Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemThe effect of the employment of an overwhelming majority of lay persons as staff members on the teaching mission of the Sisters of the Faithful Companions of Jesus at Genazzano F.C.J. College, Kew( 1988)This paper will show how the teaching mission of the Sisters of the Faithful Companions of Jesus (F.C.J.) has been influenced by the laicization of staff since the advent of Commonwealth funding following the establishment of the Schools Commission in 1972 and will document the ways in which structures have changed and the composition of staff has been altered.
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ItemVedic education (Gurukula) in a contemporary context : considerations for a Krishna conscious thinking curriculum( 1997)This thesis presents the Vedic system of education (Gurukula) in a contemporary context. By means of a detailed description and analysis of the essential characteristics underlying the rationale of Vedic education, the Gurukula system is defined from within the tradition it has evolved. I examine the social dimension of Vedic education and consider the importance of a supportive culture. The organisation of society according to varna-asramadharma is described within this thesis and the original intent of its conception defined. Education is described in terms of its purposive nature, the goal being to develop consciousness. Krishna consciousness is described as a state of reality which enables the soul to identify as spiritual, and in that capacity discriminate between spirit and matter. Individuality in this analysis is defined as the constitutional position of the soul. The sanctity of the individual is maintained throughout human life by recourse to the proper use of intelligence. The Gurukula endeavours to provide a framework within which its members can develop the capacity to cultivate a level of consciousness suitable for participation in the culture represented by the Vedic world-view. I have argued a case for developing appropriate curriculum, which enhances both the culture and the process. The educational implications of teaching children to discriminate within a religious framework, while at the same time maintain their independence and power of critical thinking is a challenge. An appropriate program for providing children with the power of discrimination is considered an essential element of education in this thesis. The Philosophy for Children program established by Lipman and colleagues provides educators with a process for encouraging better thinking in the classroom. An essential element in this program is the development of "the community of inquiry". Religious education delivered according to the philosophical inquiry model is recommended in this thesis. This research specifically aims to assist the development of primary curriculum.
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ItemReligious development of senior students in Catholic schools( 1977)The purpose of this study was to review the educational policy which has been traditionally held by the Congregation of Christian Brothers of involvement in schools which are predominantly single-sex boys' schools. This policy has recently been questioned by some Australian Catholic educational authorities who sought the involvement of members of the Congregation in some co-educational schools. Two major studies had been previously carried out in New South Wales, the first in girls' schools and the second in boys' schools, with both groups containing coincidentally some co-educational schools. Those two studies focussed, among other aspects of schools, on the religious outcomes of senior students. It became then the function of this study to replicate part of those New South Wales studies among senior students in a variety of Catholic schools in Victoria and Tasmania. Whereas the schools in the former studies were selected at random, the schools in this study were selected on the basis of their belonging to a group of either single-sex or co-educational schools. The two single-sex schools, one for boys and one for girls, were matched with a co-educational school in a location sufficiently restricted to form a geographical cluster. This step was taken to minimise the influence on religious development, which was the major dependent variable, of some other intermediate variables. The major dependent variable of religious development was treated under several headings or dimensions. These included Religious Beliefs and Understanding; Moral and Religious Attitudes and Values; Religious Practice; and Influences on Religious Development. Other dependent variables which were studied Were complementary to the main headings and included pre-Vatican and post-Vatican theological concepts; Religious Values; and various statements expressing Moral and Religious Attitudes. The basic independent variable used was the type of school which the students attended, that is, single-sex or co-educational. Some other intermediate variables considered as having some effect on the dependent variables were the sex of the students, the locality of the schools, the socio-economic status of the parents, the country of origin of the parents, the religiosity of the parents. The inclusion of these variables took this study beyond the limits which had been set for the variables in the New South Wales projects. The study employed such statistical procedures as frequencies; mean and standardised scores; t-tests and analysis of variance; levels of significance; coefficients of correlation; and regression and factor analysis. The evidence from the enquiry suggests that for all practical purposes there is no difference among the senior students of various types of Catholic schools in those elements of religious development which constituted the material of the research instrument. The weight of the evidence favours neither single-sex schools nor co-educational schools to the disadvantage of the other type. The alternative hypothesis was worded in favour of single-sex schools but the evidence does not support the claim of its advantages. Proponents of both types of school, should re-assess the views held on the effectiveness of such arrangements. On the other hard, this is only one of several reasons why the Christian Brothers maintain single-sex schools in normal circumstances, and these reasons need to be considered in their own right.
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ItemPolicy implementation in moral education : the Singapore experiment and experience( 1986)The major objective of this study is focused in relation to the emergence, introduction and implementation of the policy of compulsory moral education in Singapore schools particularly the compulsory study of Religious Knowledge subject in the upper secondary levels. The teaching of values has been through lessons in Ethics, Civics, Education for Living and Current Affairs. This study examines the reasons for the change from these general subjects to a specialised and traditional subject such as Religious Knowledge. The research is a descriptive case study of the subject with data derived from primary and secondary print materials and from personal and direct involvement of the research in certain aspects of the implementation of the policy within the school system. The thesis is in three parts. The first part constitutes a comprehensive review of related literature on moral education, the primary conceptual focus of this thesis. This leads on to the second part which relates the theoretical writing directly to the Singapore experience and experiment on moral education. This part also refers to a number of policy models with a commentary on their applicability to the policy development in Singapore. The final part concludes and synthesizes with specific recommendations for further research into moral education in Singapore. The study in essence mirrors the subject of review in an overall general perspective, and concludes with the view, that whilst a genuine and incisive start has been made to achieve the objects of the programme, the ill-prepared implementation, the lack of detailed curriculum planning, the lack of planned teacher training and the conflict between the various religious knowledge subjects in relation to the pluralistic Singaporean society have all created more than teething problems and only time will tell whether the programme itself is a success. With a view to ensuring that this study would form the basis of an overall research on this subject which could spark further intensive research on particular parameters, the study intentionally was designed to, and covers a broad spectrum of most of the issues in relation to the research question.
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ItemReligious education in Victoria's state schools 1959-1979: an analysis and interpretation of the decline of an institution( 1980)The Protestant churches of Victoria slowly developed a voluntary religious instruction system in state schools following the 'free, compulsory and secular' Education Act of 1872. By the mid 1930s weekly instruction was being provided for some 80% of pupils and this percentage was maintained until the mid 1960s. After 1967, however, the system suffered a rapid and severe decline, especially in post-primary schools. Preceding and accompanying the decline was a period of mounting dissatisfaction with the system among church bodies and individuals associated with it, and a search for alternatives ensued. The situation was influenced by developments in religious education in the schools of England and America and in the educational programs of Protestant and Catholic churches. A committee of enquiry, set up by Victoria's Minister of Education following a request from the churches, recommended in 1974 that the churches' religious instruction system should be replaced by programs of religious education devised and conducted by state teachers. Opposition from both religious and secularist groups, however, dissuaded the Government from implementing the Committee's recommendations. Thomas Luckmann's sociological theory of religious change in the modern world provides an analytical framework for interpreting the changes experienced by Victoria's religious instruction system. It is suggested that though the changes were determined in part by educational developments, at a deeper level they sprang from religious changes in the community. In particular, it is argued that the dramatic slump in religious instruction after 1967 was indicative of a changed status for Protestantism in Victoria. No longer was it the taken-for-granted public creed of all except Roman Catholics and a few minority groups; it was henceforth merely one of many sources of meaning and values for private choice. Attempts to reconstruct religious education in Victoria's state schools must reckon with these social and religious changes.