Unfinished but not yet exhausted: A review of Australian Middle Schooling

Abstract

The state of Middle Schooling in many Western countries has been described as under threat, at a crossroads and like a wasteland. Within Australia, it has also been claimed that the past generation focus on Middle Schooling is unfinished and exhausted. But a Middle Schooling movement continues in Australia that provides examples of a way out of a state of arrested development. This article explores the Australian situation in the light of past literature and research, before detailing the potential contributions of a current Australian Research Council project in the area of Middle Schooling. The article argues that, while Middle Schooling may be down in many nations, it is far from down and out, and an Australian perspective has much to offer the Middle Schooling movement internationally.