Assignment 1

Are Australian schools Meeting the challenge of equity and access in our
democratic society? Discuss the importance of equity in schooling practice by
using examples from your own experience and knowledge of schools to
substantiate your point of view.

The social justice issue that will be addressed in this essay is Socioeconomic Status
(SES). This essay focuses on three equity issues; firstly financial support and
resources (Koshy, 2011). Another issue, cultural biases; certain cultures in the
Australian society are Low SES, such as Aboriginal communities. And lastly,
inequalities amongst public schools in Australia, certain public schools have more
access to fundamental resources. Schools in Australia are starting to meet the
challenges of equity and access through various political reforms. Despite the aid that
the governmental reforms offer there is sill minority groups that fall behind. Within
the Public school education there is a vast amount of inequality to accessing
resources, a policy that undertakes Bourdieus Macro social concept is the Gonski
Review, however this is also subjective in its ability to assist because it relies on the
condition and specific needs of the educational institutes. Another Policy that is put in
place to make education accessible to a minority group is the National Integrated
Strategy for Closing the Gap on Indigenous Disadvantage; this policy uses Webbers
micro approach to social issues. Australian educators are susceptible to the
unconscious ideals they place on their students, due to the dominant discourse. The
case study of Wagga Wagga High School offers an insight to the working of the
policies and how effective they are in achieving desirable academic outcomes.
The education system within Australia in terms of equity and access is average;
nevertheless students background and capability to access resources is an important
factor in determining the academic outcomes for students (Kenway, 2013). The
education system in Australia is not distributed evenly, despite Australia being
average in access and equity; some schools receive more resources than others, this is
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Assignment 1
evident in the public system, especially the difference between rural and city schools.
Socioeconomic status (SES) is a major factor in determining equality; Low SES as
defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), are people who are
disadvantaged in accessing resources, such as access to social, medical, education and
material (2009). Families and individuals who are socioeconomically disadvantaged
are often financially challenged; this is heavily correlated to students poor
performances in education; other factors include cultural values (ABS, 2009). The
Gonski review was a policy introduced to manage the issue of equity and access
amongst schools in Australia, and it especially benefits regions with low SES students
(Kenway, 2013). The policy focuses on the funding of schools, the amount that they
are entitled to is determined by the size, condition and specific needs of the
educational institutes (Kenway,2013). The aims of the Gonski review was to target
the issue of inequality of schools access to recourses on a national level, through the
means of funding, Kenway points out that students from disadvantaged backgrounds
[Low SES] are constantly achieving educational outcomes lower than their peers
(2013, p.288), this statement is supported by statistical evidence, from the collected
data of 2010 and 2011 on the completion rates year 12 students. Another policy that
works alongside the Gonski review is the National Integrated Strategy for Closing
the Gap on Indigenous Disadvantage, which is also known as the Closing-the-Gap
Policy (Taylor and Barnes, 2013). This policies main aim is to bridge the divide
between the rest of the Australian population and the Aboriginal population this is
done through the modification of health and education practices and it aims to achieve
higher employment outcomes (Taylor and Barnes, 2013). This policy targets the
Micro within the Macro society; it targets ethnic groups that are predominantly
socioeconomically disadvantaged.
Poor academic outcomes and low SES are correlated; data confirms that unprivileged
students on average are less likely to complete Year 12 studies and continue to further
educational institutes, such as TAFE and University (Lim, Gemici and Karmel, 2013).
In 2010 a study sample of 6316 students across 356 schools was conducted to see how
many students had continued on to complete year 12, the statistics conclude that 890
students, 14.1%, had not completed year 12 (Lim, Gemici and Karmel, 2013). In
comparison, the following year, 2011, a national census was conducted by the ABS
and was documented in the Center for international Research on Education Systems,
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it had reported that on average 73% of 19 year-olds had completed year 12 in New
South Whales, on a national scale the census revealed that the highest rates of higher
education completion was located in city regions, averaging 80% (Lamb, Jackson,
Walstab and Huo, 2015). Furthermore, the Rudd Government of 2008 had introduced
the method of splitting of regions by postcode, to accurately measure the different
completion rates of low and high SES, to identify the target areas (Koshy, 2011).
