Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemA 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( 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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ItemAn investigation into the relationship between the engagement, creative ability, and classroom culture within secondary schooling.( 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.