02 news
TL report a good start, says sector by Darragh O Keeffe
A
ustralia’s teacher librarian community has given a lukewarm reaction to the parliamentary inquiry report on their status and role in schools. The report, from the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Education and Employment, cited previous research which showed the declining numbers of teacher librarians in schools, and said many of the libraries built under BER are not properly staffed. It quoted a 2008 study that found 54 per cent of government schools had library material budgets of less than $5000. Many school libraries had budgets below their 1975 levels. Among its 11 recommendations, the committee called for the funding of a core set of online database resources to be made available to all schools, and the gathering of data about teacher librarians, to be included on My School. Further, it called for a “workforce gap analysis” of teacher librarians nationwide, and an examination of the pathways into the profession and ongoing training requirements. Responding, advocacy group The Hub, which was largely responsible for bringing about the inquiry, noted the report emphasised the unique role of the teacher librarian in boosting literacy rates. Writing in this issue of ER, Hub cofounder Georgia Phillips acknowledged the recommendations made, but said the “crucial issues of national guidelines, training, funding, structures and the TL role in the national curriculum, have been left in limbo”. “The Hub is greatly encouraged by the committee’s efforts to address this complex issue so crucial to effective quality teaching and learning in Australia’s schools. It has made
many recommendations that can be taken up by the government. While we understand the nature of current federal-state relationships, and understand the committee’s reluctance to impose on state authorities, stronger action could have been recommended,” said Phillips, who is also an adjunct lecturer at Charles Sturt University. According to Sarah Mayor Cox, lecturer in literacy and children’s literature at La Trobe University, the report’s greatest omission was an overarching view. “It looked on teacher librarians as information managers. There was no sense that teacher librarians help kids to learn to read for pleasure, for example,” she said. Mayor Cox cited the importance of teaching students to make judgements about content as a key role played by teacher librarians. “I still see kids doing assignments straight from their netbook, with little knowledge of how to decide what authority to give certain resources or materials. They don’t think to question a source’s agenda or to question how relevant the material is. Teachers don’t have the time or expertise to teach kids how to search and sift through content, effectively and efficiently. It’s quite hard to find good quality in-depth information on the web,” she said. She said while the report cited figures to present the precarious position of teacher librarians in Australian schools, the physical decline of libraries themselves further illustrated the point. “In one area of the report, where they talked about their role, it noted teacher librarians ensure that the library supports the curriculum and the community. But when you look at what’s happening, you see the number of library collections falling
away, because there isn’t one person there anymore dedicated to keeping subscriptions active, keeping databases up-to-date, getting the latest fiction titles. As a result, kids say they can’t find anything useful, and they lose interest in the library,” she said. While acknowledging there was some disappointment with the report in the teacher librarian community, Ashley Freeman said he found it quite positive. Freeman, the director of teacher librarianship courses at Charles Sturt University, one of the three universities that still runs teacher librarianship courses, said he wasn’t sure how much more forceful it could have been. “The way the education system is – multilayered, multijurisdictional – a federal inquiry cannot decree that every school will have a teacher librarian. What the report has done is provide a foundation stone; its recommendations, if taken up and acted upon, will have positive influences,” he told ER . He said he strongly agreed with the recommendation to conduct a workforce analysis gap. “Is the problem getting worse? What data is saying that? Let’s get the data to confirm or refute this. I rarely hear from our graduated students that they cannot get jobs...We know NSW has a shortage of qualified teacher librarians, because we provide a short course to that education authority; which has found it necessary to appoint teachers without a teacher librarianship qualification to some school libraries.” Further, the lack of data impacted on the kind of recommendations the inquiry could make. As the report recommends, the situation should be thoroughly explored as an important early step, Freeman said. For Mayor Cox, the Published by APN Educational Media P/L (ACN 010 655 446), Level 6 110 Walker Street North Sydney NSW 2060 ISSN 1834-7967 ADDRESS PO Box 6097, North Sydney NSW 2060 T: (02) 9936 8666 F: (02) 9936 8631 www.educationreview.com.au EDITOR Darragh O Keeffe (02) 9936 8610 darragh.okeeffe@apned.com.au JOURNALIST Linda Belardi (02) 9936 8619 linda.belardi@apned.com.au
2 June 2011
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recommendation to spend $5 million on a set of online databases for all government schools was a standout. She also cited the call for teacher librarian numbers to be included on My School. “My theory for years has been that teacher librarians and a good library equal better literacy. Without this data on My School we cannot make that link definitively,” she said. Last June, ER reported in-depth on the issue of teacher librarians in Australian schools. That article noted that in Tasmania, only 50 per cent of schools have a teacher librarian. In Victoria and the ACT, it’s an estimated 65 per cent. In the NT the figure is just 5 per cent – with no teacher librarians in remote schools. In WA, teacher librarians are not mandated in primary schools. When discussing why the situation had deteriorated, observers said the reduction in the number of universities providing teacher librarianship courses – from 15 to three – was a primary factor. They also said that principals were choosing to hire cheaper alternatives, like library technicians, or not replacing teacher librarians when they retired. Mayor Cox, meanwhile, said the bottom line now was that the report has started a conversation. “I hope people take this on board. I don’t want this report to sink to the bottom of the pile. A love of reading, an appreciation of literature, literacy skills – these are foundational issues. This is core business. I hope people realise that,” she said. Freeman similarly said he hoped a “national dialogue” would begin. “We do need that, involving everyone, including those of us in the tertiary sector who train teacher librarians,” he said. n Read also Georgia Phillips, page 20.
