How Does NSW DET Affect The Role Of Education In Schools?
The NSW Cultural Diversity and Community Relations policy (NSW DET 2005: online) is a document which aims to outline the responsibilities which NSW schools have to provide teaching and learning programs which will enable students across many different cultures and communities the opportunity to be able to identify with, and as, Australians. This policy should aid schools in developing students from all cultures and communities across NSW to develop the knowledge, skills and values for participation as active and involved citizens throughout their schooling and professional lives.
However, does this policy aid the students who are directly affected by the policy, or does it remove these students even further from the schooling community making it even harder for them to be accepted or supported within a multi-cultural community?
The NSW DET has recognised the ever changing cultural and community relations which have taken place, and continues to take place within school communities across NSW. To ensure that …show more content…
students from culturally different backgrounds are accommodated and thought of at school, the NSW DET has developed a policy named “Cultural Diversity and Community Relations Policy: Multicultural education in schools.” (NSW DET 2005: online)
Aims and strategies of the policy
• The aims and objectives of this policy appear to be rather broad and upon further study of the policy and other related documents, it appears that there is a need for the policy to be more specific in regards to exactly what changes need to be implemented within the school curriculum. For example, the policy statement 1.1 states that “community harmony is promoted through school policies and practices.” (NSW DET 2005: 1.1) School communities need to examine the level of multiculturalism within its school community and become aware of important dates, traditions and celebrations of these communities, rather than just learning about and celebrating the typical and accepted Australian ones. (Nieto 2000: 360) By doing this the school is showing an acceptance of things outside the dominant class norm, while at the same time demonstrating to the minor class that their customs and traditions are a welcome asset to the school community.
• Although statement 1.2 of the policy recognizes that Australia is now well and truly a multicultural society, this statement also implies that even though the school may accept the fact that there are many different cultures imbedded within any one school, the curriculum still revolves around the Australian culture. It also implies that the curriculum will focus on aiding students to become active “Australian” citizens rather than active “Chinese/Australian” citizens or “Lithuanian/Australian” citizens for example.
• For a school to effectively encourage cross-culture acceptance and harmony within the same schooling environment, all aspects from all cultures need to be considered within the school curriculum. As Nieto (2000: 355) argues, a multicultural curriculum needs to be developed to ensure that all students are given the best and most opportunities to succeed and achieve their goals, no matter what their background.
• Statement 1.3 is a strategy which is responsive to the dramatic social and economic changes occurring globally within today’s society. Teaching practices need to evolve with today’s society and the type of cultures with which they are faced. Long gone are the homogenous classroom days when a teacher could presume or expect the entire class to be filled with one ethnic background or one religious belief. (Richmond & Andreoni 2004: 91) Today’s teachers need to be prepared and committed to teaching a wide range of culturally diverse students. They also need to be aware of the different learning styles of these students, and the many issues these students face on a daily basis. Teachers need to adopt an “open and tolerant attitude towards different cultures, religions and world views” (NSW DET 2005: 1.3) if they are to be successful in teaching to a diverse cultural society promoting community harmony, acceptance and tolerance which will continue into the students adult lives. This can be directly linked to the life long learning strategy included within the syllabus.
• Statements 1.4 and 1.5 of the policy can be closely linked, achieved and developed using similar guides and tools. Students with English as a second language can often find fitting in and being accepted within school communities harder and more challenging than other students. This is because the simple tool of communication through speech is broken down at a rapid rate. The case study presented in Richmond and Andreoni (2004: 105) is a great example of the breakdown of communication and the problems which arise from this. However, this case study also provides an example of how these barriers can be overcome and the students’ development continued and enhanced through the use of certain tools. Again, while the policy aims to respond to “cultural, linguistic and religious diversity” (NSW DET 2005: online), more specific examples need to be given on how schools can overcome these issues to ensure the successful transition for all students in today’s multi-cultural school environment.
