Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemMinisterial review of education in Victoria 1979-1980( 1983)In 1979, a unique event took place in the history of education in Victoria. For the first time this century, a total review of the education system was set in motion. Following a State election and the return of the Liberal Government, two Ministers - both new to the Education Portfolio - initiated a wide ranging Review of Education in Victoria. As the review process advanced, however, its focus narrowed at each stage from a review of all education, to a review of education in Government schools and finally to a review of administrative and organisational processes, virtually shelving educational issues. During the process, considerable emphasis was placed on consultation and public participation. Yet, when the White Paper on Government policy was tabled at the culmination of the Review, it freely admitted that most of its content was contrary to the majority of views expressed through that consultation process and that its change of focus away from educational issues to administrative issues also ran contrary to the major concerns expressed through consultation. Throughout the Review, a most striking feature was the virtual exclusion from the process of the permanent head of the Department, the Director-General of Education. (His replacement and removal to a newly created position was the first step in the implementation phase). This thesis attempts to show that the Ministerial Review of Education in Victoria, while being announced as a major review of education, was, as it turned out, nothing of the sort. In the final analysis, the Review shelved educational issues and became instead the means for introducing administrative change with the possible hidden agenda of removing one or more senior administrators.
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ItemDevolution: the local selection of teachers in Victorian state schools( 1991)This thesis is concerned with the devolution of administrative powers from the Central Ministry to local school communities. In particular, the focus is upon removing the Ministry's staffing function and giving it to individual schools. This will mean that schools themselves will select their own teachers. A review of how Victoria has administered education is given commencing from Colonial times up until the present decade. This reveals that education began as the domain of the churches and that teachers were originally employed by local school communities. It was not until 1872 that a Department of Education was established in Victoria with teachers becoming centrally employed. This system of central employment has dominated State education ever since. However, several recent events have challenged the Ministry's traditional system of central staffing. These include the local selection of Principals and their Deputies beginning in 1984, and the local selection of a new category of teacher - Advanced Skills Teacher 1- in 1991. The present system of staffing is debated and a proposal for local staffing is advocated. It is suggested that individual schools are more acutely aware of their needs and that the present structure of the Ministry cannot cope with the individual needs of the States 2000 schools. Moreover, the rationale against local selection is no longer as valid or relevant as it may have been last century.