Faculty of Education - Theses
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 8 of 8
-
ItemThe year co-ordinator in selected Victorian metropolitan independent schools : profile, practice and prospects( 1987)This study was designed to examine the position and role of the Year Co-ordinator in selected Victorian Metropolitan Independent schools. The principal objectives of the study were: (i) to discover what sorts of persons undertake this role and establish whether they have personal, academic and career characteristics in common; (ii) to look at the year co-ordinator's perception of the role; and (iii) to examine the career interests of year co-ordinators and, in particular, to gauge their opinions on how well their present role is preparing them for future responsibilities, such as Deputy Principal or Principal. A questionnaire was distributed to forty AHISA affiliated Independent schools in Victoria. Twenty eight valid responses were received. Six Principals returned their questionnaires stating that the position of year co-ordinator did not exist in their schools. The schools who did not reply were telephoned and it was established that year co-ordinators did exist in those schools.
-
ItemA comparative analysis of the role of deputy principal in independent schools in Victoria( 1983)The purpose of this study was to investigate the position and role of deputy principal, or its equivalent, in independent schools in Victoria. Due to the diverse nature of independent schools, the study had as its objectives: (i) To determine whether there were one or more deputy principal positions in each school, or none at all, and whether there were identifiable structural patterns of the principal-deputy principal relationship. (ii) To determine whether there were personal, academic and career characteristics that deputy principals had in common. (iii) To determine whether there was any common role definition for the deputy principal position in independent schools. A questionnaire was distributed to the 65 HMC and AHIGSV affiliated independent schools in Victoria. 46 valid responses were received from 41 deputy principals defined, for the purposes of the study, as the person(s) officially designated to act in the place of the principal in his/her absence. 5 other respondents, occupying the position(s) most closely resembling that of deputy principal, provided valid responses that were included for the purposes of statistical analysis as they appeared to occupy positions of similar status to that of deputy principal. These responses were from 42 schools. The general findings of the study were that: (i) The position did exist in most schools and the one-to-one principal-deputy principal structural relationship existed in the vast majority of schools. 'Deputy Head' was the most common title for the position. (ii) There appeared to be tendencies: (a) against females attaining the position in coeducational schools. (b) for deputy principals from Roman Catholic and Anglican schools to be at the extremes, with those from Roman Catholic schools occupying the younger and less experienced end of the spectrum. (c) for a low incidence of deputy principals to have higher degrees and formal training in the field of educational administration. (d) for a high proportion to view the position as a career' position, especially those from Anglican schools. (iii) It was not possible to develop a common role definition due to a low incidence of the use of written job descriptions and lack of commonality for the role, as currently performed. Deputy principals had a hand in almost every school duty area but the clear tendency was for shared rather than full responsibility.
-
ItemA comparative study of ten Victorian Protestant girls' school histories 1875 to 1920( 1985)In recent years a number of histories of independent girls' schools have been published and it now seems an appropriate time to draw together some aspects of this history. This thesis will trace some of the common features of these histories with a view to explaining the changes in the development of female education in Victoria during the period 1875 to 1920.(From Introduction)
-
Item"Are you satisfied?": review of parental attitudes towards the curriculum of an independent girls' secondary school( 1985)This thesis examines the attitudes of parents to a range of issues concerning the content and application of the educational programme of a small independent girls' school in Melbourne's eastern suburbs. The material that forms the basis of the thesis was gathered from information supplied in response to questionnaires sent to all parents of daughters in the senior school, supplemented by a limited number of interviews. The intention of this review of the school was to establish the extent to which the school's educational programme reflected the wishes and needs of the present parent-body, to establish whether there were any areas of substantial dissatisfaction that need immediate attention, and to determine whether there were particular reasons why parents chose this school as such information could assist in the development of a particular style for the school. The thesis analyses the one hundred and ninety-eight responses to the questionnaire (with some illumination given by the interviews of twenty-eight parents) and suggests areas for change. However, the overall impression gained from the analysis is that the present parent-body is extremely satisfied with the school.
