Restructuring of Administrative Policies in Australian and New Zealand State School Education Systems: Implications for Practice, Theory and Research
| Published date | 01 April 1991 |
| Date | 01 April 1991 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000002474 |
| Author | R.J.S. Macpherson |
| Subject Matter | Education |
Australian and
New Zealand
State Schools
51
Restructuring of Administrative
Policies in Australian and
New Zealand State School
Education Systems:
Implications for Practice,
Theory and Research
RJ.S.
Macpherson
University of New
England,
Armidale, Australia
Introduction
Nine sites of systemic restructuring were examined. Case studies were made
of New South Wales (NSW), Victoria (Vic), New Zealand (NZ), Queensland
(Qld),
Western Australia (WA), South Australia (SA), Tasmania (Tas), the
Australian Capital Territory (ACT), and the Northern Territory (NT). The
detailed descriptive site analyses cannot be provided here. Instead the general
findings are presented with implications. It must also be noted that each of
these nine systems has a unique history and very different characteristics today.
For
example,
Table I compares their areas with the size of
NSW,
the numbers
of teachers that each system manages, their
student:
teacher
ratios
and apparent
retention rates to year 12.
NSW
Vic
NZ
Qld
WA
SA
Tas
ACT
NT
Area: NSW
1.00
0.28
0.33
2.15
3.15
1.23
0.08
<0.01
1.68
1990 teaching
staff
45,620
39,950
34,600
24,439
13,636
13,604
4,546
2,698
1,986
1990 student:
staff ratio
16.3
13.2
18.2
16.0
15.8
13.6
14.4
15.0
13.2
1990 retention
rates to year 12
(%)
56.8
65.4
35.5
73.8
64.2
72.1
44.7
86.9
47.7
Table I.
Australian[l-4] and
New Zealand[5, 6]
State School
Education Data
The author is obliged for the feedback received from the Editor of this dedicated issue, Mark
Hanson, the Editor of the JEA, Ross Thomas, the first CCEA Visiting Fellow, Angela Thody,
and his informants over many years, who, quite understandably, prefer to remain anonymous.
Journal of Educational
Administration, Vol. 29 No. 4.
1991.
pp. 51-64. © MCB
University Press, 0957-8234
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