Melbourne Graduate School of Education - Theses
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ItemTowards redressing the neglect of "dispositional knowledge"( 1991)Dispositional knowledge has been long neglected (with only few exceptions) by philosophers even though this topic should be of particular interest to philosophers of Education. All dispositional knowledge can be expressed in the grammatical form 'x knows how to 0'. So, in examining dispositional knowledge statements, we need only consider statements which are expressible in this form. Kyle's work on dispositional knowledge (or knowing how to) was misleading in that he assimilated cases of human dispositional knowledge with cases of physical dispositions. More recently David. Carr has proposed an alternative view of knowing how to which culminates in three criteria for the application of physical know how to an agent; these criteria are parallel to the widely acknowledged tri-partite account of propositional knowledge. Carr neglects an account of mental know how on the grounds that mental know how cannot be distinguished from mental ability. Carr's account of physical know how is flawed. And an analysis of mental know how is required. An examination of mental know how reveals criteria for mental know how which are parallel to the criteria for physical know how.
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ItemCritical pedagogy and its application to curriculum policy( 1991)Curriculum theory can be seen as social theory because a curriculum interrelates knowledge and social practices that legitimate the dominant culture. The relationship between society and schooling is reflected in the curriculum; a critical pedagogy attempts to reveal the ideological content within the curriculum as it is related to the question of power. An analysis of schooling and the curriculum traditionally has been divided into two main categories. The functionalist mode comprises various human capital economists, such as Becker (1964), who give emphasis to the functional role between schooling and economic and social requirements. In this case, schools' role is to prepare their students for the job market.-Within this functionalist mode, a more critical analysis has also been developed by Bowles and Gintis (1976) and Carnoy and Levin (1976), among others, who argue that schools reproduce the prevailing class structure. The other tradition wants to see schools as autonomous so that schools can be used as initiaters of social and political_ change, as was emphasized by Dewey (1916) and other progressive educational theorists. This paper addresses the question of whether different classes can benefit From the same academically oriented curriculum. Bourdieu and Passeron [1977) argue that the educational system merely reproduces the cultural capital which has been distributed before students enter education; those with the highest amount of cultural capital will benefit most from schooling. The same argument is taken up by Bantock [1965) who maintains that working class children are for cultural reasons likely to be inhibited from gaining the best of education even if they were given equal chances; because, as he continues to argue, 'high culture' for the working classes is meaningless. Thus, these different writers would agree that members of the working class are inhibited because of their working class culture rather than their measured IQ. Jencks (1972) and Boudon (1974) in a slightly different way argue that the class inequalities which have deeply structured roots, and are maintained by social forces, are beyond the reach of equalitarian educational reform. However, it will be argued in this paper that schooling must promote a common culture for all if all participants in schools are to benefit equally. An 'organic' curriculum suited to either class will only cement and fortify class divisions. Instead, this paper argues for the adoption of a strict academic curriculum as a means of redistributing knowledge, and thus political power, so that education may be disengaged from serving the ands of an exploitative, capitalist economy.
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ItemThe pedagogy of St Thomas Aquinas and its significance for contemporary catechetical methodology( 1991)This thesis sets out to achieve two related tasks. First, it aims to extract from the massive corpus of the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) a coherent pedagogical theory. The Introduction gives a brief overview of the man in history, sets out the confines of the investigation and establishes a working definition of pedagogy. Chapter One argues that for pedagogy to be effective it must cooperate with the operation of the intellect. It then proceeds to examine St. Thomas's understanding of the operation of the intellect. It also considers the role of the senses in intellection and the notion of the perfection of the intellect. Chapters Two and Three work systematically through St. Thomas's basic epistemology. They analyse his principles of cognition, abstraction, the use of reason, the purpose of knowledge, the divine truth and Catholic doctrine. Secondly, this thesis draws specific (Thomisitic) catechetical principles from this pedagogy. Chapter Four examines St. Thomas's explicit pedagogy. It considers the teacher, potency to knowledge, discovery and instruction. It reviews the notion of pre-existent knowledge, derived and perfected by St. Thomas from the Greek philosophers. It also deals with the letter written by St. Thomas to Brother John on "How to Study". Chapter Five draws thirteen catechetical principles from St. Thomas's pedagogy. It considers the use of intellect, will and reason, teaching and instruction within this catechetical framework. In the process of completing this second task Chapter Six examines a contemporary Catholic catechetical document and evaluates its methodological precepts in the light of Thomisitic catechesis derived in Chapter Five.
