Issue No 101 | 06 July 2001 | |
EducationTheory and Practise
Whether or not you agree with the priorities for of Barry Jones' Knowledge Nation Taskforce, Julie Wells argues its boldness has to be admired.
************* The Report's prescriptions for success are investment in human capital, innovating in existing industries and building new ones, and developing powerful linkages between communities, industry and our education and research institutions. As you might gather from his `mind-map' diagram, Jones is particularly keen on the concept of linkages: he describes knowledge locked in `silos' as a result of competition for funding between universities, CSIRO and industry, and emphasises the need to `unlock' our innovative capacity by building a more collaborative culture. He also asserts an interventionist role for national Government in identifying and nurturing key industries (biotechnology, environmental management, information and communication technology) and in tackling major national problems (salinity, soil degradation, the erosion of our educational infrastructure). The Report calls for a substantial re-investment on public funds in government schools, TAFE colleges, universities, research and development institutions and in targeting key industries for innovation and growth - a brave call, when universities alone require an injection of $5billion over five years in order to bring their capacity to meet costs back to 1996 levels. The reception for Knowledge Nation has been mixed, and this is partly because it has been perceived by some as not relevant to the interests of ordinary Australians. A quick overview of media feedback suggests that the complexity of some elements invites ridicule and reinforces anti-intellectual prejudice. The emphasis on R&D and tertiary education means that people without an immediate interest in those issues do not necessarily make an automatic connection between their concerns about employment opportunities for themselves and their children and the ideas contained in the Report. The ALP and supporters of the Report face a challenge, therefore, to `sell' the good ideas contained in Knowledge Nation to those who don't automatically engage with it without pandering to anti-intellectual prejudice or `talking down' to the community. We constantly criticise our politicians for `short-term-ism' - never thinking beyond the next election. Here, at least, is a detailed (and coherent) vision for nation-building with a ten-year timeframe. And, while debate about its contents have been obscured in jokes about its diagrams and concerns about what it will cost, it is a vision that does offer an alternative to the market-driven, deregulatory agenda embraced by John Howard and his ministers. Whether the vision is fulfilled will depend in large part on Labor's willingness to put its money where its mouth is and offer a substantial funding down payment in its first term of government. Julie Wells is the policy coordinator for the National Tertiary Education Union
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Interview: A Little Knowledge Labor's science spokesman Martyn Evans was the Opposition's key player on the Knowledge Nation inquiry. He fills us in on the process. Education: Theory and Practise Whether or not you agree with the priorities for of Barry Jones� Knowledge Nation Taskforce, Julie Wells argues its boldness has to be admired. E-Change: 1.1 Email Nation In the first of a series of articles on politics and the new economy, Peter Lewis and Michael Gadiel argue network technologies are reshaping the fundamentals of society. Economics: Banking on the Goodwill Given their history, Evan Jones wonders whether banks can really claim to be "just like any other business" International: A Deathly Struggle In this dispatch from PNG, a trade union leader briefs us on the situation following the shooting of seven students at an anti-privatisation rally. History: Enlarging Human Personality Mark Hearn argues that Lloyd Ross's post-War approach to Workplace Democracy seems contemporary by today's standards Satire: Shit is a Four Letter Word Australian TV drama is lame and gutless just look at the ABC's Love is a Four Letter Word, says Tony Moore Review: Tribute to an Artist Dalgarno painted the seagulls circling the seafarer like flies buzzing around the face of a bushman. Thus did the artist depict the maritime worker.
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