Faculty of Education - Theses
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 4 of 4
-
Item(Dis)engagement in the middle: A genealogy of engagement, school, and Australian young people in contemporary times( 2023-03)This thesis is a genealogical study of the influential concept of student engagement. The study aims to understand how engagement has come to hold status as a solution to a range of educational and social problems associated with young people and the middle years (Years 4–10) of schooling in contemporary times (1990–2020). In much of the existing scholarly literature, engagement is used to read, measure, and ameliorate problems associated with young people and schools. In contrast, this thesis makes the role of engagement the object of study. Putting the Foucauldian tool of the dispositif to work and focussing on educational initiatives in Victoria, Australia, the thesis builds a theoretical and empirical analysis of engagement’s form and functions in policy, public, and practitioner spaces. This is achieved through three genealogical investigations into engagement: first, as an organiser of school populations via school (dis)engagement policy; next, as a solution for problematic young people in public discussion; and then, as a driver of pedagogical reform in professional development material aimed at a practitioner audience. The socio-historical contributions pertain to the character of the relationship between engagement, young people, and school. The thesis argues that this relationship has been shaped by a longstanding view of schools and young people as preparatory grounds for instrumentally conceived futures. The study shows how this relationship is inflected by the particularities of the present and the recent past, and registers the ways in which young people and schools are tasked with solving current and anticipated problems, by way of engagement. Conceptually, the thesis contributes a creative and historically precise analysis of engagement as in/commensurable; that is, a concept with recognisably familiar but varying forms, impulses, functions, and uneven effects. Methodologically, the study shows how a genealogical approach—often notoriously elusive as a method—can be operationalised in practical and detailed ways to illuminate what engagement ‘is’, how it ‘works’, and what it ‘does’. Overall, the thesis contributes new insights into the aspirations associated with engagement and new knowledge of how the concept functions to shape and organise young people in current times.
-
ItemVCAL: growth and performance( 2015)This thesis examines a major curriculum innovation that was introduced into the upper secondary curriculum in the Australian state of Victoria in 2002 – the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL). Victoria is the only state in Australia which has developed a separate senior secondary certificate, a vocational certificate to sit alongside the general Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE). The VCAL claims to be a comprehensive attempt to anchor vocational learning within the secondary school environment in Australia. The aim of this study is to investigate whether the VCAL has delivered on its promise to provide an educational opportunity for students for whom the VCE is not appropriate; an opportunity to experience success and move into appropriate pathways into further education and training and employment. It is important to assess the educational impact a vocational program like the VCAL has had within the senior secondary curriculum. To see this in context, the research literature on vocational and applied learning in schools is examined through various approaches that are used in the delivery of vocational and applied learning to school-age students internationally and in Australia. The research focuses on two main models of differentiation – whether they are predominantly school-based or employment-based and the age at which differentiation into academic and vocational programs occurs. The research also examines the effectiveness of these programs and their impact on school retention, student engagement and their ability to create effective pathways into a range of destinations, including further education, training and employment. The story of vocational education and training (VET) in the Australian state of Victoria is seen in an historical context as the researcher explores the history of curriculum change in Victoria over many decades, leading to the senior secondary offerings available today. The thesis concludes that the VCAL has on the whole been successful in engaging the VCAL students who participated in this study. It has also provided strong pathways in apprenticeships. However, pathways into employment in particular, full-time employment are less than optimal. The VCAL also continues to face many challenges, particularly in terms of perceptions and ownership at a local level. The thesis argues for a new educational philosophy and a redefinition of upper secondary curriculum to place VCAL as a credible alternative to the VCE. It argues for a redesign of the VCAL program requiring all VCAL students to enrol in the VCAL as an apprentice or trainee. Finally, it argues for a whole school approach and commitment to the VCAL program with strong leadership support and active involvement in the VCAL program.
-
ItemThe pedagogy of engagement: classroom management vs. facilitating learning( 2019)This thesis explored the way upper primary teachers think about student engagement and how they operationalise the concept within their classrooms. Student engagement has been frequently linked to academic success, and improving the engagement of students continues to be a priority for policy makers and practitioners alike. Despite an abundance of research, it remains questionable whether researcher conceptions of student engagement adequately represent the way teachers experience the concept. Teachers' perspectives on student engagement and their engagement-related practices were investigated over two studies using an exploratory sequential mixed methods design. In Study One, in-depth interviews were conducted with 16 teachers to explore their beliefs about student engagement in learning. Teachers described six qualitatively different forms of engagement and disengagement, as well as a complex process for facilitating student engagement within lessons. A typology of engagement and a pedagogical framework for engaging students were proposed based on the findings. Study Two sought to test the validity of the typology as a representation of teachers' descriptions of student engagement and its usefulness in coding teachers' engagement-related interactions within observed lessons. Four teachers were interviewed and four lessons observations for each teacher were conducted. In addition, 72 students within those classrooms were surveyed to explore their perceptions of aspects of the learning environment, including their understanding of teacher expectations for student engagement. Qualitative analysis of interview and observation data revealed that teachers varied in their expectations for student engagement within lessons, their views on the role of peers in student engagement, and in the frequency with which they intervened within lessons to facilitate different forms of student engagement. Quantitative analysis of survey data suggest that students in different classrooms perceive different expectations for how they will engage in learning experiences. A model is proposed for thinking about the pedagogy of student engagement, providing an alternative vantage point from which to explore the concept, one that is grounded in the real-life experiences of teachers facing the ongoing challenge of engaging students in classroom learning experiences.
-
ItemEvaluating the effects of different classroom spaces on teaching and learning( 2016)(Terry Byers…) who examined the impact of physical learning environments on student learning outcomes and teacher practices. His study found a correlation between classroom design and student performances in mathematics and English, and, highlighted the need to better understand teacher attitudes to changes in learning spaces.