1. A Gestalt for the Reengineering of
School Education for the Knowledge
Society
2. A Road to the Learning Society
Group Members
Mr. Lam Chi Keung: Paper 1
Mr. Tam Tung Yau:
Paper 2
Mr. Lai Chi Kong
Mr. Leung Kin Yip:
Discussion
A Gestalt for the Reengineering of
School Education for the Knowledge
Society
by Prof. BRIAN J. CALDWELL
University of Melbourne
Introduction
• reform in school education is running on three
tracks
– Track One (~3 years)
creating systems of self-managing schools in the public
sector.
– Track Two (~5 years)
unrelenting focus on learning outcomes by restructuring
learning and teaching in all schools.
– Track Three (~10 years)
Re-engineering school education to create schools for
the knowledge society.
Schools
of-the Future
Track
One
creating
systems
of self-managing
schools Australia;
in the public sector
-reforms
in school
education in Victoria,
starting from early 1993
Definition of self-managing school:
A self-managing school is a school in a system of education
to which there has been decentralised a significant amount
of authority and responsibility to make decisions about the
allocation of resources within a centrally determined
framework
of
goals,
policies,
standards
and
accountabilities. Resources are defined broadly to include
knowledge, technology, power, material, people, time,
assessment, information and finance.
Caldwell and Spinks (1998)
Track One (Con’t)
Characteristic features of Schools of the Future:
1. nearly 90% of the state’s school education budget is
distributed to schools in a school global budget,
allowing discretion deployment in local level.
2. creating a self-managing system within the curriculum
and standards framework.
3. school has a larger capacity to select staff, determine
the mix of professional, para-professional and support
management.
Track Two –
unrelenting focus on restructuring learning and teaching
in all schools to improve learning outcomes of students.
Improve
Restructuring Schools
Learning Outcomes of
students
Research and evaluation
Track Two Con’t
Objectives and purposes of Schools of Future:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
encourage the continuing improvement in the quality of educational
programmes and practices to enhance student learning outcomes;
actively foster the attributes of good schools in terms of leadership,
school ethos, goals, planning and accountability processes;
build on a state wide framework of quality curriculum, programmes and
practices ;
encourage parents to participate directly in decisions that affect their
child’s education ;
recognize teachers as true professionals, able to determine their own
careers;
Principals become the true leaders in their schools;
enable communities to determine the destiny of the school, its character
and ethos;
Within guidelines, enable schools to develop their own programmes to
meet the individual needs of students;
Be accountable to the community for the progress of the school and the
achievements of its students.
Track Two Con’t
Research on the effect of School of Future on learning
outcomes -- the Cooperative Research Project
(started from mid-1993; concluded in mid-1998)
Seven state-wide surveys of representative samples of
principals have been conducted and these have covered
virtually every aspect of the reform, including its impact on
learning outcomes for students.
Track Two Con’t
Findings from the research project:
1. Principals were confident that the objectives and purposes of
Schools of Future will be attained in their schools
2. They believed there had been moderate to high level of
realisation of the expected benefit in respect to improved learning
outcomes for students.
3. Better
personnel
management,
enhanced
professional
development, shared decision-making, improved staff
performance and more effective organisation following
restructure.
4. Benefits were achieved for cohesiveness of staff and community,
level of community involvement, higher community profile,
enhanced school identity and level of cooperation between
schools.
5. Improvements to school capacity in a range of matters including
planning the curriculum, establishing levels and standards for
students, moving to a curriculum based on learning outcomes and
meeting the needs of students.
Track Three –
Re-engineering school education, a gestalt for schooling for
the knowledge society
Knowledge
Society:the school involves the fundamental
Reengineering
rethinking and radical redesign of processes in school
Knowledge
displacing
industrial workers,
who
education toworkers
achievearedramatic
improvements
in critical,
displaced
agricultural
as the largest broad
contemporary
measures ofworkers,
performance.
classification in the work force. More and more knowledge,
and especially advanced knowledge,
be acquired
Hammer will
& Champy,
1993 well
pasted the age of formal schooling, and increasingly,
perhaps, in and through educational processes that do not
centre on the traditional school.
Drucker, 1995
Track 3 Con’t
The concept of the virtual organisation or the learning
roleorganisation
of to
teacher
elevated,
for more
itinwill
demandin
network
will
become
a reality
theevident
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AThe
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workwill
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teams
will
be
wisdom,
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agiven
facility
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‘Cyber-policy
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---primacy
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inmore
every
formulation
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the
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the
of making
electronic networks decrease.
knowledge
society.
Schools as workplaces will be transformed in every
dimension,
includingtoscheduling
of learning,
and
Dramatic changes
approachesoftotime
learning
and teaching
human
resource
management.
Theapproaches
fabric
oftoas
schooling
will
be
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electronic
are
in store
electronic
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global
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thebe
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and
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‘changing
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occur
in many places.
excited
exploration.’
A gestalt for schooling for the knowledge society
Track 3 Con’t
The Role of School leader
Educational strategist
1. More conversant about strategies that will yield benefits
of students.
2. Strategies to utilize the new information technologies.
3. Empower other leaders in the school to do the same in
their responsibility.
4. Understand the resource implications of choices of
alternative strategies in learning and teaching.
5. Determine the cost effectiveness of these strategies
chosen.
A Road to the Learning Society
David H. Hargreaves
The school system should change. Why ?
School
School System
perform inadequately
Teaching not good enough
Teacher
Don’t know “learning how to learn”,
cannot meet the changing
job requirement
Demand greater effectiveness
Politician
Student
Other socio-factors:
Post modern fragmentation
Traditional system
Cultural diversity in society
Polymorphic Education System
is needed.
