Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemThe origins and early history of the State secondary school teachers in Victoria, 1872-1926( 1968)In tracing the history of state secondary school teachers in Victoria from their origins in the primary teaching service until 1926, this study covers the areas relevant to teacher status - viz., teacher training, conditions and associations - and an attempt has been made to evaluate the progress made towards professional status. The Diploma of education course, initially a two-year University course aimed to train teachers of academic subjects, was instrumental in raising the academic and pedagogical qualifications of secondary teachers. It was, however, inadequate in that it did not train teachers in sufficient numbers, and it was always starved of finance and essential resources. The Diploma was supplemented by the post- Intermediate Trained Teacher's Certificate courses in manual and Domestic Arts and Commercial subjects. Because the education Department played a significant role in both systems of training and the teachers had no control of training standards, the progress that was made was achieved without reference to the teachers, and was offset by the increasing numbers of temporary teachers employed in the secondary schools. No significant progress was made by secondary teachers in determining their professional conditions. These were almost entirely decided by the centralized administration which widened and tightened its influence. Professional freedom in areas such as curricula was further limited by the uniformity imposed by the public examination system. State secondary teachers were willing conformists to these pressures restricting their professional activity, and directed most of their energy towards regularizing their position within the public service. Even in this sphere, they achieved little: their salaries were relatively poorer in 1926 than they had been in 1912, it took thirteen years to gain a Classification Board, and they rarely succeeded in gaining concessions even on minor matters. Hence state secondary teachers were enthusiastic supporters of the movement towards the uniting of all teachers within the one Union which culminated in 1926. By 1926, then, the greatest gain that state secondary teachers had made was in their training and qualifications. For the rest, their steps towards professional status were faltering and often retrograde.
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ItemManufacturing student organisations: a study with particular reference to Melbourne University, 1880 to 1914( 1995)The foundation of a University poses an interesting problem: will the new institution simply be an imitation of an existing University model, or will it involve an adaptation of different models. The resolution of this problem will in turn determine many aspects of the University's structure and operations, including that of the particular forms of student organisations that will emerge. Universities that are based on faculty-structures tend to have a tradition of faculty-based student organisations, while collegiate-based universities tend to possess college-based student organisations. Phenomena that raise interesting questions about Universities that possess both faculties and colleges. In the case of Melbourne University during the period of 1880 to 1914, the basic structure of the University (faculties and colleges) was emerging, as was a tradition of faculty and college based student organisations. In addition, other types of organisations also emerged which drew their members from different parts of the University. Most notably were the early student 'unions' which explicitly sought to bring all students of the University together, and to create a sense of student solidarity based on one's university, rather than one's faculty or college, membership.