... discard the authority that goes with his position. He must retain the right to know what is going on in his school and to be the final arbit­ rator. But within this framework he can develop a democratic spirit in his school. He can confer on his staff and students a significant degree of freedom to manage their own affairs and to be experimental and creative. He can publicly repudiate the notion that he himself knows in every detail what is best for his school ... (83)

What Howie is suggesting is that a certain kind of relationship between principal and staff can be conducive to an increased degree of participation by staff in the management of the school. Without an awareness of the relationships involved, no amount of organizational restructuring will break down the barriers to understanding to which Dr. Fitzgerald referred in his discussions with the Committee. (84) The basic factor in these relat­ ionships is brought out by Pusey in Dynamics of Bureaucracy. - 169 -

The teachers and the principals know in their bones that the quality of the teacher's perform­ ance depends in large measure on the quality of the human relationship through which it is mediated. In some essential sense education must always be a social process - especially in Western societies where the formal purpose of education is really total personality develop­ ment broadly conceived. The quality of the teacher's performance then inevitably depends on such universal human qualities as sensitivity, enthusiasm, openness and concern ...

This is the underlying fact in terms of which the relationship between the teacher and the principal should be understood. When the principal judges the work of one of his teachers - as he is constantly obliged to do - he is in part judging the person.

Since the principal has the authority (and the obligation) to make judgements on the competence of his teachers, the exercise of his authority is threatening . . .. The teacher is forced to face an external perception of his own identity - he is psychologically dependent on what the principal thinks of him. (85)

Unless principal and staff are aware of the importance of relationships in the school, the principal runs the risk of establishing a distance between him­ self and his staff. The staff will then tend to deal with the principal from a standpoint of formal imperson­ ality, and this in turn reduces the possibility of genuine dialogue. In the absence of a real discussion of ideas, the principal is not in a position to lead his staff; instead, he Just goes on managing them.

It--is with this consciousness of the basic prob­ lem that the principal must overcome that the Committee puts forward some ideas about the function that the Committee sees for him and how he must be supported in order to carry it"out."

The Committee recognizes the importance of the principal's leadership role, and sees this leadership as vital to the thrust and co-ordination of the educational program, to the expectations of teachers, and to the sound organization of the school and its interaction with groups outside the school. This leadership cannot be provided by any other member of staff or by support from outside the school. However, it is important that if the principal is to function - 170

as an educational leader, he must be provided with administrative support staff who can free him from the ties of detailed budgeting, accounting and routine correspondence.

In the Committee's view the principal is not so much a manager as a discerning enthusiast, supporter and facilitator of the things being done in the school. He is an important catalyst for ideas that come up in the school, and therefore he needs to adopt an "open door" policy himself so that staff will feel free to approach him, and also to open doors for contacts between individuals and groups in the school. In this respect the Committee believes it is lending support to principals in its recommendations about the size of the school.

Important as it is for the principal to seek out the strengths of staff members and to make use of these, it should not be forgotten that he is the leader with strengths of his own to meet staff and community expectations of positive leadership, to take decisions as necessary, and to support the staff of the school.

The Committee considers it most important that principals be given more support in their own profes­ sional development. In this respect the experience of the Principals seconded to help the Committee with the Survey of Secondary Education provides a useful model. This experience showed the value for a princ­ ipal of being able to visit other schools and to engage in purposeful discussion with other principals and teachers. The Committee considers that such a process is enriching and wishes to provide opportun­ ities for its extension to other principals and, especially, to those about to take up an appointment as a principal.

Given the demands of leading a secondary school and the requirements of the position discussed in this Report, the Committee believes that principals should be given the opportunity of undertaking train­ ing in aspects of leadership and the understanding of .organizations and the way that they function. This training would be especially valuable prior to taking up an initial appointment as a principal. - 171 -

The need for professional renewal after several years as a principal should be recognised, perhaps by providing secondary principals with sabbatical leave. The possibility, suggested by Dr.Fitzgerald, of principals in particularly-demanding situations being able to transfer to other schools after a period of some years and a period of sabbatical leave commends itself to the Committee. (86)

The processes of participant decision-making Even though research has shown that particip­ ation by teachers in decision-making 'pays off, it is equally clear that such participation can be overdone. Excessive involvement of teachers can produce resentment and resistance; teachers want the administrator to settle his own problems and they do not-want to be excessively tied,up in committee work ... In fact there are some decisions which teachers feel the admin­ istrator must make for himself, because he is paid to make them. (87)

In this light one of the first decisions that a leader must make is the identification of problems which should involve the staff. Owens lists some rules of thumb for identifying matters in which teachers can profitably share in decision-making:

1. The test of relevance: "When the teachers' personal stakes in the decision are high, their interest in participation should also be high." (88) Problems which clearly meet this test concern teaching methods and materials, discipline, curriculum, organizing for instruc­ tion, and decisions about the overall thrust of the school.

2. The test of expertise: "It is not enough for the teacher to have a stake in the decision; if his participation is to be meaningful and . significant, the teacher must be competent to contribute effectively. (89) ' In dealing with . . - the selection of fiction for literature courses, science teachers may be fitted by training and experience to contribute little or nothing. On the other hand, in dealing with a language development policy for the school, the contribution of science teachers may be essential. - 172 -

3. The test of jurisdiction: "Schools are organ­ ized on a hierarchical basis; the individual school and staff have jurisdiction only over those decision-making areas that remain, either by design or omission. For example, discussions on the desirable staffing level for a school may be fruitless because jurisdiction may be curbed by a higher authority. Such problems may be relevant to teachers , and they may have the required expertise, but - right or wrong - they do not yet have the jurisdiction to determine staffing levels. Participation in the making of decisions which the group cannot implement can lead to frustration at least as great as simple non-participation." (90)

The Committee emphasizes that its comments about jurisdiction refer to decisions about which the Education Department must be involved if they are to be implemented. There are other areas in which the school has jurisdiction and some matters about which teachers can make decisions themselves. Where the principal gives jurisdiction to a group of teachers to make decisions, for example on the schools curric­ ulum policy, it is important that he should indicate the constraints within which they must operate. In so doing subsequent frustration may be avoided.

Two further questions follow. At what point would teachers be involved? How should teachers participate? It is in answering these two questions that the leader largely determines how much freedom and power he is putting in the hands of teachers.

Even when a decision will finally be made by the principal, the Committee considers there should be opportunity for some staff participation, if only to help the principal to make a better decision and to increase the likelihood that the decision will be accepted by the group when it is made. This procedure is effective for topics which are largely within the teachers' "zone of indifference", and may be used in a range of situations from face-to-face discussion with a single teacher to discussion in general staff meetings.(91)

When the decision to be made is of real concern to the staff, or to a portion of it, more deliberate collegial procedures are needed, preferably discussion to consensus otherwise discussion to a point where it is clear that the principal will eventually take a decision that adequately reflects the staff's partic­ ipation in it, or, as a last resort, discussion leading to a vote. - 173 -

The problem still remains of ensuring that staff have, the opportunity-*to participate in decisions that seem important to them. The Committee believes that the initiative for determining what is to be discussed does not lie entirely with the principal or senior staff. To this end, some mechanism such as an agenda committee for staff meetings, or a bulletin board for agenda suggestions, should be provided, and the school climate needs to be such that initiatives from any staff member are not stifled.

The involvement of the senior staff and the whole staff A key aspect of decision-making within secondary schools, especially high schools, is the relationship between the senior staff and the whole staff. It was suggested to the Committee that teachers sometimes feel about the senior staff that " they have made all the decisions." The situation particularly to be avoided would seem to be one where the principal or the senior staff make decisions and take these to the whole staff to report or seek ratification. A better model would seem to be for the whole staff to give initial consideration to a subject and for the senior staff or a staff committee to meet subsequently as an executive body or to work towards a consensus on a difficult matter.

The Committee was impressed with the value of ad hoc groups working in some schools on particular matters. In these areas the members of staff who are interested in a subject are brought together on a voluntary basis and, presumably, put propositons to a general staff-meeting subsequently.

The Committee considers that working parties in relation to particular aspects of school life can exercise a valuable role. It would seem that definition of specific tasks is likely to lead to more purposeful and more satisfying participation. Such working parties may lead to a reduction in the need for general staff- meetings, and may provide more substantial business for general staff-meetings. This consideration would seem to be important, because the Committee received evidence that many staff meetings are unduly concerned with routine matters and trivia rather than the consideration of educational issues and policy matters of some moment. (92) - 174

The Committee has mentioned two appropriate ways in which groups of staff can be involved in the decision-making process. However, the Committee also wishes to encourage the development in secondary schools of other patterns of involving staff.

The Committee believes that particular efforts should be made to involve some of the specialists who are not represented by senior staff members in the decision-making of the school. Teachers whose work in the school does not call for one of their number to be appointed as a senior master in the school, such as librarians, guidance and welfare officers and special-education specialists, share a common problem. Although their work provides a general resource for the school, they tend to be left out of the decision­ making process, especially where decision-making is largely in the hands of the senior staff. Their con­ tention is that this tends to isolate them and to reduce their effectiveness because their work is not sufficiently related to the mainstream of school activity. This is not only a Tasmanian problem - attention is drawn to it in both the report on A Language for Life and in the comments of the Committee's West Australian consultant. (93) The Committee accepts their view that the sense of exclusion that they feel leads to less than adequate use of these people as resources, and less than adequate provision of resources to their work.

Perhaps because of the recent publication of the Report on Libraries in Schools, Colleges and the Community, the Committee was made strongly aware of the problems of teacher-librarians and suggestions for solving them. (94) These suggestions included the desirability of having the teacher-librarian take part in senior staff meetings, having the teacher-1ibrarian appointed before the opening of the school, and not including the teacher-librarian in the staffing quota. Finally, two comments from Howie about staff meetings merit reporting.

In a large staff a committee of representatives of the staff, or staff council, might be formed, its members being elected by the staff and holding office for one academic year ... The existence of such a staff council would not of course preclude a committee of heads of depart­ ments provided that it is understood that it is the staff council which is concerned with the development of school policy in the more general sense, while the heads of departments are concer­ ned with a more limited range of academic matters. - 175 -

It is interesting to enquire whether it is necessary or desirable that the school principal should be chairman of the staff meeting or even of the staff council ... The control of such meetings by a competent chairman who is not the school principal might provide the best opportunity for the free passage of communication within the group. (95)

The organization of staff The function of the teaching staff of the school is to teach students, to be concerned with their pers­ onal development and welfare, and, as a prelude to these, to do the planning and to marshal the resources necessary for these tasks. The staff should be organ­ ized in a way that will enable it to carry out these functions most effectively.

Some suggestions have been made in the previous section about the forms of organization that might contribute to the teachers' planning function. The Committee recognises that for the teaching and caring functions the organization of staff is closely associated with the practice of the school in relation to the grouping of students, particularly as regards the size, the nature and the permanence of the groups for which each teacher is responsible.

The Committee supports a policy which allows each school to deploy its staff in accordance with its own assessment of teaching requirements and the contrib­ utions which members of staff can make. Such a policy gives the school a flexibility in staff utilization that it has not had in the past and, in theory at least, allows the use of the particular talents of staff members for large or small group instruction or for tutoring.

Most schools still place an unnecessary constraint on the flexibility of their use of staff by taking the view that the function of the teaching staff is to teach subjects and to plan for this. This viewpoint, the tying of the promotion system largely to subject departments, and the faculty-area design of most older buildings, appears to the Committee to contribute to an undue degree of compartmentalization of the staff of secondary schools, and to blind school managements to the possibilities of other forms of organization. 176

The attention of the Committee has been drawn to forms of organization such as rr; i n i - schoo 1 s , grade- teaching teams, team-teaching groups of related curriculum areas (e.g. the humanities; and vertical groupings, which appear to tackle the problem of the impersonality of the large school better than the familiar subject-based organization. In making this comparison, the Committee is not suggesting that one school should slavishly adopt the form of staff organization that another has found satisfactory. Changes in structure will be successful only if they are made in response to a need that is felt in the school.

It is unlikely, however, that a whole school staff will simultaneously feel the need for change. It is more likely that a small group of teachers may move to try something different, and the important thing is that school organization should be flexible enough to accommodate innovative groups for a trial period at least.

Experience indicates that several conditions should be met if innovative groups are to be accommod­ ated within the general staff-organization. One is that they should be genuinely supported by the administration of the school, another is that they should be joined by at least one staff member, not necessarily in a promotion position, whose status in the total staff gives authenticity to the group, and a third is that their relationships with the normal organization of the school should be clearly defined, so that, for example, doubts about the responsibilities of subject senior masters are cleared up.

The Committee gave particular attention to the question of the organization of staff in district schools, where particular difficulties are found in the provision of some kinds of specialist staff for the secondary school. The Committee believes that the primary and secondary staff of the district school should be regarded as a single unit and that all staff, but particularly specialists in physical education, art, and music where these are appointed, should be seen as a resource to be used for the whole school. This was seen as a way of overcoming some of the disadvantages of country children in the primary school as well as in secondary classes. The Committee proposes that one or two district schools be staffed on a "total school" basis, so that the advantages and disadvantages of this proposition can be evaluated. - 177 -

CHAPTER 4

REFERENCES

1 See, for example, Robert Dreeben, On what is Learned in School ("Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley, 1968), Ch.5.

