Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemThe effectiveness of curriculum co-ordinator networks for Catholic secondary schools in Victoria( 1990)This study into the effectiveness of curriculum co-ordinator networks for Catholic secondary schools in Victoria focused on the evaluation of a pilot project in 1989. Specifically, the researcher sought to determine whether the availability of pilot convenors would enhance curriculum co-ordinators' perceptions of professional development, curriculum information and peer support via the networks. Simultaneously, the study described the pilot convenor role, thereby identifying the characteristics ascribed to effective network convenors and attempting to isolate factors which influence network effectiveness. Under the umbrella of illuminative evaluation, a range of research instruments were used, including interviews and questionnaires. Most curriculum co-ordinators who participated in this study believed they had informally rather than formally skilled themselves for their role, despite being multiply credentialled. Prior to the study they had a limited understanding of how the network could improve their professional skills -- this consciousness was only marginally heightened during the project. Similarly evidence of peer support from within the network was scant prior to the pilot project and increased minimally during the study. Attitudes to the accessibility of curriculum information were very high prior to the project and increased slightly during the study. Curriculum co-ordinators placed a high value on information access via the network and the curriculum knowledge of convenors. There is evidence from this study that convenor commitment and accessibility affect network success : further, that professional knowledge, managerial competence and responsive, non-directive interpersonal convenor skills positively influence network effectiveness. Environmental factors such as network size, the mix of schools and the professional experience of participants also impact on network effectiveness. Conceptual flaws in the networking model being trialled were revealed during this study: namely, the use of school-based personnel as pilot convenors did not inherently add to their credibility with curriculum co-ordinators but likely detracted from their effectiveness. Further, the availability of a pilot convenor as 'critical friend' appeared to undermine peer support rather than enhance it. iii
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ItemIntegrating community expectations into the school curriculum, Kew Primary School( 1988)This study attempted to assess the expectations of the Kew Primary School community with respect to the school's curriculum. It further attempted to establish the decision making processes and organizational patterns whereby such expectations could be integrated into the curriculum of the school. The theoretical framework for the study involved the adoption and modification of Yehezkel Dror's 'Optimal Policymaking Model', with specific reference to the Metapolicy and Policymaking Stages of that Model. The researcher was responsible for the first. three phases of the Metapolicy Stage, which involved an assessment of both the community's expectations and the current curriculum practices of the school; with the presentation of 'findings' where there were inconsistencies between the two. At this point, a total of seven such 'findings' were presented. The remaining phases of the Metapolicy Stage and the Policymaking Stage were carried out by the school's Education Committee. The researcher became a member of that Committee in the capacity of a 'critical friend'. Policymaking related to the 'findings' was reviewed at the end of the Policymaking Stage and this review forms a significant part of the results and conclusions of the study, for after the two years taken with the study, policy changes had occurred with respect to only one of the seven findings to a point where it could be argued to adequately reflect the community's expectations. A number of issues are raised as to why the school failed to react to stated expectations of the community as found. These included an apparent lack of commitment of both staff and parents to their implementation, the leadership role performed by the Principal, the conflicting roles played by the researcher within the study and the applicability of the Optimal Model to such a study. Despite some doubts as to the applicability of the Optimal Model to such a study, it is concluded that it is essential to concentrate primarily upon the processes of policymaking with specific use of,a metapolicy stage as a means of establishing such a process. Further, it is suggested there is a real need for changing perceptions from both parents and teachers as to their roles and responsibilities within curriculum development; and that the current implementation of locally selected Principals is seen as a significant incentive for changes in such attitudes.
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ItemThe reorganisation of learning in the middle school : teacher positioning, affiliations and departmental influences( 1997)Recent emphasis on whole school planning and professional development models seems to ignore the embedded and embodied social reality of departmental subcultures in secondary schools. This research suggests however that while departments may be potent primary sites for decision making where much professional knowledge can be assumed and is codified in tradition, interdisciplinary initiatives may be more effective in changing a school's footing. Where a more fundamental repositioning of the school is intended the social and organisational "apparatus" must be imminent, reproduced moment by moment in the conversational action of the teachers and carried through time, not as abstract schemata, but as current understandings of past and present conversations that transcend action. This thesis is a study of eminent change in the organisation of the school in the form of an integrated curriculum unit (I.C.U.) introduced in Year 7 in an independent Years K-12 College. It is concerned with the imbeddedness of school culture in the restricted discursive practices of teachers in their subject departments and focuses on the process and possibilities for fundamental change in the middle school curriculum. The study is framed by the organisational tensions felt by three of the author's colleagues who with the author were key members of the I.C.U. team. These were the tensions between their subject department roles and the humanistic positions the teachers were espousing in conversations with the author as they discussed a joint reconstruction of new middle school curriculum. It is a study of an attempt at a number of management levels to transform the educational emphasis, institutional practices and societal rhetorics in secondary education. The three teacher colleagues were surveyed and interviewed about the influence of departmental subcultures on the organisation and restructuring of learning in the middle school. Background contextual data on teacher's departmental affiliations is included along with the student's perceptions of the humanistic goals of the I.C.U. program. A variety of methodologies were employed to provide a more comprehensive picture of this curriculum enterprise in a secondary school within a dominant departmental structure. The study does not provide solutions for others to adopt, rather the narratives describe the problems faced by teachers in acting in ways beyond those ascribed to them in their institutional roles in subject departments.
