Submission Number 292
Contact
Professor Judyth Sachs
President of AARE
Faculty of Education
University of Sydney
NSW 2006
Ph 02 9351 7050
Fax 02 9351 4765
AARE
AARE is the major professional association for researchers in
education in Australia. It was founded in 1970 (Bessant and Holbrook,
1995). It currently has approximately 1000 members who are representative
of educational researchers in Universities, TAFE and schools,
educational systems, private consultants and non-profit organisations.
It publishes the journal, The Australian Educational Researcher.
General
AARE acknowledges the rapid and substantial changes the higher
education sector has undergone over the last decade in the move
from an elite to a mass system and towards a more market driven
deregulated system. Across this time the percentage contribution
of government/public funding to the overall cost of operating
the system has been considerably reduced. We argue that any further
reduction would seriously jeopardise the quality of the education
and research training provided. Furthermore, the move to greater
dependence on user-pays has the potential to reduce equality of
educational opportunity for students from a broad range of backgrounds.
There appears to be a paradox at the core of the government policy
on higher education. On the one hand, the production of a highly
educated and multi-skilled workforce, along with the marketing
of higher education to overseas students, are deemed to be necessary
to the overall economic viability of Australia in an increasingly
globalised economic system. One the other hand, while governments
support those observations they seem to be reluctant to provide
the necessary funding to ensure that such outcomes are achieved
in an optimal fashion.
The increasingly deregulated higher education system appears to
be resulting in substantial differentiation both within and across
the institutions which make up the unified national system. In
this context, there is a need for a robust system of cross-credit
transfer and articulation of courses across institutions including
the TAFE University interface.
Below we identify three broad domains regarding the place of Education
as a field of research and professional studies within the University.
The domains are: the professional education of teachers, research
in education, and education in contemporary Australian society.
Professional Education of Teachers
We do not support a 'one best model' of teacher education but
would argue that all teacher education programs should contain
university and school-based elements. We accept that there should
be liberal, disciplinary and professional education elements in
the university component of all teacher education degrees. Within
these parameters, we support the following broad principles for
both initial and continuing teacher education.
1. Initial Teacher Education must continue to be conducted
in universities and carried out in partnerships with schools.
This should include a minimum of 2 years study of education and
a minimum of 4 years university study. Teacher education programs
should be accredited by teacher registration boards representative
of the teaching profession broadly defined, that is, including,
teachers, principals, system representatives, teacher union representatives
and university academics in education.
2. There is a need to ensure high quality (in academic
terms) intakes to teacher education in the universities; the 'quality'
of the intake relates to a number of factors, including the current
public standing and status of the profession and remuneration
of teachers. There is also a relationship here between the HECS
liability and earning capacity of the graduates which could impact
on the attractiveness of teaching as a career for young people.
3. There is a need to ensure a diversity of the students
(in terms of social class background, ethnicity, race, gender)
participating in teacher education. This is so the teaching profession
more closely resembles school populations and for the achievement
of social justice goals in schooling. The move towards full-fee
undergraduate places, the increasing cost of HECS, and the decreasing
government support for Austudy will make university less accessible
to students from poorer backgrounds. We thus support the need
for targeted equity programs (including for Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander students) in all university courses and specifically
in teacher education.
4. The renewal of the teaching profession relies on the induction
of young teachers into the professional community which requires
new forms of partnerships between universities and schools.
5. There is an important need for continuing professional development
of all teachers and a significant role for universities here.
Research and scholarship conducted in university education faculties
is important in enabling teachers to keep up with educational
changes, social changes and to enable them to critically reflect
upon their practice.
6. Master degrees in education have been an important element
in the on-going professional development of teachers. The move
to a full-fee structure for such degrees is likely to have a most
detrimental effect upon student numbers and thus on continuing
professional development for teachers. This will be to the detriment
of the profession.
7. Productive university/school partnerships are essential
to effective teacher education and to building a professional
culture and research base for teachers. Indeed, recent developments
in teacher education have stressed the significance of university/school
partnerships, the role of educational research in teacher education,
and the development of practitioner/researchers who utilise action
research approaches to improve their practice.
8. All school systems in Australia are devolving more responsibilities
for accountability and outcomes to the school site. Faculties
of Education at Universities have a significant role to play in
working with schools to improve practice and to research the
effects of devolution on the quality of education for all
sections of the community.
9. Given the central role of universities in teaching as well
as research, all university teachers should have an appropriate
teaching qualification. University faculties of education have
an important role to play in that respect.
10. There are a number of funding implications of these principles.
In particular, we would note that the Commonwealth no longer provides
a specific funding item for the practicum component of teacher
education. Given the overall tightening of government funding
support for universities we would stress that there must be
ear-marked Commonwealth funding for the practicum -
which constitutes an essential element of initial teacher education.
We also note the need for ear-marked Commonwealth funding to
build productive and creative university/school partnerships.
Research in Education
University Faculties of Education are very important to the research
effort on education in Australia. They have become even more important
as State and Territory Departments of Education have been restructured
and either abolished or downgraded their research capacities.
The latter has occurred when tighter and more extensive accountability
testing regimes have been implemented in school systems across
the nation. We have more data than ever before and Departments
of Education have less capacity to deal with this data than ever
before. The research role of university education faculties becomes
even more significant in that context. While in that context the
role of the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)
has also become more important, we would stress that ABS data
indicate that private organisations, including ACER, contribute
only about 7% of all research in education.
