Faculty of Education - Theses
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 9 of 9
-
ItemParent professional partnerships in IEP development : a case study of a MAPS process( 2007)The practices, language and behaviours which professionals adopt when they meet with parents prior to Individual Education Program (IEP) planning may have a significant effect on the attitudes and capabilities families bring to the educational setting. During this case study the adult family members of a child with additional needs were observed as they addressed the developmental and programming needs of their child by participating in the McGill Action Planning System (MAPS) and a subsequent Program Support Group (PSG) meeting. Themes indicating attitudes or perceptions that empowered the family towards continued participation in collaborative teams for IEP development emerged in the observational data and were defined through the methods of informant diaries and semi-structured interviews. Less dominant quantitative methods were used to verify that the participant's ongoing attitudes towards parent professional collaboration corroborated with the final themes of flexibility, unification, satisfaction and function.
-
ItemApplying program theory development to a study of restorative practices in Victorian schools( 2007)The application of restorative justice principles and practices in Victorian schools is beginning to consolidate as an area of educational interest and reform. While there is enthusiastic support for a philosophy that focuses on problem solving and repair of relationships following an incident or crime, this is tempered by some hesitation about how restorative justice works, what impact it may have on current approaches and how it is measured. This study investigates the context and conditions in which restorative practices were introduced in eighteen Victorian schools. A deductive approach, drawing on the literature to identify relevant theories and assumptions, together with findings from interviews and surveys were used to draft a program theory for the application of restorative practices in schools. Questions about program interpretation, quality and delivery were investigated to comment more specifically on the causal links between program activities and intended outcomes. Restorative justice offers a problem-solving philosophy that promotes a wide range of prevention and intervention strategies for school administrators and teachers searching for ways to better manage relationships and promote engaging, participatory learning environments. However, the findings from this study show that while the school environment is ideally suited to introduce restorative practices, and teachers report numerous examples of success, this is juxtaposed against the challenge of maintaining plausibility and sustainability in a climate of change. For some teachers and school administrators who participated in this study, the use of restorative practices represented a fundamental shift in thinking about school justice and discipline. Lack of clarity in program design and planning led to uncertainty and wide discretion in the application of restorative practice, particularly conferencing. The findings suggest the need to progress thinking about the operational factors that contribute to the effective use of restorative practices. This study presents a program theory of restorative practices that should be of use to administrators seeking to introduce such interventions or clarify existing efforts in their schools. Program theory development has been used successfully as a clarificative evaluation approach to plan the logical and progressive introduction of similar interventions in other social settings. The use of program theory development for interventions such as restorative practices is timely, as higher standards of reporting and accountability for student engagement, retention as well as student learning are expected from school councils and administrators. This also comes at a time when the relationship between student well-being and curriculum outcomes is coming under scrutiny, as teachers and administrators look more closely at discipline regimes. The findings from this study indicate that the use of restorative practices is rapidly expanding in Victorian schools. This interest and activity would benefit from a complementary research agenda that productively involves those who have most to benefit from the use of restorative practices: students, teachers and parents.
-
ItemHide and seek: examining the relationship between student understanding and the drama devising process through the development of three senior secondary ensemble performances in drama( 2007)This thesis examines how a student's understanding of their world can be informed through the development of an ensemble performance in drama. It is a qualitative study that presents the findings of three groups in three comparative case studies in a single site. The teacher-researcher observed a year eleven drama class preparing a group performance task at the end of Unit Two Drama in the Victorian Certificate of Education. The research explored the development of student understanding through the ensemble performance by addressing connections with personal understanding, expression through drama understanding, the refining of understanding through the drama process and interaction with other group members and the teacher's contribution. It also uncovers the tension for the teacher in evaluating student outcomes in terms of VCE criteria at the expense of learning gained through process. This study suggests that student understanding can be expanded through making personal connections to stories from everyday life, opinions and beliefs and influences from the student world. The research explains that the group can build on these personal understandings using different interactive methods and formulates a 'toolkit' to assist the individual to participate effectively in the cultural context of the drama ensemble. Developing understanding through drama-making is described in terms of the movement between play, the common aesthetic and art; and through the benefits of expressing ideas in practice and embodied understanding. The final performance product is shown to contribute to the development of student understanding in two ways: through student considerations of the audience in their performance-making; and through the ways in which performance elements were employed by the students for expression and communication. The final performance was a culmination of the knowledge and skills that each individual had offered and the decisions of the group as it expressed a group understanding through dramatic form.
