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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ItemEquity funding: how is it used?( 2006)Using a case study approach this research investigates some of the different aspects of disadvantage within the school system. It looks at the ways in which equity funding is used in a variety of schools. The purpose of this research was to ascertain the stages, or processes, that schools go through before the equity dollar is spent. It investigates the decision making process, and the kinds of information or projections taken into account. It also looks at the issue of what it is that schools define as issues of equity, and the programs that they put in place to deal with those issues. This thesis focuses on the equity component of the Victorian Education Department's Student Resource Package. Beginning with an explanation of the current funding model used in Victoria, it goes on to explore the implications of this funding model on students in six metropolitan government schools. These schools differ in terms of the amount of equity funding they receive, their student intake and the strategies that they use to try to make education more equitable. Each school is examined through three key areas. The first key area is the decision making process within the school. This is found, across all six schools, to be robust and systematic. The second area is the programs that the school believes address equity issues. There was found to be a great variance in the type of programs run in schools, and the amount of programs run within schools. Essentially the schools that are eligible for the most equity funding are running the highest concentration of equity programs. The third key area for this thesis was that of staffing in schools, with the neediest schools pointing out difficulties in building talented staff teams. The key finding of this thesis is that more equity money needs to be made available to the most disadvantaged schools.
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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.