Consider the situation WA primary (elementary) and secondary (high) school Principals face as they consider how best to implement a prescribed curriculum, the Western Australian version of the Australian National Curriculum (WAANC).
Let me present a context for Principal introspection of how they might best implement the WAANC in their schools. In establishing this context I have only scratched the surface of what the world might look like into the future, a taster if you like, a motivation to explore further if need be. I probably need to apologise in advance for maybe over quoting Michael Fullan. He is a guru for me having taught me so much about how to understand and manage change in organisations.
WHAT THE FUTURE JOB MARKET MEANS FOR SCHOOL PRINCIPALS
Possible Contexts for the Future
As a start to exploring this challenge for school Principals the author asked Google:
What will jobs of the future look like?
This threw up several exciting sites full of vital information. A test applied to utilising the content of each article was the validity of the sources used to create it.
Principals, who haven’t already done so are urged to ask this question of Google and explore the sites that come up until they begin to see commonalities. This will provide a context for the introspective activity that Principals are advised to carry out in how best to implement the prescribed curriculum in this context of exponential change.
At this point one article, a comprehensive blog post and an Executive Briefing are mentioned.
The very comprehensive articletitled “Best Careers for the Future: 51 Jobs for 2020 and Way Beyond” contains detailed descriptions of the 51 jobs, many that currently exist and some that are predicted occupations. The article also contains valuable insights under the following headings:
· Biomedical Advancements and Ever Smarter Machines;
· Cultural Demographic and Economic Changes;
· Global Challenges and Crises;
· Human Drive to Play and Explore;
· Get the Skills You’ll Need for What’s Ahead.
This article is an excellent starting point for Principal introspection on how it affects the implementation of a prescribed curriculum.
The blog postby Justin Lee titled “What Does a Future with No Jobs Look Like?” contains a vital quote as follows:
“It’s estimated that as much as half the world’s labor could be automated over the next 20 years. There are two potential outcomes of this massive disruption of the labor market:
(1) an era of mass unemployment and social instability, or
(2) an age of abundance where we are free to pursue creative work”
(2) an age of abundance where we are free to pursue creative work”
The Executive Briefingis by the McKinsey Global Institute, May 2017 (McKinsey.com). This Briefing is all about the effects of “…automation and digital platforms and other innovations that are changing the fundamental nature of work.” It is worth reading this whole briefing. The content provides a valuable context for Principal introspection on how best to implement prescribed syllabuses with an eye to the future for their students.
One could also search for articles about jobs that will most certainly disappear, however a small sampling of this line of research proved to throw up a negativity that in the author’s view would serve no useful purpose for the introspection of Principals.
The commentators about the future tend to recognise the following major contexts:
· An ever-increasing world population that will put pressure on the resources available even taking into account technological advances. Parts of the Earth could become water-stressed.
· An important part of the above is an increase in life expectancy that means more people are living longer to 80 and above. This will throw a major weight on governments to cater for this specific population especially in the advanced countries. It is of no surprise then that predictions of jobs that have a long life into the future are in the category of caring for the aged in various ways.
· Owing to the effects of jobs becoming automated, a time when a lot of people may be without work and very poor. If this scenario occurs there are even predictions that there could be a high premature death rate in this group.
· An alternative scenario where many will not work or work part time and yet be able to live a comfortable life based on receiving a Universal Basic Income (UBI) and the existence of a negative tax regime. Social welfare handouts would be replaced by the UBI.
· A further scenario already occurring is the creation of jobs in large numbers to replace those that have become redundant. A concern here is that many of the new jobs will require a high level of learning skills which may be beyond some individuals.
It is also considered useful to provide a reality check for professional educators from K into tertiary levels.
The Realities of Each Age Cohort Entering the School System
Within the context of a curriculum where each subject is organised in year or age/grade levels such as the Australian National Curriculum (ANC: noting that all references to the ANC are based on the author of this blog sighting the actual syllabus detail in May/June 2019). In general the curriculum used for this blog material was the Western Australian (WA) version of the ANC.
Principals know as a rule of thumb that in each age cohort there will be those youngsters who struggle to keep pace with the learning achievements of their peers : I will call these the Leopards. There will be another group that regularly achieves what is set out in the prescribed curriculum for each subject (learning area) for the year for their age level: I call these the Jaguars. There will be a third group that in each year level achieves well beyond what is in the prescribed curriculum. Of course there is also a population of students who for various reasons such as physical and/or mental disabilities are more effectively placed in Special Education environments where teachers with appropriate training bring each child on in small incremental steps. These students are brilliantly educated by the special teachers and are usually in a dedicated special class or centre.
