Faculty of Education - Theses

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End date: 1999 × Start date: 1996 × Subject: Action research × Subject: Australia ×

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    The role of an early childhood educator in children's emerging literacy
    Reynolds, Bronwyn ( 1996)
    During the two years of this semi longitudinal study, one early childhood educator reflected on and developed her practice. The particular focus of this study was the pre-school children's literacy development and how best this could be facilitated and supported. Action Research was chosen as the most suitable research methodology which enabled the investigation to develop in an iterative manner. In the first instance an analysis of the literature concerning children's early learning, their literacy development and the role of the adult during these early years was reviewed. The next stage involved a critical evaluation of both the provisions and resources for literacy in the pre-school classroom under investigation and also the most appropriate role for the teacher in relation to these children's emerging literacy. While the focus of this study has been the development of the teacher's knowledge base and practice, it was also possible to monitor the literacy development of the children from ages three to six years. In addition, highly favourable results were obtained by those children who took part in the study when they were compared with others who did not after the start of formal schooling. Consideration has also been given to the role of parents of these children in the pre-school environment and their role with respect to childrens emerging literacy.
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    God loveth adverbs (and careth not how good but how well): an attempt to reconcile some of the dichotomies inherent in the evaluator's use of the values criteria
    Evans, Teresa ( 1997)
    While 'values�free' evaluation is no longer an acceptable model, many fears, prejudices and confusions remain. These include the fear of imposing values on individuals in society, the confusion arising from a seeming plethora of values, and the place values ought to occupy in a good evaluation model. A number of dichotomies and dualities arise from these discussions and in an attempt to resolve these I have formulated a model where values are the central concern of the evaluator. To reach this conclusion I have used a logic that I argue is appropriate to the field of study. Using this logic, I have defined and described values as 'guiding principles' and argued that it is not only possible to identify certain foundational values in a society, but that shared values are one identifying characteristic of a society. I further discuss 'superstructure values', that is those values that are justified by the foundational values, as an explanation of the apparent diversity of values in society. Having identified some foundational values of a modern, Western democracy, I apply these to program evaluation theory and construct a diagrammatic representation of the relationship between certain key elements. Finally, this theory is applied to two real public programs, Jobskills and Workfare.