Should McDonald's Certificate in Food Retail be a VCE subject?

Issue outline by J M McInerney

`More than anything else this move is a symbol: of the politicisation and cheapening of education...'
David McRae, letter to the editor, The Age, October 16, 1997

`What this does is recognise the fact that we need to have courses available to students while they're still at school that will help them get employment when they leave'
Dr Kemp, federal Minister for Education and Employment

On October 14, 1997, the Victorian Board of Studies launched the new Certificate in Food Retail course. This will be a workplace based course developed, run and assessed by McDonald's and offered only to McDonald's employees who are also VCE students.
The development has been praised by the federal education minister, a number of key figures in the Board of Studies, by some students and by at least one employers group.
It has been criticised by parent organisations, teacher organisations, some school principals, some students and some McDonald's employees.

Background
The Certificate in Food Retail (McDonalds) will be open to students in years 10, 11 and 12, from 1998. The course will qualify as a fifth or sixth VCE subject, that is, it can not be among the first four subjects studied by a VCE student.
To be able to undertake the subject, students must work for McDonalds, be nominated by their restaurant boss and have the approval of their school. McDonalds will be solely responsible for the students' training, supervision and assessment.
The course involves between 16 and 24 units taken over two years.
There will be 14 compulsory modules involving 417 hours' work.
Food preparation will take up most of the time, followed by drive-through operations, workplace communications, store maintenance and customer relations.
The course will also look at stock control and quality assurance; health and safety; hygiene and sanitation; team leadership; crew training and orientation
It is estimated that about 1000 students will be eligible next year, of which the federal Education Minister, Dr Kemp, has suggested some 200 are likely to take the subject in 1998.
The course was entirely developed by McDonald's in-house trainers, some of whom are qualified teachers. It has already been taken by some 300 McDonald's employees.
Students who satisfactorily complete the course will get a TER score bonus calculated at 10 per cent of the average of their best four VCE subjects.
There are a very large number of Internet sites relating to McDonald's. Many of these deal with what has come to be known as the McLibel Case, in which McDonald's brought a libel action against two British activists. Most references to this case are not relevant to this issue. The vast majority of McLibel sites are critical of one or more aspects of McDonald's operation.
However, one McLibel-related site which is relevant to this issue is Other McLibels - McDonald's Vs Australian Anti-McD Leaflet. This refers to a pamphlet brought out by a group of nine Victorians in 1986. The pamphlet is highly critical of McDonald's and, in particular, its treatment of young employees.
However, please note the claims made in the pamphlet were contested by McDonald's and are now some 11 years out of date.
Also of interest is a comment of Terry Lane's published in the Sunday Age, July 9, 1997, titled Doing Maccers for the VCE. Your school, library or other institution may still have this on file, if not it can be found on the Internet. The piece is critical of the proposal that a McDonald's traineeship form part of the VCE.
The McDonald's home page provides a lot of information about the corporation, including its involvement in education. In America, McDonald's offers teacher awards, scholarships for Negro and Hispanic students and supplies educational materials.

