Education Maxim Institute - real issues - No. 271

20 September 2007 www.maxim.org.nz

'Live dangerously' Importing a little help Education on the international stage

IN THE NEWS Maxim Institute's nine-month internship launches Indonesia addresses 'social responsibility'

'LIVE DANGEROUSLY'

As New Zealand Book Month draws to a close with the end of September, and the winners of the Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement are announced this week, it seems a good time to reflect on the place of literature, and particularly our literature, in the national life.

The literacy rate in this country is high; the vast majority of us are technically literate. But the reading, the appreciation of great literature is about much more than just the technical literacy necessary for everyday life, or for reading a bus time-table, or the latest Marian Keyes novel. It is about what T. S. Eliot called 'our common patrimony of culture;' that is, reading literature is an introduction to language, history, thought and the literary forms which give them shape. It is, among many other things, a conversation with the past, a reflection on the present, an expression of aspiration for the future.

Literature is an introduction to human nature, to the glory and the agony of being human, to the concerns and passions of human community and society, to human values, virtues and flaws - in essence, an introduction to ourselves. It is a record of human experience and an intimate engagement with it. English 'teacher-y' cliches like Burns' 'Man's inhumanity to Man,' and the Arnoldesque 'The best that has been thought and said,' express actual realities when they are incarnated in literature, to challenge, inspire, critique and provoke, to hit us in the heart. Great literature alters and moulds, for by it we are forced to think and challenged by voices which are not our own.

In this small corner of the world, our 'common patrimony of culture' has been enriched by much more than just the common European strand commended by Eliot in his original context. We have Maori and Pacific Island strands in our literary fabric and an evolving national literature of our own, one best seen, as C. K. Stead points out, as a part of a wider historical whole. If (to name a few) Baxter, Bethell, Curnow, Marshall, Grace and Tuwhare belong to us, so do Shakespeare, Spenser, Beowulf and Bronte.

As the Prime Minister puts it in another context, our own 'rich and vibrant art' has not 'developed in isolation, nor should it be experienced in isolation.' New Zealand Book Month should be a time in which we appreciate and tell our own stories, recognising and celebrating both their roots and their distinctiveness. Literature, as Stead puts it, is 'radical,' unsettling, moving, and deep. We should not be afraid to follow his advice to teachers; to 'live dangerously' and give our students, and ourselves, 'the real stuff,' 'the power and possibility' of language, which is both our nation's heritage and our continuing joy.

IMPORTING A LITTLE HELP

The finding of a large amount of lead-based paint on children's toys has sparked government action in New Zealand, with an Unsafe Goods Notice, effective from today, banning toys with unsafe levels of lead, at least in the interim. The issue has also been in the spotlight in the United States this week, with the release of a report considering how import safety can be increased. These concerns highlight the interconnectedness of the globalised world, and show how possible change far from home can make our goods safer.

The report Protecting American Consumers Every Step of the Way: A strategic framework for continual improvement in import safety set out 'building blocks' by which monitoring safety and reliability in imports can be achieved, with more detailed plans to follow later this year.

It suggests a change from the current 'snapshot' type of assessment, which evaluates merchandise for the first time on the single image seen at its point of arrival in the country, to a 'life-cycle 'video'' which follows the process of a product from its inception, through the different stages of its development, up until distribution. Also suggested as 'building blocks' are an increase in a 'common vision' between the government and private companies and an increase in co-operation between governments.

For New Zealand, given its size and limited resources, it can be hard to police imports from large countries such as China. If the United States is able to increase their standards for importing, this will benefit all countries, including us, by causing export countries to lift their standards and contribute to a safer and more sustainable global economy. The effectiveness of this new plan will depend on the detail, due to be released later this year, but certainly in principle these measures may help to crack down on unsafe goods, and make trade safer, more responsible, and more ethical for us all.

Read Protecting American Consumers Every Step of the Way: A strategic framework for continual improvement in import safety http://www.importsafety.gov/report/report.pdf

EDUCATION ON THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE

The OECD has this week released its annual report Education at a Glance 2007. The report provides a comparison of educational achievement across the 30 member countries that make up the OECD. Similar to last year, New Zealand emerged favourably in the evaluation with most of the indicators showing an average or better than average rating. The report extends to a number of areas such as 'participation and achievement,' 'conditions for pupils and teachers' and the topical issue of 'public and private spending.'

The figures from the OECD paint an interesting picture. The percentage of total public expenditure in New Zealand on primary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education is just over fifteen percent, with additional expenditure on tertiary education close to five percent. These figures are over 50 percent higher than the OECD averages. However, in terms of GDP, the numbers for the same sectors come closer to the mean.

But government spending does not stand alone in the New Zealand context. The OECD report shows that 'household income' contributes almost fifteen percent of total expenditure on primary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education, one of the highest levels of the 30 countries. Figures detailed in the latest New Zealand Education Review show that eleven percent of school income is raised from local sources including fundraising and parents' contributions.

This local funding does have some benefit, as it can strengthen the link between the community and the school, increasing accountability. However, it can also mean that those connected to schools end up spending all their time fundraising, rather than helping in other more productive ways. Another way of tackling the funding issues we face in New Zealand is by maintaining public funding at realistic levels, so that schools are not burdened with constantly making up the short fall; and by constructing a funding system which provides a closer link between parents and the money allocated to their children's school.

Read Education at a Glance 2007 http://www.oecd.org/document/30/0,3343,en_2649_201185_39251550_1_1_1_1,00.html

MAXIM INSTITUTE'S NINE-MONTH INTERNSHIP LAUNCHES

As part of its vision to mentor and inspire tomorrow's leaders, Maxim Institute is launching a nine-month residential internship programme, beginning in March 2008. The nine-month programme is aimed at a post-tertiary level and is suitable for those who have either completed a degree or equivalent work experience. Successful applicants will spend nine months studying issues ranging from law, to the role of government, to culture. They will also be engaged in project work at the Institute and will hear from local and international guest lecturers, who are experts in their field. Applications for the internship are now open and the deadline for receiving them is 29 October 2007.

Read more about Maxim Institute's internships and find out how to apply http://www.maxim.org.nz/index.cfm/Tomorrow_s_Leaders

INDONESIA ADDRESSES 'SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY'

The Wall Street Journal has reported that the Indonesian Government anticipates passing a law this month, making 'corporate social responsibility' mandatory for all companies in the 'natural resources' sector. The Bill, known as Article 74, does not define what exactly the responsibility is or what it will require of these companies. Certainly natural resources have an impact on future generations and it is therefore reasonable to expect that the government takes a role in ensuring sustainable management of those resources. However, in their current form, the Indonesian proposals are far too broad and vague in their definition.

TALKING POINT

'The crown of English studies ought to be the encounter with literature, which offers the best, richest and most exciting examples of language use, the folk stories of our inherited European culture as well as the tales of our own settler and post-colonial experience - a fund of wisdom, a storehouse of fact, and a range of experience beyond the powers of any one person to live through in many lifetimes.

The very best of poetry or fiction exposes readers, as often as they care to open a good book, to the influence of minds and sensibilities finer, more developed, richer, than they are likely to meet more than once or twice, if ever, in real life.'

The Education Forum's submission on the 1994 draft English curriculum (written with the assistance of C. K. Stead).

ENDS

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