The postal address in this document is out of date.
Andrew Freeman's current address is:
afreeman@pcug.org.au
This document is Andrew Freeman's Master of Education minor thesis. It was presented as a paper at the Silver Jubilee Conference of the Australian College of Education (Canberra ACT. May 1984) and subsequently published by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Information Resources, Syracuse University, New York, USA - ERIC document reference - ED247936
"THE NETWORK NATION - THE RELEVANCE OF THIS FOR
POSSIBLE EDUCATIONAL AND GENERAL PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURES AND
STRATEGIES IN THE 1980s AND 90s."
by ANDREW R. FREEMAN
MASTER OF EDUCATION MINOR THESIS, UNIVERSITY OF
MELBOURNE.
by Andrew R. Freeman, C/- Burgmann College, A.N.U., P.O. Box
1345, Canberra City, A.C.T. 2601, Australia.
Copyright (C) 1983, Andrew R. Freeman.
ISBN: 0 949385 00 X
ISBN: 0 949385 01 8 (Internet version)
ISBN: 0 949385 02 6 (microform)
i. Acknowledgements.
I would like to acknowledge the academic and editorial assistance
provided by my Academic Supervisor, Dr Ross H. Millikan, Sub-
Dean, Department of Education, University of Melbourne.
I would also like to thank Dr Mick March, Principal, Narrabundah
College for his assistance in reviewing a draft of this thesis
and for his comments on the key themes and the relevance of the
scenario to Narrabundah College in the future.
Christine and Margaret Carseldine also provided valuable
editorial and clerical assistance.
ii. Table of contents.
i. Acknowledgements. 3
ii. Table of contents. 4
iii. Abstract. 11
iv. Overview. 12
CHAPTER 1. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 15
RELATED LITERATURE ON KEY THEMES 15
1-1. CO-ORDINATION 15
1-2. DEVOLUTION 18
1-3. PARTICIPATION 20
1-4. DECENTRALISATION 27
1-5. CONSULTATION 31
1-6. NETWORKS 35
REVIEW OF KEY REPORTS 42
1-7. WHITE PAPER ON STRATEGIES AND STRUCTURES FOR
EDUCATION
IN VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS 42
1-8. ROYAL COMMISSION ON AUSTRALIAN
GOVERNMENT
ADMINISTRATION 43
1-9. REVIEW OF COMMONWEALTH ADMINISTRATION
44
1-10. JOINT MANAGEMENT REVIEW OF ADP MANAGEMENT
ISSUES IN THE
AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC SERVICE 45
CHAPTER 2. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 47
CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY 51
CHAPTER 4. DISCUSSION ON THE INTER-RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN
THE KEY
REPORTS AND CONCEPTS 54
4-1. INTRODUCTION 54
4-1-1. Analysis of the impact on society of a rapid
rate of change. 54
4-1-2. Need for a new educational paradigm. 57
4-2. DEFINITION OF KEY TECHNOLOGIES 59
4-2-1. Telecommunications and related technologies. 59
4-2-2. Data processing technology. 61
4-2-3. Computer conferencing. 63
4-2-4. Computer conferencing applications and
implications. 66
4-3. DEVOLUTION AND DECENTRALISATION 68
4-3-1. Interpretations in the White Paper and RCAGA
report. 68
4-3-2. Devolution and decentralisation in schools and
the APS. 71
4-3-3. Devolution, access to knowledge, and privacy. 73
4-4. PARTICIPATION 74
4-4-1. Interpretations of participation. 74
4-4-2. Approaches to achieving participation. 76
4-4-3. Potential role of computer conferencing in
facilitating participation. 80
4-4-4. Barriers which need to be considered when it is
desired to increase participation. 81
4-5. CONSULTATION 84
4-5-1. The White Paper's interpretation of consultation
and the potential use of Videotex to assist with
consultation in education and public administration. 84
4-5-2. The use of television and telecommunications
technologies to assist with consultation. 86
4-5-3. Consultation could be facilitated by the more
imaginative usage of currently available technology. 87
4-6. CO-ORDINATION 89
4-6-1. Co-ordination, communication, and control. 89
4-6-2. Evaluation, feedback, and self-correction. 91
4-6-3. Co-ordination and broad-based systems
linkages. 93
CHAPTER 5. A SCENARIO 95
5-1. WHAT WILL THE SCENARIO DISCUSS? 95
EDUCATION 96
5-2. USE OF COMPUTER PACKAGES IN EDUCATION 96
5-3. NEW ROLE FOR SCHOOLS AND PUBLIC LIBRARIES
97
5-4. INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO EDUCATION 99
5-5. APPROACHES TO CAREER EDUCATION 100
5-6. COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE 101
5-7. NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL DATA BASE 103
5-8. DISTANCE EDUCATION 106
5-9. ADULT EDUCATION 107
AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC SERVICE 108
5-10. NEW EDUCATIONAL ROLE FOR PUBLIC SERVICE BOARD
108
5-11. CUSTOMISED STATISTICAL REPORTS 110
5-12. INFORMATION CO-ORDINATION 111
5-13. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION 111
GENERAL ASPECTS 112
5-14. NEW APPROACHES TO PARTICIPATION 112
5-15. LEISURE 114
5-16. ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY BY THE POOR 116
5-17. MONITORING OF STUDENTS AND PUBLIC SERVANTS
117
5-18. SOME SCHOOLS AND GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS NO
LONGER
HAVE BUILDINGS 119
5-19. "TERMINAL ADDICTION" AND PERFORMANCE
DIFFERENTIALS 120
5-20. INTERNATIONAL TASK FORCES 123
5-21. MULTIPURPOSE SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS 124
5-22. REDUCED HIERARCHICAL EMPHASIS 125
5-23. MATRIX STRUCTURES IN EDUCATION AND PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION 126
5-24. NEW APPROACHES TO PLANNING 128
5-25. USE OF FUTURES TECHNIQUES 129
5-26. "OPENNESS" OF COMPUTER CONFERENCING -
ADVANTAGES FOR
EVALUATION 129
CHAPTER 6. CASE STUDY 131
6-1. THE KEY THEMES 132
6-1-1. Co-ordination. 132
6-1-2. Devolution. 133
6-1-3. Participation. 135
6-1-4. Decentralisation. 137
6-1-5. Consultation. 139
6-1-6. Networks. 140
6-2. SCENARIO 142
6-2-1. Computer packages. 142
6-2-2. The role of school and public libraries. 145
6-2-3. Innovative approaches to education. 147
6-2-4. Approaches to career education. 149
6-2-5. Communicative competence. 150
6-2-6. National educational data base. 152
6-2-7. Distance education. 153
6-2-8. Adult education. 154
6-2-9. Leisure. 155
6-2-10. School buildings. 156
6-2-11. Terminal addiction. 158
6-2-12. International task forces. 158
6-2-13. Multi-purpose social institutions. 159
6-2-14. Matrix structures. 160
6-2-15. New approaches to planning. 161
6-3. CONCLUSIONS 162
7. CONCLUSIONS 165
8. RECOMMENDATIONS 170
8-1. GENERAL PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 170
8-2. EDUCATION 171
8-3. GENERAL ASPECTS 173
9. REFERENCES 175
10. BIBLIOGRAPHY 186
11. RELATED READING BY MYSELF 188
12. APPENDIX 190
12-1. ERIC DESCRIPTORS AND IDENTIFIERS FOR THIS THESIS
190
iii. Abstract.
In this thesis consideration is given to the inter-relationships
between a number of key concepts and reports in educational and
general public administration which have been produced over the
last decade. Networking is the inter-connecting concept. In the
first half of the thesis the emphasis is on the current
relationships between the key themes and educational and general
public administrative structures and strategies. In the second
half a variation of the "brainstorming" technique (involving
purely the author rather than a group of individuals) has been
used to produce a scenario of possible educational and general
public administrative structures and strategies in the 1980s and
90s (with an emphasis on the possible inter-relationships between
these structures and strategies, the key themes, and
communications networks).
A case study then follows which links the key themes and the
scenario by including discussion of one senior educational
administrator's perceptions of probable futures for a particular
education system.
It is concluded that there is great potential for new
technologies to assist with the restructuring of educational and
general public administration. Recommendations on how this could
be achieved are given.
iv. Overview.
In this thesis consideration is given to developments in
telecommunications and computing technologies in relation to
possible educational and general public administrative structures
and strategies which could be implemented in the 1980s and 90s.
Consideration is given in particular to structures and strategies
considered in such reports as the Victorian Government White
Paper on "Strategies and Structures for Education in Victorian
Government Schools" (the White Paper), Commonwealth Reviews of
Public Administration in the Australian Public Service (APS)
(specifically the "Royal Commission into Australian Government
Administration" [RCAGA], the "Review of Commonwealth
Administration" [RCA], and the "Joint Management Review of ADP
Management Issues in the Australian Public Service" [JMR]).
A number of themes appear in both the RCAGA report (Dr. H. C.
Coombs was the Chairman of the RCAGA) and the White Paper (and
less explicitly in the RCA Report). The JMR also includes
specific consideration of how a number of these themes could be
implemented using information technologies. In this thesis I
consider six of these themes in detail - from the point of view
of both educational administrative, and more general public
administrative, structures and strategies.
These themes are:
* devolution;
* decentralisation;
* participation;
* consultation;
* co-ordination; and
* networking.
I note that these themes are increasingly inter-connected and
will become more so in the future. Specifically, consideration is
given to how networks (with an emphasis on networks which
incorporate computer and telecommunications technologies) could
assist with the implementation of the key themes.
Particular consideration is given to the different ways in which
these themes are interpreted in each of the reports analysed.
Consideration is also given to the need for matrix approaches to
management in turbulent environments, and to how a number of
telecommunications and computing technologies could assist with
the implementation of innovative organisational structures.
The "findings" section of this thesis involves the presentation
of a scenario of how educational and general public
administrative systems might be operating up to 1995, with a
particular emphasis on the key themes considered in the first
part of the thesis. The terms "educational" and "general public
administrative" are interpreted broadly in this scenario. The
scenario is designed to highlight a number of possible futures.
A case study follows which includes a key component dealing with
one educational administrator's views on the practicality of
implementing a number of the educational thrusts included in the
scenario (that is, with a focus on probable futures).
The key conclusion of this thesis is that computer conferencing,
data processing, and other new technologies (including new
approaches to organisational design) have great potential to
assist with the restructuring of educational and general public
administrative systems in the 1980s and 90s.
Recommendations on changes which need to be made now if the full
potential of these new technologies is to be realised are
included.
CHAPTER 1. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Six themes have been selected for a detailed literature review.
This review is limited to the extent that I have concentrated on
more theoretical literature. In the body of the thesis I have
included much of the literature of direct relevance to
educational and general public administration.
The selected themes are conceptually related in that they
directly relate, both individually and collectively, to problems
related to networking and to potential structures and strategies
for education and general public administration in the future.
In the second part of the review of related literature I outline
the key reports I have selected, and give a brief introduction to
how they relate to the key themes.
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ON KEY THEMES
I have attempted to include much of the literature reviewed
within the main body of this thesis. In this section I will,
however, give a brief outline of some of the material which has
been written broadly around the key themes.
1-1. CO-ORDINATION
Co-ordination is a key part of managing. A report of the
Parliamentary Joint Committee of Public Accounts (JCPA) has
defined managing as involving "...initiating, guiding, and
evaluating. Thus management is decision-making and getting things
done by other people. In order to manage successfully there is a
need to be able to motivate people, to communicate to them what
they should be doing, what results should be achieved, and how to
achieve them." (JCPA, 1982, p. 7).
Co-ordination relates to monitoring systems, and ensuring that
goals and objectives are achieved (it is thus related more to the
guiding and evaluating components of the above definition than to
the initiating component). In order for evaluation to occur, it
is necessary that objectives be specified in measureable terms.
It is interesting to note, in relation to this that "At one stage
the Committee [of Inquiry into the S.A. Public Service in the
mid-1970s] requested existing departments to 'state their
objectives, the purposes for which they exist'. The report noted
that 'only a small minority could point to authoritative
statements of their objectives, readily available and recently
reviewed'. As a result it proposed that the objectives and
functions of departments should be 'clearly set out' and be
'available to serve as terms of reference' to staff and
public...'." (Jaensch, 1978, p. 78).
Dror has indicated that "Clarification of aims is vital in order
to provide standards for the appraisal of various alternatives."
(Dror, 1971, p. 248). One key aspect of co-ordination involves
choosing between alternative strategies. Over time this involves
evaluating current strategies and choosing to continue with those
which are found to be more effective and efficient. Without clear
aims it is not possible to evaluate which strategies are the most
effective.
It is essential, where evaluations take place, and it is found
that resources are not being used efficiently or effectively,
that it be possible to re-allocate these resources. For example,
it has been said that "The major weakness in Victoria's
autonomous agencies has been the absence of machinery for
disbanding them when they no longer articulate and implement
significant social values." (Holmes, 1978, p. 109). Such a re-
allocation of resources is much easier for Ministers when dealing
with components of their Departments than when dealing with
statutory authorities for which they are responsible but over
which they do not have complete power of direction. However, the
ability to re-allocate resources is not sufficient to ensure
effective co-ordination. As Chapman has pointed out "No amount of
tinkering with organizational structures can reduce the need for
properly qualified, competent officers." (1978, p. 294). It is
also necessary that administrators be allocated sufficient
resources.
Co-ordination in government is not just a problem in Australia.
In Tanzania it has been observed that "...at present, each
functional officer is responsible only to his own Ministry in Dar
es Salaam, so that it is extremely difficult to work out a
Regional or District development or problem-solving scheme which
calls for co-ordinated action." (Nyerere, 1972, p. 1). This
problem has also been recognised in Australia. The RCAGA
initiated the development (on a pilot basis) of a co-ordinated
approach to regional service delivery. "The NOW centre (North
west One stop Welfare centre) was opened in Coburg in July 1975.
It aimed to provide a single location for various commonwealth,
state, and local government departments and voluntary
organizations to deliver services of various kinds to the
community." (Painter, 1978, p. 245). It was also found that this
approach facilitated a more participatory response from citizens
in that "...the centre has succeeded generally in providing a
more pleasant environment for "fronting up" to officialdom."
(Painter, 1978, p. 245).
Participation by citizens can facilitate the identification of
alternative goals and objectives, together with the "value
constructs" upon which these are based. As Henderson has pointed
out "A persistent condition underlying social conflict is the
differing set of subjective assumptions and levels of awareness
by which groups perceive the same objective set of circumstances.
Often the only time that such underlying perceptions can be made
explicit, then explored and mediated, is when they clash in an
open confrontation." (1978, p. 239).
Power is a key theme in considering such open confrontations, or
in analysing such concepts as devolution. "Weber defines 'power'
(Macht) as the probability that an actor will be able to realise
his own objectives even against opposition from others with whom
he is in a social relationship." (Giddens, 1971, p. 156).
1-2 DEVOLUTION
Devolution refers to the transfer of power and responsibility
from one group within a government or administrative system to
another group further from the centre of power within that system
(Victoria, 1980, p. 11). The emphasis is generally on devolving
power so that people can have more influence on policies which
directly affect them.
Devolution is increasingly being seen as a solution to system
breakdowns resulting from these systems being too large to allow
for a co-ordinated approach to societal problem-solving. However,
it is important to realise that some issues will still require a
national input if they are to be handled effectively. For
example, "...in the United States...it is now conceded that the
problems created by population growth and urban concentration are
too big to be handled by the States or cities alone." (Brennan,
1972, p. 44). The emphasis should be on devolving powers which
can be more effectively co-ordinated at the local level, rather
than simply on breaking-up large systems which are not operating
effectively. Where systems are not operating effectively in an
area which requires a substantial national input, the emphasis
should instead be on re-designing the system to allow for
effective management (often this will involve the use of
distributed computer networks).
Devolution can create difficulties in situations where power is
devolved to local units, but where the central authority (and
Minister ultimately) still retains accountability for that area.
For example, "The [W.A.] Department [of Education] implemented a
decentralisation policy to devolve decision making by creating
regional offices. The fundamental principles guiding this
devolution of authority were stated as:
(a) decisions are more effectively made in the light of local
circumstances;
(b) persons affected by a decision should participate in making
the decision;
(c) the Minister for Education remains responsible for the
education system, irrespective of who makes the decision; and
(d) the public are entitled to demand accountability for funds
expended and outcomes achieved." (Neesham, 1978, p. 25).
In the case of W.A. it is clear that what is talked about is
decentralisation rather than devolution, in that responsibility
is not transfered, and in extreme situations the Minister
maintains the power of direction.
More generally, insufficient thought seems to have been given to
the question of how a Minister can remain responsible for an area
over which he has no ability to give direction. In management
there is a general principle that it is inappropriate to make a
position responsible for an activity if the person holding the
position does not have complete control over the area.
1-3. PARTICIPATION
Elliot and Elliot have argued that "...the word 'participation'
has a number of meanings. In general it suggests that individuals
or groups are in some way able to directly influence and be
involved with decision-making." (1976, p. 138).
As well as having a number of interpretations, participation as a
concept has a long history. "It would...be misleading to suggest
that the question of participation within democratic systems is a
new one for it has preoccupied political thinkers for centuries."
(Higgins and Richardson, 1976, p. 5). In the UK "Over the last
decade a renewed interest in encouraging more direct public
participation in services provided by both local and central
government bodies has been reflected in a number of government
acts, reports and white papers." (Crousaz et al., 1978, p. 1). In
the USA "The federal government has required citizen
participation in various programs since the 1930s, when farmers
were brought into decision-making about crop allotments." (Dommel
and Associates, 1982, p. 15).
Historically, there are examples of participation as an integral
part of citizenship. "In the Greek polis every man - that is,
every free citizen - was a zoon politikon: the social and
political were inextricably fused, and there was no separate
sphere of the 'political'." (Giddens, 1971, p. 5).
In various programs in the USA and Australia there has been an
attempt to recreate to some degree such an idealised situation.
In the USA, "Federal legislation in the health field requires the
creation of community committees for funding, particularly in
those areas related to minority-group services." (Fantini and
Gittell, 1973, p. 18). The need for local (and, in particular,
disadvantaged community) participation in federally-funded
programs in Australia has been recognised since the early 1970s
in fields as diverse as education and health. One author has gone
as far as to suggest that "There were some aspects of Federal
Labor Government policies [in the 1970s] in the field of social
welfare (especially the Australian Assistance Plan (AAP)), which
indicated that one major purpose was to increase the involvement
of the community in defining its own needs." (Chapman, 1982, p.
17).
It has been argued that "...human beings do have power to control
technology, but...this power is not at present evenly distributed
between individuals and groups in society." (Elliot and Elliot,
1976, p. 101). Participation in governmental processes (at all
levels) relates to questions of power - "...the powerless see
community control as a way not only to make institutions more
responsive to their needs but also to exercise their share of
power within society." (Fantini and Gittell, 1973, p. 8).
However, "What democrats fear is that participatory processes of
decision-making will favour articulate minorities just as much as
more old fashioned processes." (Higgins and Richardson, 1976, p.
10). This fear is heightened by the fact that "...there is a
great deal of evidence suggesting that a decisive factor in
influencing the extent to which people participate in politics
and get involved in voluntary group activity is the length of
formal education they have been exposed to." (Sharpe, 1979, p.
28). It is also of concern that "Numerous studies have noted a
relationship between social class or status and community
participation." (Parkum and Parkum, 1980, p. 156).
However, participatory theorists would argue that one of the main
reasons that people with lower status so rarely participate in
societal decision-making processes is that they are given little
opportunity to do so. "One of the main tenants of 'participatory
theory' is that the experience of participation will lead to an
enlarged ability to participate and that experience of lower
levels of control may lead to an interest in higher levels and
hence towards the ultimate goal of 'participatory democracy'."
(Elliot and Elliot, 1976, p. 194).
It may be because of the fundamental relationship between
participation and power that "The larger expectations [resulting
from the RCAGA report] about responsiveness and participation,
dispersal of bureaucratic power and the diffusion of government
structures have not been realised." (Chapman, 1982, p. 27).
Certainly it would be naive to expect participation to result in
a reduction in conflict between the bureaucracy and citizens. The
argument that "...what seems to be needed is policy-making
machinery to resolve the political conflict planning programmers
provoke among experts and specialists, as well as among the
general public." (Holmes, 1978, p. 104) would appear to be a
false hope when seen in this light - the best one could hope for
would be conflict based on a true perception of the facts, rather
than a reduction in conflict as such between competing interest
groups.
One of the key barriers to greater community participation in
oversighting government programs is that of professional
autonomy. Yates has pointed out that "...in contrast to the
doctrine of pluralist democracy, "neutral competence" gives
substantial political power and authority to administrators
rather than to citizens and elected officials." (1982, p. 24). It
also needs to be recognised that "...administrators in a public
bureaucracy can only strive for professional autonomy at the
expense of external accountability." (Scott, 1978, p. 198).
"A major reservation expressed by many professionals about
'participation', is that it tends to prolong the dialogue beyond
the point of being useful, especially if there is a failure to
agree on the plan being debated." (Elliot and Elliot, 1976, p.
179).
Social trends will doubtless continue to place pressure on
bureaucracies to permit increased participation. For example,
"The trend to egalitarianism in our society may be expected to
increase participation." (Bennett, 1980, p. 4). However,
participation should not be seen as a "panacea" in all
circumstances because "...a truly decentralized participatory
system will tend to be highly responsive to the needs of the
members in each participatory locality, but will tend to neglect
inter-local, inter-regional and national needs, both of the
allocative (e.g., social justice) type and those which are best
served collectively (e.g., a priming of the economy)." (Etzioni,
1971, p. 64). Taking this into account "One of the most
interesting features of recent decentralist reform has been the
effort of central authorities to promote participation at the
local level." (Magnusson, 1979, p. 131). This may be explained if
one considers that the emphasis has been on having the
participation focus on issues of local rather than national
concern.
The relationship between decentralisation and participation is
illustrated by the fact that "Distributed decision making seems
to be a prerequeisite [sic] to meaningful participation. But the
decentralisation which makes this possible is not necessarily
good, as unlimited local variations can lead to organisational
chaos." (Bennett, 1980, p. 6).
Also, "In its most developed form participation...means that the
citizen is directly concerned with every level of the decision-
making process. This implies a considerable devolution of power,
and consequently the decentralization of the decision-making
process, in an attempt to enlarge the democratic and self-
determining powers of the individual or group." (Elliot and
Elliot, 1976, p. 139).
There are, however, difficulties in implementing such a concept.
These are reflected in the fact that "[An]...argument commonly
used against greater participation is that it is inefficient."
(Higgins and Richardson, 1976, p. 9). It has been argued that
"...involving the community directly in the planning process will
make the planning period a more difficult and a longer one."
(Fantini and Gittell, 1973, p. 100). Higgins and Richardson have
also indicated that "Once open discussion becomes the basis of
decisions, then they tend to take an inordinate length of time."
(1976, p. 11). There is clearly a trade-off between traditional
interpretations of short-term efficiency and the need for
participation. However, in the longer term there is no question
that allowing for participation will often tend to result in more
"stable" decisions and a more efficient allocation of resources,
particularly in areas where community groups can bring about
policy change through the electoral process or civil
disobedience.
Research has found that:
* "Participation in an organized group effort is more likely to
be successful than random individual attempts to affect community
change." (Parkum and Parkum, 1980, p. 166). This highlights the
benefits for individuals who hope to influence systems in a
particular direction (either within an organisation or in society
at large) to attempt to develop or join networks of individuals
or groups with similar objectives.
* "A cultural environment in which constructive activism is
stressed and receives publicity is important both for encouraging
people to participate in community shaping and planning and for
creating or opening up the actual structures for such
participation." (Parkum and Parkum, 1980, p. 166). This partly
explains the difficulty governments sometimes face in gaining
input from a community which may be unused to, and possibly
unaware of, the benefits which can potentially result from
participation in governmental decision-making processes.
* Those with access to greater amounts of "retained information"
(Smith, 1980, p. 469) tend to participate more. "Retained
information" results from educational activities (of a formal or
informal nature), and from using skills developed in educational
activities.