2 David H. Hargreaves, "The real battle of the classroom." New Society , 35 (29 January 1976): 207-209.

3 See pp. 38-40 and 171-175.

4 D.H. Tribolet, 'Secondary Education," Tasmanian Education 10 (December 1955): 271.

5 Report prepared by the N.W. branch of the High School Principals' Association (mimeographed, 1976), p.1.

6 Survey of Secondary Education (Question R3). Of the thirteen high schools with more than 800 students, eleven saw their size as a very important limiting influence on the develop­ ment of the school's ed.ucation program (Question 05).

7 August Gold, "The Resurgence of the Small School in the City", Phi Delta Kappan 56 (January 197 5) : 314,

8 Tim McMullen, "The 'Lower' Secondary Stage: problems and possibilities", Draft report for international seminar on Compulsory Secondary Education: Problems and Possibilities. (Paris: O.E.C.D. 1976), p.38.

9 Hugh Cunningham, "Pastoral Care in the Secondary School" in Madeley Court...Reprint of material provided by Hugh Cunningham "(Hobart: Education Department, In-service Education Branch, 1974). p.3.

10 See p. 55. - 178

11 See Consultant's Report to the Committee from Mr. P. Lang.

12 George Howie, Education for Survival : a survey of ideas and practices, (London: Angus and Robertson, 1976) p. 13.

13 Evidence to the Committee from Dr. R.T. Fitzgerald.

14 Howie, Education for Survival p. 16.

15 McMullen, "The 'Lower* Secondary Stage", pp. 31-32.

16 Howie, Education for Survival p. 190.

17 Harry L. Dodson and Fran M. Broadby, student Decision- Making in Tasmanian Secondary Schools (Hobart: Education Department of Tasmania, 1976). See also the Committee's discussion on adolescence, pp. 13-14.

18 Evidence to the Committee from Dr. R.T. Fitzgerald.

19 Evidence from Mrs. Shirley Watson on "Outdoor Education in Secondary Schools".

20 Evidence to the Committee from Dr. R.T. Fitzgerald.

21 Great Britain. Department of Education and Science, Children and their Primary Schools: a report to the central advisory council for education (England) Vol. 1 The Report, Chairperson : Ladv Plowden (London: H.M.S.O, 1967), p. 15?.

2 2 Survey of Secondary Education (Question Al)

23 Western Australia. Education Department, Discipline in Secondary Schools in Western Australia. H.W. Dettman, chairman (Perth: Education Department, 1972). - 179 -

24 Dodson and Broadby, Student Decision Making, p.21.

25 Survey of Secondary Education (Question E3)

26 Ibid. (Question E6)

2 7 Dodson and Broadby, Student Decision Making, p.22.

28 McMullen, "The 'Lower' Secondary Stage," p. 31.

29 Michael Pusey, Dynamics of Bureaucracy ( Sydney John Wiley 1976), p.100.

30 R.S. Peters, Authority, Responsibility and Education. (London: Unwin, 1973) p.47.

31 See, for example, evidence to the Committee from the Tasmanian Teachers Federation.

32 See Section 4.7

33 Cunningham, "Pastoral Care in the Secondary School," p.1.

34 Ibid.

35 Ibid, p.2.

36 Ibid.

37 Ibid. .-

38 Ibid - 180 -

39 Survey of Secondary Education, (Question B6)

40 John Nolan Consultant's Report to the Committee p. 26.

41 Cunningham, "Pastoral Care in the Secondary School." p.3.

42 David Hargreaves, Interpersonal Relations and Education (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1972) pp. 66-67.

43 R. Rosenthal and L. Jacobson, Pygmalion in the Classroom (New York: Holt, 1968).

44 J.B. Dusek, "Do Teachers Bias Children's Learning?" Review of Educational Research 4 5 (Fall 1975): 680 .

45 Study by C. Lacey cited in Paul Medlicott, "Streaming and the Comprehensive School", New Society, September 1974, p. 415.

46 Tony Knight, "Powerlessness and the student role: structural determinants of school status", Australian and New Zealand Journal of Sociology 10 (1974): 112-117,

47 Survey of Secondary Education (Question Bl)

48 Medlicott, "Streaming and the Comprehensive School," p.414.

49 See p.12.

50 See pp. 83-86. - 181

51 Great Britain. Department of Education and Science. A Language for Life: report of the committee of inquiry appointed by the secretary of state for education and science under the chairmanship of Sir Alan Bullock. (London : H.M.S.O., 197 5), para. 174.

52 Lloyd M. Dunn,-ed., Exceptional. Children in the Schools: special education in transition. (New York: Rinehart and Winston, 1973),

53 Great Britain. Department of Education and Science, Slow Learners in Secondary Schools (London: H.M.S.O., 1971), p.28.

54 Ibid, p.21.

55 Michael Rutter, Jack Tizard and Kingsley Whitmore, Education, Health and Behaviour (The Isle of Wight Survey), (London: Longmans, 1970); Ronald Davie, Neville Butler and Harvey Goldstein, From Birth to Seven: a report of the National Child Development study (London: Longmans, 1972), p.20.

56 Survey of Secondary Education (Question N5)

57 Mikel Powell, "An Examination of Schools for Children with Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties," Report to. the Director-General of Education. (Hobart: Education Department, 1976) p.1.

58 .The "Brighton E12" facility is a unit set up. to provide for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The number of students in El2 is small and it is intended that students will return to ordinary schools after a limited period.

59 Powell, "An Examination of Schools for ' Children with Emotional, and Behavioural Diff­ iculties ," p.5. - 182 -

60 Bullock, A Language for Life, p. 539 .

61 Submission to the Committee from the Migrant Education Committee.

62 Ibid.

63 Ben Morris, Objectives and Perspectives in Education (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1972).

64 Survey of Secondary Education (Question B4)

65 The Committee recognizes that some curriculum materials, e.g. S.E.M.P. strongly encourage this.

66 Dodson and Broadby, Student Decision Making, p.19,

67 Ibid, p.19.

68 Ibid, p.26.

69 Ibid, p.15,

70 Nolan, Consultants Report, p.19 .

71 Survey of Secondary Education (Question Gl )

72 Ibid (Question G6)

7 3 Dodson and Broadby, Student Decision Making p.20. 1

- 183 -

\74 Frank Musgrove, Patterns of Power and Authority in English Education. (London: Methuen, 1971),. p.86.

75 Nolan, Consultants Report, pp. 14-16.

76 Ibid,

7 7 Evidence to the Committee from Dr. R.T. Fitzgerald.

78 Survey of Secondary Education (Question L9-11)

79 Ibid.

80 Ibid. (Question 07)

81 Robert G. Owens, Organizational Behaviour in Schools (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice- Hall, .1970), p.106.

82 Incorporated Association of Assistant Masters, Teaching in comprehensive schools (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976) : p.132. • f • • ; , •. - • | i 84 Evidence to the Committee from Dr. R.T i Fitzgerald.

85 Pusey, . Dynamics of Bureaucracy^ p. 97 • ! I i 83 Howie, Education for Survival, p. 27. . I

ll 184

i

i 86 Evidence to the Committee from Dr. R.T Fitzgerald. . !

8 7 Owens, organizational Behaviour in Schools, p.108.

88 Ibid, p.109,

89 Ibid

90 Ibid,

91 Cf. Owens, Organizational Behaviour, p . 108

92 Nolan, Consultant's Report, p.20

93 Bullock, A Language for Life and Nolan Consultant's Report to the Committee.

94 W.L. Brown, Libraries in Schools, Colleges and the Community: a report to the Tasmanian Minister for Education (Hobart: State Library of Tasmania, 1976). See also evidence to the Committee from the Association of School Librarians.

95 Howie, Education for Survival, p. 34

i

i - 185 -

CHAPTER 5

RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS The discussion in this chapter of the Report focuses on some key aspects of resource provision which came to the attention of the Committee and does not aim to be an exhaustive discussion of all the resources which schools and teachers need. Officers within the Education Department who are professionally concerned with providing the resources or services should not consider what is written to be a blueprint for their operation. In particular the Committee has made a deliberate decision to exclude a consideration of staffing and promotion structures. This was considered to be a substantial subject in its own right and one in which all sections of the service and not only secondary teachers should be considered. For similar reasons the Committee has not considered in detail the subject of school buildings though it has made some reference to requirements for flexibility in the section on school size. (1)

5.1 TEACHER EDUCATION AND TEACHER DEVELOPMENT Pre-service education In Tasmania teacher preparation is undertaken in fully-autonomous tertiary institutions and the Committee wishes to express its recognition of the growing respon­ siveness of these bodies to the needs of Tasmanian schools. The Committee strongly believes that a "close and continuing association must be maintained" if the pre-service education of teachers is to prepare them adequately for a career in Tasmanian schools. (2) The present Report envisages significant changes to the curriculum and organization of Tasmanian secondary schools and the Committee calls on the tertiary institutions, to give consideration to the recommendations of its Report in reviewing their programs. The Committee is aware of existing mechanisms for. liaison, including the feedback from teacher counsellors about the experiences of beginning teachers and the establishment of a co-operative structure for considering school-experience sessions. Again, the full involvement of the tertiary institutions in the Centre for the Continuing Education of Teachers is recognized. However, the Committee considers that existing structures for co-operation should be strengthened and recommends that a liaison group be set up to engage in professional dialogue about the purposes of education, changes to the curriculum and organization of schools, and patterns of teacher education. Given the present sensitive position in relation to the supply of teachers the Committee considers that it would be appropriate to set up a working party representative of tertiary institutions and employing authorities to exchange information and develop a state-wide approach to planning the future supply of teachers. - 186 -

The Committee has given some consideration to the character of teacher-preparation courses and endorses the present trend towards courses in which academic study and education content are integrated in each year of courses. In particular the Committee values the opportunity an integrated or concurrent course gives for much closer contact between the trainee and the school system than is possible in an "end-on" course where such contact is largely postponed until the final year. Khile the Committee considers that most trainees should follow integrated or concurrent courses it considers that end-on courses should continue to be available for young people who do not decide on a teaching career until they have completed a degree or diploma course. The Committee strongly endorses the principle of a four-year initial course for all secondary teachers and regrets that this is not accepted for funding by federal authorities concerned with advanced education. (3)

The Education Department has a commitment to all children in the State to provide education of an equal quality no matter where they reside. In order to fulfil this commitment the needs of the Department would best be met by the preparation of secondary teachers able to teach in two areas of the curriculum. In making this statement the Committee envisages other subject combinations than the 'traditional' ones such as Mathematics/Science or English/Social Science. This would mean that a student embarking on a teacher preparation course would be able to choose subjects for major study which are not related in the traditional ways. Even in areas which in the past have been considered as 'specialist' such as art, music, home economics and physical education, the Committee sees the need to broaden courses to include another curriculum area. The sort of breadth seen as being desirable is at present provided by the Bachelor of Education course at the University of Tasmania and such advanced education courses as the manual-arts course at the Mount Nelson campus of the T.C.A.E. This recommendation should be seen in the context of an increased flexibility now expected of secondary teachers and of the responsibility of the system to staff each school adequately.

Reference has previously been made in this Report to the Committee's concern about the availability of music teachers in the State. (4) The principle that was expressed to the Committee and accepted by it is that,in such specialist areas as art, music and librarianship, care must be taken that the education component of courses is not under-valued and under-emphasized in relation to performance or proficiency in the area of specialization. The Committee believes that the Education Department can legitimately expect that those engaged in a teacher- preparation course, even in a specialist area, should be provided with an experience oriented to their future - to teaching music or art in schools, to the field of teacher- librarianship and so on. In such courses the education component should not be seen as peripheral or an unavoid­ able burden but as a central and weighty part of the 1 - 187 -

course. In the particular area of music teaching there would seem to be a need for closer liaison between those conducting courses and those responsible in the Education Department for music in schools. The problem with the availability of music teachers would seem to be so acute as to justify a review being made of current provisions. In this Report the•Committee has made passing reference to elements which would seem to be essential in the courses of all intending teachers. They include an understanding of adolescence and a knowledge of the techniques of student assessment. However the Committee wishes to single out three such subjects as being of particular importance: 1. Language. In the context of the emphasis on language across the curriculum given earlier in this Report the Committee recommends that all teachers undertake a course as part of their • training that will provide them with an under­ standing of language and an awareness of the types of classroom procedures which may be used to develop their students' language skills. (5) All teachers-in-training should undergo a course which deals with the modes and theories of the teaching of reading. Practising teachers have expressed the view that their lack of knowledge in this area hampers the development of effective diagnostic and remedial programs. 2. Information retrieval. The Committee considers that all teachers should be-able to show young people how knowledge is ordered and how to find out information for themselves. The school library can come to occupy its proper place in the secondary school only if young teachers develop a heightened awareness of its full potential. This matter is seen as being of such importance that a compulsory element in all teacher preparation.courses should be provided. 3. Curriculum studies. The Committee sees value in giving each student a broad grounding in curriculum studies, including curriculum development and curriculum evaluation, as well as in-depth studies in particular teaching areas. This, it is felt, would assist the teacher to see his role in the context of the whole- school curriculum and to take a responsible part in the continuing attempt to improve it.

