SA Secondary Principals Association says parents should pick a high school based on cultural and social diversity
Students will learn best in a school full of people from diverse cultural backgrounds, a new parenting guide recommends.
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Parents should choose high schools with high levels of cultural and social diversity because they get the best results and set kids up for living in the real world, according to a guide produced by the SA Secondary Principals’ Association.
Experts have previously warned that some Adelaide schools are effectively Anglo ghettos, with rates of children from non-English speaking backgrounds are as low as 1 per cent, while in others they are in the majority.
There have been calls for more enrolment flexibility and more focus on multicultural activities.
In the guide, association president Peter Mader writes that international research shows “the greater the social mix of a school, the better the educational outcomes”.
“A diverse student mix enables young people to interact with peers from a wide range of backgrounds and learn from the lived experiences of others to appreciate, respect and celebrate difference,” he writes.
The guide was written for parent organisation the SA Association of School Parent Communities and included in its latest Parents Say publication.
It says prospective parents should consider how a school builds “a cohesive, multicultural” student body.
Public secondary school selection has become a hot topic in the wake of the controversial rezoning that froze many families out of Adelaide High, and as the shift of Year 7 into high schools looms.
While many of the 126 SA public schools offering secondary year levels (including high schools, combined schools and area schools) have room to grow, the Education Department has warned popular ones will increasingly have to enforce their zones, limiting parent choice.
The SASPA guide acknowledges “obvious” considerations such as proximity to home, transport options, fees and school reputation are important, but urges parents to look beyond them.
Along with diversity, it says a school’s teaching quality, democratic practices, and how it prepares students to succeed in 2030 and beyond are the four “most influential determinants for your child’s success”.
On teaching quality, Mr Mader writes parents should ask principals questions such as if they have “an agreed whole-school approach to learning”, how teaching quality is monitored and assured, and how their school caters for its least advantaged students.
He says schools should have “clearly defined” democratic practices, such as students “co-designing” their learning with teachers, kids having a say in forming school policies, strong engagement with parents and clear problem-solving procedures.
A “contemporary approach to curriculum” should focus on development of “21st Century skills” (creativity, problem solving and others) as well as interdisciplinary learning, not just everything in discreet traditional subjects, Mr Mader says.