CATALYSING CHANGE
We exist because
- Young people are wonderfully capable, diverse and are our future
- Learning is key to opportunity and should be a right for all
- There are growing calls for education that’s fit for purpose now and in the future
- A new approach is necessary to unlock the change we need
- Australia is ready for us to do something about it - now’s the time
We seek to play a catalytic role during a critical phase of transition in the learning recognition system. Our purpose is to accelerate the pace of change towards a new learning recognition system and ensure it will work for all young people - especially those experiencing disadvantage.
We’ve come a long way in the first two years, but when it comes to the slow, patient and persistent work of systems change, we’re only just getting started.
CURRENT CONTEXT
Systemic change is hard, a new approach is needed
In any given year there are around 500,000 (ACARA, 2020) young people in senior secondary education in Australia. Too many of these young Australians still complete their formal school education each year without the knowledge, skills, attitudes and dispositions they need to navigate the transition from school to further education, training, or employment.
The future of work is rapidly changing and young people are leaving school underprepared. The World Bank recently warned of a “learning crisis” in global education with millions of students facing the prospect of lost opportunity and lower wages in later life because their schools are failing to educate them to develop the skills and capabilities needed to succeed.
The scale and scope of the work is national and ongoing. It impacts on all young people, but has the potential to significantly transform the life trajectories of those who experience disadvantage.
Yet despite many reviews and reports over at least a decade, agreement on the need for change and the will for change from those closest to learning and young people, it has proven difficult to shift the senior secondary recognition system and make a significant impact for disadvantaged young people.
This is because Australia has a particularly complex set of arrangements that make up its education system, particularly at senior secondary. These have evolved over time rather than been designed with intent.
Senior secondary school policy represents the confluence of many interests:
- two levels of government,
- thousands of schools,
- dozens of school systems,
- seven school jurisdictions, each with their own curriculum and assessment authorities,
- as well as interests in vocational education, higher education, and employment.
There’s no singular authority or governing structure that regulates the system.
“Every young Australian is worthy of the greatest respect and should have equal opportunity to succeed. Being ‘disadvantaged’ is not a quality of people, it is a feature or an outcome of what happens to some young people by virtue of their experiences in some of our institutions.”
(The Shergold Report p.20)
OUR FUNCTIONS
Filling the need for an independent catalyst
In the midst of this complexity, Learning Creates Australia will play a significant role; bringing together people and organisations to work together in a new way.
Collaboration is a critical factor in our model for change. Our work is activated through a diverse and growing alliance who are committed to driving change in their spheres of influence, experience and expertise. They include a strong network of schools, universities, young people, educators, policy makers and First Nations communities as well as a number of supporters and well-connected and influential sponsors.
