Australia's homeschooled children and the Global Education Transformation

Newly formed Queensland Home Education Expert Group

I set out a few days back to write up my research in to the current Queensland Education Amendments, including changes to data sharing on children (without parental permission), Social Emotional Learning, the Wellbeing Economy, and Social Impact Bonds.

Instead, as often happens, a quick write up turns into a deep dive into a mass scale global “transformation”, which has been in progress for many years, and of which the vast majority of Australian people have no idea. This time it’s the education system in general, and (for the purpose of this article) homeschooling in particular.

Many parents homeschool because they are wary of the education system, do not approve of some aspect of indoctrination, or their children are unhappy within the schooling system. Many homeschool so they can have some control over their children’s education. There has been a sharp uptake in parents homeschooling in Australia in the last few years.

Paradoxically, the global education transformation will allow individualised learning- as long as it is digitally based (data) and attends to Good Global Citizen goals. What’s my issue with this? Join me for a look around the arena.

The playbook goes something like this

Firstly, the narrative is set through partnerships between corporate interests and unelected global bodies (who stand to benefit financially and through centralised control).

The narratives and outcomes of the global education arena:

• There are and will be increasingly rolling crises

• We are in an era of “wicked problems” compiling, intersecting, complex and constantly shifting without any clear answers or forward direction (hence we can never be okay).

• People, particularly children, need to be schooled in Social Emotional Learning (SEL) skills from birth and ongoingly through life long learning.

• The SEL skills are linked to the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)- specifically goal 4- Quality Education: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

• Extensive and intrusive data must be collected on children and families (under a wellbeing narrative) to ensure children are tracking along the SEL outcomes.

• Private interests are set up, under social impact bonds, to make profits off the SEL and wellbeing programs, and schooling in general.

• Issues must be understood and solved according to a global narrative and a global response, which can be tweaked slightly so it looks grass root and local. Those who comply well will be called ‘thought leaders’ and ‘change leaders’.

• The SDGs as they are conflicting (and you may not agree with them) will cause cognitive dissonance, leading to mental distress.

• The only way to deal with cognitive dissonance is to be trained in SEL and put through mental health programs.

• SEL will teach you to be a good global citizen,

This will cause more issues and the “wicked problems” will increase.

Wicked problems are those which are so complex and intersecting, the rules shift all the time and there is no way out. Increasingly, this terminology is being thrown around in the education domain.

QUEENSLAND EDUCATION AMENDMENT BILL

The Queensland government is amending the Qld Education Act. I have many concerns regarding the proposed changes including; mass data sharing of children without parental permission, and incorporating Social Emotional Learning (SEL) into the education system for children 3 years and up. In a nutshell, SEL is a trojan horse for turning “development agents” (us) into “Good Global Citizens” working for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The homeschool community were alarmed at the amendments. ABC article states“ “Proposed law changes before the Queensland parliament include removing provisional registration to homeschool, and requiring parents to teach a program consistent with the Australian curriculum and Queensland syllabus for senior subjects.”

The Home Education Association submitted a response to the proposed education legislation changes. They rightly honed in on the word “Wellbeing” littered throughout the amendments. Their concerns are warranted, however, all children are to be subjected to a well-being lens (not only the home schooling children):

So whilst I was going to respond to the concerns about wellbeing, plus the digitalisation of children in homeschooling, and the markets being set up by Treasurer Chalmers so “philanthropists” can invest in our children and make a profit, I instead entered the global education transformation landscape.

Regarding Wellbeing and what it means for children I have written an article here:

HOME EDUCATION EXPERT GROUP

In the last week the Queensland government has announced the creation of a Home Education Expert Group:

Twelve parents will be involved in the Home Education Expert Group. I am writing this article in the hope that it gets into the hands of these families, so they are aware of the global education arena Ms Deborah Dunstone (leading the review) resides within, and the direction she will be keen to take the review outcomes.

I thought I’d just have a quick look into Ms Deborah Dunstone…. hours later I surface out the other side of an enormous global education landscape- poised to transform our children into Good Global Citizens through Social Emotional Learning.

To understand how Deborah is set to transform the home schooling landscape (as well as what the Queensland Education Dept intends to do to all children at school) we have to look at The Learner First, the company Deborah is at the helm of, and the companies links to the wider global education ecosystem.

