Daniels v The Attorney-General:children with special needs and the right to education in New Zealand

The nature of the right to education and the extentto which it is judicially enforceable has recently been atissue before the New Zealand High Court and the Court of Appeal, in the case of Daniels v. Ihe Attorney-General' In Septemberrooo a parent ofLinda Daniels, a child with special educational needs, applied to the High Court for judicial review ofthe special education policy known as Special Education 2000 (SE2000) which had been introduced in 1998 by the then Minister of Education In the period before the hearing in the High Court in December 2 001 the plaintiffwas joined by 14 other parents of children with special educational needs. Essentially the plaintiffs wanted their children to have the choice of attending special education facilities where mainstreaming was.inappropriate or ineffective The plaintiffs alleged that the policy of SE2000, pursuantto which these facilities were disestablished, infringed the right to equal education ofchildren with special educational needs as provided by the Education Act 1989 (NZ

My Home, My School, My Island: Home Education in Australia and New Zealand

There is evidence that more and more parents in the developed countries worldwide are choosing to educate their children at home. This is despite, or because of, the existence of comprehensive government education systems which assume state responsibility. New Zealand and Australia, in common with countries in the European Community, the United States and Canada have education legislation which aims to ensure that education is free, available and compulsory to all children generally between the ages of 5 and 15. Government schools are publicly funded and this funding inevitably comes with varying degrees of state control. There is also, in New Zealand and Australia, private and church education available for those parents who want a formal education for their children outside the government system. Despite these alternatives, parents are increasingly electing not to entrust the education of their children to any of the formal systems and are choosing instead to assume sole responsibility for this education. How do governments respond to this exercise of parental choice? This paper examines the current legal position of home education in Australia and New Zealand. It considers the reasons so many parents are now choosing to opt their children out of schools and keep them at home; and the extent to which the state allows them this choice

Are you the person who...? Reflections on the challenges and opportunities of the role of student ombudsmen in an Australian university

The feeling is often expressed that there are increasing numbers of students who are less interested in the student experience than in completing their qualifications with the best marks in the shortest possible time. In many instances this translates to a greater readiness to express dissatisfaction when the delivery of a course does not match up to expectations or when there is a perception of having been dealt with unfairly in terms of assessment or in other processes. It is ever more important that universities ensure that their processes and procedures are transparent, fair and consistent, and accommodating of diversity. Student ombudsmen playa vital role in this process, both in their investigations of requests for assistance and in their recommendations on systemic matters. This article considers the challenges faced by the authors in their roles as student ombuds in an Australian university. It contrasts the "last resort" model of student ombud used in that university with models used in other Australian universities and those in comparative jurisdictions, and considers which may be best suited to today's climate of higher education

Secular, singular and self-expression? Religious freedom in australian and New Zealand education

Children today live in a multicultural society. Its ethnic, religious and cultural diversity is reflected in school communities. In Australia, education is provided largely within the secular public systems of each state and territory. In addition, there is a significant denominational, primarily Catholic, school sector. In New Zealand, the state system is similarly secular but with much fewer private denominational providers. An important mission of all educators is to assist and encourage young people to achieve their full potential to contribute to a society characterized by tolerance and understanding. Parents of different races, cultures and religions want their children to be educated in accordance with their convictions and religious beliefs. In addition, the partakers of education, the young people of today, are generally more confident and comfortable in expressing their beliefs, either through words or appearance. The challenge is for all involved in education, from government policy makers to educators, to cater for all needs within the education system. This article considers the exercise of individual rights and freedoms within the context of religion in education. It focuses on the issues relating to incorporating and promoting diversity and individual freedoms within the secular education systems of Australia and New Zealand. © 2009 Educational Studies Association of Ireland

Home Education in New Zealand and Australia: State responsibility and parental choice

There is evidence that more and more parents in the developed countries worldwide are choosing to educate their children at home. This is despite, or because of, the existence of comprehensive government education systems which assume state responsibility. New Zealand and Australia, in common with countries in the European Community, the United States and Canada have education legislation which aims to ensure that education is free, available and compulsory to all children generally between the ages of 5 and 15. I Government schools are publicly funded and this funding inevitablyco'mes withvarying degrees of statecontrol:-Thereis also, in New Zealand and Australia,. private and church education available for those parents who want a formal education for their children outside the government system. Despite these alternatives, parents are increasingly electing not to entrust the education of their children to any of the formal systems and are choosing instead to assume sale responsibility for this education. How do governments respond to this exercise of parental choice? This paper examines the current legal position of home education in New Zealand and Australia. It considers the reasons so many parents are now choosing to opt their children out of schools and keeping them at home; and the extent to which the state supports them in this choic

Democracy in Schools: Encouraging Responsibility and citizenship through student participation in school decision making

What should be the place of children’s voices in the running of their schools and in their education? Sadly, in Australia this question is often overlooked in the shifting sands of education policy. Commonly, state and federal governments focus on schools solely through a lens of educational attainment. Increasingly, the emphasis seems to be on the development of the national curriculum, and on the measuring of school and student performance in public examinations, publicised now on the MySchools website. Meanwhile, the media often focus on the behavioural problems with which schools are dealing and statistics reveal an increasing trend towards student disengagement from school through truancy and exclusion. The procedures for addressing problems, prescribed in policy and legislation, tend to be reactive rather than proactive. The formulation and establishment of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCROC) has led to a mounting global discussion on the rights of children generally. Particularly relevant in the education context is the right of participation set out in Article 12(1) and the link between the development of citizenship principles through democratic practices in schools, and nation-building.3 While participatory and restorative practices in education have been the subject of debate for several decades, and have been implemented elsewhere, such concepts have been slow to enter public consciousness in Australia. The teaching of citizenship in schools here has concentrated on civics classroom education. Increasingly though educators in Australia are taking the initiative in their schools to introduce citizenship by practice and example within the school structure, by ‘doing’ rather than just ‘teaching’. Many of these practices are associated with active citizenship and democracy, and are based on participation in decision making in schools, including in the restoration of interpersonal relationships. Where measures are implemented it is typically through the impetus of a keen principal or staff member, and while there are many indications of their success, they have yet to attract serious attention of education policy makers, legislators, and designers of university education curricula

Human Rights Education in the Australian School Curriculum

Australian education systems, at state and federal levels, have been undergoing major reforms to their governance structures and to the nature of their curriculum. At the same time over the last decade there has been a national conversation about our knowledge and understanding of human rights (NHRCC 2009). In this context, it is an opportune time to review the place of education for and about human rights within the school curriculum. The study reported on in this paper outlines and examines the findings of a nationwide investigation into the capacity of each state and territory school education system and their individual curricula to provide opportunities to educate and motivate school students about human rights. It also engages in a discussion of the curriculum reforms being introduced as a result of the national Australian curriculum framework and the extent to which it caters for human rights perspectives. Our data derive from four main sources: a review of the literature; input from roundtable discussions with participants involved in the advocacy for and the delivery of, human rights education in schools; analysis of curriculum and policy documents at the state, territory and national levels; and resources and technologies being used in the teaching of human rights in schools

Human Rights Education in the School Curriculum

Human Rights Education centres; Professional Teachers Associations; Australian Human Rights Commissio