Too often, reports are developed for the sake of repporting. If there are issues, investigate. Write a report and make recopmmendations for change.  It does not follow that recommendations will be actioned. Organising a report can be no more or less than conscience salving.

Nothing changes without action; So often action is a non-event.

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REPORTS DO NOT HAVE ACTION OUTCOMES

Northern Territory Education officially came of age in 1978. At that time responsibility for NT Education passed to the Northern Territory Government. Education was the first function to be managed locally.

Since 1978, educational priorities have grown, changed and developed. Over the years, earnest attempts have been made to shape education to best suit local needs. Those efforts have considered urban, town, rural and remote schools and students.

Efforts to identify educational needs and priorities have given rise to countless reports. The number of reports commissioned and developed since 1978, would fill the shelves of a large bookcase. For the purpose of this column, reports considered have more to do with management process and system direction than with specific curriculum issues.

Some reports have been vital and system shaping. One of the earliest was the Betty Watts and Jim Gallagher Report (written before 1978) which at that time was a bible, shaping Aboriginal Educational development. There were two reports prepared by Mitsuro Shimpo which looked at Indigenous Education and the need for interdepartmental cooperation across the Territory. Both were researched and written in 1978 and 1979. Shimpo travelled the length and breadth of the Territory in researching his reports. His findings were insightful but never implemented.

Reports shelved

Many, many reports containing recommendations for Indigenous Education were prepared in the following years. Most are long forgotten and many, like the Shimpo Reports, never saw the light of day. They were commissioned, researched, written, presented, sometimes tabled in the Legislative Assembly, then shelved. Rarely have they been enthusiastically accepted and implemented.

‘Education into the 1980’s’ and ‘Toward the 90’s : Tomorrow’s Future’ were two reports with implications for the whole system. The first, apart from Shimpo, was possibly the most widely consulted of all reports. ‘Education into the 1980’s’ sought opinion from practitioners in many schools and communities. Wider opinion was also canvassed. A green discussion paper evolved to become a white paper firstly in draft then confirmed status. Its validity was in large part due to the wide ranging consultation that took place. People knew what was going on.

Acceptance and change

Over the years since self government there have been a plethora of reports produced on every aspect of Northern Territory Education. Our system has been ‘analysed by dissection’ time and time again. Report recommendations have at best been partially implemented. In many cases nothing has changed. That has been especially the case when cost implications are considered. Change is generally not cheap. Over time, this disregard has coloured the opinions held by Territorians about the purpose, validity and relevance of reports.

Need for Reports

On many occasions, the raising of concerns is responded to by the announcement of a study that will lead to a report on matters under the spotlight. It somehow seems that studies of this nature are considered to be a panacea. Reports produced with suggested solutions are deemed sufficient. Without follow-up action, problems magnified by reports are compounded. School based educators and the community at large become cynical about process, follow up and outcome.

Merry-go-round

Educational priorities are constantly reflected upon and revisited. One focus point is the regionalisation and centralisation debate. Another has to do about supporting children with special learning needs for both challenged and enriched students. A major area dizzyingly revisited is the staffing formula for schools, with changes that are almost annual. Policies on Bilingual Education, Languages other than English and curriculum priorities have come, gone and in some cases, come again. Major and minor proposals for change mean education seems to be in a stage of constant flux.

Reports can be valuable as documents confirming research and making recommendations about the way forward. However their commissioning is not an end but a means to an end, that being toward system improvement. It is not appropriate for reports to be prepared, if their recommendations are not carefully considered. Reports cost in terms of time and money. Non-implementation shows a lack of respect for the researchers and amounts to a huge waste of human endeavour and financial resources. They need to be validated by follow-up action rather than building skepticism through disregard.
Henry Gray