Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemThe vertical curriculum meeting the needs of students of high intellectual potential( 2000)This pilot project investigated one Victorian Independent School's implementation of the vertical curriculum in Grades Five and Six in over a one-year period in 1998. The study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of the vertical curriculum model for students identified as intellectually Gifted, High (Gifted and Bright) and Mainstream (Average, Low Average and Low) students by reviewing the students' progress in mathematics. Using Progressive Achievement Tests in Mathematics at the beginning and end of the year the identified Gifted, Bright and Mainstream students' progress was monitored to track their mathematical development, consisting of - achievement or progress made. The cohort reviewed consisted of eighty eight students incorporating eleven identified intellectually Gifted students, thirty three Bright students and forty four Mainstream students, as identified by the Raven's Progressive Matrices. The findings indicated firstly that an advanced level of mathematical achievement was found for the identified Gifted students. Secondly, it was found that the vertical curriculum assisted the Mainstream students as they showed significant mathematical progress. The findings indicated that the vertical curriculum provided an equitable educational option for the identified intellectually Gifted, Bright and Mainstream students.
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ItemThe academic achievements of language centre students at a secondary college( 2001)What are the academic achievements of adolescent new-arrival English as a Second Language (ESL) students at secondary schools in Victoria, Australia? Research on Non-English Speaking Background (NESB) students in Australia has tended to neglect new arrival ESL students. To examine the academic achievements of this important subgroup of NESB students, the current study will highlight the academic achievements of a cohort of Victorian Language Centre students at a Secondary College over six years with interruption to schooling in their first language (L1) as the key variable linked to academic achievement in their second language (L2). Victorian Language Centres provide new-arrival ESL students with the English skills they need to start their secondary educations in L2. The current study examined the academic achievement of two groups of Language Centre students, those who completed their Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) and those who left the Secondary College prior to completing VCE. Their academic results were summarised into spreadsheets for quantitative analysis. Subsequent to the quantitative analysis interviews were conducted with four ESL students from the Language Centre currently completing their VCE studies to provide further insight into the factors that enabled them to do their VCE. Results indicate that the academic achievements of this cohort of ESL Language Centre students are poor and that interruption to education in Ll had a major impact on the students' ability to achieve academically at the Secondary College. The study suggests that L1 education is the key variable influencing the student's ability to acquire the academic language skills necessary to meet the academic demands of secondary education, particularly the VCE. Other factors such as support for learning and strong motivation were found to help students overcome difficulties encountered in their secondary education. However, students who were unable to overcome these difficulties left the College prior to completing VCE. It was concluded that the majority of Language Centre students faced uncertain economic futures once they left the Secondary College. The results of the study suggest that Language Centre students need more support and assistance to enable them to complete VCE or to access educational alternatives to the VCE. This study also suggests that more research into the effect of L1 education on L2 education be conducted as this was found to be the key variable in the students' ability to acquire the academic language skills necessary to meet the academic demands of VCE.
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ItemReflective practices and work intensification among training and support managers in the disability sector( 2003)Using a qualitative, case-study approach, this research is concerned with exploring potential links between work intensification, management practice, reflection and workplace learning. The study was conducted with managers from Adult Training Support Services (ATSS) within the disability sector in Victoria. Data collection methods included a survey, focus groups and interviews. The project explored changes in the workplace over the past five years, the role of reflection in workplace learning, particularly in management learning, learning in communities of practice, and the influence of work intensification on reflective practice and workplace learning. Data indicated that ATSS managers place a great deal of importance on reflective practices. Yet it appears that, due to work intensification, reflective practices have changed significantly over the past five years, for the most part, in ways likely to be detrimental to the organisations involved. It is argued that work intensification has marginalised many reflective practices for ATSS managers, to the extent that 'deep level' learning within these organisations seems to have been significantly restricted. It appears that learning opportunities would be furthered if these managers were given more time and space to reflect.
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ItemUnderstanding the perceptions of primary school and early childhood teachers about the inclusion of children with special needs in regular classrooms( 2003)Today, many regular schools in the State of Victoria provide inclusive education programs. Educating children with and without disabilities is linked with upholding the rights of all children regardless of their class, culture, gender or developmental abilities. This study was aimed at exploring perceptions of early childhood and primary school teachers about the inclusion of children with special needs from six independent schools located in metropolitan Victoria. Data were analysed and compared to identify if there were differences in teachers' attitudes in relation to beliefs and values, feasibility of implementing inclusive programs in regular classrooms and their confidence to carry out inclusive practices. Findings indicated that all participants in the study were very positive about the philosophy of including children with disabilities in regular classrooms. Several factors were identified as major contributors to the positive perceptions of teachers. Data also revealed that teachers had many concerns regarding the implementation of inclusion in their regular classrooms. The findings of this study had implications for best practice to improve the implementation of inclusive programs in regular classrooms.
