A DESCRIPTION OF NON-GOVERNMENT DISTANCE EDUCATION IN AUSTRALIA A Submission presented to the Minister for School Education, Early childhood and Youth August 2012 Dr Terry Harding BA DipEd DipCDP MEd PhD MACE MACEL Schools Department, Christian Education Ministries Abstract This study describes non-government distance education (NGDE) in Australia. It provides an overall picture of the elements of NGDE as practiced in various non-government schools in four Australian states. The study, the first of its kind in Australia, gives a brief historical background of distance education in Australia, providing a socio-cultural context for NGDE. It defines and describes NGDE, indicating its distinctives. The problematic issue of low Commonwealth recurrent funding of NGDE and its impact on NGDE, provides the setting and reason for the study. This issue is described in detail, in the light of government policy, social justice issues, educational equity and the current review of school funding in Australia. A mixed methods research approach delivered findings, which demonstrate NGDE to be a bona fide pedagogy, despite its under resourcing. The findings describe NGDE across Australia, in general terms including: a description of NGDE students, varieties of NGDE pedagogies, its teachers, administration and an array of educational outcomes. A discussion of the impact of the Commonwealth’s underfunding of NGDE leads to the conclusion that this educational inequity requires immediate short term and considered long term redress. Executive summary - Including the findings of the study ………………… ...... …………………6 A DESCRIPTION OF NON-GOVERNMENT DISTANCE EDUCATION IN AUSTRALIA .. 14 1 Introduction to the report ......................................................................................................... 14 1.1 The purpose and target audience of the project ................................................................ 14 1.2 History and background of non-government distance education ..................................... 16 2 Literature Review .................................................................................................................... 19 2.1 Defining distance education ............................................................................................. 19 2.2 Describing distance education .......................................................................................... 20 2.3 Reasons why parents choose NGDE ................................................................................ 22 2.4 NGDE and Commonwealth funding ................................................................................ 23 2.5 Government education policy – Adequately resourcing Australian schooling ................ 25 2.6 Social justice and educational equity ................................................................................ 26 2.7 The Gonski Review of Funding for Schooling ................................................................. 29 3 Methodology ............................................................................................................................ 31 3.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 31 3.2 Method .............................................................................................................................. 31 3.3 Research design ................................................................................................................ 32 3.4 Participant schools ............................................................................................................ 32 3.5 Reliability ......................................................................................................................... 34 3.6 Validity ............................................................................................................................. 34 3.7 Transferability .................................................................................................................. 34 3.8 The researcher ................................................................................................................... 35 3.9 Limitations ........................................................................................................................ 35 4 Findings of the Study ............................................................................................................... 37 4.1 NGDE students – A description ....................................................................................... 37 4.2 NGDE pedagogy – A description ..................................................................................... 58 4.3 Teachers in NGDE ............................................................................................................ 65 4.4 Assessment of students ..................................................................................................... 73 4.5 Student outcomes .............................................................................................................. 75 4.6 Student retention ............................................................................................................... 75 4.7 Post-schooling career and study pathways ....................................................................... 76 4.8 Parent-supervisors in NGDE ............................................................................................ 80 4.9 Administration .................................................................................................................. 84 4.10 Part-time NGDE funding concern .................................................................................. 88 4.11 Average cost of education per student ............................................................................ 88 A Description of Non-Government Distance Education in Australia Page 2 4.12 Attendance defined for distance education ..................................................................... 91 4.13 Signs that it is a good education program ....................................................................... 92 4.14 The advantages of NGDE ............................................................................................... 96 4.15 Disadvantages of NGDE ................................................................................................ 99 4.16 Adequate resourcing - The greatest need of NGDE schools ........................................ 101 4.17 Should NGDE include regional offices? ...................................................................... 102 5 Discussion – The Funding Problem ....................................................................................... 104 5.1 The Commonwealth’s current NGDE recurrent funding policy .................................... 104 5.2 Disadvantage to NGDE schools ..................................................................................... 104 5.3 Exclusion from the SES funding criteria ........................................................................ 107 5.4 Funding discrepancies demonstrated .............................................................................. 107 5.5 NGDE reduces traditional educational costs .................................................................. 112 5.6 Funding models .............................................................................................................. 113 6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 118 6.1 NGDE seeks acceptance in Australia’s education system .............................................. 118 6.2 Recommendations .......................................................................................................... 118 6.3 Beyond rhetoric to reform .............................................................................................. 118 7 References ............................................................................................................................. 120 8 Appendices ............................................................................................................................ 125 TABLES Table 1. Full Time NGDE Students .............................................................................................. 38 Table 2. Reasons for choosing NGDE (from One School - NGDES 10) ...................................... 55 Table 3. Post-Schooling Study Pathways of One School’s 468 NGDE Graduates (NGDES 3) ... 78 Table 4. NGDE Staff Retention ..................................................................................................... 95 Table 5. Comparison of 3 Sectors’ Student funding with one Qld NGDE School's Student Funding ................................................................................................................................ 110 Table 6. Comparison of Current NGDE Funding with Hypothetical NGDE Funding ............... 114 Table 7. Dollar and Percentage Variations between GDE and GDS in Three States .................. 115 Table 8. Suggested dimensions of NGDE Loading for the SRS Model ...................................... 116 A Description of Non-Government Distance Education in Australia Page 3 FIGURES Figure 1. Types of Schools accessing Part Time NGDE ............................................................... 40