Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemThe teaching of history in state-supported elementary schools in Victoria, 1852-1954( 1965)The major concern of this thesis, then, is to trace and account for the introduction of History as a subject in 1886, to show its development in an initial period of transition as the implications of the new subject were explored, to follow it through the years of the "New Education" to the time when it became an established and accepted subject, changing little, to examine a period of exciting rediscovery and revision in the early 1930's, and finally, after another twenty years of relative but deceptive calm,to describe the changes which led to the introduction of Social Studies at the expense of History, Geography and Civics in 1954.
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ItemA comparative study of the social competence of young children in junior primary within multiage and single grade classrooms( 1997)The purpose of this study was to compare the social competence of young children in their first years of school between two different classroom structures, multiage classrooms and single grade classrooms, during their first years of school. The study involved seventy-six students randomly selected from junior sections of four state schools from metropolitan Melbourne. Schools were identified as being multiaged or single grade using a set criteria standard and were selected following an initial telephone interview with the principal from each school. The four schools were matched on socioeconomic status and class size. Children's social competence was assessed using the Social Skills Rating Scale (SSRS), (Gresham Elliot, 1990). Questionnaires were completed by both parents and teachers. The indicators of social competence were self-control, assertiveness, and cooperation. Behaviour problems and academic competence domains were also rated by teachers as part of the SSRS. Behaviour problems were also rated by parents. An additional questionnaire was completed by teachers in regard to their educational qualifications, teaching experience and classroom experiences. Background information regarding the children's experiences prior to commencing school was collected by an additional questionnaire to parents. Children's social competence, as assessed by teachers, was found to be significantly higher in the multiage classroom structure. In addition, teachers indicated that children had significantly fewer behaviour problems. within multiage classrooms. Within some of the social, behavioural and academic domains, a significant difference scored by teachers was also found in regard to gender and girls were assessed by teachers as possessing higher levels of social competence than boys in the total teacher scores in the domain of self-control and cooperative skills. These outcomes are discussed in terms of their significance for education policy makers, teachers, parents and school communities who are investigating classroom structures, learning and social competence for children.
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ItemUse of computers in mathematics teaching and learning : transition from grade 6 to year 7( 2001)Over the past ten years computer resources within Victorian schools have improved. Adequate level of facilities and resources has enabled teachers and students to use computers in the teaching and learning of mathematics. However it appears that computer skills acquired during primary years are not always the basis for further and continuous development of skills in the early years of secondary schooling. Research shows that during transition from grade 6 to year 7 there is need for stability and a sense of continuity in the adolescents' education and this applies to the area of mathematics as well. To gain further insight, this research investigated the use of computers in mathematics in a group of feeder primary schools and their linked secondary school. The study initially investigates whether the computer skills introduced in primary schools were known or built upon in secondary schools. The research then makes recommendations to the network of schools involved concerning continuity in teaching and using computer skills in the teaching and learning of mathematics during the transition years. This study was qualitative and involved parents, students and teachers. Questionnaires, interviews and classroom observations were used to obtain data. Recommendations include the need for continuous communication between grade 6 and year 7 mathematics teachers to form and maintain links regarding the development of computer skills, the need to develop a common goal for all grade 6 teachers in terms of teaching computer skills to prepare students for secondary school and finally, the need to increase computer literacy of primary and secondary mathematics teachers and make hardware and software available and accessible to all.
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ItemEnglish in the training of primary teachers( 1975)in 1968 a three year course of training for primary teachers was introduced in Victorian State teachers' colleges. The course was founded upon the report of an Advisory Committee on the Three Years' Course of Training for Primary Teachers published in March 1967 and commonly termed the 'Pryor Report'. One of the objectives of this course was to develop a well educated cultured person (with) the desire to read widely. with discrimination and appreciation of all that is best in literature . Means of achieving this objective included a compulsory two years' study of English, incorporating the best in traditional and contemporary writing', and children's literature. There is need for some evaluation of the degree to which this objective has been achieved. in this study, twenty-one young teachers who completed the three year course at one provincial teachers' college, and who were teaching in one-teacher rural schools, were visited and invited to discuss the subject of English, particularly English literature. in their college courses. Their current reading habits. and views and attitudes to literature were also discussed. The data collected from these discussions suggest that the objective of the three year course referred to above is not being achieved in the case of this small and possibly unrepresentative sample of graduates of the course. These teachers do not read widely. Their attitudes to literature are disappointing and the effects of these attitudes on the children they teach represent a matter of grave concern. It Is suggested that the compulsory study of 'adult' literature In a course of training for primary teachers is educationally doubtful. On the other hand compulsory study of the immensely rich field of children's literature appears justified on literary, sociological and educational grounds. The need for clear aims and procedures for studies In the language arts and methods of teaching English In the primary school Is also suggested by the lack of confidence shown in these areas by the young teachers. The presentation of the views and attitudes of a group of young, inexperienced teachers in a difficult and sometimes lonely school environment is an attempt to give life to problems in teacher training which statistical data may illuminate. No firm conclusions are possible from data obtained in this study but the study indicates a need for thorough evaluation of the efficacy of courses of training of teachers such as those founded on the 'Pryor Report.'
