Partnerships of all kinds are a key to improving educational outcomes, writes Rosalyn Black in a recent Australian Policy Online article. Here’s an extract:

If there is any one message that can be drawn from the vast body of research and commentary on school education in Australia, it is that tinkering around the edges of schooling will not solve the widening gaps in educational outcomes that limit opportunities for too many young people. While the current national discourses about teacher quality, funding and a national curriculum are important, these strategies will not succeed without a more collaborative approach….

The next step must be the creation of a range of new partnerships and networks:

• between all schools in a locality regardless of whether they are funded through the government,   Catholic or independent school system
• between the government, Catholic and independent school systems
• between federal and state governments
• between education bureaucracies and other areas of government
• between schools, parents and local communities.

…   Similarly, improvement will not happen without the engagement of young people. While they are the target of every effort to lift educational outcomes, there is little will or strategy to involve them in the process. Better support, recognition and reward through the schooling system could see young people driving and leading the networks that widen their own opportunities and build social capital in their communities. …

… Schools cannot do it alone and collaboration can’t be left to chance. Instead, Australia needs a mandate that enshrines our collective responsibility for the learning and wellbeing of all children and young people….

http://www.apo.org.au/webboard/results.chtml?filename_num=259490

Rosalyn Black is senior research manager with The Foundation for Young Australians.

Her new book, Beyond the Classroom: Building New School Networks, is published by ACER Press.