Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemMethodological issues in the calculation of enrolment retention rates( 1982)This study examines the methods used in calculating age- and grade- retention rates for secondary schools in the Victorian education system. It focusses on the methodology' used to obtain these statistics rather than on applications of the generated statistic. However, the administrative uses for which retention rates are calculated have been considered. As a consequence of applications of the retention statistic being diverse and requiring considerable detail to be fully understood, their discussion will be reserved to a separate appendix (see Appendix I, The Collection and Use of Enrolment Data in the Victorian Education Department). The use of school data to calculate retention may be regarded as an attempt to overcome the problems faced in collecting individual pupil data. The latter would necessitate the tracing of all individuals in each age-cohort separately over that time, a task requiring data-collection methods which are yet to be made available. ''Apparent" retention rates, as they are usually called, are used on the assumption that they are unlikely to differ from "exact" retention rates, those rates obtained when individual data is used, at least in the case of aggregates greater than the individual school level. Any errors resulting from this assumption can possibly be reduced by altering the method of calculating apparent retention rates. This thesis investigates a number of different approaches of calculating retention rates with this aim in view. This thesis does not attempt to reveal anything new about the factors which affect retention. However, it is clear that in exploring new methods of calculating retention, the influence of these factors must be kept in mind. Such factors may be of long-term rather than short-term influence or they may be an aggregate one rather than one which is exhibited at a particular school. The literature on the subject is equivalent to much of the work on social differences in educational achievement, since retention rates are in one respect the most rudimentary index of school achievement, the length of schooling. Thus, no attempt has been made to offer a review of the general literature. Instead, monographs or reports most relevant to the methodological aspects are cited in the footnotes at the appropriate points, or discussed within the text when necessary.
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ItemGeelong High School 1909-16 : a study of local response( 1978)The years 1909-16 saw the expansion of public secondary education within Victoria. It represents the working out of certain aims and policies for secondary schools between a centralised Education Department in Melbourne and the local communities that were financially involved in the provision of these facilities. This thesis will attempt to identify the forces shaping the development of Geelong High School. It will outline the aims and values of this community and evaluate the significance of their perception of what secondary education should be about. The study will look at the role of the Education Department - its director, its administrative philosophy and the attitude of the State Government towards the expansion of secondary education. The study will examine the interplay of these factors with the significant contribution of the school's educational leadership and philosophy. The main argument of the thesis is that the success of Geelong High School was to a large extent due to its support from a middle class. They saw in the school opportunities for their children resulting from an education that was financially beyond them at the prestigious fee-paying public schools. In responding to these needs the school would survive in spite of almost overwhelming odds in its early years. A comparative study with Colac Agricultural High School will be made to clarify the point that it was community support, and not legislation and regulations from the Department, that was to be the main reason for the success of Geelong High School.
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ItemThe teaching of history in state-supported elementary schools in Victoria, 1852-1954( 1965)The major concern of this thesis, then, is to trace and account for the introduction of History as a subject in 1886, to show its development in an initial period of transition as the implications of the new subject were explored, to follow it through the years of the "New Education" to the time when it became an established and accepted subject, changing little, to examine a period of exciting rediscovery and revision in the early 1930's, and finally, after another twenty years of relative but deceptive calm,to describe the changes which led to the introduction of Social Studies at the expense of History, Geography and Civics in 1954.
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ItemParent attitudes to an independent school( 1986)This thesis examines the attitude of a large, random sample of parents of a single independent school in Melbourne. The School, Carey Baptist Grammar, became co-educational in 1978, partly in response to changes in enrolment patterns. A review of the literature considers trends in parent attitudes and enrolments in government and non-government schools. The present trend in favour of non-government schools in Victoria has important implications for a school such as Carey. The survey reported in this thesis examines the background of Carey Parents, their reasons for choosing Carey, their attitudes to the School's objectives, assessment of the School's performance and whether they believe they are receiving "value for money". A range of specific conclusions and recommendations are reached. The limitations of using the data from this survey for comparison with other schools is discussed.
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ItemThe public education enterprise of the Port Phillip conservation movement 1965-75( 1984)The Franklin River Battle of the early 1980s made conservation of wilderness into a substantial national issue. However, throughout Australia in the preceding decade and a half mini-conflicts of a similar nature had occurred. Before conservation of wilderness versus hydro-electricity development in South-West Tasmania took over the front pages of newspapers and a multitude of television programmes, a climate of opinion had already been formed. The hearts and minds of a significant number of citizens had been captured by the vision of a rejuvenating area of beauty which they could enjoy themselves and 'pass on' to their descendants. Politicians have recognized that the new conservation consciousness encompasses a significant number of young people, though it is by no means confined to them, and that it crosses traditional political divides. In the Port Phillip conservation movement such citizens have played a role in a variety of local battles, establishing a climate of opinion in which conservation matters became public issues, significant in policy-making and legislation. Port Phillip conservationists attempted to prevent developments perceived as harmful, to see that improved practices were substituted and new policies formed. Efforts were also made to dispel ignorance and provide information about the degradation of landscape, pollution and the need for conservation policies in the local area and also on a world scale. By 1970 several important conflicts had emerged. One of the significant conflicts was over plans to construct a marina below the Beaumaris cliffs at the north end of the City of Mordialloc, the other over a projected car-park in a valued section of bushland on the Black Rock foreshore. In both cases, conservationists were successful. The need to evaluate and express their affection for the environment of tea-tree, coast wattle, banksia and she-oak, to which they became committed, led to important developments, both within themselves and in the community. New local associations were formed and established ones enlarged their membership and re-defined their aims. The Port Phillip Conservation Council was formed and became a co-ordinating body and focus of policy-making and public relations. An examination of the history of that organization and of the local groups reveals conscious and significant efforts to change and re-form public opinion. At the same time, a study of the issues, personalities and developments within one area, the City of Sandringham, provides an insight to the methods used in the achievement of objectives and particularly in efforts made to educate or re-educate those in power and the general public. Port Phillip Bay has played a vital role in the growth, of the metropolis of Melbourne, initially, through providing a port and waterway. Its foreshores have been valued for their charm and interest and for recreation. In some parts they provide a delightful environment of regenerating semi-natural bushland which is a living link with old Australia and a pleasure for the present population. It is a "green belt' between the world of houses, shops, factories and roads and the sea-shore. The Port Phillip movement began in the context of an interest in the Australian environment which was taking shape in the colonies in the last half of the nineteenth century. To some extent it ran parallel to movements overseas: the national parks development in the United States is an important example. Furthermore, in the 1960s and 1970s, certain problems apparent in the life-support systems of the earth were publicised widely and dramatically. Survival became an issue for a substantial number of men and women, and for girls and boys at school. Two seminal books aroused consciousness of some of the issues. One was Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, the other, The Great Extermination, edited by the Australian, Jock Marshall. To this movement, and in particular to its modus operandi, this thesis addresses itself. It addresses the question of how the Port Phillip Conservation movement developed, and examines what conscious efforts were made to educate the public, particularly during the significant years of the early seventies.
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