Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemThe preschool experience as a model of public sector reform( 2002)Shortly following its election in 1992, the Victorian Liberal Government announced its intention to overhaul Government departments and the bureaucratic structure of the public service, in an effort to 'kick start' the flagging Victorian economy. Government departments were amalgamated and restructured in accordance with the Managerialist and contractual philosophies of the Government. Victorian kindergartens fell under the auspice of the Department of Health and Community Services. This Department was committed to the Government's reform agenda and introduced policies and procedures to support this. The kindergarten sector provides an illustrative case study of the reform process. Initiatives were introduced to encourage greater service flexibility and lower departmental expenditure through a per capita funding arrangement and voluntary, community centre management. The result has been a combination of intended and unintended consequences, which have brought the Victorian kindergarten sector to the brink of collapse.
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ItemParents' and staff' perception of quality in preschools( 2003)Effective working partnerships between parents and staff are widely recognized as a major factor that contributes to the delivery of high quality preschool services. Available research suggest that while parents and staff embrace a number of similar attitudes about quality in early childhood services, they also hold some differing perceptions. This study, conducted in a rural city in Victoria, explored how parents and staff agree and differ in their perceptions of preschool quality. Throughout the duration of the study both parents and staff expressed their beliefs about the importance of quality preschool services. The study found that parents and staff held similar perceptions relating to a number of factors which the literature has shown to contribute to quality, such as staff-child interactions, teachers experience and professional development. The study also found that their perceptions were divided in other areas which the literature identified as contributing factors such as the suggestion for the need to introduce a standard curriculum framework for all preschools as well as the need for parents to be involved in their children's preschool. The findings from this study can highlight the importance of strengthening the partnerships between parents and staff, necessary to enhance the delivery of high quality preschool services.
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ItemCan the incorporation of a structured pre-primary curriculum improve primary scholastic performance?( 1996)Primary and secondary educational reforms seeking quality and accountability are placing top-down pressure on early childhood education to become more defined and assessable in preparation for future learning. State and Federal government policies advocate set curriculum with definable results. Such trends are also observed overseas. The aim is for early childhood education to be more relevant to the rest of the child's learning and to the demands of the time. A large body of professionals within early childhood education view this as an intrusive, restrictive and regressive approach which is inconsistent with what years of research have taught us about early childhood education. They maintain that early childhood education is a stage in its own right and does not need to be altered to match another. Their main view is that each child learns individually to full potential via firsthand experiences through play under the guidance of a qualified educarer. Frameworks, and curricular continuity are seen as restrictions of such freedom. Generally accepting this premise, the study seeks to investigate the viability of concepts that will provide quality, continuity and smooth transition from pre-prep education to primary school while remaining true to a free early childhood educational philosophy. Theories of prominent educators, psychologists and sociologists, current overseas research and practise, as well as guidelines contained in developmentally appropriate publications, were used as foundations and substantiations for the concept of a structured learning component through which social skills, cognitive skills and internalised learning are developed. This is seen to enable the incorporation of continuity of learning into early schooling and beyond. Play remains the medium of the child's learning experiences. The research established that a structured learning component can be valuable provided it is carried out by experienced professionals. A survey of community opinion indicated that such a component can be beneficial to future learning. Literature across the ideological continuum as surveyed, and most authors advocated the need for some structure in the early childhood curriculum.
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ItemAn exploration of the influence of the theories of Maria Montessori on education in state schools and free kindergartens between 1912 and 1930 in some states of south eastern Australia, with special emphasis on Victoria( 1987)While Montessori's theories appear to have had greater influence and official support in the state schools of New South Wales and in the kindergartens of South Australia, the extent of her influence in Victoria is not widely discussed in educational literature. This thesis tries to examine the ways in which Montessori's theories affected educational ideas and practices in Victorian state schools and free kindergartens between 1912 and 1930. Some comparison is made among the states of South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria as to the extent and reasons for the differing degrees of influence Montessorian ideas exerted over the educational developments in the three states. It is suggested that Montessori's ideas did influence the attitudes of some educators in Victoria but that lack of finance and over-crowding in classrooms prevented the implementation of a Montessori programme. The lasting effect of Montessori does not seem to have differed greatly in the three states.