Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemAustralian secondary music teachers’ enactments of Kodály-inspired professional learning( 2023-11)Previous research has investigated how music teachers’ practices are often significantly informed by their personal backgrounds, beliefs, and identities, and researchers have called for further inquiry into how professional learning programs can influence and interact with these factors and school contexts to inform practice. The Kodaly approach is a significant phenomenon in music education internationally, though it took root in Hungary almost a century ago. In Australia, Kodaly-inspired professional learning programs such as the Australian Kodaly Certificate continue to be offered regularly around the country. However, little contemporary research documents the characteristics and adaptations of the approach today in the English-speaking world. This research investigates how five Australian secondary music teachers enact Kodaly-inspired professional learning in their diverse settings, employing multiple case study methodology informed by narrative inquiry. Drawing on semi-structured interviews, lesson observations, and document analysis, the study explores how these teachers experience, interpret, and translate the Kodaly approach into their teaching context. The thesis documents, in depth, the characteristic pedagogical and curricular features of the Kodaly approach in Australia and how the approach is espoused by the Australian Kodaly Certificate program of professional learning. The five case study teachers demonstrated subtle variations in their interpretation of the underlying philosophical principles of the approach, dependent on their personal backgrounds and contexts. Their classroom practices reflected consistent use of some of the teaching tools, curriculum, and pedagogical strategies associated with the Kodaly approach following participation in the AKC, but also several extensions, variations, and alterations to the approach in response to personal interests, backgrounds, and context. This thesis builds an understanding of the Kodaly approach today by examining Kodaly-inspired pedagogy in a small sample of contemporary Australian classrooms. It also provides case study examples of music teachers enacting professional learning, highlighting how individuals’ backgrounds, beliefs, identities, and school contexts can inform how they interpret professional learning, subsequently shaping their practice. A refractive model of professional learning that links the work of Bourdieu and Ball is proposed for understanding this process. This research adds to the discourse about classroom music education in Australia by focusing on the reality of teachers’ lives, learning, and practices.
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ItemLeading a successful rural school in Australia( 2024-02)This thesis reports on the leadership characteristics and practices of a principal of one successful government primary school in rural Victoria, Australia. This study formed part of the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP) and added to the ISSPP’s existing knowledge base of understanding what it is that successful principals do in different international contexts. A multiple-perspective, mixed-methods case study methodology was employed. Data were primarily collected through interviews with the principal, other school leaders (n = 3), the school council president, a system leader, teachers (n = 4), students (n = 12), and parents (n = 9). These data were supported by school observations, document analysis, and a teacher survey (n = 11). Analyses of data revealed that the school’s success was attributed to six broad factors: a safe and happy school environment, positive attitudes to learning, a cohesive school community, development of the whole child, a focus on student voice and leadership, and school reputation. From the analyses, themes generated that related to the principal’s leadership practices included strong communication of the school’s values and purpose, maintaining high visibility in the school and in the community, building relationships with parents and the wider community, empowering teachers to focus on teaching, and enacting a considered approach to change. These leadership practice themes were supported by themes related to the principal’s personal characteristics such as being trustful, respectful, approachable, supportive, strategic, calm, committed to students, and dedicated to the school. To secure school success, the principal adjusted his leadership practices in ways that were contextually sensitive and strongly related to the school’s improvement journey. Moreover, analysis revealed that a large contributor to the school’s success was the harmonious person–organisation fit between the principal and the school. When the evidence from this study is considered in conjunction with other ISSPP studies from other jurisdictions, this study contributes to the broader body of literature addressing the relationship between successful school leadership and school context, demonstrating that the person–organisation fit between the principal and a rural school is an important contributor to rural school success.
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ItemThe student experience of online interprofessional education in cancer sciences: a philosophical-empirical inquiry( 2023-11)This philosophical-empirical inquiry interprets the lived experiences of students from different health professions undertaking the wholly online Master of Cancer Sciences Course. Through a novel conceptual framework combining phenomenology, practice theory and moral philosophy as theoretical lenses, this research illuminates recent graduates’ experiences of being online, becoming into their (inter) professional identities and practices, and beholding, or giving attention to, their patients, colleagues, and learning peers, during the Course. This inquiry provides insights into how online interprofessional education (OIPE), as well as offering convenience, flexibility, and scale, can in fact provide deep, authentic, and even ontologically transformative learning experiences. Challenging the conception of technological enframement (Heidegger, 2010) and of presence and trust as being attenuated in an online context (Dreyfus, 2001a), this inquiry shows that synchronous and asynchronous online engagement can offer an effective and therapeutic co-teaching presence (Bluteau, 2020) and authentic peer learning. This inquiry reveals that the Course while claiming only to be multidisciplinary, not interprofessional (Lai-Kwon et al., 2023), demonstrated a student-centred approach, modelling elements of best practice interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP), and care (sorge) for the other, whether student or patient. Similarly, it reveals that wholly online education, as a practice arrangement bundle, with activities consisting of doings, sayings (Schatzki, 2002) and relatings (Kemmis, 2014), can provide a psychologically safe, yet challenging learning environment, that enables different health professions to learn with, from and about each other. This learning goes beyond the epistemological, ways of knowing and doing (Ryle, 1946) to the ontological, ways of being. Furthermore, it overlaps with the participants’ own clinical practice arrangement bundles (Schatzki, 2002), allowing them to apply learning into practice and practice into learning. In the context of cancer care and supportive and palliative care in particular, this inquiry reveals the unselfing (Murdoch, 1970) that genuine attention to the afflicted (Weil, 2009) requires, (in this context cancer patients, including those who are dying). What is more this beholding parallels the way teachers and learners were revealed and attended to each other, enabling them to ‘become who they are’ (Heidegger, 2010), through Online Dasein Mitsein, (being online with others).
