Autumn 2006

The big picture - in education

A Ministerial Council perspective on the big picture

Does the work of the Ministerial Council of Australia’s Ministers for School Education have significance for the teaching and learning occurring in Australia’s schools? If so, what is the nature of that connection, and what are the key issues driving the Council’s work? Maurice Wenn presents an insider’s perspective.

Every now and then, when meeting someone for the first time (especially on the golf course), I am asked, ‘… and what do you do?’ I always hesitate. How do I explain the complex role of a Ministerial Council without my audience’s eyes glazing over? Everyone has a good working knowledge of teachers, principals, schools and what they do, but how do I relate the operation of the ministerial council to that knowledge of schooling and its processes? It’s a challenging question.

What is MCEETYA?

Some background is useful. As a federated nation, Australia has some quite elaborate national structures. Perhaps the operation of these structures reflects government responsibilities under Australia’s constitution more than any deeply held commitment to consultation and collaboration. The peak Australian inter-governmental decision-making body is the Council of Australian Governments (COAG)—the Premiers/Chief Ministers of Australian States and Territories, with the Prime Minister of Australia.

There are more than 30 Ministerial Councils (or similar) under COAG—effectively subcommittees of COAG—covering all areas of government responsibility and activity. One of these is the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) formed in 1993.

MCEETYA’s membership is state/ territory/Australian Government ministers with relevant portfolio responsibilities. New Zealand is also a full member. Papua New Guinea and Norfolk Island have observer status.

The work of MCEETYA is supported by a forum of education and training Chief Executives (the Australian Education Systems Officials Committee: AESOC), by a range of taskforces and working groups (including representation from the non-government sectors), and by the MCEETYA Secretariat. In addition, MCEETYA has formed some ministerial companies to carry out specific dimensions of its work. The two companies with direct responsibilities in school education are Curriculum Corporation and education.au ltd.

How does MCEETYA help schools?

So what has happened recently that is relevant to teachers, principals and schools? In May 2005, Ministers agreed on a set of national strategic priorities to drive the Council’s work over 2005–2008. At the heart of this were the deceptively simple questions: which issues really need national effort; and, what can each jurisdiction just ‘get on with’? The list of strategic priorities agreed by Ministers is hardly surprising. It reflects the key school education policy drivers across governments of both political persuasions over the past few years.

Ministers agreed that improving outcomes for Indigenous students would be top priority for 2005–2008. Unsurprisingly, all nine strategic priorities are grounded in National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty First Century, endorsed by MCEETYA in Adelaide in 1999.

I believe if you asked any contemporary Australian school to identify its ten key issues, the nine listed here would emerge in one form or another on most, if not all, lists. Emphasis and balance may vary by school location, as would the specifics of the detail underpinning the issues, but this list would be recognisable in schools across the country. Indeed, as shown through many international studies— various Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) works and the recent Asia–Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Best Practice Governance: Education Policy and Service Delivery for example—these issues resonate in most countries of the world.

However, Ministers also recognised that each issue may not have the same level of importance in all Australian jurisdictions. Some issues might be carried forward by several jurisdictions working together and then collaboratively sharing their work with other interested jurisdictions. Other issues might be carried by just one relevant jurisdiction, then shared with others. It’s about being more strategic with the considerable resources national issues seem to demand, especially in a federal structure. It’s about trust, sharing and genuine consultation with those who need to be consulted.

It’s also ambitious. What I’m describing is far from characteristic of Australia’s federal-state relations in the more than 100 years since Federation. But it does make sense, and it’s timely in an environment where available resources must be put to the most effective strategic use in the interests of all Australian children.

So, is there any relevance in all this for classroom teachers and others at the school level? I believe very strongly that there is. Appropriately, teachers focus on the operation of their own classrooms. Each classroom operates within the framework of the school and is an integral part of that framework. School policies, structures, operations, leadership, values and beliefs all affect the teaching and learning that occurs. Most teachers develop a sophisticated understanding of the interactive nature of the relationship between their classrooms and their school quite quickly.

Similarly, most schools operate within a larger framework that shapes and influences the policies, structures, operations, leadership, values and beliefs referred to above. For government schools, it is a state or territory system. For Catholic schools, it is the Catholic system. For many Australian non-Catholic, non-government schools, there is a number of systemic arrangements. Only a small percentage of Australian schools operate outside such a framework and, even then, few could claim to operate outside the influence of other ‘like’ schools.

What MCEETYA is responsible for, therefore, is the framework within which these school frameworks exist. That ‘national framework’ is collaborative and cooperative, and as such, can sometimes seem to be cumbersome, unresponsive or even ineffective. At other times, it can result in one or more governments trying to convince/leverage/bully other governments into accepting policy agenda and initiatives. That vigorous intersection of policy agendas characterises MCEETYA’s work. But for all its limitations, this federal structure has a significant strength—where Ministers do reach agreement, it is a national agreement shared, owned and implemented by all Australian jurisdictions.

So, over time, there have been many national decisions taken and agreements made that have directly and indirectly affected the work of schools. Starting with the national goals themselves, what is taught, who teaches it, how learning is measured, how it is reported, to whom it is reported and with what resources have all been strongly influenced by agreements between Ministers in the MCEETYA forum.

Linking council with classroom

It may well be that, depending where you sit in this classroom/ school/system/national hierarchy, the influence of decisions made two or three layers removed from you may seem to lack relevance and immediacy to you and your students. But MCEETYA’s operation is part of an organic process that links the most senior education decision-makers in this country to the nation’s classrooms.

I am reminded of the powerful observation by Professor Phil Hughes over 20 years ago, in his Review of Efficiency and Effectiveness of the Education Department, when he stated: ‘… it is an obvious truth to say that an education system exists for the sake of its students and not the reverse …’

I remain optimistic that, even in this ‘framework within framework’ process I have described, from Ministers to Chief Executives to departmental officers to principals to teachers, Phil Hughes’ ‘obvious truth’ is at the heart of what we all do.

Maurice Wenn is the secretary of the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA).

The author owns the copyright in this article. For information related to the reuse of this work in any form please contact the publisher denise.quinn@curriculum.edu.au