Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemHow leadership is manifested in Steiner schools( 2005)The purpose of this research was to determine how leadership is manifested in Steiner schools. These are schools with no principal or formal leadership structure. An intensive study was conducted of one independent, fee-paying Australian Steiner school catering for children aged 5 to 18. A descriptive case study methodology was used employing individual interviews with 10 staff members of the school, and document analysis. The administrative structure of the school was found to be much more complicated than that of a traditional school, although similar to Steiner schools in general. There were 21 mandated groups that existed in order to administer the school, the most notable being the College Of Teachers. The operation of the school was best described as a democracy. Benefits of the school structure included a feeling of inclusion in the leadership and management of the school, the opportunities for many staff to assume roles of responsibility in mandated groups and an adaptability of the organisation. Problems found included a lack of clarity of roles, resistance to leadership and the time to make decisions. Leadership was found to be highly democratic, with no official leader in the organisation. However, there was found to be an unofficial leadership structure based on merit and experience, with several prominent individuals identified, and one in particular. The research is significant in that it has explored an alternative school leadership structure - one that is problematic but also has significant benefits.
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ItemMulticultural and diversity education in the globalised classroom in Australia( 2012)Australia is no longer an “isolated backwater” island floating around the Asia-Pacific region. It has become a country of great importance as a multicultural hub that continues to flourish in a time of social, cultural, and population growth. With this changing environment the needs of its people, in particular its children, have also changed. As multicultural awareness begins to expand and borders cease to define the cultural differences of those around us, the needs of the learners in school are also in a state of flux. This paper tracks the evolution of multicultural and diversity education policies in Australia through seven key documents: these are The National Policy on Languages (Lo Bianco, 1987), the Asian Studies Council Report – Asian Studies Council (1988), National Agenda for Multicultural Australia (Commonwealth of Australia, 1989), Adelaide Declaration (1999), Melbourne Declaration (2008), Blueprint for Education and Early Childhood Development (2008) and Education for Global and Multicultural Citizenship: A Strategy for Victorian Government Schools 2009-2013 (DEECD, 2009). It concludes with implications and impacts of this history and these documents and addresses the need for continued teacher preparation and instruction through recommendation new initiatives.
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ItemRethinking indigenous educational disadvantage: a critical analysis of race and whiteness in Australian education policy( 2011)This thesis examines Indigenous school education in Australia, through analysing themes of difference, race and whiteness in contemporary education policy. The study asks why educational inequality and disadvantage continue to be experienced by Indigenous school students, despite concerted policy attention towards redressing these issues. It seeks to better understand how Indigenous education is represented in policy and scholarly debates and what implications this has for Indigenous educational achievement. I argue that in order to succeed Indigenous school students are often expected to assimilate into an education system that judges success according to values and expectations influenced by an invisible ‘whiteness’. The investigation of these issues is framed by insights and approaches drawn from three theoretical frameworks. Michel Foucault’s concepts of ‘discourse’, ‘disciplinary power’, ‘regimes of truth’ and ‘normalisation’, and Iris Marion Young’s work with issues of difference, ‘cultural imperialism’, oppression and justice are brought into critical dialogue with critical race theory (CRT). In particular, CRT is engaged as an attempt to bring some new perspectives to understandings of race and difference in Australian education policy. This combination of theories informs an examination of policy (and policy related texts) guided by Foucauldian discourse analysis and critical policy research methods. Through my analysis I develop a number of arguments. First, that the combined theoretical approach I engage is useful for uncovering some of the silences and assumptions that have typically influenced attempts to achieve educational justice for Indigenous Australians. Second, in the documents I analyse, the ways in which Indigenous students are described commonly positions them as deficient and suggests that these deficiencies are to be remedied through exhibiting more of the behaviours and attitudes of non-Indigenous students. Third, that the commitment to ‘inclusion’ within the policies analysed is important, but typically maintains a relationship in which a powerful and central white ‘norm’ remains invisible and dictates how and when the ‘Other’ is included. Fourth, that in seeking to understand equity issues for Indigenous students it is important to look also at the broader education system and its dominant values and goals. Through analysis of policies related to education for ‘all students’, I suggest that educational success is commonly identified and assessed according to ‘white’ norms, within schools that are expected to improve and be accountable within a neo-liberal agenda, which is largely supportive of standardisation and sameness, and not readily accommodating of ‘difference’. Overall, this study has attempted to bring some important conceptual approaches to analysis of current education policy in Australia in order to build greater understanding of Indigenous educational disadvantage. It has sought to open possibilities for addressing issues of race and justice that are characterised by listening, support of difference and responsibility, and commitment to disruption and discomfort.
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ItemPathways: a policy study( 1994)Improving pathways between the sectors is an aspect of educational policy within Australia which has risen to high visibility in recent years. It has been an important part of Commonwealth policy on reform of both higher education and training sectors. Improved pathways are seen to assist in up-grading workers’ qualifications in the minimum time, and more cost-effectively; to assist in enabling a better balance of post-secondary education and training to be provided; to increase the status, visibility and use of TAFE middle-level credentials; and to achieve better equity in higher education provision. The economic and equity arguments are married, by asserting that a wider base will be ultimately more economical. Of equal importance is the convergence of vocational and general education as a preparation for life and work. Using the Swinburne University of Technology Pathways Project 1992-3 as a case study, this paper demonstrates that valuable models of more highly articulated curriculum and structures are possible within a pathways concept. In addition, improved credit transfer agreements and implementation strategies at institutional level are shown to materially assist TAFE students’ access to higher education courses. However, there are limitations to how far “Pathways” type approaches can succeed in implementing government policy while the sectors are encouraged to remain so polarised, and while universities have no real incentive to increase their TAFE articulating students. While they remain strictly vocational in nature, TAFE qualifications cannot achieve full recognition in a degree. A more generalist qualification, like the associate degree, would arguably be more successful in creating the convergence of general and vocational education, and greater credit transfer. Likewise, an expansion of TAFE’s mission could bring a better acceptance of TAFE as an alternative higher education pathway option.