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ItemThe development of a model for the management of major strategic investment decisions in universities(University of Melbourne, 2013)Major investments in infrastructure, growth or productivity enhancement are crucial for a university in shaping its strategic direction and addressing the challenges of a changing landscape. Through a case study of Monash University, supplemented with the investigation of views of practitioners in the field, this research thesis has developed a model to optimise the management of major strategic investment decisions in universities. The model starts from the proposition that effective strategic investment decision making has two primary purposes: � Identifying major investments that are worth doing: Determining the infrastructure, activities and other enablers that are required as major investments to shape the future capacity, capability and operation of the university; and � Prioritising the ones that are best to do: Optimising the prioritisation and allocation of constrained resources to maximise the future benefit that can be achieved consistent with this strategic vision. The research reflects the hypothesis that investment decision making at universities under traditional academic leadership models has had a greater emphasis on the first of these objectives. The research suggests that there are opportunities to learn from business case/cost-benefit financial analysis approaches that are more commonly used in business. It proposes a mechanism (need to do/able to do criteria) for prioritising investments, based on which investments provide the most return given the existing or future capacity of the university to delivery them. In developing the model as mechanism for universities to enhance the management of major investments, the research considers and brings together data and analytical based approaches with the human and organisational dimensions of decision making. The major investment management (MIM) model comprises recommendations for university practices in four areas: Strategic Planning and Prioritising: facilitating effective strategic planning as the context for the identifying major investment needs and to provide a mechanism to evaluate and prioritise a portfolio of major investments. Defining Expected Strategic Outcomes: analysing and articulating the specific expected strategic outcomes for major investments by reference to four major drivers: growth and development of markets and products and services; infrastructure development; productivity enhancement; and improving rankings and reputation. Understanding Financial Implications: enabling the management of information and the development of financial analysis for understanding the financial implications of major investments, setting financial expectations and constructing major investment budgets. Adopting a Governance and Management Framework: establishing roles and responsibilities in an organisational structure that are supported by a framework of policies and processes for the governance and management of major investments, and setting up arrangements for accountabilities, project management and review of investment implementation. The study aims to contribute to the understanding of the context and factors at play in strategic investment decision making at Monash University, as an example of a large Australian public university and, by proposing a structured model, to enhance major strategic investment decision making and the management of an investment portfolio in practice. The study seeks both to add to the body of research on university management and strategic decision making and to inform and assist practitioners in the higher education sector.
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ItemThe role computers can play in the English language acquisition and development process : a look at the ESL situation regarding primary school students in Cyprus(University of Melbourne, 2010)It would seem that computers have made their way into endless primary school classrooms throughout the world and therefore are here to stay. In the last decade computers have also been introduced into Cypriot primary schools at a slow but steady pace. What is unclear at the moment is how they will be used in the education of primary school children in a multiethnic setting such as that found in Cypriot primary schools, especially for the advancement of the English language. While there have been many qualitative studies about using computers for improved language acquisition in many parts of the world, this does not hold true for Cyprus. This study is qualitative in nature and takes a look at using computer assisted instruction in the primary ESL classroom in Cyprus. This study looks at what has been said regarding computer assisted teaching in different parts of the world and the benefits associated with this approach. Through video recording, interviewing, questionnaires, pre-tests, post-tests, focus group sessions, the development and implementation of a Miles and Huberman matrix, as well as anecdotal records, my study attempts to answer the questions many have asked: ��Can computer assisted instruction benefit primary school children in the ESL classroom, and if so to what extent?� Apart from finding an appropriate piece of software that could be used for this research project, the specific software was used in three different settings and evaluated accordingly. Pre-test and post-test results have been included. Perhaps the most important part of the thesis is the concluding chapter which not only presents the findings of this study but offers suggestions to different parties. The suggestions outlined in the concluding chapter address the concerns of both students and fellow educators who participated in this research project. It is hoped that this project is embraced by the Ministry of Education in Cyprus, and the suggestions are implemented in the immediate future.
