Back to the meaningful "Basics"......The diversity of this country and some of the implications for teaching and learning.

As I write this I am sitting in the Cairns Airport waiting to catch a plane for the Gove Peninsula in the NT, part of Arnhem Land.  Our Federal Government is announcing the national curriculum which they say will be a back to basics approach with grammar and spelling, reading and writing etc.  The way it is discussed and presented makes it sound as if these skills haven't been taught for the past number of years.

On this trip, I am working with teachers who teach in remote homeland communities.  I am hoping to not only to support these teachers (and the children they teach) in engaging learning experiences but also to learn from them as well.

I am mindful that so many children living in remote areas of Australia do not necessarily have access to the range of opportunities and resources that other children may have.  I am also mindful that in discussion about teaching basics, the broader perspective of what it means to be a learner, what it means to have your own culture, family and community represented is often more complex and far broader that simply "let's get back to basics".

How do you get a young child to want to come to school, to be excited by school, to thrive on learning and exploring? How do you get to school if you have no transport and attendance at school is not always the greatest priority? How do you relate to the learning if you are forced to speak a language that is not your own or your family's?

How do you provide a learning environment that reflects interests, culture and relevance to the broad range of children who attend so that the acquisition of skills and the process of learning these skills have some relevance and every day application in their lives?

I am pleased to see that in the past 18 months, education has gained some profile with our Federal government.  I am not so pleased with rankings, public comparisons and the continued mentality that the quality of an education can be measured in such simplistic terms on a website.

My message to parents in recent weeks, when I am asked to comment on the "My School" website is to be cautious. To not assume that simply looking at a score or ranking order can possibly provide any real or meaningful indication of a community and school.  It is misleading and patronizing to parents to assume that all they want is a simplistic score. The parents I have spoken with find it quite offensive.

I am so mindful of how huge, broad and diverse this country is: I left Melbourne in a chilly 17 degrees, arrived at Cairns with 33 degrees and then Nuhlumbuy with 36 degrees, HIGH humidity and such a totally different landscape!  I felt more keenly than ever that we are not having an education revolution that is tackling the issues of diversity and meaningful learning.

Buildings, computers and basics existed before the current Federal Government announced an education revolution. Whilst additional funding to build, construct and support schools is welcome, it is a great shame that a preoccupation with content rather than how children learn is all that seems to hit the airwaves.

I work with, talk with and support parents and teachers across the country on a daily basis. I am neither a politician nor someone who requires or depends upon the Government for approval or for an income.  It is important that additional perspectives, thoughts and ideas are out in the general community and I encourage other colleagues and educators and parents to speak up about the things that matter to them.

Life seems so filled with 'spin' these days that I almost feel like I am in a George Orwell novel; the ministry for education is actually about economic management and measurement!!!!

A parent asked me the other day, what is the most important thing a child's education should contain? I said five main things.

• 1. A strong sense of identity, self esteem and belonging
• 2. A love and competence of language and communication
• 3. To experience and enjoy literature, music, the arts,
• 4. To be able to read, write, spell and be numerate
• 5. To problem solve, resolve conflict and bounce back and keep trying
• 6. To love learning and see that it is relevant and transferable to all aspects of life.

The greatest means by which we can improve the teaching and learning is not simply a new framework or curriculum, but the way we teach teachers and the way teachers teach children. This is an area that many European countries have successfully achieved with high standards and longer courses at the tertiary level.

The latest step by the Federal Government to have 6 week trained teachers is an insult to the skill, knowledge and depth of being an effective teacher.

We have a long, long way to go in Australia in education and at the moment the direction we are heading at policy level is frightening naive and simplistic.

I congratulate the many teachers I meet who work so hard, despite the tensions and limitations placed upon them to provide innovative, authentic teaching and learning experiences and attempt to diversify the learning for all children.

That is where the real revolution is occurring as it always does in a real revolution. Not from the government but from the real people at the coal face, who really notice and understand what is happening and recognize that things need to change. Education, diversity and the huge country we live in defies the logic of a one size fits all.