* "There are limits to the extent to which participation is
possible. These limits are set by the time available to a
citizen, by his interest, and by the extent of his fatigue after
his other obligations to society have been discharged." (Bennett,
1980, p. 1).
* "Citizens are most likely to participate in government at the
local level given the higher transaction costs of dealing with
more distant governments." (Yates, 1982, p. 199).
* "...individuals active in one type of discretionary activity of
a socioculturally encouraged sort are also likely to be active in
other types of encouraged discretionary activity." (Smith, 1980,
p. 462).
From the above evidence it is reasonable to conclude that "The
best location to prepare the citizen for increased policymaking
role is in schools, when the necessary knowledge and capabilities
should be developed as a basic part of the equipment needed by
every citizen in a modern urban democratic society." (Dror, 1971,
p. 301), and that "An educated populace is a precondition for
improved participation." (Bennett, 1980, p. 3).
1-4. DECENTRALISATION
Decentralisation in an organisational context refers to the
transfer of power away from the centre of an organisation to
other parts of the organisation (Victoria, 1980, 11). Generally,
(but not necessarily) these other parts of the organisation will
be geographically dispersed.
However, the term "...decentralization is an ambiguous word; it
has come to mean different things to different people." (Fantini
and Gittell, 1973, p. 12). Some interpret it in a purely physical
planning sense. This is understandable in the Australian context
because "Australia is the most urbanised society in the world
with 88.5 per cent of its population living in cities." (Brennan,
1972, p. 1).
Decentralisation should not be interpreted as always being
desirable. "Centralization, written law, and fixed rules were
originally regarded as liberating...If you are a black in
Mississippi you are a lot better off dealing with a federal court
operating under formal and universalized rules than with a local
sheriff operating on the basis of personalized local criteria."
(Ferkiss, 1972, p. 29).
One interpretation of decentralisation emphasises its
relationship with power. For example, Fantini and Gittell have
written that "Decentralization [in an educational context] deals
with the governance of urban school systems. Since politics deals
with power, it is not surprising that this pattern of
particiation produces controversy." (1973, p. 45). Conflict is
not necessarily a bad thing - without it systems would tend to
stagnate. "Many social scientists agree that change is a product
of conflict, and that such conflict should be anticipated if any
significant shift in power is embodied in the plans for urban
decentralization." (Fantini and Gittell, 1973, pp. 19 - 20). The
relationship between conflict and changes in power relationships
is also reflected in the fact that "The ghetto riots which broke
out in the mid-1960s intensified the pressure for
decentralization in American cities." (Magnusson, 1979, p. 134).
It is consistent with a philosophy which links decentralisation
with power structures to argue that "The key to any decentralized
system lies in the level at which decisions are made." (Fantini
and Gittell, 1973, p. 104). This is emphasised in the comment
that "...greater decentralization of services does not
necessarily mean that there will be increased citizen involvement
relative to the delivery of such services." (Stenberg, 1972, pp.
12 - 13). Certainly if decisions are always made at a level
remote from the clients of the system such a "decentralised"
system could not be defined as facilitating client participation.
In this context it is relevant to consider that one critic of
centralisation has indicated that "Centralization in
administration tends to promote absentee control, and thereby
increasingly denies to the individual the opportunity to make
decisions and to carry those responsibilities by which human
personality is nourished and developed." (Lilienthal, 1971, p.
411). Ferkiss has pointed out that "Might not new forms of
technology...make possible a greater degree of decentralization,
local autonomy, and individual freedom." (1972, p. 30).
Research has shown that:
* "The higher the skill level of the manager, the greater the
tendency to decentralize." (Morris, 1968, p. 20). This is
relevant to both educational and public administrative systems
where skill levels are continually increasing: for example, the
entry level qualifications of administrators now as compared with
those of ten years ago.
* "A side effect of decentralization is the training of a large
number of experienced decision-makers." (Morris, 1968, p. 21).
This is interesting to note in the context of the massive need
for higher-level executives which is predicted to occur in the
APS over the next ten years as a result of retirements from the
Second Division of the APS (JCPA, 1982, p. 1);
* "Decentralized decision-makers tend to view their roles as
being characterised by a degree of self-determination and
independence." (Morris, 1968, p. 21). It is important to realise
that improved morale of workers does not necessarily mean that
productivity is increased, or that decentralised structures are
appropriate in all circumstances. However, if other things were
equal, this factor could well be a deciding one favouring a
decentralised structure over a centralised one.
* "The fewer the number of operational linkages between the
components of an organization, the greater the tendency to
decentralize." (Morris, 1968, p. 19). This would tend to imply
that it would be easier to decentralise those aspects of systems
which do not interact with other components, rather than those
which do. A real danger here is that there may be superficial
analysis resulting in decisions to decentralise areas which in
the immediate context do not interact with other components in
the State (for example, school curriculum) but which do so in the
longer term.
* "The greater the urgency of a decision and the shorter the time
in which to make it the greater the tendency to centralize."
(Morris, 1968, p. 19). This would explain why decision-making
tends to be more centralised in emergency situations than in
situations where systems are not under threat. This is reflected
in the interest governments take in school councils which are not
operating effectively to the extent that they create adverse
publicity for the government of the day.
* "The greater the potential consequences of a decision, the more
likely it is to be centralized." (Morris, 1968, p. 19). Taking
this into account, it is unlikely that all decision-making
authority will ever be devolved to schools or area offices. The
devolution will tend to be in areas where mistakes will have only
a localised effect.
* "Top management attempt to reduce the 'dangers' of necessarily
decentralised control by establishing the bases of the delegated
decision-making, and the final outcomes of subordinates'
decisions, through established procedures and rules." (Salaman,
1979, p. 136).
* "Given the limited human and organizational capacities for
data-handling, computation, and decision, decentralization will
be more effective than centralization." (Morris, 1968, p. 19).
However, as computers become more sophisticated, centralisation
of large systems, if desired, could be more viable.
It is interesting to note, in the context of the above research
findings, the comment of one analyst that "The centralist trend
is a world wide phenomena." (Brennan, 1972, p. 5). In the light
of the research findings outlined above it is probable that this
is true in areas which have a large number of operational
linkages, where there is urgency in the decision-making process,
where the consequences of mistakes would have a significant
impact, and where there is significant data-handling capability.
The education system at the school level is not perceived by many
to be characterised by the first three features, and the central
offices of most education systems (in Australia) are not
characterised by the last. This can be compared with the APS,
where some Departments have the above characteristics and others
do not.
"Strong feelings of anxiety have been raised in the State
government sphere as a consequence of moves to regionalisation."
(Chapman, 1982, p. 8). This comment is interesting when it is
taken together with the statement that "Because the movement for
decentralization hinges on the question of the distribution of
powers between central unit and its number of component parts, it
can appropriately be compared to the theory and experience of
federalism." (Fantini and Gittell, 1973, p. 20).
1-5. CONSULTATION
Consultation has a number of key features. It involves a sharing
of, and receiving feedback on, information. (Victoria, 1980, p.
16). It could be argued that real consultation requires action to
be taken based on the feedback - otherwise the consultative
process will come to be seen as tokenistic.
A society cannot be democratic, in the most complete sense of the
word, if "consultation" with the electorate extends purely to
regular elections. "A society is more or less democratic,
according to Durkheim's terminology, to the degree that there is
a two-way process of communication between the state and other
levels of society." (Giddens, 1971, p. 102).
Consultative processes, if they are to be credible, generally
require the participation of a wide range of citizens. They need
to be linked closely to the policy-production system of
government if citizens are to be motivated to contribute.
Government structures themselves can implicitly discourage
citizen input - for example, "...administrative rationalisations
and new managerial techniques have frequently increased the gap
between the provider and user and diminished community
involvement." (Hadley and Hatch, 1981, p. 30).
Structural inhibitors to consultation can be partly overcome
through the holding of governmental inquiries which allow for
public input. It has been said that "The contribution of
inquiries to the making of policy is chiefly to the intelligence
gathering section of the decision making cycle as conventionally
designated." (Smith and Weller, 1978, p. 10). Government
inquiries have a role both in receiving and in distributing
information. However, in many cases they do not allow for
feedback based on their reports. It is generally appropriate for
governments to set aside a period for public input after
inquiries have reported publicly (even when those inquiries have
had a public input component) before making decisions, in order
to allow for participation by persons who may not have
contributed to the initial inquiry, but who may be affected by
the recommendations.
If current technologies (such as public inquiries) are used to
facilitate broad-based consultation, the processes can be both
expensive and time-consuming. One writer has asked: "Does our
familiar western representative democratic system depend
ultimately on a relatively acquiescent population?" (Higgins and
Richardson, 1976, p. 11). Perhaps this may be the case if
conventional approaches are used to facilitate participation;
however, with new technologies consultation can be much less
expensive and time-consuming. For example, "The family television
set could provide the citizen with information inputs on policy
options and choices, with the telephone serving as the output
device whereby the votes on issues could be instantly recorded at
the appropriate legislative matrix." (Henderson, 1978, p. 291).
If new technology-assisted approaches to consultation were to be
used more extensively in society, eventually "...the formality of
Royal Assent could be replaced by the more meaningful notion of
'popular assent', ascertained by an electronic referendum."
(Elliot and Elliot, 1976, p. 188).
However, even though it could be argued that new technologies
could facilitate more effective consultation, "No reform is easy
to accomplish, least of all reforms which disturb privilege or
vested interests held in common by all shades of political
opinion." (Brennan, 1972, p. 14). If more participatory
consultative processes were developed (as compared with
conventional representative approaches) it could be argued that
this would not be supported by many politicians, since fewer
politicians would be required in the actual governing process.
In relation to consultation in the workplace (as compared with
government), it could be argued that consultation beyond a token
level is difficult to achieve because "The prevailing goal of
many industrial designers is...to minimize human discretion and
to use technology to bind the individual to the exigencies of the
machine." (Elliot and Elliot, 1976, p. 32).
However, even though in the past "...technology has been used
within industry as an instrument of control, manipulation and
subordination by those in positions of power and authority."
(Elliot and Elliot, 1976, p. 32) there is currently real
potential as computer technologies become less expensive and more
"user-friendly" for unions to use them to improve consultation
between their members, the governing bodies of unions, and
employers. Such technologies can economically assist unions in
processing data (for example, related to members' views on
topics) to produce focused information reports. For consultation
to be effective participants need to have both access to
information and the ability to generate information. "Information
is...the basic currency of all economic and political decision
making." (Henderson, 1978, p. 287).
"Without electronic aids, the human ability to handle only
limited amounts of information tends to limit democratic
decision-making to small group situations." (Elliot and Elliot,
1976, p. 207). Therefore, new computer technologies are
fundamental to the analysis and production of information and to
the facilitation of wide-ranging consultative processes with
large numbers of persons.
In contrast to this optimistic view, it is interesting to note
that, over time, control by technology and experts can become
self-imposed. It has been argued that "...induced dependence on
experts may lead to the ironic situation where people protest
against involvement in decision-making processes..." (Elliot and
Elliot, 1976, p. 103). If consultative processes are to be
effective it is essential that participants have access to
expertise, without being dominated by it. Only experience in
participation can increase people's appreciation of their
potential to make a positive contribution. Also, there is a need
for citizens to have access to technologies such as systems
models if consultation is to be non-tokenistic. It has been
argued that "...'if systems analysis and interactive computer
models could help policy makers in business and government the
same techniques should be able to assist citizens and citizen
groups'..." (Elliot and Elliot, 1976, p. 190).
Facilitating community access to new technologies is essential
because "...if the quality of citizen inputs into public
policymaking remains as it is now, meritocracy may well become
the only chance for survival. Therefore, building up the policy-
contribution capacity of citizens is essential for continuous
viability of democracy." (Dror, 1971, p. 21).
1-6. NETWORKS
Networks are linkages of persons or institutions. The study of
these linkages can be used to assist with the interpretation of
social behaviour (Craven and Wellman, 1973, p. 4).
"What distinguishes human life from that of animals, according to
Marx is that human facilities, capabilities and tastes are
shaped by society." (Giddens, 1971, p. 13).
Schools are a part of this shaping process, and prepare students
for participation in networks - including social, political, and
employment networks. "It is in the schools that acceptance and
even reverence for "the system" is established and nourished."
(Fantini and Gittell, 1973, p. 115).
Network analysis is a complex area, and is continually being
developed. "The continuing efforts exerted to interconnect
systems and to generalize network design have spawned concepts
such as: network interface, layered structure of network, open
systems interconnection, message delivery, message processing,
and network technical administration and control." (Buchinski and
Islam, 1980, p. 9). However, the emphasis in this thesis is on
social networks and the use of computer systems to facilitate
these, rather than on the technical analysis of networks.
"One advantage in being a social animal is that one need not
discover practices for oneself." (Skinner, 1972, p. 122).
Computer networks can assist both with the communication and
development of information on appropriate practices.
Partly as a result of this, computer networks have the potential
to cause a "paradigm shift" in educational and general public
administration. It is no longer true to say (at least in areas
which computer networks have affected or have the potential to
affect) that "Administrative history shows that broadly similar
problems have been faced in the past, and that solutions not so
different from modern solutions have been proposed." (Wettenhall,
1978, p. 14).
In order to understand computer networks one should appreciate
their two key components - processing and communications - or,
"In terms of global network functions, any computerized network
that is geographically distributed can...be viewed logically as
consisting of two subsystems, namely, a message processing and a
message delivery system." (Buchinski and Islam, 1980, p. 13).
In many ways this can be compared to much of the information-
processing work in which individuals are engaged - both in
employment and leisure. They process and communicate information.
However, their ability to do this is limited by such things as
the speed at which they can read, write, speak and simultaneously
consider information.
On the above point, it has been said that "An organization is
primarily a device for overcoming the limited capacities of
individual persons to process information and make decisions."
(Morris, 1968, p. 25).
Salaman has indicated that "No understanding of organisations -
and especially processes of control within organisations - is
possible without some consideration of the ways in which
organisations construct and use knowledge." (1979, p. 174).
In considering the relationship between networks and co-
ordination it has been said that "The network processes involved
in migration involve the flow of information and other resources
among members of the net. But this use of networks is not
restricted to new migrants; it is one of the most pervasive
characteristics of networks, and an important part of processes
of integration and co-ordination." (Craven and Wellman, 1973, p.
29).
Co-ordination and integration can be achieved either formally or
informally. "Every complex organization has formal information
flows and informal flows." (Grolier, 1979, p. 28). Informal
information networks can have great significance. For example, it
has been suggested that "To counter an inflexible and over-formal
hierarchy, informal channels can be encouraged which get around
the hierarchical barriers." (Grolier, 1979, p. 47).
The real potential for computer networks to be used to break down
"over-rigid" information structures, within society at large as
well as within organisations, is reflected in "Resource One, a
radical computer group in California, [which] developed a random-
access computer network to link citizen-action groups which share
its data base on resources available for fighting consumer,
environmental or social equity battles." (Henderson, 1978, p.
291).
Computer networks could also assist with devolution. One
possibility would involve "...new administrative networks, with
the erosion of many middle management positions as increased
information transfer becomes possible without intermediary
functionaries." (Dede and Bowman, 1981, p. 114).
In relation to information processing in society at large (as
compared with purely institutional/hierarchical settings), "The
expansion of communication and information processing capacities
may have consequences of enormous social benefit or detriment to
different groups in society depending on the particular direction
of application of the technology, the institutional structure of
controls over the technology, and the particular environment in
which it is introduced." (Melody, 1973, p. 165). For example, it
has been argued that "If people can access and manipulate any
piece of information without leaving their homes and
simultaneously interact with other people and machines as easily
as if they were sitting in the same room with them, then there
would seem to be little reason for concentrating workers in large
office buildings." (Kimbel, 1973, p. 149).
If the potential benefits of computer networks are to be fully
realised, they will need to be applied, more than has been done
in the past, to the area of information distribution systems.
"Decision-makers the world over complain that useful information
does not circulate, or circulates badly." (Grolier, 1979, p. 46).
Also, "Very few if any nations have found an entirely
satisfactory solution to the problem of circulating what the
French have come to call 'grey literature', that is, the enormous
mass of documents accessible in varying degrees and comprising
reports by experts, preparatory studies for administrative
decisions, parliamentary committee discussions, studies
commissioned by the government, etc." (Grolier, 1979, p. 72).
Sophisticated computer networks might be able to assist with
overcoming the difficulties recognised above, for they have the
ability to transmit information quickly, and, using sophisticated
automated indexing techniques, to recognise who might be
interested in documents.
For the information accessing and distribution potential of
computer networks to be realised it is essential that they be
"user friendly". Martin has indicated that "At best, a man-
computer dialogue must be so seductive that the man is drawn into
it to explore, fascinated, what the machine has to offer." (1973,
p. 8).
If planning for the introduction of new "user friendly"
information technologies is to be effective, "...in place of
thinking of a nation or society as a collection of communities we
need to think of it as a complex set of overlapping networks of
actual or potential communication and exchange." (Hiltz and
Turoff, 1978, p. xxviii). In relation to the study of parts of
networks it has been said that "The more autonomous a certain
area is, the more it can be studied in isolation from the other
institutions of its society and the easier it is to compare it
with parallel areas in other societies." (Dror, 1971, p. 177).
One word which could not be used to describe educational or
public administrative systems is autonomous. This highlights the
need to use a network perspective in studying them. In relation
to this in the area of education Dror has said "Education
constitutes a closely knit system in the fullest sense of the
word. This means that the various components of the educational
system are interwoven and intertwined and that it would be
difficult, dangerous, and misleading to deal with any of them in
isolation." (1971, p. 246).
Research has shown that:
* "The faster, cheaper, and more noise-free the communication
system, the less the tendency to decentralize." (Morris, 1968, p.
20). This reflects on possible linkages between technical network
quality and the likelihood of a decentralised system being
developed.
* "In the last fifteen years or so, new management methods have
been introduced into public administration [including PPBS and
futurology]." (Grolier, 1979, p. 11). To use these techniques
effectively a broad appreciation of networks as a whole is
necessary, rather than purely a detailed understanding of a
number of isolated components.
* "The traditional boundaries between disciplines, and especially
between the various behavioural sciences and decision
disciplines, must be broken down." (Dror, 1971, p. 15). This
breakdown of barriers is particularly important if networks are
to be comprehended as a whole.
REVIEW OF KEY REPORTS
In this section I outline the key reports which will be
considered in the body of this thesis. I do not give a detailed
analysis of the reports and how they relate to the key themes.
Rather, I illustrate how each of these reports has components
which relate to some of the key themes. A detailed comparative
analysis is incorporated in the chapter dealing with discussion
of the inter-relationships between the key concepts and reports.
1-7. WHITE PAPER ON STRATEGIES AND STRUCTURES FOR
EDUCATION
IN VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS
The Victorian Government's "White Paper on Strategies and
Structures for Education in Victorian Government Schools" is a
very broad-based document. It was commissioned by a Liberal
Government and was produced in 1980. The White Paper deals with
aspects of education as diverse as directions for development in
the area of building operations, and curriculum services. I will
be considering five key themes from the White Paper which have
also been considered in Federal Government reviews of public
administration, these being:
* devolution and decentralisation (these are considered
jointly in the White Paper);
* participation;
* consultation; and
* co-ordination.
Computer networking and related technologies could assist with
the implementation of all of these thrusts both in educational
and general public administration.
Even though the White Paper was produced in 1980 and there has
since been a change of Government, it is still relevant. In
particular, the broad themes which it articulated are still being
followed by the new Government - for example, the emphasis on an
expanded regional network to facilitate devolution and
decentralisation is being proceeded with.
1-8. ROYAL COMMISSION ON AUSTRALIAN
GOVERNMENT
ADMINISTRATION (RCAGA)
The RCAGA was commissioned by a Labor government in 1974 and
produced its' report in 1976. The Commission received over 750
submissions (Coombs, 1976, p. 4) and is the most extensive review
of Federal government administration ever undertaken in
Australia. Its' Letters of Patent indicate very broad terms of
reference; it was charged with inquiring into:
"...(1) the purposes, functions, organization and management of
Australian Government Departments, statutory corporations and
other authorities and the principal instruments of co-ordination
of Australian Government administration and policy; and
(2) the structure and management of the Australian Public
Service." (Coombs, 1976, Letters Patent).
Without restricting the scope of their inquiries, the
Commissioners were directed to consider such things as
appropriate roles for Departments, mechanisms for evaluating
efficiency in the APS, co-ordination in the APS, parliamentary
scrutiny, accountability of public servants, internal control in
the APS, centralisation, decentralisation, personnel policies,
the rights of public servants as citizens, and other matters
drawn to the attention of the Commission by the Prime Minister.
(Coombs, 1976, Letters Patent).
Clearly a number of these thrusts are similar to (but broader
than) those included in the White Paper.
"The commission gathered its information and formulated its tasks
and answers through a variety of methods, and largely as it went
along: most important were formal and informal hearings, the
operation of more or less expert task forces for particular
problems and a wide-ranging research programme." (Schaffer and
Hawker, 1978, p. 36). This approach can be compared to that
undertaken to produce the White Paper, where there were broad
based consultations with the community but no (publicly
identified) expert task forces or a research programme.
1-9. REVIEW OF COMMONWEALTH ADMINISTRATION (RCA)
The RCA was Commissioned by a Liberal Prime Minister in September
1982 and presented its' report in January 1983.
The emphasis of the RCA was on quickly producing results related
to a number of areas of concern which had gained widespread
publicity and were clearly damaging the Government's reputation.
It was commissioned to look into:
* the impact of technological change on the APS;
* the increasing challenges the APS faces as a result of
broadened responsibilities; and
* whether the APS as organised at that time could cope with
unethical or illegal behaviour on the part of its' clients (in
particular, in the areas of primary industry and taxation).
(Reid, 1983, pp. 131 - 5).
The focuses on technological change, the need for new strategies
to cope with increased responsibilities of the APS, and
organisational structure aspects are related to the key themes
and the other key reports discussed in this thesis.
1-10. JOINT MANAGEMENT REVIEW OF ADP MANAGEMENT
ISSUES IN
THE AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC SERVICE (JMR)
The JMR was "...initiated by the Public Service Board [in late
1982] as a high level assessement of ADP across the Australian
Public Service. The specific objectives were to:
* Identify service-wide ADP administrative and management issues.
* Consider the implications of developments in technology for the
eighties.
* Analyse and assess the significance of the issues and
developments.
* Recommend strategies and programs for improvement." (Arthur
Andersen, 1982, p. 1).
Arthur Andersen and Co. were the project leaders for the review
team, which also included officers from the Department of
Industry and Commerce, the Commonwealth Schools Commission, and
the Public Service Board.
The JMR liaised with the RCA in regard to the technological
componet of the RCA's terms of reference.
The JMR was "...the first management review of ADP to be
undertaken on a Service wide basis." (Arthur Andersen, 1982, p.
2).
Some of the key issues considered in the review included:
* the effects of ADP on managers;
* the importance of ADP for the management of government programs
and services;
* the need to focus on systems not hardware;
* the rate of adoption of new technology;
* the need to consider the user perspective;
* the quantity of resources available for ADP;
* the sharing of ADP resources between departments;
* the quality of ADP resources (in particular human resources);
* the planning process for developing ADP systems;
* the special needs of small organisations within the APS;
* the role of central agencies; and
* the role of government. (Arthur Andersen, 1982, pp. 2 - 9).
Many of these issues are closely related to the key themes - in
particular the inter-connecting theme of networking.
CHAPTER 2. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
The approach I have used in this thesis involves the following:
* an overview;
* a review of the related literature on the key themes and an
outline of the key reports to be considered;
* an outline of the conceptual framework;
* an outline of the methodology;
* consideration of the relationships between the key concepts and
reports;
* a scenario based on possible futures relating to trends and
inter-relationships considered in the previous sections;
* a case study;
* an outline of conclusions; and
* recommendations.
In the review of related literature, consideration is given
initially to literature related to the key themes (with no
special emphasis on education or public administration). There is
a special attempt in this section to develop linkages between the
key themes.
