Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemApproaching the undiscussable : investigating learning in an educational policy making organisation( 2004)This study investigates the learning culture in the Professional Support & Curriculum Directorate, part of the policy-making section of the New South Wales Department of Education in Australia. It is based on the premise that organisations learn through the collaborative efforts of the staff who work in them. This learning results from an alignment of two theories: the 'espoused' and the 'enacted'. The 'espoused' theory represents the organisation's intent and usually resides in written documents. The 'enacted' theory is demonstrated through the organisation's practice. When these theories fail to align, the organisation's capacity to learn becomes inhibited. The gap between these two theories is 'undiscussable'. It creates tensions that the organisation does not discuss. The participants in this study were staff members located in the Professional Support & Curriculum Directorate. They included administrative and support staff as well educators and the Directorate's leaders. Data were gathered from these staff members using a survey and interviews. By comparing and contrasting their perceptions and experiences of the Directorate's 'espoused' and 'enacted' theories, the study describes the nature of the Directorate's learning culture and its effect on the staff. A model for learning in organisations, derived from the literature, provided the theoretical frame for this investigation. The study identified that the respondents experienced tension in their practice because their 'espoused' theories did not align with the Directorate's 'enacted' theories. This tension represented four 'undiscussables' or processes that hindered its learning: absence of trust, treating knowledge as a product, harmful 'knowledge-power' relationships and a 'failure' to examine critically the educational and socio-political assumptions on which its work was based. The study concludes with a description of the type of learning organisation that the Professional Support & Curriculum Directorate could become if it discussed these undiscussables constructively.
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ItemA philosophical analysis of the concept of education( 1989)The thesis critically examines some of the concepts involved In the elucidation of the concept of education developed by R.S. Peters who says that education Is a family of processes whose purposes are the development of desirable states of mind. In particular, it critically examines the concept of mind built into Peters' conception of education and argues that Peters is correct to imply that the mind cannot be reduced to brain states. Education, I .claim is a telological concept primarily concerned with the transmission of cultural values. The thesis begins by briefly looking at behaviourist views of mind, and introduces the Identity Theory as an attempt to provide a better explication of the nature of mind. Feigl's views on the nature of mind are examined, in particular, his attempted reduction of the mental to the physical. His rejection of the concept of emergence is challenged and what is meant by the reduction of one theory to another is elucidated. It is concluded that the mental cannot be reduced to the physical. The features of scientific explanation in general are explored. It Is found that scientific explanation is applicable largely in physical science contexts, and so is of limited use in explaining the concept of mind, and so the concept of education. Teleological explanations are examined, since it is apparent that education is a teleological explanation. The question of whether teleological explanations can be reduced to non-teleological explanations is considered. It is found that there are at least three forms of teleological explanation, (i) functional explanation, (ii) goal-directed explanation and (iii) purposive explanation. It is clear from an examination of these that education is explained in terms of purpose. An examination of the concept of intention and its relationship to action forms a major portion of the thesis. The problem of whether there can be several descriptions of one action is considered, as well as whether Intentions are entailed by desires. The relationship between actions and events is considered, discussing in particular the concept of cause. Five uses of the term "cause" are outlined. It is postulated that the causal power In agent causation is the "act of will", which forms part of the intention to act. The concept of a process, and some of the ways in which it may be defined, is examined. The concept of development is briefly considered in the light of the analysis of the concept of a process. It is concluded that education may be termed a super-process. As a process, education can never be completed, but continues throughout an Individual's life. The purposes of education and what might be meant by desirable states of mind are discussed. The primary purpose of education, it is asserted, is the imparting of values. The question of who decides what states of mind might be termed desirable is considered and it is concluded that it is society, or the community who decide what values are to be imparted.
