Devolution

Devolution Managing state education: Devolving Practices This chapter, written by Peter Meadmore takes a journey through Australian education history specifically looking at the changing face of the schooling system over time and the process and implication of devolution. As an introduction to the topic, Meadmore gives a brief overview. He describes of the devolution of power in all state education departments from a centralised bureaucracy to the power being distributed to the actual schools. This shift of power from a central site to a local site of education is said to have important implications on the future of state schooling in Australia. Meadmore first traces the history of schooling in Australia. He is critical of the central administration organisation and Department of Public Instruction (Education Department) that were needed to facilitate the goal of free and compulsory education. The ideal of universal education was to provide a public good to society - increased literacy and numeracy standards were desired, shared systems of values ensured a society of like-minded citizens, even distribution of government funding and equal distribution of scarce resources regardless of location all were a result of centralised power. This way of schooling Meadmore criticises for being cumbersome and unresponsive to social school, meadmore, power, education, devolution, schools, teachers, being, principals, needs, learning, time, curriculum, economic, budget, been, issues, between, state, smyth, outcomes, market, making, critical, central, agenda, system, students, result, rationalist, process, need, level, enrolments