Australians do it Better: An ‘Outsider’s Perspective on Gifted Education “Down Under”

Australians do it Better: An ‘Outsider’s Perspective on Gifted Education “Down Under” Professor Karen B. Rogers University of St. Thomas Minneapolis, Minnesota kbrogers@stthomas.edu

A Summary of This Outsider’s Experiences With Australian Schools • Before going to GERRIC full-time in 2005, I made yearly 2+ week trips there: • COGE training (1994 - 2005) • Research seminars to School of Education faculty and postgraduate students at UNSW • Parent seminars through GERRIC student programs • ARC Linkage Curriculum Development project with two NSW high schools - lived at each school for a period of 3 months working with teachers in these schools on a daily basis. (“Artist in Residence” project in education perhaps?)

A Summary of This Outsider’s Experiences With Australian Schools • 2005-2007 • Talking with parents (individually and in groups) - parents of gifted children, primarily • DEST regional & remote workshops (10) - 900 • Seminars through GERRIC - 1,300 • GERRIC workshops for parent groups - 450 • Parents at conferences - 300 • Email conversations within Australia - 75 • Internet chat forum - 100

A Summary of This Outsider’s Experiences With Australian Schools • 2005-2007 • Talking with teachers • In Gifted Education settings: • COGE - 800 • School workshops - 930 • In Conferences - 1,290 • In Regular Education settings • In-services - 1,625 • School observations (practicum supervisions) - 25 • Classroom observations - 32

A Summary of This Outsider’s Experiences With Australian Schools • 2005-2007 • Speaking to and with K-12 students (gifted) • Ceremonies - 390 • Research - 4,350 + 30 (in-depth) • Evaluations - 4 • Relating to and with K-12 students (regular) • Research - 900

A Summary of This Outsider’s Experiences With Australian Schools • 2005-2007 • Speaking to and with principals, education executives • Workshops - 185 • Conferences - 172 • Speaking to and with policy makers - 10

A Summary of This Outsider’s Experiences With Australian Schools • 2005-2007 • University Experiences • Undergraduate teaching - 400 (guest lectures) • Practicum supervision - 25 schools • Postgraduate supervision • 9 PhDs • 3 Masters • UNSW Ethics Panel member • Collaboration with other Aussie universities - 4

A Summary of This Outsider’s Experiences With Australian Schools • 2005-2007 • 15 field-based research studies in K-12 schools • 6 Catholic • 4 government • 7 independent • Advisory Committees • Government working groups (2) • Catholic Education Office (2) • Telstra/art museum critical friend

In Summary • I haven’t seen it all, but I have been fortunate to see quite a lot! • To qualify my experiences, though, my focus has been primarily through the lens of the greater Sydney region and New South Wales, despite many visits to all other states and territories.

Perceptions of Elementary SchoolingThe Pluses • The choices of schooling from kindergarten through year 12 are mind boggling! • The representation of schools with fairly equal attendance in each of the three major education systems makes for remarkable choice and fit for children and families. Everyone has the chance to find the ‘perfect’ school. • Correspondingly, leaders from within each education system appear to cooperate with the other sectors when it comes to providing the vision of what schooling should be for Australian students. If one system has a good idea for tracking special needs students, for example, that will be readily shared with another system.

Perceptions of Elementary SchoolingThe Pluses • In public schools, there are 114 schools with Opportunity Classes designed to address the advanced academic needs of 10% of elementary children in grades 5 and 6. The OC school system has been in place continuously since the early and mid-1930s. There is a rich collection of data to tell us that this system works to best educate Australia’s brightest students. • Many public schools also provide ‘preparatory’ classrooms for those children below grade 5 whom they feel will be accepted into OC classes • There is an objective and comprehensive assessment system in place to find and place gifted children into these classes.

