Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemImmigration, the media and student understandings( 1986)This study investigates the issue of Asian immigration as it was treated by two newspapers in a three month period in 1984 and also examines the attitudes of three groups of adolescents to the messages conveyed by the media representations. This study is divided into three main parts. In the first chapter there is a selective review of the material in the area of racism and the media, in particular those studies carried out from an ideological consensus point of view. In addition, there is a review of relevant studies carried out in the youth culture/politics area. The second part of the study provides a detailed examination of the strategies employed by two newspapers The Herald and The Sun News- Pictorial for the construction of the 'Immigration Debate' in the period March to June 1984. The third and final part of the study examines the extent to which the students accepted or rejected the ideological framework established by the two newspapers in their treatment of the immigration issue. As a result of this three-stage analysis, it is argued that the strategies employed by the two newspapers in helping to construct the debate on immigration ensured that the ideological framework for this debate was essentially racist. It is also argued that at the level of discourse many of the students involved in the study were shown to be not directly aware of the 'Blainey Debate'. However, it is also apparent that when they examined the media representations they displayed little ability to reject the ideological boundaries established for debate. The media representations legitimised and transmitted what could be called the 'new racism'. This study found that the students were not able to critically question this new racism.
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ItemInterpreting thinking routines : identifying and encouraging thoughtful action( 2008)This research explains how thinking routines encourage thoughtful actions in middle school students. Thinking routines involve doing significant things with knowledge. The regular use of thinking routines assists students individually and collectively, to experience patterns of inquiry. Using these routines in the classroom invites students to explore and manage their thoughtful actions. The method of this study used action research to extend knowledge of dispositions found in the literature. Dispositions are acquired patterns of behavior. Therefore, being strategic in your thinking is under one's control, as opposed to being automatically activated. Dispositions were renamed learning attitudes. Attitude is closely associated with behavior and control over what one does. A learning attitude is more easily identifiable within a student's. personal lexicon. An iterative sequence was then used to analyze and report on key words which represented learning attitudes found in student work. Distinctive features were interpreted by the researcher to emerge from this sequence grounded in work samples. Understanding these distinctive features empowers teachers to make constructive judgements. Without good judgement it is difficult to encourage thoughtful and reflective actions. Reflective thinking enables us to act in a deliberate and intentional manner. Deliberate actions provide power of control over knowledge.
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ItemDeveloping an educational vision : fusing primary and secondary horizons( 1998)The middle school has been the focus of considerable policy scrutiny at national and state levels in education in the last decade. As students move through school, attitudes to their educational environment and school management change particularly in the middle years - years 5-8. A number of large scale studies imply the benefits that would flow in transferring primary pedagogy and institutional practices to secondary classes in overcoming what has been seen as an early alienation of secondary schooling. This longitudinal case study seeks to explore changes in the various components of the quality of school life between primary and secondary school which exist in a primary school year 6 and secondary school year 7. In this collaborative research, data is gathered from the students' perspectives about their views on transition for their common primary school in year 6 to three secondary schools in year 7. The 'real world' of students, in their school context, is explored through the use of survey and direct contact in the form of interviews and discussion with students and teachers. The research, unlike some larger sample statistical surveys, suggests that improvement in the quality of middle school life in years 6 and 7 would be facilitated by a two way flow of ideas, experiences and enthusiasm.
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ItemStudents' participation, motivation and commitment to extra-curricular music( 1994)Students involved in the major extra-curricular activities of sport, music, drama and debating, the staff co-ordinators of these activities and the Principal, Vice-principal or Director of Studies at three Independent girls' schools of similar socio-economic standing, size and proximity in Victoria, were surveyed in 1992 to identify practices and influences on participation, motivation and commitment. Weiner's (1974) Attribution Theory was the initial basis on which the study was derived and Professor Edward P. Asmus's studies on motivation in music in the curriculum in American schools provided .a foundation on which to commence the research. 272 female students encompassing Years 7 to 12 were selected from the groups which the co-ordinators of each extra-curricular area ranked as having the highest, second highest, third highest and lowest status within each school. The data observes the overall responses of the three schools and also the schools' individual responses, thus allowing a comparison between them. Intrinsic and external determinants were identified as the student's perception of her own ability, the effort the student makes in an activity, the enjoyment the student gets from an activity, recognition and awards, the duration of an activity, the performance opportunities available, the achievement and success of a group, the role of the staff leader, student leadership, the difficulty of a task, the workload at Years 11 and 12, the means of travelling to and from practices and when practices are held. The outcomes of the research indicate that the participation in an extra-curricular music activity requires a much greater level of commitment than does commitment to the other extracurricular areas and that extra-curricular music introduces students to adult concepts. The findings also stress the importance of the role of the conductor not only in working directly with the ensemble but in the promotion of it. The enjoyment of an extra-curricular activity was strongly cited by students as their reason for joining and staying in the particular activity. Implications of these results and recommendations for further research were then discussed.
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ItemStudents' attitudes concerning mathematics: a study of the opinions and views concerning mathematics and mathematics teaching held by students in the upper primary and lower secondary schools of New South Wales and Victoria( 1966)From an examination of the relevant courses of study in mathematics and the associated published writings hypotheses were proposed to examine the influence of an emphasis on an inquiry and discovery approach to the teaching of mathematics on the attitudes concerning mathematics of students in the upper primary and lower secondary schools of New South Wales and Victoria (each N = 1000). Emphasis on the use of inquiry methods at the lower secondary school level was found to be associated with students' views that mathematics teaching involved more inquiry and discovery, with students' opinions that mathematics was an open and creative process and with the students' greater interest in mathematics. At the upper primary school level a strong influence of curricular factors was not detected, however, the evidence suggested that the classroom teacher played an important part in the development of attitudes concerning mathematics. The data collected was examined for the influence of several non-curricular factors including the sex of the pupil, and the occupation and the place of residence of the students' father. The sex of the student and differences in the scientific nature and the socio-economic status of the father's occupation were found to be linked with some differences in the opinions expressed by the students concerning mathematics.
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Item"They think it's girl's stuff": gender issues surrounding playing the violin at lower primary and lower secondary levels( 1995)Recent research in Arts education has focussed on the influence that gender has in terms of boys' and girls' participation. This study, drawing from Post-structuralist feminist theories, looks specifically at students' beliefs about playing the violin, and the subsequent restrictions to participation, particularly by boys, that may be influenced by gendered attitudes. Students from lower primary and lower secondary levels were interviewed. The results confirmed previous research that identifies two significant areas: school subject hierarchy, and the labelling of the Arts as 'feminine'. Music, and specifically violin, held a very low position in the hierarchy of subjects. While this did not influence a student's involvement in lower primary years, students in lower secondary years favoured subjects that they felt had specific career relevance. Furthermore, playing the violin was identified by students from Year Three to Year Eight as being associated with the 'feminine'. This association directly confronted the gender identity of boys who chose to play the violin. However, a number of contradictory findings arose, where students' involvement in playing the violin, irrespective of their gender, was positively celebrated. Firstly, this seemed to occur where students showed clear talent at playing, supporting the idea that a 'genius culture' exists. Students were proud to receive recognition from peers, teachers and family for both the hard work, and perhaps natural talent that achieved satisfying musical results. Secondly, a student's popularity was inversely related.to the amount and nature of teasing they suffered for participation in a subject that was labelled 'feminine'. Students who were popular, received much less teasing.