Melbourne Graduate School of Education - Theses

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    The attitudes and concerns of Catholic parish primary school principals and teachers toward the integration of students with disabilities into regular schools
    Riley, Elizabeth A ( 1997)
    This study was undertaken to identify' and compare the attitudes of Catholic Parish Primary School principals and teachers toward the integration of students with disabilities. The study also investigated variations in attitude toward integration for sub-groups of the principals and teachers. In addition, this study ascertained the concerns these educators have about the implementation of integration in their schools. A three part questionnaire was used to collect the data. It consisted of items relating to the background characteristics of the respondents and their schools, a modified version of the Attitude Toward Mainstreaming Scale (Berryman & Neal, 1980) and an open ended question eliciting educators' concerns about integration. Fifty five principals and 145 full time classroom teachers in the Northern Area of the Archdiocese of Melbourne responded to the questionnaire. T-tests were employed to compare the attitudes of the principals and teachers toward integration., Thematic analysis was used to examine the concerns of educators. Several major findings emerged from the study. Principals were found to hold more positive attitudes toward integration than classroom teachers. Principals were also significantly more positive than teachers toward the integration of students with severe disabilities. Younger principals held significantly more positive attitudes toward integration than older principals. No significant differences were identified for sub groups of the teacher sample. Similarity existed between the two groups of educators in terms of their expressed major concerns about integration. Lack of school based support personnel, funding and training, in that order, were recorded most frequently by both groups of educators.
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    Vertical grouping of year 9 and 10 classes and the resultant classroom dynamics : a case study
    Sullivan, Stacey G. A ( 1996)
    The research questions on which this study are based are to do with issues about whether students at different ages can successfully study and learn together in the same class. The particular ages under examination in this study are those corresponding to Year 9 and 10 students. These students were studied to determine if they belonged to separate groups. The adolescent and social psychology literature explored suggested that the two year levels contained individuals of widely differing developmental levels and thus the research was designed to see how the vertical grouping (composite) of Year 9 and I0 classes effected the learning of the students. Via a Case Study design it was found that the internal interactions between individuals within single year level classes were different to those found in the composite class. (n the Year 9 class studied the students tended to only work with a select group of their friends whereas in the Year 10 class the students seemed to form an united and congenial group. The composite class was found to be composed of two distinct sub groups, a Year 9 group and a Year 10 group, each reflecting the characteristic interactions of their particular year level. Group work was used as a method of facilitating the communication between the two year levels in the composite class. This methodology did produce some positive results with increased communication between the two sub-groups at the completion of the research. During the research it was noted that group work has to be carefully structured and monitored if it is to have positive results. Webb (1982a) found that if students in groups ask questions and do not receive answers then this structure in fact can be detrimental, to their achievement. The effect of non-responsive communication within small group work could be further studied to ensure that this method of promoting cooperation in composite classes is effective.
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    Making connections from the classroom to professional context : using problem-based learning to enhance engineering education
    Roberts, Pamela ( 2000)
    Problem-based learning (PBL) is presented as an educational reform that is particularly relevant for professional education programs. This study investigated the use of PBL to enhance the quality of students' learning in Professional Skills, a first year engineering subject at Swinburne University of Technology. The major aims for Professional Skills are to develop students' communication skills and to provide them with an introduction to the engineering profession. PBL was selected because of the use of a professional context to demonstrate the relevance of learning and the approach to developing students' abilities for self-directed and life-long learning. PBL requires different understandings and approaches to teaching and learning than are typical of existing practices in engineering education. An action research method was used to guide the development of curriculum and teaching practices because of the role of action research in providing support for teachers to improve their educational understandings and practices. The study examines two action research cycles of curriculum development, teaching and learning during 1995. Qualitative research methods were used to investigate teachers' and students' experiences of teaching and learning to inform the progressive curriculum improvement and evaluation. The findings from the study provide insight into both the characteristics of PBL that enhance the quality of students' learning and strategies that contribute to an on-going process of supporting change and improvement in curriculum and teaching practices. Students identified four thematic issues that were central to their motivation and engagement in learning. These issues were: being able to see the relevance of their learning to their future careers, collaborative learning in class and their project teams, their opportunities for active involvement and input into learning decisions, and a supportive learning environment in which they received guidance and feedback on their progress. Teaching and learning in the PBL curriculum was a new and challenging experience for both engineering teachers and students. The collaborative action research process assisted teachers to develop the skills and confidence to utilise new approaches to teaching and learning. The relevance of these findings to achieving the cultural change advocated by the 1996 Review of Engineering Education (lEAust 1996) is examined.
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    Teacher learning in a professional community
    O'Keefe, Brigid ( 1998)
    During recent years teacher appraisal has received increasing attention in educational research and literature. This study observed the development of a teacher appraisal program in a Victorian State Primary School and explored participants' understanding of appraisal processes designed for the purposes of improvement and accountability, and tracked the processes and outcomes. The overall purpose of this study was to investigate the opportunities for teacher learning and growth that these processes made available to teachers. A case study approach was chosen for the investigation with data collected from several sources. A primary source of information was five teachers with the remaining staff a secondary source. Data were collected through observations, interviews, written responses, written document analysis and participant observation. It was found that as a result of the appraisal processes, the school culture became more supportive of teacher learning and growth. Many factors contributed to the process of teacher development. These included supportive leadership and the importance of learning from ones peers. The management of the appraisal processes and the tensions that arose between the separate processes of appraisal are also discussed.
