CHAPTER 3: THE NATURE OF EDUCATION
3.2 STRUCTURES FOR SCHOOLS
Implications
• Schools should provide opportunity for the full development of each student's potential by fostering genuine equity for various ethnic groups, Aborigines, the disabled, the geographically isolated, the economically disadvantaged and early school leavers.
• The curriculum structure and school organisation should reflect a sympathetic awareness of the economic and cultural differences of Australian society and foster those forces which will lead to the realisation of the potential of all students.
• As the gifted and talented represent a sector of our school population with special educational needs, emphasis should be placed on procedures for individual progression and the provision of resources which will foster programs and activities for the gifted and talented.
3.1.4 Summary
Australia's most valuable natural resource is its people and their collective knowledge and skills. Schooling has a key role in the development of this resource. School structures and curriculum must assist in the realisation of students' potential by being flexible enough to satisfy the particular needs of all whilst at the same time initiating students into the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed for an active and worthwhile life within the framework of our social and cultural traditions. Schools must reflect an overall educational vision which recognises the importance of the promotion of a learning society; they must accept that the educational process cannot be confined to one form of institution or systemic structure.
Schooling must become adaptive to the increasing utilisation of the educational wealth existing in the daily life of the community and reflective of its vital role in initiating and fostering for all students a lifelong educational process.
Group interaction and learning co-operatively with peers are major components of effective learning. A comparison of our own rate of learning with that of others can often motivate us to learn more rapidly. Moreover, learning is greatly facilitated by seeing others doing what we want to do. On the other hand, too much comparing of our progress with that of others can be counter productive if we are not able to achieve success to the same extent.
Whilst students can sometimes be motivated to learn more rapidly by comparing their own rate of learning with that of others, in most learning situations it is more likely that they will compare their learning mainly with their own previous progress.
Schooling has traditionally required learning to occur in a group context. The interpretation of what is being presented, and the subsequent mastery of skills and content is likely to differ for each student. The more closely the learning situation can relate to the readiness, background and learning style of the individual student, the more likely it is to be effective.
Students learn best when there are strong expectations that they will learn and they fail to learn when there are negative expectations. Immediate feedback, particularly if it is positive, encourages further learning.
A strong self-concept is important for effective learning because learning often involves taking risks and making mistakes. If we are confident and believe in ourselves we are able to overcome mistakes, to have expectations of success, and show a willingness to take risks in the learning situation. Strict streaming and labelling of students can have serious detrimental effects by establishing negative learning expectations for those who are labelled as less than the best. For this reason streaming and labelling should be avoided wherever possible.
Success in learning encourages further effort while failure leads to lack of effort and to further failure. Accordingly, students learn most effectively when they are challenged by tasks which are based on achievable goals and when they are able to proceed at their own pace.
Students learn when they can be creative and this often requires that they be given appropriate independence and responsibility in the learning situation. Students learn by relating a new situation to what is already known and, as this differs for each student, it is highly likely that each student will "internalise" a new situation in a different way.
Students have different styles of learning. Some learn more easily through practical, hands-on type activities; others have considerable verbal facility. Some students have difficulty with abstract ideas or with concepts in numeracy. Many students require, wherever possible, a visual stimulus. The most learning will occur when the learning situation corresponds to the student's learning style.
3.2.2 Implications for the Nature of Schooling
Whilst there may be some disagreement over the detailed interpretation of these assertions, the general conclusion that there is a need for an emphasis upon the individual nature of learning is undeniable.
The Committee believes that these assertions should therefore be fundamental to any assessment of the structure of schooling.
The first implication is that learning is a continuous process, albeit at varying rates and with periods of greater or lesser intensity. If children have the potential to learn at very different rates, and learn more effectively at a rate suited to their individual characteristics, then it follows that schooling should not only allow this but actively encourage it.
Such a princiрle must raise questions about much of present practice, both in the management of "classes" and the structuring of learning experiences.
It has been argued that teaching should allow for differences in the learning styles of children.
Ideally, each student should have an individual program of work which would include group and "whole class" situations. A teaching pattern which makes some students wait while others catch
up
or which leaves some students behind is not only inefficient, but leads to resentment, loss of motivation and misbehaviour.Learning programs should maximise visual stimulus and emphasise individual student activity wherever possible. Although ``lecturing" is generally a most ineffective way of attempting to bring about learning, 70 per cent of activity in most classrooms is talk, comprising teacher exposition and student answers, and of the 70 per cent talk, 70 per cent is by the teacher.