Deborah Dunstone

Deborah is CEO of a global Social Emotional Learning company, The Learner First.

Data needs to be collected on children- on their well-being and social and emotional skills. This includes home schooled children:

Social Emotional Learning is defined by the lead global organisation CASEL (Co-founder is Eileen Rockefeller) as “SEL is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.”

The Learner First Founder

The founder of The Learner First is Joanne McEachen, a New Zealander “Change Leader”. I’m still at the stage of feeling disbelief that anyone can call themselves a “change leader” or a “thought leader” and not feel embarrassed.

Joanne has this to say about her Learner First Founder program:

What is contributive learning-

“It’s a process for integrating academic and social emotional learning in everyday instructions so that students discover who they are, connect with others and develop the knowledge and competency they need to feel  happy, successful  and holistically well.”

And

Joanne McEachens’ networks

New Pedagogies for Deep Learning (NPDL)

A transformation of the schooling system with Intel, Microsoft, OECD and Promethean (Ed Tech).

Australian NPDL “Change Leader” Max Drummy

A Microsoft Innovative Teacher is one who uses Microsoft technologies and “innovative teaching practices”.

NPDL kicked off in Victoria. Below is a quote from Joanne Quinn, co-founder and global director of New Pedagogies For Deep Learning, discussing her work with the Victorian Department of Education and Training.

As AI and machines will replace much of our conventional jobs, and the need to learn information isn’t as relevant in the work domain, children are recast as “change makers”. They are to have the appropriate soft skills to get by in a globalised world, the need for formal education as we know it is fast becoming obsolete. At the same time children’s education is to become increasingly digitalised and online (as is all our lives in the Fourth Industrial Revolution).

NPDL is in a number of Australian schools:

Salzburg Global Seminar

Joanne McEachen is a Fellow of Salzburg Global Seminar and on the Executive Team of Katanga (The SEL offshoot of the Salzburg Global Seminar).

Their funders include:

Salzburg Global Seminar established the global alliance for Social and Emotional Learning- Karanga.

The Salzburg Statement for Social and Emotional Learning:

You can find out more about Clemens Heller, founder of Salzburg Seminar here

Karanga

Katanga is the SEL platform for Salzburg Global Seminar

Karanga’s mission: “To inspire and equip practitioners, policy makers and researchers from across the world to promote quality and equitable Social Emotional Learning and Life Skills through initiatives that connect, coordinate, and drive action.”

To wrap up, we can see that Ms Deborah Duntsone, appointed to oversee the Home Education Expert Group, has deep ties to global education systems, which focus on Ed Tech, Digitalisation of Students, Social Emotional Learning, Wellbeing, Global Citizenship and a Global Curriculum (covered below).

GOOD GLOBAL CITIZEN

What does it mean to be a good global citizen?

As many of us are aware, our governments are transforming every aspect of our lives to be able to fulfil their obligations under the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals- with 2030 being the deadline for large scale change.

Of relevance to this article is United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4- Quality Education.

Namely target 4.7- global citizenship for sustainable development (including lifestyles).

2022 United Nations Education Summit- to transform education

The summit was part of the Our Common Agenda .. agenda.

Antonio Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General states the focus of the UN Education Summit:

“Our first task is swift and targeted action to recover the learning losses inflicted by the pandemic, particularly on marginalized groups. As we do this, however, there can be no going back to the education models of the past. We must reimagine education systems and raise the status of education. We must ensure that learning empowers individuals and societies to both reshape the present and lead us to a more just, sustainable, resilient, and peaceful future.”

My summary is:

• Children are not skilled enough for the Fourth Industrial Revolution roll out (the melding of biology with technology, gig jobs, automation, AI and machine learning).

• Covid showed up the cracks in the education system (not the lock step global government rollout of school lockdowns).

• Children are ill equipped through education to deal with rolling crises (climate change, global tensions, cyberattacks, pandemics etc.)

Gutteres goes on to outline four slogans - indoctrination being key:

Learn to learn- start children on education pathways as early as possible, with an emphasis on social and emotional skills.

Learn to live together- creating good global citizens who are indoctrinated within a disaster lens and prescribed solution landscape.