Perceptions of Elementary SchoolingThe Pluses • In the Catholic education system, there is a strong policy in place to support every school that wishes to provide gifted services. Approximately 5-10% of gifted children within this system are being provided with high quality enrichment and differentiation. Regional GT coordinators are in place to support these schools. • In general education, the Catholic Education Office, in particular, has focused heavily on the greater than expected proportion of indigenous students, ‘invisible underachievers’, and NESB students it finds in its schools. Regional coordinators are in place to support the schools with these students. In many of these schools, special populations account for 65%-90% of the student body.

Perceptions of Elementary SchoolingThe Pluses • In the private school system, increasing numbers of schools are providing ‘Opportunity Classes’ for bright students, over and above the concerted efforts they have made to meet these needs traditionally. In general, approximately 20-25% of students in these schools are being provided with differentiated and enriched gifted services. • A tremendous number of scholarships are made available to economically disadvantaged, NESB, and indigenous families to encourage independent school attendance. NESB student comprise at least 40% of these schools’ student populations.

Perceptions of Elementary SchoolingThe Pluses • Elementary children, when spoken to, can express themselves clearly and well. They also write clearly and seem to receive consistent training in how to communicate with precision and expression. • Their general mathematical knowledge and skill certainly surpasses what U.S. children are taught. They are moving into higher mathematics at least two years in advance of what is offered in the U.S. Australia will not be at the bottom in international comparisons.

Perceptions of Elementary SchoolingThe Pluses • Creativity and the arts seem to be valued and consistently integral to Australia’s curriculum. This may help to explain the high per capita numbers of highly creative filmmakers, actors, authors, and musicians in this country of 22 million people. • State produced Board of Studies syllabus outcomes are of high calibre in almost all curriculum areas. Australian children are not learning minimal competencies. Their learning outcomes are rich, multi-faceted, higher order, and allow for true differentiation for different learners rather than the production of ‘cookie cutter’ clones, all having achieved minimal competencies.

Perceptions of Elementary SchoolingThe Pluses • Much less time, money, and focus need to be placed on behavior and discipline in schools. Is it the uniforms? Is it the comparatively small number of students each school takes in? • Teachers in primary schools seem to be much more committed and satisfied with their positions. They seem to focus on how to do a better job with teaching and learning rather than on how to spend their summer months and time off. Could it be the year round school schedule that supports this to a certain extent? Could it be that there is considerably more mobility between schools? Teachers tend to move to another school when they wish to pick up another set of ‘skills’. AND pay rates are comparable across systems.

Perceptions of Elementary SchoolingThe Pluses • Elementary school teachers, regardless of education system, seem to view their work as fulfilling, their students as individuals, and their own continuing professional education as important roles. • Elementary school principals communicate a pride in their schools, a confidence that they are trying their best, and a willingness to let an ‘outsider’ come in and take a look. They are also very open to advice on how to improve what they do. Budget and personnel management seem to be of lesser importance than whether or not students are learning.

Perceptions of Elementary SchoolingThe Minuses • Students in OC classes and in many other classes are overtly ranked by their performance. • Does this suggest that assessment is considered a normative process rather than a criterion-based one? • Does this suggest that the assessments provided to children do not contain the more important corrective feedback children need to learn than to tell them ‘how they did’? (Are we falling into this same trap with NCLB?)

Perceptions of Elementary SchoolingThe Minuses • How the OC classes are perceived and who gets into them are surrounded with misperceptions. In some schools, the OC class is seen as the ‘good’ class. • Likewise, teachers in schools will complain that the OC students only ‘got in’ because they were coached to do so. True enough, there are large numbers of coaching ‘colleges’ in NSW. • There is also the misperception that the reason there is an ‘over-representation’ of Asian nationalities in these schools is because of the coaching and work ethic of families rather than students’ natural abilities.