The key themes are:
* co-ordination;
* devolution;
* participation;
* decentralisation;
* consultation; and
* networks.
The operational definitions used in this thesis for the above
concepts have been included at the beginning of the relevant
review of related literature sections.
In the review of related literature section such specific
questions as the following are considered:
* difficulties which might be faced in attempting to achieve a
co-ordinated approach in a devolved environment;
* whether devolution necessarily assists with facilitating
participation;
* the impact of educational and value systems on the potential
for increased community participation;
* the relationship between decentralisation and skill development
in managers;
* the relationship between data-handling capabilities, the
quality of communications linkages in networks, and the
propensity to centralise; and
* how the "network" concept can help in analysing inter-
relationships between the key concepts considered in this thesis
and between components in systems.
The emphasis in this thesis is on considering how various
social alternatives could be introduced using new technologies,
rather than on purely outlining these new technologies. Melmon
has pointed out that "For some time there has been more confused
discussion about technology than serious discussion about social
alternatives." (Melmon, 1972, p. 52).
The emphasis in the methodology section is on explaining how the
"brainstorming" technique has been used to generate a diverse
scenario dealing with possible futures in educational and general
public administration.
This is followed by a discussion on the key themes and reports in
relation to educational and general public administrative
structures and strategies. The emphasis here is on linking the
key themes and the thrusts of the reports - with a special
emphasis on how various types of networking could assist with the
implementation of the themes. Networking as such is not considered
as a separate component of this section; it is used as a
conceptual linkage between the other key themes considered. In
this section, where appropriate, I have linked the consideration
of key concepts - for example, devolution and decentralization are
considered in the same sub-section (as it has been in the White
Paper [Victoria, 1980, p. 11]).
Skinner has pointed out "There is nothing to be done about
completely unpredictable difficulties, but we may foresee some
trouble by extrapolating current trends." (1972, p. 152). His
approach does not take into account the potential use of futures
techniques to generate possible futures which are not based
purely on extrapolation.
In relation to this, in my "findings" section I have used the
brainstorming technique to focus on the future. My results are
presented in the form of a scenario relating to the potential
development of educational and general public administrative
systems in Australia over the next 12 years. The emphasis is on
possible futures (rather than preferable or necessarily
probable). The aim of this section is to stimulate thought on
possible options. A central assumption in relation to the
usefulness of such an approach is that the future is not
predetermined - it is, to a degree, "created" - and it is thus
useful to consider longer-term options in this way so that
policies can be developed which will assist with creating
preferable aspects, and with avoiding negative aspects.
However, it is important to also consider restraints which might
impede the implementation of such possible futures.
To assist with this, a case study is included which reviews an
interview by the author with Dr Mick March, Principal,
Narrabundah College in the Australian Capital Territory (A.C.T.).
The purpose of this interview was to gain a senior educational
administrator's views on the relationship between the key themes
and the structure of the A.C.T. education system, and the
practicality of implementing the scenario in a particular school.
This case study creates a linkage between the possible futures
considered in the scenario and the probable futures of an
educational system (and more specifically a school within that
system) as perceived by a Principal working in that system.
The problem statement for this thesis could be summarised as:
"What effect could computer networking (and related technologies)
have on educational and general public administrative structures
and strategies in the 1980s and 90s?"
CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY
The first portion of this thesis is basically descriptive in
nature. It aims to present information on the current situation
in education (with a focus on aspects of education in Victoria)
and in public administration (with a focus on the APS), with an
emphasis on the key themes.
The data I have used has come from a review of related literature
and through studying a number of "blueprint-type" documents
relating to both of these systems.
The ERIC data base was searched using the key themes as
descriptors. I also searched the subject catalogue at the
National Library using the themes as search terms.
"Data" for the scenario has also come from numerous conferences I
have attended dealing with technological change, futures
research, and education. However, this data is purely of a
background nature and sections of the scenario cannot be
specifically attributed to any particular conference I have
attended.
In the scenario I have attempted to focus on the key themes, to
inter-relate these, and to suggest possible trends for the
future.
I do not contend that the "data" I have selected for the
production of the scenario could be described as completely
comprehensive or has been scientifically selected to give a
representative sample of the population of "data". This lack of
comprehensiveness would create potential problems for construct
validity if I was attempting to produce a predictive scenario
based on a complete overview of current trends. Instead, the
emphasis is on developing a scenario which highlights a sample of
potential futures rather than on developing a comprehensive
scenario. In this context the use of non-comprehensive (or even
representative) "data" is not inappropriate. Instead, the
emphasis has been on selecting data which would contribute to a
greater understanding of possible (as compared to probable)
futures.
I have not attempted to study the Victorian Education Department
or the APS in detail. Rather, I have reviewed related literature
on the key themes, considered a number of "blueprint-type"
documents relating to both of these systems, attempted some
integration, and developed a scenario of possible futures. More
specifically, I have limited the study to a consideration of
those aspects of the key reports which relate to the key themes
considered in this thesis.
This study is limited to the extent that it does not consider the
systems as wholes, and that it does not consider historical and
present aspects in great detail (apart from the six key themes).
However, this limitation is deliberate and necessary in a minor
thesis if it is to have any degree of depth. The aim has been to
consider future options based on a number of thrusts which have
been recognised as central to both systems' futures.
The "findings" section of this thesis (the Scenario) was produced
by myself using the brainstorming technique on the information
included in the first half of the thesis (no group of persons was
involved - the ideas were generated by myself). This technique
allows for maximum diversity - the emphasis is on generating
ideas and possibilities. The ideas in the scenario are not
ordered in any rigorously structured fashion. The emphasis has
been on presenting them in such a way as to encourage an
"inventive" response from the reader. This compares with the
first half of the thesis which is more tightly structured around
the key themes in a traditionally "rational" fashion. I see the
two halves as complementary. Dror has indicated that "Invention of
new futures is an essential element of policy-oriented futures
studies, as are more "scientific" forecasts and predictions."
(Dror, 1971, p. 48).
A case study is then included based on a senior educational
administrator's (Dr Mick March, Principal, Narrabundah College)
comments on the implementation of the key themes in the A.C.T.
schools system, and the practicality of implementing the scenario
in a particular school.
There is a need for additional research on probable futures in
these areas (using such techniques as case studies [as has been
done in this thesis], trend extrapolation and modelling) and
preferable futures (using such techniques as delphi to rank
preferences). This thesis could be of assistance in providing a
listing of possible futures which could be ranked in order of
preference using a ranking technique such as delphi.
Once differences between preferable and probable futures had been
identified, it would be appropriate for research to be undertaken
on what strategies and structures could be used to "shift" the
probable future towards the preferable one.
CHAPTER 4. DISCUSSION ON THE INTER-RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN
THE KEY
REPORTS AND CONCEPTS
In this chapter the emphasis is on integrating consideration of
the key themes and reports which have been considered separately
up to this point.
4-1. INTRODUCTION
This chapter is divided into sections dealing with the impact of
technological change on society and the need for a response from
education systems to the specific telecommuncations and computer
technologies which will have a significant impact, and
interpretations of a number of the key themes in the various
governmental reports. Networking is an overall theme linking
these sections together conceptually.
4-1-1. Analysis of the impact on society of a rapid rate of
change.
Educational and general public administrative systems throughout
the world are experiencing a rapid rate of change. This has been
recognised by administrators; in fact, a key theme running
through the report of the RCAGA was "...the need for
adaptability, for those in the administration to be aware of and
responsive to the facts of social change." (Coombs, 1976, p.
407). The rate of technological change is increasing. Computing
and telecommunications technologies are becoming more powerful
and less expensive. These technologies use minute amounts of non-
renewable resources and they assist with the expansion of
knowledge. "Knowledge is a rather special type of resource
because it has the capacity of effectively infinite expansion,
and it is enhanced by being consumed." (Webber, 1973, p. 293).
The recognition of the important impact technological change is
having, and will have, on public administrative structures is
reflected by the comment in the RCA report that "In commissioning
us with our task the Government identified technological change
as one of the critical challenges facing public administration at
this time." (Reid, 1983, p. 86). The need for the Australian
Public Service (APS) to keep up with technological change is
highlighted in the fact that "Whether the [ADP support] systems
are available or not, managers are expected to react to huge
quantities of data and to use a quantitative approach to problems
of administration, to the analysis of policy options and the
operation of programs." (Arthur Andersen, 1982, p. 3).
The finding of the RCAGA that "...management systems of
government have failed to develop adequately the informaton
resources at their disposal, to integrate them fully into the
decision making processes and to ensure them proper
dissemination." (Coombs, 1976, p. 346), if still true, will
become an increasingly glaring deficiency in a future in which
computer technologies are increasingly becoming available to
laymen (in the form of microcomputers and powerful computer
software [such as electronic work sheet and data base packages]),
to sections and individuals within government Departments
(without the need under current practice to refer to a central
authority because the cost of the systems is often less than that
required for external tendering) and educational systems. The
claim of the JMR that "In situations where management information
is being provided by ADP systems [in the APS], managers often
complain that the presentation is not satisfactory for their use
because the information is too detailed, with the level of
summarisation and exception reporting inadequate." (Arthur
Andersen, 1982, p. 31) would indicate that deficiencies
identified by the RCAGA in regard to ADP management in the APS
have not been overcome.
Public administrative and educational systems are increasingly
becoming more open to disadvantaged groups - this includes ethnic
minorities, the poor, Aborigines, the handicapped, and women.
There is also an increasing emphasis on the need for young people
to be able to participate in the societal decision-making
process, and to be able to anticipate possible, probable, and
preferable futures. Political systems are also experiencing a
rapid rate of flux. This is a result of the emphasis on the need
for direct participation in democracy, the need for more
immediate responsiveness from politicians, and an increasing
emphasis on the need for public servants to be more directly
responsive to the community. As a result "Increasingly
sophisticated analysis is required of possible policy options and
their effects, and almost all departments now have policy groups
of varying size to keep abreast of thinking in the community."
(Coombs, 1976, p. 78). Such policy units are not enough if the
administration is to respond effectively to community demands -
"It should be realised that without a more rapid conversion to
the use of computers the Service will be even less able
adequately to cope with the scale and urgency of community
demands." (Reid, 1983, p. 89). In this context it is interesting
to note that "One recent survey estimated that 80 per cent of the
manager's time is spent in 150 to 300 'information transactions'
daily." (Toffler, 1981, p. 197).
4-1-2. Need for a new educational paradigm.
Parents are increasingly demanding the right to participate in
educational decision-making which will influence their children.
This is partly the result of a broader societal emphasis on
participation, but also relates to a failing which many parents
perceive in the educational system: namely, that success in it
does not necessarily result in young people gaining employment.
It has been argued that "By setting up mass education systems,
governments...helped to machine youngsters for their future roles
in the industrial work force..." (Toffler, 1981, p. 79). This
approach may have been questionable in a period of full employ
ent; in a period of massive youth unemployment it is clear to
all that there is a need for a re-direction in the education
system. One possible approach to redirecting education would
involve young people participating in "real world" decision-mak
ng. This approach is reflected in the involvement of young
people in the decision-making processes of the Youth Affairs
Council of Australia - in comparison with the more traditional
approach where youth professionals tended to dominate. It is also
reflected in an increasing emphasis by investigators on youth
particiation. For example, the Club of Rome's book "No Limits to
Learning" argues that there is a need for young people not only
to be trained in "anticipatory" skills (which involve them in
considering possible, probable, and preferable futures) but also
to be able to use these skills in real-life "participatory"
experiences. One problem with Australian youth affairs approaches
is that they have increasingly enabled young people to be able to
participate without supporting this with training in anticipatory
skills.
The emphasis on participation in decision-making processes is not
confined to education. "Demands for participation in management,
for shared decision-making, for worker, consumer, and citizen
control, and for anticipatory democracy are welling up in nation
after nation." (Toffler, 1981, p. 81).
There is also an increasing emphasis on both educational and more
generally public administrators being more accountable for the
money which they are responsible for spending. However, it could
be argued that no matter how efficiently money was spent, crit
cism would still occur, in that much criticism "...is based on
outright hostility to the size and cost of the public
bureaucracy." (Coombs, 1976, p. 18).
Many of the themes which have occurred in educational administ
ative blueprints for the future (such as the Victorian White
Paper) have also occured in more general public administrative
blueprints (such as the RCAGA Report and the RCA Report). Thus,
one of the purposes of this thesis is to consider how these
themes can be interconnected, and to consider areas in which
common approaches can be used by educational and more general
public administrators. More specifically, I am attempting to
consider how computer-networking technologies could be used to
assist with the introduction of new structures and strategies in
educational and public administration. The emphasis will be on
the future - how these techniques could more effectively and
efficiently be implemented with the use of computer networking
technologies. I will also be considering how related techniques
could assist. This analysis is particularly relevant when one
considers the results of a survey undertaken by the RCAGA which
indicated that "Possibly the most universal complaint from users
of the services [provided by government departments] surveyed was
about the time involved: time taken to receive attention; time
taken to get matters sorted out when something had gone wrong;
and time elapsing before the service applied for was delivered."
(Coombs, 1976, p. 128) The relevance of this study to this com
laint becomes obvious when one takes into account the speed at
which computer systems operate and their potential for providing
services to people in their homes. However, technology alone can
not be seen as a "quick fix" for these difficulties - particular
y when one considers that "...recent years have seen massive,
almost indiscriminate, public resistance to new technology."
(Toffler, 1981, p. 161).
4-2. DEFINITION OF KEY TECHNOLOGIES
4-2-1. Telecommunications and related technologies.
This section of the thesis relates mainly to physical
technologies. However, it is important to realise that
"...technology is increasingly related to the development of
techniques and processes for bringing about desired actions and
for controlling and managing systems..." (Elliot and Elliot,
1976, p. 2-3).
The potential usage of telecommunications and computing systems
to facilitate improved approaches to public administration has
been appreciated for some time. For example, the RCAGA stated
that in one of its task force reports (the Task Force on a
Regional Basis for Administration) "...reference is made to a
preliminary analysis of the feasibility of developing an
electronic information system designed to support delegated
decision-making and, at the same time, to provide necessary data
for central supervision and management." (Coombs, 1976, p. 53).
A number of technologies exist which could assist with the
development of such information systems. I will discuss these in
the following paragraphs.
Educational and general public administrators are familiar with
the telephone system. They use this system for co-ordination. The
telephone is convenient - it reduces the need for travel. It is
so much part of administration that its role tends to be ignored.
This acceptance can be compared to the attitude of many
administrators to the use of computer systems - reflected in the
fact that "...there is still a lingering tendency to see
computers as some kind of unnecessary luxury instead of not
merely desirable, but essential, tools of management." (Reid,
1983, p. 89).
There are a number of applications of telephone systems which
could be used to enhance educational and general public
administration. Telephone link-ups could be used for matters as
diverse as meetings of subject consultants and for Inter-
Departmental Committee meetings (particularly where some of the
officers involved are located long distances from each other).
Telecom can "link-up" up to nine telephones at a time for these
meetings.
Groups can be involved at each location with the use of loud-
speaker telephones (telephones with a loud-speaker and microphone
attachment). This is very inexpensive when no long-distance calls
are involved and is relatively inexpensive even when they are
(particularly when one takes into account the time saved in not
needing to travel). Loud-speaker telephones can also be used to
bring expertise into meetings when this might not otherwise be
possible. For example, schools which are a long distance from the
centre of a town could use loud-speaker telephones to "bring"
experts from the town to speak to groups of students. They could
also be used by public administrators (for example, when
researching topics needing a quick response) where there is not
the time available to travel to meet all the resource people with
whom discussion is needed.
4-2-2. Data processing technology.
Dede and Bowman have pointed out that "The costs of computer and
telecommunications hardware have fallen precipitously and will
continue to plummet for at least another ten years." (1981, p.
111). In this context it is of concern that educational
administrators at the school level tend not to be familiar with
data-processing techologies.
As the cost of these technologies continues to decrease, there
will be increasing potential for them to be used routinely for
timetable development, report writing (using word processing
software), and other administrative functions (in particular,
those which are amenable to the use of computer packages such as
data base and financial planning packages). Naturally, they will
also increasingly be used in teaching - however, not just in the
mathematics area (where they have tended to be concentrated in
the past). Teachers in areas as diverse as English and foreign
languages will be able to use computers to assist with teaching.
General public administrators often have had some experience with
computers. However, this experience has usually been with large
main-frame systems. In this context it is interesting to note
that "From 1965 to 1977...we were in the 'era of the large
central computer...It represents the epitome, the ultimate
manifestation of machine age [sic] thinking. It is the crowning
achievement...manned by a bunch of super-technocrats'." (Toffler,
1981, p. 179). The impact of these systems is reflected in the
fact that "A number of senior managers [in the APS] have gained
experience with systems which are predominately batch mode. They
have had little exposure to such current technology as data base
and distributed systems." (Arthur Andersen, 1982, p. 99). Systems
which operate in a batch mode have often not been responsive to
administrators' wishes partly because of the backlog of program
development which most Government Departments face. The JMR
"...found a substantial backlog of systems development work has
been identified in departments and that delays of up to four
years before development on some new systems can start are being
forecast." (Arthur Andersen, 1982, p. 32).
This will all change. Increasingly officers in Departments will
purchase personal computers (often as office machines - thus
avoiding the need to go through a formal tender process). Also,
with the development of fourth generation languages (which
involve the use of sophisticated report generators) computer
users will increasingly be developing their own systems without
the need for programming support and without the need for long
time delays. Toffler (1981, p. 180) has predicted that "Small,
cheap machines, no longer requiring a specially trained computer
priesthood, will soon be as omnipresent as the typewriter." Also,
it is probable that "...many middle-class employees may be given
a terminal to use at home." (Hiltz and Turoff, 1978, p. 191). In
this context it is interesting to note the comment of the Reid
Report that "Particular care needs to be taken with the increased
use of data processing and information systems, to ensure that
concomitant audit, review, and probity verifying programs are
devised and operated effectively." (Reid, 1983, p. 52). Audit
requirements are often not considered when users develop their
own systems using computer packages.
It is clear that both educational and public administrators will
increasingly be using computers in both more applications and in
new ways which require less professional support. This will
facilitate the development of a more "participatory" approach to
information analysis, but also could result in the development of
un-coordinated approaches to information linkages.
4-2-3. Computer conferencing.
The really exciting potential comes from the linking of computer
and telecommunications technologies. This potential has been
recognised by UNESCO which has indicated that it perceives two
major thrusts for "informatics" development - "...the
proliferation of highly reliable, powerful and low-cost
information processing equipment on the one hand, and on the
other, the appearance of new digital transmission systems and
specialized satellites which enable data to be transferred at
great speed and low cost, irrespective of the distances
involved." (UNESCO, 1979, p. 13).
Already central office staff in the Victorian Education
Department have access via computer terminals to massive data
bases on such matters as buildings and personnel. It is probable
that such data bases will be increasingly expanded and inter-
linked. Also, it is apparent that there will be increasing
emphasis on using computer terminals as communication tools as
well as information disseminators between officers. The JMR
recognised the potential power of the linking of computing and
telecommunications technologies and indicated that "The potential
of electronic mail is likely to be fully realised only if there
are common standards between organisations as well as within
them. There are thus grounds for assigning responsibility for
developing Service-wide standards to one agency and asking it to
begin development immediately." (Arthur Andersen, 1982, p. 64)
Communication is a two-way process, and allows for more
participation than purely the dissemination of information.
Computer conferencing facilitates communication, whereas many
traditional distributed systems are designed purely for the
dissemination of information.
As costs continue to decrease it is likely that schools will also
have access to data bases dealing with such areas as community
services and educational developments. The devolution of computer
power in Commonwealth Departments is also noticeable - that is,
the use of computers is increasingly being moved outwards to the
interaction point with the public. This philosophy is reflected
in the massive computer network being developed by the
Commonwealth Department of Social Security.
"Computer-mediated communication systems are not meant to totally
replace all other communication forms." (Hiltz and Turoff, 1978,
p. 139). For example, in public service environments there will
continue to be a place for face-to-face communication regarding
client difficulties which are not of a "standard" nature.
A computer terminal looks like a typewriter with a television
screen attachment. It connects to a central computer via
telecommunications lines. If a central computer has appropriate
software it can link terminals. In this way it is possible for
schools and government offices which have a high client-contact
component to be linked both with each other and with central data
bases. Messages from participants in such networks can be indexed
according to such keys as:
* subject discussed;
* author;
* institutional affiliation;
* topic, author, or hoped-for responder to questions asked;
and
* topic, name of questioner, or name of responder to
questions answered.
Computer conferencing systems facilitate very rapid
communication, because "Spoken word systems cannot move
[information] any faster than the average talking speed of an
individual in the group, whereas written word systems can move
[information] at the average reading speed of the individuals in
the group." (Hiltz and Turoff, 1978, p. 38).
Computer conferencing can be particularly useful in facilitating
the exchange of information on good management techniques. The
RCA indicated that "It seems to us that at present good practices
or solutions to problems being employed in one department do not
always come adequately to the notice of others." (Reid, 1983, p.
54).
Dror has commented that "...the resources in qualified personnel,
political support, span of attention, information, and the like,
needed for improving policymaking are extremely scarce in most
modern countries, often making even a small critical mass
impossible to achieve without very effective new types of aid,
which, at present, are unavailable." (Dror, 1971, p. 209). Given
the features of computer conferencing, this technology could be
the "type of aid" which Dror envisaged.
4-2-4. Computer conferencing applications and implications.
Computer conferencing is already being used in the United States.
For example, if people own computer terminals with audio couplers
(which allow access to a computer system via a telephone hand-
set) they can access commercial computer conference networks. One
such network is called "The Source". "The Source...makes it
possible for anyone with a cheap computer terminal to communicate
with anyone else in the system. The Source will...facilitate the
creation of what might be called 'electronic communities' -
groups of people with shared interests." (Toffler, 1981, p. 180 -
1). This network was used by the World Future Society to assist
with the organising of the First Global Conference on the Future
(held in Toronto in July 1980 - the headquarters of the World
Future Society are in Washington D.C.).
With the rapid development of such technologies it is
increasingly more reasonable to assert that "For many years our
technological knowledge has been rapidly outpacing our decision
making institutions." (Dror, 1968, p. 3). This is particularly so
in the area of education where sophisticated computer
technologies are just beginning to make their appearance
(particularly at the school level), and in general public
administration where only recently has it been possible for
individuals to purchase personal computers with extremely
powerful processing and communications features. In such a
context of rapid change it is reasonable to assert that optimal
education and general public administrative policy will only be
developed if government Departments establish "...units
explicitly in charge of thinking, long-range policy making,
surveying knowledge, and research and development about policy."
(Dror, 1968, p. 53).
Some may argue that the need for new computer and
telecommunications technologies is not great, and that
educational and general public administrative systems are coping
adequately at present. However, "The single most important
standard for evaluating an activity is its optimal quality, that
is, how good it could possibly be." (Dror, 1968, p. 67). Adequate
performance is not enough - the aim should be for optimal quality
output (particularly when one considers that resources are
limited and community "wants" are limitless).
Thus, in evaluating education and general public administrative
systems we should not be comparing their current state with that
of the late 1970s. We should instead be considering the sort of
performance which might be possible in the 1990s if technologies
(both social and computer-based) are used in an optimum way.
Whereas the Victorian White Paper and the various Federal
Government reviews which I consider deal mainly with social or
computer technologies, I will attempt to integrate consideration
of both of these technologies.
4-3. DEVOLUTION AND DECENTRALISATION
4-3-1. Interpretations in the White Paper and RCAGA.
The RCAGA argued that "...by skilful devolution and
decentralisation of administrative procedures and the use of
modern technology it is possible even in large and complex
societies to come closer than ever before to situations where
decisions can be made substantially by consensus among those
primarily concerned." (Coombs, 1976, p. 126). In conformity with
a number of the key thrusts of this statement, Hiltz and Turoff
have argued that "Computerized conferencing can facilitate the
decentralization of information exchange and decision making."
(1978, p. 144).
