State and Territorial Differences in Australian Curriculum
Question:
Discuss about the Australian Curriculum and Third Way Ideology.
Documentation, planning and assessment are the main components of carrying out the tasks. However, planning attains the primary position, as it helps in systematizing the activities according to their priorities. This essay speculates the importance of these components from the perspective of the Australian curriculum in terms of early childhood education, care and setting (Australia.gov.au, 2018). At the initial stage, the essay peeks into the state and territorial differences, which persists in the educational context of Australia. As a sequential step, the pedagogical approaches and methodology towards Early Years Learning Framework is proposed.
The states and territory of Australia strive to deliver quality education to the students in accordance to the policies and standards. Here, the focus of the staffs is to meet the expectation of the students irrespective of their cultural background. In spite of this, several differences exist in the approach towards setting the curriculum.
Strong social justice concern forms the main activity of the southern Australian state curriculum. Here, emphasis is given on upliftment of the social status of the underpriviledged. In Queensland, stress is laid on the enhancement of diversity in case of the students belonging to the rural areas (Australiancurriculum.edu.au, 2018). In North South Wales, the administrative staffs are concerned towards the provision of quality and standardized education to the students. In this, curriculum policy helps in answering the assessment questions. Evidence of explicit values in the language of the document and interviews reflects the explorative approach towards organizing the curriculum.
North South Wales has achieved accolades and glory due to the possession of world’s largest educational system and golden assessment quality. The students are delivered lectures based on the bookish knowledge. The administrative staffs of the schools and the educational institutions believe in abiding by the traditional values. Along with this, adherence to the standards of HSC helps in shaping the future of the students (Australia.gov.au, 2018).
Constructive view of knowledge gains prominence in Southern part of Australia. Focus is placed on empowering the students, so that they can cater to the educational needs of the students. Transformations in the political regime have maintained consistency in the struggle towards enhancing the professionalism of the students. Upliftment of the underpriviledged students is the main aim of the educational curriculum of Southern Australia. Researchers take up the issue of gender biasness for ensuring the development of the children (Australiancurriculum.edu.au, 2018).
Increasing the course option has enhanced the participation of the students. Introduction of various and wide-ranging avenues before the students has allowed the administrative staffs to break free from the shackles of the traditional education. Along with this, access to the options acted as an address to the question of retaining the students within the academic context. Moderation in the pedagogy is one of the main issues in the educational system of Queensland. Indigenous education finds place in this educational system, ushering in a new dawn of knowledge (Lingard & McGregor, 2014).
Pedagogical Approaches towards Early Years Learning Framework
Political predominance hampers the provision of quality education to the students. Moreover, it has confined the teachers within the traditional educational values, depriving the students from enriching their knowledge. Repeatedly the teachers have been reminded of the cultural and traditional values, whenever they have thought of renovation. Politics within the curriculum have compromised with the education needs of the students (Ditchburn, 2015).
For encouraging the students to expose better performance, the state government caters to linking the inputs and the processes of educational systems. According to the statements of the policy, the staffs are encouraged to make effective and judicious use of the resources for enhancing the system accountability. Along with this, policy also states the inclusion of education services in the public sector. Here, conscious approach is attached towards generating high value education for the students, who have invested in the services of the Australian curriculum (Harris & Ammermann, 2016).
Using the latest version of Australian curriculum has resulted in the inclusion of maths, English, science and history in all of the ACT schools. The major drive behind this is seeking innovation in the existing curriculum. As a matter of specification, establishment of the local curriculum has resulted in the upgradation of educational status in the territories. Northern Territory Curriculum Framework is followed in the schools and other educational institutions for teaching, assessing and reporting the kind of education, which is being provided to the students.
Northern Territory Board of Studies is entrusted with the responsibility to ensure that the schools and the educational institutions abide by the curriculum standards (Nt.gov.au, 2018). The board panel involve in meeting with the Ministry of Education, Chief Executive and the Department of Education for developing educational policies and transmitting them to the norther territory schools.
English is considered as a high rated subject in both the states and territories of Australia. The range is very high except in the Victoria and South Australia. This is in terms of the dominance of teacher practice over the curriculum. The results show that the students are flexible enough in “analysis and evaluation” and incapable of coping with “explanations and demonstrations” (Gauci & Curwood, 2017).
Consistency of science is less in the state of Victoria. This is due to the lack of participation in the teacher-mapping test. Incapability of the jurisdiction to cover all the areas results in misalignment between the topic groups. The students of the states and territories are well versed in application of the concepts and revealing the material differences. It is striking that the Australian curriculum attains a negative connotation in terms of emerging as a failure in terms of enhancing the memory of the students (Rose & Aspland, 2015).
Like English, Maths also has a high range in the alignment index in both the states and the territories. The Australian curriculum needs to be praised in terms of helping the students to solve the routine problems. However, in terms of memorizing the facts, definitions and formulas, the performance of the students is poor.
History has moderate range in the mapping of the Australian states and the territories. However, the states of Tasmania, North South Wales and Queensland take pride in considering history as a subject of high range. Consistency is maintained in the states and the territories of regarding the demonstration of understanding in the historical events (Donnelly, 2015). Along with this, there is also an evidence regarding the capability of the students to investigate the events and process the information. Mention needs to be made of the sharp memory of the students, which helps them to perform better in history.
