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1. HISTORY:
Schools in Australia have existed for more than 200 years, beginning in NSW and expanding
across the country as other settlements began. Public School systems did not begin until
considerably later than this, beginning with primary level schools, then expanding into the
secondary area beginning in the 1880s. Universities first arose in the middle of the 19th
century, with early childhood education in the form of kindergartens and preschools trailing
well behind all other sectors, with the first kindergarten being opened in 1896.
If you lived in the country in the 1800s, you might be lucky enough to have a small, one room school
house on land donated by a local farmer. In the city, if you could not afford to attend one of the
schools set up by the various churches, you would most probably be tutored by the wife of the local
doctor, lawyer, magistrate or other professional. No standard for education existed. Education was
only available to the wealthier middle and upper classes, who could afford to pay tuition.
By the 1830s, the idea that crime was the result of ignorance, ignorance was the result of a lack of
education and, therefore, education would decrease crime, was seen as a means of forging the
penal colony of Australia into an organised and orderly society. This society would be based on, but
hopefully better than, the existing British system. It was, therefore, imperative that the government
set up schools so that all children could be taught, not only the three "R's," (reading, writing and
arithmetic) but how to be good moral, law-abiding citizens.
The government allocated money for education and this was used to pay teachers, erect and equip
schoolhouses and buy necessary textbooks. A government school was one which had been either set
up by the government or was an established school which received funding from the government to
continue educating children. The majority of the church-run schools were outside this system, and
remained so until well into the 1900s.
The government also laid down strict guidelines as to the curriculum, teachers' and students'
behaviour and what activities could or could not be performed in the school grounds.
Both boys and girls received instruction in the basic subjects. In addition, girls spent 80 minutes of
the day in sewing, knitting and darning instruction while the boys spent this time learning geometry
and more geography and arithmetic. Teachers, primarily tried to drill into the children the
advantages of being orderly, clean, punctual, decent and courteous, and avoiding all things which
would make them disagreeable to other people.
One way to achieve this was the use of discipline. Rules governed how children were to enter the
room, bow to the teacher, sit down on the benches, sit when reading what was on the blackboard,
sit when writing, hold their pens, the position of their writing pads, and which hand was to be used
for writing and which to point to the words being copied. Pupils learned to repeat their tables, lists
of dates and capital cities of the world, and poems parrot fashion.
Pupils could be at school from about six years of age to over 16 years. However, school was not
compulsory, and some parents required the help of their children to eke out a living. As a results,
absenteeism was fairly high, and it was not unusual for children to leave school after less than two

2. years. Thus, the children learnt only the rudiments of reading, writing and arithmetic. Compulsory
education was introduced in the 1870s and was difficult to enforce.
The depression of the 1890s and the need for skilled workers impelled merchants to demand that
technical education in schools be improved. In the face of criticism from distinguished British visitors
and eminent politicians as well, commissions were set up to investigate developments in education
overseas. Their reports left no doubt that the education systems needed major changes.
Fees for high schools were abolished, subjects were improved and courses were extended to four
years. The courses were designed with the student in mind: commercial courses for business,
technical courses for industrial, domestic for home management and general courses for higher,
professional education.
Apart from increasing the time spent in primary/elementary schools to eight years, and decreasing
the total amount of time spent in high school to four years, this system remained basically the same
until the 1950s. Since then, changes to the curriculum and examination methods seem to have
occurred every few years. The introduction of calculators followed by computers to the school room
has changed schools.
EDUCATION ACT 1872

6. SOCIAL
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, people living in the most socioeconomically
disadvantaged areas were, on average, less engaged in study and had lower levels of
attainment. While young people had higher levels of educational attainment than older people
in all socioeconomic positions, the difference was least in the most disadvantaged areas.
Young people in disadvantaged areas also reported a higher incidence of barriers to
participating in further education. These barriers were reported to be lack of time, finances,
and too much work. Students from lower socioeconomic quartiles had significantly lower

