Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemSuccessful leaders in successful schools: a case study of a government primary school principal in Victoria, Australia( 2006)The research examined the leadership behaviour exhibited by a principal of a successful school. It used a single case study of a successful primary school based in Victoria, Australia, using qualitative analysis involving structured open-ended interviews from the multiple perspectives of the principal, teachers, non-teaching staff, parents and students. This research ensured that teachers, other school staff, parents and students were able to comment and thus verify and add to the statements the principal made. The research continued work carried out by Day, Harris and Hadfield. It has contributed an Australian perspective to an international research project on this issue, the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP). The research found it was the principal who made a major contribution to the improvement of the school. Over his tenure as principal, and through his vision, dedication and passion, the principal improved the learning outcomes for all students at his school. He not only improved the academic nature of the school but created a safe and nurturing environment that encouraged the children to want to go to school and to succeed. The research reinforced a lot of what past research has suggested is required for a leader to make an impact or improve the situation in a school. He shared and articulated a clear vision that the staff made their own. The principal, being the main leader, and through empowering others, had made important contributions to student learning. He had mastered a core set of basic leadership practices, was and made everyone accountable for their results and performance, and sought and provided constant feedback. He was a spokesman and role model and defender of social equity and fairness. The research found that most of these qualities the principal displayed appeared to stem from the character of the man - his moral and ethical stance and his commitment to the principles of equity and social justice. His leadership style had extended beyond just transformational leadership to be better described as a highly political, value-led contingency model of transformational leadership. This research contributes to identifying the characteristics and skills that are necessary to create and maintain a successful school and to informing professional development programs for current and future principals.
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ItemUsing computers in grade two: a case study of two teachers( 2001)The purpose of this study is to examine how a small group of Grade Two teachers are using computer technology with children in their classes. Computer technology has become a major focus as well as an integral part of teaching and learning within the Primary School. However, current studies into how teachers of junior primary grades are using computers in the classroom are scarce with the emphasis of research tending to be more concerned with the effects on the students. This study is based upon a series of interviews and observation sessions in which the participants reflected upon their beliefs about computer technology and its place within a junior primary classroom. The study identifies that teachers are aware of the importance of exposing their students to computer technology and are attempting to meaningfully embed the use of computers into the curriculum by planning activities that are relevant to the learning that is taking place within the classroom. It also identifies, however, that such use of computers is heavily dependent on the individual teacher. There is a need for a professional development program to be implemented that will assist the teachers to use computers to supplement and extend their students learning experiences.
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ItemAssemblages and representations: boys' interactions and displays in a Year 8 coeducational classroom( 2005)This thesis draws on themes from postmodern philosophy (Deleuze & Guattari, 1987, Grosz, 2004) and gender (Connell, 2002) to render boys' behaviours in a coeducational classroom and depict diversities in classroom cultures. The study engages one site, a Year 8 coeducational classroom, in an outer suburban Catholic secondary college of Melbourne, gathering moments and capturing shifts and responses to a range of representations during timetabled lessons. This ethnographic study of classroom behaviours of boys recognises the powerful influence of metanarratives on identities and agendas in schools. It employs a lens that views the metanarrative discourse as a field, where interplays between individuals and assembled cultures take place, as shifting, becoming, transiting bodies (Grosz, 2004). The research rejects deceptive simplifications that some totalising perspectives can bring to a study about gender, preferring stances that recognise multiple, unstable representations (Connell, 2002, p. 89). There is a recognition that particular challenges apply to ethnographic research of classes, including influences of histories and stances of the observer. It contests objective epistemological models and utilises conceptions of knowledge that reject objective accounts of reality to view cultures as `happenings' and multitudes of differential relations (Edgar & Sedgwick, 1999, Semetsky, 2003). Assemblages and representations observed in this study may not be reproduced in other settings, but lessons can be drawn from an understanding of representations, relationships and interplays between boys, their teachers and their peers. The study contributes to the debate about boys' education by providing connections between the observations and analysis of classroom interactions and boys' education literature. It shows how representations by participants in an educational setting can influence assemblages. It offers advice for educators about approaches that can effectively influence learning events.