Don’t repeat education reform mistakes
The reforms of Tomorrow’s Schools were undercut by political meddling. It’s replacement must not be, writes Darrell Latham.
Ten years after the 1989 implementation of Tomorrow’s Schools former Prime Minister David Lange noted that the model had been subverted by competition. He described the Ministry of Education (MOE) as ‘‘dysfunctional and unfit for the partnership between government and schools’’.
He said this should not have been the case but, in reality the Tomorrow’s Schools model had been sabotaged by the competitive element and further undermined by the failure of the government’s chief education agency.
Put simply, the school reforms were never designed to be a competitive model of education where schools were encouraged to compete for students and where the MOE was deliberately allowed to become a spectator of school failure.
None of this was inevitable. Schools were made to compete and the MOE were made ineffective as a matter of political choice. The choice can be reversed, Lange said.
A competitive education system was mostly – but not entirely – the product of right wing governments.
Would I describe Tomorrows Schools as a failure? I do not think for a moment that it failed nor would I describe it as a runaway success. Rather, Tomorrow’s Schools has been a slow work in progress. However, way too long overdue for reform.
Fast forward the calendar nearly 30 years from the implementation of the Tomorrow’s School reforms and enter stage left, Education Minister Chris Hipkins.
Hipkins was born in 1978 and would have been right in the middle of the mix of the introduction of the 1989 Tomorrow’s Schools reforms. Not that he would have noticed anything untoward, because, at 11 years of age he would have been more interested in kicking and chasing a real football than a political football.
‘‘The biggest reform in decades planned by the Government’’ said the front page headline in Wednesday’s Press, positioned just below the front page article about cyclone Gita touching down and the devastation caused amongst communities. A touch of irony there!
The reader is left in no doubt that a whirlwind is about to be unleashed on the education sector. A complete overhaul! This is not going to be a tweaking around the margins or a touch-up paint job. What we are about to see in education is a change of monumental proportions.
If you are a teacher, educator, board of trustees member, parent or school pupil it’s time to draw breath, get your compass out, check the first aid and your emergency survival kit and, hang on for the ride.
As a young teacher I always remember when I first faced major education reforms. I was really concerned until a much older teacher gently took me aside and sat me down and explained the process. Much of it was an exercise in renaming, he explained. We have seen it all before, he said. The policy comes around and goes around and the politicians come and go. Life goes on. One of life’s lessons and not too far wide of the mark. I learnt much later that what he really meant was that there is much to be excited about in new cutting edge educational policy development that can completely overhaul and reform the system. However, political meddling and tinkering stuffs things up. The reforms that the Government is about to oversee are indeed the biggest education reforms in decades. It will be a complete overhaul of the system from early childhood through to post-secondary.
Here is the problem. What the Minister wants is an ‘‘enduring 30 year approach to education.’’ Exactly the same as former Education Minister David Lange wished for before the tinkering started with Tomorrow’s Schools.
The problem is and has always been the ongoing political tinkering of the car’s engine, much as Lange alluded to when he later said the Tomorrow’s Schools reforms was like doing a valve grind on the car while the engine was running. Everyone wanted to tinker with it.
Tomorrow’s Schools was a radical model of school administration. Its strength lay in the local management of schools through boards of trustees. At the time it was the biggest education reform undertaken in decades. Much the same as the reforms that are being proposed by Education Minister Chris Hipkins.
Tomorrow’s Schools was designed as a partnership between the school and its community on one side and the government on the other. According to Lange, one of the key players, the government lost interest.
For any ‘‘enduring 30 year approach to education’’ to be successful it needs to be rooted in a genuine partnership model with the Government and the ongoing political tinkering needs to be kept to a minimum.
Dr Darrell Latham is a retired senior lecturer from the University Of Otago College Of Education. His research interests include the politics of education and he is a regular commentator on educational issues.