Learning Creates Australia is closer to realising its vision of all young people successfully transitioning from school to further learning or work, following a multi-million commitment from the Paul Ramsay Foundation to enable the next three years of its work driving change in the Australian education landscape.
Young people are facing increasingly difficult transitions from education to further work and study. Emerging practice shows we can improve these transitions by recognising more of the skills and capabilities young people have at the end of their schooling.
Working towards a strengths-based way to recognise young people’s attributes and abilities, Learning Creates will focus in its next phase on the link between how young people, particularly those experiencing disadvantage, have their skills recognised and the impact this has on their learning and employment pathways.
Bronwyn Lee, CEO of Learning Creates, said: “This commitment from the Paul Ramsay Foundation to systemic improvement work is significant. While practice continues to emerge, there is a gap in the evidence that demonstrates how broader recognition of learning at the end of schooling will enable more effective learning and employment pathways for young people who have experienced disadvantage.
“As a whole, young people have far more experience and knowledge than is currently captured by exams and assessments, but the recognition methods and tools used in senior secondary school do not reflect the current needs of recruiters and employers, or young people.
“This funding will allow us to continue our project work, in collaboration with our community partners, young people and First Nations people as well as bring together other leading practitioners who are trialling and demonstrating new ways to recognise learning to also input evidence from their work toward the design of new policy and practice.”
John Bush, Head of School-Age Learning at the Paul Ramsay Foundation, said: “Education plays a vital role in breaking cycles of disadvantage. It’s critical that all students are given a fair go, but young people experiencing disadvantage face particular challenges in their post-school transition.
“With increasing calls to re-examine the ATAR, the work of Learning Creates is timely. What impact does it have when we officially recognise the contributions and knowledge of young people inside and outside of the classroom? In seeking answers to this question, Learning Creates will make an important contribution to understanding how the education system can better support students experiencing disadvantage in their transition from school to further education or employment.
“Working towards systems change takes a significant investment of both time and money. We are pleased to be playing a part in that change.”
The Paul Ramsay Foundation previously provided funding to support the establishment of Learning Creates Australia and the first phase of its work.
Media contact – Maggie Hill (0404 196 452, maggie@hillplus.com.au).
