National curriculum

The Labor government has announced their education policy, which contains a proposal for a national curriculum to improve our children’s educational outcomes.

The Labor government recognizes the need for education reforms that begin at Pre-School and go through to Year 12. Australia has a shortage of scientists and it’s thought this shortage has stemmed from the lack of scientific thinking in our teaching, particularly in primary schools. A new curriculum would seek to address this issue.

The government is concerned with international competitiveness – that we do well in benchmark testing etc – however these tests only show a portion of a students ability and/or potential.

Is it valid to go to the expense of formatting a national curriculum? A budget of $50 million dollars over three years has been allocated. This money will be spent on representative experts, Australia wide, from state, catholic and independent schools to write a new national curriculum.

While this policy offers an opportunity to address curriculum shortfalls there is already a noticeable lack of mention of the arts.

As education policies and teaching ideas change with our developing understanding of child development and multiple intelligences, it would be wise to invest money in ongoing professional development for teachers, allowing teachers the information, knowledge and resilience to teach children creatively, individually and deeply.