A Reaction to Ozar

There is really nothing that I disagree with in Ozar's first four chapters about learning outcomes, as it all seems very familiar. I don't know how widespread the use of learning outcomes is in the curriculum of U.S. schools, but learning outcomes have been an integral part of curricula for many years in all the schools in Australia. The learning outcomes for each subject and level are mandated by a central education and assessment authority in each state within the context of a national curriculum framework. Each school sector (public, Catholic and independent) provides representatives for the curriculum committees for each subject and level, and the curricula are circulated for comments and revision before being implemented for five-year periods before they have to be evaluated and revised. If you are interested, clicking here will give you some idea of how each state organises their curriculum for K-10 (note 'Grades' in the USA are called 'Years' in Australia). Years K-10 have a core curriculum with the exception of Years 9 and 10 where some electives are introduced. Each state has a different way of assessing Years 11 and 12, but each subject has an external assessment (usually a state-wide exam or external assessment of technics and art-related subjects) and some internal assessment. An example from the state of Victoria can be found by clicking here if you are interested. Curriculum development in Australia is largely driven by forces outside the school, particularly the state curriculum authority with some input from national educational authorities. Schools are free to choose their own texts and teaching resources, and publishers ensure that there is a variety of texts and resources available.

Australian teachers spend time at subject teachers meetings discussing possible ways to achieve the learning outcomes. It should be noted that the state curriculum documents also suggest possible methods and provide examples how the curriculum can be implemented. There are some things relating to curriculum that are big issues in Australia that are not mentioned in the opening chapters of Ozar and a scan of the contents page suggests that these issues are not covered later or given cursory mention.

• The first issue in implementing outcomes is how much time to allocate in a program so that all the outcomes are addressed, and how and when the teacher should move on when individuals have not achieved a particular outcome.
• A second issue is reporting the outcomes to parents. I haven't seen any recent US school reports to know what the comparison is like, but reporting outcomes has been a source of debate in recent years in Australia. This has meant that there has been a change in terminology (and thinking) from outcomes-based assessment to standards-based assessment. You can see some sample report documents by clicking here.
• A third issue in Years (Grades) 9-12 is that each individual school has to decide which elective subjects will be offered. This is quite a challenge given the number of potential subjects that are available, especially at Years 11 and 12. Facilitities, teacher availability and interest, financial resources, student and parent interest and demand are all factors that are taken into account when these curriculum decisions are made.
• A fourth issue is deciding which texts and resources to purchase and use. There is a wide variety of texts and resources available because the same syllabus is used throughout the state.

I think that it is vital to consider not only "what shall students learn?" and "how will I know how students have learned it?", but "how shall I communicate what students have learned?" . Is it sufficient to have a single letter grade to reflect the multiple learning outcomes of students, and what is the meaning of the grade that is given? Hopefully food for thought!

Learning Climate Blog 17 February 2009

I have spent 34 years as a teacher and administrator in seven Catholic secondary schools in New Zealand, Australia, and California. All of these schools could be described as Industrial-Age schools in the way that Senge uses the term, but few teachers, parents and students expressed the view to me over the years that this was how the school was viewed. Certainly the philosophy of each of the schools was far from mechanistic because there was a genuine care, concern and interest in each of the students. I believe that each of these schools were responding to the best of their ability to what parents wanted and children needed. The schools reflect some organisational and architectural features that are associated with the Industrial Age and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future because of the costs of changing or modifying buildings, and government and union requirements and agreements that are mandated for schools and teachers.

During my time as a teacher and administrator, particularly in Australia and New Zealand, there has been a significant evolution in the styles of teaching and learning, an expansion of the range of courses offered, and new forms of assessment introduced. Much of this has been done at a national, state, system or school level. In the last secondary school where I was a teacher and administrator, each classroom had data projectors available and computer rooms were plentiful and accessible. The school had about 450 computers available in rooms or pods for the 1250 students. Each student was required to have a memory stick. In-service days were devoted to new styles of teaching (especially multiple intelligences) and training in the use of technology. Courses introdued at the school while I was there that reflected New Science applications included Robotics, Media, Design and Technology, Studio Arts (Photography). Probably the most significant advance in catering for students' interests and society's needs was the ability of students to take one course (in topics such as animation, carpentry, music recording, pre-trade training) at centers that catered for students from a variety of schools, and also to spend one day a week at a workplace. Most subjects have a formal state exam at the end of their Grade 12 year of the pen-and-paper variety which harkened back to the Industrial Age. I claim some credit for the innovations, but the innovations were decided and implemented collaboratively. I have used technology in the classes that I have taught, but I would need some updating in areas such as 'smart-boards' and the possibilities that the iPod Touch offers for teaching and learning, two technologies that have been introduced into classrooms since I last taught in secondary schools in 2006. This in itself shows that schools do not stand still but change and adapt - and likewise, so do we all!