How Critical And Creative Thinking

The Australian Government’s Productivity Commission (PC) highlights the importance of schools to minimise disadvantage in schools. It is crucial for schools to adapt teaching and learning programs that respond to the individual needs of students by recognising and addressing underachievement. In addition to quality tailored programs, quality teaching by highly trained staff is also quality learning. (PC, 12)

The discourse of whiteness has severely impacted on the educational outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (herein referred to as Indigenous Peoples). The discourse is based on an ontology founded on overt racism, discrimination, prejudice, exclusion and dispossession and towards all Indigenous Peoples. Subsequently, the history of Indigenous Peoples experiences in relation to education is extremely negative. They have been denied the right to the same education as non-Indigenous students, frequently expelled and continually forced to deny their cultural identity. The discourse of whiteness has resulted in pedagogies and pedagogical practices that are overly racist and not inclusive of Indigenous Peoples culture. To improve future educational outcomes it is necessary to decolonise Australia and rewrite the curriculum so that it is inclusive for all students.

As we are all gathered here today in this humble Australian classroom full of life, love and learning we are accessing what we are entitled to, and that is educational equity which is a measure of achievement, fairness and opportunity in education. The former president of the United States of America, John F. Kennedy said “A child miseducated is a child lost”. A strong early education increases a students likelihood of attending a good college / university, and achieving good educational standards. Australia and America have some similarities.

Curriculum is designed to develop successful learners. Confident and creative individuals and active and informed citizens (MCEECDYA, 2008, p.13). In 2008, the Australian Government promised to deliver a fair and equitable curriculum for the national’s educational system, taking the task away from the State and Local Governments. The purpose of this was to create an even level of education throughout the country whether in Hobart of Cape York, and to ensure our nations position into the 21st century. This essay will demonstrate the Nation’s curriculum, its structure and development ready for its initial implementation in 2011.

Individuals with higher levels of education tend to have better health, greater social engagement, longer life expectancy and they generally feel happier (OECD 2013). Throughout the Australian history, Aboriginal communities were deprived of basic human rights which resulted in poor quality of life and poor education outcomes

In exploring the Australian Curriculum, it becomes apparent that this curriculum was developed to encompass a wide range of skills and abilities that will be needed to enable young Australians to become productive and successful members of society of the future. The influence of a range of different curriculum models and education theories has bought together a comprehensive overview of what the Australian education system will deliver and how this can be accomplished.

Throughout the last fifty years two diametrically opposed views have played out. H.C. Coombs argued that the priority was to use the curriculum and teaching methods to rebuild and sustain traditional Aboriginal culture destroyed by colonisation, racism and oppression. He supported Moira Kingston’s view that all Aborigines had a “world view derived from the Dreaming and irreconcilable with the demands of a modern industrialised market economy.” Sir Paul Hasluck represented the opposing assimiliationist view that schools should give priority to literacy, numeracy and technical and scientific knowledge to asssist integration in the workforce.Many theorists and practitioners have focused on the one third of students in Aboriginal schools with a specifically Aboriginal education rather than the majority attending the same schools as non-Indigenous children. In either case major problems were indentified with Aboriginal education by 2000.

Australian higher education establishments aim to enhance the learning experiences of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. The goal is to increase access to and participation of all groups in the community.

The development of a national curriculum for Australia is not a new endeavour (Marsh, 2010). The ideal is that national curriculum across Australia would mean that students are provided with a quality education that helps to shape the lives of the nations citizens and continue developing the productivity and quality of life within Australia. The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA] have the task of developing and implementing a nationwide curriculum. ACARA (n.d.-c) claims have addressed needs of young Australians while considering that changing ways in learning and challenges will continue to shape students education in the future. A look at what the Australian Curriculum is, its purpose, structure and scope,

It is very important to meet the needs of 21st century learners in both academic settings and corporation learning centres. The main factor that influences the curriculum development is the Australian Government followed by factors including awareness of the diversity in terms of the target community socially, financially and psychologically.

Though this policy attempts to achieve a support of diversity and an increase of equity among the Victorian community, its affects are hindered by an education system that favours the middle class and above. As stated by Reid (2013, p. 13), the equity espoused within policy ‘is produced by policy processes which are counterproductive to the achievement of equity.’ This means that, in order to really achieve equity for all students, the education system needs to

One interesting thing I discovered about the Australian Curriculum is how diverse it can be. I left school ten years ago and the curriculum which has developed since then appears to be more inclusive of student’s backgrounds, interests and personal needs. The curriculum acknowledges that students of diverse backgrounds will interpret the curriculum in different, yet still meaningful ways. I believe this is an important concept that will enable me to teach more effectively as I will be able to view my students as individuals and help them experience diversity and knowledge of other cultures through my interpretation of the intended curriculum and how I enact

The recent proposal for a common national curriculum across all Australian States and territories has sparked large debate across the education board. This has left many Australians questioning the future direction of education in Australia. Stephen Buckle, principal at Narrenwood Secondary College, an Anonymous writer and a cartoon by Jobs provide strong opposing views on the suggested common curriculum. Buckle’s “Why should schooling change at every State border?”, reasonably contends that because all Australians are one, an individuals education should not be determined by where they live. She calls on the “predictable” choices made by State Education Ministers to be replaced by a common curriculum consistent across

Knowledge is generated through critical and creative thinking. Creative thinking is something new or original that is created with value. Critical thinking is a type of thinking that questions assumptions and validates or invalidates a current belief or something that is said to be previously true. Knowledge is created through the culmination of generally accepted assumptions and creativity. How do you separate general assumptions and creativity? These two types of thinking can be easily separated in regards to concrete or realistic ideas compared to abstract or original ideas however to generate new, acceptable knowledge critical and creative thinking must interact together. The questioning of established beliefs with the creation of

Regardless of the financial costs of education, statistics show in the years from 1983 to 1996 numbers of students in tertiary education doubled and retention rates within secondary schooling reached new heights, rising from 40.6% in 1983 to 71.3% in 1996 (Jamrozik, 2009), clearly placing education as a high value within the Australian society and becoming a lifetime pursuit for many people. However historically, the changes that have occurred over the years, have reinforced Australia’s problem with social inequalities within the education system.