Faculty of Education - Theses
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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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ItemAdministrative decision making : a critical examination of H.A. Simon's and T.B. Greenfield's theoretical frameworks( 1987)In the thesis that follows, an examination of various trends in educational administration reveals distinctive claims and counterclaims regarding the process of decision-making. The current debate in this field centres around two key issues: firstly, the identification and isolation of the types of problems an educational administrator may encounter, and secondly, the proposition of a philosophical basis for action for the individual who seeks to solve these problems. It is argued in this thesis that administrators need not only to make decisions but to make the 'right' decisions. Consequently, the role played by the theoretical framework one assumes as a guide to action, becomes central. Once accepted and adopted, such a framework provides the very justification for decisions which allow for the distinction of correct or incorrect decisions in practice. Because of this insistence on the quality of a decision, the dichotomy between facts and values in the decision making process is both recognised and thoroughly investigated within the boundaries of two well-established schools of thought, namely the logical-positivists and the interpretivists. An overview of the basic tenets of logical-positivism and of an opposing school, represented here by T.B. Greenfield and his alternative theory, precedes the presentation of a hypothetical problem in educational administration. A consideration of this single problem of educational administration from these two different theoretical perspectives then follows. A critical examination of the contribution of each school of thought, in moving towards a solution to the stated problem, reveals fundamental contradictions which prevent the applied union of theory and practice. The realisation of the inadequacy of these frameworks as the sole guidance for the practising administrator extends to a projection of where administrative theory should now be directed if theory is to be aligned with the practice of educational administration.
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ItemMovements towards the senior campus concept: two case studies providing description of early movements in the reorganization of secondary schooling in Victoria aimed at providing an educational environment suited for young adults( 1987)This thesis investigates early movements directed towards the emergence of a new form of secondary school organization in Victoria, namely the senior campus. Two elements are identified as having been instrumental in heralding this development, firstly the phenomenon of zero population growth (and a concomitant decline in school enrolments) and secondly, a number of key recommendations of the Ministerial Review of Postcompulsory Schooling, more commonly known as the Blackburn Report. A major causal factor in defining the characteristics of the senior campus, and in ensuring its evolution, has been the influence of powerful teachers' unions upon government policy formulation in this state. The review of literature examines the development, and characteristics, of parallel forms of schooling in other parts of Australia and overseas, endeavours to establish a framework against which the evolution of the senior campus can be compared, and seeks to provide the means of identifying reasons why forms of schooling which have been popular, and successful, in other places, have been deemed as unacceptable for implementation in Victoria. The methodology adopted has been to undertake two case studies, one in Essendon, and the other in Mitcham. Each concerned a group of schools involved in the process of rationalization and reorganization, and each provided for the establishment of a senior campus for students in Years Eleven and Twelve. A common structure was adopted in both cases - Part A provides an analysis of background documents, and Part B provides description of the change process from the vantage point of a participant observer. The Essendon study presents a conceptual model for the reorganization of schooling in the Essendon area, and the Mitcham study describes the evolution of Mullauna College, a multi-campus, P-12 college which will be established early in 1980.