Speaking back to educational policy: why social inclusion will not work fordisadvantagedAustralian schools

Graduate Teacher Preparation For Rural Schools In Victoria and Queensland

“…The literature tells us that Australia's many rural schools appear to be underserved by a system that delivers sub-standard opportunities to rural students"(see for example Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission 2000; McTurk, Nutton, Lea, Robinson & Carapetis, 2008;Oakes, 2005;Reid et al, 2010;Smyth 2010). We also know that the overwhelming majority of teachers are trained in universities in urban areas with less than a quarter of all practicum placements taking place in non-metropolitan schools (Halsey, 2009).…”

Student equity’s starring role in Australian higher education: not yet centre field

“…While the Rudd/Gillard Government (2007-present) has reintroduced an equity disposition within education-through its National Education Agreement with the states and specifically its National Partnership on Low SES School Communities (Australian Government 2010)-there remains an emphasis on individualized outcomes that are not overly cognizant of outcomes for social and cultural groups and communities (Lingard 2010;Smyth 2010). We could possibly observe similar things in relation to vocational education and training (VET), particularly its expression within government colleges and institutes of Technical and Further Education (TAFE).…”

Identities and Subjectivities

“…The irony lies in the call for those marginalized to actively participate in education and work, in the social and economic mainstream -without fully revisiting any of the structures and relationships that created inequality and brought some sectors of youth to the margins (Armstrong 2006;Shucksmith 2012;Sibley 2006). Smyth (2010) asserts that in Australia, social inclusion approaches, policy borrowed from Labor's Great Britain, do not focus on the structural social forces that are the root of causing the exclusion and calls for approaches that listen to the voices of youth to understand their needs and generate trust between the socially excluded and the institutions that aim to help them. Smyth (2010) asserts that in Australia, social inclusion approaches, policy borrowed from Labor's Great Britain, do not focus on the structural social forces that are the root of causing the exclusion and calls for approaches that listen to the voices of youth to understand their needs and generate trust between the socially excluded and the institutions that aim to help them.…”