Postcodes associated with high SES have an 89.1% completion rate, while Low SES
have 60.6% of students completing year 12 (Lamb, Jackson, Walstab and Huo, 2015).
This data also highlights the dominant discourse that surrounds students from low
SES, this being that students from theses backgrounds are uneducated, and are
unlikely to continue to further education.
Students from low SES backgrounds are often stereotyped to have negative attitudes
towards education, they are frequently portrayed to have behavioral issues; teachers
often fall victim to these dominant discourses and often unintentionally apply them to
their learners (Glock and Krolak-Schwerdt, 2014). These dominant discourses are
given power by the media; the media often portrays people of low SES areas as:
violent, criminals, and uneducated, it focuses on the negative aspects of the
communities and often generalizes them through a macro perspective (Sinha and
Mishra, 2013). Within this macro dominant discourse there are discourses that
surround specific ethnic backgrounds. For example the Aboriginal community is
subjected to further discourses, this is evident throughout previous Australian policies
that exhibit White European dominance; the Aboriginal protection act of 1869 had
allowed the removal of Aboriginal children from their families to assimilate them into
the European society (Engel, Madeline H, Norma Kolko Philips, Frances Dellacava,
2012). Webber focuses on the dominant discourse on a micro scale on the effects of
social classes, his classical sociological, conflict theory, of stratification is concerned
by how social differences is determined by class, status and power, Webber states,
social insofar as its subjective meaning takes account of the behavior of others and
is thereby oriented in its course (1991, p. 3). The National Integrated Strategy for
Closing the Gap on Indigenous Disadvantage, Closing-the-Gap, policy is an example
of Webbers theory, the micro in the macro, the Aboriginal community is minority with
in the majority they are socially exempted; and are primarily a class of low SES
(Taylor and Barnes, 2013). Where as Bourdieus theory of Social Field or better
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Assignment 1
known as Cultural Capital theory identifies that within the pedagogy dominant
discourse ideals are presented, in his theory he referrers the to necessary field that are
categorized by dominant or elite classes, these classes are referred to as fields
[socioeconomic class] of Power (Hilgers and Mangez, 2015, p.63). Therefore his
theory emphasizes those who are not part of the ideal structure are excluded and
placed low on the scale of power (Hilgers and Mangez, 2015). The Gonski review
uses of Bourdieus theory of the macro, the policy looks at all schools on a national
level and compares them in order to accurately help provide support. Both social
theorists, Webber and Bourdieu, highlight that the minority that follow different
religions, have different customs and who are not associated with the power classes,
are placed low on the scale of power, for example the Aboriginal communities
(Fantuzzo, 2015; Hilgers and Mangez, 2015). Furthermore, according to Bourdieus
understanding of power and discourse, he believes that the dominant discourse
thought is taught at a young age and educators inadvertently act on their preconceived
ideas of their students, which is based on their SES. Therefore if a teacher had a
disruptive class of low SES students they have a notion that this is normal because
people of their socioeconomic status do not value education, this leads the teacher to
become neglectful in his or her duties, it is a prejudice that is made unconsciously
(Shim, 2012).