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    Art and the art of coping
    Shafer, Mina (1950-) ( 1998)
    Consider the conscious not as a purely passive but as an independent active factor... artistic forms not as a facade but as an extremely important mechanism and technique... and include in its sphere of investigation the sum total of human life... Art is the social technique of emotion, a tool of society which brings the most intimate and personal aspects of our being into the circle of social life. (Vygotsky, 1971, p. 249). This thesis reports how young adolescents increased their awareness of themselves and their coping skills experientially through the arts in the context of a teacher/student relationship. Through a series of art sessions the students become aware of significant issues in their lives. The unfolding of meanings occurred in relationship with a teacher or in collaboration with peers. The relationship became a key to self-understanding: this key is called 'intersubjectivity'. Facilitating students' shift in awareness and uncovering the meaning made by the students of their experiences was grounded in the methodology and procedures of existential, experiential phenomenology. This thesis is a study of three case studies. In these case studies the students communicated metaphorically through the arts their feelings and thoughts about concerns and how they cope with these concerns. This communication occurred in the context of a relationship with a teacher and/or peers. The students explored their lived-experience, concerns and ways of coping with concerns through the arts, that is in drawing, painting, pottery, movement, dialogue and written form. Students explored their coping skills also by completing the Adolescent Coping Scale (Frydenberg & Lewis, 1993) and reflecting on their experiences of coping through the arts. The next level of the experience for the student involved them reviewing their art and text and describing themes and the essence(s) of their experiences, this was mostly a creative and reflective process in the arts. This study illuminates the processes that facilitate the development of awareness and coping skills. It marks arts expressions as modes of inquiry and validates the significance of the intersubjective relationship in developing young people's awareness of themselves and their coping skills. The intersubjective relationship in this study was empathic, didactic and encouraging; the teacher reflected student's expressions, and encouraged and taught skills, while maintaining a focus on coping.
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    The educative role of a parish school and community
    O'Brien, Anne (1932-) ( 1991)
    Catholic parishes are undergoing radical changes today. Their mission of education is holistic and embraces a birth to death span. This study focused on the changes which had taken place in families from the time of the initiation of their eldest child into the community until nine years later when that child shared in the first meal ritual of the community. Multiple case studies and the outcomes of interviews were analysed using grounded theory. Interviews were conducted with a population of school families; conclusions were reached and an emergent theory proposed. As expected, the articulation of concepts proved difficult for parents. Growth is related to realms of meaning through which the educative process takes place; to cultural consciousness and to the respective life cycle of parents and their children. Overall, a degree of growth was reported by most respondents especially in terms of self-esteem, positive changes in attitudes towards the church, and access to support systems. The insights revealed by this study indicate that the parish primary school acts as a catalyst for the re-entry of parents into the community; that the climate of the community, the style of leadership, the participative decision-making processes and the pedagogical processes of the parish and the school are determining factors both in the effectiveness of the educational enterprise and in the ultimate survival of the community.
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    Of secrets, sorrows, and shame: undergraduate nurses' experiences of death and dying
    Lockhart, Stephanie Jayne ( 2007)
    This phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of undergraduate nursing students who cared for the dying and deceased whilst on clinical placement. To this point, studies on this phenomenon have focused on the experienced, qualified nurse. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the impacts of caring for the dying and deceased, on the student-nurse, and the implications for nursing education. The ten study participants were undergraduates enrolled in the Bachelor of Nursing program at a metropolitan-based university in Melbourne. The study of their experiences, from the perspectives of the student-nurses, was conducted using a semi-structured interview for data collection. Analysis of the data, using a Miles and Huberman (1994) style matrix, revealed four emergent themes: intensity of emotion; perceptions, growth and awareness; and opportunities. These themes were explored to yield results which established there were often profound, and sometimes disturbing, impacts of grief for both the student-nurse, the patient, and others. This study contributes to the This phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of undergraduate nursing students who cared for the dying and deceased whilst on clinical placement. To this point, studies on this phenomenon have focused on the experienced, qualified nurse. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the impacts of caring for the dying and deceased, on the student-nurse, and the implications for nursing education.
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    Difficulties in maintenance of ethnic language and culture in a multicultural society: with particular reference to Italian families in Melbourne
    Kynoch, Hope ( 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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    Successful school leadership in Victoria: a case study of the principal of a government secondary school
    Karvouni, Angeliki ( 2005)
    This thesis reports the findings from a case study of a successful principal in a Victorian government secondary school. The subject of this case study is VF, the Principal of BW Secondary College a school that has demonstrated success on many fronts, with most attributed to the principal's leadership and vision. She was described as making a significant difference to the learning outcomes of students in her school and also increasing the student numbers at the school. The Principal was seen to have provided a vision of `BW's Personal Best'. There were high expectations of academic rigour being part of the culture. The principal's leadership was viewed as a central part of the school, important for school survival and curriculum development. Parents acknowledged the principal's strong, energetic, collaborative leadership style and her decision making process. This assisted the principal to implement and share her vision as she had gained the community's trust. Overall, there was consensus that the school was successful for the following reasons: the high VCE (Year 12) results; the fact that staff and students felt it was a safe school; that it was well run, with an `infrastructure like a well oiled machine'; that students had a strong work ethic; that there was strong leadership from the top; that the Principal had a clear vision which was consistently reinforced; that there were high expectations of both staff and students and that all staff understood what needed to be done; and finally, that there was an agreed philosophy of where the school was going.