Perceptions of Elementary SchoolingThe Minuses • I wonder if the small size of many schools prevents more extensive services and differentiation from taking place, just because of ‘small numbers’? • Is there an optimal size for a school to be effective and be able to provide more adequately for all the diverse needs represented there? • The huge toll taken by school transportation has to impact Australia’s environment (somewhat) -- all those cars hovering outside schools each day to pick up students. When students and families shop for schools, transportation often becomes the larger issue when the school choice is not a neighborhood school.

Perceptions of Secondary (7-12) Schooling The Pluses • The choices of comprehensive, partially selective, and selective high schools in the public school system offer options for very diverse talents among students in years 7-12. There are 23 selective high schools in NSW alone, coupled with 10 partially selective, and 373 comprehensive high schools (including several sports and arts high schools). Among the selectives there are 4 all girls’ and 5 all boys’ schools. These schools seem to serve the top 10% of students. • Among the comprehensives, there are 21 all girls’ and 19 all boys’ schools. Each type of public high school provides differentiation for brighter learners with very focused attention placed in years 11 and 12 on preparation for the HSC (or VCE, or…)

Perceptions of Secondary (7-12) Schooling The Pluses The choices of students to be placed in co-educational or in single gender schools is wide open. Again, families and students have the choice of ‘best fit’.

Perceptions of Secondary (7-12) Schooling The Pluses • In both the Catholic and the private education systems, there is a focus placed on university preparation coursework and effort. Families with bright children who do not do well on tests can receive a differentiated education at these schools. AND the schools seem to be prepared to offer differentiated services to up to 25% of their population. In many cases, parents may choose to send their children to these schools, despite being accepted into the public school system. Again, parents and students have the option to find the best ‘fit’.

Perceptions of Secondary (7-12) Schooling The Pluses • Teachers do much more cross year level communication and planning, perhaps due to the common subject area staff rooms and common morning tea times built into school schedules, as well as the assignment of teachers to classes at several grade levels and performance levels, and use of cross year level marking of student work. • Teachers do much more cross disciplinary communication and planning, perhaps due to the common morning tea times and encouragement at the university level of teacher training to major in more than one academic area.

Perceptions of Secondary (7-12) Schooling The Pluses • Teachers seem eager to improve their pedagogical expertise as well as their content expertise. This does not translate into more teachers pursuing postgraduate degrees, but does step up participation in extracurricular training and certificates. • Teachers, even when they have more than a hundred students in their various courses, still manage to think of individual students and how what they are teaching applies to that student, rather than about their fourth period ‘class’ or ‘this year’s seventh grader. Cross communication about students occurs in addition to communication about curriculum.

Perceptions of Secondary (7-12)Schooling The Pluses • State produced Board of Studies syllabus outcomes are of high calibre in almost all curriculum areas. Australian high school students are not learning minimal competencies. Their learning outcomes are rich, multi-faceted, higher order, and allow for true differentiation for different learners rather than the production of ‘cookie cutter’ clones, all having achieved minimal competencies. (NOTE: a repeat of comments about elementary curriculum)

Perceptions of Secondary (7-12) Schooling The Minuses • The opportunity is still fairly open to allow students to leave school early, declare emancipation from their parents, and try to function in the adult world without the maturity this truly requires. • There is some concern that the systems have overly focused on university preparation rather than the provision of authentic education and career guidance and support. Is Australia appropriately channeling our talented non-academic students into the fields in which they will thrive in adulthood?

Perceptions of University EducationThe Pluses • 41 fully functioning universities offering a broad spectrum of courses and training, each having their specialties. A substantial proportion of high school students are offered the options of attending university. It is not a closed system for only the brightest and wealthiest. Students pay very little tuition to attend and pay nothing at the Master’s and doctoral levels. • A well-functioning vocational college system that offers viable alternative career and skills training for those not university-inclined is also in place. Many programs that in the U.S. require a B.A. first only require attending the vocational college directly there -- and thus provide Australia with qualified professionals in such fields as law, computer science, and medicine much earlier than one would find in the U.S.