Arguments in favour of the Certificate in Food Retail (McDonalds) being a VCE subject
It has been claimed that the introduction of the Certificate in Food Retail (McDonald's) widens the range of subjects offered and will suit students who prefer a more practical, work-related subject.
Jacqueline Collins, 17, who dropped out of VCE and has worked at McDonald's for the last seven months, is completing the first stage of the same training course that will be offered to VCE students.
Ms Collins has suggested, `A lot of people might want to do maths, English, but other people might want to take a subject where they get a lot of hands-on experience.'
A similar point has been made by the chairman of the Board of Studies, Professor Kwong Lee Dow, who has noted that the majority of VCE students do not go on to tertiary studies and that the VCE must be sure to offer a range of subjects that are interesting and relevant to all students.
Professor Lee Dow has claimed that the inclusion of the subject shows the Board of Studies willingness to cater for all students, not just a `thin elite' who will attend university.
A similar view was put by The Age in its editorial of October 15, 1995.
The editorial noted that more than 60 per cent of school leavers do not continue to university study.
The Age extended the point, claiming that in the past the education system had perhaps been better geared to suit those who did not want to continue their studies after secondary school.
The editorial claimed, `The education system has always had many students who do not want tertiary academic studies but who can succeed if equipped with practical skills.
The old streamed system of secondary education, in which those who wanted to pursue a trade could study at technical schools, recognised these differences in interests and aptitudes. Given that technical schools no longer exist, the VCE must do both tasks.'
This point has also been made by the head of the Board of Studies, Sam Ball, who has noted, `Fifteen years ago, only 30 per cent of students finished high school. These days 75 per cent finish.'
According to this line of argument, many of the students who are currently staying on through to the end of Year 12 are not academically inclined and the VCE must incorporate studies that will allow them to have success.
Professor Lee Dow has further claimed that the introduction of the new subject indicates that the Board is ready to cater for the need of young students to be work-ready.
The federal Minister for Education, Dr Kemp, has also claimed that the subject will help students develop skills which will improve their chances of finding work.
Dr Kemp has claimed, `What this does is recognise the fact that we need to have courses available to students while they're still at school that will help them get employment when they leave.
The qualifications these young people will earn in a whole range of important skills in retail, communications, sales and customer service, stock management, security and cash control ... will help get the most disadvantaged group in the labour market, get jobs.[sic]'
A similar view has been expressed by the Mr David Edwards, the chief executive officer of the Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce.
The quality of the training being offered by McDonald's has also been praised. The federal Education Minister, Dr Kemp, has claimed that the quality of McDonald's training is widely recognised.
Supporting the quality of the course and the value of the qualification it will give students, the chairman of the Board of Studies, Professor Kwong Lee Dow, has noted that the course is recognised by the Australian National Training Authority.
Another reason offered in favour of the Certificate in Food Retail (McDonalds) being accepted as a VCE subject is that the type of work to which it will expose students is growing in Australia and in the western world as a whole.
According to this line of argument, work experience at McDonalds is not simply valuable because of the general skills which it can help develop, it is valuable because the fast food industry and McDonalds, in particular, represent an employment growth area in Australia.
According to this line of argument, VCE students working at McDonalds and undertaking the Certificate in Food Retail may well find this a prelude to becoming McDonalds' employees on completing their education.
Contributing editor to The Age, Shaun Carney, has claimed, `Like it or not, fast food, convenience stores, retailing, hospitality - call this sector what you will - is not just the chief growth sector in modern Western economies, it is the form of employment that will become the norm during the next twenty years.'
It has further been suggested that even if those students who undertake the Certificate in Food Retail (McDonald's) do not remain as employees of the company, they will still have gained.
Alicia Walker, 15, who intends taking the subject next year, believes that even if she ultimately works somewhere other than McDonald's, the McDonald's VCE subject will improve her overall qualifications.
`I think it will look good because McDonald's is respected throughout the world,' Ms Walker has claimed.
The proposal has also been defended against criticisms that it is unduly narrow. Defenders note that as part of the Certificate in Food retail (McDonald's) students will look at retail operations other than McDonald's. The federal Education Minister, Dr Kemp, has also noted that this is only the first stage in attempts to broaden secondary education and that next year it is probable that other companies and organisations will be able to have their work-based training included as part of their young workers VCE studies.
It has also been observed that all students will be encouraged to have a balance in their VCE courses so that they do not do a preponderance of either academic or practical subjects. To guard against students doing practical, work-based subjects to the exclusion of other more general academic subjects, the current provisions only allow students to undertake Certificate of Food Retail (McDonald's) if it is their fifth or sixth subject.
That is, students a re being required to take a range of other subjects before they are allowed to include the Food Retail Certificate as part of their VCE program.

