Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemAn analysis of how an innovation is disseminated by using the origins of the vertical curriculum concept in Victorian State Secondary Schools( 1985)The purpose of this investigation was twofold. One aim was to discover the origins of the vertical curriculum structure that has made a considerable impact on state secondary schools in the last decade. The other aim was to establish how the idea spread throughout the system and why schools made this major change away from the horizontal curriculum. Three research methods were used in this study. Firstly, Education Department Secondary School Handbooks were studied to identify the vertically structured schools in 1975 and 1982. Secondly, a telephone survey was undertaken in order to find more information about each of the forty-four vertical models discovered in the 1983 Handbook. This survey also enabled the original innovative schools to be identified, key individuals to be established and communication links between schools to be drawn up. Finally, the key carriers of the concept were interviewed to gain in depth information on the innovation. The outcome from the data collected should assist in the understanding of how a major curriculum change can disseminate throughout the schools in an education system. These implications should apply to educational systems outside of both Victoria and Australia.
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ItemMaking the transition : cultural reproduction in the market-place( 1985)This work relates to the cultural, economic and behavioural characteristics of two groups of young people who have recently left school and, either embarked upon a career pathway via tertiary education or on to long-term unemployment. Theories of cultural reproduction and anomie were examined in an attempt to account for the pathways that the two groups had taken. Two anomalies were discovered; students from migrant or working-class backgrounds who were succeeding in higher education and some working class unemployed young people who were beginning the slide into the under class. Cultural reproduction theory was found not to exactly or accurately account for outcomes and life chances whereas anomie theory was found to be a reasonable explication for the state of malaise of a number of those young people interviewed.
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ItemAn evaluation of computer science in the Victorian Higher Schools Certificate( 1984)This thesis evaluates certain aspects of the Victorian Higher Schools Certificate subject, Computer Science. Firstly, an overview is taken of the subject as it was intended to function in the first three years of its accreditation, 1981 - 83. In the light of this, the draft proposal for changes to the course in 1984 is reviewed. Secondly, a number of specific areas of the course are examined in more detail. A questionnaire to course designers and teachers is the basis of this investigation. The relationship between stated objectives of the course and items of course content is explored. An analysis is conducted on the extent to which the four option components are equitable in terms of time. The relative importance of the three components of assessment is explored, especially in the case of a 'barely passing' student. Actual raw mark components for the 1981 students have been used in connection with the latter investigation.
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ItemPeer tutoring in a tertiary institution( 1987)This thesis aims to explore and assess the potential of Peer Tutoring as a teaching strategy for student-teachers who need to improve their written language skills. Specifically it addresses students' attitudes to Peer Tutoring from an organisational perspective, and their attitude towards the effectiveness of the strategy to further develop written language skills. The study was conducted during 1986 with first-year English students enrolled in the Bachelor of Education (Primary) Course at Melbourne College of Advanced Education. In this study three research tools were used = formal interviews, two questionnaires, and an analysis of students' written work. Interviews were conducted with six students on completion of their Peer Tutoring program. Questions focussed on their attitude to Peer Tutoring as a teaching strategy, the success of the approach for them, problems they encountered with the approach and suggestions for more effective management of the program. Following the interviews, students completed a questionnaire designed to confirm and give data additional to that already collected. All first-year English students completed a four-item questionnaire, related to Peer Tutoring at the completion of the subject. These questions were designed to assess all students' attitudes to the effectiveness of Peer Tutoring as a teaching strategy, whether they were involved in the program or not, and to provide feedback for more effective program management. Assignments were collected at the completion of the program, and were analysed in terms of the student's attitude towards Peer Tutoring as a teaching strategy and the gains made in written language skills. The data clearly indicates the value of Peer Tutoring as a strategy for students in their first year of teacher-training, and major recommendations have emerged from student comment as to more effective program management in the future.
