Industrial Contexts of Australian Education
The Australian industrial system has undergone significant changes over the last 100 years. Through most of that period, the changes in principles and procedures have been incremental and were developed, at the federal level, mostly by the tribunals guided by the prevailing economic climate and the submissions of employers, unions and governments. More recently, the changes have been driven by legislation. The Work Choices legislation marks a radical departure in scope and philosophy from the past. Emigrants escapes from humble family and home, many of them self-selected, have strong motivation to seek opportunities, they tend to fit into existing system or to seek new economic niches.
Nineteenth-century process of industrialization ushered in mass schooling; this catalyzed a radical shift in the parent-child relationship in both small scale and complex societies and established that childhood was a time of preparation for an uncertain future. Children going to school no longer engaged in full-time productive work that contributed to the family.
By the mid-twentieth century, education was becoming big business and schools have now become direct targets for business both large and small to promote their interest. The publishing industry, for example, is interested in securing lucrative school markets for textbooks and textbooks are often accompanied by student workbooks that are paid by the parents, not the school. Such textbooks, and workbooks, not only provide an outline of the ‘content’ of teaching; they shape the method of teachings. In other words, publishing forms are directly shaping the core work of the school.
Educational changes over the last generation; continued economic growth, based largely on the continuing revolution in technology, has sustained our ability to provide more and more education, at higher and higher levels. Since the 1950s the number of universities has doubled, table 1 shows the number of Bachelor Degrees given to students who have completed their course over the years from 1965-1975. Of course the population has also grown but by not merely so much as the consumption of higher education. Over the years the government undertook to deliver what was broadly viewed as the nation’s birthright, ad economic growth sustained the extension of more education to larger and larger numbers.
Nineteenth-century process of industrialization ushered in mass schooling; this catalyzed a radical shift in the parent-child relationship in both small scale and complex societies and established that childhood was a time of preparation for an uncertain future. Children going to school no longer engaged in full-time productive work that contributed to the family.
By the mid-twentieth century, education was becoming big business and schools have now become direct targets for business both large and small to promote their interest. The publishing industry, for example, is interested in securing lucrative school markets for textbooks and textbooks are often accompanied by student workbooks that are paid by the parents, not the school. Such textbooks, and workbooks, not only provide an outline of the ‘content’ of teaching; they shape the method of teachings. In other words, publishing forms are directly shaping the core work of the school.
Educational changes over the last generation; continued economic growth, based largely on the continuing revolution in technology, has sustained our ability to provide more and more education, at higher and higher levels. Since the 1950s the number of universities has doubled, table 1 shows the number of Bachelor Degrees given to students who have completed their course over the years from 1965-1975. Of course the population has also grown but by not merely so much as the consumption of higher education. Over the years the government undertook to deliver what was broadly viewed as the nation’s birthright, ad economic growth sustained the extension of more education to larger and larger numbers.