Arguments against the Certificate in Food Retail (McDonalds) being a VCE subject
One of the main arguments offered against the inclusion of the Certificate in Food Retail (McDonald's) as a VCE subject centres around concerns about its quality and appropriateness.
Some critics have suggested that such a course is likely to be too narrowly focused to be a legitimate VCE study.
There has been related concern expressed that its emphasis will be on the unquestioning compliance to one company's mode of operation, rather than on developing in students a critical appreciation of the operation and management of a retail business.
This point has been made by David McRae in a letter published in The Age on October 16, 1997.
`Food preparation, hygiene, customer service, product quality, merchandising and workplace relations are subjects that can already be studied through the VCE. Competent teachers teach these subjects. But the way they teach them would certainly be more open, speculative and critical than would be acquired through McDonald's ...'
It has also been suggested that this subject might be part of a trend away from more intellectually taxing subjects and could encourage a pre-occupation with limited skill acquisition.
According to this line of argument, students are better fitted for life by developing the ability to think widely and critically and to have an awareness of their social, political and cultural origins.
Those who hold this view favour a broad, liberal education including subjects such as history, politics and literature. They argue that workplace training is too specific and limited to be of long-term value to most students.
Another concern is that the amount of time students are required to spend actually working at McDonald's in addition to their McDonald's course work would reduce the study time they had available to devote to other subjects.
Jenny Walker, a spokesperson for the Victorian Parents Council, has expressed concern that students would drop academic work to concentrate on the McDonald's course. `We wouldn't want to see one sacrificed at the expense of the other,' Ms Walker has said.
It has also been claimed that such a scheme is unlikely to address the problem of youth unemployment, which, it has been claimed, is caused by insufficient jobs, rather than inadequately prepared young employees.
Relatedly, it has been suggested that very few students are going to find enduring long-term employment at McDonald's as the company has a policy of employing a large number of juniors.
It has also been suggested that McDonald's represents a relatively lowly paid field of work. Critics have expressed concern that including a McDonald's traineeship in the VCE might encourage students to limit their ambitions.
Relatedly it has been suggested that the subject is likely to be taken predominantly by students from the lower socio-economic groups and that in taking it they will reduce their chances of gaining secure, well-paid employment in the long-term.
There have also been those who have claimed that the subject is likely to lack intellectual rigour and thus that it is inappropriate that it could score for students the same number of bonus points towards tertiary selection as other more difficult subjects.
Further, there have been criticisms made of the fact that the course will be taught, administered and assessed by people who are not qualified teachers. It has been suggested that this is both an attack on the working conditions of teachers and that it raises additional doubts about the comparability of the Certificate of Food Retail (McDonald's) with other VCE subjects.
There has been particular concern expressed that the course will be totally managed by McDonald's.
Ms Mary Bluett, the president-elect of the Australian Education Union, has noted that the content and assessment standards used by McDonald's are not even open to public scrutiny as they are part of a confidential agreement with the Board.
Another major criticism is that of access. It has been noted that the anticipated number of students expected to be eligible to take the Certificate in Food Retail course is 1000. It has been claimed that this is unjust as it means that interested and potentially capable students, unable to gain employment at a McDonald's franchise, will be unable to take the subject.
This point has been made by T. Vaughan, a student whose letter was published in The Herald Sun on October 17, 1997. T. Vaughan asks, `How can federal Education Minister David Kemp say it is beneficial when only about 1000 students will be eligible? VCE subjects were available to all students, giving equal opportunity.'
It has further been claimed that the necessity to be a McDonald's employee before undertaking the subject is particularly unfair to country students living in areas where there simply are no McDonald's.
Another criticism made of the new subject is that it unfairly restricts the opportunity to gain VCE credit for a workplace traineeship to those working for one company, McDonald's.
In a letter to the editor from Jessica Dunn, published in the Herald Sun on October 16, 1997, the claim was made, `this sort of educational opportunity should be available without being company specific'.
According to this line of argument, if it is legitimate to give VCE credit to those undertaking workplace training, then a sufficiently wide range of companies should be included in the scheme to allow for the interests and aptitudes of all students who might wish to include such a subject in their VCE.
Finally there are those who are concerned about the values embodied by McDonald's and about the message that incorporating a McDonald's traineeship into the VCE sends to young people.
Those who have such concerns have expressed reservations about the nutritional value of fast foods, about the company's employment practices and about the extent to which the McDonald's chain is an American imposition which undermines Australia's cultural uniqueness.
Many of the apprehensions of critics of the new subject have been summed up by David McRae, who has written, `More than anything else this move is a symbol: of the politicisation and cheapening of education; of the continued rise of consumerism as the only criterion of value; of the desire to move a high quality education out of the range and means of the less affluent and of the continued demeaning of schools, teachers and their work.'

Further implications
It seems very likely that the Certificate in Food Retail (McDonald's) will go ahead as a VCE study next year.
It will be interesting to see what, if any, problems arise in operation. One area which seems likely to lead to difficulties is how McDonald's will go about selecting those of its employees which it considers suitable to do the course.
It will also be interesting to note what policy McDonald's adopts with regard to retaining employees who are also students. How ready will the company be to dismiss students working for them who are also doing the food retail course?
Another area of concern is the scope there may be for any unscrupulous McDonald's franchise holder to exploit students working for them who are taking the course. In this situation students would not only risk losing their part-time employment, they would also have to drop a VCE subject and the opportunity it gives them of additional tertiary selection points.
The whole situation potentially gives an employer the scope to make excessive demands of young employees.
Also uncertain at the moment is what, if any, provision is made to give employees undertaking training as part of their VCE the opportunity to challenge either the assessments made of them, or the manner in which the course is conducted.
It will also be interesting to note if next year's operation of the Certificate in Food Retail is regarded as a pilot course which is then carefully reviewed before the scheme is extended to other companies and organisations.
To date no statement has been made that there is any intention to review the operation of the course at the end of 1998.
There has also been no indication given as to what, if any, financial recompense McDonald's expects for the costs associated with conducting the course. Will it meet these costs itself, or will it expect either students, schools or the Education Department to make some contribution?
Though the proposal appears to have been made originally by McDonald's to the federal Education Minister, so far it appears that this sort of collaboration between private enterprise and schools is only to go ahead in Victoria. New South Wales has indicated that it is not interested in incorporating the Certificate in Food Retail (McDonald's) into its HSC course. What other states and territories will do remains to be seen.

