Education State in Schools Guiding Coalition

Education State in Schools Guiding Coalition

Workshop – 23 March 2022

Summary

Purpose

The purpose of the workshop was to share perspectives on the following three areas:

• Teaching and learning:
  • What were the enabling features of the remote learning environment that were of benefit to some students, and how might these be replicated in the on-site environment?
• Mental health and wellbeing:
  • the revised Framework for Improving Student Outcomes (FISO 2.0) reflects a clearer, more explicit focus on wellbeing and learning. How do we ensure that all stakeholders in the education system see wellbeing as an equal priority with learning?
• Family and community engagement:
  • Victoria is moving to a new integrated senior secondary certificate. How do we recognise, celebrate and reward vocational pathways as much as academic ones, within schools and the broader community?

Discussion summary

Teaching and learning

• The emphasis on actively monitoring and supporting student wellbeing during remote and flexible learning was beneficial.
• Participants suggested the approaches to teaching and learning during remote and flexible learning be leveraged to provide greater differentiation and student agency.
• Aspects of online learning could support students (by for example, flipped learning), and could also support schools, such as through access to online professional learning.
• Participants noted that the teaching workforce could benefit from further support to integrate aspects of online learning into their practice. This could be done by utilising pre-recorded, explicit teaching for example, that allows students to review and deepen their understanding.
• Some participants noted that there may be opportunities to investigate enhanced flexibility for senior secondary students (for example, start times, uniforms, self-directed work).

Mental health and wellbeing

• Participants noted the reciprocal benefits of learning and wellbeing.
• Participants highlighted the challenges inherent in the question of how best to measure student wellbeing outcomes.
• Participants noted that access and availability to services and supports can be inconsistent.
• A range of collateral, tools and resources are required to embed wellbeing practices in schools. 

Family and community engagement

• A broader, longer-term view of success would be beneficial, which includes employment, skills to move between careers, and community contribution. Vocational qualifications should be viewed as equally valuable to university qualifications.
• There is an opportunity to increase student, family and community understanding of the jobs of the future, career pathways and the skills needed to succeed.
• The enthusiasm of young people for vocational education, combined with communications about the benefits of vocational pathways, could help shift community perspectives.
• Reimagining the way data is captured and publicly reported may help change the messaging about senior student and school success.

Next steps

Insights captured at this workshop have been fed back into workshop design sessions for the upcoming Education State Forum Schools Day on 11 August 2022.

Contact

Stakeholder Support and Partnerships Team

• Email: SEPS.Stakeholder.Secretariat@education.vic.gov.au

2021 End-of Year Plenary – 19 November 2021

About

The Education State in Schools Guiding Coalition (Guiding Coalition) was established in 2017 as an outcome of the 2016 Education State in Schools Forum. The Guiding Coalition is comprised of practitioners from across the school system, and parent, student, teacher, principal, and community sector peak bodies. 

The purpose of the Guiding Coalition is to provide input, advice and feedback into the government school education system.

The Guiding Coalition met virtually on Friday 19 November 2021 for the end-of-year Plenary.  Below is a summary of the meeting.

Contribution of Guiding Coalition

Continued adaptability and resilience have been shown by teachers, principals, students, families and all who work in school education. This has ensured continuity of education, whether it be flexible and remote, or onsite learning. The extraordinary efforts by all who work in, support, and engage with Victoria’s education system this year, despite significant challenges, is acknowledged.

Significant progress has been achieved over the last 12 months across the three strategic pillars of evidence-based teaching and learning (for example, the Tutor Learning Initiative); student inclusion and wellbeing (for example, Mental Health and Disability Inclusion reform); and the creation of modern, vibrant school facilities across Victoria. 

These achievements have been supported by the valuable relationships that are the hallmark of the Guiding Coalition, and which provide us with a unique opportunity for a whole-of-system conversation.

Refreshed approach to engagement

Despite the challenges of the past few years, the Guiding Coalition offers us all interconnectedness in our work, providing greater understanding of how to integrate reform across schools, families and communities. Proposed ideas for the Guiding Coalition going forward include:

• People: refresh the membership annually to include a broad range of practitioner voice, including a rotating membership of Victorian Education Excellence Award winners.
• Process: consolidate engagement, with structured whole-of-system focussed workshops in addition to the Education State Forum, with genuine consultation across cross-cutting issues.
• Purpose: renew purpose, with a focus on system-thinking including the integration of initiatives currently in progress.

Reflecting on 2021, looking to 2022

The short- and long-term impact of the pandemic was discussed, including the reflection that the experience of the pandemic is akin to the experience of trauma or a natural disaster, and great care is needed in supporting recovery.

The group discussed the question “what have we learnt and how can we capture the positive learnings?”, noting:

• Learning: there was strong overall performance in Victoria in NAPLAN testing in 2021, particularly in literacy. 
• Wellbeing: student wellbeing has been impacted. How will schools be supported to address this?
• Social Integration: the role of schools as focal points of many communities was highlighted during the pandemic in the community.

These issues will be priorities for the Guiding Coalition in 2022.

Next Steps

Future Guiding Coalition meetings will be co-chaired by Stephen Fraser, Deputy Secretary, School Education Programs and Support, and David Howes, Deputy Secretary, Schools and Regional Services

The Terms of Reference and membership to be revisited

The next meeting to be held in early 2022.

• Term 2 2020 communique (PDF, 144KB)
• Term 2 2020 communique (DOCX, 34KB

• Term 1 2020 communique (PDF, 513KB)
• Term 1 2020 communique (DOCX, 405KB