• Statement 1.6 of the policy addresses the fact that not only teachers and students, but all members of the community need to be involved with the implementation of this policy to ensure its success. Success of this policy does not only occur throughout the implementation phase, but for the entire time of the students schooling career. This policy will effect generations to come, therefore ongoing community support is required to ensure its continued success. As Nieto (2000: 365) discusses, most families are not involved in policy development in the school, however they are involved in the education of their children through the values they have developed at home. This aspect of family involvement in policy making and implementation can change through using a number of different methods. Methods such as newsletters, more frequent parent/school discussion nights or other methods which provide more consistent communication with families will generate as much support as possible for the implementation of this policy.
Interpretation, presentation and their implications
• As Taylor et al (1997) discusses, the tone and presentation of the policy can play a major role with the acceptance and dissemination of the policy. The presentation of the policy can have a large impact on the way it is interpreted and accepted within the schooling community. When compared to other policies such as the “Girls and Boys at School: Gender Equity Strategy” policy (NSW DET 2005: online), the Cultural Diversity and Community Relations policy appears bland and boring, with not much though or effort put into the policy itself.
• The Girls and Boys at school policy has a different text, and takes on a more personalized approach with the way it is set out, the questions it asks, and the suggestions it makes. The intentions of the authors of the policy are evident from the beginning of the document. As Grundy (1994) discusses, the authors have attempted to exert control over the outcomes through the text which they have chosen to use throughout the policy document. Whereas the Cultural Diversity and Community Relations policy is more institutionalized and impersonal in its approach, and makes the ideas put forward in the policy appear to have less importance or meaning to the ones presented in the Girls and Boys at School policy. The attempt at control over the outcomes is not as prominent or deliberate when compared to other policies.
• Similarly the tone of the policy can also play a major role in the acceptance and dissemination of the policy. There are a number of times throughout the policy where the tone of the point being suggested takes on a different meaning to that which is actually being written. As Taylor et al (1997) discusses, the tone of what has been written can often be interpreted as the dominant class forcing their ideas and beliefs onto the non-dominant class, which often leads to the dominant class exercising their power and influence in a way which the policy is not intended (Taylor et al 1997: 27). For example, as commented above statement 1.2 in the policy discusses that schools will provide teaching and learning programs for students “from all cultures and communities” (NSW DET 2005: 1.2). This statement by itself does not seem to cause any harm. However, upon further reading of the policy, students are encouraged to identify as an “Australian”. This phrase is more than likely not intended to be patronizing or discriminative in any way; however any member of the community could take offence with this statement. Also it is a good example of the dominant class trying to force their beliefs and ideas onto the non-dominant class.
• While this policy appears to be taking a pluralist approach to the issue of multi-culturalism within our schooling systems, it is more closely linked with an elitist approach (Taylor et al 1997: 26). This can be seen through various statements within the policy. While stating that the schooling system recognizes the fact that school communities now have a wide range of cultural influences, all these cultures are still expected to conform to the Australian way and adapt the Australian culture to be considered citizens that would be able to effectively contribute to society. These policies are acting within the realms and interests of the dominant class rather than the community as a whole.
Support structures
• One indication of the planning and importance placed on a policy is the support structure implemented within the policy itself (Taylor et al 1997: 25). This policy demonstrates little amount of importance placed upon it through its poor support structure as outlined in the Responsibilities and Delegations section of the policy (NSW DET 2005: 6). Although there are measures outlining generally who is responsible for what, greater detail is needed as to when this policy should be implemented by, what goals should be achieved by certain time frames, and what events signify if the policy is being successful or not. An annual report (NSW DET 2005: 7.1) is not going to provide adequate support and detail to those members of the school environment that depend upon the correct implementation of this policy.
