Public Education Voice, December 2005

PUBLIC EDUCATION VOICE
Newsletter of the Australian Council of State School Organisations
ACSSO - The national voice of parents in Australia's public schools and their school communities

December 2005

ACSSO supports science in schools in 2005 - the Einstein International Year of Physics

Contents

Editorial
My Teacher Made Me a Star - the NSW Schools Spectacular
President's Column
Budget surpluses, quality services or tiny tax cuts?
ACSSO Annual Conference
Australia's Nobel Laureates - Aleksandr Mikhailovich Prokhorov
Directory of Family Resources
Values - Australia and Indonesia Comparisons
Engaging Young Australians with Asia
ACSSO Affiliates

Editorial

Welcome to the final edition of Public Education Voice for 2005.

This edition continues the 2005 theme on the importance of science education, which was a major strand of the 2005 ACSSO Annual Conference, reported on later in this edition. New ACSSO President Jenny Branch outlines some of her views about the importance of research, whilst we question the relative merits of tax cuts versus an increase in government services in the next Federal budget.

Inncluded also is a profile of another of Australia's Nobel Laureates and an update of a new set of resources for parents who want to encourage the development of literacy and numeracy in their children. Finally we look at a comparison of Indonesian and Australian values, examine some Asian values and report on a new agreement on the importance of engaging young Australians with Asia in our schools.

As always, would principals and teachers please forward copies of this newsletter to parents on your governing councils and parent associations. School librarians and science teachers will also have a special interest in this edition.

Click on the link to visit www.acsso.org.au

My teacher made me a star!

NSW Schools Spectacular

ACSSO congratulates the hundreds of NSW government schools, the thousands of students and their teachers who showcased their magnificent talent at the recent NSW Schools Spectacular. Screened on ABC television on Sunday 11 December, the kids in NSW public primary schools and high schools once again demonstrated to the nation that artistic talent is thriving in the country's largest school system. The NSW Department of Education and Training once again did a wonderful job in co-ordinating this stunning event.

Top

President's Column

Annual Conference

I was very honoured to be elected as ACSSO President for the next year at the recent ACSSO Conference.

ACSSO has made great progress over the last few years, and my aim is to build upon its achievements.

At the Federal level, Minister Nelson has taken an interventionist approach to his portfolio and is driving a change agenda with ramifications for all schools in all States. ACSSO may not agree with all these changes, but we appreciate the opportunity to become involved in the accompanying debates.

The Minister often articulates what he believes parents want from their schools. Our challenge is to ensure that we have a firm understanding of the parental viewpoint, and can engage with the Minister and quote evidence based research findings wherever possible.

To understand and interpret parental views means that as a national organisation we must be in a position to engage with parents in their local schools, to provide them with information and to appreciate their thinking about the national education issues that affect them.

I am pleased that the Federal Government supports the important role that research plays in informing an organisation such as ourselves, which in turn influences and improves government policy.

An example of the usefulness of research can be found later in this edition where we publicise the updating of our directory of family resources for literacy and numeracy learning. ACSSO has also been involved in a research project to ascertain parent attitudes towards the studies of Asia in our schools, as well as "Families Matter", a very major project on addressing mental health issues through parental involvement.

I look forward to communicating again with you in 2006, and in the meantime have a happy and safe Christmas holiday break.

Jennifer Branch
President

Budget surpluses, quality services or more tiny tax cuts?

In the December 4 issue of the Sun-Herald, journalist David Koch produced figures that showed that since 1996/97 the Federal Government had earned a massive $41 billion more than was originally forecast in the annual budgets. This year alone the May forecast of an $8bn surplus has already grown to $14bn. And, to no-one's surprise, tiny tax cuts for individuals are again on the agenda.

A poll of viewers of Koch's Sunrise breakfast program found that 92% of viewers would prefer the government windfall to be spent on increased government services, such as education and health.

Parents of students in government schools would agree with this sentiment.

Under the current system of school funding, set in place until 2008, the Federal government has not delivered any increases in recurrent or core funding for schools beyond those automatically generated by the annual indexing process.