Polymorphic Education System
Sector 1: Private School
Sector 4: Custodial School
Sector 2: Specialized School
Sector 3: Home Schooling
Sector 1: Private School
Senior executive or professionals. Working long hours,
frequently away from home
High Tuition Fee, reluctant to change and
innovation, since no need to change
and no need to compete.
Teachers contract
renewal depends on
performance and
competence
Student Intake from
affluent family
Teacher
Assistants help
handling trifles
Teacher work
very hard on
teaching
Client obtain
value for money
Sector 2: Specialized Schools
(A) Religious origin
Have same religion as school. Share similar
value as school, very supportive to school
(B) Social/Educational philosophy (foster a
community of shared values)
(C) Curriculum origin (e.g. Science and Technology)
Students
Highly interactive
talented in their
discipline
Teachers
with high job satisfaction
Welcomed by
Market
Welcomed by
Parents
Sector 3: Home Schooling
Schooling does not necessarily lead to
education
Education does not necessarily require school
Home schooling
Family form
consortia, each
parent look after
the children from
several families for
1 day a week
Student attend school
only for specific
purpose (e.g. practical
science, performing arts,
athletics ..etc)
1 day a week
“Contract out”some
teaching work to
peripatetic teachers
Sector 4: Custodial School
Parents
Lower class in social
ladder, live in urban area,
not supportive to school
Students
No motivation to
learn, no goal, no
purpose
School
Keep them off
from the street
Economic Reform
Educational Change
Spend less in public expenditure
(e.g. education grants)
Rich remain in
Sector 1 school
Private School
Relief on taxation
Less affluent middle class
shift to Sector 2 and 3 school
Specialized School Home Schooling
Low level family
unable or unwilling to
use the other 3 sector
schools
Custodial School
Teacher Recruitment and Training
•Wider range of backgrounds for different discipline
•On the job training
•Site based rather than school based
•Assistant teacher employed
•Teachers’ contract renewal and salary should be
performance related, market-led
•Leading teachers engaged in educational research
•Incompetent teachers go to custodial school
Future School?
What is the value of school?
What are the values of education?
-to state
-to parents
-to students
The value of Education
• to modify the value of thinking of our next
generation
• to extend the valuable traditional culture / believes
• to teach child usable knowledge for the world of
work / earning a living / the need of our society
• to foster creative attributes to a better cultural
development in future
Can other form of schooling replace school?
• School will not totally be replaced by other form of schooling, but
school will lose its dominant position in the education system.
• According to Hargreaves (P.13), the school system will not remain
distinctive, coherent and state managed. It will fracture into four broad
sectors. Namely, private school, specialized school, home schooling
and custodial school.
• The third sector, home schooling, is other kind of schooling that will
replace school.
Can other form of schooling replace
school?(Con’t)
• In Hong Kong, the education system fractures into the first and forth
sectors.
– More and more parent let their child enter international school
– Some famous schools plan to change from aided school to direct subsidy
school.
– More and more private schools arise.
– Teachers entrepreneurs arise: “King of Tutor”
– Band 5 (or now “upgraded to Band 3”) School serves as custodial school
• But the second and third sectors are not well developed in Hong Kong.
– Specialize schools in primary and secondary level are not well established
– Pre-vocational schools are forced to change to grammar school
– Home schooling in Hong Kong is not allowed
•Is that a good idea to commercialize the
education system?
• Advantages
– The education system is no longer a monolithic enterprise,
decentralisation and increased school autonomy is necessary
– As the teachers have to negotiate contracts and conditions with the school,
which is strongly performance-related, quality can be assured.
– Flexible in management
•Is that a good idea to commercialize the
education system?(Con’t)
• Disadvantages
– How to access the teachers’ performance?
– Fluidity of teachers is too large, they don’t have enough time to
establish relationship with students, and can’t really understanding
about the background and need of students
– As contracts and conditions of the teachers are also strongly
market-led, the teachers material will be market-led or examorientated.
– Focus too much on knowledge or ability, how about moral
education?
fundamentals and wisdom
• According to Drucker (1995), an
“educated person” will likely has learned
how to learn and table to has lifetime
continues learning, without over-valuing
of immediately usable knowledge and
under-rating of fundamentals and
wisdom itself.
Whole Person Development
• As education is aimed for whole person
development of the child, the following
five elements should be equal-rated.
德
智
體
群
美
Moral/intelligent/physical/ group / art
Comparison of schooling sectors
德
智
體
群
美
Moral / intelligent / physical / group / art
Home
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Virtual School 
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
School
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Framework for Reform in “Schools in the Future”
• 86% of Principals prefer to
stay the self-management
framework shows that most
principals found it benefits
the school.
• The lower preference of
People and Accountability
framework shows that there
is some unresolved matter.
• 70% of principles prefer to
stay as principal in this
framework --??
Rating of keeping-on in the “Schools of the
Future” System from principals
Can reform of school improve learning?
Since learning process is not only affected by teacher, the
effectiveness of learning is highly related to the student’s
attitude of learning.
• The reform of “Schools of the Future” may mainly
improve the management system – controlling, funding,
staffing, and resource directly, but it may not improve
learning directly. (e.g. 0.217 from personnel Professional
Benefits)
• the accountability framework of “Schools of the Future”
may improve the controlling system, but it may not
improve the learning directly too. (no indication in Fig 2 in
the article)
School reform has a direct or indirect effect
of curriculum and learning
Interdependent effect among factors influencing perceived
curriculum and learning benefits showing standardized path coefficients.
A foundation for quality learning environment
Caldwell (1997) claimed that the structural feature of
school reform may has a direct or indirect effect of
curriculum and learning, if the school can develop
a nurtured capacities.
Education Reform  Good Education?
However, a good school system is a good foundation
for quality learning environment but not the only
factor and critical element.
? + ? + ? + reform = ideal Education