Student Wellbeing In Australia

Literature Review

Since the 1980s, Australia has seen some of the most significant social and political change in its history. In these past decades, liberalism and marketization have swept through the country, heralding an era of neoliberalism. As neoliberalism has proliferated through Australian society, once public institutions are now becoming corporatized, with the education system no exception. In the late 1980s, the Hawke government’s economic reform impacted education greatly, with universities impacted the most at the time. Public funding for higher education was altered, forcing universities to compete for research funds, increase international student quotas, and seek funding from the private sector. This was accompanied by a substantial

One of the primary concerns of researchers, teachers and wider school communities regarding NAPLAN, is its negative effects on student wellbeing. Polesel, Dulfer and Turnbull’s (2012) literature review validated these concerns over NAPLAN’s effects on student wellbeing, finding that stress, anxiety, fear, and feelings of futility are alarmingly common amongst students of all ages who sit high-stakes tests. Moreover, these negative effects were more prevalent amongst minority students and those with disabilities. This last point brings to light the diversity in Australian schools, and how NAPLAN interacts with this. Western et al. (2007) argues that neoliberalism is “blind” to sociological factors such as gender, class, ethnicity, and SES, and this is apparent in regards to NAPLAN. Schools situated in low SES areas perform significantly worse in the NAPLAN test compared to middle and higher SES areas. Furthermore, Comber & Cormack (2011) report that due to the pressure to improve school results, principals are exempting students who are unlikely to contribute to this. These criticisms of NAPLAN can also be found in more general criticisms of neoliberalism. Western et al. (2007) states that the focus on economy that characterises neoliberalism, coupled with the blindness to social factors, creates a culture of competitiveness where effort and ability determines ‘success’. Western et al. (2007) also states that while the economic growth that has occurred may provide more opportunities for a greater portion of the population, barriers to essential services such as healthcare and education still exist, and in some cases, have