Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemThe school production : a study in four parts( 1991)An academic introduction to relevant material and an overview of the major philosophical themes and debates in Drama in Education over the past fifty years. This also provides important background information to the rest of the study, placing the school production, Drama, the teachers and the curriculum development work in a broader context.
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ItemA.S. Neill and the Russells : theory and practice in English progressive education( 1990)This essay examines the theory and practice of both Summerhill and Beacon Hill within the context of the Progressive Movement in education in England during the inter-war period. It attempts to see both schools as the manifestation of all influences which had culminated in the development of educational theory as expressed by A.S. Neill and Bertrand Russell, before and while these schools were in operation. Evidence is used to demonstrate that while these two schools were widely regarded as being on the extreme libertarian wing of the progressive movement, and in fact shared many features, they were in fact quite fundamentally different in their aims and in the practical manifestation of them.
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ItemAn administrative review of the Commonwealth English as a Second Language (ESL) Program within the Office of Schools Administration, Ministry of Education, Victoria( 1990)This thesis presents an administrative review of the Commonwealth English as a Second Language (ESL) Program within the Office of Schools Administration, Ministry of Education, Victoria. The approach and framework adopted are similar to those used by Campbell et al. in their review of the Commonwealth ESL Program for the Commonwealth Schools Commission in 1984. There are no prejudgements concerning major issues, but an interest in monitoring events from program establishment at a Commonwealth level to program organisation issues in schools. A number of "Levels of Administrative Reality" are identified through which the following educational agencies are examined - the Department of Employment, Education and Training (DEET), the Office of Schools Adminstration, and schools. The "Levels of Administrative Reality" used are Intentions, Structure, Resource Allocations Mechanisms, and Program Organisation. These are considered broad enough to enable major issues to be raised. Data have been collected over a two year period from a variety of sources including policy documents, questionnaires, memoranda and minutes of meetings. Major issues raised include : (a) the development of a nationwide curriculum framework/syllabus for the teaching of ESL; (b) the location of ESL within the Office of Schools Administration; (c) the location of consultancy support to schools; (d) the level of resourcing; (e) the qualifications of ESL teachers.
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ItemWalter Bonwick (1824-1883) : Walter Bonwick and the establishment of music teaching in the national schools of Victoria, 1855-1856( 1990)This thesis examines the development of music teaching in the National Schools in the vicinity of Melbourne for the years 1855 and 1856. While Walter Bonwick was not the first music teacher to be appointed by the National Board, he was the most influential, and from his appointment in February, 1855, began a career which was to span a quarter of a century. He continued as a vocal music teacher and later as a instructor of music teachers with the National Board and. its successors until his death in 1883, at the age of fifty-eight. Walter was a member of a circle of colonial teachers and- writers who were connected by marriage, and his success in obtaining a position with the National Board was certainly in part the result of the influence of his family and their friends. But the significance of his music teaching in 1855 and 1856 was his insistence on a modification of Hullah's system. Walter persuaded the Board that Hullah's system for teaching vocal music was unsuitable for the schools in the colony because the course was too long, the exercises too tedious, and the music not sufficiently pleasing or attractive to children. His solution was to request the Board to sanction the introduction into National schools of a Manual of Vocal. Music to be compiled by him. The Board agreed to his proposal, and so began a series of publications for instruction in the schools. This paralleled a similar request to the Board by his brother James to sanction his publication of a Geography text book for use in the schools. Walter's weekly reports reveal a wealth of detail of the incidents of colonial life; flood, heat, falling trees, death, and even toothache. They also show Walter to be sensitive, hard-working, and dedicated to his music and his pupils. The Secretary and Commissioners of the Board - are treated with respectful familiarity; rather unexpected in a subordinate. One hundred miles a week by horse, Walter was the archetypical peripatetic vocal music teacher.
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ItemThe identification of factors significantly correlated with out of tune singing and in tune singing in a class of fourth grade boys( 1991)This study sought to identify relationships between the ability or lack of it to sing in tune, and the attainment of four other physical and mental skills. The 49 subjects were 9 and 10 year old boys from an independent boys' grammar school. Testing procedure involved the use of song material, rather than single tone matching. None of the results showed a degree of significance that would justify further investigations study in these particular areas. Nonetheless, the absence of correlation between singing in tune and the ability to discriminate in tuneness seems to run counter to general opinion. It is suggested that a developmental programme for out of tune singers might include a vocal self-awareness component.
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ItemStudent stress : a preliminary investigation into the school-related stress experience of year 8 students, using a hassles and uplifts approach( 1991)This study sought to develop a hassles and uplifts scale as a measure of the school-related stress experienced by year 8 students in post-primary schools. A draft set of 167 items was developed after reviewing other scales that purport to measure stress, reviewing the broader popular literature on stress in young people and the authors informal discussions with year eight students over a number of years. The 167 items were then subjected to a simple consensual validation procedure using a small group of year 8 male and female students. A draft scale of 87 items emerged from this process. The draft scale was administered to 875 year 8 students in ten varying types of schools, including coeducational, single sex girls, single sex boys, urban, nonurban, government and nongovernment. The instrument was administered by suitably briefed classroom teachers. The responses of students were subjected to factor analysis. Preliminary whole-scale analysis indicated a high level of reliability. As a further indicator of the reliability of factors 14 factors were found to replicate across analyses (orthogonal rotation c.f. oblique rotation) of the whole group. The group was randomly split into two subgroups and the the analysis conducted on each subgroup. Eight factors appeared to replicate or substantially replicate across groups when an varimax solution was computed for each subgroup. Similarly, eight factors were found to replicate across subgroups. Key factors emerged from the analysis. It was concluded that, while further work was necessary in followup to this minor trial, a reliable and valid hassles and uplifts scale can be satisfactorily developed for the specific age group of students. Suggestions for the followup work and further research are outlined in the conclusion of this study.
