Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemJust reporting : does the school have a justifiable reporting process?( 2006)This thesis titled `Just Reporting' aimed to explore the question: Does the school have a justifiable reporting process that meets the needs of key stakeholders (parents, students and teachers)? Through a critical review of the research literature relevant to reporting, various ethical issues were noted that assisted in the construction of the questions guiding this study. These ethical issues provided the lens through which I explored the reporting practices at the research school. The title Just Reporting emphasises the justice issues surrounding reporting as a communicative action where the integrity of each individual is maintained and relationships strengthened. The research took the form of a case study involving the participation of thirty-three parents, eleven teachers and twenty-one students from the one school setting in a questionnaire that had both quantitative and qualitative questions that gathered their affective and cognitive responses to the school's written report. I also held one focus group interview with parents to clarify information from the questionnaire. An interactive inquiry with mixed methods approach was chosen as the best way to answer the research questions. The aim was to develop a theory about reporting rather than prove an existing theory. This study examines what reporting is, the audience and purpose of reporting, and the imperatives of justifiable reporting. It gathered the opinions and beliefs about reporting at the research school from key stakeholder groups and sought to discover whether the written report met their needs and fulfilled the requirements of justifiable reporting. Final analysis of the data provided understandings about the nature of reporting at the research school and revealed a number of issues that prevented the process from being fully justifiable.
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ItemSeeing you seeing me : constructing the learners and their target language speakers in Korean and Australian textbooks( 2006)To be successful in real-life communication with their target language (TL) speakers, language learners need to develop a sound knowledge of modern-day target language society, and an understanding of the beliefs and values most commonly shared by TL speakers. Such knowledge forms the basis of what Clark (1996) calls 'common ground', and is essential for interlocutors to exchange meanings. Removed from natural settings, textbooks are one of the principal resources for foreign language learners to construct a conception of their TL speakers in relation to themselves. This project examines the constructs of the learners' TL speakers provided in, respectively, a Korean language textbook for Australian beginner learners and an English language textbook for Korean beginner learners. By analysing how each presents the other set of people in terms of the attributes the other group assigns to itself in its own books, this study assesses how well each book assists their local learners to begin constructing sound common ground with their TL speakers. Analysis is made of the verbal and visual texts in each whole book with respect to topic and attributes; as well, using Gee's discourse analysis framework, close analysis and comparison is made of the information about the TL speakers and the learners themselves in the first three chapters of each book in relation to the three major beginner learner topics: Self-introduction, family and school. While there are a number of similarities in representation of the TL speakers by both sides, even this small examination shows glaring omissions and contradictions in the construct of the TL speakers proposed for the learners of each language compared to how their actual TL speakers project themselves. Furthermore, these differences would easily lead to confusion over meanings if used in real life. If such mismatches persisted over years of language learning, it can be predicted that learners would fail to create some elements of 'common ground' essential for them to understand what their TL speakers mean in interaction and be understood themselves.
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ItemEvaluating a peer mediation program : the perspectives of key stakeholders( 2006)Peer mediation has developed as a popular means of responding to and managing conflict in schools. Advocates of peer mediation assert that it is an effective method of encouraging students to resolve conflict constructively and can encourage responsible citizenship. This study emerged as a result of the researcher's involvement in a peer mediation program in a large regional girls' secondary college. The study explored the perspectives of key stakeholders (students, teachers and parents) on the impact of the peer mediation program and sought to establish what benefits, if any, were derived from the existence of the program. Specifically, the research focused on whether the program was supported, accepted and used by the school community and whether the perceptions of the program were congruent amongst different stakeholder groups. The study also investigated what outcomes were experienced by the trained mediators themselves. Factors which might encourage or limit students' use of the program were also explored. Data was collected prior to the training of a specific cohort of mediators and in the following year from key groups: the trained students, other students within the school setting, staff and parents. The findings indicate that the presence of a peer mediation program was seen to have a considerable positive effect on school climate by teachers and parents and that, in many cases, it produced positive outcomes for students. The most meaningful outcomes of the specific study, however, appeared to be the benefits for the trained mediators themselves, in terms of the development and enhancement of self confidence and life skills. The implications of the findings for the peer mediation program in the case study school and for other schools implementing peer mediation programs are discussed in this report.
