Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemSocial competence and the core curriculum : a critical/empirical approach to the role of social education in the core curriculum( 1981)Through the reanalysis, reassessment, and reinterpretation of the data from the Essential Learning About Society study (Piper, 1977) from the point of view of current concerns about the core curriculum, this study develops an empirically-derived framework for a core curriculum in social education which takes into account the views of a substantial section of the Australian community. The study argues that social education is a necessary component of a core curriculum designed to meet the needs of both the individual student and the society as a whole; that the concept of social competence provides a valid basis for defining a core curriculum in social education; and that, in the absence of a definitive analysis of Australian society, community perceptions provide a practical alternative to the problems of defining an education for social competence. The developed framework provides a practical resource for incorporating community perceptions into core curriculum decision-making, and as such has potentially useful applications to educational policy and practice and to further research, as well as providing a body of empirical evidence in an area where such evidence is largely lacking.
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ItemVedic education (Gurukula) in a contemporary context : considerations for a Krishna conscious thinking curriculum( 1997)This thesis presents the Vedic system of education (Gurukula) in a contemporary context. By means of a detailed description and analysis of the essential characteristics underlying the rationale of Vedic education, the Gurukula system is defined from within the tradition it has evolved. I examine the social dimension of Vedic education and consider the importance of a supportive culture. The organisation of society according to varna-asramadharma is described within this thesis and the original intent of its conception defined. Education is described in terms of its purposive nature, the goal being to develop consciousness. Krishna consciousness is described as a state of reality which enables the soul to identify as spiritual, and in that capacity discriminate between spirit and matter. Individuality in this analysis is defined as the constitutional position of the soul. The sanctity of the individual is maintained throughout human life by recourse to the proper use of intelligence. The Gurukula endeavours to provide a framework within which its members can develop the capacity to cultivate a level of consciousness suitable for participation in the culture represented by the Vedic world-view. I have argued a case for developing appropriate curriculum, which enhances both the culture and the process. The educational implications of teaching children to discriminate within a religious framework, while at the same time maintain their independence and power of critical thinking is a challenge. An appropriate program for providing children with the power of discrimination is considered an essential element of education in this thesis. The Philosophy for Children program established by Lipman and colleagues provides educators with a process for encouraging better thinking in the classroom. An essential element in this program is the development of "the community of inquiry". Religious education delivered according to the philosophical inquiry model is recommended in this thesis. This research specifically aims to assist the development of primary curriculum.
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ItemVCE course development days, 1991 : an appraisal( 1992)This minor thesis traces the evolution and rationale of the development and implementation of the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) from its inception in 1987 to its first full year of operation in 1992. It outlines the design and operation of the professional development program undertaken to assist the implementation of the certificate. Its focus is an appraisal of the major element of the professional development program - the 1991 course development days. Three perspectives are offered in this account of the effectiveness of the 1991 course development days - a district evaluation, individual presenter's responses and a regional survey. The appraisal concludes with an overview and a set of recommendations for continuing professional development for VCE teachers beyond 1992.
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ItemAn analysis of the recent reform movement in education, with special reference to Victorian secondary schools in the late nineteen sixties( 1977)The school reform movement in the nineteen sixties accompanied unprecedented change in culture and society. Curriculum reform was attempted throughout much of the developed world; in Victoria, the Curriculum Advisory Board was formed, and the Education Department initiated the Curriculum Reform Project for secondary schools. But the reform movement was complex; there were several distinct groups within it (deschoolers, educational technologists, and liberal humanists) whose aims and methods were often contradictory. The major reform philosophy in Victoria was liberal humanist and expressed most notably in the writings of the Director of Secondary Education, R.A. Reed, whose Curriculum Reform Project was not necessarily successful in its own terms, but nevertheless had a significant effect on secondary schooling in Victoria. The reform movement demonstrated how complex is the phenomenon of educational change; it is obviously more complicated than is suggested by the ideas of circular change or pendulum swing, and is perhaps best seen as resulting from the disturbance of equilibrium in a strong field of forces. Attempted liberal reform in Australia has led to the formation in 1973 of the Australian Council for Educational Standards, a group dedicated to the resistance of reform. There is presently a crisis in education, a crisis marked by uncertainty. The crisis should be resolved by encouraging alternatives in education, and by reorganizing educational institutions so that they can become more flexible and adaptable.
