Much has been said of the Gonski Report of late, from the Federal Minister's media release lauding it "a blueprint for educational success" to principals in Victoria welcoming a "more modern, personalised learning approach". But what kinds of changes can a school's three key sets of stakeholders expect in the aftermath of the delivery of the Report, which will come into effect from the beginning of 2019?
The terms of reference for the Gonski Report were to focus on the effective and efficient use of funding to:
To support these recommendations, the Gonski Report also focused on:
The Review Panel for the Gonski Report also identified a range of themes for consideration including:
The Gonski Report was delivered on 28 March 2018 making it clear that, according to the Federal Government's Media Release, "Australian students should receive a world-class education, tailored to their individual learning needs, and relevant to a fast-changing world. They should be challenged and supported to progress and excel in their learning every year of school, appropriate to their starting point and capabilities."
The Gonski Report identified three key priority areas for review:
Within these three priority areas, the Gonski Report identified 23 recommendations under five themes:
The Gonski Report's findings and recommendations were informed by consultation with education, policy and business leaders as well as 279 submissions.
Much of the feedback surrounding the recommendations was positive with the National Catholic Education Commission commenting in a media release, "the wide-ranging report...takes into account current educational research and thinking, and responds to the key challenges being faced by Australian schools and systems." The Association of Independent Schools of NSW also noted “We particularly note its focus on individual student achievement and learning growth, student agency and the need to revise the structure of the Australian curriculum to ensure it equips students for the workforce of the future.”
The Gonski Report, according to the Australian Financial Review, stated that teachers in primary schools are allowing their students to "cruise" rather than challenge them. The solution, according to the Gonski Report is to reward teachers with pay, recognition and responsibilities based on expertise.
An excellent teacher—with strong professional skills, motivation and commitment—can account for up to 30 per cent of the difference in achievement between students and the Gonski Report bases the majority of its recommendations on improving teacher quality and giving school principals more flexibility, indicating these are weak areas in the system in need of attention.
The recommendations focused on three key areas for teachers:
Shifting to this type of education model focused on attainment will require teachers to be adaptive and embrace changes to their planning, teaching and assessment practice. For example, they need to understand individual students' starting points; create multi-streamed, differentiated lesson plans for each class; adjust their pedagogy to the different needs of individual students based on evidence about the most effective interventions; seek and act upon feedback from students and provide more nuanced reporting on assessments of students' performance and the next steps in their learning; ensure their growth in learning is appropriate given the student's potential; and identify 'flight paths' for where the student needs to be to maximise learning growth each year.
While many teachers recognise the benefits of these methods for student outcomes, and some are already applying them, schools may find challenges in professional collaboration and learning in the coming year as the Gonski Report recommendations are implemented.
According to the Gonski Report, the foundations for excellence in learning are laid early in life. Parents and carers who engage children in high-quality learning experiences from a young age make a significant difference to a child's educational success at school. Their support can foster a child's confidence and motivation, early literacy and numeracy skills, and the social and emotional capacity to do well when starting school and beyond.
While parent and carer support is particularly important in the early years of a child's learning development, it is vital for them to remain engaged partners in learning throughout a child's entire schooling period, particularly through the transition points of a child's schooling life. The three critical transition points in education are from:
According to the Gonski Report, parents and carers need more guidance on how to be effective partners in learning and learn not to simply engage when the critical NAPLAN or ATAR scores are released. Schools can help by clearly mapping out ways to engage parents and carers to build a shared understanding of how to improve student outcomes over the entire course of the schooling period. School systems can help by clarifying the most effective engagement models.
Encouraging students to be partners in their own learning increases agency (ownership and responsibility) and achievement and creates positive long-term learning habits. It also builds student engagement with schooling, which is associated with positive outcomes in most facets of life.
The Gonski Report recommended overhauling the curriculum to focus on "learning progressions" that extended all students, regardless of ability. According to Victorian principals who have already embraced similar changes in student learning, this also extends to final exams (as reported in The Age), "the VCE [is] too structured and could stall the development of important life skills including critical thinking, creativity, entrepreneurship and collaboration. This...is due to its unwavering focus on the ATAR."
Schools need to be aware of the need to equip students with skills and knowledge to navigate a rapidly changing world, and the focus from the Gonski Report on individualised learning and growth.
Other key recommendations from the Gonski Report included:
The Federal Government has stated it will work with states and territories and non-government school systems to determine how the reforms set out in the Gonski Report should be delivered. And with no new funding allocated to the recommendations from the Gonski Report in the 2018 Federal budget, new reform agreements between the Commonwealth and jurisdictions will need to be negotiated this year to come into effect from 2019.