Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemTeaching and learning: the construction of an object of study( 1998-02)While disparities between the declared and the enactive curriculum have been widely observed, the significance of what is actually taught has not been investigated. This study proposes that the enactive curriculum is not merely deviant from the declared curriculum; rather, it is part of the curriculum-making process. Teachers necessarily produce the curriculum as an object of study which students encounter in the classroom. This object of study expresses the teacher’s conception of what students need to learn, and is intelligibly related to what they do learn. To explore this idea, the research project focused on the study of physics and history at Year 12, where teachers used a common curriculum and worked to a common external examination. Teachers of these subjects were interviewed about their practice and what they wanted students to learn. A phenomenographic analysis of these interviews showed a systematic relationship between the teacher’s focus and the embedded metaphors s/he used to describe students’ learning. In physics and history, the teachers’ conceptions formed a parallel sequence. What was to be studied was described in a widening context: from a narrow focus on facts or algorithms, to a wider view of a body of knowledge or theory, to a relational view where the physicist or the historian was seen to construct theoretical interpretations or readings of relevant detail. There was corresponding variation in the questions and tasks in which students were engaged.
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ItemPolicy, theory and practice in early childhood curriculum design and implementation: a study of one Australian state: Victoria( 2003)This thesis seeks to identify how and who informs the state-funded preschool curriculum program for four-year-old children in Victoria, Australia. The study took place over a one year period, and involved interviewing nine officials, eight academics and twenty seven preschool teachers regarding their beliefs and espoused theories about the preschool curriculum in relation to policy, theory and practice. Twelve of the teachers interviewed were invited to participate further in the study, so that the relationship between their espoused theories and practices could be determined. This part of the study involved field visits and this provided a means of collecting data through direct observation using the Framework of Perspectives and Descriptions of Practice (Raban et aI., 2003a, 2003b), a tool designed by the Early Childhood Consortium at The University of Melbourne. Other means of data collection included informal discussions with teachers, and collecting and analysing different documents. The paradigm for this research study was predominantly qualitative but combined some quantitative data. This approach was incorporated into the design of the study because the nature of the investigation demanded a holistic and naturalistic approach. Multiple sources of data collection also helped to improve the reliability and validity of the findings, by converging lines of enquiry. This comprehensive approach meant that appropriate comparisons and contrasts could be made using numerical data, and this required the inclusion of some quantitative techniques. The findings of this study reveal a strong need for curriculum guidelines to be reconceptualised to reflect current understandings about young children's learning and development. The need for greater depth in a curriculum framework was evident, not only in relation to how children learn but regarding content and guidelines for appropriate goals for children. These views were also consistent with beliefs and understandings about the two existing curriculum documents for four-year-old children in funded preschool programs, in the year before compulsory schooling. These two documents are the Early Childhood Curriculum Guidelines 3 - 5 Year Olds (Department of Health and Community Services, 1991), and the Preschool Quality Assessment Checklist (Department of Human Services, 1996b). The overwhelming consensus was that both documents had little or no influence on preschool practices in Victoria. This study also found that stakeholders held similar views and understandings about the importance for preschool teachers to know about curriculum theories and pedagogical practices. However, the findings revealed that 83% of preschool teachers' practices were not congruent with their espoused theories. This study concludes by addressing further research issues and recommendations for policy-makers, academics and preschool teachers, in order to foster high quality preschool programs for children in Victoria.
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ItemThe leadership role of curriculum area middle managers in selected Victorian government secondary schools( 2000)Curriculum Area Middle Managers (CAMMs) are Middle Managers who have responsibility for the operation of key learning areas (subject departments) in their schools. Relatively little studied, compared to senior school administrators, the leadership role of CAMMs was investigated in a sample of Victorian Government Secondary Schools using a hermeneutic phenomenological methodology with no a priori framework. Perceptions of the CAMM leadership role, as well as their involvement in affecting educational outcomes in their learning area, were collected from senior management team (SMT) members, English and mathematics CAMMs, and English and mathematics teachers. Not all the schools involved could provide all of the aforementioned types of participants for interview. In total, 18 SMT members, 11 CAMMs and 1 7 teachers from six schools participated in the research. The perceptions of all three groups of participants (SMT members, CAMMs, teachers) were found to be similar. All three indicated the perception that CAMMs can affect student learning outcomes in their learning area. The perceived leadership role of CAMMs was found to be complex and multi-dimensional, with a situational aspect evident. The leadership role comprised twenty leadership themes, fifteen of which could be considered as the core components of the role. Comparison of the leadership role with the educational leadership literature indicated support for the presence of aspects of four current leadership conceptions; instructional leadership, transformational leadership, pedagogical leadership and strategic leadership. A model of CAMM leadership was presented based on the research findings and the comparison with the educational leadership literature. The model consisted of four leadership components labeled CAMM as instructional leader, CAMM as curriculum strategist, CAMM as learning area architect and CAMM as administrative leader. The situational nature of the CAMM leadership role was emphasised by designating the model as an example of what has been termed portfolio leadership. This leadership model was then incorporated into a second model, the function of which is to offer some insight into the role of CAMMs in influencing educational outcomes in their learning area.