Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemThe history of the development of specialist teaching training programmes for teachers of migrant children, 1947-1973( 1983)Information concerning the development of specialist teacher training programmes for teachers of migrant children is fragmentary, being scattered through some 130 published and unpublished documents. The aim of this thesis has been to present, with some degree of order and continuity, that information in a single volume. The resulting compilation is largely descriptive, though some analysis and interpretation could not be avoided. To supplement and to substantiate some of the data collated from the numerous documents, the experiences of a number of teachers who have taught significant proportions of migrant children between 1947 and 1973 have been related. Some of these experiences were gathered by means of a questionnaire which was completed by teachers who had responded to advertisements placed by the writer in The Sun (August 4, 1983) and The Age (August 15, 1983). The advertisements are included as Appendix A.1, and the questionnaire as Appendix A.2. Other experiences were gathered by means of personal interviews with a number of teachers. A full list of all persons from whom information was gathered appears as Appendix A.3. The paper concentrates on the development of specialist teacher training programmes within the Federal and State education systems, with only brief mention of developments within the Catholic education system. Such concentration is not intended to reflect a view that efforts made by the Catholic Church towards the problems of migrant children are insignificant. Indeed, the Catholic schools bore a very substantial share of the influx of migrant children and faced immense educational difficulties as a result, yet they succeeded in making as good a job as possible under the circumstances. Because the history of developments within the Catholic education system is a considerable area on its own, and because much material in that area has already been documented by Carmel O'Dwyer (Responses of Government and Catholic Educational Authorities to the influx of migrants, 1950-1960, with special reference to the experience of a selected group of schools conducted by the Victorian Sisters of Mercy),1 Michael Elliot (Migrant Education in Fitzroy, 1965-1975),2 and Denis Moore (The initial response to the migrant presence in four inner suburban Christian Brothers' schools as revealed in the inspectors' reports and other available sources),3 those developments are not included in this history. The population elements to which the discussion refers to as 'migrants' are those people from 'non-English speaking' origin, excluding Aboriginals. 1. Unpublished Master of Education Thesis, University of Melbourne, 1977. 2. Unpublished Master of Education Thesis, University of Melbourne, 1977. 3. Unpublished Master of Education Thesis, University of Melbourne, 1981. The introductory chapter briefly outlines the Federal Government's immediate steps to provide some training for teachers of adult migrants, and serves to highlight the official indifference outlined by Chapters II, III and IV, to the needs of training for teachers of migrant children until the late sixties when short in-service training courses were introduced. Chapter V traces the history of these short courses. Chapter VI presents the development of in-service teacher training under the Child Migrant Education Programme, the development of some tertiary courses leading to awards, and the development of pre-service courses, all of which take place in the emerging notion of 'multiculturalism'. The initial assumption levelled at teachers of migrant children was that no special training in migrant education was necessary because no special effort was necessary to teach migrant children. If teachers were kindly and understanding, and approached the problem with good sense, migrant children in their care would be rapidly assimilated. Requests for specialist help were made as early as 1954, but a general lack of appreciation of the problem by administrators ensured that these requests were unheeded. The contents of the Haines Report and the Dovey Report in the late fifties vindicated the belief that teachers of migrants did not require special training. The Dovey Report in particular lulled disquiet about the problems of migrant school children, for the four years immediately following its release witnessed only a few ad hoc and unco-ordinated attempts to draw attention to the need for teacher training. By the mid-sixties, however, a number of changes in educational thought were responsible for some new developments in migrant education. It became a public issue, and a number of surveys highlighted its needs. The result was the introduction in Victoria in 1968 of some short in-service teacher training courses. The inadequacies of these courses were soon felt. A survey conducted in New South Wales in 1969 prompted the Commonwealth Government to assume responsibility for the development, management and financial control of child migrant education. Financial assistance was provided to cover the cost of special training courses for teachers, in the method of teaching English as a foreign language. These four-week courses were introduced in 1970. At the same time, and in the setting of a developing notion of multicultural education, the first specialized teacher training course in migrant education to be offered by an Australian tertiary institution was developed. This course led to the award of the Diploma of Migrant Teaching, and commenced at Armidale Teachers' College in 1973. By the end of 1973, some other tertiary institutions were developing graduate and pre-service courses. The history of the development of specialist teacher training programmes obviously does not end in 1973. That year was chosen as the cut-off date for this history for two reasons. Firstly it was, as stated previously, the year in which the first specialized course was offered by an Australian tertiary institution. Secondly, by 1973 the stage was set, in terms of an awareness of the urgent need for pre-service and in-service teacher training,, for the developments that were to take place from 1973 to the present time.4 4. Cf. L. Sislov, Conceptions of Bilingual Education; the contexts in which conceptions emerge and certain practical pedagogical initiations emerging therefrom in Australia and other countries. Unpublished Master of Education Thesis, University of Melbourne, 1982, Chapters 9 and 10.