In-service education In a society in which constant change and expansion . of knowledge is the norm, professional people need to under­ take a program of continuous development if they are to keep up-to-date. (6) As professionals, teachers must be involved in a program that leads to continuous professional development for "... it is foolish now to assume that pre­ service education can do once and for all what the individual teacher needs for a life-time". (7) - 188 -

In-service education programs are aimed at alerting teachers to recent developments in education, and in giving them an opportunity to discuss methods and problems with their colleagues. It has a further role in highlighting for the young teacher many aspects of educational theory and practice which, while dealt with during pre-service training, become fully vital and significant only after the teacher has been in the classroom for a period of time. In considering areas which should be given priority attention in .the future development of in- service education the need to offer programs to help teachers to understand more fully recent work in language and reading development is strongly emphasized by the Committee. In view of its importance the Committee has taken up a specific proposal for a program in this area. (8) The suggested course includes three units: 1. Language and Education would provide the teacher with an understanding of the importance of language in the total learning-process and the implications this has for classroom practice and developing awareness of the importance for language across the curriculum. 2. Literature for Children, a unit designed to alert teachers to patterns of reading development in children and to the range of literature available for young people, to provide teachers with a child- centred approach to the analysis of these materials and to indicate the range of alternatives in terms of classroom usage of such literature. 3. The final unit 'Reading and Language Development' would focus upon theories and modes of teaching reading. There has been an implicit assumption in pre-service training courses that all children will have learnt to read by the time they enter secondary school for, apart from very few exceptions, secondary teachers have not been trained in this area. As there is a growing awareness that a significant proportion of students enter secondary school with poorly-developed reading skills, a course that provides secondary teachers with the means of coping with such problems is essential. The Committee strongly supports the view that ail teachers should undertake in-service education programs which will provide them with the skills and insights outlined in the above proposal. The Bullock Report advocates that such a program should include 100 hours of study; but evidence available to the Committee suggests that about half this time would be sufficient for an initial basic course. (9) The needs of principals were identified and there was support for in-service education programs that would give principals greater organizational and professional skills. (10) The present in-service education program - 189 - appears to imply that the need for continuing professional development applies to teachers only and not to principals. The Committee firmly rejects this implication. . The involve­ ment of principals in purposeful centrally-based in-service education programs and school-based seminars would not only further their own professional development but lead to greater dialogue and interchange of ideas between principals and teachers and prevent the isolation of the Principal which may occur without this communication. A third area of priority for the future development of in-service activities was identified as programs for the curriculum co-ordinators proposed later in this Chapter of the Report. (11) Throughout this Report a number of other areas of need for in-service activity have been identified. These include the following: * the effective use of curriculum-evaluation and student-assessment procedures (p. 118,123) * skills in developing sound relationships in the school .- particularly in relation to the effective functioning of pastoral-care programs within the school (p. 149) the needs of migrant children (p. 160) * professional skills related to curriculum development (p. 201) * the development of school programs in career education (p. 67) the development of school programs in environmental education (p.109) the application of the school library and its resources to the educational process (p. 197) The Committee has given consideration to the scope and character of present teacher development activities. In the Survey of Secondary Education most schools, without being specific, indicated that they considered present in-service provisions were inadequate. (12) In considering developments for the future, a decentralization of in-service education provisions was strongly supported, particularly through school-based seminars. (13) These were seen as providing impetus and revitalization to the \vhole school. This is often lost when one or two teachers travel to a seminar held at some central point and then return to the school and attempt to "spread the good news" amongst a cynical, non-participatory staff.

This is not to deny that the present kind of provision is still important but rather that decentralized forms of provision should be increased. A major benefit to be gained from centrally-based seminars is the opportunity they provide for teachers to meet their colleagues and to benefit from collective experience. Nevertheless, the Committee would see the need for these seminars to be , - 190 purposeful and would expect the normal outcome to be the compilation of written guidelines that teachers could take away and share with others. School-based seminars also need purposeful outcomes which can be implemented in the school. A vital leadership function of principals would seem to be to encourage their staffs "to determine their own in-service education needs and to share in the evaluation of ideas and information brought back from courses". (14) The Survey indicated that there is support amongst teachers for longer in-service courses of up to a term in length of the kind outlined by McCann and Shelton. (15) Thus, if in-service education is to meet the needs of schools there must be a variety and balance of provision. The duration of courses will vary from one or two-day seminars and part-time courses to full-time re-entry to a tertiary institution. Further, there should be a balance between school-based and centrally-based seminars for it should be noted that "too great a reliance on school-based provisions runs the great risk of subordinating the professional development needs of individual teachers to those of the schools or local authority". (16) The Committee would see particular value in part-time courses run by the Centre for the Continuing Education of Teachers and the tertiary institutions where teachers are involved with relevant educational problems and furthering their qualifications .(17 JThe Master of Education course offered by the Mount Nelson Campus of the T.C.A.E. is one course which has been particularly popular amongst teachers who have undertaken it on a part-time basis. As teachers complete basic qualifications and the demand for this decreases the Education Department will still need to provide re-entry scholarships to give teachers opportunities through full-time courses. The Committee urges the Education Department to expand opportunities for members of the teaching service to engage in longer-term courses, in visits to observe features of interstate and overseas education systems and in exchange schemes with personnel from other systems. These recommendations are made in the knowledge that they will require an expanded scholarship provision and suitable staffing arrangements.

Although the Committee believes that voluntary participation should be fostered, it recognises that in a climate of educational change attention should be given to teachers who are identified as requiring in-service training. This requirement further highlights the value of school-based seminars which have the potential to involve teachers who have traditionally not participated in in-service training. While schools assert a belief in the value of in- service education they drew attention in the Survey of Secondary Education to the problems of availability of relief staff. (18) This is another indication of the - 191 -

desirability for flexible school-organizations which will impose less specific requirements upon relief teachers and allow schools to make use of those relief teachers who are available. Isolated schools for which there are often no local relief teachers need to be staffed at an adequate level and have a sufficiently flexible organisation to allow a small number of teachers to travel to seminars while their teaching responsibilities are absorbed by the rest of the staff. The Committee, believes that a vital concern of in-service education programs in the immediate future should be in the provision of means by which its recommendations can be disseminated.

The special needs of beginning teachers In recent years there has been a growing awareness that the beginning teacher needs special support both in terms of the extent of expected responsibilities and of assistance from more-experienced teachers. The beginning teacher enters the profession with high hopes and vague uncertainties. Schools are no surprise to them - they have all been through them if only at the receiving end. Still the transition from student to teacher can be a jolting experience. The counsellors of beginning teachers employed by the Education Department.have recently summarized common problems they have encountered and the Committee has drawn on this valuable information. [19J Orientation into the new school was seen as a major problem by some beginning teachers. The present situation of spending only one day in a school prior to commencement was seen as inadequate Most found that there were so many new teachers to meet and- so much new information to digest that they finished the day in a confused state. An arrangement which could provide for beginning teachers to spend a week of the final term in the school of their first appointment was suggested by some beginning teachers. This view was considered by the Committee but it was agreed that it would be more practicable to expect beginning teachers to take up duty at the school a week earlier than other teachers. Senior staff would then be available to assist the new teachers to become familiar with the school and its organization. The Committee emphasizes the need in this proposal for schools to make special arrangements to receive beginning teachers and to develop a purposeful program for the introductory week. Another factor which loomed large in the minds of beginning teachers was related to assessment of their progress. They expressed a genuine desire for more monitoring of their progress by senior staff and for honest and constructive discussion about progress. Perhaps - 192 - with longer pre-service education courses and a more professional approach amongst teachers there is a reluctance to view beginning teachers as probationers who need and would welcome guidance, support and encouragement. The Committee sees personal help from more-experienced colleagues as the most important means of reducing uncertainty" and problems in the initial period of teaching. Many beginning- teachers feel they are not well enough informed about the routine administrative processes required of them in schools and of services such as guidance and welfare that are available in schools. The pre-service institutions say that students should gain this knowledge whilst on practice sessions and that it is not their job to run courses on these matters. Some principals feel that the institutions should provide this information. The result is that neither group does very well in this area and the beginning teacher is in a state of uncertainty and feels inadequate in the schools. The suggestion of the Committee is that the two responsible groups should collaborate to produce guidelines for students on the aspects of school routine they should find out about while undertaking school experience sessions.

The Committee wishes to acknowledge the action which secondary schools have taken in recent years to reduce the teaching load of beginning teachers. The Committee considers it necessary to give these teachers fewer responsibilities than more-experienced teachers. It recognizes the responsibility of individual schools for the utilization of their staff and that some schools may prefer to implement this policy by reduced responsibilities other than those involving pupil-teacher contact. The Committee recommends that the Education Department should give priority to a betterment in staffing levels sufficient to enable schools, in their organization of staff, to provide a reduced work-load for beginning teachers. The Committee recognises that valuable support can be given by Beginning Teacher Counsellors to the beginning teachers, principals and regional superintendents but stresses that there is a need for a conscious effort on the part of the school to be aware of the special needs of beginning teachers and to look after them, not just for the first few weeks but throughout the year. The Committee suggests that a specific way of meeting this need is to nominate a tutor-teacher from within the school to guide, assist and monitor the work of the beginning teachers. (20)

5.2 SPECIAL SUPPORT FOR NEW SCHOOLS All the evidence available to the Committee, and especially the report submitted by one of the consultants, emphasized the need for special support for new schools. (21) This is particularly the case because most recently-built schools in Tasmania have embodied different approaches to - 193 -

education than the older, more established schools. By the very nature of being new they have different needs from the older school which has established its approach - to education, its internal organization and recognition and acceptance within its community. Teachers in new schools have operated under stresses which are endemic to them. They have felt the heavy expect­ ations from the administrators in the Education Department, struggled to meet their own expectations and had to face those of the parents in the community. Differences in approach have resulted in serious misconceptions amongst parents who are worried that the new school's ideas will disadvantage their children when competing for jobs or entry to secondary colleges with students from other secondary schools which have adopted, in the parents' eyes, a more traditional approach to education. The Committee believes that when a new school is to open, an attempt should be made to go into the community to make people more aware of the school and its teaching methods. The information should focus on the educational program of the school but also include details of the facilities to be provided in each stage of development of the school, thus raising the possibility of community use of school facilities Such a PR approach requires the appointment of staff before the school opens.

In the staffing of new schools the Committee considers it to be important that - (.i) the position of Principal be advertised in the first Supplement prior to the year of commencement and that the successful applicant take up duty at the beginning of third term in that year; (ii] the Vice-Principal be included in the staff initially appointed to the school rather than join the staff when the size of the school population warrants such an appointment; (.iii) All initial senior staff be appointed early in the year prior to the opening of the school to enable school philosophies to be formulated and priorities for the expenditure of monies allocated to the - - school to be determined in consultation with the appropriate departmental officers; (iv) the initial staffing allocation include a teacher-librarian to co-ordinate the learning resources in the school; Cv) all staff be identified prior to the end of the year and that they attend some form of orientation program to acquaint them with emerging school philosophies and procedures; and 194 -

(vi) a bursar be appointed before the school opens to free the teaching staff from those administrative tasks associated with ordering and finance. It is important, particularly in the early years of the school, that it be liberally staffed. Not only is there a need for close community contact to reassure the parents of the efficacy of the teaching program but there is also a need for more active encouragement of parental involvement to promote community acceptance of the school.

5.3 LIBRARIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION The Committee strongly emphasizes the importance which should be attached to the library in the secondary school. Dramatic changes in the size, nature, resources and services of school libraries, particularly in the last decade, reflect the increased awareness of their importance in learning and teaching. Each student should have ready access to a wide variety of media - books, periodicals, comics, films, filmstrips, photographic slides, audiotapes, video-cassettes, charts, maps, globes, games, overhead projector transparencies and microforms. The Committee believes, that these can greatly enrich teaching programs and provide the means by which students, whether under guidance or by independent study, can learn through dis­ covery. Without such resources, skilfully selected, organ­ ized and disseminated for easy accessibility, there can be little of the active, investigatory learning which is a feature of modern education. This type of learning has two components: the development of inquiry and reference skills as a basic prerequisite for all learning, and the satisfying of needs for specific information which is personally important to the student. The former should rest on foundations laid in the primary school and in secondary education should be part of a planned program of increasing sophistication in research and study skills. The latter should not be restricted in interpretation to mean only objective inform­ ation but should include those areas of knowledge which call for and develop imagination, the synthesis of ideas and understanding of broad concepts. To view a library only as a place in which inquiry skills can be developed or as a neutral data-bank of information is to distort gravely its cultural, educational and human significance. Economy and efficiency suggest that these resources are best centralized in the school though increasingly teacher-librarians are promoting a dynamic flow of resources to teaching areas as well as students to the central library. The modern central library should be spacious and attractive, should accommodate class groups, small tutorial-groups and individuals simultaneously, should have an adequate basic book-stock, and should provide for both serious study and relaxed leisure-reading. - 195 -

The Committee wishes to give particular emphasis to the principle that the effective use of a school library depends on a professional partnership between the teacher-librarian and all other teaching personnel. The former should be qualified in both teaching and librarianship and the latter should be well- versed in the principles of library organization and be familiar with the actual resources in stock. The Committee has already recommended that all teachers should undertake a course in information retrieval and the role of the school library as part of their initial training. (22) The selection and promotion of library resources, the teaching of library -usage skills and the development of positive attitudes towards reading, reference and research should be matters of collaboration between the teacher librarian and other teachers.

