Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemUnpacking mindfulness: An exploration of mindfulness interventions in children through a developed conceptual framework( 2019)Mindfulness interventions continue to exhibit popularity with children and youth with many demonstrating impacts on a range of cognitive, social and behavioural outcomes. However, research on mindfulness with children is troubled by the lack of conceptual clarity of what mindfulness actually is and the failure of many interventions to adequately define or conceptualise mindfulness at the outset. Mindfulness is variously described as a psychological and meditative construct that has been increasingly used to treat or prevent a range of physical and psychological problems. It is commonly defined as present moment awareness with an attitude of openness and acceptance (Kabat-Zinn, 2013) with its purist origins beginning in Buddhist philosophy. Nonetheless, many models, definitions and measures have been put forward in the literature. The challenge for research on mindfulness is to manage these multiple conceptualisations. Perhaps the solution to the current vexation of what is mindfulness is not to definitively capture it, but to provide a broader framework to accommodate a range of perspectives and theoretical underpinnings? This research explicated and synthesised theoretical accounts of mindfulness to construct a conceptual framework of common mindfulness domains. This developed framework was then utilised to understand the scope and focus of mindfulness in interventions with children and youth. The first study synthesised 14 theoretical accounts of mindfulness to develop a Conceptual Framework of Mindfulness explicating three underlying domains of this construct: Attitude, Cognition and Ontology. The framework was then utilised in Study 2 to map 178 mindfulness interventions with children (4-18 years) to understand the representation of these three domains in interventions and the effect sizes associated with each domain. The mapping study also explored how consistent studies were in their concept of mindfulness across the theory of change. Most studies demonstrated coverage of 2 domains of mindfulness: Attitude and Cognition with the Attitude domain demonstrating largest effect sizes where outcome measures of this nature were reported. Findings also indicated that very few studies demonstrated conceptual alignment across theory, activity and outcomes. The framework proved a valid and useful tool through which interventions could be mapped to understand conceptual scope. Findings generated from the framework have important implications for interventionists and program developers around the design of mindfulness interventions with children and the need to ensure conceptual consistency throughout an intervention’s theory of change. The framework could be applied in the planning and design of interventions and measures of mindfulness to ensure conceptual consistency. Furthermore, it allows for more meaningful aggregation of mindfulness research through the identification and comparison of interventions with similar conceptualisations of mindfulness.
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ItemActing with care: how actor practice is shaped by creating theatre with and for children( 2017)Research has investigated the backgrounds, dispositions and skills of artists working with children in both school and in out-of-school contexts (Ascenso, 2016; Brown, 2014; Galton, 2008; Jeanneret & Brown, 2013; Pringle, 2002; Pringle, 2009; Rabkin, Reynolds, Hedberg, & Shelby, 2008; Waldorf, 2002). Actors make a significant contribution to this work but few studies focus in depth on how they create theatre with and for children. Incorporating constructivist, phenomenological (Van Manen, 1990) and case study methodologies, this research investigates the practice of nine actors who create theatre with and for children in diverse contexts. Drawing on document analysis, surveys, semi-structured interviews and performance observations, the research explores two key questions: What characterises the practice of actors who create theatre with and for children? and How is actor practice shaped by working with children? This thesis explores actor practice in relation to being, doing, knowing and becoming (Ewing & Smith, 2001). Shaped to be outward facing and ‘pedagogically tactful’ (Van Manen, 2015), actor practice gives emphasis to four key qualities: listening, reciprocating, imagining and empathising. When creating theatre with and for children, pedagogically tactful actors are guided by a sense of care and respect. This thesis adds to the discourse about artists working with children, making actor practice visible and drawing attention to their beliefs, goals, motivations and acting techniques.
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ItemSpeech production skills, vocabulary development, and speech perception abilities in children with hearing loss: intervention and outcomes( 2007)Despite early diagnosis, early fitting of more advanced sensory aids, early intervention, and intensive educational management, many children with severe to profound hearing loss are delayed in their acquisition of spoken language compared with their peers with normal hearing. Some of the greatest challenges facing educators of children with hearing loss include determining where to focus intervention in order to maximise benefit, and establishing the most effective strategies for the development of age-appropriate language. The experimental research in this thesis, conducted across three studies, examined the relationship between hearing, speech production, and vocabulary knowledge, and investigated the contributions of these factors to the overall speech perception performance of children with hearing loss. This research also investigated the areas in which intervention would be most beneficial, and examined the effects of different types of intervention on the development of spoken language and speech perception skills in children with hearing loss. The first study collected and analysed data to validate a simple non-linear mathematical model that describes the effects of hearing, vocabulary knowledge, and speech production on the perception test scores for monosyllabic words by children with hearing loss. Thirty-three primary-school children with hearing loss, fitted with hearing aids and/or cochlear implants, were evaluated, using speech perception, reading-aloud, speech production, and language measures. Results from these measures were analysed using the mathematical model. It was found that performance on an open-set speech perception word test in the auditory-alone mode is strongly dependent on residual hearing levels, lexical knowledge, and speech production abilities. Further applications of the model provided an estimate of the effect of each component on the overall speech perception score for each child. The separation of these components made it possible to ascertain which children would benefit most from specific language intervention, and which children would benefit from more advanced sensory aids. However, further investigation of the effectiveness of different intervention strategies on the development of speech perception skills is required. In the second study, 12 primary school-aged children with hearing loss participated in two types of speech production intervention to determine which was the