Policy Directions for Australian Secondary Schools: A Critique of Some Prevalent Assumptions

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Abstract
During the past 15 years or so, there has been a flood of public reports on secondary education sponsored by the commonwealth or state governments. These reports give directions for policy making by government bodies and for changes in school practice. Although their influence varies and is difficult to gauge, they set a style of thinking which, in at least subtle ways, affects practice. Hence their main ideas need to be highlighted and critically assessed. This article identifies a number of questionable key assumptions on which many such reports concur: schooling as an instrument of economic prosperity, the ideal of universal participation to the end of high school, and a common program of general education for the whole of secondary schooling. Several related subsidiary beliefs are also noted. The justification of these various widely held assumptions is challenged and some suggestions are made for an agenda of issues on which we need much more critical inquiry. Not the least of these is the role of political authority in determining educational policy.

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