1. 1 Productivity and participation: a national perspective Barry McGaw Chair, National Curriculum Board Director, University of Melbourne Education Research Institute Former Director for Education, OECD C21st Learning: Acting (Inter)Nationally Curriculum Corporation Conference 2008 Melbourne, 10 November 2008

2. 2 Australian education in a shifting international context.

3. 3 Australia tied for 2 nd with 8 others among 42 countries. Mean reading results (PISA 2000) OECD (2003), Literacy skills for the world of tomorrow: Further results from PISA 2000, Fig. 2.5, p.76.

4. 4 Australia’s ranking in OECD/PISA Reading  Reading ranks  PISA 2000: 4 th but tied for 2 nd  PISA 2003: 4 th but tied for 2 nd  PISA 2006: 7 th but tied for 6 th Finland Korea Canada NZ Hong Kong Korea Canada NZ Hong Kong Finland PISA 2000 PISA 2003 PISA 2006 Ahead of Australia Same as Australia Behind Australia Finland Korea Canada NZ Hong Kong

5. 5 Trends in reading performance Australia Finland Hong Kong China Canada New Zealand Korea Higher performers in Korea improved. Lower performers in HK improved. OECD (2007), PISA 2006: science competencies for tomorrow’s world, Vol. 1 - analysis, Fig. 6.21, p.319. Changes for Finland, Canada & New Zealand are not significant.

6. 6 Trends in Australian reading performances 95 th %ile OECD (2007), PISA 2006: science competencies for tomorrow’s world, Vol. 1 - analysis, Fig. 6.21, p.319. 5 th %ile 90 th %ile 10 th %ile 75 th %ile 25 th %ile Mean

7. 7 Trends in Australian mathematics performances 95 th %ile OECD (2007), PISA 2006: science competencies for tomorrow’s world, Vol. 1 - analysis, Fig. 6.21, p.319. 5 th %ile 90 th %ile 10 th %ile 75 th %ile 25 th %ile Mean

8. 8 Percent of age group with upper secondary education 18 th 1 st 23 rd 6 th 10 th 1 st 10 th 4 th 19 th 3 rd OECD (2007) Education at Glance 2007. Table A1.2a, p.37. 25-34 year olds (1990s) 55-64 year olds (1960s)

9. 9 Labour market disadvantage of low-qualified (2002) Sweet, R. (2006) Education, training and employment in an international perspective. (richard@sweetgroup.org) Unemployment to population ratio: 24 year-olds without upper secondary compared to those with upper secondary Incidence of unemployment among those young people in Australia who have not completed Year 12 or equivalent is more than double that of young people who have.

10. 10 National Curriculum Board’s view of a national curriculum.

11. 11 Principles and specifications  10 in The Shape of the National Curriculum: A Proposal for Discussion  Including claims that the curriculum should:  Make clear what has to be taught and learned  Set high standards for all assuming all can learn  Build firm foundational skills and basis for expertise  Be feasible for teachers: In terms of time and resources available Written with beginning teachers as primary audience  Value teachers’ professional knowledge  Reflect local contexts  Use a strong evidence base of what works

12. 12 View of understanding, knowledge and skills  Expertise is domain specific  Foundations in literacy and numeracy are essential  Content is important  BUT selection of content is crucial  General capabilities are also important  They may be C21  Many were defined in C20  Some are overstated

13. 13 General capabilities Key competencies (1992)Employability skills (2002) Communicate ideas & infoCommunication Work with others in teamsTeamwork Solve problemsProblem solving Use technologyTechnology Plan & organise activitiesPlanning & organisation Collect, analyse & organise info Initiative & enterprise Self management Learning Use maths ideas & techniquesContained in several of above Precision Consultancy (2006) Employability skills: from framework to practice, Canberra: DEST.

14. 14 NCB’s current view of general capabilities  Foundational  Literacy, Numeracy, ICT competence – emphasis on I, C & T  Domain specific (or at least partly so)  Problem solving  Creativity (in part) as breaking out of constraints  Genuinely general  Working with others  Managing own learning  Perspectives  Cultural sensitivity  Engaged citizenship  Commitment to sustainable patterns of living

15. 15 Decluttering the curriculum  General need across whole curriculum  Need within learning areas  Mathematics Allocate time according to importance Extend with more complex problems on current content not introductory work on more advanced content  Science Extent of current content promotes memorisation of content Students become disengaged and turn from science  History Students complain of repetition of (Australian) content Organise and sequence but in a world context

16. 16 Equity.

17. 17 Equity  Curriculum contribution limited but important  Setting high expectations for all  Limiting differentiation that excludes students  Other actors have key roles  Those allocating funds and staff  Schools and teachers Particularly in building strong foundational skills Continuing to address weaknesses as students progress

18. 18 Use of evidence base.

19. 19 Out with idiosyncracy  Professional not equivalent to idiosyncratic practice  A mathematics example  Four key bases for learning subtraction backwards counting modelling situations in which one part of the whole is unknown number strategies that are useful for subtraction solving subtraction word problems  Sequence in learning them not crucial  Value comprehensive and succinct give teachers clear indication of experiences for students

20. 20 Assessment.

21. 21 Assessment  National Curriculum Board’s role and view  Achievement standards central to curriculum specification  Curriculum should drive national assessment  ACARA’s possibilities  Having curriculum shape NAPLAN framework  Examples of changes Numeracy testing understanding, fluency, problem solving and reasoning and not predominantly fluency Literacy using range of texts and not predominantly narrative

22. 22 Being realistic.

23. 23 Look to us and but also to others  National Curriculum Board  Shape of National Curriculum – on website for comment  Framing Papers on English, Mathematics, Science, History First advice discussed in Forums in week of 13 October Revised draft soon on website for comment  National Goals of Education for Young Australians  Painting on a broader canvas  Associated national action plans  Pedagogy and resource beyond the curriculum  Curriculum documents delivered electronically  Connected via links to: Relevant resources Ideas for practice

24. 24 Contact barry.mcgaw@ncb.org.au bmcgaw@unimelb.edu.au barry.mcgaw@mcgawgroup.org Thank you.