Yet another implication of the assertions is the need to re- assess the way students progress through the years of formal education. Curriculum structures based on "hours" and "years"
may not be particularly appropriate in the context of providing individual progression for each student; similarly traditional "whole-class" teaching may not be particularly appropriate as a means of bringing about individual learning.
The Committee notes that teaching which allows for students to progress at their own rate requires particular skills of teachers. It also requires careful planning. While many teachers possess these skills and are able to undertake the necessary planning, there are many, probably the majority, who would wish to have additional professional development because they would feel ill-equipped to undertake successfully the type of teaching advocated.
3.2.3 The Structure of Schooling
Chronological structures do not always relate well to the capacities of students, nor to their different rates of learning; nor do such structures allow sufficient flexibility for advanced and slower learners. As a consequence, students who cannot move more rapidly, as well as those who cannot keep up, experience dissatisfaction, frustration and dissipation of motivation. Such conditions may often lead to misbehaviour. The less able can fmd themselves locked into a continuing cycle of perceived failure whilst the more able can develop a tragic indifference to the achievement of excellence.
The Committee believes that schools, and school systems, should be making comprehensive efforts to enable talented children to move more rapidly than at present through the years of schooling. Structures which hold back the most able students do a great disservice to society.
Group interaction, social growth and co-operative learning are essential elements in any school structure, but the progress of the individual student through a course should be primarily determined by the student's ability successfully to achieve the learning objectives of that course. All students should be challenged and extended and those who learn less rapidly should be assisted to reach the highest possible goals. It should be recognised that some students will need more time than others to learn the skills, content and attitudes which are the goals of particular syllabuses.
Although school structures should encourage progression that is not tied to chronological age the requirements of social growth make it desirable that the extent of individual progression remain, where possible, within a range of two or three years of chronological age. Moreover, schools must continue to provide an organisation which encourages and guides social growth.
The period of formal learning for most persons occurs in their first twenty to twenty-five years. However, this formal learning is part of a process of lifelong learning which provides continuing personal development. The concept of learning as a continuous individual process, occurring at different rates, raises questions about the traditional division of schooling into years and into infants/primary, secondary and tertiary. It also raises questions about the validity of using such divisions to define the structure and content of the curriculum.
There
is
no reason why "primary" schooling must end at Year 6. In many countries there are quite different arrangements. Indeed a number of Australian states have different structures. Some countries have middle schools which cover the period from Year 5 to Year 8 or Year 9. It is also possible to have schools which run from Year 5 to Year 10.There are certainly social and physical reasons for not mixing very young children with children who are considerably older but much flexibility is still possible. The post-compulsory years seem to form one clearly defined grouping and the pre- school/infants appear to provide another. If schools were to concentrate more upon encouraging students to progress along paths of learning individually determined by the students' needs, competence and readiness, then schools which allowed for flexibility across the traditional primary/secondary gap would obviously provide many advantages. In such a context, the "central" school structure which takes all the children from Kindergarten to Year 12 provides an excellent educational environment.
The Committee acknowledged that to bring about any major change to existing patterns, based as they are upon tradition, and entrenched
in
bricks and mortar, would be a formidable, and probably unrealistic task. On the other hand, the Committee believed that encouragement should be given to schools and to school systems to experiment with alternatives to the present Year 6/Year 7 break. In particular, the Committee would favour the trial of arrangements which allowed any necessary major divisions at about age nine or ten, i.e.in Year 4 or 5, and at the end of compulsory schooling. These ages would seem to provide more convenient break points — if such breaks have to be made — in terms of the social and physical development of students. The outcome would be pre-school and K-4 or K-5 groupings, middle schools from Year 4 or 5 to Year 9 or 10, and post-compulsory institutions which might cover Year 10 or 11 to Year 12 and possibly beyond.
3.2.4 The Structure of Curriculum
Time should be a flexible factor in the learning process and curriculum structures should stress what is to be learned and experienced rather than the time to be allowed for such a Process. Learning programs should facilitate individual progression of the student within the context of essential peer-group interaction and social growth.
While some subjects, especially in "secondary" schools, require pre-requisite levels of social and physical maturity, for most subjects students do not have to be a certain age before they can begin. Rather, decisions to begin, and to continue, particular courses should e based on readiness, competence, motivation, interest and the relevance of the courses to the Purposes of the child's education. Excellent examples are to be found in the study of music and languages where learning can occur at any time in a person's career. The Committee acknowledges that some primary and secondary schools are already adopting mire flexible structures.
Probably the best examples are to be found in the many one teacher schools across NSW Where the teachers very successfully devise and implement individual or small group programs for their students who will range across all of Years K-6. Alternative structures, such as vertical grouping, have also been tried with some success in secondary schools. Indeed, ìn subjects such as Art, Industrial Arts, Home Science and Music, individual programs, within a group context, have often been the norm rather than the exception. On the other hand, a subject such as science may require more traditional methods.