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ItemThe year co-ordinator in selected Victorian metropolitan independent schools : profile, practice and prospects( 1987)This study was designed to examine the position and role of the Year Co-ordinator in selected Victorian Metropolitan Independent schools. The principal objectives of the study were: (i) to discover what sorts of persons undertake this role and establish whether they have personal, academic and career characteristics in common; (ii) to look at the year co-ordinator's perception of the role; and (iii) to examine the career interests of year co-ordinators and, in particular, to gauge their opinions on how well their present role is preparing them for future responsibilities, such as Deputy Principal or Principal. A questionnaire was distributed to forty AHISA affiliated Independent schools in Victoria. Twenty eight valid responses were received. Six Principals returned their questionnaires stating that the position of year co-ordinator did not exist in their schools. The schools who did not reply were telephoned and it was established that year co-ordinators did exist in those schools.
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ItemAn analysis of education provision to older non-English speaking background youth with minimal or interrupted schooling in the Richmond/Collingwood area( 1987)This study is an analysis of educational provision in the Richmond/Coilingwood area for young people aged 16 to 24 years of age, of migrant or refugee background, who have a history of minimal or interrupted schooling. These students are mostly of Indo-Chinese or Timorese background , and face severe problems relating to their lack of literacy and poor English proficiency. Many of these students are unaccompanied refugees and face economic hardship in Australia. Educational programs running in five postprimary schools, two TAFE colleges and two language centres are examined in light of their relevance to the needs of these students. It emerges from this study that a small number of institutions provide responsive quality programs for this group. There are, however, general problems relating to the low status and marginalization of ESL programs in most of the institutions. These problems are compounded by a lack of funding, unsympathetic administration, ignorance of the issues and difficulties relating to accreditation. In some institutions, no provision at all is made for these students. Needs emerging from these issues may be summarized as follows. A greater awareness of the educational requirements. of this group must be developed. An informed collaborative approach must be adopted to respond to these needs in the form of appropriate ESL programs. Policy and administrative support must be forthcoming to assist in achieving these goals.
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ItemThe migrant student "Australianization" and academic performance( 1986)This investigation aims to examine the claim that migrant children are frequently low level school performers. It is also an attempt to explain the observable discrepancy in overall school achievement between diverse groups defined as "ethnic" that is, having a family background in which English is not the mother-tongue. Behavioural and home based variables influencing the school performance of these groups are discussed and analysed. Ethnic and non ethnic groups used in the study were drawn from inner suburban students who were in their grade 6 year in 1982.' Each child completed numeracy and word knowledge tests and examination of results displayed that as a whole, the migrant sample scored at an inferior level to the "Australian" Sample albeit that the top students came from both categories. Throughout, Australian,is taken to signify children with two parents whose mother-tongue is English and whose general family environment, encompassing cultural and attitudinal elements, reflects that common to the majority of members of the same social class. Correlations between the extent of Australianization of the family and performance scores of children revealed that Australianization appears to be a positive factor only when it involves developed language adoption in addition to general behavioural adaptations. The tests reveal that lower test scores are in each case associated with limited English language ability.
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ItemImplications for the Education Department of trends in the use of emergency teachers by Victorian government schools( 1983)The Victorian Education Department emergency teacher system has been depicted as inequitable, extravagant, inefficient and failing to provide for accountability. The purpose of this study was to investigate trends in the use of emergency teachers by schools in Central Metropolitan Region during 1981 in order to: (i) assess the accuracy of these observations for Central Metropolitan Region, (ii) ascertain the impact of the perceived problems on individual schools, (iii) develop recommendations for overcoming the perceived problems. Statistics on levels of staffing, leave and emergency teacher use for regional primary, secondary and technical schools were collated and analysed. It was found that levels and rates of emergency teacher use varied significantly from school to school and appeared to have only a limited relationship to staffing and teacher absence levels. Some schools were observed to be employing emergency teachers at a level which could not be justified by levels of teacher absence. Some schools were observed to automatically employ emergency teachers to cover all teacher absence. Some schools used emergency teachers at a relatively low level either because of limited availability or a preference to absorb teacher absence by other means. Lack of accountability, waste of resources, inequity and administrative inefficiency were seen to be serious problems in the emergency teacher programme operating in Central Metropolitan Region in 1981. Factors other than need as quantified by teacher absence levels appeared to affect levels of emergency teacher use by Central Metropolitan Region schools. It was shown that socio-economic status of schools, percentage of migrant pupils, school size, school type and availability of emergency teachers had a discernable impact on general levels of emergency teacher use. It was not found possible however to gauge the extent of influence of each of the factors on individual schools. The above findings were used in developing a proposal for overcoming the perceived problems of inequity, waste, lack of account-. ability and inefficiency. This involved the allocation of quotas of emergency teacher days to schools, calculated according to specific needs. It involved schools having responsibility for administering their own emergency teacher funds, including the right to direct funds . to alternative personnel areas. The final part of this study proposed formulae for the equitable distribution of emergency teacher funds to schools. Evaluation of the relative effectiveness of these formulae remains as an important area for future investigation.