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ItemA cartoon chemistry text : the construction and testing of a novel chemistry text incorporating human values( 1990)This study examines current science texts and the concerns and objectives of Science-Technology-Society based courses. It indicates that they present the public image of the practising scientist (with inherent Mertonian values of Universalism, Communism, Disinterestedness, and organized skepticism) which is used to organize scientific concepts into a meaningful whole. Utilizing the notion that a value is anything important to a student, a hypothesis was proposed that meaning and interest generated from a text is dependent on the extent of overlap between text and student values. The implications of the interaction of different value systems with a Mertonian based text were considered. An attempt was made to develop a chemistry text that was meaningful to all students, by organizing concepts into a story form with non-Mertonian organization. This approach evolved into a cartoon format with specific features. Two cartoon text items were tested at two schools. The trial involved a survey item on 103 students and audio taped interviews with 20 students. The trial attempted to evaluate the cartoon as a student text, attitudes to issues content, and styles of resolving issues based conflicts. The results were interpreted by classifying the respondents into four categories of science likingness ( A, B, C, D) on the basis of Year 11 subject choice, and favorite subject. It was assumed that the accommodation of Mertonian values by a group reflected the science likingness of the group. The cartoon text was well received with most students wishing to see more cartoons, and being able to answer questions from the text. The B, C, and D groups expressed a preference for the cartoon text over their current science text. The proposed differential accommodation of values appeared to account for the greater enthusiasm of the B and C groups for the cartoons than the A and D groups. Perceptions of the amount of current social problems/ issues content in science teaching increased markedly with group science likingness. The amount of issues content desired decreased with increasing group science likingness. A belief that scientific solutions could resolve social problems/ issues, showed a marked decrease with decreasing science likingness. A value model of cognitive style was developed from the basic hypothesis and assumptions regarding the extent of accommodation of Mertonian and Humanist norms as personal values. This model seemed to account for variations in meaning generated for the various groups in response to both the standard and cartoon science text format.
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ItemPursuing school renewal in the midst of change( 1991)This study considers the implementation of the goals of the St. Bernard's College mission statement. The School Development Project, through which the mission statement was developed, is only considered in terms of its impact on the implementation phase. The mission statement goals are grouped under five headings: (a) faith development, (b) personal development, (c) curriculum, (d) communication, and (e) participation. The research questions group into four key areas: (a) the process of implementation, (b) ownership of the mission, (c) the achievement of goals, and (d) the impact of leadership. The literature suggested that change is difficult to create and sustain because implementing change is centrally concerned with changing people, and people find change difficult. Helping people change in loosely coupled" educational organisations is even more difficult as change then involves a political process of negotiation and agreement. A triangulation approach was adopted to collecting data. The school community was sampled using a questionnaire and those in key leadership roles were interviewed. Documentation linked to implementation was also collected and analysed. Research findings indicated that a planned strategy for implementation was not pursued and that implementation had been affected by major changes in leadership at the local and province levels. A planned strategy for implementation is now being developed at the college. The most effective strategy would require increased external assistance to develop expertise and support implementation at the local level.
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ItemSubtraction methods of secondary school students( 1991)This project investigates the subtraction methods used by secondary school students. Four subtraction questions, presented in vertical form, were answered by 1,370 students from Forms 1 to 6 at a private school for boys. The study documented subtraction methods which the students had not been taught at school but had made up. It was found that 136 students (9.9% of the sample ) used their own methods. One question revealed 37 different ways of working out the subtraction. The proportion of students using their own methods increased exponentially with year level. The students who used their own methods were compared with students who used taught methods. Analysis of pooled results from different year levels revealed a significantly higher proportion of students using their own methods in the under-achieving maths classes. The lateral thinking ability of students using their own methods was not different from that of other students.
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ItemCatholic Ladies' College : a case study in Catholic education in Victoria( 1990)This case study of Catholic Ladies' College Eltham Victoria shows major shifts in its style of operation from the late nineteenth century to the present. These shifts are seen as reflections of change in the philosophy and provision of Catholic education generally, as it responds to different historical and social pressures. Evidence for the Chapters dealing with the general background of Catholic education has been largely drawn from histories and sociological investigations, while evidence for the particular history of the school has been largely drawn from archival material documents, interviews and survey results. Findings are that within the school changes in style and direction can be noted which illustrate major trends and changes in Catholic education. Some evidence of differences in style of operation between Catholic, government and independent schools was found in the contemporary context, though full organization and school climate studies were not conducted.