Faculty of Education - Theses
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 4 of 4
-
ItemAn education to prayer: the establishment and development of a parochial school in the Catholic parish of St. Brendan's Flemington, Melbourne. 1887 -1947( 1990)�� the present system of Catholic Education in Australia developed not from any predetermined plan but as a result of the conflicting forces in educational development in the nineteenth century and the circumstances of the times." In the latter half of the nineteenth century �conflicting forces� and �the circumstances of the times� resulted in the establishing, in 1887, of a Catholic primary school in the inner Melbourne suburb of Flemington. (From Introduction)
-
ItemA history of education at Kew Cottages: 1887-1940( 1999)The development of education at an institution for intellectually disabled children does not occur in isolation. In this thesis I propose to show the context from which formal and informal educational services developed at Kew Cottages in Victorian colonial times. This context includes the reasons for the establishment of the institution of Kew Cottages for children from its parent institutions at Kew and Yarra Bend, as well as the evolution of educational services at the Kew Cottages, once it was established in 1887. The history of services for the intellectually disabled is indeed varied across different cultures and different ages. It was not my intention to write a history that simply criticised the shortfalls of institutional life, in an unorthodox educational setting, from the perspective of our so called more enlightened times. Murray referred to this sort of history as an 'inspirational' view of history. Histories of this sort tend to pluck out evidence that support the author's views, and tend to see the present as the apex in knowledge and practice in a certain area. While I can not escape my own cultural upbringing and values, I hope that I have presented a history that accurately portrays many of the issues, in a manner that not only explains, but also is a useful encapsulation of the development of education at Kew Cottages, for future historians. My own biases lead me to view the ideologies and practices regarding people with intellectual disabilities as very specific to the times they were set in, and I can foresee times in the next hundred years when our present dominant ideologies and practices are considered antiquated. Developments in the area of genetics, as well as in artificial intelligence, and other computer technologies, will have great implications for society in general, but perhaps even more for people with disabilities. The future is another story, however, and I will leave that up to historians even further into the future to record. A well rounded history can and should, I believe, have an influence on present debates and development of policy and practice. While it is true that present power brokers in any area are likely to be very selective in their use of history in current debates about policy and practices concerning the intellectually disabled, the role of the historian should be to be as free from those blatant biases, as possible, or at the very least to state clearly the value system they are using when writing their history.
-
ItemAnton Semyonovich Makarenko and progressive education: a study of Pedagogicheskaya Poema, or, The Road to Life( 1991)The aftermath of the 1917 October Revolution in the U.S.S.R, brought about a climate of radical reforms in the entire education system. The first minister of education, Lunacharsky, introduced experimentation in schools; he encouraged the implementation of a school curriculum influenced by Marxist-Leninist ideology combined with the ideals of John Dewey and the Western Progressive tendencies in education. In Russia, a product of the October revolution was also a multitude of 'bezprizornie', homeless children who needed urgent educational attention. In 1920, a young Ukranian teacher, imbued with the fervour of revolutionary ideals, was given the task of running a colony for 'bezprizornie'. Antonich Makarenko accepted the task with reluctance but also with a firm belief that educational processes could re-educate children. He also believed that the education system could cater for the interests of both the individual and the group. Makarenko's educational experiment became known as 'The Gorky Colony', in honour of his source of inspiration, the Russian writer, Maxim Gorky. In the running of the Gorky Colony, after initial difficulties, Makarenko, experienced fame and success. He recorded his pedagogical experience in a literary work which he called: A Poem of Education, translated into English and thereafter known as: The Road to Life. His work, first published in 1933, coincided with the end of the Lenin-Lunacharsky's influence in education and with the rise of Stalinist policies of return to traditionalism in education. Makarenko survived the party purges of the early Bolsheviks by adopting the Stalinist policies in education. Calling his methodology 'the Soviet Way', and by stressing the belief in 'collective education', he gained favour within the Stalin regime and also during the 'de-Stalinization' years of the Khrushchov regime. Detailed analysis of The Road to Life, reveals that the 'Makarenko method' remains most of all a reflection of the child-centred, progressive approach to education of the early Bolshevik years, the 1920's.
-
ItemThe history of the Victorian Association for Gifted and Talented Children( 1990)This thesis has documented the history of the V.A.G.T.C. from its inception in June, 1978 until December, 1989. An outline of the way in which this organization developed, the major influences responsible for this development and the changing role of the Association throughout its life, has been recorded. As there is limited written material available, much of the information provided arises from interviews with six of the people who have held the position of President, other influential people nominated by the Association, Minutes of the Annual General Meetings and any correspondence, membership lists and other documentation the Association provided. Certain future directions and aspirations are recorded.