Were not aiming for pink-cheeked insatiable little learners
By Julia Steiny
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas Goals are statements of what we want. As such they drive our efforts and are responsible for producing the desired outcomes. Or not. Often we reach for goals and miss; thats life. At other times the goals themselves are not well thought-out and lead us astray.
Today well compare and contrast. Well compare the Australian Education Ministers goals for Young Australians" with the U.S. Department of Educations goals.
A nations educational goals say a great deal about that countrys cultural relationship to their kids.
First why pick Australia? We could look at Finland whose kids are at the tippy top of the international achievement rankings. But Finland is so unlike the U.S. they dont even have national or state assessment programs. They dont obsess about accountability at all never mind to the extremes we do. Theyre
content to spend their resources directly on teachers kids and families and to roll the dice on their kids performance in the eyes of the international community.
Thats so not us.
Australia on the other hand has 6 states like our 50 each of which has its own testing program and a state Ministry to run the program. The independent Ministries have collective goals but carry them out in their own manner similar to the U.S.. Australian students arent at the very top of the international rankings but close enough.
An important difference that relates to our goals and where wed like to be is that Australia has a robust economy. Their public was appalled to hear of a recent rise in unemployment to
5.4 percent. We should be so lucky. Judging from the rhetoric pouring from the upcoming U.S. presidential election Americans are most concerned with improving the economy and that includes improving the workforce.
So heres how Australian leaders are thinking about their students:
In 2008 the 6 Aussie Ministries and their staff got together and hammered out the "
Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians ." As with every other nation Australia is in a froth of school reform because technology is forcing educators everywhere to re-think how they do business. But that Declaration is still the foundation of their current efforts which are articulated this way:
Improving educational outcomes for all young Australians is central to the nations social and economic prosperity and will position young people to live fulfilling productive and responsible lives. Young Australians are therefore placed at the centre of the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals.
Goal 1:
- Australian schooling promotes equity and excellence
Goal 2:
All young Australians become:
- Successful learners
- Confident and creative individuals
- Active and informed citizens
Achieving these educational goals is the collective responsibility of governments school sectors and individual schools as well as parents and carers young Australians families other education and 
training providers business and the broader community."
In other words to become an educated person the Australian education Ministries ask that schools consider the development of the whole little human being. Students cant segment themselves and become academic performers without also building character confidence and their responsibility to the community as a whole. The Australian education leaders clearly state that their schools should be keeping the long view in mind because the
point of education is that kids have fulfilling lives."
The Declaration is short. I recommend reading the whole of it.
And frankly I wish Americans could just be humble adopt it for our own schools and say thank you.
Because below are our ambitions for children and youth as set forth by the
U.S. Department of Education. They are expressed as priority performance goals." And no other mission statement or document of theirs mentions anything other than performance goals. Which are:
- Improve outcomes for all children from birth through third grade.
- Improve learning by ensuring that more students have an effective teacher.
- Demonstrate progress in turning around the nations lowest-performing schools.
- Make informed decisions and improve instruction through the use of data.
- Prepare all students for college and career.
- Improve students ability to afford and complete college.
Huh? Did you see any kids in all that? Humans? Its not clear what they mean by outcomes" in the first goal perhaps health indicators or reading readiness. But the explanation that accompanies that goal refers only to collecting and reporting disaggregated data on the status of kids entering kindergarten. On behalf of the youngest children and their well-being were shooting for good data.
Were not aiming for pink-cheeked insatiable little learners who know how to play nicely in the sandbox. Were not supporting the innate curiosity creativity and love of learning that will produce the innovators our economists and parents say we need.
Be careful what you ask for because you might get it. We are asking for priority performance" data hoping that it will take us to the promised land of hitting the international test scores yet more data out of the park.
Im a good American. I want us to be the best the winners the ones to show up fusty old Finland. But well never get there if we continue to narrow our dreams and goals for kids to their ability to perform for us academically.
Bloodless goals naturally produce anemic results. Our bad.
Julia Steiny is a freelance columnist who is the founding director of the Youth Restoration Project a restorative-practices initiative currently building demonstration projects in Rhode Island. She consults for schools and government initiatives. For more detail see juliasteiny.com or contact her at juliasteiny@gmail.com.
