Community Involvement: The Hidden Factor in Devolution

Considers the changing role of parents and the community within the framework of devolution and accountability in educational decision making in Australia. Calls on international literature to provide a global perspective for the changes currently under way. Considers the changing relationship between schools and their local communities since the Karmel report of 1973 and gives examples of some of the recent innovations at both state and federal level. Questions the processes being used for many of the restructuring activities and suggests that the current acceptance of the role of the community in educational decision making is not new, but is based on community education principles and practices. Concludes that the devolution of education may still have some way to go and that consideration of the needs of the whole community, rather than just the students of that community, might be one avenue for schools to consider.