Getting Tough. Blaming The Victims

The Herald Sun’s education expert, Andrew Bolt, shares his thoughts on reports that Aboriginal students in year 9 are not performing as well as their peers in standardised literacy testing:

A culture of dysfunction

Where are the parents in this? Where are the tough programs to crack down on absenteeism? Where the ruthless determination to stamp out the fetish for teaching in Aboriginal languages?

Of course, the solution to every problem is to get tough on something. But what if we took a moment to consider the problem beyond simple sound bites.

When asking “Where are the parents” you also need to ask whether the parents themselves have adequate literacy skills to be able to make a contribution to their children’s learning. How can you demand that a parent help improve their children’s literacy if their own education failed them? Instead of getting tough, shouldn’t we be offering support? Wouldn’t we get a double payoff if we helped raise the literacy skills of adults in our community while demonstrating the importance of reading to their kids?

As for “tough programs to crack down on absenteeism” has Andrew considered the possibility that if we make school a better experience for kids, they’ll be more likely to want to come? Other causes of absenteeism are often related to financial problems, having no money for transport, school uniforms or breakfast makes getting to school a challenge. Instead of “getting tough”, how about trying to improve people’s life skills? Give them the resources to manage their home better and not only are you likely to see absenteeism drop, but kids absorb the lessons as well.

And while Andrew demands a “ruthless determination to stamp out the fetish for teaching in Aboriginal languages”, research in Victoria finds that:

learning a second language can enhance a child’s ability to think and reflect upon language which improves their reading readiness. Furthermore, studies show that a child who learns that meaning can be represented in more than just one way, through exposure to another language, gains valuable insights into the nature of language which can subsequently benefit their English literacy skills.

* Does learning another language improve English literacy skills? .pdf

So instead of “getting tough” on native Australian languages, and potentially allowing them to become extinct, wouldn’t it be better to rely on the evidence that they can actually enhance literacy?

“Getting tough” isn’t a solution to education problems. The fact that 46% of Australian adults have difficulty with reading skills(.pdf) is evidence that there was no golden age when education worked brilliantly for everyone. It’s time for columnists like Andrew Bolt to admit that “getting tough” is a poor substitute for getting results, and support the people who devote their lives to educating others, rather than viewing education through their own uninformed, ideological filters.