The private school share of school students has grown by an average of about 0.5 per cent a year since 1970, and now stands at nearly one-third. The shift has been accompanied by a dramatic turnaround during the past three decades in the balance of federal money going to each sector. In 1974 nearly 65 per cent of Commonwealth school support went to State schools. In 2004 the figure was just over one-third. Admittedly, there has been welcome extra capital funding across all schools, and new schemes to support special programs such as boys' education, and to boost science and literacy.

Education Minister Nelson has made a good start with the Investing in our Schools Program as the billion dollars in capital funding has been apportioned fairly between public and private sectors. Now, it is time to do the same for recurrent funding.

Surely our children's future is more important than another weekly sandwich and milkshake individual tax cut!

Top

ACSSO NATIONAL CONFERENCE

PARENTS RAISE ISSUES AS WELL AS FUNDS

ACSSO’S October National Conference was a major step forward in the education sector.
As every Australian knows, public school parents raise hundreds of millions of dollars in voluntary contributions and fundraising- last year, close to $34 million in one state alone.
What is not always recognised is the contribution parents make to the education debate.
October’s National Conference brought that home to many educationalists.

ACSSO deliberately set out to raise issues which demand attention and policy decisions.The Conference can be seen as ACSSO’s work plan for the next few years.
The Federal Minister for Education Dr.Brendan Nelson opened the Conference with the ACT Minister Katie Gallagher. Both were available for questions from the floor, a unique opportunity to raise those issues direct with the decision makers.

Student Well Being and Values
High on the Conference agenda was student well being and the vital relationship between schools and families. Dr. Michael Carr-Gregg, adolescent psychologist, dealt with young people and mental health. Richard Eckersley from the National Centre for Epidemiology took on the vexed issue of culture, media and vulnerable young people.

Luise Lang, psychologist from the Family Court, took the Conference through the world of young people dealing with parental separation and family break-up, an event that affects about 40% of Australian homes.

Two of Australia’s leading principals, Wendy Teasdale Smith and Mignon Suitor gave us a behind the scenes portrait of a principal’s relationships with young people, teaching staff and parents.

Why Some Parents Choose Private Schools
Richard Denniss, writer and social analyst and former chief of staff to Senator Natasha Stott Despoja was entertaining and incisive as he presented the Australia wide opinion poll results. The poll, commissioned by ACSSO, examined why some parents send their children to private schools.

The Big Poll
At the end of the day, ACSSO’s Executive Officer, Terry Aulich ran the Big Issues Poll.
This asked the conference attendees to vote in a secret ballot (boxes supplied courtesy of the ACT Electoral Commission). The Conference attendees were a perfect sample of different education stakeholders; teachers, parent representatives, education administrators, researchers, University deans, media and consultants. Only health bureaucrats, although invited, were silly enough to stay away.The Big Poll essentially wanted to know what were would be the big education issues of the next decade. Results will be published in the New Year on ACSSO’s website.

Enriching the Curriculum
The second and third days dealt with enriching the curriculum and Australian values. Science guru, Robyn Williams captivatingly showed us the role of science in our life and former jazz player (are they ever former), Richard Letts flew back early from the US to present the Music Council of Australia’s report on the teaching of music in schools.

Engaging With Asia
The Asia Education Foundation’s Maureen Welch and Sophie Palavestra presented the case for engaging in Asia, a presentation which has been followed up in scoping survey organised by ACSSO and the Australian Parents Council. Results out early next year.

Whither Public Education
A highlight was the impassioned and eloquent presentation by Noel Pearson about indigenous people and self-reliance.Then it was the panel debate and presentations about public schooling with Dr. Lyndsay Connors, Professor Alan Reid and Professor Brian Caldwell, each with a different take on the structures and organising ideas that will underpin public education in the future.

Starting School
The final morning began with Associate Professor Sue Dockett’s advice about kids starting school, advice which will feature in her book to be released next year.

Values Forum
The Conference then continued its Values theme with a presentation by Professor Brian Hill who then facilitated focus groups and workshops dedicated to finding what were the values most important to Australian parents. A separate report will appear on ACSSO’s website soon

Once again may we thank the major sponsors of the 2005 Conference.