Devolution and decentralisation are considered jointly in the
White Paper which defines them in the following way: "Devolution
refers to the transfer of authority and responsibility to other
organisations further from the centre within an administrative or
governmental system, while decentralization refers to the
transfer of powers and functions away from the centre to other
levels within the same organisation." (Victoria, 1980, p. 11).
The White Paper indicates that in the participation exercise
before its development, large numbers of groups and individuals
encouraged the Government to transfer as much power as possible
to the local level (Victoria, 1980, p. 11). Citizens' pressure
for devolution is consistent with efficiency - "...efficiency
depends upon adequate authority being devolved upon or delegated
to officers at various points of decision - indeed...the aim
should be to shift the authority to decide as close to the
geographical periphery and as low in the hierarchical structure
as possible." (Coombs, 1976, p. 34). It is planned for this to
occur in the case of education in Victoria; however, ultimate
responsibility will still be maintained at the centre. "Thus
devolution and decentralization of authority can proceed only in
accordance with broad policies acceptable to government."
(Victoria, 1980, p. 12). The RCA supports this concept of
devolution and indicates that "Even though Ministers, formally or
informally, devolve many of their powers to officials, subject to
any statutory limitations Ministers may nevertheless enter into
whatever aspects of their portfolios they wish." (Reid, 1983, p.
38). Computer conferencing, through its massive information
accessing capacity, could assist in implementing this approach to
devolution.
In relation to decentralisation, the RCAGA went so far as to
recommend that "Arrangements for all programs which involve
direct contact between a member of the community as 'client' and
a member of the administration be reviewed with the object of
making the point of contact with the member of the public the
point of decision also unless there are unusual considerations to
be taken into account." (Coombs, 1976, p. 418). Computer
conferencing could certainly assist with this process. The
information required to make the decisions would be provided to
contact officers by computer terminals.
This situation can be compared with that where centralised
systems are used in "batch" mode, which results in significant
delays in feedback to contact officers.
At a recent UNESCO conference "A number of States referred to the
desirability of decentralization, following experience of
excessively centralized computerization which led to operational
difficulties." (UNESCO, 1979, p. 30).
The concept of decentralisation is also having an impact in
private enterprise - "...the term 'decentralization' has...become
a buzzword in management, and large companies are racing to break
their departments down into smaller, more autonomous 'profit
centres'." (Toffler, 1981, p. 269).
Devolution and decentralisation in education as interpreted by
the White Paper have a strong component dealing with the
involvement of citizens in the educational governance process (in
particular in relation to school councils: in Victoria, State
schools are governed by school councils which include
representatives of staff, students, and the community).
Devolution and decentralisation in education have little meaning
if school governing bodies do not have access to knowledge.
Through computer terminals school councils would easily be able
to access data bases. Where the data base did not contain the
required information, they could leave a question which could be
accessed by experts at the central office, or by other
participants in the network. Schools could be encouraged to add
their own experiences to the data bases incorporated in the
system. They would also be encouraged to participate in
dialogues. This would be particularly useful where one of the
schools in the network has already faced a particular problem.
4-3-2 Devolution and decentralisation in schools and the
APS.
Through computer conferencing, schools would thus be able to
access both knowledge and expertise.
The knowledge would be within data bases. The data bases would
not just be of a "traditional" nature (for example, established
educational indexes such as ERIC and the Australian Education
Index). Schools would also be able to access specially developed
indexes of "precedents" using familiar key words. They would also
be encouraged to include their own experiences in the
"precedents" index.
The Coombs report argued for devolution from another perspective:
that is, from the central co-ordinating Departments to
Departments, and from Departments to regions. However, the thrust
of the proposal is the same, and the importance the RCAGA gave to
this theme is reflected in the comment that "Perhaps the most
significant changes envisaged by the commission flow from our
emphasis on the primary responsibility of the individual
department or agency for efficient use of resources, and the
consequential changes in the role of the co-ordinating
authorities, particularly the Treasury and the Public Service
Board." (Coombs, 1976, p. 410).
If the Service becomes "devolved" it is interesting to consider
the impact this would have on central Departments. The RCA report
indicated that in relation to the Public Service Board (PSB) they
"...see the PSB as needing to give fresh and added emphasis to
its responsibility for promoting efficiency in the Service. To
carry out this role we think it is necessary for it to retain the
closely interrelated functions including ceilings and
establishment administration, management improvement, recruitment
and selection, and training." (Reid, 1983, p. 57).
Decentralisation was supported by both the RCA and the RCAGA -
the RCA report indicated that "We think it is obvious that the
span of operations of most Departments is so large that it can
only be effectively managed if decision-making is decentralised.
The same point was made by RCAGA...Seven years on, we stress it
again." (Reid, 1983, p. 79). It could be argued that one reason
more decentralisation did not occur in that seven year period was
because of the limited information and communication capacities
to monitor devolved operations in most Departments. Computer
conferencing could improve these capacities and thus indirectly
facilitate increased decentralisation. The JMR considered how ADP
technologies could be used to assist with devolution and
indicated that "We see a real need for a deeper consideration by
departmental managers of the advantages which might accrue from
dispersion of some systems to end users. Those which essentially
service the end user and do not impact heavily on operations
elsewhere might best be developed and operated by the users
themselves." (Arthur Andersen, 1982, p. 59).
In relation to devolution in the APS, there has been some real
progress in the ADP area. This is noted in the RCA report which
indicated that "The Government approved new procedures for ADP
acquisition in April 1981 which require departments and
authorities to produce annual ADP strategic plans using
guidelines issued by the Department of Administrative Services.
The new procedures, by disbanding the Interdepartmental Committee
on ADP and revising the roles of central co-ordinating bodies,
devolved greater responsibilities to Permanent Heads and
increased Ministers' involvement." (Reid, 1983, p. 172).
4-3-3. Devolution, access to knowledge, and privacy.
Devolution at the operational level requires access to knowledge.
It could be argued that one of the reasons practitioners rarely
use indexes is because the material included seldom relates
directly enough to the problems they face. With an integrated
"data base/computer conferencing" model it is possible to
overcome this problem. For example, a School Council interested
in developing a community farm might first access the precedents
data base for schools which have already developed such farms. In
Australia there would be a number of these. Members of the School
Council would then read the reports on the progress of each of
these farms. This may suffice. However, members may still desire
more information on a particular problem the farms are facing. If
there is no specific information in the progress reports dealing
with the aspects they are particularly interested in, they might
direct a question to each of the schools concerned. If, however,
one of the projects has obviously faced a problem similar to that
which they are interested in the question could be directed to
that specific school. The question would be stored in the central
computer, and directed to the Executive Officer of the project
next time he or she came "on line".
A key issue in terms of the use of a computer conferencing system
in this way is that of privacy. In this context it is interesting
to note that in the late 1960s MacBride indicated that "...hardly
any aspect of government computer operations is not a threat to
the privacy of some individuals." (MacBride, 1967, p. 100).
However, when considering the question of privacy one must take
into account the fact that "Considerations of privacy and freedom
of information are in conflict - the greater the scope of privacy
safeguards the more restricted will be the range of information
publicly available." (Bennett, 1980, p. 3).
To facilitate the protection of data from unauthorised access, a
data base can be divided up into schema. To gain access to a
schema one needs authorisation. In order for the "precedents"
data base to be as frank as possible, limitations might be put on
the access that central offices of government Departments have to
them. Also, groups of schools or sections of government
Departments could develop schema within schema which only members
of their group could access.
The central office, and regional offices, might also have
confidential schema which only they could access. However, this
would need to be limited if the concept of devolution of power to
the schools and sections of government Departments is to have
real meaning. Power requires knowledge, and schemas are basically
designed to restrict access to knowledge.
4-4. PARTICIPATION.
4-4-1. Interpretations of participation.
"One of the most significant trends of our time is the near-
universal demand for participation..." (Botkin, Elmandjra, and
Malitza, 1979, p. 13).
Henderson has indicated that "We cannot stifle demands for
participation: we can only make better provision that it be
informed and orderly." (Henderson, 1978, p. 265).
Neesham has defined worker participation in management as
occuring "...when those below the top of an enterprise hierarchy
take part in the managerial functions of the enterprise." (1978,
p. 5). The emphasis of the RCAGA was on staff participation -
specifically the increased participation of staff in the
operation of the APS. This compares with the White Paper, where
the emphasis was on non-employee participation (in particular,
parents and interested community members).
The RCAGA, which was arguably one of the most participative Royal
Commissions in Australian history, reported that
"...participation is not easy to organise fairly and
effectively." (Coombs, 1976, p. 126).
Hawker has argued that "Hearings gave RCAGA a public presence and
a certain legitimacy..." (1978, p. 52). This can be compared with
the participatory processes which led up to the development of
the White Paper. There were numerous complaints that these
consultative processes were not genuine, that the key themes had
already been determined before the process began, and that a
number of key themes identified at numerous community input
sessions were not included in the final report. I would not be
able to comment on these criticisms; however, it is interesting
to note that "...the demands for participation frequently lead
officials to devote their ingenuity to devices which are
imitations of or substitutes for participation - being designed
rather to 'make people feel' that they are being consulted or are
participating. The introduction of such pseudo-public-relations
techniques can ultimately have the effect of seriously alienating
the community from the bureaucracy." (Coombs, 1976, p. 126).
Power is heavily related to participation. As a result
"...effective 'participative' planning needs to adopt a
'bargaining', rather than a 'consensus' approach, concentrated at
a 'grass roots' level." (Elliot and Elliot, 1976, p. 184).
Educational systems could potentially assist with facilitating
grass-roots participation. Dror has argued that "...some rather
drastic changes in education generally may be needed to bring the
individual into policy making and to escape some of the defects
of mandarinism that a meritocracy (that is, rule by persons
selected only by merit) is almost always subject to." (1968, p.
10). Dror has also indicated that "...in order for increasing
citizen participation to constitute in fact an improvement,
changes in the quality of that participation are needed. At the
very least are needed more knowledge of policy problems, better
understanding of the inter-relations between different issues and
various policies, and fuller realization of the longer-range
consequences of different alternatives." (Dror, 1971, p. 20).
4-4-2. Approaches to achieving participation.
"Creative participation...emphasizes problem detecting, problem
perceiving, problem formulating, and common understanding, and is
not restricted merely to problem solving." (Botkin et al., 1979,
p. 30).
Drastic changes in education (both for adults [often in a work
place environment] and young people) will be necessary for
"creative participation" in organisations to occur. This is
partly because if staff do not participate to some degree in the
development of the goals, objectives and strategies related to
their work, it is difficult for the staff to identify with them.
In a broader context Nyerere has indicated that "...it is
sometimes difficult for local people to respond with enthusiasm
to a call for development work which may be to their benefit, but
which has been decided upon and planned by an authority hundreds
of miles away." (Nyerere, 1972, p. 1). This should be taken into
account when considering that "...efficiency will be promoted to
the degree to which staff identify themselves with the objectives
to which their efforts are directed, and with the procedures by
which those objectives and the related tasks have been formulated
and allocated." (Coombs, 1976, p. 35). This is reinforced by the
fact that "...cost-reduction methods which derive their
effectiveness from greater involvement of staff in their work and
a more enthusiastic approach to it rarely require additional
capital costs but derive from the application of commonsense to
the work environment as it is seen by those engaged in it."
(Coombs, 1976, p. 45).
"Participation...refers to providing opportunity to contribute to
policy development and formulation." (Victoria, 1980, p. 14). It
must be recognised that providing the opportunity for
participation is not enough to ensure broad-based participation.
"The level of participation undertaken by any citizen will depend
on the opportunities available to him, the political resources he
commands, and the attitude held by society in general, for
example whether favourable to interest group activity or not."
(Higgins and Richardson, 1976, p. 7). It has been found that
"Participatory democracy, except at the local and small-scale
level, increases the influence and power of activists and can
weaken concern for the interests of the inarticulate and the
unorganised." (Coombs, 1976, p. 15). It has also been found that
"In many circumstances...direct universal participation is
prevented. For example, the poor and uneducated may not take the
time, or may be too handicapped to express themselves
effectively. Or the population may expand until a town meeting
becomes unmanageable, and mass media of communication, such as
television, are not yet adapted to the requirements of politics."
(Lasswell, 1971, p. 105).
To participate effectively, persons should be assisted to develop
anticipatory skills. "Anticipation is the ability to deal with
the future, to foresee coming events as well as to evaluate the
medium-term and long-range consequences of current decisions and
actions." (Botkin et al., 1979, p. 25).
Communications systems can now potentially be used to facilitate
participation and the development of anticipatory skills. For
example, in Ohio, United States, a cable T.V. system (QUBE) has
been developed which "...provides the subscriber with thirty TV
channels (as against four regular broadcast stations) and
presents specialized shows for everyone from preschoolers to
doctors, lawyers, or the 'adult only' audience." (Toffler, 1971,
p. 174). The system allows people to vote on issues as they watch
them being discussed on their television sets. It has been used
for voting on issues as diverse as local government matters and
talent quests. It could easily be used to facilitate mass
participation in school governance at the local level.
Consideration has been given to the development of a cable T.V.
system in Australia, but in the public debate little
consideration has been given to its use in facilitating greater
community participation in governance.
Computer conferencing systems could supplement the use of cable
T.V. systems for such applications. Hiltz and Turoff have
indicated that "The most exciting and potentially revolutionary
political application of a CC [computer conferencing] system is
the facilitation of the direct participation and voting of
citizens on important state and national issues." (1978, p. 197).
Technology is not a necessary component for increased
participation of staff in large organisations. For example, the
RCA indicates that "Intelligent and able staff at junior levels
should be capable of contributing useful suggestions about
management and operational practices." (Reid, 1983, p. 85). All
that is needed for this to occur is for procedures which have
been developed by the PSB to be applied in all departments in the
APS, and for these to be communicated to staff so that they are
aware that their suggestions are welcome.
It might also be appropriate to consider ways of increasing
public participation in the operations of the Australian Public
Service. "Public directors" of some form could be considered. For
example, Chamberlain has argued that "Public directors would seem
to be appropriate for all corporations over some specified size."
(Chamberlain, 1982, p. 94).
4-4-3. Potential role of computer conferencing in
facilitating participation.
Dye has argued that participation in school governance has been
restricted because "...as school issues become more complex, the
knowledge of citizen school boards seemed insufficient to cope
with the many problems confronting the schools - teaching
innovations, curricula changes, multi-million-dollar building
programs, special education programs, and so forth." (1978, p.
149). This has resulted in professionals playing an increasing
role in school governance in the U.S. and Australia. With the use
of telecommunications technologies, professionals' actions could
be made more open to scrutiny. Computer conferencing would
facilitate school councils gaining second opinions on actions
proposed by professionals - either from other school councils
which have faced similar problems, or from other professionals.
Professional educators could well argue that this would lead to a
highly turbulent environment. The key issue is "Who owns the
schools?" There is no question, for example, that a person is
responsible for his or her own body and that it is appropriate
for a second opinion to be sought in relation to health matters.
If the community "owns" the schools (as against the professionals
who administer them) it would be appropriate to argue that the
same thing should apply for schools.
The lack of access to all information has also resulted in a
centralisation of power within the APS. The RCAGA indicated that
"We have received evidence that many officers are unwilling to
accept responsibility because of the consequences they fear may
follow from making even a relatively small 'error' or from the
exercise of a discretion, for example, to grant a pension, in
circumstances with which a superior may not agree." (Coombs,
1976, p. 150). If officers are to be able to take initiative it
is critical that they have access to the same information as
their superiors (that is, relevant to the decisions they need to
take). Without such information they will have difficulty in
justifying their decisions, and will tend to continue to send
cases "up the line" for decisions. The RCAGA indicated that
"Action [should] be taken to ensure that departmental decision
makers at all levels have access to the information upon which
their decisions should properly be based." (Coombs, 1976, p.
413). Computer conferencing systems could economically provide
for the provision of such information, and thus indirectly assist
in building up the confidence of officers at the client interface
level in their ability to make decisions without the need to
regularly consult with senior officers because of uncertainty
resulting from a lack of information.
The continuing importance of public servants who work directly
with the public having sufficient information to make speedy
decisions is highlighted by the comment that "It is doubtful
whether the hiatus between the public and the bureaucracy identiŠfied by the
Coombs report
has diminished in the five years since
the Report was published." (Chapman, 1982, p. 28).
4-4-4. Barriers which need to be considered when it is
desired to increase participation.
Lack of information is not the only barrier to participation;
such things as language difficulties, location (for example, if a
person is in prison), handicap, poverty, and geographic isolation
can all restrict participation.
As indicated by Lasswell (1971, p. 105) the poor may not be able
to take the time to participate. For example, they may be working
long hours in poorly paid jobs. With telecommunications people
would be able to participate at a time convenient to themselves
(assuming they are subsidised - Hiltz and Turoff have indicated
that "Whenever a useful new technology is developed, one policy
question that should be vigorously pursued is how to make it
available to those who cannot afford to buy it themselves."
(1978, p. 167)). For example, with computer conferencing one can
input a comment into a discussion at any time. When others in the
network access the discussion, they read the comment and respond.
Instead of taking two hours for a meeting, a few weeks may be
spent on the discussion, but this approach has the advantages of
allowing for;
* greater participation; and
* more time for reflection - one does not need to
immediately respond.
Another barrier to participation is that of language. Computers
are gaining increasingly more sophisticated interpreter
capabilities. Eventually it is likely that a computer conference
will be able to take place with people inputing ideas in their
own languages and having these translated into as many languages
as required. This can be done manually now; but translators need
to be used to regularly key-in translated comments.
In education such an approach would allow for students studying
an issue in different countries to communicate, and for school
councils in different countries to liaise. It would also enable
much faster dissemination internationally of educational
innovations. In general public administration it would enable
much easier communication than is now possible. International
organisations such as the O.E.C.D. would need to place less
emphasis on employing multilingual staff (particularly where much
of the communication is in a written form).
Prisons presently restrict the ability of inmates to participate
in society. Computer conferencing could reduce this restriction.
It is as true for Australia as the U.S. that "...our prison
system dehumanizes and neither educates nor rehabilitates..."
(Hiltz and Turoff, 1978, p. 174).
Telephone link-ups can be used to break down barriers to
participation which result from geographic factors. By linking
this approach to the use of loud-speaking telephones, school
council meetings could include people who would have trouble
coming to the school (perhaps because of distance factors or
embarrassment about gross deformities or their physical or social
difficulties). Other technologies could also be considered - for
example, the school council meeting could be broadcast over
community radio and community members could then be linked-into
the discussion (and broadcast) through a telephone link-up. A
wide variety of "resource" people could also be linked-in using
this technique (which I term BOR - Brainstorming on Radio). As
broadcast technologies continue to decrease in cost this approach
should become an increasingly viable option, especially for large
school districts.
The BOR technique could also be used to facilitate public
participation in discussions on government programs.
4-5. CONSULTATION
4-5-1. The White Paper's interpretation of consultation and
the potential use of Videotex to assist with consultation in
education and public administration.
Another key theme of the White Paper is consultation.
"Consultation with regard to the management of public education
refers to the process of sharing information with and securing
feed-back and comments from participants and from community
interests." (Victoria, 1980, p. 16). Many of the submissions in
the lead-up to the development of the White Paper referred to
"...the need for schools and for administrative agencies to
provide more detailed information to parents and communities with
regard to objectives and programmes." (Victoria, 1980, p. 16).
Currently the Victorian Education Department publishes annually a
booklet outlining the objectives and programs of schools in the
State. With the use of a Videotex system such a booklet could be
updated on a daily basis. Videotex allows people to access
hundreds of thousands of pages of information in a data base
through a key pad next to their television set. The information
is displayed on the television set. Communication with the data
base is carried out through telephone lines. Such a system has
been in use in the U.K. for a number of years. It is mainly used
for commercial information. As this system gains greater use in
Australia there will be a real need for educators and other human
service professionals to pressure the government to ensure that a
portion of the space is allocated for community information.
As well as being able to access information about the objectives
and programs of their local school via such a system, community
members would also be able to access information on such things
as:
* short courses being offered over the next month in their
area;
* areas in which volunteers are needed;
* proposals which other community members have put forward
for the school (and scheduled meeting times to discuss them);
* profiles of new teachers at the local school; and
* information on the school budget and any budget variances.
Videotex systems could also be used as a supplement to annual
reports by Commonwealth Departments. "The annual report should be
a vehicle by which Departments furnish an account of their
activities and performance in terms of ministerially approved
goals and objectives." (Coombs, 1976, p. 75). The RCAGA argued
for there being "...further development of the practice of
departments preparing annual reports. These should include
references to developments of significance and to issues,
together with financial and staffing information." (Coombs, 1976,
p. 414). With Videotex a broader version of the departmental
"annual report" could be produced on an up-dateable-daily basis.
It would include the types of information included in annual
reports but also:
* contact points for complaints by the public, and access to
information;
* information on proposed new programs;
* new contact points in the department;
* daily updates on current issues affecting the department;
* daily updates on staffing levels;
* information on any new functions;
* statements by new Ministers; and
* regular evaluations (with some outside involvement - one
approach might involve the use of parliamentary committees as a
supplement to cross-departmental evaluative task forces) of the
Departments' performance with information on how the Department
plans to improve on weak points identified. Much of this
information would be produced automatically via the Departmental
computer conferencing network.
The JMR in part recognised the potential for innovative uses of
videotex technology when it indicated that "Videotex will permit
the storage and reference of important manuals, reports,
directories, instructions and policies. These would be available
for use both within the Service and for the public." (Arthur
Andersen, 1982, p. 15).
4-5-2. The use of television and telecommunications
technologies to assist with consultation.
The Victorian Government accepted the notion that there is a need
for "...more frequent consultation, involving many more
individuals than merely the members of school councils and other
official advisory bodies." (Victoria, 1980, p. 16). A Videotex
system could assist with this process. However, other
technologies considered in this paper could also be of great
assistance. It is important to also use currently available
technologies as much as possible to facilitate the consultative
process. Dror has indicated that "Policy sciences must develop
new formats for presenting and analyzing public issues in the
mass media of communication in ways conducive for the formation
of informed individual opinions." (1971, p. 21).
Already the Victorian Education Department has been given, free
of charge, time in the morning to show films on a commercial T.V.
station. Television shows could be developed around issues of
pressing concern (such as the need for a core curriculum, and sex
education). Participants involved in these issues could be filmed
in dialogue over a number of days. The danger with attempting to
develop a show out of a two or three hour dialogue is that any
consensus reached tends to be forced. By integrating a SEARCH
format (involving, amongst other things, completely open dialogue
over a number of days) with film, it should be possible to
capture a number of viewpoints, and possibly expose the public to
innovative syntheses of viewpoints which are generally considered
to be opposing.
Other resources could also be used. For example, the Council of
Adult Education in Victoria has conference telephones in a large
number of its country centres. These could be used to allow
people in the country to dialogue with key decision-makers within
the Victorian Education Department on a regular basis.
These could also be used to assist with involving country people
in evaluations of APS activities in country areas.
4-5-3. Consultation could be facilitated by the more
imaginative usage of currently available technology.
I would emphasise that I am not just advocating the use of new
technologies to facilitate consultation. I am also advocating the
more imaginative use of currently available systems. Toffler has
indicated that "...techno-rebels contend that technology need not
be big, costly, or complex in order to be 'sophisticated'."
(Toffler, 1981, p. 164) Thus, loud-speaker telephones should not
be seen as just a medium for delivering instruction to country
students. Television should not just be seen as a one-way
transmission medium. Paradigms must be exploded if resources are
to be used in the most efficient fashion. To assist with this
process it is essential that educators and general public
administrators consider:
* schools;
* government departments;
* themselves;
* students;
* technology;
* society; and
* buildings
as multi-purpose rather than single purpose units.
Thus a school could be used as a home, a home as a school (as in
the case of "School of the Air" in remote areas of Australia), a
hospital can be a library (a "resource centre" might be a better
term in this context), and a teacher can be a member of a task
force carrying out research as well as a learner in an
experiential learning project.
This multi-purpose perspective is reflected in a submission to
the RCAGA which indicated "...that departments should become more
accessible to the community by becoming a 'learning resource'."
(Coombs, 1976, p. 144).
