Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemEquity of access to higher education in Australia : discussion and analysis of issues( 1991)This thesis is concerned with examining policies that have been advocated by successive governments in Australia from 1974-1990 in relation to promoting equity of access to higher education. The thesis outlines the theoretical aspects of equity and reviews the relevant research conducted in Australia and overseas. There have been several attempts to promote equity of access to higher education in Australia: fees were abolished in 1974, TEAS was introduced to replace existing scholarships, AUSTUDY replaced TEAS in 1987, retention rate to year 12 increased from 30% to over 60% in 1990, certain groups were targeted as disadvantaged groups and were afforded special entry, and finally the "White Paper" saw the introduction of the HECS or Graduate Tax in 1988. Research in Australia carried out during the late 1970s and early 1980s suggested that there was a considerable under-representation in higher education of children from the lower SES groups. This pattern appears to have continued despite efforts to promote equity. The analysis carried out in this thesis suggests that there are still many concerns related to equity. It is likely that the HECS will have the effect of increasing the price of higher education and will therefore act as a deterrent to students from less affluent backgrounds, and it may significantly effect part-time and external study. Whilst there appears to be considerable funding for AUSTUDY it may well be not sufficient to encourage students to enter higher education. Of the students entering higher education recent research has suggested that the social mix has remained unaltered. What is certainly not known is the social mix of graduates. If policy has been effective one would expect the social mix to be more balanced. Research needs to be conducted to monitor the impact of HECS to see whether higher education is becoming less available or more equitably available.
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ItemSocial area indicators and educational achievement( 1982)This study was concerned with the development and validation of a national indicator of educational disadvantage which would be suitable for guiding resource allocation decisions associated with the Disadvantaged Schools Program in Australia. The national indicator was constructed by using a series of stepwise regression analyses in order to obtain a linear combination of census based descriptions of school neighbourhoods which would be highly correlated with school mean achievement scores. A correlational investigation of the properties of this indicator showed that it was an appropriate tool for the identification of schools in which there were high proportions of students who (1) had not mastered the basic skills of Literacy and Numeracy, (2) displayed behavioural characteristics which formed barriers to effective learning, and (3) lived in neighbourhoods having social profiles which were typical of communities suffering from deprivation and poverty. A theoretical model was developed in order to estimate the optimal level of precision with which indicators of educational disadvantage could be used to deliver resources to those students who were in most need of assistance. This model was used to demonstrate that resource allocation programs which employ schools as the units of identification and funding must take into account the nature of the variation of student characteristics between and within schools. The technique of factor analysis was employed to investigate the dimensions of residential differentiation associated with the neighbourhoods surrounding Australian schools. Three dimensions emerged from these analyses which were congruent with the postulates of the Shevky- Bell Social Area Analysis model. The interrelationships between these dimensions and school scores on the national indicator of educational disadvantage presented a picture of the 'social landscape' surrounding educationally disadvantaged schools in Australia as one in which there were: high concentrations of persons in the economically and socially vulnerable position of having low levels of educational attainment and low levels of occupational skill, low concentrations of persons living according to the popular model of Australian family life characterized by single family households, stable families, and separate dwellings, high concentrations of persons likely to have language communication problems because they were born in non-English speaking countries.
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ItemStanding strong or standing weak? Equal opportunity, violence against women and the school curriculum : a case study( 1994)Despite violence against women becoming a very public issue in recent years, remarkably little material on this subject has so far found its way into the school curriculum. This thesis examines a set of curriculum materials called Standing Strong, which specifically aims to help students make sense of violent and sexually abusive relationships. The thesis outlines and evaluates the materials in light of their ability to achieve one of the major objectives of recent equal opportunity policy, namely, to help achieve "equality between the sexes, and...improv(e) the conditions of life for girls and women...taking account of their cultural, language, and socio-economic diversity...". (Commonwealth Schools Commission, 1987: Recommendation 2, p. 25). The evaluation takes two main forms, one theoretical, the other empirical. The theoretical evaluation draws upon recent post structuralist and constructionist feminist writings. The empirical evaluation is undertaken by drawing upon the research findings derived from in-depth interviews with 24 young women who had used the Standing Strong materials during their secondary school education. The thesis argues that Standing Strong is flawed theoretically, and that this is likely to hamper its usefulness in practice. The research data confirm this pessimistic conclusion. The thesis concludes by reflecting on whether a focus on education might be more of a hindrance than a help to the development of a meaningful and effective solutions to violence against women.
