Federal/State Mediations in the Australian National Education Agenda: From the AEC to MCEETYA 1987–1993

Drawing on research interviews and relevant document analysis, this paper analyses the changing forms of the national education agenda as it was developed and modifed in the Australian Education Council from 1987 to 1993. Particular attention is given to four significant developments in this period: national curriculum statements and profiles in schooling, and Mayer competencies; the training reform agenda; higher education; and the National Strategy for Equity in Schools. The study is located against general developments in Australian federalism and the changing political complexion of State governments across the period which led to the creation of the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs.

Conditional Probability: Its Place in the Mathematics Curriculum

The increased attention given to probability and statistics in the NCTM's Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics (1989) and other national curriculum statements around the world (e.g., Department of Education and Science [DES] 1991; Australian Education Council [AEC] 1991) has been applauded by most mathematics educators and many teachers. When they leave school, students need to make decisions when presented with claims about data. The fact that these challenges will arise is illustrated every day in reports in newspapers, magazines, and television news broadcasts.

Fundamentalist Education and Creation Science

It is argued that creation science education, because of its conservatism, has become accepted as a quiet presence in Australian education. The authors demonstrate, via an examination of the social studies and science components of a creation science education program, how these programs are at odds with widely accepted views on education in Australia and do not comply with requirements for registration of non-government schools, as set out by the Australian Education Council. Moreover the wider issue of creation science has been pushed aside as ‘too hard’ by Australian educators. It is argued that there is evidence to question seriously this narrow fundamentalist education operating in some Australian schools.

Seeing is Believing

Veritable libraries of career information appear on shelves each year. Well-intentioned influencers, particularly parents and teachers, make use of this material as do career information seekers themselves. Decisions are made on the content, yet the industry of Career Information still remains highly deregulated. Any person/organisation with any motive can produce quite influential career information. The Department of Employment Education and Training (DEET) is one of the largest agencies responsible for provision of career information. It is the major Australian provider of national and local occupational information data and products with an overall expenditure of approximately $15 million per annum (DEET, 1991). It was afforded an opportunity during the deliberations of an Australian Education Council Working Party on Career Education (McCowan, 1992) to take the first step in the development of standards for career information. This article explores these issues, as well as presenting a checklist of standards for career information providers.

International Update: a National Australian Statement on Mathematics

A National Statement on Mathematics for Australian Schools (Australian Education Council and the Curriculum Corporation 1991) wa released in July 1991. This document is the result of a collaborative project whose recommendations are to be implemented by the State and Territory Government education systems in Australia. It does not prescribe a panicularcurriculum but supplies a framework around which system and schools in the proces of planning can structure their mathematic curriculum.

The Australian Children's Television Foundation

At a meeting of the Australian Education Council in Hobart on February 19, 1981, the Ministers for Education representing the Federal and State Governments, resolved to support the establishment of an Australian Children's Television Foundation. The Foundation's major function is envisaged as encouraging the development, production and transmission of children's television programs of quality. This organization would not duplicate existing facilities, but work through existing production houses and producers, supplying finance for worthwhile projects that are brought to it as well as commissioning the making of projects it has initiated. Following consultation with State and Government Ministers, a Steering Committee has been established with a view to the creation of the Foundation.