Faculty of Education - Theses

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End date: 2008 × Start date: 2000 × Type: Masters Research thesis × Subject: Attitudes × Subject: Australia × Subject: Education ×

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    What do 'at risk' boys say about their schooling experiences ? : creating agency for boys' views and feelings about school
    Ward, Michael ( 2008)
    The following discussion outlines the theory and operational methods that inform a general ethnographical study, designed to understand the views and perceptions of three 'at risk' boys relegated to a specialised Victorian state school. The methodology hopes to empower the male students taking part in the study by giving emphasis to the didactic importance of their views, opinions and experiences expressed during a series of interviews in which they participate. It is hoped that the boys will be able to identify areas of education that need improvement, and define real life problems within their own learning experiences, so genuine male learning dilemmas and insights are generated and debated in the research. However, Connell (1989, 1995) characterises boys as `inheritors of an all conquering hegemonic masculinity' and this classic feminist perspective seems to be preventing the evolution of a boys' paradigm in education by diverting attention away from boys' educational issues by asking `which girls' and 'which boys' are specifically disadvantaged. This generic ethnographical study attempts a pro-male research project which holds boy's views, opinions and experiences paramount in the research logic processes, and makes use of key foci descriptors conceptualised in recent government research and programmes to discover how young males experience and dialogue about their schooling lives.
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    A case study approach to the student at risk of leaving school early
    Vadala, Daniella T ( 2005)
    There are two components in this research. The first comprises identification of what characterises an at risk student using risk factors identified from the literature. The second comprises identification of the prevalence of these risk factors in one school and how this school identified and assisted these students in the context of the early school leaver literature. Fifty-two students from a Melbourne government high school and seven of their teachers participated in the research. Students were divided into three groups; at risk students who participated in an intervention program, at risk students who did not participate in an intervention program, and a low risk group. Both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered and analysed to investigate prevalence of risk factors and usefulness and relevance of the intervention programs. All students completed a 30-page survey consisting of a demographics page, the Academic Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, the Classroom Environment Scale (Real and Ideal Forms) and the Family Environment Scale (Real and Ideal Forms). The teachers completed the Teacher Report Form of the Child Behaviour Checklist. The at risk students participated in interviews and completed six monthly questionnaires. From these data, a profile of the at risk student was developed. At risk students are characterised as performing academically lower than low risk students, exhibiting more problem behaviours, are more likely to be male, to value friendships made at school, to find the work at school and the teacher relationships difficult, to hold aspirations to achieve year 12 and believe they are in control of their school experience. The students participating in an intervention felt it was valuable. The quantitative data revealed non-significant changes in these students' academic self-efficacy and trivial differences in their academic grades. It is clear that school aptitude results from as early as year 7, and student behaviours can help to identify students at risk. It is also clear that friendships formed at school serve as a buffer for these students. Significant events occurring in the nominated at risk students lives do not appear to influence their decision to leave school early. The results imply that schools have the necessary information to identify students at risk, but that intervention programs need to be designed specifically to target problem issues. Recommendations for the school are made in the hope that they can be communicated to educators and the broader community.