Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemStudent expectations of the future( 1992)Specific aims of the study To investigate how present-day students view the future and their place in the workforce of the future. To establish whether or not students regard their present educational experiences as an adequate preparation for their future work. To investigate acceptance of unconventional futures scenarios as possible futures.
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ItemThe impact of the zone based professional development program, "Skill review and professional development", on knowledge, understanding and practice within selected school communities( 1995)While engaged in documenting a retrospective account of a zone based professional development program, Skill Review and Professional Development, which aimed to support school communities in the implementation of skill review and professional development according to the Tripartite Agreement on School Development Planning, I reflected on a statement by Harwayne (1992): 'We take courses. We attend workshops. We read books, We get lots of information. But the really important information comes later on. It comes when we take that seed information back to our classrooms, when we experiment and innovate and invent, when we make it our own. The story really is 'to be continued' (p.337 ). This reflection led to the following questions which drove my investigation: # has the 'seed information' collected during the program been taken back to the school level?; # have school communities been able to 'experiment', 'innovate' and 'invent' in order to make skill review and professional development their own?; and, # in what areas has the zone based professional development program, Skill Review and Professional Development, impacted at the school level? The information gathered to discover the answers to these questions was qualitative in nature and comes from those involved directly with the delivery and implementation of the program. The information draws on what happened at the zone level and what is now happening at the school level. The gathered data took the form of words: written and anecdotal; record and document observations; and transcripts of discussions and interviews, as words captured the spirit of the happenings. The writings of Joyce and Showers (1987), Joyce and Weil (1992), Fullan and Stiegelbauer (1991), Hargreaves (1992), Fullan (1993), Johnson (1993), Guskey (1994) and others have helped make sense of the impact of this program at the school level.
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ItemCurriculum and programme provisions for gifted and talented children in Victorian J.S.H.A.A. schools( 1992)This study has surveyed the provision of programmes for Children with High Intellectual Potential (C.H.I.P.) in Victorian member schools of the Junior Schools Heads Association Australia. Fifty-nine schools were surveyed; fifty-four responded, representing some 19,000 junior school children. The survey was divided into six sections covering staffing provisions, curriculum and programmes, definition of gifted children, identification procedures, changing perspectives and importance of C.H.I.P., and subscriptions to journals. The literature search was divided into two distinct sections. Within the Australian context the review was historical, marking the modern beginnings of education for C.H.I.P.. There is a dearth of literature with Australian origins on gifted and talented children. The late seventies and early eighties uncover some material, basically funded and inspired by the Commonwealth Schools Commission. The emphasis is on surveys of programmes. The conclusion is clear that what programmes were operating were ad hoc in nature. This was inevitable, as teacher training for C.H.I.P. was non-existent. In the early eighties, promising programmes in the Victorian Education Department and the Catholic Education system were quickly quashed by a change of government. Major writers such as Gallagher, Maker and Van Tassel-Bash identify three distinct curriculum models, the Content, the Process/Product and the Epistemological. There is no evidence at this stage to suggest that the Victorian C.H.I.P. programmes are anything more than ad hoc. They do not fit into the three identified curriculum models. In-class provision is the main methodology, with programmes based on Bloom's Taxonomy or the Sato/Kaplan Differentiated Curriculum. Many schools are not yet operating strongly founded theoretical based programmes, and are clearly moving without direction. There is lack of understanding of the concept of C.H.I.P., even though identification procedures are quite sophisticated. Interest in teacher in-service appears to be growing rapidly. There is clearly a crucial need to provide pre-service courses at teacher training institutions. The major need for C.H.I.P. is for the Commonwealth government and the Ministry of Education in Victoria to develop and implement a policy on gifted and talented children.
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ItemBuilding social relationships with peers for children with developmental delay( 1993)The focus of the study was to examine the peer social interaction skills of four preschool aged children with developmental delay, across two terms. A case study methodology was chosen because of the variability of skill amongst children with developmental delay. The children's interaction with peers was measured under three different teaching methods in their early intervention and integrated preschool settings Videoed observation of the children's free play interactions were analysed using an observational instrument developed from the literature. Results demonstrated consistently that children with delayed development had difficulty in integrating basic skills to become socially effective. The study reinforced the need for intervention and found several factors that were consistent in promoting social competence. There was a clear finding that was consistent across all four children and the eight contexts. The social interaction between these children and their peers was increased when staff facilitated interaction through group composition selection of activities and the scaffolding of interactive tasks to an appropriate developmental level. Peer interaction was further enhanced when staff used subtle cues suggestions and encouragement at critical moments.