-
ItemEvaluating the Santa Maria College information literacy program( 2007)This is an impact study, which evaluates an Information Literacy Program that has been running in the Santa Maria College Library since February 2000. It investigates the effectiveness of the Program inputs and processes and seeks to identify impacts on learning in student outputs and College wide outcomes. The study builds on previous research that was conducted from 2000 to 2004 and seeks to develop new understandings through new methods. This study draws on literature that examines methods of collecting evidence of learning impact in school libraries. The literature recommends micro-research in secondary schools that examines students' skills before and after they have been involved in integrated information literacy instruction, as well as empirical studies about the impact of the six step research process model on learning. The literature also suggests investigation of the impact of school libraries on the broad aspects of learning, and the development and application of new methods for collecting qualitative data in the library setting. From Terms One to Term Four in 2005, mixed methods were used to capture evidence of student learning in the Santa Maria College Library. Students were observed as they carried out Program research tasks. The assignments that they produced at the end of the research process were assessed. Surveys and focus group interviews explored the perceptions of a sample of the students and teachers who participated in the Program. In exploring the data, changes in learning behaviour and attitudes to the research process were identified and analysed. The effectiveness of various aspects of the Program such as task design, explicit process instruction, cognitive strategies, note taking scaffolds and assessment practices were examined. Two theoretical frameworks synthesised from the literature were used in the research. The first framework is based on criteria for effective libraries such as staffing, funding, collection size and technological infrastructure. The second framework combines the effective approaches to learning in school libraries that are evident in the literature. Those frameworks were applied to assess the pre-conditions for learning in the Santa Maria Library. A third framework based on criteria that identify outcomes and indicators of student learning in school libraries, was used to identify evidence of student learning across the data sets. The key research questions were used to organise the discussion of the findings. The findings demonstrated that student outcomes have improved in a broad range of learning experiences. The study deepened my understanding of the distinctive features of the Program and its strengths and weaknesses. The strengths included: the use of constructivist pedagogy and inquiry learning; the collaborative planning, implementation and review processes; the infusion of the learning activities in real units of work; the learning scaffolds and instructional interventions at the point of need; and the assessment and feedback strategies. All of those inputs and processes are critical success factors in the Program. The note taking grids and the associated skill development in reading for meaning, identifying and recording key points, and combining information for final products are particularly effective aspects of the Program, which were highly regarded by the students. The weaknesses of the Program included: the gradual erosion of collaborative planning, implementation and evaluation processes; a general feeling of Program fatigue; the fact that the assessment of student outputs to track Progress is not standard practice; and the lack of a process for fading scaffolds in the Year 9 and 10 levels to shift control of the learning process from the teachers and teacher librarians to the students as they move through the Program. The study incorporates a series of recommendations for ongoing monitoring, and future Program delivery and implementation.
-
ItemLanguage and thinking in action: how one primary teacher supports her students to enact and articulate their thinking( 2007)This study investigated how one teacher facilitates dialogue with and between primary-aged students, to assist their thinking, at a time when the introduction of a new curriculum in Victoria is placing explicit demands on teachers to meet rigorous standards in students' thinking. Its aim was to identify exploratory (Mercer 2002) or dialogic interactions (Wells 1999) in the context of problem-based or inquiry learning, so that educators will better understand how language-based techniques and prompts promote students' thinking and learning. A review of the current and relevant literature revealed that classroom-based research focusing on the relationship between language, thinking and learning as theorised by Lev Vygotsky and Michael Halliday, emphasises the important role of the teacher in challenging and extending students' thinking. A qualitative case study of the language generated by the teacher working mainly with a small group of her students was undertaken and discourse analytic techniques were applied to the data. The main findings of the study relate to (i) the teacher's use of some dialogic techniques that supported students' thinking and learning and (ii) alternatively the teacher's under-exploitation of teachable moments to fully promote students' thinking and learning using exploratory language.
-
ItemOf secrets, sorrows, and shame: undergraduate nurses' experiences of death and dying( 2007)This phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of undergraduate nursing students who cared for the dying and deceased whilst on clinical placement. To this point, studies on this phenomenon have focused on the experienced, qualified nurse. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the impacts of caring for the dying and deceased, on the student-nurse, and the implications for nursing education. The ten study participants were undergraduates enrolled in the Bachelor of Nursing program at a metropolitan-based university in Melbourne. The study of their experiences, from the perspectives of the student-nurses, was conducted using a semi-structured interview for data collection. Analysis of the data, using a Miles and Huberman (1994) style matrix, revealed four emergent themes: intensity of emotion; perceptions, growth and awareness; and opportunities. These themes were explored to yield results which established there were often profound, and sometimes disturbing, impacts of grief for both the student-nurse, the patient, and others. This study contributes to the This phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of undergraduate nursing students who cared for the dying and deceased whilst on clinical placement. To this point, studies on this phenomenon have focused on the experienced, qualified nurse. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the impacts of caring for the dying and deceased, on the student-nurse, and the implications for nursing education.
