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Published
21 February 2019
I
n 2008, the Melbourne Declaration was signed by every Australian
Education Minister at the time, becoming the basis of the Australian
Curriculum and directing the trajectory of Australian education and its lasting
impact on Australian schools and students. In November 2018, ten years on from
the initial signing of the Declaration, Federal Education Minister The Honourable
Dan Tehan MP announced that the Declaration would be updated in order to
“continue improving student outcomes”.
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Through these two goals, the Declaration articulates the notion that a better
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educated population supports “the nation’s social and economic prosperity” as
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well as “position[ing] young people to live fulfilling, productive and responsible
goals”. The Declaration was also accompanied by the MCEETYA four-year plan
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(2009-2012) that directed state governments as to how they should work towards
fulfilling the Declaration.
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In March 2018, the report titled “Through Growth and Achievement: Report of the
Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools”, and known as
“the Gonski Report”, was released. The Report provided in-depth research on the
quality of Australian student achievement and school performance over recent
years.
The Gonski Report ultimately determined that, while there have been academic
improvements across varying student demographics, there are still significant
disparities between the learning outcomes of students from differing economic
backgrounds. Notably, it found that students with low socio-economic
backgrounds are less likely “to have growth mindsets” oriented towards achieving
higher academically. This was further supported by the fact that there still
remains a large gap in academic performance between children of parents with
little/no education and children of highly-educated parents. Therefore, while there
have been some improvements, the Declaration’s goal of progress towards
educational equality is yet to be realised.
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In addition to this, on page 6 of the Gonski Report, it noted general problems with
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the falling quality of education across Australia. It presented data from PISA results
between 2003 and 2015 that indicates a decline in Australia’s academic News
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Over the past ten years that the Melbourne Declaration has been in effect, the
world has undergone significant and rapid change. This has inevitably affected
the nature of the workforce, the direction of the education system and ultimately,
the way in which young people are educated and assessed. In an article in The
Conversation, Don Carter suggests that a focus on the following four elements in
the Melbourne Declaration update would assist to create relevant, adaptable
goals:
One of the primary global changes in the past 10 years has been the developing
abstractness of the workforce. Between 1986 and 2016, non-routine occupations
became a fast-increasing proportion of Australia’s workforce. In addition, with so
much information and data now available from the internet, teachers cannot just
focus on content-based learning. They still teach but they tend to help students to
become self-directed learners. There is still a core component that must be
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taught, but teachers now guide children how to use information effectively.Home
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of these factors indicate that education should make a departure from strictly
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content-based learning and move towards widely applicable skills. Of course,
these are ideas that have been implemented in schools, encouraging a large
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push towards STEM-oriented degrees and professions in order to produce
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technologically-adept graduates who can adapt to a changing world. However,
would be hugely beneficial to couple this with a focus on soft-skills and critical
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thinking.
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Soft skills are those skills of an interpersonal nature that are not specific to a
particular job. Critical thinking refers to the concept of analytical thinking that
leads to the formation of a critically-assessed judgment. Both sets of skills are
becoming increasingly important in a world where occupations are highly
dynamic, as they ensure that the students go on to become adaptable ‘learners’
in any situation, rather than having to rely on pre-existing knowledge.
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Education has always held an undeniably transformative power, and this has
meant that schools hold huge amounts of influence over the kind of people that
will form the future adult population. The significance of this role creates an even
stronger onus to ensure that that the Declaration is updated to be clear, relevant
and adaptable, as this will be the future of Australian students. The best
preparation that can be given to these students is to ensure that they are wholly-
rounded people, ready to adapt to a highly fluid career-scape, and hopefully this
can be achieved through compliance with, and implementation of, an updated
Melbourne Declaration.
Soo Choi
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