Melbourne Graduate School of Education - Theses

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    A sociocultural perspective of risk: An activity theoretical investigation into the influence of risk on teachers’ pedagogical knowledge and practice in a Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) context
    Ohki, Shuichiro ( 2021)
    As a concept, ‘risk’ is widely viewed and understood as something negative for students, which should be overcome, managed, or sometimes avoided to ensure their meaningful participation and success in their schooling. However, this study draws on Vygotskian sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 1978, 1987) to conceptualise ‘risk’ as something positive and integral for the growth of both teachers and students. Using activity theory and the process of expansive learning (Engestrom & Sannino, 2010) as an analytical framework, this qualitative inquiry investigates risk as a sociocultural construct when applied in the context of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). In particular, with the focus of teachers’ professional learning and knowledge, this study examines the role of risk on facilitating teachers’ professional growth. In doing so, this study contributes to furthering our understanding of Vygotskian sociocultural theory and CLIL pedagogy. Through the interpretive analysis of two secondary CLIL teachers in Victoria, key findings reveal the two key types of student reactions to learning that indicate their negative affective responses, such as uncertainty, enabling teachers to notice the presence of risk in their CLIL classrooms. The findings also highlight how productive responses to risk is often tied with teachers’ use of appropriate mediation in class and how the resolution of risk is a catalyst for teachers to further their own professional knowledge and practices. The study also found how teachers’ choice of ineffective mediation or limited awareness of the presence of risk in class results in the non-resolution of risk, hindering them from understanding better ways of supporting their students in their specific contexts. This finding points to the importance of developing teachers’ capacity to notice and manage risk productively in their classrooms to ultimately facilitate their own growth as teachers. A key contribution arising from this study is the articulation of the significance of risk for facilitating the growth of CLIL teachers’ professional knowledge and practices. Given the productive nature of risk from a sociocultural perspective, implications from this study suggest ways to embed generative risk into the key conceptual foundation of CLIL pedagogy and CLIL teacher education. This research concludes by providing possibilities for further research, including examining the long-term influences of resolved risk on CLIL teachers’ professional practices, exploring the students’ reactions to risk and its implications, and examining the influence of the sociocultural notion of risk in non-CLIL contexts.
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    Space to act: Conceptual framework analysis of student agency within innovative learning environments
    Donaldson, Nicholas James ( 2021)
    The substantial societal shifts of the 21st century have supported the development and implementation of innovative learning environments (ILEs) and the endorsement of student agency within the field of education. There exists, however, a resonant gap in knowledge regarding the presence and properties of this learner quality within these teaching and learning spaces. This thesis addresses this gap by encapsulating the nature of student agency within ILEs through the qualitative methodological approach of conceptual framework analysis (Jabareen, 2009). Though limited by its theoretical focus and exploration of secondary data, the resultant framework offers a complex conceptualisation of the phenomenon of student agency within ILEs; its psychological antecedents, the environmental features that may support it, its characteristic actions, and its potential constructive contributions. Beyond establishing a foundational platform for future research, these findings also provide educators with the valuable knowledge and tools that allow them to more effectively understand, identify, and nurture this lauded learner quality within modern educational spaces.
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    An investigation into the relationship between the engagement, creative ability, and classroom culture within secondary schooling.
    Camilleri, David John ( 2021)
    This study examines how creative ability is influenced by students' beliefs about the classroom culture and its relevance to their learning endeavours. Current education provision favours students who perform patterns of actions traditionally associated with academic achievement. This approach disadvantages students who are creative in non-academic domains. Research has neglected the teaching of high ability students who are disengaged with regular classroom cultures that restrict their opportunities to display their creativity. The study used a mixed methods approach to investigate the learning characteristics of disengaged high ability students that predict creative outcomes in various domains. It identified differences between learning characteristics of high ability engaged and disengaged students. The disengaged students felt marginalised and showed learning profiles that were suited to non-academic learning contexts. The findings suggest that classroom engagement and culturally acceptable creative expression requires appropriate perception and exploitation of symbolic and material affordances in the form of culturally acceptable patterns of actions, during socially and materially situated activities, when creating artefacts in their classroom. This implies engagement is a relational concept that represents the transactions and interactions between a student and their teacher, the symbolic and material affordances, and artefacts within a specific classroom or school culture. The study recommends classroom-based assessments teachers can use to identify the patterns of perception and action that lead to engagement and provide opportunities for all students to develop their creativity.
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    Investigating how students receive, interpret, and respond to teacher feedback
    Mandouit, Luke William ( 2020)
    Feedback has been studied extensively in relation to its impact on student learning and is established as a high impact intervention on achievement, emotions, confidence, and motivation. In order to be effective, feedback must be timely, actionable, related to learning goals, and provide advice as to next steps in the student’s learning. Yet research has also demonstrated the significant variability relating to the influence, with research suggesting that effective strategies vary based on the characteristics of the learner. However, the research is dominated by a focus on the giving of feedback and far less on how students receive feedback. Studies into student perceptions of feedback is lacking with little known about how the information provided is listened to, or received, along with the emotional responses that feedback may stimulate, and how this may influence learning. The aim of this thesis is to investigate student perceptions of teacher feedback, and to develop a deeper understanding of how students receive, interpret, and respond to it. Employing a cross-sectional research design using multi-methods, this study consisted of a large-scale questionnaire in which students responded to various feedback samples and gave insights as to their perceived usefulness and how each might engage the student. A smaller sample of students then participated in semi-structured interviews based on the themes that emerged from the survey data, providing insights as to how students respond to, make sense of, and apply feedback. Findings give insights into a range of feedback processes. Firstly, learners assign their own meaning to the feedback regardless of whether the information provided to them is explicit or not. Secondly, they assign this meaning based on prior feedback experiences, capacity to self-reflect, or through dialogue with teacher or peers. Thirdly, the emotional affect of the information provided influences its effect on learning. Finally, students have clear views about what constitutes effective feedback practice to enhance learning.