Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemA comparative study of three New South Wales directorates( 1972)Eleven regional directorates have been established in New South Wales over the past 25 years for the purpose of 'decentralizing' to some extent the formerly highly centralized administration of the N.S.W. Education Department. The introduction of the area system was expected to bring about a number of benefits relating to the , maintenance and staffing of schools, the professional morale of teachers, and the level of community interest in and support for local schools. A comparative study of three N.S.W. directorates was carried out (during 1971-2) by this researcher. My conclusion is that the area system has not in fact led to educational decentralization, and that claims for its success as an administrative innovation have been characterized by optimism rather than by accuracy. With respect to buildings maintenance, certain benefits have followed the area systems introduction, particularly in rural areas where superior provisions are currently being made for school maintenance than in the metropolitan areas surveyed. With greater autonomy and less dependence upon the Public Works Department, directorates would experience even greater benefits in this field. However; the impact of the system upon the average classroom, teacher has not been that personalized administration which is often referred to as being one of the significant gains resulting from the establishment of area directorates in N.S.W. The average teacher seldom comes into contact with the area director or his staff, and Area Office is still generally regarded as a clearing house for correspondence to Head Office, where most important decisions are made. This tendency appeared to be more pronounced in the metropolitan directorates studied; it was also more common amongst secondary teachers than primary staff. Possibly some reduction in the present size of all directorates would assist area directors and their officers to become better known to local teaching personnel.
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ItemThe relationship between the knowledge teachers have of their pupils and the self-initiated science activities of the pupils( 1967)The investigation was concerned with an examination of the affective responses associated with an increase in teacher knowledge about pupils. Previous research supported the general theory that affective action follows from a teacher's knowledge about pupils, and, by affecting teacher-pupil rapport, stimulates pupil activity. The hypothesis tested in this investigation was that: 'Science classes taught by teachers who have increased knowledge about their pupils, will show a relatively greater frequency of performance of self-initiated science activities.' A sample of 46 beginning male science teachers from Melbourne University and the Secondary Teachers' College, who were teaching forms III or IV science in 1965, were stratified into two groups on school location (metropolitan and nonmetropolitan), matched on MTAI scores, and members of each matched pair randomly assigned to either experimental or control groups. The experimental groups were supplied with biographical information about their pupils, obtained from pupil questionnaires and school records, while the control groups were not. After a six month interval a test showed that the experimental manipulation of 'teacher knowledge about pupil' had produced significant, though small, differences in teacher knowledge about pupils in favour of the experimental groups of teachers. However measures of the pupils' self-initiated science activities obtained by a Science Activity Inventory did not reveal any significant differences between the classes of the experimental and control groups of teachers, i.e. the hypothesis of the investigation was not supported.
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ItemThe institutional provision for the education of intending teachers: a comparative study of changes in Canada and Australia( 1972)The thesis which has been explored has been that one major determinant of change in the institutional provision for the education of intending teachers has been the school system itself. This has acted partly through the numerical demands for teachers and also through qualitative changes in schools. Such things as the type of primary and secondary education, the curriculum, and the numbers of children at school in each age level all seem related to changes in the way that teacher education is provided. A theoretical basis for such a hypothesis has been developed and the hypothesis then tested through a consideration of the pattern of changes in Australia and Canada. In both countries teacher education systems can be considered to have evolved from a fundamentally dichotomous model. The education of secondary teachers had taken place in the universities while that of intending primary teachers took place in specialist institutions controlled by the employing authority. As the distinction between elementary and secondary education became less marked so there occurred changes in the pattern of teacher education. In Australia the changes in the provision of teacher education in the late sixties and early seventies have followed a period when there was an expansion of secondary school enrolments and a series of curriculum changes at both the primary and secondary level. In Canada a more detailed comparison of changes in each province was made and a similar relation emerged. Those provinces which first made changes in the provision of teacher education were those which experienced first an expansion of secondary school enrolments and an intensive period of curriculum revision. As a result of these comparisons it is suggested that these changes in schools are best described as initiating factors in this change. A comparison of the different form of the changes which occurred in Australia and Canada suggests that to some extent the nature of the general provision of tertiary education in a given country can be regarded as a formative factor in the changes discussed. The solutions to the problem of a need to change the control of teacher education which have been adopted in each of these countries have been coloured by the form of tertiary education which prevailed. It is suggested that while these factors are contributing rather than controlling factors, and that while they do not provide a closed set of determinants, at least this is a useful framework for discussing these changes. They may also provide a useful starting point for a further analysis of the provision of teacher education in other countries.
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ItemThe educational ideas and influence on Victorian education of Dr. John Smyth: principal of the Melbourne Teachers' College, 1902-1927 and the first professor of education in the University of Melbourne, 1918-1927( 1967)Second in authority and influence only to Frank Tate, Dr. John Smyth was uniquely qualified to interpret the ideas of the "New Education" movement for Victorian schools at the turn of the century. Instead of using a biographical approach, this thesis outlines the diverse intellectual backgrounds which together formed the basis of Smyth's ideas. His New Zealand teaching experience coincided with the beginnings of reform there and his understanding of the "New Education" was deepened through study in Germany and Scotland from 1895 to 1901. German demands for realism in education; kindergartens and the theories of Froebel and Pestalozzi; the new techniques of Herbart and Rein; the establishment of teacher-training as a legitimate function of the university; and the beginnings of experimental psychology at Leipsic, were experienced by Smyth at first hand. The philosophy of Neo-Idealism which he espoused explains his ability to synthesize conflicting elements of the complex "New Education" movement. These major influences can be seen as the thesis examines Smyth's impact on Victorian education as Principal of the Melbourne Teachers' College (1902-27) and as the first Professor of Education at the University of Melbourne (1918-27). Separate chapters develop Smyth's attitudes to teacher-training and the College's growth under his control; his direct responsibility for the creation of the Free Kindergarten Union of Victoria and the improvement of Infant Schools; his idealistic philosophy translated into practice in the rural schools; and the significant contributions he made to the development of a School of Education at the University of Melbourne. A final assessment of Smyth the man reveals him as an intensely religious, dedicated educationist who had a lasting impact on the pattern of Victorian education. His relationship with Frank Tate emerges as that of an idealistic reformer unable to accept happily the limitations of compromise forced on Tate, the shrewd administrator, by a political and economic climate hostile to any but utilitarian educational reforms. Whilst Smyth’s educational ideas were not always fully implemented, the part he played in a period of educational history hitherto dominated by the name of Tate cannot be ignored. His intellectual stature and his actual accomplishments mark him as a key figure in our understanding of the development of Victorian education.