I Must Not Belittle My School

Instead of looking for sympathy, the State education system should be promoting its strong points, writes Linda Vining.

This article was published on the Opinions and Comments page in the Sydney Morning Herald

The drift of students from the public sector to the private sector has as much to do with teacher attitudes as it does with government funding. As I move among lobbyists for government schools I am alarmed at the number of people who are trying to buy the sympathy vote for public education by projecting a victim image.

These people blame the government for the drift, they blame private schools, they blame journalists and they blame lack of resources. They use the media to sensationalise shortcomings and inequities in the government school system, trying to stir public emotions in their favour.

Take for example the detrimental image conjured up by the chairman of the Public Schools Principals Forum and a band of disgruntled teachers who staged a protest to demonstrate that public schools are dirty, cockroach-infested, unhygienic places full of flees and "all sorts of vermin" (Herald 3 April). The issue centred on a strike by cleaners, but the appalling image of dangerously dirty classrooms and toilets, sent a wave of panic-driven recoil through the public. A parent said, "If you keep telling the customer the product stinks, soon they will believe you."

I despair at the number of people with a victim mentality who are destroying the state school system they so passionately want to preserve. Nobody wants to back a loser. Certainly not the parents who daily deliver their most precious offspring into the hands of school teachers. The sympathy vote is fickle. Sure, parents may offer their sympathy - while they plan to withdraw their children from a system they fear is inundated with unhappy, under-resourced teachers.

Every school, indeed, every organisation has its flaws. But if you constantly cry poor and insist on exposing your defects to public scrutiny you run the risk of loosing public confidence.

While educators must never lose their commitment to process improvement, they need to consider the best forums to air their concerns.

I maintain that the media is not the best place. Public attitude hardens when angry pressure groups repeatedly whinge and storm. While images of opposing armies may sell papers, it unnerves parents who see their children as pawns in a power game.

Attacks on alternative systems of education indicate that the victim mentality pervades the highest level of bureaucracy. Sadly, I see a Minister driving divisions between school systems through the use of critical comparisons and retribution that will not make one system better than another. Indeed, it has the reverse effect. In-fighting erodes esteem for the whole profession.

Conversely, what educators need to do is build respect for the education profession by illustrating the brilliant work that is happening in schools; demonstrating that young people are good; that they are being well prepared to lead the next generation.

I constantly see the positives as I work with schools, but in my market research with parents I hear mainly negative regurgitation of information. Informed phrases such as 'residual schools', low teacher morale', 'toxic playgrounds', pour out of the mouths of parents. Where do they get this terminology? Could it be from teachers?

To achieve a turn around in public opinion educators need new skills. Not necessarily the glossy prescriptions quoted by Adele Horin (Herald, October 28). Parents quickly see through a thinly disguised selling strategy.

Communication savvy (call it PR) will help educators analyse the long-term consequences of their short-term actions, such as strikes, protests and antagonistic attitudes. There are other ways to communicate that do not alienate public sentiment.

Educators need strategies for handling complaints and responding to the changing needs of their customers. They need knowledge of the channels open to them to tell their good news stories. They need to know how to create a customer-centric culture in their school.

The pressure to be more market-oriented is mounting. Presently, school education is a bitter battleground and, if this does not change the drift to private schools will become a tide of defection.

I believe that the way to promote public education is to impress the community with the quality of the product.

Respect other education systems. Get on with the job of teaching. Show customers that their children are in good hands, cared for by good teachers.

It's not that hard. Parents desperately want to believe teachers and look up to them. Their child's success depends on it.

END