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ItemEarly childhood teachers' accounts of gender equity in their work with young children( 2008)For my thesis, I have studied a small group of Victorian early childhood teachers' accounts of gender equity in their work with young children. Through reviewing the research literature generated on my topic, I have found that there are three potential discourses used by teachers to approach their gender equity work with young children. The three dominant discourses I found through the review of the literature that teachers position their approach to gender equity are socialisation, biological and feminist poststructuralist discourses of children's gender construction. My study used a feminist poststructuralist qualitative approach to data analysis. I generated text-based data through open-ended surveys and interviews with 16 Victorian early childhood teachers to gain text based data. Some of the data I generated was analysed using content analysis to identify the patterns and themes within the data and to numerically identify which category the participants situated themselves within. Feminist poststructuralist discourse analysis was used to examine and identify a range of gender discourses that teachers position their approach to gender equity within the early childhood classroom. The findings from my research showed many consistencies in how early childhood educators talk about how they understand their gender equity work with young children. The differences seen in their gender equity work with young children were the discourses they positioned their approach to gender equity within to produce their understandings of gender roles and behaviours. My analysis of the data I collected showed how the teachers in my study could change their subjective positioning within the discourses in which their approach to gender equity was located, in order to feel powerful and change the perceptions that children hold in relation to gender roles and behaviours. Through examining the data I collected, I found that there has been very little shift in the dominant discourses of children's gender construction used by teachers in studies about gender equity since the 1980s and 1990s. I also found that many early childhood teachers still heavily rely upon socialisation discourses of children's gender construction in their gender equity work with young children. In analysing the data I found early childhood teachers still reinforce gender stereotyping in some Victorian early childhood settings. My research study has provided valuable insight into the accounts of early childhood teachers on how they approach their gender equity work with young children. My research study complements the research conducted by Lee-Thomas, Sumsion and Roberts (2005). I concluded my thesis with recommendations and suggestions for further research with the purpose to develop future professional training and curriculum policy to change teachers' approaches to gender bias in the early childhood setting.
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ItemEquity funding: how is it used?( 2006)Using a case study approach this research investigates some of the different aspects of disadvantage within the school system. It looks at the ways in which equity funding is used in a variety of schools. The purpose of this research was to ascertain the stages, or processes, that schools go through before the equity dollar is spent. It investigates the decision making process, and the kinds of information or projections taken into account. It also looks at the issue of what it is that schools define as issues of equity, and the programs that they put in place to deal with those issues. This thesis focuses on the equity component of the Victorian Education Department's Student Resource Package. Beginning with an explanation of the current funding model used in Victoria, it goes on to explore the implications of this funding model on students in six metropolitan government schools. These schools differ in terms of the amount of equity funding they receive, their student intake and the strategies that they use to try to make education more equitable. Each school is examined through three key areas. The first key area is the decision making process within the school. This is found, across all six schools, to be robust and systematic. The second area is the programs that the school believes address equity issues. There was found to be a great variance in the type of programs run in schools, and the amount of programs run within schools. Essentially the schools that are eligible for the most equity funding are running the highest concentration of equity programs. The third key area for this thesis was that of staffing in schools, with the neediest schools pointing out difficulties in building talented staff teams. The key finding of this thesis is that more equity money needs to be made available to the most disadvantaged schools.
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ItemClash of cultures: mainstream teachers' working knowledge and English as a Second Language (ESL) pedagogy( 1995)Within the international and Australian ESL field there has been a growing emphasis placed on mainstream teachers catering more effectively for the ESL students in their classes. This thesis is an ethnographic case study of the development of two mainstream teachers' working knowledge in ESL. It explores the strategies and skills that the two mainstream teachers adapt into their teaching after attending a ten week professional development course titled 'ESL in the Mainstream'. This was done through classroom observations, interviews and critiques of the teachers' planning, implementation and reflection of lessons observed. The study revealed that the practice of tapping students' already existing knowledge and language bases is not commonly utilised with students traditionally perceived as deficient. This research further suggests that mainstream teachers of working-class and LOTE background students may view them as lacking the necessary cultural capital, and therefore impose content and behavioural standards with little consideration and respect for student input. ESL teachers responsible for professional development need to understand the encultured pedagogical beliefs of mainstream teachers in order to assist them to reconsider what are complex personal and professional issues in the foundation of their own teaching.