The important role exercised by the teacher- librarian in the secondary school is stressed by the Committee. The teacher-librarian has a broad role, three aspects being most important: to provide a personal service to students and teachers; to liaise with teachers about their needs; and, thirdly, to manage the resources of the library itself. The Committee points to the danger of the teacher-librarian being seen mostly as a manager of resources, particularly since many technical services can be carried out by a centralized support service. The Committee considers that the teacher-librarian should be heavily involved in the school's program of curriculum development and has made particular reference to this in its comments about the organization of staff in secondary schools. (23) Despite increased expenditure in recent years on library premises, personnel and stock, all Tasmanian schools are still in varying degrees below recognized standards. The deficiencies are apparent in all areas in varying degrees, but are more marked in rural than in urban schools. Unrealistic standards for library staffing, premises and/or bookstock are counter-productive both because they tend to dis-spirit those schools which fall below the stated standard however supportive they may be within the limits they have achieved. Standards should emerge from demonstrable need and should be modest enough to be capable of attainment. Nevertheless, measured against modest and reasonable standards, many of our secondary school libraries warrant urgent attention. The change from the dreary, silent book repositories which were the old libraries to the new lively "resource materials centres" is exciting and, potentially, of immense educational value. But new concepts of library service and a new consensus of reason­ able standards suggest that further development is required. This development will include:-

* The appointment of additional resource personnel. The Committee considers that the appointment of a 196

second teacher-librarian to high schools should be a staffing target for the system, but accepts that this cannot be provided in the short-term. Because of the important role seen above for the teacher-librarian, the Committee considers that professional teacher- librarians should not be expected to spend a lot of their time on tasks that could be undertaken by library aides or technicians. The educational value and the cost-benefit value of media technicians, clerical staff and possibly other categories of resource support staff suggest these as desirable staffing objectives.

The provision of improved centralized support services to school libraries. It is wasteful of time, money and skill to force each individual school to be responsible for its own library technical services, particularly cataloguing. A significant proportion of a teacher-librarian's time which might be devoted to direct assistance of students and teachers can be lost to this technical activity alone. It is more economical to provide an efficient, responsive central-cataloguing service. All schools need improved advice on currently available books and other resources. This is particularly true of rural schools remote from good booksellers and other sources of resource information. Immediate and expert advice to teachers and to teacher-librarians on technical library matters, collection building, education programs using libraries' etc. should be available for all schools.

The development of co-operative liaisons with all other libraries to form inter-library networks for resource sharing. No single library can hope to meet all needs of its clientele from its own resources but, without sacrificing autonomy or its own special interests, can profit from co-operation with other libraries, particularly at the local, district or regional level.

The allocation of sufficient funds for the purchase of new resources up to agreed and reasonable standards.

The promotion of community library service through the school library. The Committee considers that secondary schools should be sympathetic to approaches for the community use of its library. It welcomes the fact that particular schools have already made their facilities available for general community use. In some locations the educational and recreational needs of the general community can be considerably assisted by a school library provided with the resources appropriate to a wider clientele than those formally enrolled at the school. However, there - 197

is a wider question of the integration of school and community library services which the Committee is unwilling to approach in this Report.

* The extension of pre-service and in-service education of both teachers and teacher-librarians in the use of the school library. The Committee wishes to emphasize the.need for teacher-librarians to be qualified in both librarianship and education and, later in this chapter of the report, makes specific proposals about this aspect of teacher preparation. It is also important for new teacher-librarians to be able to work with experienced teacher-librarians before being given sole responsibility for a school library. The Committee gives particular emphasis to extending the knowledge of all teachers about the use of the school library. Units in "resource studies" or "information retrieval" should be included in teacher-preparation courses and school-based seminars should be offered to help teachers how to base their teaching on the use of the library.

5.4 SUPPORT SERVICES FOR SCHOOLS This part of the Report is not a survey of all the support services available to schools. Rather it is a statement about the needs for support services that arise from the ideas expressed in the Report. There are three groups of these - those concerned with various aspects of student welfare, those concerned with advice and consultancy about the school program, and those concerned with the development of provision of material resources. Services for students This Report has given emphasis to overcoming disadvantages and disability of various kinds. In dealing with socio-economic disadvantage, it calls for an increase in the amount of social work originating from schools. While it' envisages that some of this work will be done by the teachers themselves, the recommendation about home visiting, and the various recommendations about dealing with seriously disturbed children, recognize a limit to the amount that teachers can do, both in terms of the time available to them, and the emotional strain that can develop from too deep -an- involvement in the lives of families with serious problems. (24) The Committee therefore sees the need for additional social workers to be attached to schools or groups of schools. There is a limit to what can be expected of the teacher and there is a need for social workers who can tackle problem situations in cooperation with teachers. The task of dealing with the educational problems faced by girls goes beyond a reorganization of the school program so that girls can participate more fully and rewardingly in it. As yet there is less than a full appreciation of the fact that girls are not well-enough - 198 -

served by the school program they undergo. This lack of appreciation is shared by schools, parents and the community in general, and so there is a need for an awareness program to reveal the extent of the problem before any real attempts can be made to solve it. Some short-term appointments have already been made to the Curriculum Branch to initiate this work, and more will be required as the need for the development of learning materials without a sex-bias is revealed. (25) Research into the educational problems faced by country children is in a very early stage. Further research; staff will be required in the future to follow-up the Huon •;' Valley study in other areas. (26) There would then appear . to be a continuing need for advisory teachers to be appointed, probably on a regional basis, to work with teachers in country schools on the development of programs arising from these investigations. The Report's concern with the welfare of students is not confined to those large groups of students who are identified above as being particularly disadvantaged. It recognizes problems for all students in the transition from schooling to work. While it recommends that many of these problems should be attacked from within the school program, it also recognizes that support from outside the schools will be needed in the areas of co-ordination of work experience programs, the development of resource materials for use in career education, and the provision of advisory services for teachers and students. (27) The Committee sees learning difficulties of. various kinds as a general problem of the same kind as career education. This problem calls for the provision of diagnostic services to help teachers to identify the real sources of problems for individual students, and the Committee envisages that this will be achieved by gradual increase in the number of diagnostic centres, and by increased provision of guidance officer services to country schools. (28) These social and educational provisions need to be backed by improved provision for general health and the diagnosis of physical disabilities. Although this matter has not been raised elsewhere in the Report, the Committee recognizes the general inadequacy of school-health services, and sees the provision of additional staff in this area as one of the consequences of improved communication between welfare agencies mentioned in section 2.2 of this Report. (29)

Advisory and consultant services Advice and consultancy about the school program is an area of the support services that is already considerably developed. In a most general way this is provided by regional superintendents and all other people who visit schools in the course of their duties. On matters of general organization the superintendents, through their management of staffing, have an important consultative responsibility. The contributions of various other - 199 -

supporting agencies - the Library Services Branch, the Curriculum Branch and the Media Centre, and the Teacher. Development Branch - are dealt with elsewhere in general terms. . Supervisors have not been mentioned previously and the Committee feels that special mention should be made of their services. They have been appointed because of their acknowledged expertise in their particular domains, their teaching proficiency and their administrative experience. Those supervisors who have subject responsibilities in their roles as chairmen of subject committees, moderation consultants and subject advisers are influential in determining the end-points of secondary education. Acting as they do in a wholly advisory capacity, all supervisors are called upon to provide support-for and advice to teachers and schools in matters of method, course content, materials available, syllabus interpretation and depth of treatment in the areas where their expertise is recognized. This is particularly the case in smaller schools where expertise in subject areas is often lacking.

Supervisors are concerned with pre-service education and are also heavily involved in in-service education where activities are often initiated, organized and conducted by supervisors and the consultants working with them. Because of their particular expertise and experience, and because of limitations in the number of personnel available, they are heavily involved in the area of curriculum development. This is particularly so since they provide the link between curriculum construction and teaching practice. Given this role and state-wide involvement at all levels from infant to H.S.C, supervisors have a special system-perspective which could be used by schools in evaluation and overall planning of their programs. Particular attention has been given by the Committee to the question of school-based evaluation of school programs. (30) The point has been made that people outside the school should be involved in this at some stage. The departmental officers already mentioned should be seen as available for this work, but they do not exhaust the possibilities. The Research Branch, and the Testing Section of the Curriculum Branch, have particular expertise in some aspects of evaluation, and their services are as much available to schools as those mentioned previously. On the other hand, schools may wish to seek professional assistance, from sources quite outside the Department. A particular problem in the past has been the spreading'of advisory services over a number of specialist areas, in the hope that all will be covered in some way. The belief is growing that it would be more profitable to concentrate on particular areas in turn, and as a result the decision has been taken to give priority in support services to problems of literacy and numeracy at the present time. The Committee supports this priority, and looks forward to . the development of a program of monitoring achievements in • - 200 - secondary schools and producing guideline - statements for them. (31)

The development and provision of material resources Reference has already been made to the development of resource materials for career education and the education of girls. Here the Committee wishes to draw attention to the further need of providing resource materials for education outside the classroom. It applauds the development of education services in the museums, and looks forward to the development of further materials through such agencies as the Tasmanian Environment Centre, and for such outdoor resources as the National Trust nouses. The Committee draws attention to the fact that the Department now has an Information Service which is available to schools. The Committee suggests that the Department should do more in the way of publicizing for its policies, and particularly its support of new schools. (32) Resources are now available to do this more effectively than has been the case in the past. However, the Committee believes that information has its best effect when it is produced by individual schools for their local communities, and urges schools to obtain help from the Information Service in the production of this material.

Pre-service education and professional support staff The Committee has given consideration to the kind of experience desirable for professional support staff. With social workers, guidance officers and teacher-librarians it considers that tertiary qualifications alone are an insufficient basis for the demanding educational role that they need to carry out. The Committee strongly favours a system where teachers are given the opportunity and support to undertake additional full-time study in social work, psychology or librarianship. As an alternative to this "top-up" provision individuals with full qualifications in the relevant area of professional support should be able to transfer into that field after gaining some teaching experience.

5.5 RESOURCES FOR CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT The Committee sees curriculum development activity as a process in which school-based personnel, resource people within the education system, and groups outside the system co-operate in planning what things are to be learned in schools and how they should be learned. Accordingly, the Committee's consideration of curriculum development focuses on the nature of curriculum development and the question: "What is the function of those involved in the total process?" - 201 -

One of the main virtues of the approach described above is that it avoids the sterile question "who should develop curricula?" Such a question implies that a sharp distinction can be drawn between developers operating at central level and curriculum users in schools. The inadequacies associated with centrally-prescribed curricula are well known. However, the alternative has frequently been an abdication by central organizations in favour of a complete dependence on.initiatives by users. Leif Stolle, a Canadian teacher, sums up the inadequacy of this alternative in the following quotation: The contrast between the objectives of the . . new program and the methods of implementing it were so startling to me that I was early converted to the belief that the department and universities operate from Cloud Nine, far removed from the classroom and completely divorced from the realities that the majority of teachers face as they go about their daily task ... For years at the annual assemblies of the Alberta Teachers' Association, resolutions have been passed that have implied that if only the department would end its restrictive control over the curriculum, a veritable renaissance of creativity would engulf the province from Many Berries to Fort McMurray; The whole idea is ridiculous, for to be a professional does not mean that you must be able to create the tools of your trade. The poor teachers, who had other subjects to teach plus supervision at recess and noontime, were expected to create the new curriculum before they could teach it. (33J The role of the teacher in curriculum development needs to be elaborated in the context of differing development- situations. Factors such as innovative climate, available time, teacher background and curriculum expertise are just some of the components involved. Without a proper recognition of these factors, an adequate understanding of how teachers make curriculum-choices, and a means of educating teachers in these roles, it is irresponsible to delegate curriculum- development entirely to teachers. i The concern of the Committee is to examine in some detail the question it has already posed: "What is the function of the different- groups who are involved in the total curriculum-development process?" In this respect the Committee has identified five levels of curriculum activity which it considers should operate effectively, and often concurrently, in improving learning in schools. The following paragraphs explore the activity appropriate to the different levels. 202

External public agencies There is every reason to believe that, properly managed, the involvement of people and organizations outside the school will enhance the quality of education. However, despite some progress in this direction, schools have been slow to tap the resources of the community around them. To use these individuals and resources effectively requires skilful management: the tasks of communication, liaison, co-ordination and encouragement are all involved. Again, there is a danger that the education will either undervalue or have unreal expectations of potential helpers who are not in the teaching profession. There is one external agency, the commercial publisher of curriculum material, which requires special mention. To use the productive capacity of the commercial publishers fully, it is important that curriculum developers at all levels seek to participate actively in the decision-making accompanying publication for schools. Additionally there is a need to accumulate the finished material for reference, assess them, and properly communicate their potential value to schools. The Committee accepts that this can best be co-ordinated by a central curriculum unit.

External professional agencies This group, particularly tertiary institutions and subject associations, frequently exercises a very influential role in providing resources for curriculum development. Certainly the gap between people in tertiary institutions and those directly interested in schools, so apparent a decade ago, has been closed significantly. This co-operation is essential for effective curriculum development and should be nurtured. In fact, some of the element of chance in knowing the people and the resources that might be available to curriculum developers from these sources could be eliminated by a better and more open communication flow between the organizations. Within the tertiary institutions the Education faculties or departments have a direct and urgent role in preparing teachers for curriculum development tasks and for responsible and informed choice-making in schools. The Committee also considers that subject associations have a significant role to play in the curriculum development process. It believes that such associations should be positively encouraged to sustain their interest and impact. At present the most significant deficiency in the relationship of external agencies to curriculum - 203 - development activity may be in the field of educational research. An action research program to match major curriculum development decisions is clearly necessary either at state level or national level, through tertiary institutions or some.other appropriate organizational structure.