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ItemThe role of curriculum coordinators in state secondary schools : implementing the Moneghetti Report : democratic process and curriculum deliberation : an interactive ethnography( 1999)In Victorian Government state Secondary Schools, the position description of Curriculum Coordinator, in conjunction with the Principal, generally includes the responsibility of leading and managing the implementation of whole school change. Shared decision making is much more an established expectation amongst staff in state secondary schools than it is in independent schools where executive authority is clearly the prerogative of the Principal, and the management structure has traditionally been hierarchical. In a climate of teacher disenchantment with restructuring, competitive marketing and centrally directed change, it is important that the Curriculum Coordinator is skilled in securing agreement on key curriculum decisions. Ling (1998) and Vivian (1997) have shown that the successful management of curriculum change depends to a large degree on the deliberative as well as strategic skills of the Curriculum Coordinator in enlisting the support and cooperation of teachers. They found that this depends to a large degree on the personal propensities and moral capacities that the Curriculum Coordinator brings to the role which is defined to a considerable extent by their relationship with the Principal. Weiss (1998), however, identifies teachers as inhibitors of change if the change adversely affects them or if it is perceived to be contrary to the prevailing interests of the students or to the ethos of the school. Schwab (1983) has presented an argument for the centrality of the deliberative role of Curriculum Coordinator (or Chairmen as Schwab calls them). This study, written by an experienced Curriculum Coordinator, explores the knowledge, skills and propensities employed by three practising Curriculum Coordinators in Victorian State Secondary Schools in Melbourne when leading the deliberations of their curriculum committees to consider the implementation of a State-mandated change. This research in the form of historical ethnographies presents each Curriculum Coordinator's understanding of the role through their retelling and evaluation of the strategies that they used in dealing with the implementation of a compulsory Sport program. As a reference point for evaluating these strategies, I have discussed the participant's stated position model of the relevant skills and propensities, my own understanding of the role as a practising Curriculum Coordinator and compared them with Schwab's paradigm. The assumption was that through reflection and narrative construction these experienced teachers would be able to identify critical issues and explore areas of their middle management position. It was felt at the outset by the author and participants that sharing of reflection would benefit both the mentor and others in curriculum management positions in State schools (Weiss 1995). Potentially the collaborative reconstruction of their experiences as interactive ethnographies constitutes professional development for both the subject and for those with whom they are willing to share their experiences. In the planning, interpretation and evaluation of the change processes that they used, the subjects of these interactive ethnographies were mindful of the obligations of the role and how their management of the task would reflect on their credibility and moral capacity. On the one hand, they and the Principal were obliged as part of their appointed duties to implement Department of Education policy. On the other, there was a zone of moral freedom in which they felt they could impact positively or negatively on the educational culture of the school and on the professional lives of their colleagues. These studies suggest that the Curriculum Coordinator's position is more complex than Schwab suggests in his account of the deliberative arts and functions of the Chairman. The Curriculum Coordinator's role is shown to be far more complex than simply leading the deliberations of the curriculum group. The interactive ethnographies illustrate the critical role that the Curriculum Coordinator plays in mediating, maintaining and promoting the basic principles upon which the school's curriculum is predicated. Meaningful curriculum reform necessitates the redefining the local working rules, tasks and obligations of the teaching staff and students. The Curriculum Coordinator's ability to retain a moral capacity in the face of mandated change is seen to strongly influence the degree to which the organisational capacity for reform is maintained in their schools. Each Curriculum Coordinator felt ultimately responsible for insuring that the needs of the students, and the values and vision of the school as a learning community were not lost in the continuous process of externally mandated change and accountability which has characterised State education in the late 1990's.
