Presentation by John Guenther and Melodie Bat from CRC-REP project Remote Education Systems 'Towards a good education in remote Australia: Is it just a case of moving the desks around?' at the IRN Forum held in Whyalla, South Australia, 24-28 September 2012.

1. Towards a good education in
remote Australia: Is it just a case of
moving the desks around?
John Guenther
Melodie Bat
IRN Forum,
September 2012

2. Cooperative Research Centre for Remote Economic
Participation
Goals:
1. To develop new ways to build resilience and strengthen regional
communities and economies across remote Australia.
2. To build new enterprises and strengthen existing industries that,
provide jobs, livelihoods and incomes in remote areas.
3. To improve the education and training pathways in remote areas
so that people have better opportunities to participate in the
range of economies that exist.

3. Cooperative Research Centre for Remote Economic
Participation projects
• Regional economies
• Population Mobility and Labour Markets
• Enduring Community Value from Mining
• Climate Change Adaptation and Energy Futures
• Enterprise development
• Aboriginal Cultural Enterprise
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Economies
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Tourism Product
• Carbon Economies in Remote Australia
• Plant Business
• Precision Pastoral Management Tools
• Investing in people
• Pathways to Employment
• Interplay Between Health, Wellbeing, Education and Employment
• Remote Education Systems
http://crc-rep.com/research

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5. Remote Education Systems sites

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7. What is a ‘good’ education?
• Foundations of a good education
Assumption 1: A good education is built on the core
foundations of quality leaders, teachers,
teaching, attendance, classrooms, curriculum,
accountability, choice and associated
administrative structures and infrastructure.
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8. What is a ‘good’ education?
• Imperatives of a good education
Assumption 2: A good education (in Australia) promotes high
standards of English language and literacy, as
well as numeracy—it has a global knowledge
economy imperative.
Assumption 3: A good education supports the values and
norms of the mainstream society—it has a
socialisation imperative.
Assumption 4: A good education is a pathway to further and
higher education—and is underpinned by an
academic imperative.
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9. What is a ‘good’ education?
• Imperatives of a good education (continued)
Assumption 5: A good education supports learners’ career
aspirations—it has a work imperative.
Assumption 6: A good education supports learners’ emerging
independence—and is underpinned by an
economic imperative.
Assumption 7: A good education is focused on individual
performance—it has a competitive
imperative.
Assumption 8: A good education supports learners to engage
with the broader society—it has a civic
participation imperative.
.
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10. Is remote education ‘good’?
Assumption Imperative Does remote education fit?
1 Schooling Tries very hard with lots of attention
foundations paid to this
2 Global knowledge It tries to, but struggles
economy
3 Socialisation Yes to some extent
4 Academic With some exceptions, no
5 Work With some exceptions, no
6 Economic With some exceptions, no
7 Competition It tries to, but struggles
8 Civic participation With some exceptions, no
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11. Thinking about innovation
Leadbeater, C. and Wong, A. 2010. Learning from extremes, Cisco, San Jose.
Retrieved April 2012 from http://www.cisco.com/web/about/citizenship/socio-
economic/docs/LearningfromExtremes_WhitePaper.pdf.
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12. Alternative thinking about the foundation assumptions
Current values Possible alternative
School improvement Disruptive innovation, informal learning
Standards for quality teaching Standards for quality learning
Success as year 12 retention Success as community contribution
Success as 80% attendance Success as learning
Accountability to funders Accountability to communities
Recreating the past Creating the future
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13. Alternative thinking about the imperatives
Current values Possible alternatives
Economic imperative Well-being imperatives
Academic imperative Identity imperative
Career imperative Community aspiration imperative
Knowledge performance Creative performance
Competition Collaboration
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14. Thinking some more about innovation
Hannon, V., Patton, A. and Temperley, J. 2011. Developing an Innovation Ecosystem for Education.
White Paper, December 2011, Cisco. Retrieved August 2012 from
http://gelpspace.org/sites/default/files/related_documents/developing_an_innovation_ecosystem_for
_education_cisco-iu.pdf.
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15. Contact
Melodie Bat
melodie.bat@cdu.edu.au
0427 226 561
John Guenther
john.guenther@flinders.edu.au
0412 125 661
Cooperative Research Centre for Remote Economic Participation
http://www.crc-rep.com
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