Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemDifficulties in maintenance of ethnic language and culture in a multicultural society: with particular reference to Italian families in Melbourne( 1981)The growing political awareness and acknowledgment of Australia's multicultural society produced in the seventies an increasing number of reports on the needs of the ethnic communities. The Government acknowledges that it is now essential to encourage the development of a multicultural attitude in Australian society to foster the maintenance of cultural heritage and promote intercultural understanding. The long-awaited signs of widespread implementation of stated policies and recommendations have been disappointingly slow in emerging. This is attributed to the slowness of a change in attitude throughout the community. Because the Australian school system is not in tune with the multicultural society of today, children of ethnic parents are not receiving equal education opportunities with their Australian peers. Through lack of recognition of their ethnic language and culture by schools, children of ethnic parents are rejecting their mother tongue. In a series of case studies of Italian families in Melbourne, the mother's attitude was seen as the most important factor in language maintenance at the present time. Attitudes were seen to differ, not according to social class, educational level or region of origin, but according to individual values and beliefs. The importance of maintenance of ethnic language and culture for the traditional cohesiveness of the Italian family ethos is stressed, but is seen as resting on a tenuous thread.
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ItemSuccessful leaders in successful schools: a case study of a government primary school principal in Victoria, Australia( 2006)The research examined the leadership behaviour exhibited by a principal of a successful school. It used a single case study of a successful primary school based in Victoria, Australia, using qualitative analysis involving structured open-ended interviews from the multiple perspectives of the principal, teachers, non-teaching staff, parents and students. This research ensured that teachers, other school staff, parents and students were able to comment and thus verify and add to the statements the principal made. The research continued work carried out by Day, Harris and Hadfield. It has contributed an Australian perspective to an international research project on this issue, the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP). The research found it was the principal who made a major contribution to the improvement of the school. Over his tenure as principal, and through his vision, dedication and passion, the principal improved the learning outcomes for all students at his school. He not only improved the academic nature of the school but created a safe and nurturing environment that encouraged the children to want to go to school and to succeed. The research reinforced a lot of what past research has suggested is required for a leader to make an impact or improve the situation in a school. He shared and articulated a clear vision that the staff made their own. The principal, being the main leader, and through empowering others, had made important contributions to student learning. He had mastered a core set of basic leadership practices, was and made everyone accountable for their results and performance, and sought and provided constant feedback. He was a spokesman and role model and defender of social equity and fairness. The research found that most of these qualities the principal displayed appeared to stem from the character of the man - his moral and ethical stance and his commitment to the principles of equity and social justice. His leadership style had extended beyond just transformational leadership to be better described as a highly political, value-led contingency model of transformational leadership. This research contributes to identifying the characteristics and skills that are necessary to create and maintain a successful school and to informing professional development programs for current and future principals.
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ItemDevolution and effective school leadership: a case study involving ten Victorian state high school principals( 1987)An interview methodology was used in this study in an attempt to ascertain how high school principals view the current devolution proposals (as outlined in the document Taking Schools Into The 1990's) as affecting school leadership in terms of Sergiovanni's leadership model. When conducting the interviews it became quite apparent that Sergiovanni's leadership model was most representative of the leadership patterns of principals in the sample. All of the interviewees believed that a school would need to have a strong and functional culture in order to provide excellence in schooling. The majority of principals saw their role as cultural leader as being more important than their managerial role from the viewpoint of seeking excellence in schooling. Seventy per cent of respondents saw the role of principal as crucial in developing/ maintaining a strong school culture. Furthermore, most principals also believed that the new devolution proposals could enable schools to develop a stronger school culture, thus resulting in greater excellence in schooling. The local appointment of staff was a recommendation seen as being most beneficial in this regard. The recommendation that high schools obtain the services of a full-time administration manager was also seen as allowing the school principal to be a more effective leader in that he could delegate more of his managerial functions and thus concentrate more on his role of cultural leader. Although more detailed research is required, the results of this study are consistent with the claim made in the review of literature that because Sergiovanni comprehensively addresses the issue of school culture then his model would appear to be the most useful in the current educational climate. The results also give encouragement to those who believe that some of the recommendations contained in the latest devolution proposals may result in greater excellence in schooling.
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ItemSucceeding academically at a working-class school: some case studies( 1990)In this pilot study, I chose to interview only academically successful students because I wanted to identify as many as possible of the factors that might be unique to this group. In a larger study it would be necessary to interview the unsuccessful as well to establish whether the characteristics identified were in fact unique to the successful students. (From chapter 1)