Consultation in which new approaches are proposed by the
community will only be effective if educators and general public
administrators adopt a flexible approach.
4-6. CO-ORDINATION
4-6-1. Co-ordination, communication, and control.
All of the approaches I have considered in this thesis need to be
efficiently co-ordinated.
There is great potential for innovative approaches to co-
ordination involving the use of communications technologies,
since "Communications [technologies]...make it possible for
individuals to operate from almost anywhere and for societies to
be controlled from almost anywhere." (Ferkiss, 1972, p. 31).
Co-ordination becomes more, not less, important in a period of
rapid change and turbulence. Co-ordination involves "...the
regulation or adjustment of activity or functions in order to
secure greater overall harmony and consistency, to achieve
greater efficiency and a more desirable balance, and to avoid
unnecessary overlap and wasteful use of scarce resouces."
(Victoria, 1980, p. 17).
In order to achieve a co-ordinated approach it is important that
no more change than is necessary be introduced into
administrative structures. The RCAGA report indicated "...that
more conscious thought and rigorous examination should be given
to proposals for administrative change, because they are almost
always costly in both manpower and money and often damaging to
departmental and staff morale." (Coombs, 1976, p. 387). In view
of the number of Departmental mergers and break ups since 1976 at
the Commonwealth level one could well question whether the
Government took notice of this advice.
Co-ordination of communications and influences is critical in all
administrative contexts. For example, the RCAGA found that
"Senior officials...are finding that they must be prepared
consciously to work with a pluralist range of influences on
ministers and perhaps even to see their role as being primarily
to organise those influences, so that, while ministers are
exposed to the widest choice of advice and of options, they are
helped by their officials to assess and give appropriate weight
to them." (Coombs, 1979, p. 15).
These influences must be channelled through organisational
structures by officials. "Organisational structure involves
limits on members' decision-making. As such it is an essential
form of control." (Salaman, 1979, p. 51). However, improved co-
ordination does not necessarily involve a need for greater
"control". For example, particularly in high-priority areas,
there will be a need for experimentation in relation to
organisational structures. A number of approaches will need to be
tried at once. Duplication could be classified as "necessary" in
such cases. This is because "One very interesting feature of an
optimal policymaking structure is that it should be rather
redundant: the contributions to the various phases should
duplicate and overlap each other...The correct criterion should
be that the more critical a certain polilcy is or one of its
phases is, the more redundancy should be provided as a way to
minimize the risk of mistakes..." (Dror, 1968, p. 211).
Naturally, the various approaches implemented should be evaluated
and the results recorded so that the system can "learn from
experience". "One of the amazing weaknesses in much contemporary
public policymaking is that there is no systematic learning from
experience. Very few evaluations of the real outcomes of complex
policies are made, and there are even fewer on which improvements
of future policymaking can be based." (Dror, 1968, p. 274).
4-6-2. Evaluation, feedback, and self-correction.
The potentially important role of evaluations in resource
allocation decisions is refected in the comment by Hadley and
Hatch that "The evidence from evaluations of professional
interventions in education, health and social work hardly serve
to explain or justify all the resources which have been devoted
to them." (1981, p. 2).
However, if evaluations are to serve their purpose it is critical
that action be taken based on the results of the evaluation (if
the recommendations are accepted by the responsible Minister).
The RCAGA argued that this could be facilitated in the case of
government Departments by ensuring that "Where the parliamentary
committee primarily concerned with administrative efficiency
reports critically or adversely upon the activities of a
department or agency, or in relation to matters which are
peculiarly its responsibility, the department or agency should be
expected to report directly to the committee on action taken or
proposed to be taken in response to the committee's comments and
recommendations." (Coombs, 1976, p. 417).
The need for action to result from evaluations is highlighted
when one considers the large amounts of money which are being
invested in such programs as transition from school to work.
These are co-ordinated at the State rather than federal level.
With computer conferencing it would be possible for people trying
out similar approaches in different States to keep in touch on a
"real time" basis. Also, information on evaluations of different
approaches could be readily available, together with expert
advice from both the evaluators and the implementers of the
program.
Co-ordination is also related to efficient communication and
feedback - "...policymaking must have highly elaborate and
efficient communication and feedback channels and mechanisms in
order to operate, especially to operate optimally." (Dror, 1968,
p. 194). Increasingly this feedback will be of a "self-
correcting" rather than "central authority directive" nature. The
more quickly schools and area offices can get information, the
more quickly they can co-ordinate their activities for optimum
results. Telecommunications technologies (in particular computer
conferencing) allow for speedy information transfer, and for
iterative feedback (that is feedback over a number of "rounds" as
the system assists with self-correction). Such "self-correcting"
feedback is important if responsibility is to be effectively
devolved within government departments.
In the context of APS administration, "self-correction" refers to
the use of feedback to correct procedures as close to the
operational level as possible. For example, "exception reports"
would be directed both to those responsible for administering
programs as well as those in central offices responsible for
following up on extreme exception conditions. In this context it
is interesting to note a current use of exception reporting in
the APS - "...the use of ADP to detect from departmental records
atypical occurrences in the servicing of patients by doctors."
(Arthur Andersen, 1982, p. 32). Implementation of a "self-
correcting" philosophy in such a context would involve the
reports being distributed to both regional offices of the
Department of Health and a central policing unit. The policing
unit would only become involved if the regional offices failed to
take appropriate action.
4-6-3. Co-ordination and broad-based systems linkages.
In relation to co-ordination of data, the JMR indicated that "We
see scope for greater co-operation between departments which use
common data, for example in unemployment and welfare areas."
(Arthur Andersen, 1982, p. 63).
Co-ordination of data in education will not only involve liaison
between the school and other traditional educational
institutions. It may also involve them in linkages with social
units as diverse as the local police and the local employment
office. Naturally, this implies a need for such agencies to be
linked into the educational computer-conferencing network.
Increasingly, such agencies are part of semi-open networks
incorporating computer networking. However, these are generally
one-way systems. For example, they may involve the police using
their computer system to check whether a car is stolen. The idea
of linking schools into such networks for co-ordination purposes
raises profound social questions. It may result in more co-
ordinated education systems, but it might also result in a world
in which one is followed from birth to death by electronic
tentacles.
The technology itself is not the danger - the danger is that it
may be used in inappropriate ways. If the police could access
school records, for example, there would be clear dangers to
privacy. The technology could be designed to ensure that this
could not happen - however, discussion would need to take place
before, rather than after, a "Network Nation" developed as to the
limits to which educators would allow their network to integrate
with others.
CHAPTER 5. A SCENARIO
5-1. WHAT WILL THE SCENARIO DISCUSS?
Martin has argued that "Data transmission may become as
indispensible to city-dwelling man as his electricity supply. He
will employ it in his home, in his office, in shops, and in his
car. He will use it to pay for goods, to teach his children, and
to obtain information, transportation, and items from the shops;
he will use it from his home to obtain stock prices and football
scores; he will use it to seek protection in crime-infested
streets." (1973, p. 9).
This scenario is designed to consider ways in which systems (both
educational and general public administrative) could change over
the next twelve years with the use of modern computing and
telecommunications technologies. There is a focus on the other
themes considered in the first part of this thesis where
appropriate.
In this scenario I have attempted to integrate consideration of
educational and public administrative aspects wherever
appropriate.
Wherever I write of periods up to (but not including) 1984 the
events described have actually occurred.
Wherever I speak of 1984, or further into the future, the
discussion is purely "possible", and should not be considered in
any way "probable" or necessarily "preferable" (at least from my
point of view). The emphasis is on highlighting possible futures
in education and public administration of which policy developers
should now be aware and for which they should be planning (or
against which as the case may be).
EDUCATION
5-2. USE OF COMPUTER PACKAGES IN EDUCATION
The year is 1995. Typing has been part of the core curriculum in
government schools for five years. Students are beginning to use
terminals for simple communications tasks in primary schools. In
secondary schools, students have been using computer packages on
a wide scale for around ten years. These include data base and
financial planning packages. Since 1985 there has been little
emphasis on teaching programming techniques to students. The
emphasis instead has been on teaching them to use computer
packages, because it is recognised that it is not economical to
actually design and program systems "from the ground up" in most
real-life situations. Computer packages have become more
economical to purchase as a result of economies of scale factors.
The emphasis in both public and private administration is also on
using prepared packages and higher-level languages rather than on
developing customised systems. Packages are required by law to
include self-instructional material.
There is however, much work also done in teaching computer
professionals new techniques for programming, program
modification and adaptation, and program juxtaposition (this
involves the simultaneous running of more than one program and
the selective synthesis of components from these).
5-3. NEW ROLE FOR SCHOOLS AND PUBLIC LIBRARIES
Computers and communications networks have had a significant
impact in facilitating a change in role for schools and public
libraries. Many children who previously went to school now learn
at home, using terminals at least 50% of the time. Libraries are
seen as information-search training institutes rather than purely
as depositories of information. Computer terminals (for use in
local communication and international data-base searches) are
available in all schools and public libraries. Initially a number
of schools could not afford to access international data bases,
but the Government developed a special "Disadvantaged Schools
(Information Systems)" program in 1990 to assist such schools.
This was administered by the Commonwealth Schools Commission.
All major libraries have had international access to world-wide
information systems since the mid-1980s. At that time there was a
debate over whether data-base access should be provided free to
individuals in libraries. This debate became less relevant as all
key community information became available on Videotex systems
(the community information section of the national videotex
system established in 1985 was funded by the Government), and as
the cost of access to data bases (both in Australia and overseas)
became less expensive (as a result of new approaches to
communication involving the compression of information and
digitalisation of information). The additional national
satellites have greatly benefited this access.
Access to data bases has come to be seen more and more as a right
in a democratic society (that is, if all persons are to have the
potential for effective participation in societal decision-
making). Some commercial data bases are still expensive to
access; these are generally of a kind which have both a limited
potential audience and for which the development costs have been
extremely high (access to these data bases is on a "user pays"
basis).
Libraries still provide conventional services, but the emphasis
is very much on how to use technologies to gain access to
information (as is traditional; for example, how to use index
systems) and also on using technologies to process information
(this was an innovation - for example, free courses in how to use
financial planning packages were available in all central State
libraries from 1985) and how to lobby for change based on the
results of information processed (the role of libraries as
facilitators of change became particularly strong in the late
1980s when it was increasingly realised that many of the studies
carried out by individuals were not having an impact on societal
decision-making processes, because many of the individuals and
groups who undertook them lacked lobbying skills). Wherever
possible, self-teaching courses are used as a supplement to face-
to-face teaching in libraries.
Librarian roles have been expanded to include basic technical
skills required for the maintenance of the extensive range of
computer and related electronic equipment which is now as common
and integral to library operations as are books and audio-visual
equipment.
School libraries have increasingly taken on a community
orientation. Most school libaries now provide services to the
community, particularly where there is no public library in the
area.
5-4. INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO EDUCATION
An increased community orientation in education is reflected in
parents now playing an integral part in the education of their
children. Many children stay at home to learn from parents who in
the majority of cases now also work from home. The progress of
these children is monitored both technically and personally by
teachers with whom the children meet face-to-face every few
months.
Students also regularly dialogue with their friends (both in
Australia and overseas [sometimes using computer translation
packages provided with computer conferencing facilities]) through
terminals. They do, however, go to school on a regular basis for
general socialising activities and to participate in small
business activities. A number of schools now lease space to
groups of students who are involved in the development of
computer software, the sale of art works, and action research
activities (often dealing with youth-related topics).
In some locations, there are as many parents as children enrolled
in formal educational programs. Partly as a result of this,
parents also use terminals for learning activities.
There is a general awareness of the need for learning to be a
lifelong process, and for retraining to occur regularly
throughout a person's life. Career educators are used to assist
both young people in transition from school to work/higher
education/unemployment/self-employment, and older persons in
transition from work to retraining, to new types of work or into
constructive and rewarding retirement.
5-5. APPROACHES TO CAREER EDUCATION
Career education starts for young people at a very early age.
They often watch their parents at work on computer terminals in
the home. This compares with previous situations where the
parents' work was not visible to the young. In a sense this
reflects a return to more traditional work forms. The young and
old have access to volunteer "mentors" from any profession or
trade in which they have an interest.
Mentors have been used in the APS as a career development tool
since the mid-1980s. They supplement other approaches to
broadening the vision of up-and-coming executives (such as
executive interchanges). There is a special emphasis on providing
mentors to disadvanted groups (for example, new female financial
executives might have a female mentor who is the Head of a
Financial Planning Branch in another Department). To avoid any
possibility of influence being used to assist mentees gain
promotions (actual or apparent), mentors may not sit on their
charges' interview panels.
Some mentors are either wealthy philanthropists or retired
persons - with both professional and trades backgrounds.
Various businesses have opened their data banks in a limited way
to schools and other learning institutions (as well as to public
administrators who increasingly do "Executive Exchanges" without
leaving their work place for long periods: they do them via their
computer terminal, [either at home or at their work place]). The
opening of data banks has allowed young people and others to
observe businesses and professions in operation. This is an
extension of a system termed "Adopt-a-School" which was developed
by the United Bank of Denver in the late 1970s. This involved
Branches of the Bank adopting local schools, acting as a contact
point for speakers on business-related topics, providing tours of
their branches to the school, work-experience opportunities, and
possibly a representative on school councils. The opening of data
banks is limited: students only have access to daily "executive
summary"-type reports which previously would have been included
in annual reports. However they do also have access to a number
of decision-makers whom they can question via their terminals.
These techniques have highlighted to both young people and
educators the broadening range of skills which persons need in
order to be effective in business and professional environments.
There is little talk of a need to "return to basics"; the
emphasis is now on redefining the notion of basic skills in a
society in which everyone has access to word processing packages
which can check spelling and grammar, and financial planning
packages which can assist with the modelling of numeric problems
(and naturally also with the calculations involved).
These techniques have also had enormous benefit in the areas of
vocational guidance and training. Students in schools can
"monitor" in great detail the work of surgeons, engineers,
draughtsmen, computer technicians and so on. The world of work is
directly accesible to every child in every school.
5-6. COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE
Communicative competence is seen to be a much broader concept
than simply the ability to communicate effectively both in
writing and verbally. It is now seen as incorporating the ability
to:
* identify issues;
* design ways to gain information;
* process information;
* lobby for change;
* understand power structures;
* use various types of communication media; and
* understand which media should be used for different
purposes and how to design messages for maximum effectiveness.
The need to broaden the meaning of communicative competence was
highlighted as it was seen that merely providing access on a
large scale to such things as computer packages, and computer
conferencing facilities, was insufficient for individuals to be
able to use these technologies effectively. It was seen that it
was necessary for these technologies to include a training
component in their introduction.
The APS was one of the first to take up the challenge of this in
the mid-1980s. It introduced courses on such things as:
* using word processing software;
* integrating financial and word processing software for
maximum impact;
* communicating from home using computer terminals;
* inputing information into Videotex systems for maximum
effect;
* using cable T. V. to gauge public perceptions on
governmental programs and proposed programs;
* finding appropriate uses for computer networks as a
supplement to face-to-face communication;
* developing innovative uses for loud-speaker telephones in
administration and policy development.
Education departments also took up the challenge. They developed
special programs for young people. T.A.F.E. systems were involved
in running broad-based communications programs for adults.
The running of such innovative programs (which are relevant to
all age groups), and the emphasis on lifelong education, has led
to a greater awareness of the need to keep accurate records on
the development of competencies by students throughout their
life, in order to ensure that they gain maximum benefit from the
educational programs which they undertake.
5-7. NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL DATA BASE.
Teachers can easily access information on the background of their
students (a national data base on students is kept which is
linked to an international data base), innovative educational
programs, evaluation of programs and professional development
opportunities.
The data base on students is similar to one developed in the
United States in the 1970s. It was decided that a similar data
base was needed in Australia because of the increasingly common
national and international mobility of students. In the late-
1980s it was decided to link-up national student data bases so
that students who were internationally mobile could have their
records accessed. Some students were also mobile through their
terminals. For example, by the late 1980s some students who had a
strong grasp of French were being taught in the French
educational system even though they lived in Australia. This had
advantages both for migrant children, and for children who were
especially gifted in languages and in relating to different
environments, but who could not afford to travel. The data base
allowed foreign schools to have an evaluation of a student's
strengths and weaknesses, and minimised problems caused by
changes between educational systems (across both States and
countries).
Studies in politics, social sciences, botany, biology and
geography have also been transformed with this new technology.
Students can, for example, experience the realities of life in
Central Europe while physically being in their homes or
classrooms in Australia.
National and international visual linkages are now economically
possible for educational purposes. These allow for the display of
still imagery, with changes possible at regular intervals.
"Continuous movement" visual conferencing is relatively
expensive, and is still only routinely possible between capital
cities using optical fibre linkages, with the aid of studios
especially set aside for this purpose. This is because it is far
too expensive to hire the band-width required on satellites or
normal telephone lines to allow for "real time" visual
conferencing. The transmission of still visual information via
satellite has enhanced the teaching of numerous subjects in the
"School of the Air", and in adult training programs beamed to
isolated areas. The technology to do all of the things considered
in this paragraph had been available for over twenty years; the
key new factor in 1995 was the continuing dramatic reduction in
cost of all but "continuous movement" video conferencing.
"Continuous movement" video conferencing has been used for
linkages in high priority areas (such as emergency medicine in
isolated areas) in Australia, but authorities have discouraged
its use in other than emergency situations because of the large
amount of band-width required, compared with such approaches as
audio or terminal-based conferencing.
Research is being undertaken into how linkages could be developed
between Cable T.V. systems, optical fibre cable networks (between
States), and new "broad band-width" satellite systems to allow
for economical small-scale educational usage of "continuous
movement" video conferencing systems on a large scale over great
distances.
All teachers and educational administrators have their
professional interests recorded in a data base and are notified
of professional development opportunities by the system. This is
an extension of a more focused approach to information
dissemination which has been made necessary as access to masses
of information has become more economical. For example, the
Victorian Education Department in the early 1980s started
producing a listing of conferences indexed according to subject
areas. Previously this listing was produced purely in date order.
In a sense this was a forerunner to more advanced approaches, in
that it recognised that educational professionals are far more
likely to use professional development information tools if they
can access areas of interest to themselves directly without
needing to wade through large amounts of irrelevant data.
Where cost or time is a factor, teachers can attend international
conferences via their terminals while remaining in Australia.
Needless to say, this does not fully accomodate the social
intercourse benefits of in-person attendance.
5-8. DISTANCE EDUCATION
The National Educational Data Base has assisted in the running of
better distance education programs. It has meant that students
who move frequently around Australia have a continuous record
kept on them, which can be accessed by teachers in new locations.
There was some talk of organising a National Distance Education
School, but this was resisted by the States and NT. Instead,
there is very close contact between distance educators in each
State and the NT, facilitated by satellites. Pilot programs for
such liaison began in the early 1980s using the Intelsat
Satellite.
It has been found that satellites have been useful for other
distance education programs. Teachers who were previously not
able to attend national conferences because of distance regularly
participate now via audio-satellite link-ups. This was often
possible before the advent of the domestic satellite using
terrestrial linkups, but it was found that the availability of
the satellite both allowed for the participation of teachers in
areas with no conventional telephone access, and tended to "raise
the consciousness" of professional development personnel
regarding the options available.
5-9. ADULT EDUCATION
The availability of satellites has also assisted with adult
education in isolated areas. The need for retraining for adults
has been generally accepted, but problems did arise in
implementing this concept in isolated areas with limited
communications linkages.
Now all Technical and Further Education authorities have
developed programs which include mastery learning sequences and
linkages via terminals for interaction. These programs can be
transmitted either via terrestrial linkages or the domestic
satellite.
All professional associations now have requirements for
continuing professional education if a member is to maintain his
or her standing. Continual up-dating is essential, because
changes occur so rapidly.
The Australian Public Service continues to encourage its members
to undertake study leave related to their work and in certain
areas has begun to direct public servants to do so if they wish
to retain their substantive positions. In the mid-1980s an
innovative form of this approach was developed incorporating the
concept of permanent part-time work, and a lifelong education
philosophy. This allows officers to work one year, then take a
year off, then work another year for a pre-determined time. It
has been found that this approach has advantages over the
traditional approach of giving large blocks of time for study
leave. Officers participating in this scheme are also allowed to
undertake some consultancy work during their study leave. It has
been found that this has real advantages for officers undertaking
such degrees as the Ph.D. and new Te.D. (Doctor of Technology).
It has meant that the officers maintain contact with the APS.
There are also tax advantages in spreading the periods of no
income over time, since this allows for an "averaging of income"
for tax purposes which does not occur when large blocks of study-
leave are taken.
The APS particularly encourages this approach for officers who
need to keep in touch with both the APS and the business world if
they are to remain at the cutting-edge of their fields (for
example, data-processing professionals, long-range policy
analysts, organisational consultants, and adult trainers).
With approval, some of the officers have continued with this
program after gaining their higher qualification. This has
diminished the financial disadvantages of being in the APS for
those officers who work in fields which are very highly paid in
the private sector, in that one year in two can be spent in
consultancy activities. Naturally, there are significant
restrictions on officers involved in this program to ensure that
there are no conflicts of interest.
AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC SERVICE
5-10. NEW EDUCATIONAL ROLE FOR PUBLIC SERVICE BOARD
Since 1984 the PSB has been conducting extensive training courses
on the use of computer packages for public servants. The impetus
for this resulted partly from the finding of the JMR that "Modern
system development tools including very high level languages (ie
non procedural and user oriented) are not in common use [in the
APS]." (Arthur Andersen, 1982, p. 2). Politicians have
increasingly been encouraged to participate, as it has been
recognised that "...upgrading the professionalism of senior
administrators while leaving the capacities of politicians and
political institutions low will change the balance of power
between administrators and politics in directions which may often
involve undesirable alienation and de-democratization." (Dror,
1971, p. 269). There has been a particular emphasis on decision-
support systems, particularly systems designed to assist with
quantitative analysis, the development of models, and systems
designed to produce reports efficiently. This emphasis coincided
with a shift in policy towards part-time work. From 1985 public
servants who wished to work from home and were involved in
clerical-type or policy work have been allowed to do so for 50%
of their time. This has been particularly helpful as an equal
opportunity measure. It has meant that a number of men, who
otherwise would not have been able to, now work from home and
contribute to child supervision. It also has broadened many
womens' options. There are many families in which "...man and
wife split a single full-time job." (Toffler, 1981, p. 227).
The PSB developed a tender document in 1984 for micro-computer
systems with communications capabilities which allow officers
(with approval) to work from home. The Public Service pays for
half the cost of these systems and the public servants using them
pay for the other half.
5-11. CUSTOMISED STATISTICAL REPORTS
The general availability of terminals has had other effects.
Statistical reports are rarely made available in a hard copy
format (that is, on paper). This is because all executives now
have access to computer terminals. Also, as the amount of
information available became more and more overwhelming, it was
seen that to provide all the information which executives needed
in a paper form involved much redundancy. The emphasis now is on
having customised reports produced around the parameters which
executives specify.
This has also had an impact on education, and on adult training
in the APS. Just as calculators changed the emphasis placed on
repetitive calculation in schools in the early 1980s, computer
packages have had an effect on the emphasis placed on students
producing tables manually in schools, and on learning computer
programming. Since the late 1980s there has been a dramatic
change in mathematics in schools and APS training programs. A new
form of mathematics called "information analysis" has been
introduced. This involves students using quantitative and non-
quantitative data to produce reports. There is little emphasis on
students producing reports themselves from the "ground up"; the
emphasis is on students setting parameters which computer
packages use to produce "skeletons" of reports. Students need to
"flesh-out" the reports produced by the packages. Packages are
now available which interact with the students and assist them in
defining the parameters of the reports. Similar packages have
been in use in the APS since the late 1980s.
