Learning with Asia

24 November 2009

Chris Wardlaw, Deputy Secretary Office for Policy, Research and Innovation

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The World has Changed !

Proposition 1:

The new global environment

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Our young people need capabilities for life long learning

We cannot future proof our students but we can help them be future capable

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Capabilities

Domain expertise (underpinned by languages and mathematics)

Independent/critical thinkers

Self directed and resilient

Proficient users of ICT

Inter and intra personal effectiveness

Responsible and ethical

Culturally sensitive

Sense of Identity (individual/family, local, national, global)

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• 10 year national agenda

Goal 1:Australian schooling promotes equity and excellence

Goal 2:All young Australians become- Successful learners- Confident and creative individuals- Active and informed citizens

Able to relate to and communicate across cultures, especially the cultures and countries of Asia

Melbourne Declaration 2008

The Melbourne Declaration

“…nurture an appreciation of and respect for social, cultural and religious diversity, and a sense of global citizenship.”

“Australians need to become ‘Asia literate’, engaging and building strong relationships with Asia.”

“Schools share this responsibility with … the community (and) business…”

Proposition 2: The National Curriculum will facilitate learning and engagement with Asia

The Shape of the Australian Curriculum ACARA - May 2009

The national curriculum will cover general capabilities including:…• Intercultural understanding enables students to respect and

appreciate their own and others’ cultures and to work and communicate with those from different cultures and backgrounds. …

and Cross-curriculum perspectives …

• (including) skills, knowledge and understandings related to Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia.

The curriculum documents will be explicit on how the capabilities and perspectives are to be dealt with in each learning area and how links can be made between learning areas.

9(information from UN)

English as official English as official languagelanguage

English speaking countries

10(information from UN)

Chinese as official Chinese as official languagelanguage

With large population With large population speaking Chinesespeaking Chinese

English as official English as official languagelanguage

English & Chinese speaking countries

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Chinese as official Chinese as official languagelanguage

With large population With large population speaking Chinesespeaking Chinese

English as official English as official languagelanguage

Confucius InstituteConfucius Institute

English & Chinese speaking countries

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1250

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227 211 205 191128 128 126 104 78

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600

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1000

1200

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Lan

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Chi

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Eng

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LANGUAGE(Ostler, 2005)

Most spoken languages

• Goal of 12% of Australian students undertake a second language (Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Korean) to Year 12.

• What does evidence tell us about learning another language?

- intensive sustained instruction time is the key to L2 learning (5+ years for academic proficiency: Jim Cumming).

- for example: Proficiency in Chinese 2200 hrs; French 600 hrs. Australia L2 about 500 hrs

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Learning others’ Languages

Blueprint for Education and Early Childhood Development

System improvement for excellent school educationincluding quality teaching

and learning

Blueprint action – release Languages Strategy

Proposition 3:

• Making room for L2

• Quality L2

• Asian languages need extra attention

High Standards

High Expectations

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Proposition 4: A diverse Asia is moving rapidly in education

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Hong Kong PISA 2006 (15 yrs)

• Science 2nd (=3rd in 2003)

• Mathematics = 1st with 3 others (5 others in

2003)

• Reading 3rd (10th (= 5th with 14 others) in

2003)

• (Problem solving 2003 =1st with 5 others)

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Durchschnittliche Schülerleistungen im Bereich Mathematik

High science performance

High average performanceLarge socio-economic disparities

High average performanceHigh social equity

Socially equitable distribution of

learning opportunities

Strong socio-economic impact on

student performance

Low average performanceHigh social equity

Low average performanceLarge socio-economic disparities

Low science performance

I srael

GreecePortugal I talyRussian Federation

LuxembourgSlovak Republic SpainIcelandLatvia

Croatia

Sweden

DenmarkFrancePoland

Hungary

AustriaBelgiumIreland

Czech Republic Switzerland Macao- China

Germany United Kingdom

Korea

J apanAustralia

SloveniaNetherlands

Liechtenstein

New ZealandChinese Taipei

Hong Kong- China

Finland

CanadaEstonai

United StatesLithuania Norway

440

460

480

500

520

540

560

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High average performanceHigh social equity

High average performanceLarge socio-economic disparities

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Primary International Reading Literacy Study

(PIRLS) 2006 (Primary 4)

2nd (14th in 2001)

(Note: 26% operating at L1 literacy levels in English8% in 2001)

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How do we explain

high standards …

and … improvement ?

high equality …

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Maths unplugged. Young colleagues compare notes (front row) in an abacus and mental arithmetic contest in Huaibei in eastern Anhui province, on Sunday. The contest for the northern part of the province attracted more than 200 participants aged between 4 and 8 years old. Photo: Xinhua

South China Morning Post Friday May 22, 2007

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Is it culture?

YES NO

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Why might Hong Kong do so well ?• Coherent curriculum with high expectations (strong disciplines)

• Treasures training of basic skills and grasp of fundamental concepts at basic education level.

• Chinese culture values learning and provides extra incentives for students

• Teachers with strong pedagogical content knowledge (recent and new teacher graduates in first third of cohort)

• Other factors include

o Societal expectation

o Parental involvement

o Learning behaviour (time-on-task/structured teaching/homework)

o Textbooks

But…

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Student Attitudinal FactorsConfidence in mathematics (Grade 8) (TIMSS)

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

% of Students confident inMath

International

Hong Kong

Japan

Rigorous benchmarking

Proposition 5:

Aspirational or minimum standards?

85% HK P3 students meet minimum standards in mathematics;

96% in Australia

Time

Investment

Birth to adulthood

Proposition 6:

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The sustained learning and engaging with Asia we are seeking will depend on the strength of…

• The ideas

• The organisational and infrastructure arrangements, resources, and professional capacity

• The information (communication, consultation, evidence, feedback)

Proposition 7:

Values

Perseverance

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The values Hong Kong young people will have….

• a deep understanding of what it means to be a Hongkonger and a citizen of China and of the world.

• a sense of responsibility for all in society, regardless of their background, gender, race, social or geographical group.

• perseverance and a willingness to take risks (never being defeated by failure).

• an acceptance that the answers may not be totally clear at first, and that understanding can be built.

• a willingness to collaborate and share, to listen to others’ points of view and to communicate their own viewpoint.

Mathematics, science and perseverance

• TIMSS

• Besides the maths and science tests students fill out a survey….a long survey (120 Qs). Many students leave many questions blank

• Comparing the ranking on the tests with ranking of the average questions completed…..the rankings are the SAME ( not merely related!)

• Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan

Outliers: The Story of Success. Malcolm Gladwell

Similar challenges in their own context

• Sense of identity – individual, family, local, national, regional, global

Collective responsibility to make the world a better place

• They are connected

• They have to be more tolerant than us

• They see that what we do in our corner of the world has an impact on others

• They all face a new world

Proposition 8: Students have a lot in common in a globalised world