National curriculum development agencies Nationally-based curriculum activity has, essentially, a catalyst role. This is performed through the identification and exchange of ideas, the formation and servicing of communication networks (both interstate and within states), and the development of curriculum theory, processes and materials. The roles of fostering and managing laboratory and action research, and creating an awareness of world trends provides a national centre with a scope for initiative that has not been adequately fulfilled to date. Especially where state systems indicate concurrent areas of need, the resources of a central organization can co­ ordinate a wide range of resources to the mutual benefit of participants. However, a central organization must acknowledge that curriculum development is often personal, complex, and unpredictable and recognize the limitations as well as the strengths of its position. This is why a very close relationship is necessary between the Curriculum Development Centre and state organizations,through the appointment of field officers and the participation of state personnel in national agency activities.

System-level curriculum development activities This level of curriculum activity is essentially concerned with needs that are widespread within the State system. Whenever a need for major change becomes apparent, a co-operative venture between central organizations, local organizations, and individuals is required. The scale of the change is usually beyond the resources of individual schools and the full scope of supportive services (Media Centre, Supervisors, Consultants, etc.) may be applied to - "this central purpose. A prerequisite forthis kind of change is the creation of an awareness of the need for change, and the active support of the central administration is essential if all sections of the system are to respond. This implies the development of a curriculum • organization which has a small core of trained personnel with high system credibility to initiate these major developments and, if necessary", manage, support and evaluate them. This core group should be supplemented by appropriate individuals on secondment for specific - 204 -

tasks for specific periods. Through this 'task- force' approach participating individuals are re-educated in the skills and understandings of curriculum development and become in turn important resource people at the local level. The need for strong links between the Curriculum Centre and schools is emphasized by the Committee. An important part of this need is the development of mechanisms by which the needs of schools can be made known. The Committee believes that a central curriculum service able to carry out the activities described above is important for Tasmanian schools and accordingly recommends that the Curriculum Centre should be developed in this way. The development of resource materials is an important part of the activities of the curriculum developers. Some materials, by their nature, should be produced at the system level. This provides a powerful incentive for their adoption by teachers, is tangible evidence of goodwill and assists greatly in bridging 'the interpretation gap' between user and developer. However, the Committee believes that in the future production will not be of a total curriculum area (.such as the whole of Social ScienceJ but of units within particular areas of curriculum activity. The Committee considers that the Tasmanian Media Centre provides a service for schools that is out­ standing in Australia. The Centre, working in conjunction with such organizations as the Australian Broadcasting Commission, has exercised a key role in the production and dissemination of resource materials. The major function of the Media Centre is seen by the Committee to be that of assisting curriculum development. A possible extension of this role is in providing assistance for individual schools in the development of curriculum materials. The production role of the centre is not seen as extending to a general servicing of the Education Department administration or as meeting the short-term, immediate needs of teachers. Finally, the Committee considers that the system- level curriculum organization has a most important role to play in relation to the self - evaluation process which has been emphasized in this Report. The implementation of the Committee's recommendation that schools initiate a self-evaluation process requires not only the preparation of curriculum statements and materials for schools to use but also the active involvement of those working on curriculum development at central level. The 'task-force' concept which has been mentioned previously has an obvious application in this area. The Committee considers that an expert leadership role in curriculum evaluation must be developed and sustained - 205 - in the central curriculum organization.

Local and school-based curriculum development Teachers themselves need to recognize they must be active participants in the total process of curriculum development. This has never been seriously in question but achieving active participation has been inhibited by a failure to distinguish between different kinds of involvement in different situations. The Committee has accepted the view that, in school-based curriculum activity, three kinds of involvement can be recognized:

(aj Creative or innovative situations There are some schools (often called "lighthouse schools") and some individuals within schools who are able to give leader­ ship in curriculum development. These should be encouraged by the active support of the State curriculum body. Materials, money, time and guidance will enhance their work and lead to benefits for the total system.

(.b) Choice-making situations There are many other schools and individuals within schools who are not ready to assume major initiatives but are in a position to make choices from curriculum statements and materials. This is perhaps the more usual role that is now played by schools. They should have available a broad curriculum guideline which provides a basic structure or direction for student learning. Schools can then modify, adapt, and extend this to their own needs. In this situation the role of the central'organization is to be supportive and available for consultation.

(c) Dependent situations In schools there are some teachers w.ho for one reason or another require positive and active assistance in developing learning situations. Schools may not be able to provide this assistance from their own resources. Consequently it is an important task of a central curriculum organization to make more detailed teaching guides available for those who require them. These provide a starting point from which the user will grow, as skill, confidence and understanding in the role develops. 206

The Total Curriculum Whilst the three kinds of involvement in curriculum development will often operate concurrently in many secondary schools, there must be concern for the total view rather than a fragmented view. This can be achieved through two basic approaches - (.1) The development of competence within school staffs to carry out major self-evaluation programs to assess the content of- the curriculum and the methods used in teaching and learning. This approach should be seen in the context of the Committee's previous discussion on self-evaluation programs in schools. (.2) The allocation of an overview role to a senior member of the staff and the provision of opportunities to prepare this person for the role. The role is seen as taking responsibility for curriculum co-ordination, acting as a reference point for members of staff and as a contact person for those involved in outside developments such as system-wide curriculum initiatives. The Committee recommends that each school, as a matter of priority, nominates a member of its staff as curriculum co-ordinator. The status of the person exercising this role is seen as varying between schools. One of the main concerns of this Report has been to generate in schools a new interest about the curriculum. Matters such as the identification of a core-curriculum, curriculum co-ordination, the provision of programs to meet the needs of individual children, and the establishment of an on­ going process of curriculum evaluation are among the major recommendations of the Report. In this context the identification of a curriculum co-ordinator for each school and the associated development of the state curriculum centre as a supporting body take on a particular importance. - 207

CHAPTER 5

REFERENCES 1 See p. 136

2 I.W. Wark, College of Advanced Education 1967-69. First Report of the Advisory Committee on Advanced Education. (Canberra: AGPS, 1966J, p. 23. 3 In this respect note the view expressed in the following report: Australia. Commission of Advanced Education, Fourth Report on Advanced Education 1976-1978 (Canberra: AGPS, 1975J , p. 29. 4 See p. 111. 5 See pp. 98-101. 6 See p. 8. 7 Submission to the Committee from H. McCann and J. Shelton, p.2. 8 Ibid. 9 Cf. Great Britain. Department of Education and Science, A Language for Life, Sir Alan Bullock, Chairman (London: H.M.S.O., 1975) and submission to the Committee from H. McCann and J. Shelton. 10 See p. 170. 11 See p. 206; Cf. p. 26.

12 Survey of Secondary Education, Questions Kl-3

13 Ibid, Question K3

14 Bullock, Language for Life, p. 550.

15 Survey of Secondary Education, (Question K3) and submission to the Committee from H. McCann and J. Shelton.

16 Adams, E. (ed.), In-Service Education and Teachers Centres (Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1975).

17 See Centre for Continuing Education of Teachers, Handbook 1977 (Hobart: CCET, 1977) and Keith Spaulding, The Further Education of Teachers: a report upon a recent study of in-service education courses in Britain ... (mimeographed, 1976).

18 Survey of Secondary Education, Question K3 .

19 Summary Report from Beginning Teachers Counsellors on Appointees from Training Institution for 1976 (unpublished report). - 208 -

20 One of the features of two U.K. teacher - induction schemes, Liverpool and Northumberland, See Education, 14 7, 19 (.May, 19 76J .

21 See Peter Lang, Consultant's Report. 22 See p. 187. 23 See p. 174. 24 See p. 38, 52. 2 5 Cf. p. 57. 26 This study by the Education Department has been supported by a special grant from The Australian Schools Commission. It has concentrated on educational provision and opportunities for young people in the area and has led to the identification of priority projects for funding under the new Country Education Program of the Schools Commission. 27 See pp. 67-68.

28 Cf. p. 57 . See also Tasmania. Education Department, The Educational Needs of Rural Areas: report of the committee on educational needs of rural areas. Chairman: R. F. Scott. (Hobart: Education Department, 1971). 29 See p. 45.

30 See p. 116, 118.

31 See p. 119, 123.

32 Cf. p. 35, 193.

33 L. Stolle, "Why Stolle is Fighting Back", St. Johns Education Report 5 (January, 1976): 18. - 209 - CHAPTER 6 RECOMMENDATIONS The recommendations of the Committee have been separated into three types: The first, with the prefix "A" in the following pages, is best described as PRINCIPLES FOR THE SYSTEM. They are.not specific recommendations which can be immediately acted on but conclusions reached by the Committee which, are proposed to the system for its assent. If this is given they will become guidelines for the development of secondary education over the next decade. The proposals also serve as a summary of the general points made in the body of the Report.

The second type of recommendation, designated "B", is recommendations for action by the administration of the Department through one of the directorates of Schools and Colleges, Services, or Planning and Co-ordination.

The third type of recommendation, designated "C", is addressed to secondary schools. With these recommendations the assent of the Director- General or his administration is not the key element: to be implemented they require acceptance within individual secondary schools.

To avoid repetition it should be taken that each of the recommendations carries the introductory phrase: "The Committee on Secondary Education recommends that I!

THE GENERAL FRAMEWORK OF SECONDARY EDUCATION Principles for the system Al The State should continue to provide comprehensive high schools and district schools for secondary education in Years 7 to 10 (p. 30) A2 The purposes of secondary education should be subject to review and re-interpretation as an ongoing process (p. 23) A3 Tasmanian secondary schools should have a set of purposes and a core-curriculum that are consistent with the principles outlined .in this Report (P- 116) 210 -

A4 The Education Department should provide an overview of the curriculum in schools and form­ ulate general educational policy within which schools work. The Education Department should also continue responsibility for ensuring an appropriate distribution of resources, providing research and support services, organizing teacher education and development, maintaining academic standards throughout the system and ensuring the easy transferability of students between schools CP- 23 , 24). A5 Each secondary school should have the responsibil­ ity of interpreting the general curriculum policy in the light of both its resources and the char­ acter of its student intake. Within the core- curriculum there should be a variety of acceptable approaches and beyond it all aspects of curriculum development should be the responsibility of the school (p. 25,116)

A6 The idea of diversity between schools, deriving from variations in approach to the core-curriculum and from extension courses outside it, should be endorsed. (p. 24 Compare p. 34,44)

Recommendations for the administration Bl A standing committee on secondary education be set up to undertake an ongoing review of the purposes, values and processes of secondary education, (p. 24)

Recommendations for schools Cl Each high school and district school initiate a review of its existing program and organiz­ ation in the light of the principles laid down in this report. (pp. 22-23,26,35)

THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT AND OTHER AUTHORITIES Principles for the system A7 Educational planning should be integrated and co-ordinated with other economic and social planning especially to avoid duplication and to tackle large social problems effectively, (pp. 44-46,54,59).

A8 Educators as individuals have an important role to play in the development of community attitudes towards social and economic questions . (p. 45) - 211 -'

Recommendations for the administration B2 In each region a team approach to the provision of psychological, health and welfare services to children be established, (pp. 45-46)

B3 . The Education Department support the-establishment of interdepartmental committees or working parties on the development of new government housing areas, and on the co-ordination of social-welfare services, (pp.45-46,59)

B4 The Education Department support the establishment in Tasmania of a permanent consultative committee, to include representatives from education, industry, social welfare, recreation and other relevant areas to study the process of transition from school to work, to facilitate co-operation between departments and organizations concerned with the process, and to encourage experimentation and evaluation in this area. (p.69,see also p. 45, 65 )

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCHOOLS AND THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT Principles for the system A9 Decisions should be made at school level except for matters defined as requiring decision at central or regional level (p. 35 )

A10 Further aspects of decision-making should be progressively devolved to schools, (p. 35,36)

All The Education Department should be seen to be supporting schools in relation to the programs and organizations they are developing, (p.34,35 )

Recommendations for the administration B5 A statement of matters requiring decision at regional or central level be prepared by the Directorate of Schools and Colleges and circulated to schools, (p. 35 )

B6 The Directorate of Services assist schools in preparing and circulating statements of their philosophies, (p. 36 ) 212

B7 Consultation with schools about staffing be further extended by regional offices, especially with respect to the compatibility of new appointees with the school's approach to secondary education, (pp. 35-36)

B8 As further devolution of responsibility to schools takes place, appropriate staff to match the new responsibilities be made available to schools. (P. 36) B9 School administrators be provided with the opport­ unity to acquire professional leadership skills through appropriate in-service education. (p. 36 )

Recommendations for schools C2 Each secondary school prepare a statement of its aims and approaches to secondary education for potential members of staff and for parents, (p. 36 )

SCHOOL, PARENTS AND COMMUNITY Principles for the system A12 The general principle of developing a closer relationship between schools and their communit­ ies should be accepted by- the system, (p. 33 , 39 )

A13 Parents be recognized as the first and foremost educators of their children, (p. 36) A14 At the beginning of the secondary stage, increased opportunity should be provided for parents to choose the school they wish their children to enter. (p. 37 )

A15 Parents should be closely involved in the import­ ant decisions made about or by their children in school .(p. 37 )

A16 The use of school facilities by the community should be supported and encouraged.(p. 39 )

A17 The involvement of parents and the community in school decision-making should be seen in terms of consultation and advice rather than of manage­ ment and control, (p. 40 ) 213 -

A18 The imposition on schools of a formal school- community council should be rejected. A structured body should be accepted if both school and community want it to be established, (p. 40 )

A19 The use of community resources by the school and the development of outdoor education programs should be endorsed, (p. 41,13 5)

Recommendations for the administration BIO A controlled de-zoning policy be introduced, taking into account parental wishes and the enrolment limits of each school, by permitting ..the enrolment of applicants-for entry at Year 7 from outside the school's feeder area. (p. 37 )

BIT The determination of appropriate guidelines for the consideration of applications^ for entry from outside a school's feeder area be undertaken by the Directorate of Schools and Colleges. . (P- 37 ) B12 The employment of liaison officers between home and school be given priority in the allocation of additional resources to schools, (p. 38) B13 The Directorate of Schools develop a plan for . increasing awareness in the community of the purposes for which schools use community resources, (p. 41 ). .