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ItemDrama with vision impaired children( 1991)This project addresses the application of educational drama with vision impaired children. It reports on three years of research and practical experience in the area and aims to highlight how important and relevant drama is for this population, thus pioneering a broad and purposeful usage of drama with vision impaired children. An implementation of educational drama with vision impaired children requires an understanding of both drama, in its educational and therapeutic forms, and vision impairment and its implications. In this way the project sought to investigate the areas of drama, drama therapy and vision impairment separately before addressing the application of drama with vision impaired children. The first part of the thesis reports on this theoretical background information. The second part of the thesis links these areas and reports on the application of drama with vision impaired children in the form of a manual. After establishing a case for drama with vision impaired children, the project provides practical information as to how to implement drama techniques with the vision impaired child. An 'action cycle' is put forward involving observation, planning, implementation and evaluation stages. Teaching methods are given and discussed for the singularly impaired vision impaired child, the child with additional impairment and, to a lesser extent, the multiply impaired vision impaired child. Examples are used extensively throughout and case-study material is provided. The project addresses the following audiences: (i) teachers working with vision impaired children who would like to implement drama techniques (ii) teachers, including drama teachers, who have a vision impaired child in their class and who would like to know more about vision impairment and how drama can be utilised with a vision impaired child (iii) others, outside the field of education, such as therapists, medical practitioners and care-givers who are involved with vision impaired children (iv) parents of vision impaired children (v) as the vision impaired population includes many children with additional disability, including physical, intellectual, hearing, emotional and social problems, the project may be useful for those working with children with impairments other than visual.
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ItemGetting the words out: facilitated communication training and the integration of students with disabilities into mainstream schools( 1991)Facilitated communication training is a new method of training individuals with severe communication impairments (SCI) to use communication aids. It has been used with success to enable students with very limited speech and writing skills to undertake the regular syllabus in mainstream classrooms in Victoria. This paper describes the technique of facilitated communication training including: a. its place in the current repertoire of augmentative and alternative communication techniques b. the development and use of facilitated communication training at DEAL Communication Centre c. the rationale for the use of facilitation with individual students d. the nature of the technique, including descriptions of specific hand function problems with appropriate remedial strategies e. reduction of facilitation f. a review of the literature on facilitated communication training g. the integration of users of facilitated communication into mainstream schools in Victoria h. problems with facilitated communication training i. future directions for facilitated communication training
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ItemAnton Semyonovich Makarenko and progressive education: a study of Pedagogicheskaya Poema, or, The Road to Life( 1991)The aftermath of the 1917 October Revolution in the U.S.S.R, brought about a climate of radical reforms in the entire education system. The first minister of education, Lunacharsky, introduced experimentation in schools; he encouraged the implementation of a school curriculum influenced by Marxist-Leninist ideology combined with the ideals of John Dewey and the Western Progressive tendencies in education. In Russia, a product of the October revolution was also a multitude of 'bezprizornie', homeless children who needed urgent educational attention. In 1920, a young Ukranian teacher, imbued with the fervour of revolutionary ideals, was given the task of running a colony for 'bezprizornie'. Antonich Makarenko accepted the task with reluctance but also with a firm belief that educational processes could re-educate children. He also believed that the education system could cater for the interests of both the individual and the group. Makarenko's educational experiment became known as 'The Gorky Colony', in honour of his source of inspiration, the Russian writer, Maxim Gorky. In the running of the Gorky Colony, after initial difficulties, Makarenko, experienced fame and success. He recorded his pedagogical experience in a literary work which he called: A Poem of Education, translated into English and thereafter known as: The Road to Life. His work, first published in 1933, coincided with the end of the Lenin-Lunacharsky's influence in education and with the rise of Stalinist policies of return to traditionalism in education. Makarenko survived the party purges of the early Bolsheviks by adopting the Stalinist policies in education. Calling his methodology 'the Soviet Way', and by stressing the belief in 'collective education', he gained favour within the Stalin regime and also during the 'de-Stalinization' years of the Khrushchov regime. Detailed analysis of The Road to Life, reveals that the 'Makarenko method' remains most of all a reflection of the child-centred, progressive approach to education of the early Bolshevik years, the 1920's.
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ItemNon-English speaking background females as students and as teachers( 1991)In contrast to literature on female teachers generally, of which there is an abundance, there is little research on the specific category of female Non English Speaking Background (NESB) teachers in schools. Equally, there is no literature available which outlines the progressive experience of NESB girls, initially as students and later as professional teachers. This study aims to do a little of both by tracing the experiences of NESB girls as students and as teachers in the educational environment. This study has relied on the qualitative methodological approach. Interviews were preferred over rigid questionnaires as this method allowed for an experience based comparative study where issues raised could be pursued, expanded upon and further developed as the need arose. The results of this study show that NESB women (as students and teachers), are not only disadvantaged in regards to their gender, but also in relation to ethnicity. It became evident that although NESB teachers had reached the other end of the educational spectrum, they were still being subjected to the biases and discrimination which they had. experienced earlier as students in the education system.