How can I make changes at my school?

What can you do?

Parents have a right to express their views about what their children are taught at school, particularly when those views are clearly in line with what governments, major parent associations and other educational bodies believe children should be taught.

These are things you can do:

• raise the issue
• find out what’s happening now
• get school personnel to agree with you about possible changes
• check what’s happening after six months.

Raise the issue

Your school may have a forum for discussion of its curriculum – a curriculum committee or a subcommittee of the school council or board. Parents may be represented or invited to attend. This is the most obvious place for discussion to occur.

If such forums are not available, you may wish to raise the matter with the principal or another member of the school’s leadership team. An exploratory approach, signalling that you want to work with school personnel, is likely to yield the best results.

Find out what’s happening now

Your school may be one of the many which are well advanced in teaching studies of Asia, it may have begun work on the task with further progress needed, or this initiative may have passed it by without much response. You will need to find out.

As a good guide, this check list outlines some of the most important conditions required for incorporating studies of Asia in a school’s program. This could be the basis for your investigation.

Get school personnel to agree with you about possible changes

When you are doing this, it will be helpful if you have some clear ideas about what you are seeking. The check list may help you with this. Bear in mind, school personnel are busy people with a lot of challenging and sometimes competing responsibilities. So be prepared to negotiate. Think of, and offer, ways you and other parents might be able to help.

Develop and monitor a reporting process

If you maintain your interest over time, it is more likely that others will too. Develop and maintain a reporting process. Draw up an action plan. Be encouraging and enthusiastic about ideas and progress.

You might get some further ideas for action by reading through the Teacher and School Resource for implementing the National Statement for Engaging Young Australians with Asia in Australian Schools.