Australian Schools Transformation Alliance (ASTA) inaugural
meeting: 2nd April 2014
Meeting focus:
Government, philanthropic and other relevant
organisations from across all Australian states and territories. sharing
knowledge and evidence about addressing equity issues in education
3-4 meetings annually
South Australia’s Department for Education and Child Development hosting the initial event.
Anticipated benefits of the alliance :
• Sharing knowledge nationally
• Connecting to create an evidence base of impactful practices
• Opportunities for shared advocacy in addressing
•
Australian educational equity issues
Agenda for ASTA inaugural meeting
2nd April 2014: 11am - 5 pm,
Microsoft office, Level 12 Aurora Building, 147 Pirie St, Adelaide
•
11 am
Welcome, introduction and background/purpose re ASTA
11.15-12.00
Draft ASTA principles and future operations
(for discussion, amendments)
12.00-12:45 pm
Low socio economic programs/data updates
12.45 -1.30 pm
Lunch
1.30-2.45 pm
Continue low socio economic programs/data updates
2.45-4.15 pm
SA showcase: programs & evidence
(including afternoon tea break)
4.15-5.00 pm
Confirm ASTA directions and future sessions
5pm
Close
6.30-8.30 pm
Informal dinner at Majestic Hotel (pre ordered)
Australian Schools
Transformation Alliance draft paper for discussion
Goal:
To explore the opportunity to create a
national alliance of organisations
involved in connected work, focused
on addressing the issue of education
equity in Australian communities of
low SES.
Premises:
• Every young Australian deserves a great education.
• Young Australians in low SES communities have complex and challenging education
needs.
• There is an opportunity to develop high quality practices and knowledge to improve
learning outcomes and wellbeing for all young Australians.
• There is a national need to develop a strong connected evidence base of impactful
practice in Australia.
• Advocacy for action that will support the opportunities for better education outcomes
in low SES communities will be informed by a connected national evidence base.
Outcomes (as per draft paper)
The alliance will be known as the Australian School Transformation Alliance or ASTA
There is a need and a purpose to establish a structure to connect and develop the work of organisations across
Australia committed to addressing the issues of inequity in education.
Specifically, the alliance structure will:
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Share knowledge across the national landscape
Create shared opportunities to develop knowledge and infrastructure
Connect to create an Australian evidence base of impactful practices
Strengthen the Australian evidence base of impactful practices
Inform and improve program implementation
Model the ethos of best practice collaboration (walk the talk)
Create opportunity for shared advocacy that addresses issues of education inequity in Australia
Support and catalyse the scale and diffusion of practices that positively impact schools in low SES communities.
Additionally the alliance will Include participant organisations that deliver initiatives that target cohorts of schools
within the Australian context.
• The priority of the group will be to ensure that education contexts from all states are represented
• The alliance will meet four times per year. Meetings will be located and hosted in states across Australia.
• Hosting will be shared across participating organisations on a voluntary basis.
• All actions and decisions of the alliance will be conducted using a consensus model of decision making.
• Participants may elect to be excluded from actions resulting from decisions made at their own discretion.
Participation is voluntary.
• Social Ventures Australia (SVA) will accept the responsibility of lead convenor of the alliance
12.00-12.45
Low socio economic
programs/data updates
• http://www.decd.sa.gov.au/hrdevelopment/pages/workforce
development/markoliphant/?reFlag=1
SA showcase
• South Australian Certificate of Education: VET and retention
strategies: Malcolm Hughes
• Early childhood: Barb Willmott
• Middle Years Development Index: David Engelhardt
• Innovative Community Action Network (ICAN) : Pip Duigan
• Indigenous and increased retention: Vicki Wilson
• Teaching for Effective Learning: Jane Leaker
• Innovation in low SES : Susanne Owen
Background to OECD innovation
Creation and implementation of ‘new processes, products,
services and methods of delivery which result in significant
improvements in the efficiency, effectiveness or quality of
outcomes…(and) the application of new ideas to produce
better outcomes’ (Australian National Audit Office ANAO, 2009).
OECD research (2011)
• Traditional education not working (OECD/CERI, 2008; Bentley et al., 2006)
• Innovative approaches needed for 21st century skill-building (Dumont et al.,
2010)
• Teacher role needing change (Dumont et al., 2010)
• OECD Innovative Learning Environments project (ILE) involving 26 countries in 3
phases. 2011: 7 DECD sites
Key innovation principles arising from Phase 1 research (OECD, 2011)
• Make learning central, encourages engagement, and in which learners
understand themselves as learners.
• Is where learning is social and often collaborative.
• Is highly attuned to learners’ motivations and emotions.
• Is acutely sensitive to individual differences including in prior knowledge.
• Is demanding for each learner but without excessive overload.