5-12. INFORMATION CO-ORDINATION
The new types of statistical packages have had a significant
impact on the APS. For example, reports which could not have been
produced in the early 1980s are now regularly prepared with the
assistance of packages. Freedom of Information reports have been
much easier to provide. In the mid-1980s there was a
proliferation of micro-systems in all Departments. By the late
1980s this was controlled through the use of "information co-
ordination plans" which recognised the value of data and planned
for it - as with the other resources of the Departments. By 1990
it was generally recognised that information systems had become
so powerful that the "information co-ordination approach" needed
to be taken across the APS. This emphasis on a need for a
Service-wide approach to information seemed to be an extension of
the approach of the Committee on Integration of Data Systems,
"...which reported in 1974...[suggesting] that efforts be made to
ensure that official data systems...[were] mutually compatible."
(Coombs, 1976, p. 349).
5-13. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
The need for compatability of information systems has been
highlighted by the trend to interpret the concept of Freedom of
Information more broadly than in the 1980s. This is because of
the decreased need to use expensive manpower to search out
information. Much information under the Freedom of Information
Act is gained directly through computer terminals. This means
that advocacy groups often follow the development of legislation
and regulations from the early stages. Also, they follow the
public administrative responses (including early drafting
discussions) through their terminals. Early attempts were made by
a number of public servants to develop confidential schema on an
"unofficial" basis but this has been made almost impossible by
the regular scanning of computer systems by "policing software"
which had been developed by the Auditor General in the mid 1980s
to pick up such activities along with attempts at fraud.
Personal information is still protected under the Freedom of
Information legislation. Access to adults' school records and
childrens' court records are particularly restricted. Some access
to researchers is allowed, but only where there is no way that
individuals can be identified (that is, data is only available in
an aggregate form). Where data could be used to identify
individuals (for example, where the data involved refers to a
very few individuals) dummy data is inserted at random in order
to make this impossible. The Bureau of Statistics has used this
approach for many years with Census data, and continues to
research ways of preventing the identification of individuals
when other data of a confidential nature is being analysed with
powerful computer systems.
GENERAL ASPECTS
5-14. NEW APPROACHES TO PARTICIPATION
School and work governance is much more participatory. Young
people are heavily involved in the governance of schools,
particularly in the selection of material to learn outside the
core curriculum. They make their selection on terminals and can
make suggestions for new types of learning activities. They are
also encouraged to liaise with other students and develop
coalitions for change.
In government there is a significant emphasis on worker
participation, with expanded staff suggestion schemes, the use of
autonomous work groups, and related techniques being widely used
in the APS. Computer conferencing is used to assist with the
implementation of these techniques.
Cable T.V. (based on optical fibre technology) has been in
operation in all major Australian cities since 1990. It is mainly
used for the distribution of films, computer programs, data base
access, and related information purposes. However, there has
been a significant increase in educational and political
documentary material on the normal Australian Broadcasting
Corporation and commercial television channels, which is in
addition to the two "access educator" channels - one for primary
and secondary students, and the other for tertiary and Technical
and Further Education students. The system is also used partly
for polling groups of citizens on issues, and to facilitate the
purchasing of goods from home. Appropriate guidelines have been
legislated to ensure the privacy of voting "records" produced by
such systems (this is necessary as a number of the issues voted
upon are controversial - for example, the restriction of smoking
rights to consenting adults in private). Also, if it were legal,
the system could have been used to produce (without consumers'
consent) detailed records on the types of goods purchased by
specific households.
Citizens are encouraged to participate in various government-
established task forces on societal problems. They can also
access the deliberations of most government bodies (local, state,
federal, and global) via computer terminals (access is via
various key terms, and responses to the deliberations can also be
entered in the terminals and directed to backbenchers, Ministers,
or other key decision-makers).
The use of key terms as a lobbying tool has increased. For
example, some environmentalists have instructed their terminals
to contact them whenever environmental issues are discussed
(individuals would generally be more specific; for example, they
might distinguish between environmental issues affecting their
local area as compared with global issues, or perhaps they might
be particularly interested in one type of environmental issue
[for example, the preservation of specific areas of wilderness or
species of animal]). Similarly, libraries have programmed
terminals to co-ordinate the recording of television programs
pertaining to a wide range of curriculum areas, using the same
technique.
A number of lobbyists have developed "standard" responses to be
sent to decision-making bodies when issues of interest are
discussed. All of this has been made possible through the use of
improved index systems of deliberations. Initially, abstracts of
deliberations with key words linked to them were developed.
However, as the power of computers increased, greater use was
made of accessing according to every word used in discussions.
5-15. LEISURE
As participation has become easier, more and more people are
participating in societal governance in their leisure time.
When word processors were still relatively uncommon, access to
them gave persons a degree of power which was previously
unobtainable without significant support staff. This resulted
from the ability to, for example, customise letters to a large
number of decision-makers. As word processors became more common
this differential in potential power became less obvious.
However, the people at the forefront in using word processors for
lobbying then began using data base packages to focus their
lobbying for maximum effect.
By the late 1980s artificial intelligence systems were available
to people to assist in leisure pursuits. These could be run on
micro-computers and assisted with such things as:
* advising on political strategy;
* advising on how to relieve tension;
* medical advice;
* child-rearing advice;
* learning;
* career planning advice;
* marriage guidance;
* leisure options advice; and
* networking advice (to assist in linking-up with others with
similar interests).
These systems are also used widely in the APS. They use a large
amount of storage space, and it was not until the mid-1980s that
it was recognised by both the management and unions in the APS
that they would have a significant effect on "higher-level
routine work" (undertaken by such persons as senior clerks,
doctors, accountants, and other professionals) in the APS.
This was surprising when one takes into account that even in the
early 1980s artificial intelligence systems were available to
assist with mineral exploration activities, and medical
diagnoses.
5-16. ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY BY THE POOR
As the power (and personal power-enhancing capabilities) of
available systems became increasingly obvious, it was perceived
that, if the democratic process was to continue, it was critical
that the poor not be excluded from access to information,
conventional computer systems, and artificial intelligence-based
systems. This was initially a problem when systems were
introduced, because of their few users and high fixed cost.
However, it was soon recognised that the marginal cost of
additional users was often not high, and that the Government had
a responsibility to fund the involvment of such people in the
system (free use of such systems other than in libraries [for
example, in the home] was restricted to those who passed a means
test).
This awareness was not immediate. In the late-1980s there was
still discussion on how such facilities should be provided to the
poor. It had been argued for a number of years that terminals
should be made available in the homes of people who could not
afford them, but Telecom had resisted this concept (or at least
resisted funding of the required terminals - it had been argued
that this was a responsibility of the Department of Social
Security). Eventually the problem was overcome by making the
provision of information terminals to the poor a national
priority. A number of Departments were involved in making a Joint
Cabinet Submission on this matter (a key component being a
significant grant to Telecom to implement the policy) and this
was accepted by Cabinet in the late 1980s.
5-17. MONITORING OF STUDENTS AND PUBLIC SERVANTS
The question of access to information about oneself recorded in
systems was highlighted in the late 1980s when the public and
union members in the APS became increasingly aware of how all-
encompassing were the computer systems operated by the APS and
educational systems.
Educational administrators monitor the progress of teachers and
students via terminals. The APS in the mid-1980s resurrected the
Mandata system partly because of the need for a comprehensive
Service-wide system for monitoring staff. This monitoring was
partly to assist with career planning (both for individuals and
Departments) but also had a component dealing with the evaluation
and supervision of staff. At the more junior level the emphasis
was on specific evaluation around output measures. At management
levels the emphasis was on using prose comments around key themes
by supervisors. Computer packages were developed in the late
1980s to assist with the interpretation of such prose comments.
These packages were particularly useful in highlighting themes
which occurred over a number of years in individuals' evaluation
reports, or in groups of evaluation reports in Sections,
Branches, Divisions, Departments, or the APS as a whole.
Computer packages are available to produce summary evaluative
reports on both staff and learners. As learners are increasingly
involved in real-life problem solving, and staff have a
responsibility to learn, the packages are very closely related.
Initially, learning facilitators (especially teachers) and unions
were concerned about the use of such approaches. However,
safeguards were developed which ensured that the systems are used
to assist with the development of individuals, not purely for
negative evaluative and supervisory purposes. Learners are now
assisted in the most appropriate fashion possible.
With regard to staff evaluation, the emphasis is very much on
evaluations being used to assist with the individual concerned;
both with encouragement when he or she is doing well, and with
remedial suggestions where there are problems. This means that
officers with difficulties (for example, in coming to work on
time, or logging-on on time) are identified within a short time
of the problem arising and remedial action is generally taken
quickly to ensure that the officer concerned is given assistance
to overcome the problem.
The emphasis at the macro-level in these approaches is to ensure
that broad policy is being adhered to, whilst allowing for
appropriate flexibility for individuals in the implementation of
that policy. Exception reports are produced listing only those
people for whom action needs to be taken. The computer system
also gives advice on the most appropriate action in such cases.
For example, it might indicate that one student comes from a very
poor home where there is no transport to school, and suggest
that remedies be investigated when it is found that a student is
consistently coming to school late. In the case of a staff
member, it might indicate that an officers' spouse was dismissed
the week before and so the officer would be given a warning to be
on time in future, but not too much pressure would be placed on
him or her at this time.
Specific controls have been built in to ensure that personal
contact and interpersonal interaction are maintained. Also, the
use of telephones which allow for a stationary visual component
has greatly improved the "personal" touch in distance and other
non-direct interactions (which is particularly important when
evaluative activities are being undertaken).
5-18. SOME SCHOOLS AND GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS NO
LONGER
HAVE BUILDINGS.
In the late 1980s the government used as one justification of the
need for close monitoring of citizens via computer systems the
fact that a number of schools and government Departments no
longer had buildings, and that in such a context traditional
less-structured approaches to monitoring would not be
practicable.
A number of correspondence schools sold their buildings in the
late-1980s and allowed staff to work from home 100% of the time -
as do their students. Some new schools were developed without
buildings - particularly where there was a limited number of
potential students, or where the students were widely spread
geographically. Some schools which initially planned to maintain
their buildings found this was almost impossible to justify as
the number of students decreased. Also, some teachers who
initially found the idea of working from home unattractive
(because of a concern that career prospects might be limited, or
that professional interaction would be cut off) soon came to
appreciate the advantages of this approach and more and more are
now applying for "home" rather than "school" placings.
The first Government Departments with no buildings were small
ones. A number of these Departments were in areas which involved
the analysis of future trends and had a heavy reliance on
information in data bases and could operate without a heavy
emphasis on face-to-face supervision and communication.
As the cost of space became more expensive, and the cost of
communications technologies continued to decrease, the Department
of Administrative Services developed a set of guidelines in the
mid-1980s outlining the types of positions which could be
operated from home. To the surprise of many senior officials, it
was found that almost half of the policy positions in the APS had
a 50% or greater component which could be done from home. This
meant that some officers were working from home up to 4 days per
week. This dramatically reduced the rent and overheads bill for
the APS in Canberra. The effect in Regions was not felt as
greatly, as much more of the staff were involved in direct
interaction with the public. However, by the early 1990s more and
more of the public were using their terminals for interaction,
and greater numbers of Regional Office staff were able to work
from home.
5-19. "TERMINAL ADDICTION" AND PERFORMANCE
DIFFERENTIALS.
A problem which was not generally recognised until the mid 1980s
was, that in using terminals regularly, students and
professionals could over time develop extremely close
relationships with the systems they interacted with, and lead
unbalanced (as traditionally interpreted) lives as a result.
There has been a significant decrease in the quality and
regularity of much inter-personal interaction. Some students are
described as being anti-social, having lost, or never learned,
good inter-personal skills. This is a serious negative
consequence of increased terminal usage which is causing
educators and politicians much concern. In some areas, special
classes in social interaction are conducted in an effort to
counteract this problem.
A number of students and professionals have become "terminal
addicts". The highly motivational aspects of using computer
terminals for work and study had not been fully recognised until
the early 1980s. Computer systems provide immediate feedback, and
do not have personality faults. They respond to instructions
immediately, assist with the clarification of needs, and have the
potential for repeated testing without criticism - explicit or
implied (as compared with teachers, friends, supervisors, and
companions). They can also tailor the interaction to the needs of
the interactor. A significant number of students are now starting
Ph. D. studies before 18 years of age as a result of these
factors (in particular because students can proceed at their own
pace using such systems).
In the work situation such features have resulted in clear
performance differentials between officers, which can be
monitored by the system. This has resulted in less need for
"broadband" type supervisors, and more need for supervisors who
can assist with the follow-up of specific difficulties which
individuals might face. One reason for the massive difference in
the performance of officers is that there is now virtually
limitless clerical assistance-type support (for example, in
accessing, filing, checking spelling, copying, indexing, and
mailing documents). The trend towards the employment of fewer
clerical assistants in the early 1980s by the APS was seen to be
an appropriate step by the end of the 1980s and virtually all
clerical assistant-type tasks are now being carried out by
computer systems. The places originally filled by these persons
are now filled by programmers, systems analysts, and other
computer-related professionals, so that employment opportunities
have not been lost but have been redefined. This has not reduced
the career prospects of clerical assistants on the payroll. They
have been able to rise through the ranks purely on ability (with
a five year experience bar) since the early 1980s, and when it
was perceived that there would be less need for their type of
skills, the PSB made a special effort to involve such officers in
retraining.
Performance differentials have resulted in some officers entering
the upper executive echelons of the APS (specifically the Senior
Executive Service - containing less than 1% of the administrators
in the APS) in their early twenties. Initially this was seen as a
good thing, as it highlighted that age discrimination (even if it
had existed in the Service) was no longer a problem; but by the
early 1990s it was increasingly seen that technology could
provide more support than most people could cope with (that is,
it was seen that more and more individuals [both students and
professionals] were suffering from "burn-out" as a result of
overstimulation from their environment).
From the late 1980s, to avoid addiction to terminals, students
and office workers were being encouraged to participate in sport,
arts and crafts, drama, and various other forms of physical and
social activity. All new office buildings have provided sports
facilities and showers, reading rooms, and other facilities for
physical and intellectual leisure. As many students and workers
are located in their homes, this is not always of great help in
getting them away from their terminals. In an effort to overcome
this, research is being undertaken into new types of sports which
incorporate the feedback and self-correcting aspects of
terminals. Also, computer systems themselves are being
increasingly designed to avoid "burnout" in operators, by
"keeping tabs" on their use of the systems and notifying the
operator and supervisors of unhealthy trends. Some models have
built-in warning lights and buzzers to indicate to the user that
a rest-time is overdue.
5-20. INTERNATIONAL TASK FORCES
Students, public servants, and other adults and young people who
have the ability, are increasingly working on international task
forces established by such bodies as the United Nations. A strong
push for increased youth involvement in U.N. task forces resulted
from pressure placed on the U.N. by young people during the
International Year of Youth in 1985.
A number of private groups have also facilitated youth
involvement. The Club of Rome in their book published in the late
1970s "No Limits to Learning" was particularly supportive of the
twin thrusts of youth "participation" in society and of young
people being trained to "anticipate" (possible, probable, and
preferable futures). It argued that young people should not only
be allowed to participate in societal activities, but should be
trained in how to anticipate, so that this participation could be
real and not tokenistic. Since the mid-1980s there has been an
increased use of computers to allow both for participation and
training (and facilitating) in the use of futures techniques.
Telecommunications technology has made significant participation
by previously non-involved persons possible at the international
level. This is particulary the case at the early stages of
discussion when innovative ideas are being sought.
5-21. MULTIPURPOSE SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS
All social institutions are seen as multipurpose rather than
single purpose. Increasingly, professionals and trades people are
participating in community education activities. Education is
seen as a lifelong process, in which all professions and trades
have a function. Also, there is growing recognition that clients
need to be educated to use the powers which they are increasingly
being given by the government in the areas of health, housing,
the law, and education. The emphasis is on assisting the
community to create its own future, rather than having a future
thrust upon it by forces over which individuals have no
influence.
The increased potential influence which individuals can exercise
over their own futures has partly resulted from smaller
institutions. In a sense, schools have become one-student
institutions: the student has significant control over what is
learnt, when it is learnt, the way it is learnt, and the pace at
which it is learnt. The same is true for public servants. Those
in policy positions now have the equivalent of a statistical
section, library, large numbers of clerical assistants, an
editorial team (both for graphics and written work), and a
personal assistant at their service. This means that virtually
any officer can have great administrative support at a very low
cost.
The supportive nature of this environment for both learners and
workers came as a shock to many; it was thrust onto a society
which was little prepared for it. Most of these changes occured
in the decade 1985 - 1995. It has been a period of exponential
growth. Governments have been hard-pressed to keep control of
developments.
5-22. REDUCED HIERARCHICAL EMPHASIS.
The powerful technologies available have tended to break down the
hierarchical approaches to education and public administrtion
which have existed for so long. Information is a form of power.
Access to information is thus related to power. With manual
systems it was much easier to restrict access than it now is with
automated systems. As all data analysis is done within computers
using standard packages, it is difficult to argue that requested
information is difficult to produce. Also, in the late 1980s
there was an acute awareness amongst the public about any
information to which they were not allowed access. A law has been
passed requiring that a red light flash on an individual's
terminal when he or she attempts to access information with a
higher security classification than he or she possesses. If the
person feels that the restriction of access is unreasonable,
there are established procedures for appeal. The ease with which
participants in the educational and government process can obtain
information has broken down hierarchical structures. More and
more a person's power is related to his or her ability to
contribute to the goals of the organisation rather than merely to
his or her formal position within that organisation.
5-23. MATRIX STRUCTURES IN EDUCATION AND PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
Related to the reduced emphasis on hierarchical structures has
been the all-pervasive nature of matrix approaches to
organisation in education and general public administration.
These incorporate the advantages of project and functional
approaches to organisation, with an emphasis on, respectively,
the achievement of specific measureable results facilitating
accountablity, and on the maintenance of functional expertise.
"The result is that vast numbers of people report to one boss for
purely administrative purposes and another (or a succession of
others) for practical get-the-work-done purposes." (Toffler,
1981, p. 270).
It has been found that "...computerized conferencing is
particularly good for interdisciplinary communications and
multidisciplinary projects." (Hiltz and Turoff, 1978, p. 249).
In education, teachers are allocated to functional areas (for
example, curriculum development, instructional technology,
community development, professional development, or a subject
area). Each functional area has a head who is responsible for the
development of expertise amongst his or her staff. Staff are
allocated to projects as required. Projects are organised on
topics as diverse as "The impact on education of the average life
span increasing to 100 years" and "The use of holographic
technologies in graphic communications". Staff work on project
teams for as long as necessary. Each project has a head who is
responsible for ensuring that deadlines are met. There is less
emphasis on the traditional teaching function in specific subject
area skills (at least in the cognitive domain, as compared with
the psychomotor and affective domains); much of this is done more
efficiently and effectively by computer.
In public administration there has been increasing emphasis
since the mid 1970s on the need for specific results to be
achieved. There was also a feeling that there was a need for
public administrators to be more willing to shift between areas
within the APS. By the mid 1980s increasing emphasis was being
placed on the use of matrix approaches in the APS, although,
initially, it was found that the complexity associated with large
scale adoption of matrix approaches in large systems resulted in
much confusion. However, the approach was found to work well in
clearly defined sub-sections of organisations - for example, in
the development of computer systems within large statutory
authorities.
By 1990 these difficulties had been overcome with the assistance
of data processing and telecommunications technologies. For
example, all projects are now co-ordinated with the assistance of
computerised PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique)
packages. Information on such things as staff preferences for
different types of projects, staff qualifications and experience,
staff development needs, and project progress, is all integrated
into the system.
"Ongoing transcripts of all conferences among middle managers
permit monitoring and/or intervention if an unwise decision seems
imminent." (Hiltz and Turoff, 1978, p. 144).
5-24. NEW APPROACHES TO PLANNING
There has been great emphasis on integrating matrix approaches to
organisation into a corporate planning perspective.
In the early 1980s the Department of Administrative Services
developed guidelines for the development of ADP stategic plans
for Commonwealth Public Service Departments. These plans
incorporated a five-year time horizon.
By the mid 1980s it was increasingly realised that Departments
needed corporate plans with broad goals, specific measureable
objectives (to facilitate accountablity), and clear strategies
designed to achieve the objectives outlined. Strategic plans were
then integrated into this plan for each functional area (for
example, data processing, personnel, and finance). In 1985 the
Public Service Board issued guidelines on the development of
corporate plans for Departments and also ran training courses in
this area for middle and top management. It was also decided to
hold regular six-monthly meetings between all Permanent Heads and
Ministers to assist with broadening the vision of Permanent Heads
on government goals (and the perspectives of Ministers on the
administrative implications of their ideas, the implementation of
which would relate to more than one Department).
As it was increasingly seen that there was a need to integrate
education with other areas at the State level, it was appreciated
that there was an increased need for State Education Departments
to also develop corporate plans. A particular emphasis in most of
these was on efficient interfacing between Education and other
relevant Departments. Education Departments were increasing their
roles in such areas as adult training (with a particular emphasis
on retraining, in comparison with initial training), training for
participation in societal decision making, and the implementation
of a lifelong education philosophy. The complexity of this (in
particular in relation to the need to use resources from a number
of Departments on many of the less traditional projects) was
controlled by using matrix approaches and by having clear goals
and objectives to work towards.
5-25. USE OF FUTURES TECHNIQUES
Rational techniques (such as strategic planning approaches) are
used to the maximum for efficient and effective policy
development. However, it is also recognised that "All these
rational techniques are auxiliary to creativity, which is the
central way to invent new and better alternatives." (Dror, 1968,
p. 179). Futures studies techniques such as scenario development
techniques, delphi, CIMAT (Cross Impact Matrix Analsysis on
Transparencies), games, role plays, and BOM (Brainstorming on
Microfiche) are used to facilitate the development of creative
alternatives. It is also increasingly recognised that face-to-
face meetings are not necessary for the generation of creative
approaches, and may actually inhibit their development.
5-26. "OPENNESS" OF COMPUTER CONFERENCING -
ADVANTAGES FOR
EVALUATION.
As well as an increased emphasis on the use of futures techniques
in the development of programs, there is an expanded emphasis on
the need for structured evaluation of the results of programs.
Face-to-face communication is used less than in the past in
evaluation exercises because it is much easier to make candid
comments via a computer terminal. Candid comments are essential
if educational and more general public administrative
organisational improvement consultancy is to work effectively.
"Experience confirms the point that the advisory relationship is
most effective when decision makers are willing to allow
themselves and their operation to be fully examined, and to
receive, as well as make, candid disclosure." (Lasswell, 1971, p.
79). This is facilitated at the beginning of the consultancy
process by allowing the participants (both consultants and
management) to make comments anonymously into terminals.
The openness of computer conferencing has also been found to have
indirect advantages in the area of evaluation. "One of the many
advantages of an open society is that evaluations of social
progress come from a variety of sources." (Jones, 1977, p. 19).
Evaluations too often tended to be closed-shop affairs, and were
often of a self-justifying nature. With computer conferencing it
has been easier to allow for wide participation in the evaluation
of educational and public administrative systems. For example,
one school council used conferencing to allow parents to input
ideas and criticisms at the early stage anonymously. It was found
that this increased dramatically the input at this stage. One
Commonwealth Department with a large number of service locations
allowed clients to input comments when they came for service via
the operator. The comments were analysed by a computer package.
CHAPTER 6. CASE STUDY
This section of the thesis is based on an interview which the
author held with Dr Mick March, Principal, Narrabundah College,
Canberra on 10 September 1983. Section 6-1 deals with the key
themes, and how they apply to the College at present. Section 6-2
deals with the broad question of how relevant the scenario
outlined in this thesis is likely to be to Narrabundah College in
1995.
A non-structured interview approach was used in which Dr March
was encouraged to comment on his own experience in relation to
the key themes and the scenario. The emphasis was on gaining an
appreciation of one Principal's views on how the key themes are
being implemented in one school system, and also his views on the
potential for the scenario to be realised by 1995. In relation to
the scenario the emphasis was on gaining one senior educational
administrator's perceptions of "probable" futures (as compared
with possible [as in the scenario] or preferable futures).
The interview with Dr March lasted for over two hours. This
section of the thesis does not consider Dr March's comments
exhaustively - instead the author has focused on a number of key
areas considered in the discussion.