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ItemAn exploration of the preparation and training of Samoan secondary school principals for leadership( 2000)This study is an exploration of the preparation and training of Samoan Senior Secondary Principals for leadership in school. The study utilised a qualitative methodology as the perspective of the principals was sought. The particular research instrument used were semi-structured interviews. These interviews were audio taped and fully transcribed. This raw data was complemented by a form which was used to establish background material on each principal. The themes that were identified, with the aid of a grid which displayed the data, raised a number of issues facing Samoan leaders. The literature review set the context for current Samoan education, by giving an historical view of the development of education since the arrival of Europeans in Samoa in the 1830s. This historical perspective revealed that many of the issues that affect Samoan Education today have had a long standing impact in Samoa. The context in which principals exercise their leadership is both complex and problematic. The analysis of results used the verbatim quotes of participants to highlight the issues. A key issue is the appropriateness of the transfer of models of leadership training from a Western perspective in Samoa. The conclusion reached in this study is that the range of issues that face a leader in a Samoan Secondary school, require an approach to preparation and training for leadership that is not currently occurring. Samoan principals in this study have not received a level of training for leadership that specifically addresses the concerns faced as leaders in their schools.
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ItemApproaching the undiscussable : investigating learning in an educational policy making organisation( 2004)This study investigates the learning culture in the Professional Support & Curriculum Directorate, part of the policy-making section of the New South Wales Department of Education in Australia. It is based on the premise that organisations learn through the collaborative efforts of the staff who work in them. This learning results from an alignment of two theories: the 'espoused' and the 'enacted'. The 'espoused' theory represents the organisation's intent and usually resides in written documents. The 'enacted' theory is demonstrated through the organisation's practice. When these theories fail to align, the organisation's capacity to learn becomes inhibited. The gap between these two theories is 'undiscussable'. It creates tensions that the organisation does not discuss. The participants in this study were staff members located in the Professional Support & Curriculum Directorate. They included administrative and support staff as well educators and the Directorate's leaders. Data were gathered from these staff members using a survey and interviews. By comparing and contrasting their perceptions and experiences of the Directorate's 'espoused' and 'enacted' theories, the study describes the nature of the Directorate's learning culture and its effect on the staff. A model for learning in organisations, derived from the literature, provided the theoretical frame for this investigation. The study identified that the respondents experienced tension in their practice because their 'espoused' theories did not align with the Directorate's 'enacted' theories. This tension represented four 'undiscussables' or processes that hindered its learning: absence of trust, treating knowledge as a product, harmful 'knowledge-power' relationships and a 'failure' to examine critically the educational and socio-political assumptions on which its work was based. The study concludes with a description of the type of learning organisation that the Professional Support & Curriculum Directorate could become if it discussed these undiscussables constructively.
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ItemWhere are they now ? : an investigation into the vocations and lifestyles of the University High School Acceleration Program 1988 cohort( 2000)This study investigated the current vocational and lifestyle situations of the 1988 intake cohort of the University High School Acceleration Program (UHS AP) in Melbourne, Australia. There were three main. reasons: to ascertain whether the participants' current situations were predicted by the literature in gifted education; to ascertain whether the current outcomes were predicted by the stated aims of the UHS AP and to invite respondents to reflect on their secondary schooling. A target cohort of 22 from the 1988 AP intake was selected after consultation with the co-ordinator of the UHS AP. The investigation sought factual information such as current occupation and personal circumstances and also ascertained current attitudes to particular aspects of their accelerated secondary schooling. This was done using a self-administered questionnaire incorporating a variety of question formats. Seventeen members of the cohort completed the questionnaire, providing information about: their current vocational status and influential factors for this; their current personal circumstances and feelings about these; their proudest achievements; their plans for the future and their current feelings about their experience in the UHS AP. This study is a follow up based on Dr Betty Murphy's 1994 thesis, which studied the first ten cohorts of the UHS AP. Her findings were employed in the analysis of the results. Vocational and lifestyle circumstances varied, as predicted by the literature. Reported satisfaction with their experience of acceleration was high, although suggestions for improvement in both curriculum and counselling were made. An attempt was made to link matters raised in the responses with the initial aims and objectives of the UHS AP. While there was a good correspondence between these objectives and reported outcomes, the objectives do not emphasise the same aspects of acceleration which the participants valued - namely the strong friendships they developed and the chance to be themselves.