(The summary of issues below is derived from the paper, Education
as a Research Field (Lingard & Blackmore, 1997), which
will appear as the education discipline review essay in the Academy
of Social Sciences Review of Social Science Research in Australia.)
1. Universities are the site of the overwhelming majority of
educational research conducted in Australia. In 1994-5 research
in higher education accounted for 87.3% of all education research
expenditure, whereas the figure for all fields of research was
only 46.7%. Higher education's share of monies for all fields
of research in education fell across the 1980s and then increased
so that for 1994-95 its percentage was much the same as for 1984-85,
a result of the reduction of educational expenditure on educational
research by other sources.
2. The Australian Research Council sponsored Strategic Review of Research in Education (1992, p.7) pointed out:
One of the most distinctive features of educational research is its diversity. The variety of participants in educational research and the differences in their interests, research paradigms, methodologies and writings mean that generalisations about the field need to be treated with caution.
We believe that such diversity of theoretical approach, methodologies,
and research topics in education should be supported, as well
as curiosity driven research and that driven by shorter term policy
and practice problems. We accept the position that education is
a 'research field' rather than 'research discipline'. We also
accept the OECD position that educational research ought to be
'good, disciplined enquiry' able 'to stand up to scholarly scrutiny',
but also focused on research agendas 'socially negotiated' between
'government, policy-makers, practitioners and researchers' (OECD,
1995, p. 14).
3. The Strategic Review of Research in Education (1992)
noted that only 0.35% of total educational expenditure in Australia
went on research. This situation compared unfavourably with that
in health where approximately 1.4% of overall health expenditure
goes on research with governments committed to increasing this
figure. We support the Strategic Review's goal of 1
% of total educational expenditure going on research in education.
(The OECD's report, Educational Research and Development: Trends,
Issues and Challenges (1995) also advocated such increased
support for educational research.) We also endorse the Review's
observation that: 'It is hard to avoid the conclusion that
the level of support for research in education is not commensurate
with the importance of education to the nation' (p. 25).
4. A number of policy changes in higher education over the past
decade have served to marginalise the place of educational research
within universities. Most educational researchers are located
in the so-called 'newer' and 'amalgamated' universities which
resulted from the reforms instigated by the former federal Labor
government under John Dawkins as relevant Minister. The subsequent
move to an even more competitive, market driven policy regime
in higher education places pressure on the capacities of university-based
researchers to conduct research. The emergence of new status hierarchies
between and within universities, and between teachers and researchers
within them, will also have important implications for educational
research capacity as a more highly differentiated academic labour
market emerges. There is a need for a reassessment of the ways
faculties of education are funded within universities and a reassertion
of their central role in educational research.
5. Between 1986-7 and 1992-3 there has been a 50% reduction
of expenditure on educational research by State and Territory
Departments of Education in real terms, down from 15% to less
than 5% of all educational research expenditure. This parlous
situation only serves to strengthen the significance of the educational
research conducted in the universities.
6. Most graduate students in education are mature age and do their
study on a part-time basis, often in conjunction with high demand
senior positions in education. Such postgraduate work is a very
important element of the ongoing development of the teaching profession.
The introduction of full fee structures would have a negative
impact on the availability of such study to teachers who do not
gain the salary rewards available to other professions. This would
be to the detriment of the profession and to the nation's educational
research capacity.
7. There are few Honours degree students in education. This affects
the capacity of postgraduate students in education to attract
government postgraduate awards. Some account ought to be taken
of professional experience in a field such as education for the
award of such scholarships.
Education in Contemporary Australian Society
There are certain pressures upon Australian society which remain,
irrespective of the political persuasion of governments of the
day. Here we note attempts: to 'internationalise' the Australian
economy; to relocate economically, strategically and to a lesser
extent culturally within the Asia-Pacific region; to cerate a
viable multicultural society; to construct new notions of national
identity and citizenship, including a modified constitution in
moves towards a republic; to effect reconciliation with Aboriginal
people; to give effect to the aspirations of women; and to effectively
utilise new forms of technology, including the internet. Schools
have played and continue to play a significant role in the working
out of these matters. Universities have played a leadership role
in analysing these issues and contributing to informed public
debate. There is an important role for public intellectuals here
that requires strengthening of the independence of university
academics. On these grounds we would argue for the maintenance
of academic tenure.
Adaptive and changing teacher education will play an important
part in the resolution of these issues through schooling. In particular,
we note the need for new forms of pedagogy and curriculum to address
the implications of economic and technological change. This reality
reinforces the need for a research-based and university located
initial and continuing teacher education.
Bessant, B. & Holbrook, A. (1995) Reflections on Educational
Research in Australia: A History of the Australian Association
for Research In Education. Coldstream, Victoria: Australian
Association for Research in Education Inc.
McGaw, B., Boud, D., Poole, M., Warry, R. and McKenzie, P. (1992)
Educational Research In Australia: Report of the Review Panel
Strategic Review of Research in Education. Canberra: AGPS.
OECD (1995) Educational Research and Development: Trends, Issues and Challenges. Paris: OECD.