A r icu1um structures should encourage perceivable success for students at all ability levels.
Among the strategies which might facilitate this is the use of curriculum units which provide students with a clear perception of the goals they are to attain and which are so designed that these are achievable. Such units of work may be designed to allow students to progress
through them at their own pace, though with peer-interaction and teacher guidance as required.
All students in a group need not necessarily be working on the same unit at the same time.
A variety of organisational structures are available, and are currently in use in some schools, to suit these methods of curriculum progression.
Within present structures of schooling "primary" and "secondary" education generally occur in separate physical locations. The transfer of students is of considerable administrative significance but educationally it could occur equally well at the end of "Year 6" or "Year 5" or "Year 7'. The important point is that all of the group transferring would have been following programs at different rates and would have reached different points of achievement.
This should be recognised by having the students' programs in the new location allow for and continue this process.
The traditional arrangement of a class of twenty to thirty students, receiving group instruction for a forty minute lesson is not necessarily the most effective method of achieving curriculum objectives. While good "whole class" teaching may certainly be an appropriate strategy for the achievement of some program objectives it should always be used in the context of other strategies which allow for'afiд encourage group work and individual rates of learning.
High quality interaction between teacher and students, and between and among students themselves, must always remain the cornerstone of good education but such interaction should be within the context of programs which have been carefully designed to suit the individual competence, background and progress of each student. Similarly, group work and group discussion are most valuable learning strategies, provided that they are also used within the context of individual programs. It will always be the case that the best teachers are able to present their material with enthusiasm and skill to a group of students, and to conduct a worthwhile group discussion, but it is essential that teachers are able to go beyond group presentation to ensure that each student is able to progress at his or her own rate.
The increasing availability of effective software for computers is making it possible for teachers to make much greater use of technology in providing for the individuality of students.
This trend should certainly continue provided that the overall learning environment does not lose the professional planning, initiation, interaction and guidance of the teacher.
It is also worth noting that greater individuality in timetab ing can be considerably facilitated by the use of the staggered, flexible hours now being introduced in many schools in relation to "out of school" curriculum elements such as TAFE courses.
3.2.5 Early Childhood Education
NSW has not given as high a priority to the provision of early childhood education as have some other states. Although there are sixty-five government pre-schools and a larger number of independent pre-schools, the total is less pro rata than for any other state.
Considering the vital role early childhood education plays in establishing that readiness to learn which is recognised as vital to success in school, there is every reason to suggest an increase in early childhood education facilities. The constraint of limited funding is of course acknowledged but the objective is one to be pursued nevertheless.
There is no doubt that children are able to learn in a structured way quite some time before they presently begin traditional formal education.
Longitudinal research in the United States indicates that a child's competence at age six in the four areas defined as the foundations of educational capacity -- language, curiosity, social skills and cognitive intelligence — can be predicted with a high degree of accuracy at age three.o)
The conclusion of such studies appears to be that a comprehensive program of early childhood education can be a highly valuable contribution to the subsequent success of children in the early years of formal schooling. There is obviously a direct benefit to society if children are well prepared for formal schooling, both intellectually and socially.
This raises a further issue as to whether chronological age should be the sole determining criterion for a child's entry into formal education. It has been asserted that "we should enrol children in school as soon as they're able to learn what schools have to teach" 09 and there seems to be a clear indication from current research that it would be desirable to move away from "concentration on age as the significant variable involved in determining entry to school' .(9) On the other hand, society is not yet able to afford such a policy and its implementation might have to be left to the future.
Given that the current legislative requirement for school attendance is age six and given that additional pre-school facilities would presumably only become available gradually, it should clearly be optional for parents to take advantage of any additional pre-school Provisions.
The physical provisioning of pre-school education facilities within existing infants/primary school structures would have the additional advantage of facilitating the essential integration of pre-school education programs with the infants/primary curriculum. Such integration would greatly assist in the smooth and effective transition to formal schooling which is the ultimate objective of early childhood education.
The cost of any extension to existing pre-school provisions would be more than offset in the longer term by the positive educational outcomes for both students and society.
At the moment there is some excess accommodation available in government primary schools which would allow for the creation of new early childhood education classes, though it is desirable that there be at least some physical separation from the older children.
If the acconцnódation requirements of the increased pre-school education program were catered for in this way, the additional costs would be limited to the employment of the necessary teaching staff. By phasing in the program over several years the costs could be made manageable.
Early childhood education is also dealt with in Chapter 6 of this Report.