They say they want a revolution

There\u27s plenty of scope for a "revolution" in schooling but few signs of the ideas and resources it would require, writes DEAN ASHENDEN WHAT the Rudd government proposes for schools - better IT infrastructure, beefed-up national curriculum, improved transition to training or work, a focus on the basic skills of the disadvantaged, better reporting on schools’ performance - are all achievable and worthwhile, but they are not even new, let alone “revolutionary.” The government is doing itself, the schools and a useful word no favours by suggesting that they are. There have been revolutions in schooling before, certainly including the institution of free and universal basic schooling, and perhaps also the tumultuous events of the 1960s and 1970s that culminated in the Whitlam government’s spectacular entry to the schooling arena. Other revolutions may come. There is work to be done that, if carried through, could be called “revolutionary.” But as things now stand the Commonwealth lacks the machinery, the resources, and the mandate for revolutionary change in schooling. It has no clear, inspiriting argument about why a “revolution” is needed, nor a picture of what it would achieve. I would like to illustrate these points through observations from my time as a fly on the wall of schooling over more decades than I like to admit, then sketch some suggestions about the content of a “revolution” and about the government’s program... Read the full article on our partner site, Inside Story > &nbsp