Over the last eight years, the Schools Commission has produced a body of official discourse about education that is without precedent in both complexity and volume. The aim of this paper is to analyse the ideology within this public discourse. The key terms in the ideology derive from the Karmel settlement established in the early 1970s, and an attempt is made to contextualize the ideology within the social, economic, and political conditions of that period. The ideology is characterized as a form of social democratic discourse, and the ambiguities within the discourse are illustrated through an analysis of the major themes of equality and community participation.
References
1.
Australia. Committee on Australian Universities.Report. (Chairman: K. A. H. Murray). Canberra: Commonwealth Government Printer, 1957.
2.
Australia. Committee on the Future of Tertiary Education in Australia.Tertiary Education in Australia: Report of the Committee … to the Australian Universities Commission. (3 vols). (Chairman: L. H. Martin). Melbourne: Government Printer, 1964–65.
3.
Australia. Schools Commission. Interim Committee.Schools in Australia: Report of the Interim Committee for the Australian Schools Commission. (Chairman: P. H. Karmel). Canberra: AGPS, 1973.
4.
Australia. Schools Commission. Report for the Triennium, 1976–78.Canberra: AGPS, 1975.
5.
Australia. Schools Commission. Report: Rolling Triennium, 1977–79.Canberra: AGPS, 1976.
6.
Australia. Schools Commission. Report for the Triennium, 1979–81.Canberra: AGPS, 1978.
7.
Australia. Schools Commission. Report for the Triennium, 1982–84.Canberra: AGPS, 1981.
8.
BernsteinB.Class and pedagogies: Visible and invisible. In BernsteinB. (Ed.), Class, Codes and Control, Volume 3: Towards a Theory of Educational Transmissions.London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1975.
9.
Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies.Unpopular Education: Schooling and Social Democracy in England since 1944.London: Hutchinson, 1981.
10.
ConnellR. W.Ruling Class, Ruling Culture: Studies of Conflict, Power and Hegemony in Australian Life.London: Cambridge University Press, 1977.
11.
DaleR.From endorsement to disintegration: Progressive education from the golden age to the Green Paper.British Journal of Educational Studies, 1979, 27(3), 191–209.
12.
FreelandJ., and SharpR.The Williams report on education, training and employment: The decline and all of Karmelot.Intervention, 1981, 14, 54–79.
Interim Committee for the Australian Schools Commission. See Australia, Schools Commission. Interim Committee.
15.
IrvingT. H., and ConnellR. W.. Class Structure in Australian History: Documents, Narrative and Argument.Melbourne: Longmans Cheshire, 1980.
16.
KarmelP. H. (Chairman). See Australia. Schools Commission. Interim Committee.
17.
MartinSir L. H. (Chairman). See Australia. Committee on the Future of Tertiary Education in Australia.
18.
MurrayK. A. H. (Chairman). See Australia. Committee on Australian Universities.
19.
PuseyM.The legitimation of state education systems, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Sociology, 1980, 16(2), 45–52.
20.
Schools Commission. See Australia. Schools Commission.
21.
SpaullA. D.Educational policies of Australian political parties. In JecksD. A. (Ed.), Influences in Australian Education.Perth: Carroll's, 1974.
22.
WillerP.The establishment of the Schools Commission: A case study in the politics of education. In BirchI. K. F., and SmartD. (Eds), The Commonwealth Government and Education 1964–1976: Political Initiatives and Developments.Richmond, Vic.: Drummond, 1977.
