Guest posting to voced-coord email list.
Item 3 of 10:

Date: Tue, 27 Oct 1998 21:48:18 +1100
To: voced-coord@owl.qut.edu.au
From: Jim Cumming
Subject: VocEd: Years 9 and 10

Dear Colleagues

It is not hard to establish a rationale for re-thinking Years 9 and 10.

Various studies have highlighted difficulties experienced by many schools in these years including student alienation; at-risk behaviours; low levels of achievement etc. A common problem is that significant numbers of students are disengaged; they are switched off or tuned out, generally believing that conventional schooling is not for them.

It should be emphasised that discussions of disengaged students are not limited to those deemed to be 'at-risk' of not completing Year 10, but also include able students who are insufficiently challenged, or who are (or seen to be) 'on-hold' until senior secondary studies commence.

Many causes for this disaffection have been advanced: an inappropriate/overcrowded curriculum; outmoded teaching practices; rigid organisational structures; HSC and other external pressures; excessive rules and regulations etc.

As educators we have not been idle in trying to address these issues. A plethora of approaches has been implemented including transition education, careers education, vocational education, enterprise education, community based learning etc.

But do these represent superficial change to, or fundamental reform of, Years 9 and 10?

A contemporary example highlights the difference. Peter Ellyard was reported today as saying that Year 9 students should have a year off school. The argument presented was that kids at this level should be provided with opportunities to develop 'life-skills' in other (i.e. non-school) settings. While not a new idea, it is clearly a more radical approach than those that can become more of an addition/modification to existing arrangments.

However, a few schools around Australia have implemented a version of Ellyard's proposal. Rather than relinquishing Year 9 students for a whole year, they have opted to create a special program for their total cohort of 15 year olds. In some cases, all Year 9 students are located in a site or campus that is physically separate from other year levels, and students are given increased responsibility for their own learning for a twelve month period. In others, urban students take up residence in a different (often rural) educational setting for a semester or a term. Needless to say, it is generally schools in the independent sector that have taken such steps. These programs are often based on the belief that by the time students reach Year 9, a different model of education is neccessary in order to cater for their particular developmental and other specific learning needs.

Over to you, VECO contributors and lurkers. What kinds of reform have been implemented around the country in Years 9 and 10 that warrant greater exposure through VECO and other forums? Is evolutionary, revolutionary or some other model of reform the preferred option?

Jim Cumming
Educational Solutions Pty Ltd
Tel (02) 6254 8538
Fax (02) 6255 2072
jcumming@dynamite.com.au