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ItemTransforming professional development goals( 1996)The overall purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of goals as understood by the participants involved in the various stages of implementation of a professional development program, and the ways in which the goals were transformed as the program was implemented. In this thesis, "stage" is used in the sense of sequence, rather than development. The participants in the study were members of each of four stages of implementation of a professional development program, designed to support curricular reform, for teachers of mathematics. The development and implementation of the program were categorised into four stages. These can be identified with the actions of the participants: program initiators; program developers; workshop presenters and the teachers who would ultimately implement classroom content described in the program. The investigation involved description and analysis of the language used by the participants and how it communicated the character of their understanding of the goals. It is assumed that a participant's awareness of the goals influences the way the program is implemented. Data were collected from a range of documents used in the program, during interviews, via questionnaires and through observations of training sessions. For each stage of implementation, the main goals were summarised. Of particular interest was the way in which the goals were changed; as evidenced by the changes in meaning of key words and phrases. These changes were evident with respect to several key groupings into which the goals were classified by the researcher. The choice of words and phrases by participants at each stage revealed the nature of their goals. It was found that the goals of the initiators were usually to do with the altering of teacher practice. The developers' goals, while also concerned with altering teacher practice, were less directed. The goals as understood by the presenters were to do with promotion of a change in attitude in teachers (rather than practice), while the teachers' understanding of the goals were to do with relating the proposed change to their practice. In general participants at each stage had an understanding of the goals of the program that made sense to them, were achievable, and conformed to their perceived role in the program. For a given grouping of goals, there was a great diversity of both key words and phrases, and in meaning of goals as they were articulated at each stage. At times there was little change in the words used, and yet a large corresponding change in meaning. For other key groupings there was a great change in the words and phrases, with little alteration in the essence of the goal. Overall the character of the changes in goals, as understood by the participants at each stage of the professional development program, related to their perspective according to their role. This emergent character appears to be able to be generalised to all professional development programs This point of view ranges from that of a policy perspective, where policy solicits a change in teacher practice, to a practice perspective where the adaption of policy is sought in order to tie it with existing practice. The implications of this study are discussed concerning the effect that the transforming of goals in curriculum initiatives and professional development programs might have on the success of implementing changed teacher practice.
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ItemConcepts of balance and relevance in educational discourse on curriculum( 1983)It is contended that children can best be prepared to meet the challenges posed by rapid social change when the curriculum services a general education and avoids narrow specialization or narrow vocational training. Such an approach to curriculum is said to be characterized by its 'balance' and 'relevance'. However, it would appear that 'balance' and 'relevance' have come to symbolize ideals to which all curricula aspire, even though various value orientations have selected priorities which posit differing, even conflicting, practice. Hence educational discourse to establish what ought to be taught must evaluate the practical importance of that which is said to constitute 'balance' and 'relevance' in the context of the value orientations adopted. General education proposals attempt to frame their selections of priorities such that 'balance' entails meeting the diverse needs of all students. This 'holistic' approach is therefore required to accommodate the various conflicting orientations to 'relevance'. Hence any general curriculum proposal finds it necessary to make a case that these conflicts can be reconciled, that a consensus can be established and that curriculum design and implementation can be achieved in practice. This quest for 'balance' and 'relevance' is analyzed with particular reference to the Australian proposals "Core Curriculum for Australian Schools", made by the Curriculum Development Centre, and "Schooling for 15 and 16 Year-Olds", made by the Schools Commission. Both proposals postulate that the curriculum ought to be based on the common culture whose nature is to emerge as a consensus following analysis of contemporary society. Advances in science and technology are said to be the major contributors to rapid social change. Therefore, what constitutes, in the context of a general education, an adequate understanding of science and technology for life in society is also analyzed. Such an approach to science education is often characterized as the development of a broadly based 'scientific literacy'. The analyses reveal that it would appear to be unrealistic to expect that Australia as a nation, espousing pluralist values and belief systems, some of which have deeply entrenched vested interests in selections of what constitutes educational virtue, will adopt the concept of general education with the CDC's 'core curriculum' as its central expression.
