Sunday mornings seem to be the absolute best time for me to melt into my phrontistery and ‘pen’ my reflections. On this grey morning, I’ve dragged out my brother’s old PowerBook G4. It has the most extraordinary keyboard- the likes of which has long been forgotten in future iterations of the device.
Ironically, this old computer does almost everything its younger more shinny version can. There are a few key exceptions. The aging G4 reflects a time where the design tension between form and function was tuned and harmonious. My fingers can hum across the keyboard with confidence. The business of getting one’s thoughts down is uncluttered by sticky keys and slapping keystrokes – which can’t be said for the current version.
This leads me to wonder what the similarities are with the current expression of education in Australia. The role of the Prime Minister has just been handed to someone new – again. His first public commentary on education has been to assuage the private school lobbyists by gifting them an ad hoc 4.5 billion dollars. The narrative associated with this generous donation was that parents deserve ‘choice’. Of course, he is only referring to rich parents – clearly low income parents will not be receiving any of that cash so they can then choose where they send their children. No – it will go directly to the private school coffers. More frustratingly, public schools did not receive an extra cent in funding and the whole new funding model was completely ignored.
The PM declared that the ‘Funding Wars’ were over by this callous act of betrayal. From my perspective, to emasculate the hard won funding agreement, magically come up with billions of dollars – call it sector blind and only give it to the private sector can mean only one thing. This government is blind to the public sector – blind to the needs of those for whom ‘choice’ is an illusion, blind to caring about who learners are – or what schools do. He declared that the funding war is over with a grand gesture of granting billions of dollars to the socially advantaged minority. In so doing, he has declared the gaze of the government to rest comfortably on its own kind and abandon the rest of us to a background of darkness and obscurity.
Around this time – the new Minister for Education gave us insight into his own musings on the complex nature of his portfolio. He faces extraordinary challenges in serving multiple jurisdictions to address the impact of isolation, social disadvantage, inter-generational poverty, domestic violence, under resourcing, complex trauma, disengagement and high anxiety. These are just some of the factors that harm a child’s likelihood of flourishing at school. His utterance? ‘Ban mobile phones at school’.
One part of me goes – ‘Fine, abandon my role in public schooling and go private.’ My part of the world is becoming more centralised and bureaucratic. All the while, senior bureaucratic rhetoricians are misquoting current research on system reform to justify their indulgent behaviour. It is reasonable to suspect that increased resourcing can lead to increased agency, equaling diverse pathways to experiencing successful learning throughout schooling. Increased centralisation leads to decreased agency and streamlining instruction across districts. My fear is that resources are poured into developing and maintaining accountability measures for conformity and compliance, rather than given to all schools to improve student and system learning.
One system is afforded institutional trust and the other is just that – ‘The Other’.
The fact that my shinny new Macbook Pro with its sleek but sticky keyboard is still in its bag – while the old G4 is open for business (and its overheated battery is keeping me warm) gives me hope. Perhaps, despite of the obdurate blindness of those who make rules and allocate resources, our kids in the public sector can disrupt the duality of the old world. Perhaps it is because of (and not despite of) this binary worldview, that our extraordinary public school teachers, families and leaders, design and create learning ecologies that afford our kids the power to shape their world.
My brother’s G4 was once the new and shinny device. Somehow it has transcended both fad and fancy, remaining useful for learning. It’s enduring qualities may well outlive many more Australian Prime Ministers. Likewise, our public school communities will not abandon their own. We need the voice, advocacy and support in the national discourse on education to ensure the conversation thrives on learners and learning – not finance wars and banning mobile phones.