most effective in improving speech production skills. After an 8-week intensive program, speech production skills improved for all children, with greater improvements evident in the articulation of phonemes trained at a phonological level. Untrained vowels and consonants also improved after intervention. These findings suggest that intensive speech production intervention in the context of words, sentences, and discourse is effective not only in improving the production of those phonemes trained, but may also result in the generalisation of taught speech skills into other aspects of children's spoken language. The final study applied the mathematical model postulated in the first study to the speech perception scores of 21 primary school-aged children with hearing loss. The children participated in intensive speech production and vocabulary intervention programs. The speech production intervention program implemented the strategies that were found to be effective in the second study, while the vocabulary intervention involved learning the meanings of words. The speech production intervention produced a small but significant improvement in the production of consonants in words, while the vocabulary intervention improved knowledge of word meanings substantially. Both types of intervention significantly improved speech perception performance. These findings demonstrate that the relationships between speech perception, speech production, and vocabulary knowledge are causal rather than merely associative. The application of the model also assisted in identifying the most effective methods of improving receptive and expressive spoken language skills for individual children with hearing loss. In summary, the results from this research provided further evidence of the complex relationship between hearing, speech perception, vocabulary knowledge, and speech production. This research highlights the factors requiring consideration in the interpretation of speech perception scores. Separation of the contributions of hearing, lexical knowledge, and speech production to speech perception scores enabled a better understanding of factors contributing to children's performance levels, and facilitated the development of more appropriate intervention. Speech production and vocabulary intervention were shown to be valuable and beneficial in the individual education programs of many children with hearing loss who exhibit delays in spoken language skills. The evaluation, analysis, and intervention methods reported in this thesis provide an experimentally validated program for improving speech perception, speech production, and spoken language skills of school-aged children with hearing loss.
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ItemPortrait of the artist who works with children( 2014)In both school and non-school based studies, the significant role of artists is often cited but rarely researched in any depth, except for a few notable exceptions (Brice-Heath and Wolf, 2005; Galton, 2008; Rabkin, Reynolds, Hedberg, & Shelby, 2011; Pringle, 2002; Selkrig, 2011; Waldorf, 2002). Despite the view that artists are a rich resource for the community (Mulligan & Smith, 2009), and the claim that there is much to learn from these professionals in relation to their work with children (Galton, 2008; Pringle, 2002; Waldorf, 2002), there are no known interpretive frameworks that provide artists, and the organizations that employ them, with a guide to reflect deeply and critically on their practice involving children in non-school contexts. This research maps the backgrounds, goals and practices of over fifty artists working in a public arts facility, ArtPlay. Located in the heart of Melbourne, ArtPlay provides a wide range of artist-led programs for children aged from three-to-thirteen years. Involving a blend of discovery and constructivist methodologies, aligned with ethnography and case study, this research sought understanding through immersion and dialogue, informed by a hermeneutic model of inquiry (Hammersley, 2011). The key questions for the study were, Why do artists work with children? How do artists work with children? and How does context influence why, and how, artists work with children? To answer these questions, data, gathered through interviews, observations and surveys was analysed through a process of ‘progressive focusing’ (Stake, 2000). Highlighted in this research are the complex factors that influence the artist’s goals and practices, including child age, other adult support, length of program, and the environment. The multi-faceted and contextualised portrait constructed indicates that artists aim to promote child confidence, creativity, aesthetic awareness and joy, through practices that give emphasis to personalized and informal connections, modeling, co-construction, and creative inquiry.
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ItemCaptain Cook chased a chook: children's folklore in Australia: its origins, development, characteristics and functions within a changing historical and cultural context( 1989)This study describes and analyses that component of children’s subcultures in Australian which is largely adapted, created and transmitted by children for their own interest and amusement. It explores the historical and cultural nature of such ‘pastimes’ of childhood as games, rhymes, riddles and jokes, and considers their particular significance for our understanding of aspects of Australian cultural formation and of children’s development. Within the Australian context, the lack of interest in the study of children’s folklore by academics and educators has been part of a wider neglect of those (sometimes large) groups within the community that are without much status and authority. This neglect – ameliorated in recent years by the work of a number of innovative social historians – has been reinforced by the tendency for sophisticated industrial societies to regard as insignificant facets of child life which do not lead directly to what are regarded by adults as useful attributes and achievements. Yet the careful observation and analysis of the folkloric play subculture of Australian children reveals much of value and significance for our understanding of human development and social formation. Whilst certain underlying patterns emerge as common to children everywhere, there is evidence of considerable influence of the adult culture on the folkloric traditions of childhood. Children’s folklore does not exist in a vacuum, and the values, prejudices and expectations of the adult world are reflected, and distorted, in children’s lore. Children are both conservors and innovators in their play. Centuries-old practices exist side by side with jokes and rhymes about current events. No subject is safe from children’s scrutiny, no taboo without its playful parody. The traditions of play provide a secure arena for diverse and versatile linguistic, cognitive, kinetic and social improvisation and experiment. Much is possible in play, and children’s folklore allows the relatively dependent and powerless ‘middle childhood’ young a freedom not otherwise generally available. Despite constantly recurring claims to the contrary, these folkloric play traditions have not disappeared in our highly organised and mechanised world. Children continue to clap, skip, hop, rhyme, chant, tongue-twist and all the rest. It seems that childhood and children’s folklore are inseparable.