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ItemThe Ministerial Review of Postcompulsory Schooling : a case study of a temporary adaptive system( 1986)For complex organisations such as educational systems to be able to adapt effectively to changing circumstances they need to develop a repertoire of adaptive mechanisms. The temporary adaptive system appears to merit inclusion in such a repertoire. This study reports the conduct of one case of a temporary adaptive system: The Ministerial Review of Postcompulsory Schooling conducted in the State of Victoria between 1983 and 1985. The case is an example of the operation of a quite complex temporary adaptive system which incorporated its own temporary subsystems within its overall process. It was established to initiate changes at the system-wide level of a large educational system. The issues at stake were ones perceived to be significant by those within the educational as well as the wider community. Within one year after the publication of its Report most of its recommendations, with some modification, appear to have excellent chances of implementation. The case is shown to demonstrate quite strong adherence to the features of temporary adaptive systems discusssed in the literature, and to the procedures recommended for attaining a successful operation and outcome. These features and recommended procedures - and their interaction - are described and analysed in the study. From the findings of this one case suggestions are made for modifying and extending the theory relating to temporary adaptive systems.
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ItemAims and purposes of education: Australia, India: a comparative study( 1960)This is an essay in comparative education. It may be described as philosophical, but it is not the sort of philosophical essay which would be written by a professional philosopher; it is rather an attempt to show, by comparison of selected elements in the educational practice of Australia and India, some of the distinctive characteristics of the two nations. The aims and purposes of education to a large extent reflect the cultural, social and political philosophies of any country. For this reason it is necessary to give some attention to the forces working behind the educational scene: basic beliefs, the cultural heritage, religious traditions, racial, linguistic and economic factors, and the political background. In this way it is proposed that the aims and purposes of education should be studied in the discussion of the meaning of elementary and secondary. Tertiary, kindergarten, adult and technical education will not be discussed, and some other problems of education � examinations, teachers' training, discipline for example � will be omitted. We shall concentrate mainly on the contents of the primary and secondary curricula and extra-curricular activities, the ideas behind all these, the legal foundations in which these ideas have taken shape and the administrative and organizational problems which have arisen out of them. As the State school curriculum is largely followed by non-State schools also, we shall not deal with these schools separately but occasionally mention factors peculiar to them. Both Australia and India are federations of States and each state in each country has its own educational policy independent of others. But in India there is an All-India educational policy which is formulated through All-India organizations, such as the Central Advisory Board of Education and All-India Council for Secondary Education, and followed in principle by each state. In Australia, however, as there is no such co-ordinating body, the system of education in each State differs in detail. For our purpose we shall mainly depend on the two most progressive States, namely Victoria and New South Wales, although occasional reference will be made to the other States also. (From Introduction)
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ItemTeachers & curriculum: personal mythopoesis and the practical in pedagogy( 1996)This study explores the dynamic between the person of the teacher and work with curriculum. The person is taken to be constituted in narratives. I have, accordingly, utilised a language of myth in order to speak of personhood. Myth is the collective or individual operation of imagination whereby experience is able to be intensely owned. It is this operation of mind that I relate to the ways in which curriculum might be experienced. At issue in this process is the capacity of the person of the teacher to illuminate curriculum material, or to make curriculum a living experience for students. Though my focus is imaginational and mythic, I seek to show - through an intimate study of the inner worlds of six teachers at one school site - that it is at this impalpable level that 'the practical' in pedagogy becomes most significant as a curriculum consideration. By linking the subtle work of imagination to the 'practical intelligence' access is gained to the significance and meaning of personal agency and, in particular, the nature of critique in teacher work with curriculum. This introduces to the familiar theory/practice dichotomy that pervades curriculum thinking, and which tends to disempower the teacher voice, a new and incommensurable perspective. The practical emphasis, by being linked to the personal imaginational work of teachers, breaks out of an encapsulation within the classroom and the profession. Knowledge, represented in microcosm in the curriculum, is shown, via this reconceptualisation of the practical, in its living dimensionality. The imperatives of this living aspect of curriculum experience, identified in source, process, operation, and direction, stand against the different imperatives of instrumental conceptions of curriculum.