Sources
The Age
14/10/97 page 1 news item by Belinda Parsons, `Certificate with the lot, please'
15/10/97 page 1 news item by Louise Martin, `Teenager hungry for a taste of business grabs a golden opportunity'
15/10/97 page 1 news item by Alex Messina, `What's cooking at school of fast food'
15/10/97 page 2 news item by Ben Mitchell and Louise Martin, `All states should join Mac attack on jobs: minister'
15/10/97 page 14 editorial, `Fries with that, miss?'
15/10/97 page 14 cartoon by Wilcox, `Life Training'
15/10/97 page 15 comment by Shaun Carney, `Education takes a bite of burger reality'
15/10/97 page 2 (Metro) comment by Rose Oularis, `The Hotseat: What would you offer a VCE student?'
16/10/97 page 18 letter from David McRae, `Education as a cheap substitute'
16/10/97 page 18 letter from Russell Crellin, `Everyone's a winner'
16/10/97 page 19 comment by Kenneth Davidson, `Plenty of room to advance in Kennett's schools'

The Australian
22/10/97 page 13 comment by Ian Henderson, `Burgers don't buy real work'

The Herald Sun
14/10/97 page 2 news item by Wendy Busfield, `Mac time counts for VCE score'
15/10/97 page 9 news item by Wendy Busfield, `Quality fear over burger study plan'
15/10/97 page 9 news item by Wendy Busfield, `Alicia chips in to learn on the job'
15/10/97 page 9 news item by Wendy Busfield, `A VCE with the lot'
15/10/97 page 18 editorial, `The takeaway schoolroom'
15/10/97 page 18 cartoon by Knight
16/10/97 page 19 comment by Jill Singer, `Kids! All they do is beef'
16/10/97 page 20 letter from Jessica Dunn, `Big Mac VCE a bit hot'
17/10/97 page 20 letter from T. Vaughan, `Mac move hard to digest'
24/10/97 page 3 news item by Wendy Busfield, `It's Macademic'
24/10/97 page 28 analysis by Wendy Busfield, `McSchool with the lot'
24/10/97 page 28 news item, `Burger work to bite into study'

Internet
Note It appears that the English Board of Studies may be refining its guidelines on the use of Internet sources for CAT I.
Currently it is probably preferable for students to restrict their use of Internet sources to Part 2 of CAT I.
Please consult your teacher for direction on this matter.

There are a very large number of sites relating to McDonalds. Many of these deal with what has come to be known as the McLibel Case, in which McDonald's brought a libel action against two British activists. Most references to this case are not relevant to this issue. The vast majority of McLibel sites are critical of one or more aspects of McDonald's operation.

However, one McLibel-related site which is relevant to this issue is Other McLibels - McDonald's Vs Australian Anti-McD Leaflet. This refers to a pamphlet brought out by a group of nine Victorians in 1986. The pamphlet is highly critical of McDonald's and, in particular, its treatment of young employees. This pamphlet can be read at http://muu.lib.hel.fi/McSpotlight/company/other_mclibels/aus_mclib.html
(Caution: please note, though interesting reading, the claims made in the pamphlet were contested by McDonalds and are now some 11 years out of date.)

Also of interest is a comment of Terry Lane's published in the Sunday Age, July 9, 1997, titled Doing Maccers for the VCE. Your school, library or other institution may still have this on file, if not it can be found on the Internet at http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/lanet/maccers.txt The piece is critical of the proposal that a McDonalds traineeship form part of the VCE.

The McDonald's home page provides a lot of information about the corporation, including its involvement in education. In America, McDonald's offers teacher awards, scholarships for Negro and Hispanic students and supplies educational materials. Information about these can be found at or clicked through to from http://www.mcdonalds.com/a_community/education