Essays in Pearls and Irritations
Pearls and Irritations
Pearls and Irritations is a platform for discussing public policy, both domestic and foreign, that is based in Australia. The publisher is John Menadue
The following two articles were published in this on line journal in early 2021. Both deal with education and summarise a number of issues raised elsewhere in this website.
April 18 2021
Education shouldn’t be about contribution to the economy
Coalition’s education policy deals only with schools, ignores the critical early years of life and the nature of learning and wrongly asserts a link between student education achievement and economic growth. Funding has produced gross inequity and no educational gain….
April 19, In Part 1 – Policy and Progress, I pointed out the problem of focusing on schooling and the myths of its contribution to economic growth. In Part 2, I emphasise the importance of teacher-led assessment and the fundamental importance of early childhood….Investment in early childhood education provides greatest benefit
November 14 2022
School education: designed to fail?
Education, more properly learning, has been subject to numerous inquiries and reforms. In Australia and elsewhere the policy debate is framed in the context of school and preparation for employment, a job. Intervention by governments over the last 50 years has been substantial and mostly unproductive.
School is not the main place of learning and jobs are not the most important desired outcome.