Learn to do- constant education and reeducation for life long learning in a deliberately crises driven world, where technocracy is implemented under the AI brain. Humans will no longer be useful in many former employment domains. They will be useful for harvesting of data and machine learning.

Learn to be- instilling in our children certain values. The “Good Global Citizen” values.

Australia transforming the education system

So it’s clear that once again Australian politicians only role is to go to community events and embed United Nations policies into Australian policy and legislation:

“Australia recognises the power of education to transform lives and, through targeted actions and continuous improvement, is committed to meeting Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 as a global benchmark for ensuring inclusive and equitable access to quality education and promoting lifelong learning.

Australia recognises the interconnected nature of the SDGs, that represent the agreed standards and values of the international development system. Australia will engage with UNESCO and member states to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and advance a more inclusive and equitable future for learners, particularly through initiatives that respond to the technological changes accelerated by the pandemic to capitalise on the benefits of the digital age.

Technology will continue to be a central part of learning as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. We recognise that education transformation in the digital age – which includes developments such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data – needs to be just and equitable, enabling improved educational outcomes for all.

Lifelong learning can support all learners to become informed and active global citizens, with the skills to respond to the social, economic, environmental and technological challenges of the future. Australia is embracing innovative and flexible learning options for education delivery – such as online and hybrid learning models, and micro-credentials – as mechanisms to address current and emerging skill needs through quick and flexible options for upskilling and reskilling.”

FOCUS ON OUR CHILDREN’S INNER WORLDS

Social Emotional Learning (to be a good global citizen):

UN SDG Goal 4 and Social Emotional Learning are one and the same.

According to the document “SEL for SDGs: Why Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is necessary to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” the UN SDGs create confusion. People are expected to comply to contradictory messaging, a life of no real agency, being dictated to by corporate vested interests hiding behind the United Nations framework, top down enforcement of policies (many which look grass roots), accept endless wealth transfers going upwards whilst the vast majority of people get poorer, live in endless crises without being able to critically examine why (beyond the narrow scope of reasons given and the fabricated solutions), be either change leaders (who have scripted solutions) or be ostracised and shamed.

According to the United Nations the answer to the globally crafted existential woes is Social Emotional Learning and learning to be “pro social”. Note the UN document calls people “development agents”. The only reference I can find to what a development agent is:

“An emphasis on making markets work for the poor has thrust companies into the role of ‘development agents’ – organisations that consciously seek to deliver outcomes that contribute to international development goals.”

If we take this example, us- our children, are recast as people whose sole purpose is to deliver outcomes for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The implementation of the SDGs will not make sense and will run contrary to peoples interests for themselves and their families; therefore children (and adults) must be taught to focus in on their reactions. That is, not challenge the framework but become “prosocial”. Don’t look outside of oneself, don’t critically analyse the structure- look within yourself and adjust your attitude.

Cognitive dissonance is an essential state so “development agents” (more commonly referred to as people or children) will pursue the sustainable development goals:

Social and Emotional Learning are fundamental skills for attainment of the SDGs

In a conflictual Crises driven environment “development agents” must be prosocial. Working for the prescribed - top down- common good. Again this means wealth transfers, no privacy, a thin wedge of ideas and views that are acceptable, centralised control and no transparency as to who is really setting the agenda.

Under SEL, parents no longer have prime place in helping their children understand the world around them, their emotional responses and how to navigate through life. It’s now the role of the teachers (and the massive global interests who will be training the teachers) to teach children how to perceive the world and the appropriate thoughts, feelings and reactions they should have. What will this system do if it perceives a parent is not supporting their child’s Wellbeing or Social Emotional Learning?

In a world of “wicked problems” you are not equipped any longer to assist your children- instead parents are expected to hand their children over to the “experts”, as early as possible (birth).

After all, your child has the “right” to be tracked through their life, to ensure the State can intervene (with private funding) at the very first opportunity.

The same way your child’s height and weight was traditionally checked, now metrics on their mental health and aptitude will also be collected.

The Inner Development Goals for the Sustainable Development Goals

I hope I have made it clear so far that our children’s emotional lives and inner worlds are no longer their own or nestled in the domain of the family. Just to really ensure there is no escape, the Inner Development Goals were created to coerce “inner transformation”.

