Australia’s PISA scores
I couldn’t care less about our world-wide ranking. The headlines that matter are:
In maths 49%, in science 42% and in reading 43% of 15 year olds DID NOT achieve the national proficient standard
A QUARTER of 15 year olds in Australia were at a proficiency level “too low to enable them to participate effectively and productively in life”
As a cohort, “Indigenous students were about four years of schooling behind non-Indigenous students”
Better training for teachers isn’t the only answer. There’s a lot that could happen outside of the classroom to fix the underlying reasons for the levels of dysfunction some students are coming to school with, that affects the learning of the whole class.
Do we really want to improve student results?
We could try:
Universal, free access to early childhood education and care for all children regardless of parent work status (yep, you’re gonna have to fix the systemic crisis in the sector first)
Paying parents a living wage to take time out of the fulltime paid workforce to grow a human, heal their own trauma, learn how to be a parent and meet all of their children’s needs in at least the first year of their life
Universal, ongoing parenting skills training for every parent from pre-conception to adult
Unlimited paid parenting leave for parents whenever the school needs to work with them on supporting their children at school and home
Unlimited paid parenting leave for parents to keep their children home when they’re sick
Therapeutic approaches to behaviour including counselling, speech therapy, occupational therapy, all delivered at school as part of the learning program by appropriately-qualified people - with the key factor being that children access the support they need regardless of parent motivation, location or financial circumstances
Healthy, nutritious food being provided at school for every child regardless of parental skill, time, motivation or finances
Culturally-appropriate both-ways learning for Indigenous children and children from varied cultural backgrounds
And the holy grail - System-wide reform for universal approaches, early intervention and intensive support to end domestic and family violence and child abuse and neglect, including intensive whole-of-family support throughout pregnancy and into the first years of the child’s life
*Note: when I say “parent” I mean anyone doing the parenting role whether that’s grandparents, aunties, uncles, foster parents etc*
Imagine if!!
Source: The Guardian - Australian students’ Pisa scores still declining despite climb into OECD top 10