- Tuesday 26 November 2019
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The days grow longer, the nights shorter and the sun hotter with every passing second—that’s right, the beginning of summer break approaches. Another year has sped by, and it’s easy to forget all that happened in its course. Let’s take some time to reflect on the education news of 2019.
A plentitude of research and findings
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With every year comes another collection of studies, reports and analyses into the realm of education, examining everything parent-, teacher- and student-related. In news for parents, we’ve seen critiques of the ‘free’ nature of public schools, due to an increasingly forced nature of ‘voluntary payments’. Some schools this year even neglected to include the word ‘voluntary’ on their payment requests. Overall, parents are currently contributing $1 billion dollars each year to public school funding.
Following on with the topic of money, this year’s report from the OECD revealed Australia ranks in the top countries for teacher pay. However, many other factors still make teaching a relatively low-paying job compared to other careers. It’s perhaps unsurprising that other 2019 research showed a high dropout rate in the teaching profession, although this is more likely related to the high proportion of Australia teachers that suffer from depression and anxiety.
In more positive news, and in relation to students, the full NAPLAN results from 2018’s tests were released in April and showed marked improvement across literacy and numeracy from Indigenous students. The gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students is a long way from being closed, but ACARA’s chief executive insisted the progress was still worth celebrating.
NAPLAN’s digital disaster
Keeping with the topic of NAPLAN: despite NAPLAN Online’s shaky start in 2018, the program continued to be used during NAPLAN testing this year. While 2018 only saw some 15% of schools online, 2019 raised that proportion to 50% with disastrous results. Due to connectivity issues, thousands of students across Australia had to re-sit their tests. ACARA had committed to 100% of schools going digital for NAPLAN in 2020, but have since rolled back the date to 2021.
Phone bans go live
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Following on with more digital changes, in June this year both the Victorian and Western Australian governments made a decision that distressed many students but delighted parents and teachers—a complete ban of mobile phones at all public schools starting in 2020. This follows New South Wales’s implementation of a mobile phone ban at the start of 2019. However, while NSW’s government only set the ban to primary schools, Victoria and Western Australia’s bans cover both primary and secondary education. Regardless of how NSW students initially felt about the ban, many cannot deny the positive effects they’ve experienced since, including higher levels of engagement with their peers.
The moon’s golden anniversary
The 16th of July marked an important scientific anniversary: 50 years since man first walked on the moon. Classes around the world celebrated both this occasion and August’s National Science Week with wonderful projects including creating their own planets, observing fake meteor crashes and, of course, launching rockets. NASA also celebrated the occasion by providing educational resources about the moon landing, including several STEM projects for classes to create. If you missed out on using those resources, the NASA website offers many other STEM materials.
Meditation and education
Although the term ‘mindfulness’ has existed since the 1970s, its application in the classroom began to gain prominence in the mid 2010s. That trend continued this year with more classrooms selecting from a plethora of wellness activities, including meditation. The 2019 budget also gave $2.5 million to the school-based mindfulness program Smiling Mind, which specialises in younger children. R.I.C. Publications released our own mindfulness package for classrooms in October this year.
NSW Curriculum looking for a change
Also in October, the NSW curriculum authority released its interim curriculum review. The review was critical of the current curriculum, finding that it was overcrowded and didn’t allow for teachers to explore important topics in meaningful ways. It demanded extensive changes and a re-focus on science, mathematics and English to provide students with the knowledge, skills and attributes they will need for future employment. The review noted that such changes could take up to a decade to be applied. How this research will be used is not yet clear.
Students take to the streets
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This year saw Australian students unite in a way unseen for many years—marching for environmental activism. There were three massive school walkouts in 2019, one in March, one in May and the last in September, all in support of combating climate change. Australia wasn’t alone in the action—these student marches occurred across the globe. There were both critics and supporters for these marches in every role, from scientists and political figures to principals and parents. But regardless of the various stances on the issue, it was impressive to see the overview shots of hundreds of thousands of young people taking to the streets to stand for their futures.
2020—The year that will be
By reflecting on 2019, we might also be able to predict education trends we will see in the following year.
On the policy front, after Victoria and Western Australia’s phone bans, we might see South Australia do the same in 2020. However, Queensland, Tasmania and Northern Territory haven’t implied any plans of their own.
Due to NAPLAN Online’s problems, the Victorian government has not only prevented schools from switching to the digital test but has allowed those already online to return to pen and paper. With so much distrust in the digital test, the future of NAPLAN Online likely depends on its performance next year.
In schools this year, we saw a disturbing loss of qualified school librarians, primarily in Western Australia. No such problem exists in New South Wales’s public schools, as a qualified librarian position is mandatory. If no similar change is made to WA laws, professional librarian teachers might soon disappear from the state.
From STEM to STEAM to project-based learning, primary education seems to be continuing towards an integrated learning approach. These three teaching styles are about creativity, problem-solving and the connections between subjects. It seems 2020 will see the continued popularity of all three, due to support from teachers and academics alike.
In a similar topic of inspired learning, the ‘Makerspace’ has been appearing in more classrooms throughout 2019. A Makerspace is simply a space in the classroom where students can explore materials or project at their own pace, letting their natural curiosity guide them. Next year, we predict these set-ups will become common at most schools.
What do you remember from 2019? What might happen in 2020? Comment your memories and predictions below.