Challenges and Constraints in Implementing Curriculum
Methodologies and approach towards documentation, planning and assessment of Australian national curriculum- Early Years Learning Framework
Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) is a crucial document in terms of giving a proper shape to the development of the children. The main aim of the framework is to generate mutual understanding between the citizens in terms of fulfilling their responsibilities. The framework allows the educators to ensure the wellbeing of the children. The language of the curriculum is kept simple, so that the staffs get the main idea and work accordingly (Australiancurriculum.edu.au, 2018). According to the framework, a base is prepared for the planning promoting and assessing the learning processes used in the schools.
The educators expose a conscious approach towards the cultural security of the children belonging to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islands. For this, the children and their families are involved within the current educational practices. Means for monitoring the performance of these children are developed for estimating the need for additional requirements. Here, approach also means the consciousness of the staffs towards the beliefs and knowledge used in the planning the curriculum courses.
Communication is established with the Aboriginal families to gain an insight into their problems and sufferings. Here, the educators use authentic ways and means to assure that their responses would be used for the sole purpose of their upliftment instead of commercialization. The staffs, in terms of preserving the individual sentiments of the families, maintain rationality. Typical evidence of this lies in the consideration of Data Protection Act (1998). This relationship acts as a primary agent in developing the early childhood education for the children belonging to the lower strata of the society (Nt.gov.au, 2018).
Belief of the educators is the primary agent in terms of forming the early years learning framework. This belief is essential in terms of creating a learning environment for fulfilling the educational needs of the children. Here, cognitive learning theory is applicable. This is in terms of the consideration of the beliefs, within which the children receive education. The traditional views of education contradict the dynamic, complex and holistic nature of learning process. This contradiction has enabled the educators to carry out effective planning towards developing proper educational curriculum for the students (Australiancurriculum.edu.au, 2018). Commonality in the vision towards child’s learning attaches interrogative parameter to the current educational practices. The act of evaluation helps the personnel to assess the effectiveness, appropriateness and feasibility of these practices in terms of the identified goals and objectives.
This aspect is important in terms of creating difference in the lives of the children. Here, the approach is to envision that the students would attain firm grasp over the concepts. Respecting the culture of the families while collecting data can be an example of cultural competence. Engaging the children and the families within the curriculum reflects valuation of their “being”. The educators struggle for inculcating a strong sense of resilience in the students, so that they can shape their personal and cultural identity in an efficient and effective manner (Australiancurriculum.edu.au, 2018). This is crucial in terms of developing the early years of the children. This is because the kind of guidance the students receive in the budding stage would be reflected in their future life.
Impact of Curriculum on Student Performance
The methodology adopted here are making decisions- which are genuinely inclusive; setting goals for improving children’s learning process; appointing right teachers for monitoring the performance of the students; providing training to the teachers for exposing teamwork; raising the standards of the policies; evaluation of the capability of the teachers and the educators for assessing the competence towards preserving the cultural diversity.
The educators adopt play way learning methods for transmitting the knowledge of the essential concepts to the students. Here, planning is done in terms of playing those games, which enhances the learning process of the students. Special care is taken of the students, who are mentally retarded or are physically handicapped. These students are given special training, so that they can learn the basic concepts and maintain the pace with the other students. The students are instructed to use simple language, so that the students can grasp the things easily. Tests are taken to assess the capability of the students towards performing the tasks given by the teachers. This assessment helps the educators to make further plans regarding improving the learning process (Australiancurriculum.edu.au, 2018). Reports regarding the performance of the students are send to the board of directors, so that renovations can be made in this field.
Evaluation of the current educational practices makes the educators aware of whether the schools and the institutions are following the standards of the framework. Inspections bring to the forefront the ways and means of delivering education to the students. Tests and examinations are one of the ways of assessing the performance of the students within the academic context. Along with this, the learning outcomes are considered for assessing the results of the undertaken ways and means.
The results of the assessment are reported to the parents in Parents teachers meeting, where steps are taken for improvising the learning and development of the children (Australia.gov.au, 2018). Documentation involves collecting relevant data for enhancing the education methods. Filming the early childhood education, in the schools and institutions, results in expanding the scope and arena of the framework.
This is the most important part of the assessment in terms of ensuring that proper approach has been exposed in terms of the child’s development. This reflection enhances the personal and professional development of the teachers and instructors as well as the students (Australia.gov.au, 2018).
Conclusion
In spite of the state and territorial differences, the main aim of Australian educational curriculum is to provide standardized education to the students for their development. For this, the approach of the teachers and the administrative staffs needs to be perfect. Typical example of this is to plan the lessons according to the intake capacity of the students. Evaluation is most important for realizing the effectiveness, appropriateness and feasibility of the lesson plans in terms of the educational establishment of the students. Focus on the rural areas would uplift their social status, indicating advancement of the civilization as a whole.
References and bibliography
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Australiancurriculum.edu.au (2018), Implementation of Australian curriculum, Retrieved 24th March 2018 from https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/implementation-of-the-australian-curriculum/
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Harris, A., & Ammermann, M. (2016). The changing face of creativity in Australian education. Teaching Education, 27(1), 103-113.
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Nt.gov.au (2018), Northern Territory Board of Studies, Retrieved 24th March 2018 from https://nt.gov.au/learning/primary-and-secondary-students/northern-territory-board-of-studies
Rose, J., & Aspland, T. (2015). The Australian curriculum and third way ideology is there a nexus?. Curriculum Perspectives, 35(1), 39.
Thompson, K., Boddy, A., Boyer, T., Cooke, R., Davidson, M., Dragovich, D., … & Robertson, M. (2016). Geography NSW Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum Stage 4 Years 7 and 8 Interactive Textbook. Cambridge University Press.
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