With partners such as:

Get ready to be transformed:

With clangers such as:

Who defines the common good? How do you have to show your sense of responsibility and commitment to the externally defined common good? What are the consequences if you don’t agree?

Having judgement and a sense of your own beliefs and boundaries is imperative. Saying no and I don’t agree are essential capacities, but not helpful when the system wants to create a hive mind, group think, SDG chanting population.

Being forced to put our own needs aside to focus on the externally defined common good narrative will only create a dangerous suppression of “unacceptable” thoughts and feelings. It’s also a highly manipulated space to subject ourselves to.

GLOBAL EDUCATION CURRICULUM

Joanne McEachen (Deborah Dunstone’s boss), Dr Pilvi Torsti and Vishal Talreja wrote a paper calling for a global school curriculum:

Children’s schooling needs to be transformed, teachers learning must be transformed, children need to be online and private interests must fund (and get returns) on education and the SEL- Wellbeing landscape.

And there needs a be one size global curriculum- overseen by chosen global leaders. Note, the curriculum will look individualised to a certain extent- however there must be core goals met. The core focus areas to be covered in the global curriculum are:

1. Climate Crisis.

2. System inequities as highlighted by the pandemic (focus on devices and access to the internet).

3. Technological advancements- focus on fake news, misinformation.

4. Threats to democracy, such as nationalist fervour, societal polarisation (note Jacinda Ardhern’s new position outlined below).

5. Unsustainable economic growth and the focus on health and wellbeing. New Zealand is highlighted as a successful country. The purpose is for “wellbeing and thriving leading to a new way of being and living.”

6. Social service- voluntarism- solidarity activities.

Following is a breakdown of three “experts” discussing how the education system must be transformed for the common good. I broke the discussion up into chunks with my thoughts about where this education transformation is leading us to and my concerns regarding the detrimental effects on children and families. The full video here

The three people speaking are:

Dominic Regester

Dr Pilvi Torsti

Vishal Talreja

Note: I can’t find the other 11 founders listed for Dream a Dream- the story goes that Vishal started the organisation up after returning from Finland.

Global Education is the agenda of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”

There will be a ramp up of educational transformations in the lead up to Agenda 2030. There will be a collective rethinking of the purpose of education,

Education and Climate

Comparing the education transformation model and the climate change model. The model is:

1. Rally stakeholders around a single compelling purpose,

2. develop understandable and accessible metrics,

3. Mass mobilisation of the public

Dominic Regester asks the question “What is education’s equivalent to Net Zero?”

Globalisation and a Global Curriculum

Education is traditionally seen as a public good for nation states (i.e. countries define their own education systems). However, with globalisation and digitalisation, climate change, equity and wellbeing we must move to a global common vision and a common global curriculum.

Rolling Crises and the need for Digitalisation

Over 1 billion children’s education and sense of being okay in the world were disrupted due to their government (globally all in lockstep) closing down schools and putting people in to lockdown as part of their covid policies. Vishal states natural disasters then caused schools to be closed (for how long?- I don’t know). Vishal laments, who can help our children understand that we are endlessly in rolling crises? He raises that covid exacerbated inequities, defining inequity as children who didn’t have access to online technologies- not the massive transfer of wealth that occurred during covid due to government measures, with the ten richest men doubling their incomes whilst millions fell in to poverty. Vishal tragically recounts children committed suicide due to school lockdowns- his analysis of why this occurred is they didn’t have Smart Phones and access to the internet.

Framing Global Tyranny as the Common Good

The utopian vision vs the reality. The global Covid mantra “We are all in this together” reframed as “we deprioritised economic growth” meaning small businesses went out backwards and the wealthiest 0.01 percent became much wealthier. “We prioritised wellbeing, health, thriving…” I don’t know what planet Vishal lives on but in Australia people were locked down for years, not allowed out besides an hour a day (poorer people living in apartment blocks had it much harder then the wealthier) and experimental injections were mandated, forcing people to inject an unknown substance in to their bodies or lose their livelihoods, and the subsequent flow on effects. Rates of suicidal ideation in young people sky rocketed, domestic violence exploded, there was a crisis in certain industries (disability for e.g.) due to workers being fired or resigning due to non compliance with the mandates. I could go on, I have a two hour video where I collected the harms caused, but suffice to say I do not agree with Vishal that the world prioritised health and wellbeing. The world did not come together through covid- it fractured.