-
ItemTeachers' use of ICT in the secondary school: investigating the impact of change on teachers' use of ICT( 2007)This thesis investigates the impact of four initiatives (the provision of a desktop computer, the change of operating systems from Windows to Linux, the compulsory use of a Learning Management System (LMS) and the implementation of professional development) on the use of Information Communications Technologies (ICT) as perceived by secondary teachers at an independent school in Melbourne's East. A mix of qualitative and quantitative data were gathered for this case study by surveying the secondary teaching staff, interviewing six teachers and two key leaders of ICT, and analysing documentation such as computer bookings and school policy records. These data were analysed and compared to that of wider local, national and international research and the following five findings were evident: 1. Evidence was found of an overall increase in the use of ICT since the four initiatives were implemented; 2. Less than half (44%) of the teachers surveyed perceived that there was an improvement in the quality of their use of ICT as a result of the changes, the majority (52%) perceived that no change had occurred for them with 4% claiming that the quality of their use of ICT had actually decreased as a result of changes; 3. At least one of the teachers interviewed demonstrated some profound improvements in their use of ICT as a result of the four initiatives; 4. The provision of personal access to a desktop computer was perceived by the teachers to have had the most impact on improving the use of ICT, followed by the implementation of the LMS and the PD program; S. The change of operating systems from Windows to Linux was perceived by the majority of teachers as a having a negative influence on their use and development of ICT. This study should be of benefit to school administrators who are in the processes of implementing initiatives to help improve the use of ICT by their teachers. It could also be helpful for teachers who are wanting to develop their professional attributes in relation to the use of ICT and make ICT a more effective tool in the teaching and learning process.
-
ItemDeveloping better practice: towards a reconceptualization of clinical nursing education( 2007)On the commencement of professional practice, most nursing graduates experience difficulties in making the transition from student to beginning practitioner. New graduates, as well as their more experienced colleagues, consider the inadequate clinical practice component of undergraduate nursing education preparation as a major factor contributing to poor graduate performance on entering the workforce. In the education of nurses over the past forty years, emphasis has been placed on the development of theoretical knowledge. During this time contemporary learning theories from general education have been employed to support nursing education. These learning theories, developed specifically for classroom learning, have extended beyond the classroom to support clinical learning as well. The underlying assumption is that knowledge learnt in the classroom will transfer to the clinical area when required. This thesis is a critical examination of past and present approaches to clinical practice in nursing education. Specifically, it is argued that contemporary learning theory supporting nursing education is insufficient for clinical practice, and that learning does not transfer in the manner assumed by current nursing educational practices. While situated learning theories, developed specifically in practice, are more suited to clinical practice, they remain limited because they do not account for how humans actually learn. Recent advances in the neurosciences can give an inclusive scientific account for learning, and are therefore more suitable to support both the theory and practice of nursing education. It is argued that viewing clinical nursing as vector coding, processing, and neural weight development, frees nursing practice from the conception that it is a subsidiary of the theoretical knowledge developed as part of the theoretical component of nursing knowledge. In order to develop better nursing practice, nursing education requires a new theoretical framework that properly reflects our current best knowledge of human learning and information processing.
-
ItemPolitics and prescription: an analysis of reading texts in Victorian government primary schools 1872-1970( 2007)For a period of almost one hundred years - from the 1872 Education Act until 1970 the Victorian Education Department prescribed the reading curriculum of children in government primary schools, using texts from Ireland and Britain, followed by three sets published by the Department. This thesis describes the procedures undertaken in the selection of these texts, and analyses their contents in the light of the educational thinking of the times and the prevailing political, social and economic conditions. The Irish Books of Lessons were components of a national system of education in Ireland designed to provide a non-denominational religious education for all children. Emphasis was placed on literary and moral values, Old Testament history and political economy. Transplanted to the colony of New South Wales, the Irish ideal of a common education failed because of intractable religious disputes between Anglican and Roman Catholic clerics. In Victoria there was discord in parliament relating to the contents of the books and the secular provision in the 1872 Education Act. In 1877 these books were replaced by the British Royal Readers, containing informational matter, English literature, and history related in terms of battles won and deeds of service for the Empire. Alterations to some items in the Royal Readers on the order of the Minister of Public Instruction because of their religious content caused further contention in parliament. Action from Roman Catholic sources succeeded in the banning of other books from schools on sectarian grounds, an outcome that had important ramifications for the administration of education in Victoria. Religious sensibilities were appeased with the Minister's decision to replace imported texts with the locally-produced School Papers in 1896. These monthly publications contained literature, informational items, stories for enjoyment and others of a moralistic bent. The Anglophile nature of the Royal Readers was maintained with material promoting loyalty to Britain and the Empire. Wide coverage of the Boer War and World War I was included. The inter-war period saw a growing emergence of an Australian identity in the School Papers, with fewer items calling for fealty to Crown and Empire, and local writers increasingly featured. The Victorian Readers, introduced in 1928, were the repository of the literature that remained an important element of the reading curriculum, much of it from Australian authors. Articles promoting peace in the reading material at this time foreshadowed the muted coverage of World War II in the School Papers. The new set of reading books published in the 1950s and 1960s continued in the literary style of their predecessors, with writing by current Australian and international authors. The capacity of the School Papers to respond to events as they unfolded enabled the readers to be kept informed of Australia's increasing involvement with Asia, the decline of old affiliations and the formation of new geopolitical alliances.