B14 Regulations providing for the increasing use of school facilities by community groups be re­ drafted, (p. 39 )

B15 Regional advisory councils to co-ordinate school use of community resources be established, (p. 43 )

B16 The Directorate of Schools and Colleges prepare guidelines for secondary schools with respect to the involvement of students in adventure activities, (p. 43 ). . - 214 -

Recommendations for schools C3 The school's review of its operation include an exploration of ways in which parents and the community served by the school can be more closely involved in its work. (p. 38,54) C4 Parents be provided with full information about decisions that affect their children's school­ ing so they can exercise their responsibility of counselling., (p. 38 )

C5 Parents and others in the community be brought into the school to assist with the program, in ways suggested in this Report (p. 39 )

C6 Schools involve parents and others in the community in the decision-making process by consultation about major developments and by involvement in the self-evaluation process. (P- 40)

C7 Each school undertake a development of consult­ ative processes suited to its particular situation. A formally-structured body be estab­ lished only where this is desired by both the staff and the community, (p. 40 )

C8 The learning program be extended by the inclusion of planned experiences -beyond the school for all students, (pp. 41-43)

C9 In planning and carrying-out adventure activities, schools observe the guidelines prepared for such activities by the Education Department, (p. 43 )

EDUCATION AND DISADVANTAGE

Principles for the system A20 All groups in society should be able to share equally in education and children's chances in life should not be reduced by their social origins, sex, or place of residence, (p. 48)

A21 The need for compensatory education to help disadvantaged students should be accepted, (p. 48) - 215 -

A22 Formal education should be seen as being of crucial importance in increasing or reducing the life-chances of the individual, even if it is not the most effective way of bringing about a just society, (p. 49)

A23 Students in Years 7 to 10 should attend their local secondary school wherever possible, (p. 55)

A24 A policy of positive discrimination in favour of country children in the allocation of educational resources should be accepted, (p. 56)

A25 The disadvantages of girls in some aspects of education should be recognized and acted on. (pp. 57-58)

A26 Co-ordinating committees involving different government departments and voluntary agencies should be set up to consider (a) the future development of country communities and (b) means of reducing social disadvantage, (p.54,59)

Recommendations for the administration B17 Schools be provided with resources to encourage less-advantaged parents to take a more active part in the educational process, (pp.51-52) B18 Existing schemes of financial assistance for children from poor families be reviewed to ensure that all children can participate fully in the school program. The review should include the suggestion that emergency funds be made available to schools for this purpose, (p.52) B19 Educational provisions in selected'district schools be improved on a progressive basis so that all students can be retained in these schools to Year 10. (p. 55) B20 The provision of bus transport to a high school be discontinued where the local district school has been provided with resources enabling it to retain all students to Year 10. (p.55) B21 The establishment of a Committee to consider future secondary provisions in individual district schools be endorsed and the guidelines contained in this Report be drawn to the attention of the Committee, (pp. 55-56)

B22 In the absence of special circumstances, a minimum enrolment of approximately fifty - 216 -

secondary students be accepted as viable, (p. 55) ' B23 The Education Department seek opportunities to attract teachers to schools in isolated areas, (p. 56) B24 New ways of providing specialist teaching services such as music to country schools be developed, (p. 57) B25 As a matter of"priority, professional support- staff be appointed to country areas to assist district schools and country high schools in giving information and assistance to students about vocational choices, further education and individual welfare needs, (p. 57) B26 In order to widen the cultural experience of country students, the allocation of resources, to country schools for travelling, and to cultural groups for visiting country areas, be continued and extended, (p. 57)

Recommendations for schools CIO Each school develop techniques for identifying children at risk in the secondary school and consider strategies for tackling their problems, (p. 51) Cll Procedures be developed, including the practice of regular home visiting by school-based personnel, to establish effective communication with the families of children at risk. (p. 38,52) C12 Schools review their current programs and organizational policies to ensure that there is no discrimination against girls.(p. 58)

THE TRANSITION-FROM SCHOOLING TO WORK Principles for the system A27 The change of students from schooling to work should be seen as a process not an event, (p. 59) A28 Schools should become better informed about the subsequent experience of students and provide them with support during the period of job search. (p. 60,91) A29 Early leaving should be seen as having continuing consequences that are likely to reduce perman­ ently the life-chances of the individual. - 217

Accordingly, existing compulsory education provisions should continue, (p. 63) A30 The preparation of students for entry to the labour force should be seen as one of the responsibilities of schools and that some change of emphasis in the secondary program is accordingly required.(p. 65) A31 Secondary schools must exercise principal responsibility for career education if it is to be successful, (p. 67) A32 The need for improved consultation between employing authorities and education authorities should be accepted, (p.69) A33 Education should be seen as a life-long process with opportunities provided for the individual to return to learning institutions for further study, as required, (p. 69) A34 People who have left school early should be given the opportunity to resume formal educat­ ion at a later time.(p.10) A35 New combinations of work and education for older adolescents should be developed as altern atives to continued formal education, (p.10,63, 65,68)

Recommendations for the administration B27 The allocation of resources from the Education Department to the structures set up to support unemployed young people be endorsed, (p. 62) B28 The Curriculum Centre, in co-operation with schools, develop guidelines for a program of career education extending from Years 8 to 10. (P- 67) B29 Where required, additional staff be appointed to secondary schools to enable the appointment of a staff-member to exercise special responsib ility for career education. (P. 67) B30 The Education Department maintain detailed and systematic records about exemptions so that the needs of those leaving on exemption can be identified and supporting strategies developed, (pp. 63-65) B31 The Welfare Branch of the Education Department provide support to schools in their counselling of students applying for exemption.(pp. 63-65) - 218

B32 A pilot project be set up with a group of metrop­ olitan secondary schools to determine the feasibility of making an effective follow-up of school leavers and the resources needed for this to be undertaken in schools, (p. 65) B33 The Education Department continue to exercise a co-ordinating role in relation to work-experience schemes and to provide appropriate staff for the purpose, (p. 68)

Recommendations for schools C13 Schools attempt to find out about the subsequent experience of school-leavers, especially those who have been granted exemptions, (p. 60,65) C14 Secondary schools arrange for careful and responsible counselling of both the student and the family at the time of application for exemption. Where an exemption is granted, counselling must extend to ensuring that advice on jobs is given and that job placement, or any other arrangement, is satisfactory to all parties, (p. 63) C15 Secondary schools accept career education as a principal responsibility and develop a prog­ ram for it through a sequence of experiences from Years 8 to 10. (pp.'66-67) C16 One or more staff-members be nominated to accept responsibility for organizing a program of career education in the school, (p. 67) C17 Schools accept work-experience schemes as a valuable element of secondary programs and give priority to disadvantaged students in them. In organizing programs schools should work through the Education Department's Co-ordinator of Work Experience, (pp. 66-67) C18 Schools be sympathetic to the wishes of students seeking re-admission for second-chance education, (p. 70)

TEACHING AND LEARNING Principles for the system A36 All teaching approaches from "traditional" to "progressive" should be accepted as legitimate with any one of them being likely to have adverse effects for the student if used exclusively, (p. 79) - 219 -

A37 The subject matter presented to students should be meaningful, interesting and personally relevant, (p. 80)- A38 Teaching should take account of individual differences between students, (p. 81) A39. The view that there are very few specific items of information or discipline content that society expects secondary students to acquire should be accepted, (p. 82)

GUIDELINES FOR A BALANCED CURRICULUM Principles for the system, A40 . The balance of the curriculum for each student should be considered in terms of activities undertaken rather than of choice of subjects, (p. 82) - A41 The core-curriculum for secondary schools should consist' of six broad areas of activity: language, mathematics, gaining insights into the physical environment, gaining insights into the social and cultural .environment, experience in the arts and crafts, and a consideration of the problems of humanity that concern and puzzle adolescents. It should also include activities in physical education, (p. 83) A42 All secondary students should work in each of the areas of activity in the core-curriculum throughout the Years 7 to.10. (p. 86) A43 Schools should provide further studies as- an addition to the core-curriculum or as an expansion of one of the areas of activity, (p. 86) A44 Teachers should accept the need to be more flexible with respect to the areas of the curr­ iculum they are prepared to teach, (p.135)

Recommendations for the administration B34 The Curriculum Branch give priority to the preparation of material to amplify the Committee's guidelines on a balanced curriculum in secondary schools. (pp. 82-86) - 220

Recommendations for schools C19 Each high and district school ensure that all secondary students are provided with a program that includes experiences in each of the areas of curriculum activity throughout the period from Year 7 to Year 10 and with such other experiences as the school considers appropriate, (p. 86; see also pp. 95-96)

THE ISSUE OF GENERAL AND PRE-VOCATIONAL EDUCATION Principles for the system A45 The Education Department should reaffirm that a general education is that most appropriate for young people in the compulsory years of education.(p . 89) A46 Schools should accept that, to secure employ­ ment, young people need to leave school both with an appropriate level of competence in basic skills and with personal capacities of flexibil­ ity and responsibility, (p. 91) A47 The secondary system and individual schools should be prepared to state that employers and secondary colleges have the major responsibility for developing attitudes and skills specific to particular employment or a further level of education. (p. 92)

Recommendations for the administration B35 The Directorate of Schools and Colleges encourage secondary colleges to take specific initiatives directed towards the development of a closer liaison with high and district schools, (p. 92)

Recommendations for schools C20 In accordance with their needs, individual students be given units in their Year 10 course that sharpen the competencies they may require in the labour market or in Higher School Certificate study, (p. 66,92) C21 Students who reach the end-points of courses of study be provided with units directly related to the next stage of education or extending them in particular curriculum fields, (p. 92) - 221

C22 Senior staff in secondary schools respond to .-, initiatives from secondary colleges directed towards a closer liaison between the two types of institution, (p. 92)

PARTICULAR AREAS OF THE CURRICULUM Principles for the system A48 Language should be seen as the means to learning and consequently the basis of the whole educational process in secondary schools, (pp. 80-81, 96) A49 The literacy and numeracy problems of many secondary students should be recognized and a program of remediation undertaken, (p. 98) ASO All schools should establish an overall language- policy and develop a program based on the respon­ sibility of all teachers for language development (p. 83, 103) A51 All students should be provided with some experience of foreign-language study but it should not be made compulsory for all students for the total Year 7 to 10 period. (p. 104) A52 The opportunity to take up a foreign-language study should be available at all stages of the secondary program and some students should be given the opportunity to study a second or third- foreign-language. (p. 104) A53 Special interests such as environmental education should be developed within the general program rather than be picked out as separate fields of study, (p. 109) A54 All students should be able to experience a range of the Arts in a curriculum which emphasizes the related arts and extends over the four years, 7 to 10. • (p.110, see also p. 12) A55 Every secondary student should be able to engage- in a study of at least one of the arts or of the hand-skills over an extended period, (p. 84, 110) A56 The importance of music in the secondary curriculum should be emphasized and all students should be helped to develop their appreciation of music, (p. Ill) - 222

A57 The informal effect of the school and of individual teachers on the moral and ethical development of students should be recognized, (p. 112) A58 Schools should develop a specific program in which moral and ethical issues can be considered, (p. 113)

Recommendations for the administration B36 Provision be made for students to transfer to another school if the opportunity to extend their study of foreign languages cannot be provided in the school in which they are enrolled, (p. 104) B37 The existing foreign-language curriculum be reviewed in accordance with the principles out­ lined in this Report, (p. 105)

Recommendations for schools C23 Individual teachers seek to increase their understanding of the place of the language spoken by teachers and students and written in textbooks, (p. 81, 108) C24 Each high and district school develop a language development program, extending over all areas of the curriculum, (p. 99) C25 Secondary schools initiate action to tackle the problems some students have with literacy and numeracy, consistent with the guidelines already provided by the Education Department, (see pp. 98-99) C26 Secondary schools initiate contacts with primary schools to help in the early recognition and remediation of the problems of some students with mathematics, (p. 106) C27 Schools develop a program in which students are able to give specific consideration to moral and ethical questions, (p. 113)

THE EVAULATION OF SCHOOLS AND STUDENTS Principles for the system A59 The evaluation of secondary schools should be a process of self-evaluation. (p. 116) 223 -

A60 Self-evaluation should be an ongoing process which involves the whole staff, uses the advice of professional educators from outside the school, and includes consultation with the community, (p. 118) A61 A process of monitoring standards of achievement in literacy and numeracy be supported, (p. 119) A62 Student assessment should be seen primarily as a normal part of the teaching program but the necessity of grading students for external purposes should also be accepted.(pp. 119-120) A63 The.effectiveness of the moderation system and, indeed, the whole School Certificate system should be questioned, (p. 122, 93)