In the discussion Dominic challenges Vishal’s rosy view of the world coming together in solidarity during the global lock step response of Covid. But the extent of Dominic’s analysis is that there needs to be more equitable sharing of vaccines and that nationalism is a terrible problem for the common good agenda.

Feminist models of leadership- countries which handled the pandemic well were female led

I’m unsure about other countries around the world, but ex New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardhern instantly sprang to mind. A woman who has left New Zealand in shatters and on her way out sold the country off to Blackrock.

I wouldn’t call Jacinda transparent either. This is her recent FB post:

“I wanted to share a wee project I’ve been working on called Field. It’s a 12 month programme that supports and connects global political leaders who embody political leadership that draws on the strength of kindness and empathy.

Field is hosted by Global Progress, and will create a network of like minded political leaders who use pragmatic idealism, speak to people with hope and optimism rather than fear or blame, and want to unite, rather than divide as we look to solve the challenges ahead.”

Jacinda’s “wee” project is run through the Centre for American Progress Action Fund

The Centre for American Progress is connected to George Soros, pharmaceutical interests, and a number of shadowy financiers.

Not such a wee project, Jacinda. There are many New Zealanders fed up with Jacinda’s disingenuous framing of herself as kind and empathetic.

Global Citizen- Coopting young people to implement global corporate goals

Greta Thunberg’s climate action is the prime example of a “mass movement led by young people”. Author and founder of Wrong Kind of Green, Corey Morningstar’s book “The Manufacturing of Greta Thunberg extensively documents the network behind Greta, who turned the young teenager into an overnight, global sensation.

Embedding Net Zero in a Global Curriculum

The systemic way forward is top down. From global leaders - through the global curriculum - down to local schools. The first global curriculum pilot should be Net Zero.

Nationalism is a Problem

Traditional education creates citizens of a nation. This must be addressed through transforming education for global citizenship.

Covid as an OPPORTUNITY- Building Back Better!!!!

Covid created a global community (because all governments around the world acted in lockstep). “If we are clever, to build on that in a grass roots level, we can get results.” The sequence is top down, from global- regional- local- grassroots. “the pandemic both created the technological means and the mental space for that.”

“Intentionally shifting the core purpose of education from academic excellence to an ideal of wellbeing, holistic learning and thriving as a purpose of education.”

Children need to be taught to: work in teams, solve problems, collaborate, to be empathetic leaders. It is something that is taught through a global system.

Pretending their global education system will not be run through AI

This is interesting- the speakers are taken off script and pretend they don’t know how AI will be implemented. The technocratic oversight of AI assessing children’s SEL and Wellbeing data and formulating interventions doesn’t fit into their utopian narrative of the global education system.

This article was far longer than intended, yet it only scrapes a tiny tip of the iceberg. I think our children and grand children are worth putting the time in to understand the transformative agendas reaching in to their personal and emotional lives, and the implications. As parents and grandparents our role is to protect and nurture our children and instil values that are genuine to our families. Not values force fed by the State, in an arena where our children are analysed by extensive data collection, and shepherded in to lives as synthetic activists, playing out the objectives of big corporate entities and the immensely wealthy.

RESOURCES:

Global Education

https://www.unesco.org/en/futures-education

https://www.unesco.org/sdg4education2030/en/high-level-steering-committee

https://hlpf.un.org/sites/default/files/2023-09/Transforming%20Education%20Brochure.pdf

https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000384812

https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/178ef527-en/index.html?itemId=/content/publication/178ef527-en

https://www.unicef.org/digitaleducation/reimagine-education

https://www.unicef.org/innocenti/reports/neurotechnology-and-children

Comprehensive coverage of AI and data harvesting in schools

https://codeactsineducation.wordpress.com/2024/05/24/oblongification-of-education/?

Scottish Union for Education

Scottish Union for Education – Newsletter No77

Alison McDowell has extensively covered global education, human impact markets, data collection and much more:

https://wrenchinthegears.com/2020/03/12/human-capital-markets-digital-identity-the-united-nations-sustainable-development-goals/