Reforming the Middle Years of Education: Reflecting on the Queensland Context
Introduction As an academic working in the field of middle years research for almost two decades, I have had the opportunity to be involved in some major research studies and to lead some school based reforms that sit squarely in the space of improving student learning, including literacy learning, for young adolescents. The momentum to re think our teaching and learning approaches for young adolescents has been on the agenda for much longer than this and has its roots in other parts of the world, where evidence over decades revealed a pattern of disengagement of young adolescents from their school and learning opportunities and challenges at the transition stage. It must be noted, however, that the impetus has often been quite different from the Australian motivations (Pendergast, 2010) In the United States, for example, issues such as population growth, racial segregation and curriculum imperatives led to the development of middle school as a tier of schooling in an already three tiered model (National Middle School Association, 2001) Claims about the success of middle schooling in the United States have been strong, such as that made by Lounsbury (1997) who maintains that 'the middle school movement is an educational success story unparalleled in our history. In a little over three decades the face of American education has been remade' (p. xi) Similar claims are being made about recent reforms in the middle years in Queensland and it is to this I now turn, contextualised first in the national setting. In Australia, there are signposts to suggest that intentional approaches to middle school education have developed into a legitimate site for learners, teachers, teaching and teacher educators to inhabit (Pendergast, 2010) One sign is that policymakers have named this through inclusion in key strategic policy directions, such as the Melbourne declaration on educational goals for young Australians (Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs, 2008) almost a decade ago now. The declaration specifies enhancing middle years teaching and learning practices as a priority to ensure young adolescents have the best educational opportunities. It notes that early adolescence and the transition to secondary school is 'a time when students are at the greatest risk of disengagement from learning. Student motivation and engagement in these years is critical, and can be influenced by tailoring approaches to teaching' (p. 10) However, despite this relatively clear policy identification of the middle years: Compared with the early years and adolescence, young people in their middle years have received relatively little attention from policymakers other than in the space of academic achievement, where national curricula are being developed, and a national assessment program is in place. Yet there is growing recognition that this is a time when young people experience rapid physical and mental development, and face a transition from primary to secondary school. (Redmond et al. 2016, p. xi) Unsurprisingly, this is made more complex with state based education systems at the delivery level in the Australian context. National agendas such as those outlined in the Melbourne declaration are not consistently addressed and hence there is a range of innovations around the nation, including those featuring curricular, pedagogical and assessment foci for the middle years (Mockler, 2015) In the last few years in Queensland, there has been a very intentional approach based on what have been identified as the key challenges in the middle years, with these being closely linked to the nature of the many changes that occur during early adolescence, along with the challenges associated with transition between primary and secondary school. The following key challenges have been noted by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER, 2012) as having a major impact on the school experiences of middle years students: the need for teachers to manage a heterogeneous student population without sacrificing inclusiveness; a decline in student academic performance; a high incidence of disengagement, disruptive behaviour, boredom and disconnection from schooling; a 'knowledge gap' between what is taught and the kind of content that would engage early adolescents and match their cognitive skills; transition that often entails major change, such as larger school size, more emphasis on teacher control and discipline, disrupted peer relations, more impersonal relationships between student and teachers, and different expectations of students' performance.