Perceptions of University EducationThe Pluses • Although there is some ranking for top 10 research universities, top 6 teacher training universities, etc., the collaboration seems healthy rather than cutthroat. • I see little “you’re taking MY student” reactions among university faculty and administration when asked to work with other universities. • There seems to be a centralization of specialties. If some university is ‘good’ at teaching research, for example, it offers courses and seminars that other university students can access at some central location such as Canberra (the national capital) and its ANU (Australian National University).

Perceptions of University EducationThe Pluses • The federal government supports research extensively and on a more focused set of priorities than elsewhere in the world. National Mental Health research funds, Australian Research Council project schemes, many government as well as private sources of funds for educational research are available to Australia’s university researchers.

Perceptions of University EducationThe Pluses • 33 universities offer dual enrolment and advanced standing courses to high schoolers who need something beyond their secondary coursework and preparation for the HSC or its equivalent. • 13 universities even offer ‘case by case’ early admission to university to those students who need to start university considerably earlier than the ‘usual’ age. • Universities are increasingly focusing on recruiting the ‘best and brightest’ Australian secondary students, e.g., Scientia scholarships at UNSW

Perceptions of University EducationThe Minuses • The media and others have raised concerns that dollars drive the current recruitment of students with a special focus on Asian nations as the source for students. Increased issues with plagiarism, exam substitutes, quality of scholarship, even fluency in English then arise and must be confronted. • The student body at the college level is becoming just as likely to be there because they can afford it as because they scored highly on university entrance requirements. This may ultimately push down the academic rigor offered at University level, but certainly the motivation to attend remains high.

University Education in Summary • Australia turns out a well-educated proportion of its future citizens, individuals who seem to ‘care’ about the world outside of Australia, who are willing to become productive and contributing citizens of Australia, and who are diligent and committed to their work. • No longer is there an attitude of working to live rather than living to work. Perhaps there is more workaholism there now, but I see that as a good thing for Australian society.

University Education In Summary • Australia is poised to become the world leader in research, especially educational research. It consistently provides substantial sums of money to ensure that Australian research on Australian educational institutions is produced. The system works well. If only we saw something similarly coordinated in the U.S. Only our National Institutes of Health and Mental Health show similar U.S. government commitment.

Which of These Elements Do We Offer American Students? • A healthy and thriving system of differentiated schooling at both the elementary and secondary levels • Child-centered education systems with schools focusing on specific student needs, interests, and passions in the development of their ‘different’ approaches to learning. (Selective schools, sports schools, arts schools, choices of HSC courses) • High stakes, but high competency assessments of student performance in preparation for university matriculation • Viable assessments of ability and performance upon which to make ‘good’ placement decisions for bright learners

Which of These Elements do we Offer American Students? • High level of visionary coordination in schools -- there are always executives and deputy principals in addition to principals, despite small school sizes • BUT…a lack of comprehensive support systems in many school systems -- no regular guidance & counseling at the elementary level, few social workers at either elementary or secondary levels, and guidance counselors seem to be as overworked as they are in the U.S.

Which of These Elements do we Offer Our American Students? • Substantial government support for the Catholic and private school systems, which results in higher order services provided more equitably across all three education systems • BUT …the indigenous issue remains unresolved. Heroic and good-hearted attempts have been made, but a reasonable solution remains to be found. At the present time, the system does not work sufficiently for these students and their families.

Qualifiers on My Conclusions • I have taken on the ‘eyes wide open’ approach in looking at the Australian system, perhaps in typical naïve U.S. style. • I am often called a ‘Pollyanna’ because of my rose-colored glasses.

But … • There is a viable, working system, which remains flexible to student academic, social and emotional needs. • Much of the rest of the world (except Singapore and the Scandinavian countries, perhaps) have much to learn from the way Australians do the business of educatio. • So what are the “lessons” for us?

Australians do it Better: An ‘Outsider’s Perspective on Gifted Education “Down Under”