Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemThe pleasure of fear: an exploration of supernatural fiction for young adults( 1996)This thesis presents a close reading of selected supernatural fiction for young adults. The foundation for the analysis of this literature is a review of theoretical works that deal with the nature of horror fiction as a genre and the reader's reaction to it. The differences between adult horror and supernatural fiction written for teenagers is discussed, as is the particular appeal of this fiction to young adults. The second part of the thesis, the textual analysis, provides an exploratory picture of the use of supernatural elements in teenage fiction to create a discrete genre, or subcategory of young adult fiction. Six specific texts are chosen for this close examination and a range of thematic issues are discussed, including: supernatural motifs, family relationships, romance, history, belief and setting.
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ItemSharing responsibility for referring students in reading recovery( 2002)Becoming literate is recognised and valued throughout the world. Schools and teachers strive to meet the expectations of society providing prevention in the form of quality teaching for students. In Victoria, Australia while data have indicated that teachers and schools have been largely successful in guiding students to become readers and writers some teachers experience difficulty in achieving those goals. In Reading Recovery, a successful additional assistance program that gives students a second chance to get underway with reading and writing, only a very few are referred on for further ongoing support. Referred students have commonly been regarded as the hardest to teach children. However, research literature indicates that poor implementation of programs at a school and teacher level can also contribute to the number of students who, by the end of Year 1 are unable to engage in literate activity productively alongside their peers. The research reported here used a case study method and collected qualitative and quantitative data. Its findings support those from the research and isolate factors that are contributory at a school, teacher and system level. Recommendations are made for improvements across all sectors.
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ItemThe intrinsic and extrinsic connection of reading towards academic success( 2011)This qualitative study explores the impact that reading has had on the lives of two female students who have attained exemplary results in their final year of high school. Both students were academically successful in completing their Victorian Certificate of Education. One of the participants was awarded the Dux of the school while the other participant was the second highest achieving student in the VCE cohort at their school. The students attended a girls' Catholic College which is situated in the inner North West of Melbourne. In this comparative case study, semi-structured interviews have been employed to delve into the reading practices of these two high achieving students. The analysis of the interviews provided data rich information which highlighted several essential themes explored in this thesis. The focus of this study is to explore the following main areas: how reading links to academic success, how students perceive reading in helping them achieve academic success and what other factors related to reading can be associated with students' performance. Reading is seen to be the core of both students' lives and how it interconnects and weaves a journey of academic success is explored in this study.
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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.