Indicators
• There are no specific outcomes mentioned throughout the policy which would indicate to the staff and implementing persons that the policy has been successful or not. The context of the policy is not explained well enough throughout the document. While the context minimally expands on the policy statement and goals, it does not offer any clarification of the goals, values and objectives of the policy, identify different options available to achieve goals, or discuss the costs of implementing such a policy. These issues are all central not only to the successful implementation of a policy, but to all the schools involved with this policy as well.
Curriculum proposals and changes
• For this policy to be successful the entire curriculum of NSW would need to be revised. The curriculum obviously has not yet been revised to reflect this policy as there are no culture specific classes, subjects or areas of specialty that have been introduced into the curriculum. While there are a number of topics that cover Australian culture, there also needs to be topics specific to those cultures which are represented within the schooling community. For example, literature that focuses on men and women from different cultural groups could be introduced into the English program. This would increase the students’ awareness of different cultural backgrounds which some students may have or currently are experiencing. (Nieto 2000: 355) Or perhaps the school can devote one of its notice boards to highlighting special event days or cultural days to a particular cultural group a week.
• However, curriculum changes do not occur quickly and there is always a financial cost to these changes. This is something else that the school would have to consider. While the curriculum may not be rapidly changing to accommodate this policy, the responsibility may fall back onto the individual school to create new and effective ways to implement the policy within the current schooling environment.
Social justice model
• The main social justice model as discussed by Gale and Densmore (2000) which appears to underpin this policy is the Distributive model. This policy demonstrates that individual groups, in this case cultural groups, are being represented by the government agency which has developed this policy. It is the dominant government agency group which is forcing their opinion and thoughts onto the less dominant group. Throughout this policy it is the dominant group believing that they know what is best for the non-dominant group, and therefore making the policy changes to suit their needs instead of the needs of the non-dominant group. The distributive model demonstrates how this policy wants to give all members of the community to be active, informed “Australian” citizens, not active, informed “Asian/Australian” citizens.
• This policy has the potential to fall under the Recognitive model as well. Instead of having groups represented by government authorities, the policy could be developed so that all members of the schooling community have a say in the policy itself, making recommendations as to how changes would occur and best suit the needs and wants of those students which are targeted by this policy. This would not only aid in promoting self-development, it would also aid in promoting a positive self-identity which would result in all members of the schooling environment becoming active, informed citizens of their country.
Effectives of addressing injustices
• While this policy is effective in admitting that changes need to be made to accommodate the ever changing school environment and being able to cater to a multi-cultural schooling environment, it is not effective in addressing the real problems that students targeted by this policy may face on a day to day basis.
• More specific suggestions on how to change things within schools, and why these things need to be changed would greatly enhance this policy.
For example, children from non-english speaking backgrounds need extra help to adjust to an English speaking school environment. While the policy states that these students will be provided with appropriate support for them to develop their English skills, it needs to further elaborate on exactly how this is going to be achieved, what the indicators are that will et staff know that these procedures are working, and how these procedures could be improved for future students.
• Instead of addressing specific issues faced by students from different cultural backgrounds and identifying strategies available to the school administrators to ensure these injustices are not continued, this policy simply admits that the school environment is becoming more multi-cultural and the curriculum needs to reflect
this.
• As discussed in Grundy (1994) analysis of a policy should include considering why the policy was developed in the first place. This policy was approved and implemented in 2005 (NSW DET 2005: online) which was a period of reshaping and realigning the education system. The education debates that would have surrounded the development of this policy are evident within the policy itself. While the policy admits that there is a need for multi-cultural education within the schooling system, it has not been developed enough to state what and how these changes are or need to be made.
The problem if you could call it that, of cultural diversity within schools is addressed within this policy, however there needs more direct guidance of where in the curriculum and individual school procedures it needs to change and be accepted for this policy to have the full effect needed on students from different cultural backgrounds. As Taylor et al (1997: 48) states, while schools need as much direction as possible, they still need to be given a certain amount of flexibility to enable the implementation of the policy and develop their own priorities as possible. However, this document appears to provide little advice on the implementation of the policy and is vague in its intentions and expectations of the schooling system. Although it is a policy that appears to address the issue of cultural diversity and multiculturalism within the education system, this policy certainly needs further development and more specific guidelines for schools to follow if the policy is to be successfully implemented within schools across NSW.