It is possible to track a schools, public, progress through the My School website and
see what the long-term benefits of the governments policies has had on them The
My School site also offers statistical evidence of students academic achievements,
their declines and improvements, the results are collected from the National
Assessment Program (NAP) (My School, 2016). The site uses the Index of
Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA) to allow for a fair comparison
across schools that have similar students; the Australian Curriculum Assessment and
Reporting Authority (ACARA) had also enforced this method of ranking (Rowe and
Windle, 2012). The progress of Wagga Wagga High School (WWHS) in Wagga
Wagga N.S.W is documented on the website, the records go back to the year 2008;
also the financial expenders are documented, from 2009 to 2015. WWHS was
established in 1912, it is located in a large regional center with a student population of
1054, which a large percentage of them are low SES (My School, 2016). The school
caters for its students of different ethnic backgrounds, such as refugee students from
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Assignment 1
the Middle East, Burma and Africa, also the school had a large population of
indigenous students (My School, 2016). According to WWHSs description page they
are able to support their students through a range of programs targeted to improve
literacy and numeracy skills, they have academic support classes for each year (from
7 to 10); the educational institute also offers career options for their students, TAFE
(My School, 2016).
However these achievements would not have been possible without the Gonski
review and the Closing-the-Gap Policy (Taylor and Barnes, 2013). The Closing-theGap policy is specifically aimed at the indigenous population of Australia; this
minority group is given extra assistances to increase the number students in the
education system. Looking through the schools history it is evident that they had
benefited from the Gonski review; in 2012 WWHS had a total of $2,346, 602 worth
of funds given to them by the government and a total of $9,735, 931 from the state
(My School, 2016). In 2014 WWHS had received $2, 151, 863 and almost eleven
million dollars from the state (My School, 2016). These contributions essential to the
progress of the students, these finances allows WWHS to offer its students a range of
support programs, A key element in the national governments education policy was
the link between education and the economy (Keating and Klatt, 2012, p.419).
Furthermore the Closing-the-Gap policy that had been implemented in 2008, the
policy has also had an effect on the number of indigenous students continuing to
secondary education, in 2008 there had been only 4% of the schools population that
were indigenous, by 2015 this had increased 7%, totaling to 79 students (My School,
2016). The policy is to encourage parents of students of indigenous backgrounds to
pursue education for their children; the policy also focuses on closing the gap between
the general population of Australia and the Aboriginal communities, the main focus is
in health, education and employment outcomes (Taylor and Barnes, 2013). Despite
the success of the Gonski review and the Closing-the-Gap policies WWHS academic
achievements are not improving greatly, in fact, they have deteriorated from 2009. In
2009 the number of students to have completed senior secondary school was 122, and
of the 122 students 120 had completed with awarded certificate (My School, 2016). In
comparison the students of 2015 roughly 128 had completed year 12, but of that
number 9 did not receive a certificate (My School, 2016). Also the results from the
year 9 NAPLAN test in 2009 in comparison to the results of 2015, students who took
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Assignment 1
the test in 2009 achieved higher bands than those in 2015. For the band 5 and bellow
13% of students in 2009 had achieved this score, and in 2015 15% had received this
mark, however the major difference is when comparing the average band, band 7,
24% of students in 2009 had received this mark where only 19% of 2015 students had
reached this band (My School, 2016). Despite the policies that are put into practice
there is still an underlining issue of equity, within the school itself and the nation. In
comparison to other Australian schools WWHS on average performed lower, as
evident in the 2015 results.
Nevertheless, the Australian education system within Australia is not equal. There are
policies that have been effective to a certain extent. For instance the Closing-The-gap
policy had been very effective in integrating more indigenous students in the
education system. While the Gonski Review offers Schools more resource based on
their needs it does little to help the improving of academic outcomes, in order for this
policy to be more effective there has to be more emphasis on the educational
programs, via the means of funding. Also the dominant discourse needs to be
changed, and teachers need to be aware of unconscious bias in order to teach students
of low socioeconomic backgrounds; so that hey are not projecting their preconceived
ideas.
References
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http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4250.0.55.001Main+Features32009
Engel, Madeline H, Philips, Norma Kolko & Dellacava, Frances A. (2012).
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Fantuzzo, John. (2015). A Course Between Bureaucracy and Charisma: A Pedagogical
Reading of Max Weber's Social Theory. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 49 (1),
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Glock, Sabine and Krolak-Schwerdt, Sabine. (2014). Stereotype Activation Versus
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