ANSTO Kids2Success Macquarie Bank

MELBOURNE IS NEXT YEAR’S VENUE

Top

Australia’s Nobel Laureates
A SERIES CELEBRATING THE EINSTEIN INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF PHYSICS

Aleksandr Mikhailovich Prokhorov (1916 – 2002) Nobel Prize in Physics 1964

The laser applications that are so much part of our lives and we all take for granted, from supermarket checkouts to global communication, broadcasting and countless other familiar uses, go back to the work of Aleksandr Mikhailovich Prokhorov. Applications of his work in quantum electronics and the start of the laser industry include high fidelity recording on compact disks, surgery, printing, astronomy and space reasearch.

Prokhorov was born on the family farm at Peeramon on the Atherton Tablelands, Queensland. His parents had emigrated from Russia, and settled in an area that included many other families from the same part of the world, and is still known as “Little Russia”.

As with other Nobel laureates, his career developed internationally. His scientific training was gained at the Leningrad State University, where his work gained a position at the Academy of Science in Moscow. When Germany invaded Russia in 1941, though exempt as a scientific research student, Prokhorov volunteered, fought at Leningrad and Stalindgrad, was twice wounded and discharged with two awards for bravery. He continued his research at the Lebedev Institute, where his outstanding work resulted in appointments as Assistant Director and from 1954 was its Director

His central interest was in radio spectroscopy and later quantum electronics; building a research team to explore the development of radar and broacasting techniques; then moving to the vibrational and rotational spectra of molecules.

Despite his decision to base his scientific career in Russia, he remained an outspoken critic of the regime and a supporter of the dissident physicist Andrei Sakharov (who was awarded the Peace Prize in 1975). He continued to voice independent views and opposition to nuclear arms, supported human rights, and refused a government appointment saying “I am not a politician, I am a scientist”. His international links were marked by professorships from Delhi and Bucharest Universities, and membership of organisations in the USA. He is buried in Moscow – with a memorial plaque in Atherton, Queensland.

This material is drawn from the esssay by Kathy Graham “A Quantum Leap” published in “Australia’s Nobel Laureates: Adventures in Innovation 1915-1996” Keeney Russell Editions, Sydney 2004
Top

DIRECTORY OF FAMILY RESOURCES: PARENT PARTICIPATION IN LITERACY AND NUMERACY LEARNING

Publication of a new resource for parents

The first edition of this Directory was published in June 2004. It sought to fill an information gap long obvious to parents – that previous to its publication there was no consolidated list of available information published around Australia or overseas, which can assist parents and families in their efforts to support the effective literacy and numeracy skills development of their children from their earliest years.

Developed as a joint initiative of the Australian Council of State School Organisations (ACSSO) and the Australian Parents Council (APC), supported and encouraged by the federal Minister for Education, Science and Training Hon Dr Brendan Nelson MP and funded by the federal Department of Education, Science and Training, the production of this Directory was warmly welcomed by State and Territory Education Ministers, Education Departments, Catholic Education Office, Independent Schools, and Speech Pathology Australia, all of whom contributed suggestions for its development.

We are happy to announce that, with further funding assistance from the Federal Minister and his Department, the revised and extensively expanded edition of the Directory has now been published, and is available online at: http://www.acsso.org.au/dirfamres.pdf

The Directory aims to provide families with direct and easy access to resources to assist them to support their children’s literacy and numeracy learning at home from their earliest years through preschool and primary schooling. It is intended as a family information and support rather than a teaching resource, but we hope it will also be of use to educators in advising parents on information they can use to help their children at home, in ways that will support, reinforce and complement the work of the school. The Directory includes mainly on-line resources, but also includes references to other print resources and some video materials.

The revised edition of the Directory is organised in six sections:

Australian based materials
Overseas resources
Resources for parents to assist children with special learning needs. It includes information on materials for families from Indigenous background, non-English speaking backgrounds, English as a Second Language (ESL) and students with special learning difficulties.
Information about a range of programs designed to support parent involvement in the literacy and numeracy learning of children.
Selection of books, on-line guides and other resources for parents.
Selection of published research findings that may be of interest to parents - and teachers.

