Utopia or dystopia?: a critical examination of the Melbourne Declaration

The signing of Melbourne Declaration by Australia’s state and federal education ministers in December 2008 has set the agenda for Australia’s educational future. The Melbourne Declaration seeks the creation of an educated citizenry and the investment in education is justified by the increased economic prosperity that such expenditure will generate. Belying its goals of equity and excellence, its emphasis on educational advancement via technological means infers that the declaration is underpinned by Human Capital theory. The proposed National Curriculum and the Digital Education Revolution are two examples of radical changes to education in Australia that have been facilitated by the agreement reached with this document. But what is the future being ushered in by the Melbourne Declaration? We seek in this paper to critically examine the implications of Melbourne Declaration for Australia’s education systems.