Presented to the Minister for Education in December 1972, Secondary Education for Canberra: Report of the Working Committee on College Proposals for the Australian Capital Territory, was part of a wider movement for the reform of education in the ACT. Referred to as the “Campbell Report”, after committee chair Richard Campbell, its recommendations were accepted by the new Commonwealth Labor government and implemented in the following years. The establishment of secondary colleges to provide the final two years of schooling represented a major educational reform to public schooling in the ACT. This reform proved popular, successful, and enduring.
Education in the ACT, 1913-1960s
Following federation of the six Australian colonies on 1 January 1901, a site for the national capital, somewhere between Melbourne and Sydney, was sought. An enclave located within New South Wales (hereafter NSW) was chosen, and named as Canberra in 1913. At that time, 16 schools were operating in the Federal Capital Territory. They were administered by NSW and consisted of seven public schools (those with an enrolment of over 20 pupils) and a number of provisional, half time, or subsidized schools. An agreement between the NSW government and the federal government meant that the NSW Department of Education would continue responsibility for policy and administration of schools in the Territory. It would appoint teachers, inspect the schools, provide curriculum and maintain existing school buildings. The federal government would plan, build and pay for new buildings and reimburse NSW for its costs This arrangement continued to the end of 1973.
As Canberra grew, new schools opened, the first being Telopea Park Central School in 1923 and Ainslie Primary School in 1927. Expansion of the capital was arrested during the second world war, but increased dramatically from the late 1940s and through the 1950s and 60s. Public service operations were transferred from Sydney and Melbourne and the city expanded to house public servants and others. New schools were constructed to educate their children.
In 1950, there were nine public schools including one high school and one central school. By 1968, these figures had grown to 28 primary and nine high schools (Foskett, 2000, p. 8, 13.) About 30 percent of children attended nongovernment schools. It was clear that the rate of population growth would accelerate in the coming decade.
Context for change
Local, national and transnational contexts influenced the growth of a popular and vocal movement for the reform of education in the ACT.
Locally, the population of the ACT increased from 56,000 in 1961 to 151,000 in 1971. Canberra in the mid-1960s was a city of mainly young families, predominantly well-educated and in receipt of salaries higher than the national average. Retention rates in secondary schools were remarkably high in comparison to the nation as a whole, even acknowledging rising retention rates nationally. Educational aspirations of the community were high (Mildern & Mulford, 1980, p. 2-5). At the same time, shortages of teachers and facilities led to parental and community dissatisfaction. There was a growing demand for separation of education from the control of NSW.
The post-war period of reconstruction, population growth, economic and technological growth and development stimulated educational change in every state of Australia, along with new Commonwealth initiatives. Secondary school education systems which, in the view of one educationalist, had previously existed primarily to weed out non-academic students were now challenged to cater for vastly increased numbers and a wider spectrum of students (Beare, 2007, p. 28).
Additionally, Australian educational challenges and responses of the 1960s and 1970s took place in a transnational context of educational expansion and optimism in which progressive reforms were widely discussed, trialled and incorporated with varying degrees of success, or discarded.
Movement for reform, 1966-1971
In November 1966, a public education seminar was held at the Australian National University, sponsored by the Australian College of Education, the New Education Fellowship, and the ACT Combined Council of Parent and Citizens Associations. These sponsoring bodies, representing teachers, progressive educators, parents and community, indicate a wide involvement in the movement for change and perhaps its ultimate success. The seminar led to the formation of a committee of parents, academics, principals, and teachers under the chairmanship of Sir George Currie.
The report of this Committee, known as the “Currie Report” and presented in November 1967, recommended an independent authority to take over responsibility for the system of public education in the ACT.