However, does this policy aid the students who are directly affected by the policy, or does it remove these students even further from the schooling community making it even harder for them to be accepted or supported within a multi-cultural community?
The NSW DET has recognised the ever changing cultural and community relations which have taken place, and continues to take place within school communities across NSW. To ensure that …show more content…
students from culturally different backgrounds are accommodated and thought of at school, the NSW DET has developed a policy named “Cultural Diversity and Community Relations Policy: Multicultural education in schools.” (NSW DET 2005: online)
Aims and strategies of the policy
• The aims and objectives of this policy appear to be rather broad and upon further study of the policy and other related documents, it appears that there is a need for the policy to be more specific in regards to exactly what changes need to be implemented within the school curriculum. For example, the policy statement 1.1 states that “community harmony is promoted through school policies and practices.” (NSW DET 2005: 1.1) School communities need to examine the level of multiculturalism within its school community and become aware of important dates, traditions and celebrations of these communities, rather than just learning about and celebrating the typical and accepted Australian ones. (Nieto 2000: 360) By doing this the school is showing an acceptance of things outside the dominant class norm, while at the same time demonstrating to the minor class that their customs and traditions are a welcome asset to the school community.
• Although statement 1.2 of the policy recognizes that Australia is now well and truly a multicultural society, this statement also implies that even though the school may accept the fact that there are many different cultures imbedded within any one school, the curriculum still revolves around the Australian culture. It also implies that the curriculum will focus on aiding students to become active “Australian” citizens rather than active “Chinese/Australian” citizens or “Lithuanian/Australian” citizens for example.
• For a school to effectively encourage cross-culture acceptance and harmony within the same schooling environment, all aspects from all cultures need to be considered within the school curriculum. As Nieto (2000: 355) argues, a multicultural curriculum needs to be developed to ensure that all students are given the best and most opportunities to succeed and achieve their goals, no matter what their background.
• Statement 1.3 is a strategy which is responsive to the dramatic social and economic changes occurring globally within today’s society. Teaching practices need to evolve with today’s society and the type of cultures with which they are faced. Long gone are the homogenous classroom days when a teacher could presume or expect the entire class to be filled with one ethnic background or one religious belief. (Richmond & Andreoni 2004: 91) Today’s teachers need to be prepared and committed to teaching a wide range of culturally diverse students. They also need to be aware of the different learning styles of these students, and the many issues these students face on a daily basis. Teachers need to adopt an “open and tolerant attitude towards different cultures, religions and world views” (NSW DET 2005: 1.3) if they are to be successful in teaching to a diverse cultural society promoting community harmony, acceptance and tolerance which will continue into the students adult lives. This can be directly linked to the life long learning strategy included within the syllabus.
• Statements 1.4 and 1.5 of the policy can be closely linked, achieved and developed using similar guides and tools. Students with English as a second language can often find fitting in and being accepted within school communities harder and more challenging than other students. This is because the simple tool of communication through speech is broken down at a rapid rate. The case study presented in Richmond and Andreoni (2004: 105) is a great example of the breakdown of communication and the problems which arise from this. However, this case study also provides an example of how these barriers can be overcome and the students’ development continued and enhanced through the use of certain tools. Again, while the policy aims to respond to “cultural, linguistic and religious diversity” (NSW DET 2005: online), more specific examples need to be given on how schools can overcome these issues to ensure the successful transition for all students in today’s multi-cultural school environment.