7. PISA test results than students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds. Similarly, students
who attended independent schools scored significantly higher than those who attended
government schools.
The issue of inter-generational disadvantage was examined by looking at the possible
influence of parental background on young people's educational attainment. Young people
who had a parent with a Bachelor degree were much more likely to have a degree themselves
than were other young people. While people with parents whose highest educational
attainment was Year 12 or below performed less well themselves, more than half held or
were studying towards a Certificate III or higher qualification.
People with a disability or long-term health condition were more likely than those without
such conditions to have poorer outcomes in educational attainment and participation as well
as engagement in full-time work. However, there was considerable variation here. People
with mental or nervous conditions had worse outcomes than did people with physical
disabilities in their educational attainment or participation and engagement in full-time work.
People with severe or profound activity limitations were similarly disadvantaged when
compared to those with a lesser degree of restriction due to disability.
People from cultural and linguistic diverse backgrounds did not show up as being ‘at risk’ of
social exclusion because of poor educational outcomes. In fact, people who spoke a language
other than English at home had, on average, higher educational attainment and greater
participation in full-time study than people who were born in Australia and mainly spoke
English at home. However, proficiency in English was shown to be a critical factor in
determining educational outcomes. People who were proficient in English were twice more
likely to have, or be studying towards, a university degree than people not proficient in
English. Poor English proficiency was also associated with lower engagement in full-time
work and participation in work related training.
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous people have lower levels of educational access, participation and attainment, and
lower secondary school retention rates, than non-Indigenous people. The curricula of
Indigenous students are sometimes inadequate or inappropriate1. These issues are addressed
in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy which influences state
and territory strategic plans for education providers.
Indigenous people have lower educational attainment than the total population. In 1994, 18%
of Indigenous people aged 15-64 who were not attending school had completed a post-school
qualification compared to 41% of all Australians. When the data are standardised to account
for the younger age structure of the Indigenous population, this imbalance remains.
In 1994, 5% of Indigenous people aged 15 and over reported that they had never attended
school and 71% who were no longer attending school had left before completing Year 12. A
further 17% had obtained a post-school qualification. Overall, Indigenous women reported a
higher level of educational attainment than Indigenous men. 5% of Indigenous women had a

8. diploma or higher qualification compared to 3% of Indigenous men.
Indigenous people are more likely than all Australians to have never attended school. In
1994, 3% of Indigenous people aged 15-64 had never attended school compared to 0.1% of
all Australians. The proportion of Indigenous people who had not attended school increased
with age. 35% aged 65 and over had never been to school compared to 1% aged 15-24. This
indicates that the proportion of Indigenous people receiving some education has increased
over time and is related to improved access to education. Overall, slightly more Indigenous
women than men had never attended school. In the 2012 PISA tests, Indigenous Australians
scored significantly lower than both the national and OECD average.
POLITICAL
Why should the government care about education?
1. Better education access enhances the political health of the nation (people can
participate in social, community and political life and make informed, intelligent
decisions).
2. Wider access to education can reduce social tensions arising from perceived
inequalities of opportunity. There is a gap between the median income of people that
have completed secondary schools to those who have not.
3. Education improves the efficiency of the labour market and employment rates.
Especially with an aging population, increasing participation and longevity in the
workforce, can reduce the load of aged pensions.
4. Equal access to education has an impact on the Australia’s productivity potential
(output per hour). Reducing the inequalities in access to education allows people to
realise their education and employment potential and lowers the incidence of crime,
and decreases the need for health care and welfare, thereby helping the nation’s
economy.
Up until recently, each state and territory was largely responsible for the education in their
region, each setting their own curriculum.
In Victoria:
1995-2005 Curriculum and Standards Framework I and II
2006-2012 Victorian Essesntial Learning Standards (VELS)
2013-Current AusVELS: a curriculum that focuses on providing a “foundation for successful,
lifelong learning and participation in the Australian Community” for students from
Foundation (Prep) to Year 10.
National:

9. The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) carries out a
National Assessment Program- Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) testing to students in
years 3,5,7 and 9.
The school’s average result is published on the My School website.
Funding is allocated to
ECONOMICAL
Australia’s constitutional arrangements allocate primary responsibility for school education
to State and Territory governments. They are the major funders of government schools and in
2008–09 contributed 88.96 per cent ($27.4b) of total recurrent funding, with the Australian
Government contributing the remaining 11.04 per cent ($3.4b)
The funding of schools by both the federal and state givernement have increased from $4.8
billion in 1999-2000 to $30.9 billion in 2009-2010
The areas of expenditures both in and outside of government education systems in Australia
can be seen in the table below (actual $’000).