Although progress towards an independent authority appeared slow, an ACT Education Working Group, formed in 1969, arranged public meetings, held discussions with political parties, and contributed regular newspaper articles to the Canberra Times. The concept of separate schools for senior secondary students was discussed within and beyond the Working Group and gained in popularity. A weekend seminar held at Lyneham High School in March 1971 discussed the idea. This seminar was attended by parent and community groups, teacher organisations, representatives from university and other educational institutions as well as those from NSW and Commonwealth Departments. The Department of Education and Science proposed further discussion of senior colleges and, approved by the then Minister for Education and Science, Malcolm Fraser, a Working Committee on College Proposals for the ACT was established in November 1971 with Dr Richard Campbell as chair.
While the Committee met during 1972, other significant changes to the provision of education in the ACT occurred. In April, legislation was passed establishing a Commonwealth Teaching Service to supply teachers for Northern Territory and ACT schools. NSW would no longer be responsible for staffing (Report, p. 5). Malcolm Fraser foreshadowed an enquiry to consider a statuary authority that would administer all aspects of government schooling in the ACT. However, such an enquiry had not begun in December 1972 when the Campbell Report was presented to the newly elected Labor government under Gough Whitlam. In August 1972, a new teacher union for the ACT was established. Unlike the NSW Teachers Federation, the Commonwealth Teachers Federation (ACT) favoured the establishment of senior colleges (March, p. 8).
Working Committee on College Proposals for the ACT
Richard Campbell in later years Source: https://about.csu.edu.au/community/accc/about/latest-news-assets/2022-news-stories/eulogy-for-professor-richard-campbell-am-from-professor-wayne-hudson
The task of the Working Committee was to examine in detail the rationale and practicalities of implementing the Department of Education and Science’s proposal to replace existing secondary school forms five and six, the final two years of schooling, with separate colleges.
The Committee comprised representatives from the ACT Council of Parents and Citizens Associations; the ACT Secondary Teachers’ Association; the Technical Teachers’ Association (Canberra Branch); the ACT Secondary Principals’ Council; the NSW Department of Education; and the Commonwealth Department of Education. The Committee comprised 19 members. In the chair was Richard Campbell, lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at Australian National University (ANU). He had come to the movement for school reform as a parent and in 1971 was Vice President of the ACT Council of Parents and Citizens Associations. He stepped down from this position to chair the Committee. With an extensive research background in philosophy and divinity, Campbell brought insight, sensitivity and progressive ideology to the Committee and its report.
During 1972, the Committee held 33 meetings and numerous sub-committee meetings. Members visited schools in Tasmania, Victoria and NSW. The Committee called for and considered submissions from individuals and organisations and issued regular press releases to keep the public informed. Significantly, it commissioned two surveys of secondary students’ opinions on the college proposal which were carried out by the Education Research Unit at ANU. Quantitative and qualitative results from these extensive interviews and questionnaires were considered to be extremely significant by the Committee. Dr Don Anderson, Head of the Research Unit, believed that it was the first time in Australia that student opinion had been widely surveyed before a major policy decision was made (Report, p. 6-7). There is no doubt that student voices influenced the final report. In a retrospective interview in 2005, Campbell again stressed the surveys:
The strength of the adolescents’ opposition to the status quo was so strong that all the hesitations and negativity to the idea, particularly from the principals, some of the teachers and the inspectors were completely cut out from underneath them. It was clear something radical had to be done. I think that was the decisive moment. (Campbell in Price, 2005, p. 15)
The Campbell Report of 186 pages comprised nine chapters plus appendices. Chapters 1 and 2 considered the historical background and, in considerable detail, social contexts for the structural change that would be recommended. Turning to the actual proposal in Chapter 3, the report considered: alternatives to the one put forward by the Department; difficulties and objections to the model proposed; and advantages of the proposal. The chapter continued by defining functions and purposes of the proposed colleges. Following chapters were devoted to curricula, examinations, government by school councils, staffing, facilities, and implementation timelines. Appendices included reports from the school student survey with sample responses, and tables of projected enrolments in high schools and proposed colleges, 1972 to 1980.
