Act II cast
Speakers and facilitators
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Talk 1: Schooling, curriculum and social justice
Michael F D Young
Michael Young is Professor of Education at the Institute of Education/London Knowledge Lab, University of London.
His 1971 book, Knowledge and Control, is widely regarded as the beginning what later became known as the ‘new sociology of education’. The papers in this book argued that educational inequalities are produced, not through ‘deficiencies’ in some individuals or groups, but through how schools, and the curriculum in particular, are organised. They made the case that the school curriculum is a selection from all available knowledge, and that it is a selection that, because it reflects the interests of particular social groups, very effectively reproduces social inequalities. This work produced calls for the knowledge(s) of other social groups – indigenous people, women, and working-class people, for example – to be part of the school curriculum. The resulting debates—around the nature and status of knowledge—have divided educationists into two philosophically opposed camps ever since: – those who see education’s purpose as being to bring out everyone’s full potential, and those who want to defend the traditional curriculum and (what they see as) traditional ‘rigour’ and ‘standards’.
In his recent work [1], Michael Young addresses the very difficult questions raised by these debates. What kinds of knowledge really matter? What knowledge (if any) matters to everyone? Is all knowledge ‘cultural’? Are there any universals? How can we know this? How do we decide what knowledge should be in the school curriculum – for everyone? – for some people? Are there new and different answers to these questions in the 21st century?
In his talk to the Shifting Thinking conference, Michael will talk about how and why his ideas about educational inequality, and the role of the school curriculum in producing them, have changed over the 40+ years he has been working in this area. Why did he change his ideas? What did this feel like? What had to be given up for this to happen? How can we achieve a productive way forward?
1. See, for example, Young, M. F. D. (1998). The curriculum of the future: from the ‘new sociology of education’ to a critical theory of learning. London: Routledge Falmer, and Young, M.F.D. (2008). Bringing knowledge back in: From social constructivism to social realism in the sociology of education. London: Routledge.
Talk 2: Fairness and justice in 21st century schools – some lessons from the Tomorrow’s Schools reforms.
Cathy Wylie
Cathy Wylie is Chief Researcher at NZCER. She has been an educational researcher for more than twenty years, publishing and presenting extensively on New Zealand educational policy and its impacts. She has an ongoing interest in the impact of the school self-management policies introduced in New Zealand as part of the 1989 ‘Tomorrow’s Schools’ reforms. In an influential 1988 paper “How fair is New Zealand education”, she summarised what was then known about the realities of educational opportunity.
One of the purposes of the 1989 reforms was to improve equality of educational opportunity. The reforms devolved extensive decision-making powers to schools, with the aim of allowing them to develop a curriculum tailored to local needs and to individual student needs. The reforms also allowed parents greater choice between schools, so that, in theory, they could choose schools that best met the needs of their children.
In her talk to the Shifting Thinking conference, Cathy will outline the ‘big ideas’ behind the Tomorrow’s Schools reforms, and the mixed effect on equality of educational opportunity these ideas have had. She will then look at how all this could help us think about the challenges that lie ahead if we are committed to addressing educational inequality in 21st century schools.
Talk 3: No longer “them and us.” It’s all about “us”
Keith Johnston
Keith Johnston has spent the last 30 years thinking about some of the most complex forces in the world and how to have an impact on them in order to make lasting positive changes. He also thinks about the ways leaders lead and could be more effective in their roles. The Chair of the global board of trustees of Oxfam International and a former senior manager for the New Zealand Department of Conservation; Keith now offers strategic advice and coaching to senior leaders in the New Zealand public sector and non-government organisations. His PhD in leadership development, from the Australian National University, explored the thinking and self-awareness required of environmental managers operating in complex contexts.
It is with his background in these complex and intertwining contexts of the environment, world poverty, and injustice—and his research and practice in helping organisations and individuals shift—that Keith frames his talk for the conference. Looking at future trends in different arenas of our lives, Keith sketches out a compelling image of the complex future our educators need to support and the paradoxes that arise from this.
Talk 4: Education, knowledge, and equality? Shifting our thinking for the 21st century
Jane Gilbert is a Chief Researcher at NZCER. She has worked in the education sector in New Zealand for nearly thirty years – ten as a secondary school teacher (biology/science), ten as a university teacher/researcher (educational sociology/philosophy and science education), and nine as a full-time educational researcher. She has written two books focusing on how and why schooling in New Zealand needs to be re-thought for the 21st century.[1]
In her talk to the Shifting Thinking conference, Jane will look at the ‘big ideas’ that drove the development of the 20th century schooling system. She will explore how and why some of these ideas are no longer helpful as a foundation for 21st century schooling, looking in particular at ideas about knowledge, social cohesion, and social justice. In the talk Jane will argue that re-designing our schools to build the kind of society we want in the 21st century requires a major shift in the thinking of not only educationists, but all of us with a stake in the future of this country. In part of the talk, Jane will reflect on the rollercoaster process through which she came to have these views. She will look at how her ideas have changed over time—through her work first as a science teacher in multicultural, mid/low decile schools and her discomfort with the ‘science for all’ and ‘taha Mäori’ initiatives of the time, and later, as she began to engage with postmodern political theory and the Knowledge Society literature—and at some of what had to be given up, often reluctantly, and probably incompletely…
[1] Catching the Knowledge Wave?: The Knowledge Society and the future of education in New Zealand (2005), and Disciplining and drafting, or 21st century learning? Rethinking the New Zealand senior school curriculum for the future (2008, with Rachel Bolstad).
The facilitator: Jennifer Garvey-Berger
Jennifer Garvey Berger is a Chief Researcher and the manager of Organisational Learning at NZCER. Her core interest is in the growth of adult “complexity of mind”, that is, the possibility that with support adults can become more able to cope with complexity and ambiguity and to work together in more and more sophisticated ways to solve the most vital problems which face humanity at this time. Jennifer began her career as an intermediate and high-school level English teacher and then moved to teaching adults in university, graduate school, and professional development courses over the last 18 years. Jennifer has taught graduate students at George Mason University, Harvard University, and Georgetown University, among others. In her work as a partner in the leadership development consultancy Kenning Associates, Jennifer has supported the work of leaders in schools and organisations in Australasia, Europe and her native US. Jennifer came to New Zealand in 2006 to raise her children and her ideas in a world of stunning landscapes, engaging people, and backyard hens.
Jennifer will facilitate the two days and lead the group in practicing using “thinking tools”—frameworks, theories or ideas designed to organise and stretch peoples’ thinking about the complex topic of 21st Century teaching and learning. These thinking tools come from a wide variety of theoretical disciplines and are examples of the intentional support that helps individuals and groups create new thinking and knowledge about complex and apparently intractable issues.
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