Dr March has been principal at Narrabundah College since the
early 1970s. He has had previous experience as a High School
Principal in N.S.W. Narrabundah College is a Government senior
college in the A.C.T. schools' system (students being in Years 11
and 12).
My own comments on Dr March's views are included at the end of
each sub-section.
I have also included a section giving an overview of the
usefulness and implications of this interview (section 6-3) and
have included a number of proposals, flowing from the interview,
in the recommendations section.
6-1. THE KEY THEMES
6-1-1. Co-ordination.
Interviewer's comments:
Dr March indicated that being strongly technology-oriented can
tend to result in one losing sight of human-relations aspects of
administration. There is a possibility of depersonalising
information-processing once one gets into the machine age. He
indicated that if properly used, however, technological aids are
very useful.
He felt that one of the basic problems with data processing
technologies is the requirement that data input be extremely
accurate. Many teachers feel frightened and "put off" by the
precision required. One frequent criticism is that it will be the
computer, and not educational requirements, which will determine
how the school will be administered. There is a continual need to
personalise the information processing. It is important that the
people who put the information into the system get it back; that
is, that they have a sense of "ownership". A key aspect in the
ownership process is to train users.
Dr March also indicated that sometimes it is better to adopt a
less efficient model than a totally efficient model, if staff are
willing to support the less efficient model and make it work.
Researcher's reflection:
I agree that efficiency is not the only objective which needs to
be aimed for in developing data-processing systems to assist with
the co-ordination of educational processes. There is a need for
participants to feel some "ownership" of the system (in terms of
both its development and refinement). Human relations aspects are
also central if co-ordination is to be carried out effectively
(for example, teachers need to be "sold" on the need for input
data to be extremely accurate if the output is to be useful).
6-1-2. Devolution.
Interviewer's comments:
The A.C.T. government school system is a highly devolved one.
Devolution to schools is counterbalanced by the fact that it is a
very small system and a very visible operation. Although
responsiblity for decision-making rests in the schools, the
results of that decision-making are very visible.
In the A.C.T. the Principal is working with a highly educated
community. Dr March felt that this internal co-ordinating factor
makes for an excellent environment for devolution. He indicated
that, for the individual teacher in the A.C.T., there is much
more involvement in decision-making than in N.S.W. In the A.C.T.
the structures are more fluid, and project teams can be more
easily formed.
A difficulty with devolution is that governments are responsible
for decisions taken by public bodies. It is virtually impossible
for the Minister of Education to detach herself ultimately from
decisions taken in individual schools. Thus, there is a limit to
the extent to which devolution can take place.
Dr March indicated that devolution tends to be a representative
rather than a full participatory process. This can create a new
elite within the structure. Representatives tend to be better
educated people, who are already involved in the system at some
level. "John Citizen" will not necessarily either stand for
election or get elected. However, to make participation less
elite would involve the administrator attending even more
meetings than at present.
Another difficulty is that the more people become involved in the
decision-making process, the less weight the views of any one
participant on average will have. The more educational
administrators try to involve people, the less power any single
individual has. This results in a feeling of powerlessness for
people who are participating. There is, however, a non-zero sum
of power. One can share power, build it up, and form coalitions.
Dr March indicated that most people experience frustrations at
times because of the slowness of the A.C.T. educational decision-
making structure. For example, even the A.C.T. Schools Authority
cannot make decisions which will "stick". They attempted to close
Watson High School and failed - as a result of community
pressure. The school is now temporarily closed because of the
"asbestos scare" - again because of union and community pressure.
Researcher's reflection:
It is clear from Dr March's comments that there is a degree of
conflict between devolution and Ministerial accountability (as I
have considered in Section 1-2 of this thesis). Also, it is
interesting to consider how the educational level of communities
could affect devolution. If devolution is to be carried out
effectively, it is essential that both well-educated and less
well-educated parents be able to participate. The key difference
between these groups of parents would be that one group would
need little facilitation to participate in a devolved structure
and the other would need facilitation. Clearly there is a need
for an advocacy role in relation to participation by the poorly
educated. It is also important to consider ways of facilitating
new approaches to participatory-based involvement (compared with
representative involvement). For example, it might be appropriate
to consider such approaches as "Search" conferences which can
involve large numbers of people considering policy options.
"Search" approaches can be compared with traditional approaches
to considering technological change, which only involve elite
decision-makers.
6-1-3. Participation.
Interviewer's comments:
Parents, teachers, students, and other citizens can participate
in School Boards (school governing bodies) in the A.C.T.
Dr March indicated that the majority of non-teacher or non-
student members of School Boards tend to be either parents of
students, or ex-students. It is rare for a Board to ever have its
full quota of community representatives nominate for positions.
For example, at Narrabundah College elections for School Boards
are held only occasionally.
Dr March indicated that teachers can participate through school
boards, faculty meetings, executive planning meetings and so on.
The extent to which this results in real participation varies
from school to school. To some people a staff meeting is a
meeting where the Principal tells the staff what they will do.
Other schools have staff meetings which allow all staff members
to contribute.
Participation by teachers also occurs in the promotion process.
Dr March felt that this is important if teachers are to be
"professionals" in the true sense of the word. The ideal of peer
involvement in the measurement of professionalism is a key
feature of this concept. However, there are difficulties. It is
hard for a teacher's peers to tell him or her that he or she
should not be considered eligible for promotion (even after
perhaps twenty years of teaching).
Dr March indicated that most secondary schools have student
councils. However, Narrabundah College has experienced various
lengthy periods when, because of a lack of student support, there
was no student council. A council has recently been re-
established.
Generally, popular students are elected to the School Board.
There is a danger that the students on the School Board will
eventually come to be seen as part of the establishment. There
needs to be a mechanism for student representatives on School
Boards to report back to fellow students. Without a student
council this is difficult; however, newsletters can assist.
Researcher's reflections:
These comments show that a key feature of professionalism is the
determination of standards by the professionals themselves.
Certainly in relation to teacher promotions it is clear that
there is a heavy emphasis on professionalism in the A.C.T.
However, it could be argued that the extensive involvement of
other groups (such as parents, students, and other community
groups) in educational decision-making limits the professional
autonomy of teachers. This is an increasingly common feature of
all professions (for example, there is increasing emphasis on
disadvantaged groups having more control over medical processes,
and government control over accounting standards).
It is also clear from Dr March's comments that it is much more
difficult to establish a participatory, compared with a
representative, model for community participation in school
governance.
6-1-4. Decentralisation.
Interviewer's comments:
Dr March stated that there has always been a limit to freedom,
and that there always will be.
In relation to the A.C.T. schools system this means that only
well thought-out decisions can "survive". There are so many
checks and balances that a radical decision will need to be very
good to be accepted. Regrettably, some quite good decisions never
get off the ground because of the excessive difficulty in
decision-making.
Dr March felt that there is a general conservatism of both
parents and students in a time of economic recession. This makes
change more difficult, even though it is possible under the
formal rules. Students are particularly conservative; they are
less adventurous than they were in the middle 1970s. Some
students seem to see education as a race to gain marks. They
worry about employment and the competitive nature of entry to
tertiary studies. In 1975, when Narrabundah College surveyed
students about the subjects they wanted to study, there was a
great diversity of subjects requested (in such things as life
skills), but few students ever actually took these subjects when
they were eventually offered as part of the curriculum.
Conservatism in curriculum choice also results from external
pressures. Dr March indicted that the subjects which are accepted
as part of a tertiary package are becoming more rigourously
scrutinised. The Australian National University is exerting more
pressure on the content of subjects for tertiary entrance and has
complete freedom in either accepting or rejecting College
syllabi.
In 1982 the Economics faculty at A.N.U. had a very poor pass rate
in first year courses. They responded by blaming the Colleges,
and by laying down strict criteria on the content of College
Economics courses (if they are to count for A.N.U. admissions
purposes), even though there is no close relationship between
studying Economics at College and at University.
Researcher's reflections:
It is clear from Dr March's comments that there are a number of
limits to the impact of a decentralised structure on a particular
College. These factors include the review procedures through
which all decisions need to pass, the conservative nature of
students and parents (particularly in times of economic
constraint), and external factors (such as tertiary
institutions). It could also be argued that a structure which
only allows for "good" (that is universally accepted) decisions
to survive will tend to be one which is not able to respond
quickly to social changes, or to give encouragement to
innovators.
6-1-5. Consultation.
Interviewer's comments:
Dr March indicated that if a Principal is to involve himself in
radical change, he will generally have meetings with staff,
parents, and students. At present Narrabundah College is
examining its aims and objectives. It has brought in consultants
to structure such meetings. The consultation process in this case
has not extended to the whole community.
Narrabundah College recently organised a day for students to
consider the aims and objectives of the school. Attendance was
not compulsory, and only twenty students attended.
Researcher's reflections:
It is clear that consultation is particularly important if a
Principal wishes to introduce changes. However, the offer of
consultation will not always result in participation
(particularly when more attractive alternative uses of time are
available). This is highlighted by the lack of student interest
until recently in having a Student Council (as outlined in
Section 6-1-3).
Technology and computer-based procedures may facilitate
consultation and participation, in that they can allow for
student input at times convenient to them, and in ways which are
non-threatening. Interpersonal interaction must be retained as
being of primary importance; the technology should be seen as a
supplement to other approaches to consultation, not as a
replacement for them.
6-1-6. Networks.
Interviewer's comments:
Dr March outlined various types of education networks in the
A.C.T. which influence Narrabundah College.
There is a local education network. This involves the High
Schools and Primary Schools in a College's immediate region. The
problem is that the student population of most Colleges comes
from across the A.C.T. (and also from other States and even
overseas).
Regional meetings of School Boards are held occasionally so that
if a primary school is planning a new curriculum innovation (for
example, the introduction of a new language course) it can liaise
with other schools (for example, secondary schools) which might
be interested in developing a co-ordinated approach between
different levels of education in the region.
The College is involved in a network of international schools
through the International Baccalaureat Program (this is a year 12
program acceptable for tertiary entrance purposes in a number of
countries). The College also has close link with Senior Colleges
in Tasmania.
Principals nationally have close linkages; for example, a High
School Principals' conference was held recently in Canberra, and
the National Conference of Principals of Independent Schools was
held in Brisbane early in 1983.
Teachers tend to network through professional Teachers'
Assocations (for example, in Mathematics) which are organised
locally, and are part of national bodies.
Many educational administrators in the A.C.T. are involved in the
Australian Council of Educational Administrators. Senior
educational professionals often are members of the Australian
College of Education.
At the Year 12 level the A.C.T. Schools Authority is linked with
a number of examining bodies. The Australian Conference of
Examining Bodies meets two times a year. Representatives from the
agencies are involved in the meetings, and there is generally a
teacher representative from each agency (usually a College
Principal in the case of the A.C.T.).
Dr March felt that there is not as much networking as there ought
to be. For example, it is rare for all the staff development
funds to ever be completely expended in the A.C.T. Also,
sometimes it is very difficult to get staff to investigate
educational projects elsewhere in Australia.
Researcher's reflections:
It is clear from the above comments that there are extensive
networks of all aspects of education in the A.C.T. These networks
are organised along both functional (for example, subject area)
and project (for example, the International Baccalaureat Program)
lines. However, it could also be argued that information on
networking opportunities is not as widely available as it should
be, given the fact that all the money available for staff
development purposes is rarely expended.
Further, the increasing costs associated with actual attendance
at National conferences, or with national data collection for
research, are becoming prohibitive for many potential delegates
and researchers. It is clear that the new computer-based
technologies will have the potential to permit greater national
involvement without actual attendance, and in these ways,
educators of all types should be significantly assisted with this
type of networking.
6-2. SCENARIO
This section of the discussion focused on Narrabundah College and
the relevance of certain aspects of the scenario to possible
futures for Narrabundah College up to 1995.
6-2-1. Computer packages.
Interviewer's comments:
Dr March argued that many people deplore the fact that, partly
because of the influence of the modern calculator, some students
cannot perform routine mathematical processes such as the long-
division algorithm. He indicated that the advantage of the
calculator, if properly used, is that examples of real-life
mathematics can be looked at without the arithmetic obscuring the
logic of the problems. Once one gets to the stage of being able
to program as well, the ability to explore ideas, structures, and
logic by numerical analysis is extended tremendously. This can be
done without being detrimental (according to many people) to the
individual's ability to calculate. However, some balance must be
drawn between understanding concepts and technical skills.
Mathematicians have been the first to use computers. This is not
surprising, taking into account the logical processes involved.
However, computers are now spreading into other subject areas.
For example, at Narrabundah College a computer has been installed
to teach students word processing techniques. It is essential
that typists learn these techniques, for it will not be long
before all businesses have simple word processors. The science
department at the College has requested that mini computers be
made available for use in physics courses. The design technology
teachers are investigating computer graphics package usage. These
can be used in the technical drawing component of courses. They
can assist with giving students a clearer understanding of
perspective, and general design principals. A synthesiser is used
in the music department - this is based on microchip technology.
In the College students are free to choose the subjects they wish
to study. Thus, there is no way that typing can be made part of a
"core curriculum". There are no compulsory subjects at all.
Nevertheless, Dr March indicated that in future there will need
to be an increased emphasis on keyboard skills. Students will
also tend to learn to type at home using home computers.
He feels that packages will be used extensively by 1990 and
almost universally in Australian education by 1995.
Packages will also be used in educational administration.
Narrabundah College has been using computer systems since the
early 1970s. Many reports are generated. However, this is not
necessarily a good thing, because the reports produced do not
necessarily focus on the information need of the educational
administrator. The current administration computer system at
Narrabundah College is batch-based rather than real-time via
terminals. In such an environment it is possible to print-out the
academic status of every student but not to have a terminal in
the principal's office which he could use to gain customised
reports quickly.
Dr March believed that by 1995 senior teachers and educational
administrators would have terminals on their desks, and would
obtain reports via "user-friendly" query languages.
Researcher's reflections:
I agree that real-time systems will enable educational
administrators to access information in a more focused fashion.
However, such systems will only be used efficiently if
administrators are trained to use the systems to gain the
information they require. With interactive query-based languages
becoming generally available (designed to allow information
systems users to request customised reports using English
language-like commands), this training should emphasise report
design rather than computer programming. As is clear from the
scenario in this thesis, I also agree with Dr March's vision of
the extensive use of computer packages in all subject areas and
their expanded use in the home. For example, extremely effective
economical interactive packages are already available to teach
skills such as typing.
6-2-2. The role of school and public libraries.
Interviewer's comments:
Dr March argued that broadening the role of libraries and
allowing students to learn from home would produce individualised
learning and a lack of control and standardisation. He felt that
this would worry many educators. From a cynical point of view, it
could be argued that many educators and community members would
not care what people know, as long as everyone knew the same
thing. It is the fact that different people know different things
that causes concern.
He felt that the use of mastery learning packages is not related
to the way people learn. They tend to create boredom and force
people to go through learning steps unnecessarily. They do not
take account of the enormous capacity of the human mind. This
learning facility needs to be built into packages. Dr March
doubted that the problems with mastery learning packages will be
solved by 1995. The combined effect of many people "out to make a
quick quid" and many teachers being lazy in their teaching and
software-selection process means that much software will be of a
very poor quality. Schools will need to have a rigourous ADP
strategic plan, and all proposed software purchases will need to
be thoroughly tested.
Dr March felt that the actual role of the teacher as an
intervener in the learning process would have to be developed if
students were to learn from home. Teachers would need to have a
considerable amount of training to play this new role, and
teachers at present have not always had the necessary training.
However, once this sort of learning becomes more common, teachers
will want to learn about it. Conservative forces will need to be
overcome. People will need to be conditioned to think of this
learning as acceptable.
One approach to this would be to have pilot programs. The "School
without Walls" (an innovative Government school in Canberra which
emphasises the use of community resources) could be such a pilot.
This school was designed to use community resources, with
students spending much of their time outside the school building
learning in the community (using such organisations as the
National Library as learning resources). In the pilot program,
students would learn on their own at home with the aid of
computer terminals much of the time, and the school would act
purely as a co-ordinating body.
As regards a more conventional community education approach
mentioned in the scenario, Dr March indicated that most schools
in the A.C.T. do not have community libraries (libraries
available outside school hours). He felt that it could be a very
effective use of a school resource, and would be a positive goal
to work towards.
Researcher's reflections:
As regards the last point mentioned above, I feel that the cost
of allowing for the duplication of such resources as libraries
will ensure that school and community libraries are combined or
closely coordinated, and accessible to all.
Dr March's comments on mastery learning software are based on
approaches to computer assisted instruction which are out of
date, but which are regrettably still reflected in some
commercially available software. Good mastery learning software
now has a testing component which allows students to "jump"
modules of a learning program which they already understand to a
predefined level of competence. The software can also be designed
to allow for customisation to the learning style which best suits
the individual learner (for example, strongly graphically or
prose-oriented, depending on the student's success in learning
earlier material based on alternative presentation approaches).
As with all types of packages, it is essential that the software
be tested before purchase, and fit in with an overall ADP plan
for the school. However, this does not mean that computerised
mastery learning approaches as such are inappropriate as Dr
March's comments would seem to suggest.
Both pre-service and in-service training of teachers will need to
reflect rapid changes in technology and their applications in
education. If this is not done, teachers will not cope, and by
default, will become increasingly redundant.
6-2-3. Innovative approaches to education.
Interviewer's comments:
On the issue of parents playing a key role in the education of
the young, Dr March indicated that schools were established to
meet a particular need in society. Certain skills were needed to
survive in the late nineteenth century, which the average parent
did not have. Consequently it was necessary to provide "elders"
(teachers) to children in an isolated environment (the school).
Dr March wondered whether in the future parents would have the
skills needed to impart knowledge. Even if parents were to play a
role, Dr March felt that teacher the would still be essential for
isolating and packaging information in an accessible way. He felt
that teachers will need less specialised knowledge, and more
skills in facilitating learning and accessing information.
Dr March did not feel that the full vision of the scenario will
have been achieved by 1995. He cited as evidence for this his
view that in the last decade in the A.C.T., changes have not been
as dramatic as envisaged in the scenario. Instead, the progress
which has occured has tended to be of "a few steps forward and a
few steps back" nature. However, he did feel that there will be a
growing call for data base and networking access. There will be
less emphasis on textbook learning and more on using data bases
and networks generally (if these are readily available). He felt
that people may have some difficulty in adjusting to involvement
in extensive international liaison via networks.
Dr March indicated that lifelong learning could be very costly if
current approaches are used. However, the use of new technologies
may make it cheaper to allow for this type of education.
Researcher's reflections:
I feel that there is real potential for parents to play a key
role in the education of the young. Where they do not have the
basic necessary skills, it is the responsiblity of the education
system to provide programs to assist them in gaining these
skills. It is regrettable that with Australia's low participation
rates in education (for persons over fifteen years of age) many
parents (unless there are significant changes) will continue to
lack the higher level conceptual skills necessary for them to
assist the young in learning. This does not change the
desirability of the vision - it means that more resources must be
put into assisting adults learn the necessary skills.
The rate of change in the last decade in the A.C.T. may have been
relatively slow; however, inexpensive and powerful communications
and computing technologies were not available at that time. The
development of inexpensive computer networks and related
technologies needs to be recognised as being potentially as
significant as the development of the printing press for
learning. If these technologies are not applied quickly, human
potential will be wasted. This must be seen as the crime which it
is, rather than as "a continuation of past trends". Adult
education will also need to increase people's awareness of the
potential uses of the new technologies, if significant numbers of
community members are to become involved in such things as
international networks.
6-2-4. Approaches to career education.
Interviewer's comments:
Dr March posed the question of whether we will be talking much
about careers in 1995. Unemployment could be as high as 30 or
40%. He felt that people will have to be educated to foresake the
ideal of having a conventional career, and that there would be a
need to break down the rewards associated with having careers.
He felt that mentors (which were considered in section 5-5 of the
scenario) could be paid to assist other people in learning broad
skills (not purely as a career education device as envisaged in
the scenario).
In relation to the "Adopt-a-School" concept, he indicated that
businesses do not adopt local schools in Canberra, although some
businesses offer prizes for school competitions. Work experience
goes some of the way towards this concept.
Researcher's reflections:
I agree that unemployment will continue to rise, and that there
is a need to broaden one's vision in relation to career
education. I would agree that mentors could be used to assist
young people in gaining an appreciation of such diverse
activities as how to participate in handicrafts or in social
change processes. I do not agree with Dr March's view that the
rewards associated with having a conventional career need to be
broken down. What is needed instead is for much of the potential
satisfaction from having a career (such as the feeling of
contributing, and being able to have a reasonable standard of
living) to be offered to the unemployed, through involvement in
non-career based activities.
6-2-5. Communicative competence.
Interviewer's comments:
Dr March felt that a broader concept of communicative competence
is an ideal goal. However, this assumes a basic level of
intellectual competence. For some people this level may be too
high, and may be undesirable even if it could be attained. From a
cynical point of view, it may be better to keep people ignorant.
The only people who start revolutions are those who know they are
badly off.
He indicated that a significant part of schooling (he prefered
not to use the word "education" in this context) is for strong
socialising. Fundamental survival skills are taught with an
emphasis on the need to obey rules (in relation to such things as
physical violence). He wondered if such socialisation could occur
if students learnt from home. He indicated that schools keep
children together and form them into a society. If they learn at
home they may become more individualistic (even if well taught)
and interpersonal skills may suffer.
By 1995 people will be using the new technologies but, if they
are too mechanically complex, some people will feel discouraged
from using them. It is therefore essential that the equipment be
"user-friendly", simple, and developmental. There must be a
structure which will assist people to learn broader communicative
skills, but which will also allow them to proceed at their own
pace. It will take at least 12 years to achieve this.
Researcher's reflections:
I would agree with Dr March that it is important for children to
learn basic social values. This can be achieved through them
being at school with other young people some of the time. Also,
students who behave in deviant fashions could be required to
attend schools in a way similar to that in which deviant young
people at present are required to attend remand centres. However,
I do not feel it should be necessary for all young people to
attend school 100% of the time in order to learn how to behave in
society. In fact, it could be argued that more deviants are
created by schools than are reformed by them (in that schools
give disadvantaged children a feeling of inadequacy and failure
which may result in them seeking rewards in socially undesirable
ways). I would also argue that Australian society needs more
creative individuals if it is to remain internationally
competitive in a global economy increasingly based on the
creation, storage, and communication of knowledge rather than on
the production of goods and services in tightly defined
hierarchical organisations. If this is the case education should
encourage, rather than stifle, individualism.
6-2-6. National educational data base.
Interviewer's comments:
Dr March agreed with Bennett that there is conflict between
freedom of information and privacy ([1980, p. 3] as outlined in
section 4-3-3 of this thesis).
He felt that it is desirable for people to have strong
information-accessing rights. However, it is also critical that
bad information not "follow people" forever. People should be
able to "shrug-off" a negative label, and not be permanently
classified as deviants. Data needs to be edited regularly, so
that people know what information is held about them (they would
be given copies of their records as a part of this process), and
records relating to childrens' court offences should not be held
for long periods.
Researcher's reflections:
I feel that Dr March's specific proposals in regards to privacy
protection could play an important part in ensuring that a degree
of privacy is maintained in a "Network Nation". The concept of
keeping only negative information on persons for a specified time
would be worthy of further exploration, but it should not apply
to more major crimes.
6-2-7. Distance education.
Interviewer's comments:
Dr March agreed that a national educational data base on
itinerant students would, if established, prove very helpful, but
felt the logistics could be overwhelming.
He predicted that satellites will have as big an impact as the
pedal-radio did for education in isolated areas. Such
technologies will also assist with teachers' conferences.
National conferences are becoming very difficult to arrange at
present, partly because of the increasing cost of travel. At the
same time, the desire for national conferences is growing. Dr
March felt that educators need to look for new ways of exchanging
information. It may not be as enjoyable to sit in front of a
terminal to participate in an international conference as to
attend a conference in person (for example, in Miami); however,
many international conferences could be organised more
efficiently on a regional basis with interchange of information
via computer networks between regions.