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ItemSchools of the Future and curriculum development and implementation : an investigation( 1995)Restructure of the Ministry of Education has ensured that schools are no longer centrally administered but are self-managing within the Schools of the Future program under the Directorate of School Education. As a result, changes have occurred in many areas including administration, financial management, staffing structure and teacher support in areas such as curriculum. This study investigates three schools that are members of the Schools of the Future Pilot Program and seeks to find the effect that the changes from the Program, have had on Curriculum Development and Implementation. The study reviews the literature available on the topic, in particular the notion of self-managing schools in Victoria. Therefore it reviews information on the Schools of the Future Program. It also seeks to understand the effect of changes in curriculum policy and the provision of professional development. The study also seeks to explore the effect of leadership style on the implementation of curriculum within a school. Qualitative research methods were employed when data was collected from the three participating schools. The schools were selected for the following reasons: (i) they are members of the Schools of the Future Pilot Program(or Intake 1); (ii) they are situated in a similar socio-economic area; (iii) the author had ready access to those schools. By applying grounded theory technique to the data a model was developed - The Curriculum Triangle. This model is a suggested representation of what is occurring in the selected schools and could be used further to analyse data from schools, and thus generate the possible areas requiring professional development and curriculum leadership.
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ItemWhat is a quality rubric? : curriculum design, state frameworks and local assessment of secondary science( 2009)In explicating Science the science teacher is likely to say, 'I have reached Chapter 9!' Bureaucracy has its own logic and State curriculum writers have pushed for results that looked rational: results that could codify, sort and explain to their masters. The schools and universities have responded. The rubric has recently entered the teacher lexicon as a quasi professional tool for instructional planning and student assessment in the public domain as a response to central accountability requirements in relation to mandated curricula and standards of student and teacher performance. The rubric is characteristically a grid which defines any piece of instruction, a list of anticipated educational attainments, stated as criteria, against levels or standards of attainment, stated as descriptors. The rubric has become a public statement, a quasi contract written by groups of teachers in a school that identifies what can be expected in terms of teaching behaviours and student learning, in the name of a school or the state. But how would the quality of a rubric be discussed or assessed in relation to science education? The study explores the use of rubrics to support situated cognition and social constructivist science teaching. This thesis does not investigate the question of educational 'quality' per se. It does not set out to prescribe or stipulate ideals. Nor does it recommend how teachers ought to use rubrics to measure or assess such ideals. Rather it is an ethnogenic study of the judgements made about the qualities of the rubrics designed and used by science teachers and a particular group of students in an inner urban secondary school. The students in this study are enrolled in the Select Entry Accelerated Learning program at Hill View Secondary College which seeks to engage them in higher levels of educational involvement and attainment.
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ItemExploring the challenges and possibilities for educators in honouring children's voices in early childhood curricula( 2007)In 2005, the Centre for Equity and Innovation in Early Childhood (CEIEC) at the University of Melbourne received funding to continue an action research project entitled, 'Children's voices and diversity in early childhood curricula'. The mission of this action research project was to support early childhood educators in the City of Melbourne to build their capacity to listen to and engage children in decision-making, enact children's rights and increase their commitment to issues of social justice and equity in early childhood. In this thesis, the challenges and possibilities for educators in honouring children's voices in early childhood curricula are explored within the wider context of the project. More specifically, the two key research areas that are addressed are i) the ways early childhood educators include children's voices in curriculum decision-making and ii) the challenges and possibilities they report in attempting to increase children's participation in decision-making. Within this framework, children's voices are examined in the light of children's rights, policy and research, early childhood curricula and children's participation. Specific issues raised in the literature surround the implications for the educator in positioning children's voices according to their image of the young child as a learner conforming, reforming or transforming nature and culture. A three-month action research approach to inquiry was used to gather the empirical data for the thesis. This approach enabled data collection to be grounded in the experiences of the twelve participants. Thematic analysis of the data has identified several discursive and practical conditions required to enable and support children's participation in decision-making. In particular, the participants reported that children's participation requires agreement on what 'listening to children' means; negotiating and making visible the power relations that operate between adults and children; supportive and trusting relationships between staff, children and their families; skills [intrapersonal and interpersonal], time and funding.