DESIGN Danny Ruspandini EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Annette Blackwell (02) 9936 8668 E: annette.blackwell@apned.com.au CEO Michael Scott (02) 9936 8722 E: michael.scott@apned.com.au ADVERTISING SALES EXECUTIVE James Duncan (02) 9936 8713 E: james.duncan@apned.com.au SUBSCRIPTIONS T: (02) 9936 8666 F: (02) 9936 8631 E: subs@apned.com.au Publisher’s Note © Copyright. No part of this publication can be used or reproduced in any format without express permission in writing from APN Educational Media. The mention of a product or service, person
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news 03
Schools reconfirm support for BER by Linda Belardi
U
nions and principals have countered News Ltd reports that $1.9 billion of the Building the Education Revolution funds are yet to be spent. Norm Hart, president of the Australian Primary Principals Association, said that while a small proportion of the BER money is unspent, most, if not all, had been allocated to schools. Figures provided by DEEWR to the Senate estimates hearing on June 2 indicated that on April 30, 88.2 per cent of the BER money had been spent and 97.7 per cent committed to school projects. “While the program has not been completed, for a whole range of factors, not least of which is getting contractors available to do the work, my understanding is that all of that money is allocated,” Hart told ER . Hart said suggestions the money could be redirected elsewhere were incorrect as all projects were now under contract. “When I talk to principals most of them know what their project looks like and who is going to build it,
even if it isn’t under way,” he said. DEEWR subsequently told ER that “$1.886 billion is yet to be spent by the education authorities – however, all but $366 million [of that] has been committed by the education authorities”. The remaining $366 million has been allocated by education authorities to school projects, the department confirmed. Steve Ryan, president of the Queensland Teachers’ Union, also countered the reports, adding there were multiple BER openings across the state each week. Indeed, when contacted by ER, both Ryan and Hart had attended BER building openings that day. “No school has indicated to us that there has been any deliberate withholding of funding for the BER program,” said Ryan. “Some schools have indicated that it’s going slower than they would have liked, but they are prepared to wait because they want a good outcome at the end.” Ryan said the QTU would rather the BER was completed with due consideration rather than done hastily. “While I’m well aware of the
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concerned about the state’s low post Year 10 retention rates and Year 12 completions. He said the department will provide a “high level of in-kind and direct funding support” for the project. “Given Tasmania has the most rurally dispersed population of all Australian states and has a high level of socio-economic disadvantage, it’s important that we understand how these and other factors influence retention and completion data, ” he told ER. The project will also try to identify best practice in schools by comparing and contrasting the educational strategies used by four schools in rural and low SES areas. “We are very interested in trying to map what strategies each of the regional districts are using and what affect that has in the different populations and their student retention,” said Hay. Pettit said the project will help develop effective interventions and will provide recommendations to
nature of some of the Murdoch press, in terms of trying to beat up the BER, what I see on the ground is really great outcomes for Queensland’s public schools,” he said. President of the Australian Secondary Principals Association, Sheree Vertigan, said there was a number of issues that could explain the slow completion of some of the schools’ building projects. Workforce availability, poor weather and the impact of recent natural disasters had held up some construction. In some states, contracts also had to be released in jobs rather than one big lot as the high number of tenders on the market had created an artificial spike in building costs, she said. Workplace relations minister Chris Evans told the estimates hearing that while the need for stimulus had passed, the government was committed to completing BER. While the program’s rationale was no longer linked to jobs creation, Hart said the $16.2 billion program was money well spent. “By and large these facilities are
urgently needed by the schools that are getting them and the money was certainly well invested.” By continuing the program beyond its March deadline, the government has realised that providing these facilities is a good end in itself, he said. To suggest that these educational facilities are “superfluous to current requirements” is at odds with the reality in schools, said Hart. Ryan said that, overall, public schools were full of praise for the program which had made a very big difference to the state’s schools. The last audit by the Queensland Government’s BER taskforce received 23 complaints against BER projects, which represented less than 1 per cent of total projects, and all were fairly easily resolved, he said. “You could count the number of real issues in Queensland on one hand,” said Ryan, who sat on the state’s ministerial BER taskforce. Hart also refuted newspaper claims of widespread frustration amongst primary school principals in relation to delays. “Primary schools have needed these facilities for a long time,” he said. n
that have looked at the issue of retention in the past, none have focused in-depth on this social problem within rural and regional areas. Hay said due to Tasmania’s fairly stable population, particularly among school-aged children, the results of the tracking study would provide a detailed state-wide snapshot of different causal factors, as well as any gender differences in student attainment. The project has received a $264,000 grant over the next three years, under the ARC linkage projects scheme, and will commence later this year. n
schools to implement these strategies. Hay said initial data had already identified the importance of parental engagement and family aspirations within education. Improving student retention was often about setting high community expectations for students and developing a culture that values education, he said. “Some communities are still not quite sure of the advantages of education and they are not necessarily aware of how pathways can be developed.” While there have been a number of Australian studies
Retention across the nation
Retention rates from Year 10 to Year 12 for all schools by state.
ACT
VIC
QLD
SA
WA
NSW
TAS
NT
AUS AVERAGE
91.8%
82.1%
81.0%
80.6%
76.5%
74.5%
70.7%
61.4%
78.5%
n States and territories in red are below the national average. SOURCE: ABS schools data released March 2011, based on statistics for students at the schools census date, August 2010.
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