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ItemMoral reasoning as part of a primary school curriculum( 1995)After the turbulent times of the 80s, research is presented as evidence of the resurgence in the community's desire for ethical practices to be an integral part of a decision making process. Moral reasoning must be the cornerstone of all decision making for individuals who accept a responsibility to themselves, to the society within which they function, and to the wider world to which all humanity contributes. Given that society is in a continual change, the individual must have the mechanism for evaluating and managing any changing standards. There is a responsibility to present children who will exist in the unknown environment of the future with the tools which will allow them to consider moral dilemmas and to then make rational, creative and moral decisions. A primary school environment is seen as the ideal place to help individuals begin to set their own standards of behaviour. At school, children can no longer rely solely on rules set by parents, but must look towards establishing their own principles of conduct. Educators have a responsibility to present children with curriculum which promotes the ability to think rationally, independently and morally. Existing theories of moral development are examined to determine how moral reasoning skills can best become part of the classroom programme, and, at the same time, assist the learning goals of other curriculum areas. In this work, I have investigated a teaching technique which uses philosophical dialogue to explore realistic, or probable, circumstances depicted in picture story books as a means of developing moral reasoning in primary school students. A set of lessons, using the above technique, was compared to a set of lessons which did not contain the element of philosophical dialogue to determine the effectiveness of this style.
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ItemImplementing the CSF-English in a whole language classroom( 1998)A new curriculum structure called the Curriculum and Standards Framework (CSF) was introduced to Victorian primary and secondary schools in 1995. The CSF-English comprises four strands, two of which (Contextual understanding and Linguistic structures and features), represent what could be seen as new information to Whole Language trained teachers. This thesis addresses the CSF-English in two ways. First, it deconstructs the CSF-English. Second, it will attempt to trace its implementation in a case study. In order to lay the basis for a historically located, theoretically informed deconstruction of the CSF-English, the researcher conducted a close reading of the document, informed by a reading of the literature on the history of English curriculum. The conclusion is that the CSF-English, while being theoretically inclusive, is unsynthesised, eclectic and confusing. This thesis examines how two grade 5/6 self described Whole Language primary school teachers went about implementing the CSF-English, a document to which they had limited theoretical access. This thesis focuses on the types of texts and the types of knowledge about texts which were presented in the classroom. Using ethnographic methodology both qualitative and quantitative data were collected to create a rich and detailed portrait of all occurrences of the teaching of reading and writing. The data showed that a narrow and unbalanced range of text types was presented. While fictional and personal texts occurred with high frequency, factual texts occurred very infrequently. The data also showed that literal and personalised knowledge about texts was frequently taught, whereas the overall structures of texts and the situational and socio-cultural context was rarely taught. The central conclusions reached were first that the teachers implemented only those aspects of CSF-English which concurred with their Whole Language philosophy. The Whole Language model of English did not provide a means for these teachers to implement the CSF-English as a whole. Second, those aspects of the CSF-English which drew most heavily on Critical Social Literacy were taught infrequently. Third, it was concluded that the students of these Whole Language teachers were not being fully prepared for the demands of secondary school literacy. In particular, they were not being familiarised with the types of texts that matter in the secondary school, nor were they being inducted into critical and analytical thinking about texts.