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ItemSchool-based curriculum development : its introduction and implementation in Victorian state high schools 1968-1978( 1979)Curriculum reform in the nineteen-sixties was in part a response to economic and technological change. In examining the antecedents to secondary curriculum reform in Victoria, however, I have discussed educational as well as economic factors. Secondary curriculum reform was closely associated with the Director of Secondary Education, Ron Reed, the Curriculum Advisory Board he established, and the introduction of a policy of school-based curriculum development. The scope of the review, the strategy and the implementation policy adopted by Reed and the C.A.B. were unusual and are examined in detail in this study. The devolution of responsibility to schools for continuing development of the new curriculum was fundamental to Reed's policy. But while its basis was pedagogical, it involved a redistribution of control over education and thus was inherently political. The conflict between secondary teachers and secondary inspectors of which curriculum control was a part was therefore probably unavoidable. It was exacerbated, however, by an incomplete understanding of the limited nature of the policy, and of the curriculum theory on which it rested. By 1973 the reform movement had reached its peak. Many schools abandoned the reforms because they had failed to produce the anticipated results. Some schools persisted in developing the new curriculum, however, and the experiences of one such school, Ferntree Gully High School, are examined in detail here. It is my hypothesis that without the power within the school to revise the curriculum in the light of experience, continued development could not have taken place. It is clear, however, that this was not a sufficient condition, and I have examined the school experience in order to reveal some of the other conditions necessary. The impact of the reform policy, although primarily concerned with curriculum content and organization, was on the practices and organization of the school as a whole. In order to understand this it is necessary to see the relationship between curriculum content and classroom interaction and between curriculum organization and school organization. These relationships, implicit in the work of the C.A.B., are only now beginning to emerge in curriculum theory. ii
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ItemFactors affecting student choice of environmental science and outdoor and environmental studies as senior secondary school subjects within Victoria( 2008)The purpose of this study was to explore whether gender, ethnic, socioeconomic, and aspiration differences could be found among Year 10 students who chose and did not choose the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) subjects Environmental Science (ES) and Outdoor and Environmental Studies (OES) for Year 11. This study also sought to explore whether differences in levels of environmental concern could be detected among those selecting and those not selecting these subjects, and what the major reasons for students' choices were. Descriptive statistical procedures were employed to answer the research questions on the convenience sample that was obtained, which was composed of 126 students from eight different secondary schools (seven government and one Catholic) in 2007. Specifically, quantitative and qualitative methods of data analysis were used. Boys, in comparison with girls, were found to be more likely to enrol in ES and OES. Similarly, students from English speaking backgrounds were found to be more likely to enrol in these subjects than students from non-English speaking backgrounds. Students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds were shown to be more likely to enrol in ES than those from higher socioeconomic backgrounds, and students with aspirations to higher education (as opposed to those without such aspirations) and middle status occupations (as opposed to those aiming for lower and higher status occupations) were more likely to enrol in OES. It was also found that, within the sample, students had similar levels of environmental concern regardless of what subjects they had chosen, suggesting that students' choice of ES and OES was influenced by other factors. Finally, the major reasons students believed they chose or did not choose ES and OES were explored using qualitative techniques. It was found that the major reasons for choosing ES were: the perception that the subject would be interesting/enjoyable, a desire to learn about the environment, a desire to care for the environment, a love of animals and the perceived career value of the subject (consecutively). Conversely, the major reasons for not choosing ES were (in order): the perception that ES would be uninteresting/boring, the perceived lack of career value of the subject, a preference for other subjects, a dislike of science, and a lack of care for the environment. The major reasons that sampled students claimed to choose OES were, in descending order: love of the outdoors and physical activity, the perception that OES would be interesting/enjoyable, the perception that OES would be different to traditional VCE subjects, a desire to learn about the environment, and a desire to care for the environment. On the other hand, the biggest reasons for not choosing this subject were: the perceived lack of career value of the subject, a preference for other subjects, the perception that OES would be uninteresting/boring, a professed ignorance about OES, and a dislike of science (consecutively). This study addressed a gap in knowledge regarding the factors that affect students' choice of environmental subjects when these courses are made available, contributing to the already significant body of literature on both the student voice in EE, and subject selection. A model of participation was built up for each subject based on the results of this analysis, that could serve as a practical guide for educators of ES and OES in terms of improving the marketing of their subjects, and that could potentially help turn around the worryingly low enrolments in both these courses at VCE. Recommendations for the direction of further research into EE were also made.
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ItemFactors influencing the development of curriculum initiatives in Victorian secondary schools( 1989)This thesis is based on a study of teachers at Preston East Technical School. The purpose of the interviews was to illicit information about teachers' perceptions of themselves as compared with their given role in the state system. This is then analyzed against what is offered as the ideal role of a teacher. It is suggested that if it is the teacher's role to improve educational opportunity, then teachers should be concerned with the outcome of exiting students. This would involve detailed monitoring of programmes, possible delivery of additional programmes and industrial campaigns not only for necessary educational resources but also for job creation for youth. This thesis demonstrates that teachers are too involved in the psychic reward of their job and this, combined with the undermining of their conditions, is preventing further curriculum development. Processes, such as the participatory model used by the Ministry of Education which involve teachers in anything other than viewing student outcome, are time-consuming and divert attention from the issue of equity. What is recommended as an ideal learning situation is the formation of a partnership between student and teacher, where both work as if part of a research team, who will call upon the wider community for clarification of values and information.