2020 – WHAT WILL EDUCATION BRING?

Where will education go and what directions will be followed in 2020. The Federal Minister for Education wants the curriculum to be simplified, to be brought into shorter, sharper, more relevant focus.

Unfortunately, that will not happen. It hasn’t happened in the past when pledges to this end have been made. It won’t happen this time around. It is one thing for ministers to declare intentions and another for those intentions to be satisfied by departmentally administered action. Departments will see to it that the ministerial intentions of Mr Tehan become lost in the processes of interpretation and facilitation.

Departmentally, bright ideas and new approaches to teaching and learning – light bulb moments – will be impacted upon schools by downward pressures from above. Students will continue to be guinea pigs, persons on the end of what might be titled ‘experimental learning’.

Teachers of course will have to carry out the instruction and follow directions handed down from on high. Small wonder that many teachers despair of teaching futures with students being unmotivated and becoming increasingly disenchanted.

Am I being too pessimistic. I would like to be totally wrong but fear that, unfortunately, I will be right on the money.