SOCIAL SCIENCE THAT ACTUALLY WORKS
EDUCATION
Australia's educational landscape has changed drastically over the last 50 years and many of the innovations and structures which have come and gone have provided highly useful pointers to a more productive, and leaningful, education system. However, in some respects, it is a case of the more it changes, the more it stays the same, unfortunately. Reference the Educational Paradigms paper here which has been moved to a more fitting home in the Perception, Communication and Media section. All efforts so far have not resulted in a system designed for learning rather than teaching although small steps have been made in many schools, colleges and universities.
Some of the papers in this section document these innovations, failures and what could be more rewarding for all involved. Others discuss more basic theory while others again are chocka with invaluable historical data using systemic stats such as causal path analysis, leaving no doubt as to what leads to what. The paper on secondary education documents and highlights the sort of, but additional, data the Gonski enquiry used which should have led to a revolution in funding for Australia's schools.
ORGANIZATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT
Fred Emery, 1976
This paper deals with the subject of management education, not training. It argues that it needs a complete rethink from the conventional approaches used today. It is still highly relevant!
A CASE STUDY IN SETTING ORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTIVES
Fred Emery, 1977
This paper contains some valuable lessons in how the setting of objectives has a vital role to play in educational, or more generally, organizational functioning, despite the fact that the poor old trade union training authority (TUTA) is no longer with us. These lessons would not go amiss in many educational establishments today.
INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY AND THE CAES: AN OVERVIEW
Fred Emery, 1977
The Colleges of Advanced Education (CAEs) were an experiment in regional and other than university education, tertiary education. However, their designers were more influenced by the past than the present, a situation which Fred hoped to correct with this paper. Valuable lessons for any educational enterprise.
DIRECTIONS IN SECONDARY EDUCATION: A STATISTICAL EVALUATION
Fred Emery, 1986
This analysis of both the state of secondary education and the major factors which determine a child's development through life has become a timeless classic as the original Coleman results, Fred's reanalysis and the much more recent Gonski report have established beyond any reasonable doubt that it is the family, its socioeconomic status and its domestic culture related to its SES that are the major influences on a child's future.
It could have been simply an interesting piece of research demonstrating how much more rigorous and comprehensive social science was in the recent past but the advent of Gonski has elevated it to something that everyone should not only understand but also build into their behaviour and plans. It ties into all the research about equality and the growing inequality is our societies which denies our stated ideals of nurturing our children, realizing their potential and constantly creating a more participative democratic future in which all can flourish.
PRODUCING AN EDUCATED COMMUNITY
Fred Emery, 1977
In this paper Fred discusses some strategies for increasing the level of education in our community, using the Coleman data and its reanalysis.
TRADE UNION EDUCATION
Fred Emery, 1977
This analysis of the proposal for a trade union training authority (TUTA) may seem outdated as TUTA was killed off by a Coalition government many moons ago. However, the lessons in this analysis are so fundamental, they can be applied to a call for any new educational body.
NOTES ON CREP PROPOSALS
Fred Emery, 1985
These notes are a good reminder that there is a real difference in producing either positive or negative function in organizations when staffing is done according to one design principle or the other. Even in university organizations which are traditionally top down, language and titles can have a profound effect.
EDUCATION AND DIALOGUE
Fred Emery, 1988
This little paper examines the first educational paradigm with respect to its capacity to establish effective or influential dialogue, and finds it lacking.
LETTER TO ARN: 22 JUL 1988
January 25, 2025
This letter to his brother spells out Fred's views on the parlous state of universities at the time.
LETTER TO JIM TURNER RE: CHANGING DEFINITIONS OF EDUCATION
Fred Emery, 1988
This Letter to Jim Turner on the changing nature and definition of education and some necessary distinctions that should be made between education and training.
LETTER TO IAN BURNS RE: EDUCATION INVITATION
Fred Emery, 1988
This is a very short letter rejecting an invitation to join the Board of the Master School. It succinctly expresses Fred's views about the formation of elites.
UNIS AND CONTINUING EDUCATION
Fred Emery, 1995
These are comments on Candy et als, Developing Lifelong Learners through Undergraduate Education. It discusses several issues but focuses on the distinction between additional certification and cultivating the motivation to continue learning.