To enable each Leopard, Jaguar and Panther to master the prerequisites for new learning to come, at least in English language and mathematical requirements as in the prescribed curriculum, class organisations such as cross setting are deployed. This often occurs in the mid primary and especially throughout the secondary (high) school years. Principals generally have to work hard to convince parents that this form of organisation is necessary to allow each student to proceed at their own rate regardless of a curriculum content organised generally in age/grade or year levels. The Principal is aiming for continuity in each youngster’s learning.
Another reality is that Principals of Australian schools annually face the reality of the compulsory NAPLAN (National Assessment Program Literacy And Numeracy) assessments for their year 3s, 5s, 7s and 9s. The outcomes of these assessments are published for each school on the Myschool website and became a point of reference for parents who want to see how their school is performing in literacy and numeracy compared to like schools. NAPLAN is contentious and criticisms that schools coach for the tests abound. The professional writers of educational materials are part of this bandwagon, producing swathes of NAPLAN coaching materials available in appropriate retail outlets. Over several years there have been repeated outbursts from federal politicians that NAPLAN results show Australian students well down the pecking order in literacy and numeracy for a developed country. NAPLAN does not seem to be changing this picture.
Secondary school Principals in Western Australia have the added requirement of students, usually in year 10, choosing a set of subjects that lead to university entrance, another set that provide a vocational orientation and more recently (2019) a set of subjects that hover somewhere between. This latter is not universally accepted with the concern that such students may end up in some sort of secondary school graduation limbo. There is a lot of pressure from politicians for as many students as possible to opt for the harder Mathematics and Science subjects and this pressure therefore comes on to the Principal.
Much has also been written about declining student engagement in learning towards the end of the primary school years continuing into the secondary school years. The revered educational researcher Michael Fullan wrote a recent article “The nuance of academic achievement” (Australian Educational Leader, Vol 41, Term 1, 2019, pp 8-10) and the nub of his arguments is as follows:
He reinforces on a more global scale the points made above on the NAPLAN emphasis, citing the massive influence that international PISA testing has wrought, stating: “Ever since PISA came on the scene countries have engaged in an internal and worldwide competition to increase their “scores” on tests.” (p8) Fullan claims this has resulted in a heavy emphasis on academic achievement to the detriment of also educating the young to have a connectedness to life in a complex global world. He writes (p8):
The directional solution is blindingly obvious once stated. Instead of trying to marshal everything to increase student achievement: instead of making student achievement the be-all and the end-all; instead of adopting a Procrustean approach to shoehorn everything (e.g. socio-emotional learning) in the service of academic performance – change the moral imperative itself to what is good for us as individuals and society. “
Fullan proceeds (p8) to suggest redefining the moral imperative as “high expectations for all students in both academic performance and in connectedness in life.” He defines such connectedness “…as having healthy connections in one’s situation and life.” Academic achievement and this connectedness should be equally valued. He says: “Being good at schooling and being good at life would be integrated, starting with early learning.” He further claims: “… we would see greater and more widespread academic achievement along with greater wellbeing with this dual definition of the moral imperative than with the narrower academic version as the overarching priority.”
Fullan (pp8-9) reminds us that we already “….know that a growing percentage of students are finding current schooling less and less relevant as they go up the grade levels and the trend is intensifying over generations.” While possibly overquoting Fullan it is vital to include:
I would say that a very conservative estimate is that only about 30% of high school students are actively engaged in learning. Lee Jenkin’s (2013) student survey shows the percentage of students engaged in learning dramatically decreases over the grade levels into secondary schools. The student survey “Gallup Poll” (2016) reported a decline in engagement rates from grade 5 (75%) to grade 10 (32%).
Within the context of the prescribed curriculum the STEM subjects now loom large as a focal point for future proofing students into adulthood. How to best to teach to this focus requires some careful thought given the need to develop the whole student. Hopefully it might be in a balanced learning environment as described by Fullan above.
Fullan (p10) and colleagues pin their faith in “deep learning” within a context of a redefined moral imperative. One final vital Fullan quote:
Our six core learning goals similarly encompass academic and connectedness goals through the 6Cs: character, citizenship, collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking. The strong pedagogy of our four pillars of learning (partnerships, engaging pedagogy, stimulating learning environments. and leveraging digital), are also in the service of centring on both academic and wellbeing goals. Our model also requires collaborative leadership and focus within schools and regions.
So what does a Principal need to do to take into account the futurist predictions, the realities of each age cohort of students and the system compulsory assessment requirements? Let us imagine John, a primary school (K- year 6) Principal and Helen, a secondary school (Year 7 – year 12) Principal are having a quiet introspective alone time thinking through how to structure the learning program given a prescribed curriculum, say the WA version of the ANC.
In my next post I will be John for a time.
May the Force be with you!
GD
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