10. INDUSTRIAL
Traditional notions of talk-and-chalk education are no longer sufficient to prepare a
workforce for a reliant and changing world. Currently, we live in an era driven by
information, global competition and new technologies that are changing the way we think,
live and work. The Industrial Revolution was built on machinery, skills and labour; however,
the information and knowledge-based revolution of the 21st Century is being built on
investment in intellect and creativity. New jobs are emerging which require a different set of
knowledge, skills and attitudes. To cope with such changes we need continuous education
and development of the human mind and imagination. Part of the changing nature of work is
that workers face career changes and workplace restructuring throughout their working life.
This means they need continual learning to remain employable and competitive. Keeping
students motivated and engaged by providing skills and knowledge that they deem relevant to
their lives, is of great importance to today’s teachers. There is new focus on student-centred,
collaborative classrooms as opposed to traditional teacher-centred teaching. The
implementation of ICT in the classroom helps with engagement and discovery amongst
students.
GLOBAL
In 2012, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) conducted tests on 15
year olds from 65 countries, including 34 countries that are a part of the Organization for

11. Economic and Co-operation and Development (OECD). They test students on their
mathematical, scientific and reading literacies.
Maths
 Australia ranked 17th overall in Mathematical literacy. From 2003 to 2012, 9 countries
improved while another 13 (including Auistralia) decreased significantly.
 Australia was ranked higher than the OECD average.
 The median mathematic result has significantly higher for males than females.
Science
 Australia ranked 8th in scientific literacy.
 There was a decline in results from 2003 to 2012.
 Victoria’s median results were significantly higher than that of the OECD average.
Reading
 Australia ranked 10th overall in reading literacy.
 Results for Victoria and Australia were significantly higher than the OECD average
 There were no significant changes in reading literacy over time.
 The median results for girls were significantly higher than boys.
PHILOSOPHICAL
As edication in Australia evolves from traditional teacher-centred teaching to student-centred
classroom, philosophy will become more beneficial to all learners. Philosophy will contribute
to each of the key educational goals for young Australians, including the ability to think
deeply and logically to make rational and informed decisions; creativity and ethical behaviour
as the aim of education is to help guide students to be active and informed citizens who act
with moral and ethical integrity. Educational philosophy can help teach the importance of
collaboration and teamwork, skills that are valued in both the workforce and society in
general.
FUTURE

12. Future trends
Unfortunately, unless something is done to dramatically improve the enagement and
motivation of students in the classroom (especially in mathematics and science), academic
achievement will continue to decline. Today’s learners have spent more time playing
computer games and using social media than reading books. The way that they learn differs
from that of generations before them. Education must reflect this change by embracing the
use of technology, not just with the use of e-books but with wikis, blogs, games, videos etc.
This will give students the opportunity to learn outside of the classroom in a more engaging
way, with immediate feedback.
More focus on the learning needs of Indigenous Australians is required to close the gap
between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. According to the ABS, Indigenous
students were more engaged in the classroom where they learnt about their heritage and
culture. This should be incorporated into the curriculum. Better access to universities is also
imperative for Indigenous people to enhance their employment opportunities.
Providing more support (funding, facilities and teaching aids) to schools with students with
disabilities will help improve their schooling experience and outcomes. This means providing
alternative ways of testing for understanding for these students. Funding needs to be provided
to help teachers learn practical and effective ways of differentiating their teaching to students
of different capabilities in the class.
Reference
Argy, F. (2007). Educational Inequalities in Australia. University of Western Australia.
Retrieved from http://www.ias.uwa.edu.au/new-critic/five/educationinequalities
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2011). Retrieved from www.abs.giv.au
Australian Council for Educational Research. (2012). The PISA 2012 assessment of students’
mathematical, scientific and reading literacy. Retrieved from
http://www.acer.edu.au/files/PISA-2012-In-Brief.pdf
Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2011) National Report on
Schooling in Australia. Retrieved from
http://www.acara.edu.au/reporting/national_report_on_schooling_2011/national_repo
rt_on_schooling_2_1.html
Connell, R., Welch, A., Vickers, M., Foley, D., Bagnall, N., Hayes, D., Proctor, H.,
Sriprakash, A., Campbell, C., (2013). Education, change and society. South
Melbourne, Vic: Oxford University Press.
Federation of Australasian Philosophy in Schools Association. (2009). Philosophy in the
Curriculum. Retrieved from http://fapsa.org.au/curriculum/national-curriculum/
Pillay, Hitendra and Boulton-Lewis, Gillian and Wilss, Lynn (2004) Changing Workplace
Environments: Implications for Higher Education. Educational Research Journal
19(1):17-42.
NSW Department of Education and Communities. (2014). Government Schools of NSW from
1848. Retrieved from
http://www.governmentschools.det.nsw.edu.au/photogallery/album17/sport.shtm