Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemThe structuring of knowledge for interdisciplinary teaching in higher education( 2011)This study investigates and compares teaching within both disciplinary and interdisciplinary subjects at the higher education level. Interdisciplinary subjects are increasingly being offered within university curricula in response to a range of stakeholders both internal and external to the university system (Holmwood, 2010). Seen to expose students to complex problems that cross disciplinary boundaries, they are also considered beneficial as it is believed they provide students with a range of skills necessary to succeed in society and in the workplace (Frodeman et al., 2010). Interdisciplinarity and disciplinarity are often presented as disparate (Moore, 2010) and so the introduction of interdisciplinary subjects is seen as an alternative to discipline–based subjects. However, there has been little research investigating the nature of knowledge that is taught in interdisciplinary subjects and whether this form of teaching differs from that in discipline–based subjects. This study explores the differences between teaching in these two contexts by investigating whether and how academics within a university structured around the disciplines change their teaching for the interdisciplinary context and in particular how they perceive knowledge in these two teaching environments. This research employs a qualitative case study approach, drawing on interviews with six experienced academics from The University of Melbourne, Australia, a university that has recently undergone major curriculum reform. The academics come from a range of disciplinary backgrounds allowing for diversity in the data. At the time the interviews were conducted, interdisciplinary subjects had been part of the university curriculum for one year. This study, therefore, presents a snapshot of interdisciplinary teaching for these academics after this first year. The theoretical framework for the research draws on Shulman’s (1986; 1987) idea of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), Bernstein’s theoretical ideas of the pedagogic device and knowledge structures (Bernstein, 2000) and Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) (Maton, 2000, 2007, 2009). This study reveals that there is a shift in academics’ teaching practice for the interdisciplinary context. Teaching in interdisciplinary subjects is shown to be influenced by a number of complex factors that are determined by the academics’ background, the setting in which interdisciplinary subjects occur and the nature of interdisciplinary knowledge itself. The most significant contribution this thesis makes to an understanding of interdisciplinary teaching is its discussion of the role of knowledge, knowledge structures and the knower in determining what is taught. Interdisciplinary studies that focus on a particular problem or context, such as climate change, place a stronger emphasis on developing a particular type of knower and ways of knowing while at the same time reducing the value placed on students developing an understanding of particular content knowledge. This is attributed to the manner in which the disciplines that make up an interdisciplinary subject contribute their knowledge. The study also shows that in translating knowledge for interdisciplinary teaching that some of the subtleties of disciplinary knowledge are lost and so the same topic taught in an interdisciplinary subject will not have the same depth as when taught in a discipline–based subject. These findings have a number of implications for universities incorporating interdisciplinary subjects in their curricula. While the content and skills that students are taught in interdisciplinary subjects can be seen as beneficial they are different to those in discipline–based subjects. It is argued here that in order to maintain the depth of knowledge that comes with discipline based teaching and the breadth that is associated with interdisciplinary teaching, interdisciplinary and disciplinary subjects need to be included within university curriculum for complimentary rather than opposing reasons.
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ItemPrimary teachers and the Information and Communications Technology domain: figuring worlds, identities, knowledge and practices( 2010)This study investigates the development of teacher professional practice in the context of government education policy in Victoria (Australia) that aims, through the education of its youth, to shape a successful economy that capitalises on information and communications technology (ICT). Specifically, the study examines how selected primary teachers from an ICT network conceptualise, articulate and develop a body of knowledge to teach and implement the Information and Communications Technology domain of the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (Victorian Government, 2005) curriculum framework. Through a constructivist grounded theory approach, the study investigates the practices of six female teachers in three government primary schools as they implement changes to curriculum in response to government reforms and local expectations. The three primary schools are within close proximity of each other in a residential growth corridor on the fringes of metropolitan Melbourne, and serve a diverse and multicultural community. Innovation with ICT is seen as necessary for addressing the challenges that arise from the social and economic context of the research sites, and is integral to improvement plans in each of these schools. The participating teachers are regarded as leaders with ICT within their schools and their efforts are deemed intrinsic to their school’s plan. Rich descriptive data of these six teachers and how they construct their worlds is utilised to develop a theory of how teachers learn to teach with ICT, with a view to understanding how they continue to learn in the context of these changes. Change efforts often focus on the importance of knowledge building to empower professionals for new directions, however while a critical component, knowledge is not the only factor in increasing capability. The study highlights that learning to teach the ICT domain is more complex than developing content knowledge, pedagogical repertoire and skills in the use of ICT. It involves networked learning where values, beliefs, vision, practice and identities are made and remade. In making changes, teachers consider new ideas in light of the old, and through the lens of their core values and beliefs, they figure a technologically rich world of vast imaginings that they can embody. They author identities to assert themselves in relation to imposed positioning and prior conceptualisations. Through changed activity related to ICT, they redefine their conception of teaching and inhabit it with their activity and energy.