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ItemSchools and teacher training in the Veneto (Italy) 1815-1870( 1974)Education in the Veneto (also known as Venezia Euganea) was given, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, mainly by religious Orders of both sexes. Little was done for the mass of the people. The most famous order was the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), principally concerned with secondary and university education. The teachers in this Order had to complete the rigorous course of the inferior colleges (corresponding to the later gymnasiums and lyceums) and the superior course (corresponding to university level). Those permanent teachers whose task it was to train other teachers had to complete even further university level studies. Uniformity of teaching techniques and methods was part of the Jesuit system. Under the guidance of experienced teachers the student received a thorough training in these techniques and methods. When the Jesuits were expelled in 1773 Gasparo Gozzi was given the task of planning reforms, but little change occurred. From 1805 to 1814 the Veneto became part of the Italic Kingdom set up by Napoleon. Various decrees sought to improve the quality of education and teaching but as these were mainly communal responsibilities they remained mainly in the hands of private institutions and religious orders. However, all teachers were required to make an oath of loyalty to the King (Napoleon) and provisions were made for the training of teachers for State Schools. The training took place either in selected major elementary schools (a three month course) or in normal schools (a six month course). When Austria returned to the Veneto it set up a state school system modelled on that of Austria itself. The teacher was confined to a rigidly prescribed curriculum and his work was closely supervised by an inspectorial system. Major difficulties arose in providing sufficient schools, trained teachers and enforcing the compulsory education provisions. Austria continued and extended the provisions for elementary teacher training made during the Italic Kingdom. Detailed instructions were set out regarding syllabii and teacher duties and responsibilities. The teaching method favoured in the elementary schools was the "normal" method which was composed of four parts - the use of initial letters, the use of tables, the use of reading in unison and the use of interrogations. The Austrian model also served for secondary education. After elementary school the students proceeded onto either a gymnasium or a technical school. These technical schools provided more practical courses and taught modern languages in contrast to the gymnasium where purely classical (Latin and Greek) were offered. The government prescribed the subjects to be taught and the texts to be used in all government, communal and episcopal schools, at least until the Concordat, signed between the Church and Austria in 1855, when the Church was given a freer hand in this area. The Austrian government also restricted the independence of private institutions which had a long tradition in the Veneto. When the Veneto became part of the new Kingdom of Italy in 1866, the numbers of schools were increased in all areas and a re-organized system of teacher training was introduced.
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ItemPayment by results as an innovation in Victorian education: with particular reference to the period 1868-1878( 1978)From 1863 to 1905 Victoria paid its teachers under the system of "payment by results". This system had been introduced in England by the Revised Code of 1862 and a version of it was adopted by the Victorian Board of Education in 1863. The essence of the system was that portion of a teacher's salary became directly dependent on the performance of his students in examinations. The aim of this thesis is to demonstrate that the system of payment by results was an unjust system based on unsound principles and that it encouraged teachers to concentrate too much of their efforts on the teaching for "results". The outcome was an excess of mechanical teaching, of "cram" and of rote learning. The system was unsound in principle because it was not based on any proven theory of pedagogy, but was introduced in order to satisfy a desire for economy and efficiency. It was unjust because it was based on an unfounded lack of trust in Victoria's elementary school teachers - as evidenced by the results regulations and, indeed, by the whole concept of payment for "results". We will see that built into the results formula were various punitive clauses which operated to penalise teachers unfairly for factors over which they had little or no control. Furthermore, under this system teachers were to become the only servants of the State whose livelihood depended, to a certain extent, on the "results" they produced. With the Education Act of 1872, the Education Department of Victoria came into existence - replacing the old Board of Education - and it inherited, and continued to apply, the system of payment by results. Under the new Minister of Public Instruction, the Education Department continued to support the principle of payment for "results". However, from 1873 to 1878 - as evidenced by a study of the Minister's and Inspectors' reports to Parliament - we see emerging a greater willingness on the part of the Department to concede that there was a good deal of merit in the complaints of teachers, and some important concessions were made accordingly. In 1877, Charles Henry Pearson was appointed to conduct a one-man Royal Commission into education in Victoria and, while Pearson found certain faults with the system of payment by results, he still believed that it was correct in its principle and should be retained in order to ensure a continued diligent effort on the part of the teachers. Pearson did, however, make some important proposals. He recommended that less of a teacher's income should be dependent on the "results", and he favoured doing away with the punitive regulations relating to age and attendance. These proposals would, he believed, eliminate many of the problems relating to mechanical teaching, to "cram" and to rote learning. His proposals, however, were not put into effect, and we see that, while certain amendments were made to the results regulations, and various proposals put forward for its modification, the essential nature of the system of payment by results remained unchanged throughout the life of the Board of Education - and for the first six years of Departmental control.