All too often couched in New Age jargon and psychobabble, the prevailing orthodoxy insists even the teaching of mathematics and science must be viewed through a politically correct prism focused on indigenous, Asian and sustainability perspectives. It is no way to open minds -- or secure a nation's future

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Any debate about how kids should be taught and what they should be taught sees a clash of philosophies. The conservative view stresses wisdom as much as learning

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The left planted its flag atop the educational establishment long ago. If we are to hope for better schools and smarter kids, that dominance must be overturned

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Not only does Kevin Rudd's Better Schools Plan put church schools at a financial disadvantage, his national curriculum dismisses Australia's judeo-Christian heritage while promoting cultural relativism as the state religion in all but name

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Christianity and its shaping influence on Australian history and society are to be expelled from the classroom under Gillard's campaign to "reform" education. In its place, the post-modern creed of cultural relativism

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At a time when other Western education systems are granting greater autonomy to local schools, the Gillard government is tugging on purse strings to assert Canberra's dominance and control

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The federal government operates no schools and employs not a single teacher, but its ambition to usurp parental responsibility while hobbling the states with red tape is boundless

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If we are egalitarian in our intention we have to reshape education so that it is a vital weapon in the transition to more equal outcomes for disadvantaged groups and classes rather than a ladder to equal opportunity for individuals.                                —   Joan Kirner, Victorian Fabian Society Pamphlet 41  Funding arrangements should, “ensure that differences […]

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In the July-August 2009 edition of Quadrant I wrote an essay, “The Politics of School Choice” in which I argued in favour of choice and diversity in education and warned that the ALP federal government’s rhetoric about supporting non-government schools could not be believed. I also signalled that the then Rudd government, with Julia Gillard as […]

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The Rudd government fulfilled its 2007 election promise to develop a national curriculum by establishing a National Curriculum Board in early 2008 (now known as the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority). At the time, while welcoming the move to what was described as a more academically-minded approach to the curriculum, I argued that such […]

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