Faculty of Education - Theses
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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.
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ItemUneasy lies the head : the repositioning of heads of English in independent schools in Victoria in the age of new learning technologies( 2004)This study explores the discursive practice of six Heads of English in Independent Schools in Victoria during a period of major cultural change. This change has been associated with huge public investment in New Learning Technologies and shifting perceptions and expectations of cultural agency in communities of practice such as English Departments in Schools. In this social milieu tensions exist between the societal rhetoric of school management and marketing of the efficacy of NLTs as educational realities and discursive practices at a departmental level, embodying and embedding academic values and attainments. In their conversations with the author, the Heads of English reveal much about themselves and the nature and distribution of their duties and responsibilities within the local moral order of their schools and with their individual communities of practice. A model is developed of the dual praxis of the Heads of the Heads of English, mediated by autobiography and historically available cultural resources in a community of practice. As agents concerned to both maintain and transform their local culture of English teaching, and consequently the whole school culture, the Heads of English account for themselves as responding to their own `sense of place' in their own community of practice, but also the `structure of feeling' of the period by which their achievements and standing are known. This study of the persons of the English co-ordinators draws upon both Positioning Theory and critical realism to reveal the dynamic nature of both their identity and the social organization of English teaching in schools.
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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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ItemThe morning after : a novella based on a study of a drama performance exploring young people's views of teenage pregnancy( 2004)This thesis is in two parts. Firstly I describe my research, which centred on a Drama performance devised for the 2002 Monash Schools Drama Festival. The performance project was coordinated by myself, as the school Drama teacher, and involved twelve students from Years 9 and 10. The performance focused on the theme of teenage pregnancy and explored some of the difficulties a young girl encounters when faced with an unplanned pregnancy. The story created for the performance project then became the basis for the second part of this thesis, a novella - 'The Morning After'. As a practitioner teacher-researcher, I collected data through interviews with my students and observations of their work in drama as they created the storyline and constructed the performance for the Monash Drama Festival. Through the process of discussion and improvisation, students revealed their perceptions, life experiences, questions and concerns around the issue of teenage pregnancy. These insights were reflected in the play and then this data was analyzed, organized into themes, interpreted and transformed into the novella - The Morning After'. This study reveals a need for more effective forums for discussing sex education and teenage relationships and pregnancy with young people in schools. The Morning After' aims to preserve the story at the heart of the students' play by offering it in fictional form to other young people.
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ItemWomen in Collingwood in the depression of the 1930s( 2001)This thesis is about the lives of women in Collingwood during the Depression of the 1930s. They fought tirelessly to have their families fed and clothed, often sharing the little they had. Homes were primitive, bathrooms were uncommon and most houses had no water in the home. Shopping was done on a daily basis as there were no refrigerators. With constant childcare under these conditions, women were almost literally chained to the home. Even in the 1930s it was not accepted that women work outside the home. In some instances women would go without food to ensure that their children were fed, some women suffering from malnutrition. The Women's Hospital was where Collingwood women went for treatment. As there was no Medicare, doctors were unavailable to the working class. Marriage called for perseverance as divorce was uncommon. With the working-class wife heading the family, men, especially unemployed men, regarded this as a blow to their pride. A common occurrence for families unable to meet their rent payments was eviction. Eventually the Government gave a subsidy towards the rent for those who received an eviction order. Many people relied on charity, indicating just how desperate they were. Over 11,000 women out of 16,000 women in Collingwood were either unemployed or dependent on husbands' uncertain incomes. For many, charity was the only answer. Many of the remaining 5,000 women were domestic servants, barmaids, factory workers or shop assistants. Barmaids had a lowly reputation as their work was not regarded as respectable 'women's work'. Professional women, teachers and kindergartners came from the more affluent areas to work in Collingwood. Some women resorted to crime, shoplifting and even violence as a matter of survival. Others turned to abortion and prostitution, both outlawed at this time. Men were not neglected in this thesis. They suffered humiliation and degradation as they formed endless queues, and more often than not returned home only to report no job.