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ItemOrganization theory and academic libraries( 1986)The thesis explores the extent to which organization theory is applicable to the study of academic libraries. An organization is defined as a social group formed and sustained by people as a device or tool to help them do particular things, and organizational theory is defined as a discipline that provides ways of looking at organizations in order to gain an understanding of them. These definitions are seen to satisfy the two major viewpoints among organizational theorists in educational administration, associated in the thesis with the names, R.H. Hall and T.B. Greenfield. The Hall viewpoint, aligned with the intellectual tradition of positivism, is objective, and concentrates on the collective features of organizations. The Greenfield viewpoint is subjective, and concentrates on values and experiences of the individual as the essential reality of organizations. Models are derived from the work of the two theorists, and presented in parallel, using a systems approach, within a common research framework. The purpose of the research framework is to demonstrate that the two viewpoints are complementary rather than contradictory. The thesis then proceeds to examine each factor in the Hall model within the research framework by means of a survey of organizational characteristics of academic libraries in Victoria. Respondents to the survey were the chief librarians of those libraries or their representatives. The Greenfield model is used to justify reliance in the survey on the subjective perceptions of the respondents, rather than on objective statistical data about the libraries. Hypotheses and propositions concerning the relationship among the factors from the Hall model, environment, strategy, structure, technology, and organizational effectiveness were formulated and tested, and were largely supported by the survey results. The most noteworthy result was the strong support for the analyzer strategy which seeks to preserve the status quo while engaging in low risk innovation. In order to demonstrate the practical applicability of the theoretical framework developed in the thesis, the particular issue of the feasibility of entrepreneurship by academic libraries is briefly explored in terms of the theory.
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ItemThe politics of education at a provincial teachers' college : Bendigo 1968-1972( 1981)The study is concerned with the attempts of Bendigo Teachers' College to gain autonomy and resist pressures for amalgamation with the Bendigo Institute of Technology. It examines the efforts of a small academic community in a provincial city to influence the future of their institution by resisting the policy of rationalisation of resources. It thus was necessary to look at developments in tertiary education in Victoria in the wider context and briefly examine the role of the Commonwealth Government as it attempted to rationalise and direct the tertiary sector through the allocation of resources. The attitude of the Federal Government influenced educational policy at the state level and it became apparent that the State Government in turn brought pressure to bear on education authorities. State teachers' colleges had always been under the direct control of the Education Department and they were discouraged from taking any initiatives that could be construed as being at variance with Departmental policy. Bendigo Teachers' College attempted and succeeded in initiating political action on its own behalf rather than rely on the Department to support it against pressures to become part of the Institute. It was a new role for the staff of the Teachers' College for they were all employees of the Education Department and were a nominally conservative group in a conservative tradition directed institution not accustomed to taking direct political action. They were influenced by the Principal of the College who either led or supported their efforts to convince the community of the merits of their case for remaining independent. It has thus been necessary to examine the role that the Principal and individual staff members played through the media in interaction with representatives of, the Education Department, the Bendigo Institute of Technology, the Victoria Institute of Colleges and the Minister of Education. The College saw that its best chance of resisting amalgamation lay in its ability to expand physically while broadening the scope of the courses it offered. To do so it needed to become an autonomous institution and thus it equated autonomy with survival as it adopted a defensive position against those institutional and community interests who would force amalgamation upon it. A complicating factor was the uncertainty of the location of the Fourth University, which, to the Bendigo community, was of paramount importance. Bendigo desired the University, the Institute wanted amalgamation and the College sought autonomy. The reconciliation of conflict between divergent and potentially conflicting interests was eventually partially resolved in the short term.
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