How the roadmap to ‘world class’ failed

It was a simple proposition; through hard work, determination, clear messaging, and a few million dollars paid to one of the largest companies in the world, South Australia would come to be seen as one of the great education systems in the world by 2028.

It was a promise that came with glossy packaging, and having everyone on-message was key. This meant a Departmental executive class with expertise in new public management, and an increase in Education Directors to carry the message to the Principals who would spread the message to educators and, finally, students. The students’ role then became one of performance for performance’s sake: scoring highly in NAPLAN to ensure the Department looked good.

The Strategic Plan

The Department’s Strategic Plan, modelled on McKinsey & Co. ‘World Class Teams’ theory, was an expression of money as a motivator, growing corporatisation, and the influence of one of the largest consulting companies in the world.

McKinsey & Co. work under the paradigm of the Global Education Reform Movement (GERM), which represents an ideologically and financially motivated interest in standardised testing as the measure of schooling success, market-based logic, positivity-only culture, the commodification of schools and educators through teacher and leader standards, and the roll-out of ‘teacherproof’ curriculum materials.

WHERE ARE WE NOW?

Four years into the ‘road map to world class’, South Australia is suffering through an educational crisis. There is a widening gap in student achievement, marked by increased absenteeism from schools, large numbers of young people disengaging, lower retention, and a collapse in the rate of young people gaining SACE certification after 12 years of school. In addition, droves of early career teachers are now resigning before five years of service, and many experienced teachers leaving or planning to leave the profession - directly creating a teacher shortage crisis1

Fallen significantly from the peak in 2016, most significantly for Indigenous students.

There is a significant increase in the number of students who are missing more than four weeks of school a year.

While we do not have the disaggregated data for SACE completion in 2022, there are already red flags. After years of growth, 2022 has seen a significant fall in the number of students completing SACE. Significantly, there are 81 less Indigenous SACE completers in 2022 than 2021.

All SACE data for 2022 taken from Advertiser SACE special and Chief Executive Media release.

Data from the National Schools Data Portal suggests that the public education system has narrowed its vision at great cost over the past four years; defining success by NAPLAN scores and seeking a single number that definitively pronounces public education in SA ‘world class’.

In this article

+ The McKinsey model sought to commodify education

+ This model has led to the current crisis in public education and disadvantaged students falling through the gaps

+ This model has failed. Student performance, engagement and attendance continue to fall

Accountability

By having a laser-sharp focus on manufacturing higher NAPLAN scores, the Department imagined they could definitively identify ‘good’ and ‘bad’ schools, Principals and Teachers, and performance manage those deemed bad. Strong NAPLAN data became a synonym for good.

By looking only at NAPLAN scores, the Department ignores the influence of inequality in schooling, ignoring the effects of poverty and location. When the Department ignores inequality, they deny the reality of disengagement from mainstream approaches to schooling evident at disadvantaged sites.

When the Department ignores disengagement, they can comfortably blame those sites for the failure of their students. Having defined failure as the fault of sites and teachers, the Department can justify a centralised curriculum and top-down management style.

The message from the Department is clear: turn a blind eye to the students who fall behind and remain focused on achieving ‘world class’.

WHERE ARE WE NOW?

The new Department administration has recently put out a call for reimagining the purposes of public education in South Australia. This provides an opportunity for community members, educators, and students to reclaim a focus on providing a holistic, high-quality education for every child – rather than on simplified data and appearances.

When we again acknowledge the concerns of a diversity of voices and seek to understand the real lived experiences of students, the messaging might be more diffuse, the appearance of success more complicated. However, in returning trust to the profession, we will find meaningful solutions for ways forward that don’t leave students behind and educators at breaking point.

ANDREW BILLS AND NIGEL HOWARD CEPSW, FLINDERS UNIVERSITY