THE “FREEDOM AND AUTHORITY MEMORANDUM”: A PHILOSOPHICAL ADDENDUM IN EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION
| Date | 01 February 1981 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb009847 |
| Published date | 01 February 1981 |
| Pages | 187-200 |
| Author | JAMES S. KAMINSKY |
| Subject Matter | Education |
THE JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION
VOLUME
XIX,
NUMBER 2 SUMMER 1981
THE "FREEDOM AND AUTHORITY MEMORANDUM": A
PHILOSOPHICAL ADDENDUM IN
EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION
JAMES S. KAMINSKY
This article is a philosophical investigation of the "Freedom and Authority
Memorandum", written by A.W. Jones then Director-General of Education in South
Australia. The article has several purposes. First, it is an example of the contribution
that philosophy can make to the formulation of educational policy. Second, it
compares and contrasts two institutional styles for the purpose of elucidating the
kind of bureaucratic organization commended by the memorandum. Third, the
article attempts to demonstrate that contractual consent theory, in and of
itself,
does
not dissolve many of the most serious problems that revolve around ideas of freedom
and authority. Last, the article illustrates why, given the assumptions of institutional
collectivism, the commitment to institutional individualism implicit in the "freedom
and Authority Memorandum" cannot necessarily lead to happiness.
INTRODUCTION
In August of 1970 A.W. Jones, Director-General of Education for South
Australia circulated a memorandum1 to define more clearly what the
concepts of freedom and authority meant for the practice of education.
Only a most uncharitable reading of the memo could lead to anything but
the conclusion that the memo was an attempt by a humane administrator
to reform the organization of the South Australian schools. At the time it
was most surprising behaviour for an "insider". Considering Jones's tenure
of over 40 years within the department he should have been committed to
the status quo. A Director-General of Education (1970-1977) promoted
through the system from teacher (1934-48), to Inspector of Schools
(1949-58), to Superintendent of Recruiting and Training (1959-1967), to
Deputy Director-General (1967-70) he seems an unlikely candidate to
spearhead educational reform at a time when educational bureaucracies all
over the world were beginning to indulge themselves in stories about the
good old days.
A.W. Jones while a university fellow at the University of New England
in 1978 made a study of the impact of the memorandum.2 Jones's study
gathered impressions of the reorientation of subsequent educational
policy. The effect of the memo according to Jones, was to eliminate the
most onerous aspects of a centralized administration and a centralized
curriculum from the day-to-day operation of the South Australian schools.
JAMES S. KAMINSKY is Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Social and Cultural Studies in
Education, University of New England.
To continue reading
Request your trial