Recommendations for the administration B38 Staff nominated by schools as leaders of the self-evaluation program be given the opportunity to consult together, (p. 118) B39 The decision of the Education Department to introduce a periodic monitoring of standards • of achievement in literacy and numeracy be endorsed, (p. 119) B40 The Education Department prepare guidelines for the teaching of basic skills, (p. 123) B41 A working party, representative of the Education Department, schools and employing authorities be set up to exchange information about certific­ ation and student performance, (p. 123) B42 The Education Department initiate moves for the abolition of the School Certificate (Preliminary) . (p. 123) •B43 The Education Department support the phasing out of the School Certificate and its replacement by certificates issued by schools. In the interim, the Education Department seek a review of existing moderation procedures, (p. 123)

Recommendations for schools C28 Each secondary school initiate a specific evaluation of its program and organization and reach agreement about future directions. This process be long-term and on-going., (p. 26, 118) - 224 -

C29 The process of evaluation be consistent with guidelines laid down by the Committee, involving all the staff of the school, bringing in outside professional advice, and including consultation with parents and the community, (p. 25-26, 35, 40, 118) C30 Each school nominate a member of its staff to take responsibility for developing the self- evaluation program, (p. 26, 118, see also Rec. C64. C31 Schools ensure that parents are fully informed about the progress of their children, preferably in discussion, (p. 120)

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF SCHOOL ORGANIZATION Principles for the system A64 The key aim in developing the secondary school organization should be the development of good relationships among the staff, among the students and between teachers and students, (p.131) A65 To provide the program recommended in this Report and to bring about increased student involvement, the organization of secondary schools should be flexible, (p. 131, 133; see also p. 10-11)

SCHOOL SIZE Principles for the system A66 High schools should be smaller than is usual at present. This should be seen as contributing to the development of good relationships within the school and to the full participation of the staff in the program and organization of the school. (p.132, 133-135) A67 The establishment or continuation of secondary classes should be based on a schools capacity to offer a quality program with experiences over the core-curriculum rather than on the size of the enrolment, (p.134, 136)

Recommendations for the administration B44 Initiatives taken by large high schools to under­ take a reorganization into smaller units be endorsed, (p. 135) B45 Existing high schools with more than 700 students be not allowed to grow larger by the provision of accommodation for additional students, (p. 135) - 225 -

B46 The Education Department accept an enrolment of 500 students as the optimum for new high schools. (p.136) B47 In order to meet particular short-term needs only, new high schools be capable of temporary extension to accommodate 700 students, (p. 136) B48 The Education Department accept that some situations will call for the establishment of high schools with an enrolment of less than 500 students, (p. 136) B49 The recommendations about school size become guidelines for the High School Building Design Committee in its consideration of specifications for future high schools, (p.136)

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TEACHER AND STUDENT Principles for the system A68 All teachers should accept that the quality of learning is heavily influenced by the quality of relationships between teacher and student, (p. 81; see also p. 14) A69 Schools should be encouraged in the efforts they are making to reduce transfer difficulties between primary and secondary schools, (p. 139)

Recommendations for the administration B50 Pilot programs providing for an exchange of teachers between Years 6 and 7 be initiated by the Directorate of Schools and Colleges, (p. 140)

Recommendations for schools C32 Schools take steps to develop an organization promoting the development of sound relationships between teachers and students. Possibilities may include vertical groupings and the provision of blocks of time in which several teachers are responsible for a group of students in several curriculum areas, (p. 138) C33 High schools undertake an evaluation of the effectiveness of existing programs aimed at minimizing any educational or emotional disruption caused by the transition from primary school, (pp. 139-140) 226 -

AUTHORITY AND STUDENT BEHAVIOUR Principles for the system A70 In accordance with the needs of adolescents, school rules should be few in number, clearly stated, and available for reference. Schools should properly expect students to conform to such rules, (p. 14, 138, 140-142) A71 Where problems.arise between teacher and student, the teacher concerned should be involved in the resolution of the problem, (p. 142-143) A72 Corporal punishment should be abolished immediately, (p. 143) A73 Suspension of students should be seen as a technique for defusing a volatile situation, protecting the parties involved, or a means of gaining time to marshall resources needed to solve the problem, (p. 143-144) A74 Existing provisions for the expulsion of students should be endorsed. (p. 144)

Recommendations for the administration B51 The Education Department provide for amendments to the Education Act to exclude the use of corp­ oral punishment in secondary schools, (p. 143) B52 The allocation of additional support staff to high schools to assist administrators and teachers with problem students be given priority attention in the future staffing of schools, (p. 143) B53 The possibility of establishing a residential special-school for severely-deviant students be further considered, (p. 145) B54 Consideration be given to the provision, in appropriately-located schools, of units with professional support-staff to assist problem students, (p. 145)

Recommendations for schools C34 Secondary schools undertake a review of existing school rules in the light of the Committee's principles and involve staff, students and parents in the process, (p. 140) 227

C35 Senior masters and senior mistresses accept that an important part of their role is to help teachers in dealing with problem students, (p. 143) C36 High schools restrict the use of student suspensions and ensure that the provisions of the Education Act are carefully followed in this matter, (pp. 143-144)

PROVISIONS FOR PASTORAL CARE Principles for the system A75 A major role of the pastoral-care teacher should be to accept overall responsibility for the course being followed by the student, (p. 146, 148)

Recommendations for the administration B55 The Curriculum Centre prepare material, for pastoral-care teachers to use as desired, on problems facing young people, (pp. 148-149)

Recommendations for schools C37 Schools investigate means by which pastoral- care duties can be given an increased status among the duties of teachers. Possibilities may include:

maintaining contact with students over several years, for example through vertical grouping, teaching responsibilities for those in the pastoral-care group; and making the pastoral-care teacher first in the chain of referral when problems arise, (p.15, 147, 148-149)

C38 Schools provide time in their programs for pastoral-care that is separate from that directed to routine organizational matters, (p. 148) C39 Schools provide a time in the week in which the pastoral-care teacher can discuss with individual students their total study-program, (p. 148) - 228

C40 Senior masters and senior mistresses provide pastoral-care teachers and parents with an outline of the program for the next month (or longer) in their area of responsibility, (p. 148) C41 Senior masters and senior mistresses as well as other teachers accept responsibility for a pastoral-care group as part of their duties, (p. 149)

THE GROUPING OF STUDENTS Principles for the system A76 Policy on grouping should be a matter for decision at school level but must allow for students to work for some of their time in each area of the core-curriculum, must allow for students to change from one group to another, and must allow students to take up new studies in the later years of secondary education, (p.149, 151-152) A77 Streaming should be generally opposed because of the adverse effects of categorizing students and the known effect of teacher expectations on student behaviour and attainment, (p. 151) A78 In Years 7 and 8 there should be a common course during which the method of grouping students does not lead to course specialization and is not influenced by the final classification to be gained at the end of Year 10 (p. 95, 120, 151-153)

Recommendations for schools C42 In organizing the teaching program, all schools take account of the following considerations: * provision for students to progress at their own rate, including making available extension and remedial units of study, (p. 95, 121, 131, 152) * provision of some opportunity for students to pursue their own interests and concentrate on a particular area of interest over an extended period of time, (p. 131); and * avoidance of an organization totally based on whole-class groups, streamed by achievement and undertaking year­ long courses, (p. 131, 152) - 229 -

C43 In considering the grouping of students, secondary schools take account of the guide­ lines indicated for the different years of secondary school. (see pp. 152-153) C44 Year 7 organization be on the basis of heterog­ eneous groups for all areas of the curriculum. (p.152-; see also p. 107, 121) C45 Specialization in studies that reflect the student's ability or ambitions for the future be deferred until Year 9 and take place after 'consultation with parents, (p. 121, 153) C46 Year 10 be timetabled flexibly in order to provide for increased student choice about the learning program and to offer the opportunity for students to undertake a course suitable to their present and future needs, (p. 121, 153)

EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN Principles for the system A79 Provisions for children with special needs should be given priority by the Education Department and by individual secondary schools, (p. 153-154) A80 Wherever possible exceptional children should be integrated into normal schools but the continuing need for special units in schools and for special schools should be recognized, (p. 154) A81 The special-education teacher in the secondary school has an important role as a resource teacher for other members of staff as well as a teacher of children with special needs, (p. 156) A82 Talented students should be given special attention in secondary schools, consistent with their need for balanced development, (p. 157) A83 The provision of special units for severely- maladjusted children should be supported, consistent with the need for subsequent re-integration into normal schools, (p. 158) A84 Children with physical or sensory disabilities should be given special consideration and facilities rather than a special program of education, (p. 159) A8 5 The development of migrant education services should be towards the use of teachers in normal schools and of advisory teachers to • support them. (p. 160). 230 -

Recommendations for the administration B56 Priority be given to the allocation of additional special-education teachers, especially to secondary schools in country areas, (p. 155) B57 Defined career paths, and attractive promotion opportunities be established for special-education teachers, (p. 156) B58 Resources be provided to enable the development of special-interest centres with students accommodated on a part-time or out-of-hours basis, (p.157) B59 The continuation of the Brighton "E12" unit for maladjusted boys and the development of a similar facility for girls be endorsed, (p. 158) B60 Diagnostic services be extended to all regions of the State to enable the nature of learning difficulties to be ascertained and appropriate remedial action initiated. (p. 159) B61 Within each region one high school be provided with special facilities for students with physical disabilities, (p. 159)

Recommendations for schools C47 Talented students be provided with opportunities to progress at their own rate, (p.157) C48 Special efforts be made* to adapt the curriculum areas identified by the Committee to the needs of low-achieving students by relating them more closely to their own lives, to their need for leisure activities, and to the world of work, (pp. 158-159) C49 Provision be made for children with learning difficulties to be temporarily withdrawn from the normal classroom situation in order that a remedial program may be instituted, (p. 159)

DECISION-MAKING BY STUDENTS Principles for the system A86 Decisions by students that may affect their participation in further education or their chances in life after leaving school should be deferred for as long as possible and then made with the support of parents and teachers, (p. 10, 12, 95, 162) - 231

A87 The secondary-school organization should be flexible enough to allow students to revise their choices, (p. 10, 81) A88 Students should be provided with an increased opportunity to make decisions about the work they are doing in school, (p.161; see also p. 95) A89 The kinds of responsibilities undertaken by school councils should, in the main, be directed to particular projects or functions, (p.164)

Recommendations for schools C50 All secondary teachers ensure that opportunities for students to make decisions about their learn­ ing be built into all programs, (pp. 161-162)

SCHOOL MANAGEMENT, DECISION-MAKING AND ORGANIZATION OF STAFF Principles for the system A90 The importance of the leadership role of the principal in secondary schools should be recog­ nized. Principals should be supported in their development of this role. (pp. 169-170, 131) A91 Teachers in secondary schools should be able to participate in decision-making.(p. 132, 168, 171F) A92 Each school should have responsibility for deploy­ ing its staff in accordance with its own assessment of teaching requirements and the contributions which members of staff can make. (p.175) A93 The organization of staff should not be tied exclusively to curriculum compartmentalization. (pp. 175-176) A94 The primary and secondary staff of district schools should be regarded as a single unit. (p. 176)

Recommendations for the administration B62 The Education Department provide opportunities for existing secondary principals to undertake leadership courses based on understanding.organ­ izations and the people in them. (p.36, 170, 188-189)

B63 The Education Department examine and, where necessary, strengthen the provision of financial support-staff to make it more possible for - 232 -

principals to exercise their function of educational leadership, (pp. 169-170) B64 Principals be encouraged to visit other second­ ary schools to engage in purposeful discussion with principals and teachers, (p.170) B65 A system of sabbatical leave for principals be introduced, (p. 171) B66 The Directorate of Schools and Colleges initiate and evaluate a pilot project of staffing a small number of district schools on a total-school basis, (p. 176)

Recommendations for schools C51 Principals provide opportunities for all staff members to be involved in decision-making and offer a mechanism by which the staff may initiate matters for discussion, (p. 173) C52 In areas where decision-making is exercised by the staff, the principal define the constraints under which the staff need to operate, (p. 172) C53 The existing function and organization of staff meetings be reviewed, (pp. 173-174) C54 Schools consider the value of a working party of interested teachers preparing material and prop­ ositions for the whole staff to discuss subsequently, (p. 173)* C55 Because of the school-wide responsibilities exercised by teacher-librarians, guidance and welfare officers, and special-education teachers, they be involved in a wide range of decision-making in schools, (p. 174, 195) C56 Schools review their existing organization of staff and consider alternatives to a "subject- based organization" such as grade-teaching teams or team-teaching groups working in related areas of the curriculum, (pp. 175-176)

SCHOOL BUILDINGS Principles for the system A95 An increased degree of standardization in school buildings should be accepted, (p. 136) A96 Flexibility should be built into new schools through a balance between open and closed space, (p.136) - 233 -

