Page 354 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 20 February 2018
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
education as an opportunity to develop all of our kids into the best people they can be.”
Equity has to start with equal access to quality early childhood education. Many participants in the future of education conversation have highlighted the importance of investing in the early years. As a community we need to better recognise and respect the foundational education that is delivered in what many people still refer to as child care.
Professional, skilled educators are key. The more our community expects from educators, the more their work needs to be valued. In the ACT we have very high participation rates in early childhood education, both in preschool and before. But, despite our great participation rates, there is room for improvement, particularly in making high quality early learning universally available, regardless of family circumstances. That is why the government committed at the election to deliver an early childhood strategy, coordinated with the future of education work.
Another key part of equity in education is providing all students in every school with equal access to high quality teaching. Quality teaching is the key to success in high performing school systems and of critical importance to teachers. That has been evident through the conversation. Students are telling us, “I do way better in classes with teachers that I bond with,” and “A teacher who cares makes the student care.” Parents told us that teachers are the single most important factor in educational success and that “we need to free our teachers from administrative burdens and allow them to teach in a way that engages children and provides them with a lifelong love of learning”.
We already have many great teachers in the ACT. I want to hear more about what they think needs to change to make sure that they can grow their profession and make sure that every student has access to excellent teaching. Towards the end of February I will be releasing a discussion paper specifically considering teaching and the profession to really draw out their expertise.
During this process the government analysed every piece of information, and 10 broad themes emerged. I released these in October 2017 to check that the government has correctly heard what the community has said. I am confident that we have. Over the coming months the themes will be concentrated into three or four clear areas that will provide the basis for further feedback and allow an opportunity for ideas and solutions to be raised.
Already, foundations for the strategy are broadly apparent and possible actions are emerging. The strategy will be founded in a recognition that students—our children—are people. They come to school with a broad range of gifts and talents, interests and unique personalities, and they always have a lot going on in life. Maybe every student needs an individual learning plan, as is the case in Finland.
Our schools could also be better equipped to connect students to important human services so that students are enabled to learn. This could mean better organising of social workers and other allied learning professionals around schools, perhaps even
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video