Faculty of Education - Theses
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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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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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ItemLiteracy, thinking and engagement in a middle years classroom community of philosophical inquiry: a reflection on practice( 2006)I present the introduction and concluding chapter in the first person in an ontological acknowledgement of self as one who practised my profession and reformed my practice, and who has reflected on my practice as a teacher, as a researcher, and as teacher-researcher. I wrote the other chapters in the formal language of the third person to assist me in developing some degree of objectivity about my practice; it served as a constant reminder to me that I was writing about something that could be considered, to some degree, as other than myself. I was investigating a teacher's practice, my past practice, and as such I strove for a non-egocentric assessment, yet acknowledge that it was my practice at a unique time in my career, a period through which my practice has now grown. This reflection on- practice was not easy, either intellectually or emotionally, and I needed to constantly remind myself that I could be simultaneously a merciless critic, and an empathic one. I moved from the role of teacher to researcher and into teacher-researcher as the moment required and used the third person to present my experience from these perspectives as seemed most appropriate and for presenting the narrative elements of the lived moment. I concluded by uniting those three perspectives into the one, whole self and so wrote the conclusion in the first person.
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ItemThe public examination of English in Victoria : a study of one external influence on the secondary school English curriculum( 1980)The secondary school English curriculum was determined by groups outside schools during the period 1944-1974. External domination of teaching content and methodology was ensured by a system of Public and Matriculation Examinations which empowered agents of the universities to prescribe courses and to assess students' performance in those courses. The University of Melbourne exercised these functions through its Professorial Board and the Schools Board before relinquishing its powers to the Victorian Universities and Schools Examination Board in 1965. Statute and tradition allowed these bodies to establish themselves as a centre apart from schools, and to legitimise their authority through the institutionalised processes of prescription, examination and review of performance. The effect of these processes was to subordinate schools, teachers and pupils. There was immense inertia in the Victorian system of external prescription and examination. Courses and examination papers remained essentially unmodified for long periods. Significant development in the conception and content of English courses occurred, effectively, only at Year 12 in response to social and educational pressures which had previously led to the withdrawal of Public Intermediate and Leaving Examinations. Broadening the goals of H.S.C. English did not, however, signal diminished control over curriculum from the centre. The fact of competitive examinations at the end of secondary schooling continued to shape content and methodology in the earlier years. Competitive examinations engendered in schools, teachers and pupils a narrow conformity, the results of which can most clearly be seen in the failure of the Class A system to produce school-based curriculum initiatives of any substance. The effect of external prescription and examination of English courses was profound. Relationships between teachers and pupils were strongly mediated by the system, reducing the autonomy of both by subjugating their intentions to the instrumental demands of evaluation. So much of a student's 'life chance' depended upon examination success that teachers and taught were continually constrained to focus their attention on the tasks expected in examinations. Fragmentation, in line with the different sections of examination papers, rather than integration became, therefore, the organising principle for teaching aimed at developing those techniques believed to be essential for success in the examination game. External examinations dictated that the English classroom was a place where pupils met to prepare for their encounters with examinations rather than to explore the nature and richness of experience through literature and their own use of language for real ends. The system of Public and Matriculation Examinations established in 1944 was a potent influence on the secondary school English curriculum. The system rested upon a powerful, conservative centre whose legitimacy was so thoroughly entrenched that it was able to admit reform only on its own terms. Thus, it was possible after twenty-five years of relative stasis to negotiate evolution in the details of the school English curriculum without alteration to the essential power relationships. After thirty years, English teachers were still without autonomy. Year 12 English courses continued to exert the pressures and to exact the dependence which had constrained mother tongue studies throughout secondary schools since 1944.
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ItemExploring the relationships between student experiences in robotics and their cognitive style( 2007)With the increasing availability of technology in schools, more students are gaining experience in the use of robotics in the classroom. This study examines student experiences in an educational robotics program and also assesses their cognitive style using the Cognitive Styles Analysis developed by Richard Riding (1998). The data is then analysed to determine what types of relationships may exist between a student's cognitive style and their experiences in the robotics unit. The participants in the study were a class of Year 9 students at an Independent Girls' school in Melbourne, with the class being taught by the researcher. It was found that there may be some relationship between some student experiences in robotics and cognitive style, although further research with larger numbers of research participants would be necessary to explore these relationships further. The determination of the type of relationships that exists would be of interest to educators who are involved in the delivery of educational robotics units.