Recommendations
The Committee endorsed the proposal for restructuring secondary education in the ACT along the lines of four year high schools and senior colleges. The restructure would be implemented in 1976.
Some important specific recommendations are listed below (“Summary of Recommendations”, Report, p. 115-122).
- Colleges should offer a wide range of courses tailored to the differing interests and abilities of students
- The entry to colleges should be non-selective on academic grounds. The entry of mature-age students should be permitted, and even encouraged
- Each student should be given the maximum opportunity for individual development and excellence, both academically and socially
- Vocational guidance and pastoral care should be inherent
- Colleges should become responsible for their own methods of assessment. The external-examination-oriented nature of secondary education should be phased out
- The accent should be on freedom, self-development, self-motivation, self-discipline, and student management of student affairs
On curriculum:
- That the college curriculum be so structured as to emphasise the inter-relationship of student and community, of study and experience, and between disciplines
- That ways be sought to promote interaction between college and community
- That no course of study shall be prescribed as compulsory
- That a Curriculum Advisory Board be appointed to form part of the Education Authority.
On examinations:
- That the Department of Education take urgent steps to ensure that research is continued into alternative methods of assessment and evaluation
- The Higher School Certificate examination be replaced by a testing system of continuous assessment.
On government:
- That each college should have as its governing body a council…
- The council will participate in the planning of the college’s policy and operations
- Councils should contain representatives of the staff, students, parents and the authority.
On staffing:
- That the Department of Education, as a priority matter, make arrangements to ensure that teachers, through in-service education, are provided with opportunities to familiarise themselves with the cause, nature and purpose of the changes we are proposing, and to make their contributions to advance planning
- That career patterns and levels of responsibility be similar for both high school and college teachers
- That each high school and college have a greatly increased ancillary staff
- That a continuing program of in-service education be arranged for principals and staff during school hours.
Alternatives considered
The Campbell Report considered alternatives to the senior college proposal (p. 31-34). The Committee looked at systems operating in the United Kingdom, Europe, and North America. Consideration was given, for example, to Swedish education where nine years of compulsory education was divided into three stages and to British and American interest in “middle schools”. Retaining a two tier structure which raised the level of entry to secondary education was also considered. Such systems were discussed as contenders for a new system appropriate for the ACT and reasons for rejection given.
Objections and advantages
Chapter three also gave attention to objections to the college proposal (p. 34-39). These included: concerns that junior high school students would lose the leadership and guidance of senior students; teachers in colleges might become an elite group in comparison to those in high schools and high schools lose effective teachers; the disruption of changeover was too great. Each concern was addressed and refuted, or strategies provided to prevent unwanted outcomes. Then the advantages expected from the establishment of senior colleges were presented. The proposed new system would reduce the spread of ages in secondary schools; develop more responsibility in both college and high school students; and provide opportunity for community involvement in decision making on the goals and methods of schooling. With colleges drawing senior students from several high schools, a wider range of courses could be offered than the current system allowed. The change would alleviate overcrowding in existing high schools.
Establishment of secondary colleges
The Campbell Report was a visionary document which proposed a system of secondary schooling for the ACT that was very different to the existing one, and looked towards an innovative future. At the same time, it was a practical document with specific details of changes proposed and practical steps for their implementation.
The Report was presented on 20 December to Kim Beasley (senior), new Minister for Education in the Whitlam Labor Government. Beasley was enthusiastic in his commendation of the report. During 1973 educational reform gained momentum. The government decided to move directly on setting up an Education Authority for the ACT and a committee led by Phillip Hughes presented its report on the establishment of such an authority in May. The Interim Schools Authority was established in October 1973, reporting to the Minister for Education and responsible for the administration of government pre-schools, primary and secondary schools and evening colleges. In 1977, the Interim Authority became the ACT Schools Authority. It was the Interim Schools Authority which presided over the introduction of secondary colleges. In 1974 and 1975, sub-committees and working parties focused on curriculum, reporting, assessment, and staffing for the colleges.