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ItemSuccessful leaders in successful schools: a case study of a government primary school principal in Victoria, Australia( 2006)The research examined the leadership behaviour exhibited by a principal of a successful school. It used a single case study of a successful primary school based in Victoria, Australia, using qualitative analysis involving structured open-ended interviews from the multiple perspectives of the principal, teachers, non-teaching staff, parents and students. This research ensured that teachers, other school staff, parents and students were able to comment and thus verify and add to the statements the principal made. The research continued work carried out by Day, Harris and Hadfield. It has contributed an Australian perspective to an international research project on this issue, the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP). The research found it was the principal who made a major contribution to the improvement of the school. Over his tenure as principal, and through his vision, dedication and passion, the principal improved the learning outcomes for all students at his school. He not only improved the academic nature of the school but created a safe and nurturing environment that encouraged the children to want to go to school and to succeed. The research reinforced a lot of what past research has suggested is required for a leader to make an impact or improve the situation in a school. He shared and articulated a clear vision that the staff made their own. The principal, being the main leader, and through empowering others, had made important contributions to student learning. He had mastered a core set of basic leadership practices, was and made everyone accountable for their results and performance, and sought and provided constant feedback. He was a spokesman and role model and defender of social equity and fairness. The research found that most of these qualities the principal displayed appeared to stem from the character of the man - his moral and ethical stance and his commitment to the principles of equity and social justice. His leadership style had extended beyond just transformational leadership to be better described as a highly political, value-led contingency model of transformational leadership. This research contributes to identifying the characteristics and skills that are necessary to create and maintain a successful school and to informing professional development programs for current and future principals.
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ItemCorporate curiosity: the learning trajectory of a global chief executive officer( 2006)This research project explored an expansive but as yet unexplored topic-global managerial identity. It developed an understanding of this phenomenon in the context of Australia's tall poppy syndrome and the experience of global chief executive officers in the postmodern era. The rationale for conducting the research was: Australia's ability to create world-class managers will be improved through understanding the management learning trajectories of global managers. In the context of this research and from the perspective of management learning theory a dilemma presents itself. While management learning (phronesis or practical knowledge - practical wisdom) appears inevitably to accompany management education (techne or technical knowledge), the literature of management learning as learning `from', `at' and `through' work reveals that considerable learning occurs outside formal tertiary curricula. The literature on management education, on the other hand, identifies descriptive and prescriptive lists of management attributes, characteristics, profiles, generic skills and competency structures without explaining how these are linked to global managerial identities in the context of whole-of-life learning. This research was conducted as a qualitative investigation of the formation of a global manager's professional identity in the context of management learning; it gained rich descriptions of the learning trajectory of this individual. Data extracted and analyzed from an interview with the global manager in London and consequent follow-up questions focused upon a global manager's ideas, thoughts, experiences and values. Findings reveal that global CEO learning focuses on whole-person learning and whole-of- life learning; it is intense and multifaceted. Conclusions of the research assert that: (i) both informal and formal learning are important to the formation of global managerial identities; (ii) a three-dimensional model of 1eaming/education is conducive to global managerial identity: intensification (management learning), specialization (core competency skills) and generalization (the liberal arts); and (iii) Australian managers can learn from the' learning trajectory of a global chief executive officer who did not suffer from the tall poppy syndrome.
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ItemThe art of teaching( 2006)What is teaching? Is it a science; is it a technology? Elliott Eisner (1996) in his article `Is "the art of teaching" a metaphor?' argues that teaching is founded on perception, imagination, narrative, empathy, meaning making and appreciation and that the practice of these features is an artist's prerogative. In an otherwise thin collection of literature on the art of teaching Eisner's article is the stand out text. This thesis is something of a homage to the work of Eisner whose additional article, `Arts-based Educational Research' (1997), written with Thomas Barone, is the inspiration for the presentation of my research findings in an artful format. Chapter one is a telling of my researcher story - the experiences that led me to the topic; chapter two justifies the research; while chapter three, the literature review, contextualizes it. Chapter four, `the art of teaching' is the presentation of my research findings, analysis and conclusions. I utilise a postmodern perspective in this thesis which has enabled me to create a piece of work that is evocative without being dogmatic and complex without being inaccessible. The method I employed to interrogate the art of teaching was to converse with six teachers about the viability and possibilities inherent in the art of teaching as a concept for revitalizing what it means to teach and be a teacher. From these conversations seven motifs emerged: performance, improvisation, rehearsal, silence, audience, co-artistry and imagination. These motifs are confronted and interpreted through poetry. These poems and poetic representations are presented as my research findings and analysis. As research this poetic reverie is offered as a way of developing and further establishing the language of the art of teaching, and thereby its inherency to the practice of teaching.