Page 3033 - Week 08 - Thursday, 16 August 2018
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I began work on the future of education strategy by articulating a value that has remained close throughout everything that has followed. Every parent wants the very best for their child, both during childhood and into their future lives. But even in wealthy communities like the ACT, children start life in vastly different places, with different backgrounds and circumstances affecting their chances at a good life. You can see this in schools every day. Some children come to school ready to learn. They are happy and well, eager to take hold of their world. Some children, however, are not as fortunate. These children take on greater challenges and face greater barriers than the rest.
Education has an incredible power to level all of this out. Education allows all children to reach their potential. The ACT government believes that every child deserves a great education and the life chances that flow from it. Our education system must support all children to overcome and achieve. Our education system must mould mature and resilient adults. It must establish success for the future and broaden horizons. It will do this by providing equity and by responding to the personal needs of each individual, because educational equity is key to achieving a fairer, more equal society free from the disadvantage arising from economic, social, cultural or other causes.
The future of education strategy rests on four foundations. They are: to place students at the centre of their learning; to empower teachers, school leaders and other professionals to meet the learning needs of all students; to build strong communities for learning; and to strengthen systems to focus on equity and equality. These foundations will focus improvements to education on what matters most in the government’s efforts over the next 10 years.
At the core of the strategy is an acknowledgement of the human diversity among students. Every child has their own needs, abilities, motivations, interests and aspirations, which an education system must recognise, support and address. The ACT education system of the future will be personalised to each child. It will celebrate difference. It will take a holistic view of the people it serves—our children and our young people.
Placing students at the centre of their learning is an expression of equity but also an opportunity to recognise the endeavour of all learning and to celebrate achievement and excellence wherever this occurs. Each student treads their own educational pathway based on their developing interests, knowledge and skills. Through education, children develop into capable adults who have learnt to learn, live productively in society, think, create and work in an increasingly digital future.
Initiatives in the strategy that draw from this foundation will include a continuing implementation of effective, rigorous inquiry and project-based learning models, with an increasing focus on development of the general capabilities in the current curriculum. Building on work already begun, the government will continue to work on measurement and evaluation of student learning growth. We will aim for each student to achieve a minimum of a year’s growth for a year’s learning, having regard to their starting point.
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