In January 1976, four senior colleges opened to students. Two were purpose built colleges at Hawker and Phillip; two were located in former high schools at Dickson and Narrabundah both of which had undergone extensive conversion. Other colleges opened in following years.
It appears that the colleges functioned successfully and were welcomed by students, parents and community. Mick March, first principal of Narrabundah College and member of the Campbell Committee, recalled a “sense of collective endeavour”, with commitment to making the new system work. The bulk of students responded magnificently to new expectations, interstate students and non-government school students were attracted to the colleges, and mature age students returned to school (1996, p. 30-31). March pointed to problems and challenges that emerged after 1980, but concluded that the colleges were continuing to function very effectively in the 1990s (p. 37).
Success and positive acceptance of the new colleges was reported in an evaluation led by Don Anderson in 1980. He had conducted the student surveys in 1972. A further survey of students was carried out in 1979, this time for the ACT Schools Authority. Students were very supportive of the college system as it had been implemented. While support for the idea of colleges was strong in 1972, support for the reality in 1979 was even stronger on the part of those students actually attending colleges (Anderson, 1980, p. 20, 43). Having a wide choice of subjects, being treated as adults and having more scope for decision making, independence and responsibility were important for most students in their reasons for endorsement.
An article in the Canberra Times in 1987 applauded the success of the college system: “In Canberra, public schools work” (31 May, p. 7). The author made much of the continuing high retention rate of students to Year 12 which was by far the highest of all Australian states and territories. It was also the only jurisdiction where retention rates in government schools were higher than in nongovernment schools. The author cited Anderson, then chair of the Council of the ACT Schools Authority, who claimed that the system worked because students were treated as young adults and were better equipped for jobs or higher education. One of the current principals was also cited, with similar comments about the freedom of students from the more custodial rules of high schools. There was greater subject choice, stimulation for able students and support for those who needed it.
While reports of the success of colleges continued, a review of the four-year government high schools in 1983 found problems. The high schools were described as having “not moved far from being decapitated Wyndham high schools” (ACT Schools Authority, 1983, p. 9). This review concluded that change in the high schools, particularly in the areas of curriculum and in the consultative process between schools, parents, community and the Schools Authority was essential. Richard Campbell, looking back in 2005, thought that there should have been more emphasis put on the high schools “as new institutions as well” (Price, 2005 p. 21).
Canberra Times 31May 1987 p 7
The system of four year high schools (Years 7 to 10) and secondary colleges (Years 11 and 12) operates in the ACT to the present day.
Successful innovation
The new system of secondary education and its administration introduced to the ACT in the 1970s was significantly different to the one it replaced and, indeed, to any system operating at the time in the other states of Australia. Overall, it was a successful example of educational reform, while many attempts to reform educational systems globally were unsuccessful or only partially realised. (Victoria was one Australian state that attempted a similar set of reforms following the Blackburn Report in 1985). Large scale reform, wrote Canadian educationalist Michael Fullan (2001), moves through three broad phases: initiation and decision making; implementation; and continuation or institutionalisation. How each phase proceeds can determine overall success or failure.
What influenced the success of reform to secondary schooling in the ACT? During the initiation phase of the late 1960s and early 1970s, impetus for change came from a wide base: parents, community, teachers, college educators, and progressive societies. Media was utilised, with the Canberra Times providing extensive and on-going coverage. The participation of students was actively sought and their voices had an impact on recommendations. All these factors were significant for the phases of implementation and continuation.
Implementation was presided over by a newly instituted educational authority which included parents, classroom teachers, and teachers’ union representatives in addition to administrators. This representation indicates a balance between community interest and professional expertise.
Individual school councils provided for representation of parents, community members, classroom teachers and students alongside principals and the Authority to participate in the making of school policy and practice. This local devolution of decision making aided acceptance and continuation of the secondary college system envisioned in the Campbell Report.