TEACHER EDUCATION AND TEACHER DEVELOPMENT Principles for the system A97 A close and continuing association between tertiary institutions and education authorities should be accepted as necessary for a pre­ service education that meets the needs of schools, (p. 185) A98 Integrated or concurrent courses should be endorsed as the normal pattern of teacher prep­ aration in Tasmania, (p. 186) A99 A course extending over four years should be endorsed as the required length of pre-service education for Tasmanian teachers, (p.186) A100 Intending secondary teachers should follow a course which prepares them for teaching in at least two areas of the curriculum, (p. 186) A101 All teacher preparation courses should contain a balance between (a) academic or specialist studies and (b) studies in education and teaching, (pp. 186-187) A102 All teachers should involve themselves in a program of continuous professional development, (p. 187) A103 In the program of teacher-development activities, there should be a balance between centrally- based and school-based activities, (p.189) A104 Schools and individual teachers should offer special support to beginning teachers, (p. 192)

Recommendations for the administration B67 The Education Department approach tertiary institutions with the request that the present Report be considered in future reviews of their teacher-preparation programs, (p.185) B68 The Education Department take steps to establish a working party, representative of tertiary institutions, the Education Department and schools to discuss educational purposes, changes in the curriculum and organization of schools, and patterns of teacher preparation, (p. 185) B69 The Education Department take steps to establish a working party, representative of tertiary institutions and authorities employing teachers to develop a state-wide approach to the future supply of teachers, (p. 185) ! - 234 -

B70 The Education Department advise the tertiary- institutions of its expectation that teachers will, in the future, teach in at least two areas of the curriculum, (p. 186) B71 The Education Department seek a review to find solutions to existing problems in the supply and preparation of music teachers, (pp. 186-187) B72 The Education Department indicate to tertiary institutions its wish that units in language development, library resources and information retrieval, and general curriculum studies be included in all pre-service courses, (p.187) B73 The Directorate of Services initiate an extended teacher-development program in the priority areas identified by the Committee, (see pp. 188-189) B74 The Directorates of Schools and of Services should jointly consider means by which the Committee's recommendation of an in-service language program for all teachers can be implemented, (p. 188) B75 One of the functions of the proposed Standing Committee on Secondary Education be to indicate general priorities of the system for teacher- development activity. B76 Provision be made for an increase in the number of school-based seminars, directed towards producing specific outcomes that can be implem­ ented within the school, (p. 190) B77 The Education Department extend its provision of re-entry scholarships for personnel wishing to extend their qualifications beyond four-year trained level, (p.190) B78 The Education Department expand scholarship and exchange provisions for personnel to observe features of interstate and overseas education systems, (p. 190) B79 Arrangements be made for beginning teachers to take up their appointments in secondary schools a week earlier than other teachers, (p. 191) B80 Priority be given to an improvement in staffing- levels that will enable secondary schools to provide reduced responsibilities for beginning teachers, (p. 192)

Recommendations for schools C57 Schools make special arrangements to receive - 235 -

beginning teachers a week early and develop a purposeful program for their introductory week. (p. 191) C58 Schools consider means by which an appropriate level of responsibility can be provided for beginning teachers, (p. 192) C59 Schools consider the nomination of an experienced teacher to act as a "tutor-teacher" to guide, assist, and monitor the work of beginning teachers, (p. 192)

SPECIAL SUPPORT FOR NEW SCHOOLS Principles for the system A105 The need of new schools for special support from the administration and from support services should be recognized, (pp. 192-193)

Recommendation for the administration B81 Support for new schools be given through appointing staff before the school opens, as detailed in the Report of this Committee (see pp. 193-194) B82 New schools be staffed more generously than other secondary schools during their first three years, (p. 194)

Recommendations for schools C60 Staff in new schools accept their responsibility to go into the community to increase awareness of the school and its teaching methods, (p. 193)

LIBRARIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION Principles for the system A106 The school library should be seen as the essential resource on which the development of teaching and learning in the secondary school is based and it should consequently be given increased.recognition as exercising a central function in the school, (p. 194) A107 The effective use of the school library should be seen as depending on a professional partner­ ship between the teacher-librarian and other - 236

teaching personnel, (p. 195) A108 The principle of making school libraries avail­ able to the community should be accepted, (pp. 196-197)

Recommendations for the administration B83 Secondary libraries requiring improved physical facilities, book-stocks, and staff resources be upgraded as a matter of priority. (p.195) In this program first priority be given to secondary schools in country areas, (p. 57) B84 The appointment of a second librarian to high schools be accepted as a staffing objective, (pp. 195-196) B85 Centralized library services be developed to give further technical services and professional advice to teacher-librarians in schools, (p. 196)

Recommendations for schools C61 Principals ensure that the professional aspects of the teacher-1ibrarian's role be emphasized and give priority to the employment of at least one library aide as a means of realizing this, (p. 196) C62 A review be made of the role of the library in the school and of the assistance which the teacher-librarian can give to teachers and students in developing their learning program, (p. 195)

SUPPORT SERVICES FOR SCHOOLS Principles for the system A109 To back-up the assistance which teachers give to children at risk, specialist support - services should be developed. (p.197; see also p. 146) A110 The work of country schools should be supported by further research and the development of special programs, (p. 53, 198) Alll Diagnostic services should be developed to help teachers identify the nature of individual learning-difficulties, (p. 198) 237

A112 Schools should seek the support and involvement of professional educators from outside the school in the development and evaluation of their programs and organizations, (p. 34, 199) A113 Where possible, professional support-staff in schools should be qualified both as teachers and in their special field of support, (p. 200)

Recommendations for the administration B86 Guidance officers be appointed to serve country- schools, (p. 198) B87 The Education Department press for the appoint­ ment of additional staff to the school-health services so that provisions for the general health of students and the diagnosis of physical disabilities can be improved, (p.198) B88 The Education Department recognize that part of the duties of superintendents and advisory staff is to respond to requests from schools for participation in their program of self- evaluation and development, (p. 35, 198-199) B89 Particular problem-areas in schools be identified for concentrated attention by support - services. Such action should be for a limited period but extend throughout the system. (P. 199) B90 The Information Service within the Directorate of Services publicize Education Department policies and practices and give particular support to new schools, (p. 94, 193, 200) B91 Individuals who possess full qualifications in fields such as social work, psychology or librarianship be given the opportunity of trans­ ferring into such work after gaining teaching experience.(p. 200) B92 The Education Department introduce a scheme by which some teachers can be supported to undertake full-time study to gain additional qualifications in social work, psychology or librarianship. (p. 200)

Recommendations for schools C63 Schools utilize the Information Service of the Education Department in producing publicity material for their parents and local communities, (p.193, 200) - 238

RESOURCES FOR CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT Principles for the system A114 Curriculum development should take place through co-operative activity by the school, the state curriculum centre and external agencies, (p. 201) A115 Close links between individual schools and the state curriculum centre should be developed to meet the curriculum needs of schools, (p. 204) A116 Teachers should recognize they must be active participants in the process of curriculum development, (p. 205)

Recommendations for the administration B93 Major curriculum developments should not be undertaken without an action research program at national or state level, (p. 203) B94 The development of close co-operation between the Curriculum Development Centre and State curriculum organizations be continued, (p. 203) B95 In order to undertake work in the priority areas identified by the Committee, the Curriculum Centre be further developed with the appointment of additional staff, including teachers on secondment, (pp. 203-204) * B96 The Curriculum Centre develop strategies by which the curriculum needs of schools can be communicated to the Centre and acted on. (p. 204) B97 Curriculum guidelines which can be used by teachers as they require be developed through co-operation between teachers, Curriculum Centre staff and other professional groups. More detailed teaching guides be developed .and made available for those teachers who require them. (p.205)

Recommendations for schools C64 Each school nominate a senior member of the staff to take responsibility for curriculum co­ ordination, to act as a point of reference for members of the staff in curriculum matters, and to serve as a contact person in relation to outside curriculum development, (p. 206) see also Recommendation C30)*

The text of the Report (p. 26) assumes that the roles of curriculum co-ordinator and initiator of the self-evaluation program would be exercised by the same person. The two recommendations are separated in these recommendations since it is recognized that some larger schools may wish to distinguish these roles and nominate separate members of staff to exercise them. 240

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Curriculum Development Centre The Committee wishes to acknowledge the assistance of the Curriculum Development Centre, not only through the financial grant provided for the Review but also through involvement in the work of the Committee. In this respect the Committee wishes to mention particu­ larly the contribution of Dr. Ed Davis of the C.D.C.

Interstate Consultants Dr. R.T. Fitzgerald, Dean, School of General Studies, Burwood State College, Victoria and Commissioner for the Poverty Inquiry in the area of poverty and education. Mr. P. Lang, Vice-Principal, Morialta High School, South Australia. Mr. J. Nolan, Principal, Kambalda High School, Western Australia. The Committee also wishes to acknowledge the assistance of the high and district schools which were visited by consultants during their time in Tasmania.

Survey of Secondary Education Secondments from schools: Mr. J. Curtis, Principal, Latrobe High School (1976) Mr. S. Morris, Principal, Prospect High School (1976) Mr. A. Robilliard, Principal, Ogilvie High School Mr. R. Pegus, Vice-Principal, Clarence High School (1976) The Committee wishes to indicate its appreciation of the work undertaken in all Tasmanian secondary schools to complete the Survey. It also wishes to acknowledge the assistance of the Research Branch, the Tasmania Media Centre and Miss P. Braithwaite of the Curriculum Branch in the preparation and analysis of the Survey.

People and organizations who made submissions to the Committee or otherwise substantially assisted in its work. Mr. J. Annells, Curriculum Branch. Mr. M.J. Auden, Sandy Bay. Ms. S. Bartholomew, South Hobart. Mr. L.D. Blazely, Senior Superintendent of Research. 241

Mr. P. Boam, Mt. Nelson. Mr. J. Bourke, Principal, Smithton High School (1976). Mr. W. Brewer, Principal Education Officer (Curriculum). Mrs. F. Broadby, Research Branch. Mr. D. Campbell, Myer (Hobart) Limited. Mr. R.S. Cooper, Research Branch. Mr. M. Cove, Deputy-Director of Services. Mr. R.M. Davies, Wynyard. Department of Employment and Industrial Relations (Mr. K.E. Brown). Devonport High School Parents and Friends Association. District School Principals' Association (Mr. H. Broxam). Mr. H.L. Dodson, Principal Research Officer. Education Department Development and Information Service. Education Department Welfare Branch. Environment Teachers Association of Tasmania. Mr. J. Forsyth, Public Service Association. Mr. A. Harmsen, Supervisor of Languages. Mr. G.F. Hills, Parklands High School (1976). Mr. P. Hoult, Directorate of Services. Hobart Matriculation College Staff. Mr. J. Horner, Supervisor of English. Mrs. J. Jones, Mangalore. Mr. S.T. Kelly, Trades Union Training Centre. Mrs. M. Knox, Brooks High School. Mr. N. Lambert, Centre for the Continuing Education of Teachers. Miss E. Larkins, Commonwealth Banking Corporation. Mr. T.J. Leo, Deputy Director of Schools and Colleges. Mr. H. McCann, Tasmanian College of Advanced Education (Mt. Nelson). Mr. K. McDonald, Ulverstone High School (1976). Mr. J. McEntee, Tasmanian College of Advanced Education (Mt. Nelson). Mr. B. Mansfield, Principal, Yolla District School. Migrant Education Committee. Mr. K. Milton, Tasmanian College of Advanced Education (Mt. Nelson). 242

Mr. J. Morriss, Supervisor of Music. Northern Tasmanian Regional Council for Social Development (Mr. D.P. Guilfoyle). North-West Teachers Centre. Mrs. J. O'Grady, Directorate of Services. Mr. F.E. Perry, Education and Recreation Officer, Prisons Department. Mr. P. Pickering, Sheffield District School. Mr. G. Pullen, Supervisor of Libraries. Miss B. Richardson, Superintendent of Special Education Mr. B. Ross, Lindisfarne. Scottsdale High School (Staff-Parent Committee) Mr. J. Shelton, Tasmanian College of Advanced Education (Mt. Nelson). Dr. M. Skilbeck, Director, Curriculum Development Centre. Mrs. E. Smythe, Shop Assistants and Warehouse Employees Federation. Mr. F.N. Sutherland, Bellerive. T.C.A.E. Department of Geography and History (Mr. T.D. Courtney). T.C.A.E. (Mt. Nelson) Student Association. Tasmanian Association of Teachers of Exceptional Children. Tasmanian Conservation Trust Inc. Tasmanian Council of State School Parents and Friends' Association. Tasmanian Environment Centre Inc. Tasmanian School Music Association (Northern Branch). Tasmanian Teacher-Librarians' Association. Tasmanian Teachers Federation. Mr. G.B. Triffitt, Lecturer in German, University of Tasmania. Ms. M. Thurstans. Past students of Warrane High School. Mr. R. Watling, Secretary, Tasmanian Trades and Labour Council. Mrs. S. Watson, Riverside High School. (1976). Mrs. M. Wilkins, Midway Point. Mr. G. Williams, Secretary, Apprenticeship Commission. 243

Winnaleah District School Parents and Friends' Assoc iat ion. Mr. W. Wise, Electrolytic Zinc Company. Women's Electoral Lobby. Mr. P. Youd, Reece High School. Miss M. Young, Tasmanian College of Advanced Education (Mt. Nelson). Zoe Community School".

T. J. Hughes, Government Printer, Tasmania.

Library Digitised Collections

Author/s: Education Department of Tasmania

Title: Secondary Education in Tasmania: A Review for the Education Department by the Committee on Secondary Education

Date: 1977

Persistent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11343/115421