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ItemArticulating the theatre experience : ways in which students respond to the theatre experience, individually, collectively & within the context of the curriculum( 2005)This thesis investigates how a class of senior Drama students experience the event that is theatre performance. The theatre experience is at the very heart of this study, both as a personal one, and as it is framed within the parameters of the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) Drama Curriculum. Five themes emerge from the study: the role of cultural contexts; the role of prior experience; knowing versus not knowing measuring the theatre experience; and the impact of curriculum and assessment criteria on student responses. The findings of the study suggest that the subject of Drama provides entry into an aesthetic world that is not necessarily accessible through other subjects. It indicates that a range of cultural contexts and prior experiences create a frame through which students experience new theatre performances. The study indicates that the immediate and transient nature of a performance text is inherently difficult to measure but rather, relies on the measuring of the memory of that experience. Finally, the study suggests that there is a gap between the process through which students make meaning from their experiences, and the process by which the curriculum asks them to respond to the aesthetic experience that is theatre. The implications of this investigation are that the teaching of theatre text and the design of curriculum documents needs to more carefully acknowledge the cultural framing, prior experiences, and personal aesthetics that students bring to that experience. Further, it asks Drama educators to consider whether aesthetic experiences are indeed assessable and, if so, how that can be achieved in ways that acknowledge the complex nature of responses to a text that exists only in the memory of those who have seen it.
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ItemHow appropriate is appropriation : what understanding do students have of appropriation in the visual arts( 2002)This thesis explores how secondary students use and make meaning out of artworks using the technique of appropriation. Appropriation is compared to earlier modernist theories that advocated the new and unique and denigrated simple copying. Modernist theories are then compared to postmodern attitudes where appropriation is considered to be the visual expression of a pluralist society; a society in which imagery can be reworked and adapted to varied purposes. In contemporary society new technologies have also increased the ease and speed of access to and manipulation of imagery. However, in education this technique is often criticised for promoting the reworking of the past at the expense of creative, forward-looking development. A case study was undertaken to investigate the meanings a group of Year 10 students made of this technique. Video recordings and other observations were taken during a series of classes where the students had computer and Internet access. A variety of data was then collected and transcribed from these lessons. This was later analysed in terms of how the students had used appropriation, what results they had achieved and how they felt about related issues. These students provided a number of responses that were sorted into five separate categories. These groupings suggested that most students demonstrated a good understanding of appropriation and used a variety of techniques to obtain imagery. Although some students were critical of their own lack of originality, most students showed a strong interest in imagery that had personal significance. This suggests that appropriation had a role in assisting with development and allowing more inclusive curricula in this visual arts class.
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ItemThe impact of information technology on the development of literacy skills in a secondary school( 2001)This study reports on a relationship between the increased use of Information Technology (IT), in both domestic and school environments and the development of literacy in reading comprehension and vocabulary skills in a sample of 52 students in a junior high school. The study was prompted by a perception based on my own personal observation as a classroom teacher in the computer studies area, that the increased availability of personal computers was coinciding with a decline of literacy skills demonstrated in submitted written work by my students. Other teachers also expressed their concern that students were displaying more interest in using IT and a coinciding reduction in reading and writing in class. The study reveals that a majority of students has access to personal computers at home and that they spend more time playing computer games than they do reading the kind of variety of printed text that would benefit the development of their basic comprehension, vocabulary and writing skills. Some correlations were found between high computer use and low scores on Progressive Achievement Tests in Reading (Vocabulary and Comprehension) as well as with low scores on other written exercises. These findings indicated that a high use of personal computers impacts on the development of literacy in reading (comprehension and vocabulary) and writing skills. The parents of the children studied were also surveyed and their comments indicated that the majority felt that their children spent more time on computers than they did on reading any type of printed text or practising their handwriting skills. Despite this, parents were convinced of need for the computer technology in their domestic environment for the educational development their children require. A majority of teachers who were interviewed also expressed their concern at how students were not developing literacy skills at this age. They felt that the acquisition and the development of basic literacy skills should occur at this stage of schooling. It was felt that it was crucial that students, growing up in the "Information Age", developed language literacy skills as well as computer literacy skills. Further study on a wider scale is necessary to specifically identify whether the decline in language literacy is directly tied to the advancements in Information Technologies and their increased use by students. In reality there may be a transformation of literacy that is occurring faster than society and schools can adapt to it. Literacy is a relative concept that must be set in the context of economic and social demands.