PD Coordinators News - Australian Education Union, Victorian Branch

Percentage of secondary schools with difficulties in filling vacancies (2010)High SES...........2.8%Medium SES.......9.2%Low SES............15.1%The full report can be found at http://www.deewr.gov.au/schooling/documents/siasmainreport.docxREPORTS AND INQUIRIESGrattan Institute Report: “Catching Up”Two days before the landmark Gonski Review published its report into school funding, the Melbourne GrattanInstitute published its own report (Catching up: Learning from the best school systems in East Asia) about howAustralian schools were falling behind those in East Asian countries.The report describes the school systems in Hong Kong, Korea, Shanghai and Singapore. It chose these cities andcountries because they outperformed Australia in international testing and, with countries like Finland and Canada,are at the top of the OECD PISA international testing league tables.The report plays down the provision of resources and the effect of culture on the performance of these Asian“countries”. Instead their high performance is ascribed to “a relentless, practical focus on learning, and thecreation of a strong culture of teacher education, research, collaboration, mentoring, feedback and sustainedprofessional development”.In Australia, the report contends, there is a disconnection between the attempt to introduce similar policies andtheir impact in the classroom. The report claims to show how the success of the Asian cities and countries can beemulated by breaking down this disconnection.The Grattan report arose out of a “round table” conference in Melbourne in September 2011, sponsored bythe Victorian Department of Education. The round table was attended by representatives from the four East Asianeducation systems, the Australian Prime Minister and Federal Minister for Education and education departmentheads from around the country.The arrival of the report a day or so before the release of the Gonski Review findings looked like a case of“ambush marketing”. The media pounced on the Grattan report because it seemed to offer a low cost alternative tothe $5 billion Gonski bill.The report can be found at http://www.grattan.edu.au/pub_page/129_report_learning_from_the_best.htmlPUBLICATIONSAEUProfessional Voice — Equity and DisadvantageThe new edition of Professional Voice on the theme of “Equity and Disadvantage” is now ready to be published.The writers — from Victorian, national and international backgrounds — cover a broad range of issues related tothis theme:Editorial: The reproduction of disadvantage by John GrahamEquity and the Simplification of National Policy by Alan ReidRescuing from the Darkness: Equity and the early years by Tony VinsonPage 14 of 16PD coordinators e-news | Volume 8, Issue 1 | March 2012