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ItemNegotiating and enabling change in a primary school: identifying strategies that assist classroom teachers with the teaching and learning of science( 2006)The purpose of this research was to investigate strategies that assist classroom teachers with the teaching and learning of science. The researcher, a classroom teacher and science coordinator at Karingal Heights Primary School (KHPS), decided to conduct the study because of the researcher's desire to improve current practices at KHPS. The researcher's belief that, examining current practices, investigating alternatives and documenting what works for individual teachers are essential elements for successful teaching and learning. The methodology of action research was the most appropriate tool because it allowed for collaboration and reflection. The research period was ten months and involved classroom teachers at KHPS in a process of inquiry and. reflection. Classroom teachers became active participants in identifying strategies that assisted.them with the teaching and learning of science. Finding links to science across the curriculum led to a wider vision of what constituted science and resulted in more science happening at KHPS. Action Research became a strategy that promoted science teaching and learning because it provided classroom teachers with a focused process of investigation and reflection. What emerged was a broader view of science, linked more to the lives and interests of the school community and the conclusion that, although a variety of strategies assist classroom teachers with the teaching and learning of science, collaborative work practices emerged as the most valuable strategy for the classroom teachers at KHPS.
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ItemThe implementation of the English language framework P-10: a case study( 1994)The following case study examined and evaluated a teacher's perception of the influence of the implementation of an externally mandated innovation, the English Language Framework P-10, in a Victorian outer metropolitan primary school in order to determine the factors that fostered/hindered implementation within that particular context. To assist in this analysis and to verify its results, a comparison was made between this innovation's implementation and the successful implementation of Integrated Curriculum. The purposes of the study were to 1. evaluate the implementation of the Framework by the teacher in the study; 2. analyse the factors which affected this implementation; and 3. determine the subsequent implications for the implementation of future innovations in the same context. Because the findings of the study were context dependent, large generalisations about aspects of the change process were not expected to emerge from the study's conclusions. Rather, the study sought to provide an understanding of change within this particular context. For such reasons, a case study approach based on the axioms of the 'naturalistic paradigm' were employed. This mode required that the design 'emerge' as the study progressed. Each subsequent phase of data collection was therefore based on the salient elements which emerged through interviews, observations and/or document analysis. The study's conclusions find that the largest hindrances to the implementation of the Framework arose from its failure to address the teacher's specific needs; its lack of clarity due to diffuse goals and vague means of implementation; and a lack of external support in the form of materials, consultants and professional development courses. The implications of the study question the feasibility of externally mandated innovations which fail to address a particular school's situation and suggest that a combination of individual and institutional development which supports change initiated and enacted at the local level would be the most beneficial for this study's site and others like it.
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ItemAn investigation of the effect of teachers' reflection on their development of pedagogical content knowledge for teaching primary mathematics( 2008)In recent years, teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has become the subject of an increasing volume of research. Another body of literature has grown around the subject of reflection, and its effect on practice. Although a link between the two has often been assumed, few have attempted to map this link explicitly. This study investigates the possibility of such a link, and explores possible descriptions of the link. This case study compared two primary (elementary) teachers, investigating both their PCK and their reflection. The teachers were asked to complete a written questionnaire about mathematics teaching, including some questions requiring a response to hypothetical classroom situations. They were then interviewed about the questionnaire. The teachers were observed as they taught, and interviewed about those lessons. The questionnaire and first interview were used to investigate the teachers' PCK, and all interviews were used to investigate the teachers' reflection. One teacher was found to have both rich and well-connected PCK, and a strong tendency to reflect. The second teacher was found to have much weaker PCK than the first, and also demonstrated less reflection. Some examples of the first teacher's reflection were examined, to investigate the possibility that the teacher's reflection had an influence on the development of PCK. PCK was observed to develop during reflection, suggesting that reflection influences the development of PCK.
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ItemResearching teacher agency in primary school science: a discursive psychological approach( 2004)This ontological study is concerned with analyses of the problem of the scientific reform of the primary school curriculum. It was conducted at a time when a solution was sought through State mandated curriculum and standards specification and primary teacher accountability. The case study developed as an interactive ethnography (Woods 1996) written from the point of view of the facilitator of a whole school science curriculum project. The focus of the enquiry emerged as an exploration of social episodes in the life of two experienced Early Years teachers engaged in the yearlong project. Discursive psychology became the theoretical framework for the analysis of the primary teachers' professional identity formation in their professional work=place conversations with the author. Pronominal coding has been used to mark the teachers' psychological location in their storylines of the implementation of enquiry-based science education in their classes. In the teachers' accounts they simultaneously position themselves in their acts and actions and in the local moral order of duties and responsibilities. A significant disparity is shown to exist between the ontologies of the primary teachers' and research accounts, which present mental state analyses of teachers' lack of confidence or reluctance to teach science related to limited scientific understanding. The. study offers a schematic model of social action that theorizes human agency as, developing and functioning within the interactional nexus of local community settings. The community operates in the lives of these teachers not as a latent, abstract concept; instead it gives ideological differences and teachers' understandings of themselves significance in everyday educational practices.