-
ItemThe adoption of co-education: a descriptive account of decision-making in selected independent schools in Victoria( 1982)Traditionally, the independent schools of Victoria, some of which were founded over 100 years ago, have been single-sex schools. During the 1970's, at least twenty single-sex independent schools adopted co-education. This thesis seeks to explore, in selected schools, some of the reasons for this change in format. In this thesis, the history of Australian and Victorian education is outlined, with particular mention being made of the establishing of the earliest independent schools. The review of literature deals predominantly with research studies which attempt to establish the strengths and weaknesses of both single-sex education and co-education. The data for this study comprises case studies of four single-sex independent schools which adopted co-education. One was a girls school which accepted boys, two were boys schools which accepted girls, and one school was the result of a merger of a boys school and a girls school. Each school was examined concerning possible reasons for a change of format, within a conceptual framework developed from the review of literature. The three analytic criteria were: philosophical considerations, response to market pressure, and economic viability. Each conceptual framework variable was seen to be relevant to the decision by each school to adopt co-education, but in varying proportions in each school. One school's decision to adopt co-education resulted from an emphasis on educational philosophy; two schools placed emphasis on the need to respond to market pressures, thus gaining present, or ensuring future, support from clientele; whilst the fourth school was the result of a merger for the predominant reason of re-establishing economic viability.
-
ItemParental choice: non-government secondary schools in the Ballarat region( 1981)This study grew out of suggestions that there was a drift in students at the secondary level from government schools to the independent schools at Ballarat. Later, evidence presented by the Regional Education Office at Ballarat showed that there was indeed an observable shift in enrolments. The study was primarily concerned to see if those parents who enrolled their children at the secondary level for the first time at an independent school in 1980 had in fact considered sending their children to a state secondary school. It was thought necessary to broaden the scope of the study to understand the reasons why parents opted to send their children to the 'independent schools. First, a study of the parents' attitudes towards education at the secondary level is undertaken. Second, the personal and family background of the parents from the various schools is revealed so that differences between the parent bodies can be ascertained, Finally, the study attempted to reveal reasons why the parents chose to send their children to independent schools, and whether those reasons are in harmony with the aims of the schools as set out in their various prospectuses. The picture based on empirical evidence of the independent schools of Ballarat as perceived by the schools themselves, and by the parents who chose to send their children to these schools, is then used as background to search for qualitative evidence for the drift which has occurred.
-
ItemIndependent schools and children of high intellectual potential( 1990)Independent Schools and Children of High Intellectual Potential In the current, rather volatile, educational climate, the community in Victoria is engaged in considerable debate about the putative merits and demerits of the proposed changes to post-compulsory schooling, the consequent flowback to curriculum and methodology in the P-10 years, and the consequences for the nature of our society. It is in this context, on the eve of the implementation of these changes, that this minor thesis proposes that teachers in non-systemic, independent schools continue to need to be made aware of the ways in which students of high intellectual potential might be identified and have their particular needs met within the constraints of the present system, so that the opportunities for the achievement of excellence might be explicitly realized. A survey has been conducted in order to establish, in a broad way, what is being done for children of high intellectual potential in non-systemic, independent schools within a 25-kilometre radius of the GPO, Melbourne. These schools have been surveyed by questionnaire. This questionnaire was designed to enquire about schools' entry policies, preliminary testing of students, the ways in which these tests are employed to group students and in which curriculum areas, at what levels any differential programs operate, the theory and research which informs the schools' policies, the oversight and implementation of these provisions or programs, and the nature of the schools' commitment to recognizing and meeting the needs of the highly able. The results of the questionnaire suggest that the single sex girls schools are more aware of and sensitive to the needs of able students and the ways in which the curriculum might be differentiated to meet those needs than either the single sex boys schools or the coeducational schools. While there is a general awareness of the issue of able students in many schools, there is, with a few notable exceptions, a lack of the firm knowledge and understanding of the ways in which those needs might be met by adopting specific identification measures, by modifying the traditional group structures employed in schools, and by systematically differentiating the curriculum for able students within and across particular learning domains. There is clearly a continuing need for the provision of further professional inservicing of all teachers to assist them in recognizing the needs and fostering the capacities of the intellectually able young in schools, that these students might be afforded the opportunities to realize their maximum potential.
-
ItemThe changing role of the headmaster?: a study of two Ivanhoe Grammar School headmasters, 1915-1974( 1985)The organization of this study is straightforward. The first chapter discusses the origin of the Headmaster tradition and school management. The second chapter reviews the development of educational administration and its relationship to business administration. The third and fourth chapters deal with a study of two Ivanhoe Grammar School Headmasters, 1915 to 1974. The last chapter examines the different leadership styles of the headmasters and concludes that although these styles may vary, due to a variety of factors, the function of a headmaster remains basically the same.