• Uses assessments consistent with its aims, with strong emphasis on formative
• Promotes horizontal connectedness across activities and subjects, in- and outof-school.
resources
Learning
leadership
content
Learning activities
learners
‘teachers’
Learning
Feedback
Evaluation and
assessment:
transforming learning
information into
usable knowledge
Information
about learning
activities,
learners, and
outcomes
Source: OECD, 2011
LEARNING
CONTENT**
ORGANISATION & PEDAGOGY**
e.g Educator Groupings (teams teach, team PD, targeting specific learners, varying
team/indiv teaching)
Learner groupings (varying size/profile, smaller groups in larger groups, mixed age
groups)
Rescheduling learning time (flexible, personalised, rituals, distant/non formal)
Pedagogy & Related Assessment (inquiry/authentic, technology-rich, strong
formative, remixing pedagogy)
LEARNERS**
e.g. Distant learners
Parents as learners
New groupings
Essential Broad Innovation Characteristics and Principles
Make learning and learner engagement central
Assessment is critical but must underpin learning aims & strong emphasis on
formative feedback
Be demanding for each learner but without excessive overload
Be highly attuned to learners’ motivations and emotions
Ensure that learning is social and often collaborative
Be acutely sensitive to individual differences including prior knowledge
Promote ‘horizontal connectedness’ of activities & subjects, in & out of school
Risk taking, seeking multiple perspectives & in depth understandings
Learning
leadership as
design & redesign
Transformative vision of
Learning
Change strategies & Learning
focus
Distributed leadership (incl
staff, students, partners)
e.g. Interdisciplinarity
21st Century Competencies
Sustainability
Languages, culture
EDUCATORS**
RESOURCES**
e.g .Educators: Coaching /
facilitating/activating
Teaching teams & distant teachers
Community/expert/facilitators
e.g. Innovative use of learning
space
Digital technology
Range of community/other
facilitators
Evidence & Data
About Learning & Innovation Effectiveness
NETWORKS & LINKS WITH OTHER
LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
FAMILIES &
COMMUNITIES
Learning logs/portfolios, Visibility of teacher work, Research & evaluation by the learning
environment on the learning environment (eg action research, data & information
systems; formative feedback about learning to learners/leaders/educators)
Learning

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Academic
Social/collabora
ion
Citizenship &
global
Creativity/imag
ation
Independence/
Resilience/wellbeing
Critical thinking
Problem solvin
Communication
Next Generation Evaluation
• Embracing Complexity, Connectivity, and Change (Gopalakrishnan, Preskill & Lu, 2013)
• New ideas……. Expanding ways organizations think about improving society & more
opportunities for collaboration.
• Technology expanding capacity for understanding & addressing social problems
1.New Philanthropic Innovations: traditional models have had limited success in
curing chronic social ills.
• New experiments to scale for new populations and geographies. Social
entrepreneurship, impact investing: need new evaluation
2. Different Rules of Interaction: Increased pace of change, solutions involve
interdependent groups & solutions less predictable. Need to share information &
lessons learned & evaluation adapting
3. Proliferation of Digital Infrastructure: digital technology and social media and use of
handheld devices reduce length and duration of the feedback cycle between funders,
nonprofits, and end beneficiaries. As more data are created & analyzed, evaluation
must expand to allow social sector stakeholders to better understand the nature of
social issues & maximize the use and effectiveness of data to solve social problems.
From Earl, L. & Timperly, H. Evaluative Thinking for Successful Educational Innovation. Prepared for CERI/OECD Feb 2014
12.45-1.30
Lunch
1.30-2.45
Low socio economic
programs/data updates
SA update: DECD
• DECD: since Oct 2011, DECD provides integrated services for benefit of
families, children and young people & covering public education & child
development, child health and child protection services in SA
• Mission: deliver a world-class education, child development and child
protection system that supports all SA children to be safe, healthy and
happy, with the best chances to learn and become confident and
successful adults. Also working to strengthen SA families and children to
achieve their best, and create ‘every chance for every child’
• 180000 children & young people in 1000 schools and early childhood
centres, with 64% of SA students in govt schools and 29000 dept staff
• 20000 babies born in SA each year and children to age 4 are clients of
Women’s and Children’s Health Network
• 12400 children in 2013 identified as being at risk, with 2800 in care
• 2012-2016 strategic plan focuses on every child achieving their potential
(lit/num) & needs of identified groups include indig, social inclusion;
excellence in education and care ‘developing a culture that supports
innovation, creativity’ and caters for diversity, with targeted funds to
meet care, development and learning needs of; connection with
community & successful and sustainable organisation
SA showcase
• South Australian Certificate of Education: VET and retention
strategies: Malcolm Hughes
• Early childhood: Barb Willmott
• Middle Years Development Index: David Engelhardt
• Innovative Community Action Network (ICAN) : Pip Duigan
• Indigenous and increased retention: Vicki Wilson
• Teaching for Effective Learning: Jane Leaker
• Innovation in low SES : Susanne Owen
4.15-5 pm
Confirm ASTA directions
5 pm
Close
6.30-8.30 pm
Informal dinner at Majestic Hotel