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ItemLiteracy and learning in preschool aged children(University of Melbourne, 2010)
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ItemEvaluation of a parenting intervention aimed at improving preschool children's emotional competence : issues related to the measurement of emotion-focussed parenting skills(University of Melbourne, 2010)Emotional competence is thought to be related to a range of positive outcomes for children including their ability to develop effective social skills and form friendships, achieve well academically and reduce their likelihood of developing externalising or internalising difficulties. The way in which parents respond to their children�s emotions is thought to play a significant role in children�s emotional development. Tuning in to Kids, Emotionally Intelligent Parenting (TIK) is an emotion-focussed parenting intervention designed to teach parents the skills involved in emotion coaching with their children. The purpose of the current study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the TIK intervention and explore issues related to measuring changes in emotion-focussed parenting over time. The participants in this study were 95 preschool children (46 boys and 49 girls) and their parents who were allocated as either intervention or wait-list control. Assessments of parents� emotion coaching skills and children�s emotion knowledge were carried out prior to the intervention group beginning the parenting program and six months after they completed the program. Parents� emotion coaching was measured via a storytelling observation task and the Parent Emotional Styles Questionnaire. Children�s emotion knowledge was assessed using the Affective Knowledge Test. Results showed that parents who received the TIK intervention improved significantly more than the control group on both observed and self-reported emotion coaching 6 months after completing the program. No significant relationship was found between these two measures of emotion coaching suggesting the two measures captured different aspects of the construct, being parents� use of emotion coaching language compared to their beliefs and attitudes towards emotion coaching. Intervention group children�s emotion knowledge did not improve significantly more than the control group and there was no significant relationship between parents� emotion coaching and children�s emotion knowledge, suggesting elements of emotion coaching were not captured by the parent measures used. Future research on the definition and measurement of emotion coaching may extend the current findings regarding evaluation of emotion-focussed parenting programs.
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ItemProject-based teaching and learning to develop oral English language skills of Thai tertiary level students(University of Melbourne, 2010)
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ItemNo Preview AvailableTask-based learning for oral communication : a case study of Thai EFL learners(University of Melbourne, 2009)This thesis reports on a study of teaching less competent Thai university students oral skills in English through Task-Based Learning (TBL). The study was guided by the following research questions: (1) whether TBL contributed to the students' speaking performance, (2) what obstacles hindered the development of speaking skill, (3) what experience the teacher researcher gained from the process of conducting TBL and (4) how TBL could be implicated in English teaching. The task-oriented approach to language teaching, gready influenced by CLT (Communicative Language Teaching), consists of three phases, namely the `Pre-task Phase', intended to prepare students' readiness before performing the task, the During-task Phase' � the time for students to perform the task and the `Post-task phase' � the language scrutiny after performing the task. Student participation in the study was on a voluntary basis. The participants were five non-English-majors, three mathematics majors and two Thai majors, of the Faculty of Education, at a university in Bangkok, Thailand, all of whom had received grade `C' or below for the first two fundamental English for communication courses. They attended totally twelve-week TBL lessons through six-task performance. Those tasks were `Pretending to be someone else', `Speaking from cards', `Speaking from pictures', `Library Tour Task', "Department Store Tour Task' and `Discussion Task'. The teacher researcher taught the lessons by herself. The data sources were 1) transcripts of classroom activities including the teacher researcher's and the students' speech, 2) transcripts of interviews: preliminary interview intended to survey students' problems in learning English, initial interview aimed to obtain the students' background of learning English and their needs in learning the language, post-task interviews asked the students' opinions towards each task after the post-task and the interview of the overall program after all tasks had been done and 3) the teacher's journals, containing field notes that the teacher researcher kept throughout the program. The data were analysed in terms of the cognitive (accuracy, fluency and complexity) and affective domains. Although there was no obvious evidence of participants' cognitive improvement, the affective side demonstrated increased risk-taking, raised self-esteem and lowed anxiety. Some supportive factors in task performance were found to be pre-task activities which provided knowledge and agreement prior to task performance, the safe environment provided through the teacher's feedback and the task conditions, which required both preparation outside class and impromptu speaking. Some obstacles were poor background of linguistic knowledge and inhibition to speak because of attitudinal factors, such as anxiety and shyness. The recommendation were made that in teaching English oral skills teachers should provide meaningful activities for students as well as speaking opportunities, arrange pre-task activities to build up students' readiness before performing tasks and provide opportunities for students to use their knowledge of other areas in practising speaking English.