• Statement 1.6 of the policy addresses the fact that not only teachers and students, but all members of the community need to be involved with the implementation of this policy to ensure its success. Success of this policy does not only occur throughout the implementation phase, but for the entire time of the students schooling career. This policy will effect generations to come, therefore ongoing community support is required to ensure its continued success. As Nieto (2000: 365) discusses, most families are not involved in policy development in the school, however they are involved in the education of their children through the values they have developed at home. This aspect of family involvement in policy making and implementation can change through using a number of different methods. Methods such as newsletters, more frequent parent/school discussion nights or other methods which provide more consistent communication with families will generate as much support as possible for the implementation of this policy.
Interpretation, presentation and their implications
• As Taylor et al (1997) discusses, the tone and presentation of the policy can play a major role with the acceptance and dissemination of the policy. The presentation of the policy can have a large impact on the way it is interpreted and accepted within the schooling community. When compared to other policies such as the “Girls and Boys at School: Gender Equity Strategy” policy (NSW DET 2005: online), the Cultural Diversity and Community Relations policy appears bland and boring, with not much though or effort put into the policy itself.
• The Girls and Boys at school policy has a different text, and takes on a more personalized approach with the way it is set out, the questions it asks, and the suggestions it makes. The intentions of the authors of the policy are evident from the beginning of the document. As Grundy (1994) discusses, the authors have attempted to exert control over the outcomes through the text which they have chosen to use throughout the policy document. Whereas the Cultural Diversity and Community Relations policy is more institutionalized and impersonal in its approach, and makes the ideas put forward in the policy appear to have less importance or meaning to the ones presented in the Girls and Boys at School policy. The attempt at control over the outcomes is not as prominent or deliberate when compared to other policies.
• Similarly the tone of the policy can also play a major role in the acceptance and dissemination of the policy. There are a number of times throughout the policy where the tone of the point being suggested takes on a different meaning to that which is actually being written. As Taylor et al (1997) discusses, the tone of what has been written can often be interpreted as the dominant class forcing their ideas and beliefs onto the non-dominant class, which often leads to the dominant class exercising their power and influence in a way which the policy is not intended (Taylor et al 1997: 27). For example, as commented above statement 1.2 in the policy discusses that schools will provide teaching and learning programs for students “from all cultures and communities” (NSW DET 2005: 1.2). This statement by itself does not seem to cause any harm. However, upon further reading of the policy, students are encouraged to identify as an “Australian”. This phrase is more than likely not intended to be patronizing or discriminative in any way; however any member of the community could take offence with this statement. Also it is a good example of the dominant class trying to force their beliefs and ideas onto the non-dominant class.
• While this policy appears to be taking a pluralist approach to the issue of multi-culturalism within our schooling systems, it is more closely linked with an elitist approach (Taylor et al 1997: 26). This can be seen through various statements within the policy. While stating that the schooling system recognizes the fact that school communities now have a wide range of cultural influences, all these cultures are still expected to conform to the Australian way and adapt the Australian culture to be considered citizens that would be able to effectively contribute to society. These policies are acting within the realms and interests of the dominant class rather than the community as a whole.
Support structures
• One indication of the planning and importance placed on a policy is the support structure implemented within the policy itself (Taylor et al 1997: 25). This policy demonstrates little amount of importance placed upon it through its poor support structure as outlined in the Responsibilities and Delegations section of the policy (NSW DET 2005: 6). Although there are measures outlining generally who is responsible for what, greater detail is needed as to when this policy should be implemented by, what goals should be achieved by certain time frames, and what events signify if the policy is being successful or not. An annual report (NSW DET 2005: 7.1) is not going to provide adequate support and detail to those members of the school environment that depend upon the correct implementation of this policy.
Indicators
• There are no specific outcomes mentioned throughout the policy which would indicate to the staff and implementing persons that the policy has been successful or not. The context of the policy is not explained well enough throughout the document. While the context minimally expands on the policy statement and goals, it does not offer any clarification of the goals, values and objectives of the policy, identify different options available to achieve goals, or discuss the costs of implementing such a policy. These issues are all central not only to the successful implementation of a policy, but to all the schools involved with this policy as well.
