State control and parent participation: Analysis of recent reports

Abstract

This article focuses on three recently released reports -Schools Renewal (1989), Report of the Committee of NSW Schools (1989) and Excellence and Equity (1989) o which are examined from the perspective of the discourse of school and parent/community relations. After outlining the basic elements of this discourse, their status in NSW education is discussed and the extent to which they function as a framework for the changes the reports propose or as a legitimating mechanism is analysed. This is followed by an appraisal of the context which gave rise to the reports and of the implications for the future role of parents' and citizens" groups.

The governance of curriculum in Australia, 1981‐1991

“…It also assumes that schools are competent at developing their own curriculum control mechanisms, an assumption that needs to be challenged if recent South Australian experience is any indication (Eyers 1989). Viewed from another perspective Soliman (1991) argues that devolution may be a mask to give legitimacy and acquiescence to previously determined statewide policies and that schools only have marginal control over their curriculum destinies.…”