Researcher's reflections:
I agree with Dr March that there is real potential for new
technologies to be used in facilitating the interchange of
information between educators as a supplement to other
approaches. It would be appropriate for the Australian College of
Education to approach the Overseas Telecommunications Authority
to fund a pilot linkage of regional conferences between
professional educational assocations in different parts of the
world.
6-2-8. Adult education.
Interviewer's comments:
Dr March doubted that continuing education would be required of
large numbers of professionals in order to maintain their status
by 1995. However, he did indicate that the Teachers Federation in
the A.C.T. has accepted involvement in continuing education as a
criteria for promotion. Compulsory attendance at courses to
maintain status industrially is not, however, required.
He indicated that compulsory continuing education may be more
likely to come in the para-professional areas. For example,
doctors may apply pressure to require continuing education for
nurses, rather than for themselves. The people at the "top of the
tree" generally see themselves as fairly competent and not
requiring continuing upgrading, but they see a need for this for
"the minions". Dr March felt that, similarly, the Principal of
the school is more likely to require continuing professional
development of his staff rather than for himself. Yet intuitively
it may be that the administrators are the ones who are most in
need of continuing education, and are possibly the ones least
likely to receive it.
Researcher's reflections:
I would agree with Dr March that it is likely that para-
professionals will have pressure put upon them to accept
compulsory continuing education (if only to up-grade their
status). However, I also feel that professionals will feel
increasing pressures to define compulsory continuing education
requirements for themselves, as the public becomes less
deferential towards them. If professions do not define these
requirements for themselves it is likely that governments will do
it for them. The need for continuing professional development is
likely to grow exponentially, as will technological change.
6-2-9. Leisure.
Interviewer's comments:
Dr March felt that there is a need to break down the distinction
between work and leisure in peoples' conceptual frameworks. By
1995 we may need to think about all human activity not
necessarily being categorised in as value-laden a way as at
present. For example, some people currently talk about leisure as
being less valuable than work.
Researcher's reflections:
I would agree with Dr March that there is a need to break down
distinctions between work and leisure. I feel that technologies
such as computer networking could facilitate this by allowing
people to work from home, to search for information in their
leisure time, and to work in team situations. One would hope that
such approaches would tend to make work less alienating, and
allow for the incorporation of some of the positive aspects of
work in leisure activities. Also, such technologies could assist
with the development of new leisure pursuits which are more
socially developmental than the often non-participatory sporting
activities which many Australians currently watch on television
most weekends, and increasingly during the week as well.
Governments will increasingly be called upon to provide and
financially support such gainful social activity.
We need to redefine work and leisure and ensure that people are
gainfully engaged in some activity for the 30 hour working week.
These activities may not be "work" according to our present
conceptions of employment. It is clear that many future
employment opportunities will often be in the information and
human development areas, and educators must be trained to convey
this to students and the entire community. Notions of
unemployment must be re-conceived to refer to those who are not
gainfully engaged in productive activity.
6-2-10. School buildings.
Interviewer's comments:
Dr March believed that school buildings will still exist in 1995.
They will be used partly as central agencies for organising
educational experiences. He found it difficult to see how
practical subjects such as science, art, and physical education
could be taught efficiently at home. Art may become more
terminal-oriented; but computers cannot produce quality paintings
as conventionally interpreted. Also, learning practical skills
like motor maintenence (psycho-motor skills) requires hands-on
experience with a teacher observing. It is too costly for
everyone to have his own backyard laboratory.
He commented that it is interesting to note that the subjects
which many peope see at present as the "raison d'etre" of the
educational process could be taught at home for a large
percentage of the time (for example, mathematics and English).
Researcher's reflections:
I agree with Dr March that the role of schools will change, and
that many psycho-motor skills will still need to be taught in a
group environment in 1995. However, this does not affect the
viability of the broad thrust of my scenario, which does not
propose that students learn at home 100% of the time. Also, Dr
March does not appear to appreciate the potential for students to
develop "masterpieces" on terminals with sophisticated
graphics/artistic packages. Computer systems can simulate such
things as chemistry experiments, and motor maintenance
activities, often saving money and not exposing students to
dangers from explosions (effectively this could allow every
student to have a "backyard laboratory"). My own view is that
students will learn aspects of all subjects at home, and other
aspects at school.
I would agree that the school will continue to play a role in
1995, but that it will be significantly changed, and very likely
specialise in particular activities. It is virtually certain that
the school will generally be an all-age community education
centre, rather than restricted to children and young people as is
often the case at present. There will be a particular emphasis on
the school providing a venue for socialisation.
6-2-11. Terminal addiction.
Interviewer's comments:
Dr March indicated that already some students are "hooked" on
computer terminals. These are usually not the best students;
rather, students who are less successful in a conventional
learning environment seem to gain some measure of success and
satisfaction in being able to use computer systems.
Researcher's reflections:
I would comment that it is regrettable that schools have not been
designed so that "average" students can receive from normal
education the sort of feedback and re-inforcement they gain from
computers. There is a need for educators to recognise that the
features which computers offer (such as immediate feedback of
results and the ability to study at one's own pace) are essential
if average students are to find educational experiences as
positive as possible.
6-2-12. International task forces.
Interviewer's comments:
Dr March was unsure whether young people could be involved in
international task forces. As an ideal he felt that it would be a
positive thing; however, he indicated that there is a limit to
educators' imagination. Where values are concerned, most people
are innately conservative. For example, some educators would
reject the use of international task forces as a learning mode
because it is not possible to test international task force
participation. Skills and knowledge which can be more easily
tested tend to be taught.
Researcher's reflections:
I would agree with Dr March on this last point. However, this
does not make it any less important for educational programs to
be broadened to include such things as international task force
participation by young people. Educators with an interest in the
use of such techniques could start working now on new approaches
to evaluating such activities, so that they can be introduced
more easily into conventional school programs.
As educators, we should be more careful that we do not shy-away
from difficult decisions. If educators are to have an influence
in the curriculum content of the future, then issues such as the
one above must be confronted and pursued.
6-2-13. Multi-purpose social institutions.
Interviewer's comments:
Dr March indicated that we tend to be a very specialised society.
He felt that the development of multi-purpose institutions would
be one approach to overcoming this. Another would be to have
greater interchange between institutions. Dr March was unsure
which approach he favoured, but felt that the motivation of the
individuals involved could be a problem in implementing such
approaches (for example, in the context of a Youth Remand
Centre).
Researcher's reflections:
My own feeling is that there needs to be more interchange between
institutions (in the short term) but that institutions should
also aim to be more fluid and multi-purpose in the longer term.
Economic and technological costs will prohibit all institutions
from providing all services. However, it will become an economic
and social necessity for institutions to be flexible whilst
developing strong networks with other institutions, and to be
specialised in certain areas. Society is pluralistic, and
practice would tend to indicate the multi-purpose pluralistic
institutions are the more stable politically.
6-2-14. Matrix structures.
Interviewer's comments:
Dr March felt that expertise will become more important than
position in hierarchies. He felt the thesis that devolution will
mean less emphasis being placed on formal position power, was a
supportable one, since more information would be distributed.
However, he also indicated that many people gain their rewards
from their personal position and status, and that it is part of a
basic human tendency to evaluate people using a hierarchical
approach.
Researcher's reflections:
I would agree that position power will become less important in a
devolved computerised structure. However, I disagree that it is
part of basic human nature to evaluate people according to their
position in a hierarchy. In Western cultures this is certainly
part of current business cultures; however, person-centred value
systems are gradually becoming more generally held. These will
become more pervasive as there is less need to motivate people to
aspire to senior formal positions in tightly structured
hierarchical organisations, which diminish much of a person's
individuality in return for a high income and social esteem.
6-2-15. New approaches to planning.
Interviewer's comments:
Dr March indicated that planning approaches are being continually
developed in education. People are becoming more experienced with
them in the A.C.T. Schools Authority (for example, in relation to
assisting schools update their aims and objectives). He felt that
new technologies could facilitate more efficient consultation
with the community in relation to these processes (assuming
citizens are receptive to being involved).
Researcher's reflections:
I agree with Dr March that planning approaches are continually
being developed, and that new technologies could facilitate more
broad-based consultation with wider community groups in
educational planning.
The concepts of co-ordination, devolution, participation,
consultation, and networking are inter-related and will each have
a significant role in the planning approaches to be used to best
accommodate and gain from the new technologies.
6-3. CONCLUSIONS
I found my discussion with Dr. March very useful in terms of
considering both the relevance of the key themes to an
educational administrator's experience in a particular education
system, and also how the scenario might be implemented in a
particular school.
In relation to the implementation of the scenario Dr. March made
me particularly aware of the following:
* The need for in-service education for both teachers and
educational administrators if new technologies are to be used
effectively. This in-service should include components dealing
with the use of mastery learning computer packages, the use of
computers in non-traditional subject areas, and the use of real-
time computer systems in educational administration (as compared
with batch-based systems).
* The need for schools to be careful in their selection of
computer software. I would argue that all schools should have an
overall ADP strategic plan (as do Commonwealth Departments) and
that software should only be purchased if it can be shown to fit
within this plan, and has been properly tendered for and fully
tested.
* The need for research to be undertaken into what senior
educational policy makers perceive as the goals of education. If
it is desired that a significant proportion of young people
should remain relatively ignorant and come away from school with
a feeling of powerlessness, then it would be most inappropriate
for many of the technologies considered in this thesis to be used
in education. My own feeling is that such an appreciation of the
purpose of education would be held by virtually no present day
education policy-makers (although it could be argued that this is
the result of current approaches to education in many cases, even
if it is not the intended purpose).
* There needs to be further research undertaken into how parents
could assist with the education of their own children. In
particular, it needs to be determined whether more educational
resources should be directed to new approaches to adult education
so that parents can gain the necessary conceptual and teaching
skills that will assist them in participating in the education of
their children.
* More research needs to be undertaken into approaches to
participative consultative processes in education (as compared
with representative approaches), which do not require senior
educational administrators (in this case Principals) to give
unreasonably of their time and effort.
* Further research needs to be undertaken into the question of
what skills will be needed in order for people to be defined as
"communicatively competent" in the twenty-first century.
Particular consideration needs to be given to new types of
information acquisition, processing, and dissemination, skills.
* Consideration needs to be given to the question of how core
social values can be taught to young people using computer
networks as an aid.
* Research needs to be undertaken into how regional conferences
based on the use of communications networks could be made more
attractive for participants (as compared with, for example,
attending an international conference in person).
* It would be useful to know why students can become "terminal
addicts" but very rarely become "addicts" to learning in
conventional learning environments.
* Consideration will need to be given to how educational
administrators who gain their satisfaction from their position
and status could be kept satisfied in an organisation which
values expertise rather than formal authority.
More generally, Dr. March has made me aware of how detached one
can become, when dealing with possible futures, from the actual
every-day considerations faced by senior educational
administrators.
There is real value for persons attempting to develop possible
and preferable futures to have regular discussions with pragmatic
senior administrators working in the system they are studying.
This will not necessarily change the researcher's vision. What it
will do is make him or her aware of issues which need to be faced
if the vision is to be "sold" to senior practitioners in the
field of interest.
7. CONCLUSIONS.
Specific conclusions relating to Chapter 6 of this thesis are
included in sub-section 6-3.
In this thesis I have considered how a number of key themes are
currently interacting in public administration and education (in
chapter 4) and how they could affect them in the future (in
chapter 5). This is followed by a case study which includes
consideration of the limitations to the effective implementation
of the key themes, as seen by one educational administrator,
currently working in the A.C.T. school's system, together with
his views on the positive and negative features which he saw in
the scenario. The case study was particularly useful in
highlighting one senior educational administrator's view of a
probable future for education in the A.C.T. in relation to
technological change.
In general terms, my key conclusion, based on the evidence I have
analysed in this thesis, is that computer conferencing, data
processing, and other new technologies (including new approaches
to organisational design) have great potential to assist with the
restructuring of educational and general public administrative
systems in the 1980s and 90s.
They could be used to:-
* Make educational opportunities more universally available
throughout people's lifetimes. This is an essential attribute of
an educational system which is designed to assist people in
coping with a rapid rate of change. It is also essential if the
economy is to respond rapidly to changes in demand for goods and
services (both domestically and internationally).
* Increase flexibility of working arrangements. This will have
real potential to assist previously disadvantaged groups to be
involved in the workforce (for example, married women with young
children). It will also allow people to have greater choices in
their lifestyles.
* Allow for increased involvement of persons in societal
governance. This is particularly important if democratic
decision-making is to result in decisions which are based on
correct information.
* Improve evaluative procedures both in education and general
public administration. In a society which is increasingly
questioning the effectiveness and efficiency of governmental
programs, it is essential that all techniques (particularly
relatively low-cost techniques) which could assist with the
focusing of resources in areas where they will have the most
impact be used.
* Reduce the gap which currently exists between work and
education. In a society in which there is a need for regular
retraining, it is important that this gap be diminished.
* Reduce the current gap between work and leisure. This would
partly result from the increased flexibility which workers would
have in determining their work patterns. It would also partly
result from the multiple uses to which such technologies as
computer terminals and networks could be put (for example, they
could be used for both personal and business communications).
* Provide massive support of an information accessing,
processing, and presentation type to both workers and students.
This information will be able to be provided much more
inexpensively and efficiently than at present. Also, the emphasis
will be on assisting both workers and students focusing-in on the
exact type of information they need (with the aid of technology)
to avoid information overload (that is, there will be an emphasis
on exception reporting in business and tight problem-definition
in education).
* Improve understanding between nations, and reduce the need to
travel in order to communicate with people of different cultures.
This would both reduce the use of non-renewable resources, and
reduce the potential for warfare resulting from misunderstandings
between persons from different cultures (in the longer term).
* Facilitate new approaches to governance, with more types of
linkages between citizens and their representatives in
Parliament. This is particularly useful when one considers the
very limited time which parliamentarians have in which to meet
personally with their constituents.
Some dangers which need to be considered before these
technologies are introduced on a wide scale include:-
* That "...the technology is more portable than people often
realize and those countries that offer the best [in this context
meaning the least controlled] regulatory environment could easily
become world information centers." (Hiltz and Turoff, 1978, p.
459).
* The need to involve citizens and unions in planning for their
introduction. The non-involvment of unions in technological
change has resulted in industrial disputation. It has also
resulted in the inefficient selection and use of the technology
in question. It is essential that workers be able to have an
input into the selection of new technologies, since they often
have a different perspective from management on the "non-
formalised" aspects of the system with which they work.
* The need to ensure that privacy is maintained. It is
particularly important to ensure that international data enclaves
are not allowed to develop which could process Australian data
without the need for the protections which Australian law
specifies.
* In relation to privacy "...it would cost little to intercept,
screen, and automatically analyze all the computer-stored
communications that a person sends [via a computer conferencing
system]." (Hiltz and Turoff, 1978, p. 488).
* The need to avoid burn-out and other occupational health
problems resulting from the over-stimulation which such systems
can provide. This is particularly important when one takes into
account the high rate of burn-out which already occurs with
executives using manual systems and the almost addictive nature
of many computer games.
* The need to ensure that, where such systems are used for
evaluation (of either students or workers), the emphasis is on
providing ways of improving rather than on purely negative
evaluation. The dangers in using the equipment purely to control
operators is reflected in the sophisticated monitoring packages
which are already in use for computer input personnel: these will
no doubt become more sophisticated in future (and include
components which will allow them to do higher level evaluative
work).
* That such systems do not restrict social intercourse of other
kinds. This danger is not as great as it might first appear,
particularly when one takes into account the reduced need for
travel which these systems could facilitate (the time saved in
travel could be used for socialising).
The major limitations are not with the technologies themselves -
they are with the flexibility which is allowed policy developers
in education and general public administration. Until
organisation structures are redesigned to allow for greater
responsiveness, it will be difficult for such systems to respond
to the challenges posed by these new technologies.
8. RECOMMENDATIONS
8-1. GENERAL PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
* It is obvious that as a result of technological and social
change the APS needs a systems-disturbing component (this may be
sections or individuals within the APS). As Corbett has
indicated, "Public services need to be creative as change-agents,
or at least some parts of them need to have that sort of
capacity, the capacity to respond to, and even generate system-
modifying ideas and policy proposals; for if such capacities
exist nowhere in the public service our political social and
economic systems may well suffer the fate of the dinosaur."
(1978, p. 68).
* In view of the fact that "Creativity and invention may...be
influenced within policymaking organizations by institutionally
protecting innovative thinkers from organizational conformity
pressures"(Dror, 1971, p. 19), I would recommend that the PSB
investigate ways in which such innovative thinkers could be
identified and protected from conformity pressures.
* That the Commonwealth Public Service Board establish a unit
similar to the Congressional Clearinghouse on the Future (but on
a much smaller scale) with a responsibility to keep the
Commonwealth bureacracy up to date on possible long term futures.
This Clearinghouse would also have an educative function for
public servants, and a consultative role in such activities as
liaison with unions on technological change, and in considering
Commonwealth usage of new technologies (such as Videotex) in the
early planning stages.
* That the Australian Institute of Public Administration,
together with Telecom, investigate innovative approaches for the
use of telecommunications technologies in general public
administration and report the results of these studies in the the
journal of the Institute. Particular emphasis could be given to
such questions as:
* how telecommunications could be used to improve client
servicing and involvement in planning;
* how computer conferencing could facilitate the development
of innovative organisational structures in the public sector; and
* how telecommunications technologies (in particular
Videotex) could be used to communicate information to the public
on public sector programs of relevance to the general community.
The issue of who should fund the allocation of space for
community-type information in such systems could also be
investigated.
8-2. EDUCATION
It is recommended that in relation to education:
* The Australian College of Education, together with Telecom,
experiment with the use of such technologies as computer
conferencing, videotex, loud-speaking telephones, and
confravision, in various instructional and educational
administrative contexts - and report the results in Unicorn.
* That educators with an interest in the use of such learning
approaches as international task forces of young persons begin
working on student evaluation techniques for these innovative
approaches in order to facilitate their more ready acceptance
into conventional educational environments (whereas Dr March
points out in his comments on the scenario [in section 6-2-11],
those things which can most easily be tested tend to be taught).
* That the Australian College of Education liase with the
Overseas Telecommunications Commission in an attempt to develop a
pilot network of regional educational conferences ("Technology
and Education" would be an ideal theme for such a pilot).
* A number of educators co-operate in the development of schools
to act as "beacons" in each State in the area of technology and
education. A particular emphasis might be on the need for both
community participation in the school, and the use of new
technologies for social development.
I agree with Dr March that the "School without Walls" could be an
ideal potential "beacon" in the A.C.T. if funding could be
obtained for it to be structured so that students could learn
from home a significant amount of the time, using computer
terminals.
* State Education Departments and general Government Departments
explore not just the use of computers for dissemination of
information (as with Data Base systems) but for two-way dialogue
(as with computer conferencing).
* Foundations consider funding task forces of young people to
investigate social problems, with the assistance of data
processing and telecommunications technologies. There would be a
particular emphasis on the young people using computer packages
(such as word processing and statistical packages) rather than on
having them develop customised computer systems.
* The Federal Government, in consultation with the States,
establish a unit specifically responsible for considering and
publicising long-term issues in education - in particular in
relation to technological change.
8-3. GENERAL ASPECTS
* There is a need for research to be undertaken dealing with
innovative applications of satellite technology in education and
general public administration. The emphasis should be on
exploring new approaches which satellites could facilitate (such
as national in-service education activities with participants
remaining in their home States) rather than purely on exploring
new ways of delivering traditional programs (such as distance
education programs).
* There is a need for research to be undertaken into how
artificial intelligence based systems may affect education and
public administration in the future.
This area has been relatively neglected up to this point in time,
partly as a result of most government and education systems only
recently coming to grips with the potential impact of micro-
computer systems and computer packages on themselves.
Once artificial intelligence based systems become more widely
available they could potentially have a massive impact (as is
reflected in the scenario). There is a need for unions,
educators, and public administrators to define now "preferable"
futures in relation to their use if their introduction is to not
result in massive social conflict.
* There is a need for further research into how language
translation computer systems might be used in such areas as
ethnic education, and international liaison.
* There is a need for the Australian Law Reform Commission to
investigate ways in which criminal data bases could be structured
so that information on minor illegal acts does not "stick" with a
person for the whole of his or her life.
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Chamberlain, Neil W., "Social Strategy and Corporate Structure"
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Cranfield Press, 1971.
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11. RELATED READING BY MYSELF
For people who are interested in reading articles by myself
related to this thesis I give the following references.
"Technology: A New Educational Paradigm". Education News, Vol.
18, No. 4, April 1983, pp. 48 - 49.
"Community and Career Education". Education News, Vol. 17, No.
11, June 1982, pp. 28 - 30.
"The Network Nation - Its Relevance for Strategies and Structure
for Education in the 80s and 90s". Unicorn, Vol. 8, No. 2, May
1982, pp. 110 - 119.
"Uses of Future Studies Techniques by Educational
Administrators". ED 207 134.
"Innovative Approaches to Career Guidance". ED 203 055
"Community Information Systems". ED 206 284.
"Communications Options - The Need for Increased Awareness of
These Amongst Policy Developers". ED 205 198.
"Technology: A Test of Ability". Education News, Vol. 17, No. 7,
pp. 19 - 21.
"New Directions in Computer Education at High Schools".
International Journal of Mathematics Education in Science and
Technology, Vol. 12, No. 3, 1981, pp. 333 - 341.
"Brainstorming-on-Microfiche: An Alternative to Computer
Conferencing". Educational Technology, May 1981, pp. 21 - 23.
"The Use of Role Play in Assisting Students Cope With the
Future". New Horizons in Education, No. 61, Spring 1979, pp. 24 -
25.
"Broadening Computer Courses Using Role Plays and Work
Experience". COM-3, No. 17, November 1979, pp. 23 - 25.
"The Line to Learning". Quest, No. 28, October 1979, p. 10.
"The Use of Future Studies Techniques in Assisting Students to
Cope with Change". Pivot, Vol. 6, No. 1, 1979, pp. 76 - 78.
"The Use of Research Projects in T.A.F.E. Social Science
Courses". Compak, February 1978, p. TAFE.8.
ED numbers refer to documents available on microfiche through the
ERIC system.
12. APPENDIX
12-1. ERIC DESCRIPTORS AND IDENTIFIERS FOR THESIS.
ERIC DESCRIPTORS:
(key descriptors have a * before them)
Accessibility (for disabled); Adult Education; Artificial
Intelligence; Career Education; Change; Change Strategies;
Community; Conflict; *Co-ordination; Curriculum Development;
Demonstrations (Civil); Disabilities; Disadvantaged; Educational
Media; Educational Trends; *Efficiency; *Evaluation; Exceptional
Persons; Extention Education; *Futures (of Society); Governance;
Governing Boards; Individual Power; *Information Systems;
Innovation; International Educational Exchange; Leisure Time;
Motivation; Management Systems; Man Machine Systems; Meetings;
Motivation; Multilingualism; *Networks; Nonprint Media;
Objectives; Open-Plan Schools; Organisational Effectiveness;
Outcomes of Education; Parent Associations; *Participation;
Planning; Policy; Political Power; Productivity; Redundancy;
Schools; Self Determination; Social Action; Socialisation;
Specialisation; Standards; Teaching Methods; *Technology;
Tokenism; Totalitarianism; Training; Transition.
IDENTIFIERS:
Australia; Automatic Data Processing; Australian Public Service;
Commonwealth Public Service; Communicative Competence; Computer
Conferencing; *Consultation; Coombs, H. C.; *Data Processing;
*Decentralisation; *Devolution; Educational Paradigm; Feedback;
Freedom of Information; Hierarchies; International Task Forces;
*Joint Management Review On ADP Management Issues In The
Australian Public Service; Libraries; Multipurpose Social
Institutions; Public Administration ; Public Policy; Public
Service Board; Reid, J. B.; *Review of Commonwealth
Administration; *Royal Commission on Australian Government
Administration; Scenario; Self-correction; *Telecommunications;
Victoria; Victorian Education Department; *White Paper on
Strategies and Structure for Education in Victorian Government
Schools.