Curriculum proposals and changes
• For this policy to be successful the entire curriculum of NSW would need to be revised. The curriculum obviously has not yet been revised to reflect this policy as there are no culture specific classes, subjects or areas of specialty that have been introduced into the curriculum. While there are a number of topics that cover Australian culture, there also needs to be topics specific to those cultures which are represented within the schooling community. For example, literature that focuses on men and women from different cultural groups could be introduced into the English program. This would increase the students’ awareness of different cultural backgrounds which some students may have or currently are experiencing. (Nieto 2000: 355) Or perhaps the school can devote one of its notice boards to highlighting special event days or cultural days to a particular cultural group a week.
• However, curriculum changes do not occur quickly and there is always a financial cost to these changes. This is something else that the school would have to consider. While the curriculum may not be rapidly changing to accommodate this policy, the responsibility may fall back onto the individual school to create new and effective ways to implement the policy within the current schooling environment.
Social justice model
• The main social justice model as discussed by Gale and Densmore (2000) which appears to underpin this policy is the Distributive model. This policy demonstrates that individual groups, in this case cultural groups, are being represented by the government agency which has developed this policy. It is the dominant government agency group which is forcing their opinion and thoughts onto the less dominant group. Throughout this policy it is the dominant group believing that they know what is best for the non-dominant group, and therefore making the policy changes to suit their needs instead of the needs of the non-dominant group. The distributive model demonstrates how this policy wants to give all members of the community to be active, informed “Australian” citizens, not active, informed “Asian/Australian” citizens.
• This policy has the potential to fall under the Recognitive model as well. Instead of having groups represented by government authorities, the policy could be developed so that all members of the schooling community have a say in the policy itself, making recommendations as to how changes would occur and best suit the needs and wants of those students which are targeted by this policy. This would not only aid in promoting self-development, it would also aid in promoting a positive self-identity which would result in all members of the schooling environment becoming active, informed citizens of their country.
Effectives of addressing injustices
• While this policy is effective in admitting that changes need to be made to accommodate the ever changing school environment and being able to cater to a multi-cultural schooling environment, it is not effective in addressing the real problems that students targeted by this policy may face on a day to day basis.
• More specific suggestions on how to change things within schools, and why these things need to be changed would greatly enhance this policy.
For example, children from non-english speaking backgrounds need extra help to adjust to an English speaking school environment. While the policy states that these students will be provided with appropriate support for them to develop their English skills, it needs to further elaborate on exactly how this is going to be achieved, what the indicators are that will et staff know that these procedures are working, and how these procedures could be improved for future students.
• Instead of addressing specific issues faced by students from different cultural backgrounds and identifying strategies available to the school administrators to ensure these injustices are not continued, this policy simply admits that the school environment is becoming more multi-cultural and the curriculum needs to reflect
this.
• As discussed in Grundy (1994) analysis of a policy should include considering why the policy was developed in the first place. This policy was approved and implemented in 2005 (NSW DET 2005: online) which was a period of reshaping and realigning the education system. The education debates that would have surrounded the development of this policy are evident within the policy itself. While the policy admits that there is a need for multi-cultural education within the schooling system, it has not been developed enough to state what and how these changes are or need to be made.
The problem if you could call it that, of cultural diversity within schools is addressed within this policy, however there needs more direct guidance of where in the curriculum and individual school procedures it needs to change and be accepted for this policy to have the full effect needed on students from different cultural backgrounds. As Taylor et al (1997: 48) states, while schools need as much direction as possible, they still need to be given a certain amount of flexibility to enable the implementation of the policy and develop their own priorities as possible. However, this document appears to provide little advice on the implementation of the policy and is vague in its intentions and expectations of the schooling system. Although it is a policy that appears to address the issue of cultural diversity and multiculturalism within the education system, this policy certainly needs further development and more specific guidelines for schools to follow if the policy is to be successfully implemented within schools across NSW.