ACSSO and APC gratefully acknowledge the range of positive feedback on the first edition, and also thank all those agencies and individuals who provided input suggestions for the development of this second edition. We also especially thank Trevor Cobbold, who undertook the ground-breaking task of background research and compilation of the first edition, and has worked tirelessly to ensure this revised edition provides a current and more extensive coverage of the information available.

Such a Directory can never be fully comprehensive given the wide and expanding array of resources currently available, especially as internet resources are expanding rapidly. Its intention is to provide a representative selection of materials that meet the information needs of parents and families, and assist them in their vitally important role of supporting their children’s literacy and numeracy skills development.

Top

Values - Australia and Indonesia comparisons

Indonesia is a large Muslim nation lying immediately to Australia's north. Being close neighbours, it is vitally important that we understand one another's values and cultures. The table below may help in this regard.

A report published in 2001 by Mary Fearnley Sander, University of Tasmania, found that Australian and Indonesian values differed in the ways identified in the following table:

A comparison of the importance of selected values to Indonesians and Australians

*Value*	*Importance to Indonesians*	*Importance to Australians*
Religion	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 [9]	1 2 [3] 4 5 6 7 8 9
Manners	1 2 3 4 5 6 [7] 8 9	1 2 3 4 [5] 6 7 8 9
Tolerance	1 2 3 4 [5] 6 7 8 9	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 [8] 9
Respect for elders	1 2 3 4 5 6 [7] 8 9	1 2 3 4 [5] 6 7 8 9
Education	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 [9]	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 [8] 9
Openness	1 2 [3] 4 5 6 7 8 9	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 [9]
Acceptance	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 [8] 9	1 2 [3] 4 5 6 7 8 9
Family ties	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 [8] 9	1 2 [3] 4 5 6 7 8 9
Neighbourhood	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 [9]	1 2 3 4 [5] 6 7 8 9
Money	1 2 3 4 5 [6] 7 8 9	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 [8] 9

Results of Indonesian students' ratings (Mary Fearnley Sander, University of Tasmania) of the importance of 10 values to Indonesians and to Australians. A rating of 1 represents what is considered of lowest value, while 10 represents the highest value.

Did You Know?

In many Asian countries such as Japan, China and Indonesia, school students have formal lessons in citizenship and civics.

As many as 70 000 people are volunteer participants in the Japan Sea Cleaning project in more than 900 locations all over Japan.

Community activity is so important in Bali that village banjars (neighbourhood organisations) may impose fines for failure to participate.

Gotong royong is Indonesia's traditional spirit of mutual help among members of a community, a belief that people cannot live a solitary existence; that they need each other, particularly family members and relatives.

Source: Global Learning Centre, Brisbane

Top

ENGAGING YOUNG AUSTRALIANS WITH ASIA

Asia Education Foundation

The Asia Education Foundation recently announced the publication of the report from the National Forum held in June 2005 with the central theme of “Engaging Young Australians with Asia”

This Forum brought together 130 key stakeholders from across the nation and across the whole spectrum of education, to

Respond to the draft “Statement for Australian Schools: Engaging Young Australians with Asia”;
Contribute to a professional learning and development opportunity which demonstrates and explores best practice on studies of Asia in Australian schools

Participants at the Forum included State and Territory teams of government and non-government system representatives, school principals and teachers and presidents of peak education bodies which include: principals’ associations; parent organisations; Deans of Education, Asian Studies academics; Curriculum associations; and members of the Asia Education Foundation Board.

The purpose of the Report is to summarise the contributions of presenters, best practice workshops and working group deliberations as input to the development of the draft Statement for Australian Schools and to highlight best practice examples of studies of Asia in schools.

Subsequently, the Statement in its final form has been endorsed by all State, Territory and Federal Ministers of Education and adopted by the Ministerial Council on Education, Education, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) and is being made available via the Asia Education Foundation Website at http://www.asiaeducation.edu.au under “What’s New”

The full Report on the National Forum can be accessed at: http://asiaeducation.edu.au/pdf/engagingyoungaustralians.pdf