Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemThree visions of Utopia : the educational and social theories of Plato, Bellamy and Morris( 1985)The evidence of early Western literature such as the written version of Homer's oral epic poems and Hesiod's Works and Days suggests that the impulse to speculate about a better time and place in human social experience than a given present is not a recent phenomenon. The early chapters of this thesis postulate a link between recent and ancient examples of the genre of Utopianism and speculate on sociological significance in relevant mythology from Ancient Greece. Reference is made to the conclusions of Carl Jung about the significance of dream and symbol in human psychology and Sir Thomas More's contribution to Ui-opianism. The main part of the thesis incorporates an eximinatiori of the khree selected works compatible with these observations, as a result of which the following contentions are posited and explored: 1 the genre has its genesis in dissatisfaction with a social and political environment, 2 the general concept of Utopia first becomes a specific genre In Western literature as a process involving the exposition of political social, moral, economic and educational philosophies in the hands of Plato in his Republic, 3 exponents of the concept and genre since Plato implicitly acknowledge a debt to him in subject matter, areas of concern, style and technique, 4 a clear educational philosophy is patently central to each social philosophy presented in the three examples under discussion. In each case, analysis of the text is preceded by a summary of relevant contemporary historical and philosophical data and a brief biographical background of the author. Some speculation has been offered about the intentions and aims of the authors and attention has been focused on particular influences which may have affected them. The Conclusion is a summary of the similarities which have corne to light as a result of comparison of the texts, and a comment on the value and importance of the genre. It will be apparent to the reader that this writer could not remain impervious to the literary impact of the texts themselves and, although spasmodic attempts have been made at objectivity, no apology is offered for any residual traces of self-indulgent delight in the study of the primary sources i hold it as a self-evident truth that the richness of the ideas explored is correlative to the quality of the medium in which they are expressed. Note on the spelling of Greek words in translation Since there is some disagreement over the spelling of Greek words in translation 1 have chosen the commonly-used "c" in preference to "k" where applicable and retained it for the sake of consistency except only in the case of references to Lattimore's translation of the Odyssey, where the spelling of some words is central to the argument.
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ItemEgan's stage theory : an exploratory study of its use in the analysis of science textbooks( 1985)Kieran Egan (1979) has challenged educationists to consider the need for a Theory of Development which is specifically Educational. Such a need is discussed and examined in the context of science teaching. Egan's Theory was applied to the selection of science text material for a group of eleven and twelve year old students. The students' responses to the materials were compared with Egan's descriptions of certain developmental stages, particularly of his Romantic Stage. The author concluded that Egan's theoretical proposition assisted in interpeting certain student behaviour and preferences. Possible classroom uses of Egan's theory are discussed, implications for text usage and design are outlined, and some areas of research are suggested.