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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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ItemProfessional development as work-based, collective learning : a study of curriculum implementation and change( 1997)Change is now synonymous with education. Curriculum and school organisational reform currently infiltrate every aspect of school life, with teachers in many instances expected to take on myriad initiatives and school improvement proposals. This study, of curriculum change and implementation, was designed to gain insight into effective change processes and the learning opportunities provided to support teachers as significant curriculum reforms were introduced. The Early Literacy Research Project (ELRP) was used as vehicle for this study. Schools participating in the ELRP were to implement a comprehensive approach to literacy teaching and learning for students in the early years of schooling with the design of the project providing significant support for teaching teams as changes were introduced. A selective and focussed review of literature relating to the process of change in schools has been completed. This is discussed in relation to Matthew Mile's Triple I Model which outlines stages and factors in the change process. Particular emphasis has been given to literature which links teacher learning to the process of change, focussing on teacher collaboration and collective, work-embedded learning. The aim of the study was to monitor the process of change in ELRP schools and to identify the factors which supported teachers as they endeavoured to make significant and sustainable changes to their teaching programs. The study was seen as an opportunity to consider the relevance of the Triple I Model as a means of interpreting change in schools. A case study approach to the research task, using observations, interviews, document analysis and questionnaires, facilitated the monitoring of the process of curriculum implementation in ELRP schools. Throughout the study the intention was to record the 'teacher voice' during the change process to ensure the validity and authenticity of insights gained throughout this dissertation. The results indicated that change is far from a linear process. Stages and factors within the change process were seen to overlap and occur simultaneously as changes were implemented. The study highlighted the importance of specific change factors and in particular those which related to teacher learning and collaboration. It emphasised the key role personnel responsible for change can play when this role is well resourced and linked to the provision of work-based professional development. The study also promoted discussion in relation to placement of a number of factors within the change model. This led to the development of an adaptation of the Triple I Model. It is suggested that this revised model provides a conceptual frame which may be used to assist schools in planning, monitoring and explaining authentic school reform projects. iv
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ItemCurriculum policy in the crucible of change: implementing curriculum policy (the Curriculum & Standards Framework) in state schools in Victoria in a time of rapid change, 1995 to 1999( 2001)"When I became Minister for Education, there was no common curriculum for Victorian schools for students in years Prep through 10. In effect, schools taught what they liked." This was Minister Don Hayward's view of what he found when he became Minister for Education in Victoria in 1992. His response was a sweeping reform of Victorian education which included the Curriculum and Standards Framework. This thesis examines the question, "What factors affect the ways in which the Curriculum and Standards Framework (CSF) has been implemented in Victorian state schools since 1995?" It presents findings which indicate that teachers in schools did not wholeheartedly embrace the CSF as a curriculum policy. The perceptions, attitudes and actions of teachers have significant effects upon the Victorian Government's desire to reform education in line with national and international trends towards outcomes-based curricula and as part of a move to centralised control of curriculum which paralleled a movement to the devolution of control of resources within the Schools of the Future initiative. The attitudes, perceptions and actions of the teachers in the schools in the study are seen to have lessened the effectiveness of the implementation of the CSF in those schools. Drawing upon the work of a number of authorities on the implementation of public policy, the study reveals the success of the implementation of the CSF to be mixed. The study further reveals lessons which, if learned from the implementation of the CSF in its first form, will be useful in the implementation of CSFII from 2001 and in the implementation of other curriculum policies in the future.
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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.
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ItemEffective integration of learning technologies in the middle years of schooling: a case study at an independent K-12 coeducational college( 2002)This research explored the pedagogical and administrative practices that promote or hinder the implementation of learning technologies in years -5-9 of a Victorian Independent Coeducational College by using a single case study methodology involving interviews with nine key staff and review of relevant documents. It was found that the level of integration of learning technologies varied considerably at this college. Pedagogical issues emerged as the major area of concern. The college introduced strategies to help facilitate the pedagogical change required including introducing curriculum initiatives, increasing professional development and changing its organisational structure. The research found that the school administration supported the integration of learning , technologies but the organisational structures and processes in the Middle School itself hindered and diminished the implementation of some of these initiatives. It was also found that staff access to technology was a significant factor in limiting the integration of learning technologies across the curriculum. The middle management of the school tended to perceive less hindrance than did the college executive and the teachers.
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ItemImplementing the CSF-English in a whole language classroom( 1998)A new curriculum structure called the Curriculum and Standards Framework (CSF) was introduced to Victorian primary and secondary schools in 1995. The CSF-English comprises four strands, two of which (Contextual understanding and Linguistic structures and features), represent what could be seen as new information to Whole Language trained teachers. This thesis addresses the CSF-English in two ways. First, it deconstructs the CSF-English. Second, it will attempt to trace its implementation in a case study. In order to lay the basis for a historically located, theoretically informed deconstruction of the CSF-English, the researcher conducted a close reading of the document, informed by a reading of the literature on the history of English curriculum. The conclusion is that the CSF-English, while being theoretically inclusive, is unsynthesised, eclectic and confusing. This thesis examines how two grade 5/6 self described Whole Language primary school teachers went about implementing the CSF-English, a document to which they had limited theoretical access. This thesis focuses on the types of texts and the types of knowledge about texts which were presented in the classroom. Using ethnographic methodology both qualitative and quantitative data were collected to create a rich and detailed portrait of all occurrences of the teaching of reading and writing. The data showed that a narrow and unbalanced range of text types was presented. While fictional and personal texts occurred with high frequency, factual texts occurred very infrequently. The data also showed that literal and personalised knowledge about texts was frequently taught, whereas the overall structures of texts and the situational and socio-cultural context was rarely taught. The central conclusions reached were first that the teachers implemented only those aspects of CSF-English which concurred with their Whole Language philosophy. The Whole Language model of English did not provide a means for these teachers to implement the CSF-English as a whole. Second, those aspects of the CSF-English which drew most heavily on Critical Social Literacy were taught infrequently. Third, it was concluded that the students of these Whole Language teachers were not being fully prepared for the demands of secondary school literacy. In particular, they were not being familiarised with the types of texts that matter in the secondary school, nor were they being inducted into critical and analytical thinking about texts.