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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)
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ItemMulticulturalism: the implications for midwifery education( 1990)Australian society is a system in change, with immigration creating a need for an urgent review of the education of midwives. Caring for the families of differing cultures requires a basic understanding of cross-cultural midwifery beliefs. A comparative analysis was made of the beliefs of midwives and two of the most recent arrivals, Vietnamese and Turkish. Data was collected via a questionnaire. The main findings indicate: (1) midwives have significantly different beliefs regarding childbearing from those of women of other cultures. (2) Childbearing practices vary across cultures. (3) There is an urgent need for midwifery education to include a component on cross-culture childbearing practices to ensure a satisfactory childbearing experience for people of all cultures residing in Australia.
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ItemThe Sisters of Charity: education, independence, church and state( 1993)This thesis establishes the independence of the Sisters of Charity in Australia and examines the implications this had for their work amongst the Catholic community and their relations with the Catholic Church hierarchy. It is a history of the Sisters' response to the needs of the Catholic community, these needs often being determined by governmental action beyond the control of the Catholic Church and its servants. As the first community of Religious Sisters to arrive in the colonies the Sisters ministered to the women convicts of the Female Factory at Parramatta. With the abolition of transportation they moved to Sydney where they enlisted the support of influential citizens in the establishment of St. Vincent's Hospital. Their service to education in Victoria commenced with the Education Act of 1872 and the abolition of State aid. Such conditions led Archbishop Carr of Melbourne to invite the Sisters of Charity to found a community in the city. A consequence of this and other factors was the establishment of St. Columba's College, Essendon. Finally, this thesis considers the Registration of Teachers and Schools Act of 1905 and its influence on the Sisters of Charity in formalising already existing teacher training practices. This was also the case for other Religious Congregations involved in teacher training and education.
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ItemGetting the words out: facilitated communication training and the integration of students with disabilities into mainstream schools( 1991)Facilitated communication training is a new method of training individuals with severe communication impairments (SCI) to use communication aids. It has been used with success to enable students with very limited speech and writing skills to undertake the regular syllabus in mainstream classrooms in Victoria. This paper describes the technique of facilitated communication training including: a. its place in the current repertoire of augmentative and alternative communication techniques b. the development and use of facilitated communication training at DEAL Communication Centre c. the rationale for the use of facilitation with individual students d. the nature of the technique, including descriptions of specific hand function problems with appropriate remedial strategies e. reduction of facilitation f. a review of the literature on facilitated communication training g. the integration of users of facilitated communication into mainstream schools in Victoria h. problems with facilitated communication training i. future directions for facilitated communication training
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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.
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ItemIndependent schools and children of high intellectual potential( 1990)Independent Schools and Children of High Intellectual Potential In the current, rather volatile, educational climate, the community in Victoria is engaged in considerable debate about the putative merits and demerits of the proposed changes to post-compulsory schooling, the consequent flowback to curriculum and methodology in the P-10 years, and the consequences for the nature of our society. It is in this context, on the eve of the implementation of these changes, that this minor thesis proposes that teachers in non-systemic, independent schools continue to need to be made aware of the ways in which students of high intellectual potential might be identified and have their particular needs met within the constraints of the present system, so that the opportunities for the achievement of excellence might be explicitly realized. A survey has been conducted in order to establish, in a broad way, what is being done for children of high intellectual potential in non-systemic, independent schools within a 25-kilometre radius of the GPO, Melbourne. These schools have been surveyed by questionnaire. This questionnaire was designed to enquire about schools' entry policies, preliminary testing of students, the ways in which these tests are employed to group students and in which curriculum areas, at what levels any differential programs operate, the theory and research which informs the schools' policies, the oversight and implementation of these provisions or programs, and the nature of the schools' commitment to recognizing and meeting the needs of the highly able. The results of the questionnaire suggest that the single sex girls schools are more aware of and sensitive to the needs of able students and the ways in which the curriculum might be differentiated to meet those needs than either the single sex boys schools or the coeducational schools. While there is a general awareness of the issue of able students in many schools, there is, with a few notable exceptions, a lack of the firm knowledge and understanding of the ways in which those needs might be met by adopting specific identification measures, by modifying the traditional group structures employed in schools, and by systematically differentiating the curriculum for able students within and across particular learning domains. There is clearly a continuing need for the provision of further professional inservicing of all teachers to assist them in recognizing the needs and fostering the capacities of the intellectually able young in schools, that these students might be afforded the opportunities to realize their maximum potential.