Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemSecondary education in Van Diemen's Land, 1820-1857( 1972)The history of the establishment of any school system is necessarily an account of contrasting individuals and their diverse attitudes and efforts. Van Diemen's Land is no exception; the only factor enjoyed in common by nearly all of the private schoolmasters was their motivation - want of a more lucrative or appropriate occupation. Few schools prospered in Tasmania in the period up to 1850 for the colony lacked the prosperous middle-class that supported the English public and proprietary schools. A convict, Thomas Fitzgerald, was appointed as the first public schoolmaster in 1807 but nothing of a secondary nature was attempted until 1819. From that point a number of schools can be traced. The most remarkable would be those conducted at Pressland House, Melville Street, Hobart Town, by a succession of capable schoolmasters, in Launceston by Charles Price, and at Ellinthorp Hall, near Ross, by Mrs.G.C.Clark. However, the most insignificant seminary made some contribution to the traditions of culture and education in Tasmania, and for this reason, each founder deserves to be considered, whether of the English or Scottish tradition, Rugbeian or parochial school derivation, trained or self-taught, emancipist or free settler. Whilst free enterprise provided the temporary educational needs of Van Diemen's Land, Church and State pondered ways to establish more permanent institutions. The efforts of Archdeacons T.H.Scott and W.G.Broughton came to nought but activities commenced with the arrival of Sir John Franklin in 1837, a governor determined to set up a public school of the Arnoldian pattern in Tasmania. John Philip Gell was selected as foundation headmaster and, until the College could be built, he conducted the Queen's School. This venture failed during the severe economic depression in 1843. Sir John Franklin's successor, Sir John Eardley-Wilmot, did not share his predecessor's enthusiasm for the College so in its place the Church of England planned a Church-sponsored system of schools. Bishop F.R.Nixon promoted a fund-raising drive, largely in England, which resulted in the establishment in 1846 of Christ's College, a grammar school and quasi-university, and two feeder schools, Hutchins School in Hobart Town and the Launceston Church Grammar School. At about the same time another group, composed largely of Dissenters, launched a High School in Hobart Town. Both the High School and Christ's College failed during the 1850's but the two feeder schools survived the economic troubles and Tractarian disputes of the period. It is clear that in all these schools, although economic and political factors played decisive roles, the most significant factor was the character of the persons organizing and controlling the schools. It is necessary therefore to see what manner of men worked for education in Van Diemen's Land in the first half of the nineteenth century.
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ItemAn analysis of the recent reform movement in education, with special reference to Victorian secondary schools in the late nineteen sixties( 1977)The school reform movement in the nineteen sixties accompanied unprecedented change in culture and society. Curriculum reform was attempted throughout much of the developed world; in Victoria, the Curriculum Advisory Board was formed, and the Education Department initiated the Curriculum Reform Project for secondary schools. But the reform movement was complex; there were several distinct groups within it (deschoolers, educational technologists, and liberal humanists) whose aims and methods were often contradictory. The major reform philosophy in Victoria was liberal humanist and expressed most notably in the writings of the Director of Secondary Education, R.A. Reed, whose Curriculum Reform Project was not necessarily successful in its own terms, but nevertheless had a significant effect on secondary schooling in Victoria. The reform movement demonstrated how complex is the phenomenon of educational change; it is obviously more complicated than is suggested by the ideas of circular change or pendulum swing, and is perhaps best seen as resulting from the disturbance of equilibrium in a strong field of forces. Attempted liberal reform in Australia has led to the formation in 1973 of the Australian Council for Educational Standards, a group dedicated to the resistance of reform. There is presently a crisis in education, a crisis marked by uncertainty. The crisis should be resolved by encouraging alternatives in education, and by reorganizing educational institutions so that they can become more flexible and adaptable.
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ItemDistinguishing the science content taken by grade 12 students( 1977)The population of grade 12 students in Australian secondary schools has been steadily increasing over the past two decades. For most of this period the percentage of students at this level choosing science-type courses has been decreasing, and recently the actual number taking physics and chemistry has declined in some states. This study aimed to find a set of variables that would maximize the prediction of grade 12 student science content. Emphasis was directed toward identification of science talented students not opting for high science content in grade 12, and, equally as important, those of low science ability who select predominantly science courses at this level. It was proposed that the variables could be measures of any area likely to be related to the criterion. For example, factors associated with the home, the school, and personal measures were all included. The variable set was then searched for that combination returning optimal criterion prediction. Attention was focussed on six main units of analysis viz males, males of higher science ability, males of lower science ability, females, females of higher science ability, females of lower science ability. The data in each unit was subjected to both discriminant (stepwise and direct) analysis and a process similar to a stepwise regression procedure called the Automatic Interaction Detector (AID). AID employs a branching process using variance analysis to subdivide the sample into subgroups which maximize dependent variable value prediction. The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) conducted a series of tests on a stratified random sample of grade 12 students throughout Australia in 1970. The results, held at ACER, included measures of some 418 variables thirty four of which were selected for this investigation. Included in this group were the results of the four Commonwealth Secondary Scholarship Examination (CSSE) ability tests taken two years earlier. Analysis units were formed on the basis of sex and CSSE - Science score. The results indicate successful science content prediction is possible with the personal or internal variables of science interest, attitudes and abilities, consistently being of greatest importance. The participating external variables vary depending on the unit of analysis. The non-monotonic "State" and "Type of School" factors are predominant in AID analyses.