Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemRemediating the elementary mathematics of prospective primary school teachers( 1980)Three areas are reviewed: the knowledge of prospective primary teachers of basic mathematics, remediation programs in mathematics and the use of calculators as a learning aid in mathematics. A remediation program is described involving a diagnostic pre-test and consequent assignment to one of three treatments: self-study, group tutorials or individual tutorials. The purpose of the 10 week program is to help prospective primary teachers meet a competency requirement in mathematics which is mandatory for progress beyond the third semester of a six-semester course of primary teacher training at a Victorian university. The program covers understanding and knowledge of place value, whole number decimals and fraction operations, percentages, averages and measurement including metrics. The group tutorials were given one of two treatments: the use of calculators during the remedial program, or the same program without calculators. Seven hypotheses related to the effects of the program are described. Post-testing after the 10 weeks of the program showed very large gains by each of the three groups. However the calculator group showed no difference from the non-calculator group, a finding consistent with the literature. Discussion of the results and pointers for future study conclude the study, with one recommendation being that mathematics specialists be appointed to primary schools.
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ItemTeachers' roles : catering for the marginal child in Thailand's border schools( 2005)This thesis investigates the roles of primary school teachers who work in remote areas along the Thai-Burmese border in Ratchaburi Province, Thailand. It also develops a framework to re-conceptualize teacher education so that it will be more concerned with the needs of poor, marginal children who are linguistically and culturally diverse, and with the needs of illiterate villagers, and remote communities. A qualitative study was conducted in the three remote primary school settings with high percentages of bilingual students in the Province. The teachers, the headmasters, the school supervisors, the school board members and the provincial primary education administrator were involved in the study. Data was collected by means of personal diaries, individual interviews, focus group interviews, open-ended responses to a questionnaire, school documentation, a personal letter, and the Rajabhat Universities' teacher education curricula. Data was analyzed using the Princess Sirindhorn's Children Development Projects to indicate the current and expected roles of teachers, and then the data was triangulated and synthesized to determine the diverse roles of teachers including: providing effective education, leading students to a better life, empowering parents, developing schools, and developing communities. These diverse roles may positively affect individual, family, and community or environmental circumstances where children are "at-risk". And these can assist children to become valued citizens for their communities and country. Taking these diverse roles as a platform, diverse knowledge, skills, and values are established, and a diverse teacher education framework is identified to better prepare pre-service teachers to work successfully in the remote schools located close to the Thai-Burmese border. Moreover, certain recommendations for policies on teacher education curricula, primary education, staff development, and assessment in Thailand, for Rajabhat Universities, are proposed as well.
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ItemNegotiating and enabling change in a primary school: identifying strategies that assist classroom teachers with the teaching and learning of science( 2006)The purpose of this research was to investigate strategies that assist classroom teachers with the teaching and learning of science. The researcher, a classroom teacher and science coordinator at Karingal Heights Primary School (KHPS), decided to conduct the study because of the researcher's desire to improve current practices at KHPS. The researcher's belief that, examining current practices, investigating alternatives and documenting what works for individual teachers are essential elements for successful teaching and learning. The methodology of action research was the most appropriate tool because it allowed for collaboration and reflection. The research period was ten months and involved classroom teachers at KHPS in a process of inquiry and. reflection. Classroom teachers became active participants in identifying strategies that assisted.them with the teaching and learning of science. Finding links to science across the curriculum led to a wider vision of what constituted science and resulted in more science happening at KHPS. Action Research became a strategy that promoted science teaching and learning because it provided classroom teachers with a focused process of investigation and reflection. What emerged was a broader view of science, linked more to the lives and interests of the school community and the conclusion that, although a variety of strategies assist classroom teachers with the teaching and learning of science, collaborative work practices emerged as the most valuable strategy for the classroom teachers at KHPS.
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ItemApproaches to learning mathematics in pre-service primary teachers( 1991)This study, about approaches to learning mathematics in pre-service primary teachers, sought to determine their quality of learning and to what extent their performance in mathematics could be shown to correspond with perspectives of mathematical knowledge. From the main sample of 92 First Years, data was collected on attitudes to mathematics, performance in other areas and mathematical workings. Error analysis and a system of indicators was used to determine quality of learning, using Saljo's scale (1984) and to relate the workings and attitudes to two schemes of perspectives on knowledge. These were Perry's Scheme (1968) and that of Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger and Tarule (1986). The workings, approaches to learning and perspectives of two students who were interviewed, were used to relate the main sample findings to the schemes. The mathematical workings and explanations of these two students, who had failed the First Year mathematics unit, were related to Perry's 'dualist' and 'multiplist' perspectives and Belenky et al.'s 'Received Knowledge'. Many of those who failed the unit and some who had passed, appeared to have similarly low level perspectives on mathematical knowledge. Many responses of the passing students appeared to be associated with higher level learning and perspectives.
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ItemPolicies in primary teacher training in Victoria 1850-1950( 1978)During the nineteenth century, Victoria adopted the British method of educating and training primary teachers for schools of the state. This apprenticeship based system lasted under a variety of guises (pupil teacher system, junior teacher system and student teacher system) until 1951, when it was replaced by a course of previous training at several state teachers' colleges. Most aspects of the system adopted from Britain were introduced in 1852, but they soon underwent a number of changes which made them more suitable for local needs. The supply aspect of the system dominated training because of re-occurring state financial crises. This was despite the vigorous criticisms of many professionals who emerged during and after several teachers' associations were formed between 1873 and 1886. Their criticisms gradually became much less superficial and much more directed at the system's underlying theoretical base. A significant element in the original pupil teacher system was the training institution (normal school) where the young apprentices received more advanced general and professional preparation. The training institutions in Victoria also offered previous training courses for students with some secondary education but with no experience as pupil teachers. Up to 1870, the institutions were affected by shortages of funds and serious denominational disputes, but then, a state funded secular training establishment developed and became the forerunner of the residential teachers' college erected near the University of Melbourne in 1888. These institutions contributed to the growth of a sense of professionalism amongst the colony's primary teachers. After 1900, successive ministers, faced with the opportunity of abolishing the apprenticeship based system, chose short term reforms rather than a system of previous training. However, after a long series of educational misjudgements and frustrations, due mainly to government economies, the moribund apprenticeship system of preparing primary teachers was concluded in 1951, and previous training introduced. Amongst the reasons for the abolition of the student teacher system were the strong political activities of such groups as the Education Reform Association, and the absence after 1948 of the cheap supply advantages the student teacher system and its predecessors had offered. For one hundred years the education authorities had maintained rigid control over the supply and training of its primary teachers. Hence, whenever one of the frequent supply or financial problems occurred, it was usually overcome by a government decision to increase the proportion of apprentices or by other temporary measures which paid little heed to any damage to the quality of the Service.