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ItemChinese/Anglo-Celtic bicultural children's education experiences in Australia( 2001)This study explores, through three case studies, how home, school and community factors have influenced the education and development experiences of Chinese/Anglo-Celtic bicultural children attending Australian schools. The worldwide lack of previous research on the education of bicultural children and the high outmarriage rate of Chinese-Australian women make it important to understand whether Chinese/Anglo-Celtic children experience similar or different education problems to those experienced by monocultural minority and mainstream children The data was collected from parents and children through questionnaires and individual interviews conducted at each family home. All the participant families were referred to the researcher by colleagues and were previously unknown to the researcher. The findings indicate that the children's home environments have influenced the varying levels of their Chinese and Australian cultural values and language skills. However, they all generally appear psychologically stable and have successfully integrated into their respective schools and mainstream society.
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ItemPrincipal and teacher perceptions of the leadership role of principals in Hong Kong Protestant Christian secondary schools following the change of sovereignty to China( 2004)This research investigated the phenomenon of principal leadership in Hong Kong Protestant Christian secondary schools following the change of sovereignty to China on 1st July, 1997. Using a hermeneutic phenomenological methodology, 9 principals and 16 teachers were interviewed about their perceptions of principal leadership. They were from within a network of secondary schools administered by the Sponsoring Body (SB)-a council of churches of one Protestant Christian denomination. Transcripts were analysed with techniques drawn from that of phenomenology, hermeneutics and case study, and verified with documents collected from the interviewees. The perceived leadership role of principals was found to be complex and multi-dimensional, with 18 leadership themes described and 14 themes where change was noted in the leadership role due to the change of sovereignty. Comparing the themes of the principals and the teachers, the degree of similarity was judged to be high, indicating that the principals generally enacted their leadership role as they described. Based on the research findings and comparison with the leadership literature, a Christian principal leadership model was constructed, that consists of four leadership conceptions which correspondingly inform four broad leadership roles: (1) Christian leadership-administering Christian education-the principal led prayer, spoke in assemblies and supported religious programs. (2) Instructional leadership-teaching and learning-indirectly practised by the principal who delegated the Deputy Principals and the subject or department heads to share the supervisory role. (3) Transformational leadership-transforming the school community the principals showed the characteristics of transformational leaders. (4) School-based Management-SBM and development-official implementation in 2000 required relevant leadership, highlighting the characteristics of increased accountability and heavy workload. These roles were further connected to the leadership functions derived from the 18 themes. This model emphasizes the principal leadership role being enacted on the basis of Christian principles, committing education to God, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
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ItemThe communicative interactions of hearing impaired students with hearing peers and regular teachers( 2001)This project examined the levels of control used in interaction by regular teachers and normally hearing peers with mainstreamed hearing impaired students. The communicative interaction of thirteen students; ten normally hearing and three hearing impaired, and their teacher was observed. Observations were recorded and then analysed based on the characteristics of communication developed by Wood.D, Wood.H, Griffiths.A & Howarthl (1986). The interactions experienced by hearing impaired students are important to the development of their communicative competence. It is through interaction with more mature users of language that communicative development takes place (Wood, Wood, Griffiths & Howarth,1986). The literature suggests that the hearing-impaired student experience high levels of control in interactions with others, in particular from their parents and teachers. Webster (1986) used the expression that mothers of deaf students 'command' the child. High control does not allow the hearing-impaired child freedom in response, or the development of extended communication acts in which both partners, can participate, learn and share responsibility. Both partners, parents and children, need to search for meaning in their communication with each other (Webster, 1986). It is through accessing meaning that language makes sense. Paul (1994) suggests that hearing impaired students are exposed to a lower quality of oral communication because they are labelled as deaf. Activities, such as speech or listening training, often take the place of meaningful conversation. The data suggests little difference in the level of control used by teachers when interacting with hearing and hearing impaired students. Similarly, there was little difference found with the level of control used by hearing students in their interactions with either normally hearing of hearing impaired peers. Interactions were short involving few exchanges. The characteristics of the language used consisted of mainly wh type questions, personal contributions, instructions and gesture. The information gathered would suggest that the input to interaction in this regular mainstream setting are not consistent with research of parent -child interaction and pre-school settings and provide opportunity for interaction and promotion or development of communicative skills.