Melbourne Graduate School of Education - Theses

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    Learning organisations and their educational impact in a corporate environment
    Schell, Elizabeth E ( 1995)
    This thesis is a study of learning organisations and their educational impact in a corporate environment. It provides an overview of the theory of organisational learning, and of learning organisations and describes several models of learning organisations. The important principles of holism and explicitness are established. Examples of learning organisation practices in overseas enterprises are compared with two case studies of Australian organisations which are aspiring learning organisations. These practices are then critically reviewed leading to the development of a new model for learning organisations, based upon 'empowered leadership', which explains holism and explicitness in detail. It concludes by addressing the issue of what learning organisations provide educationally, using the emerging prominence of 'life-long learning' as a focus.
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    The characteristics of exchange structure patterns of an adult low-level ESL classroom using a genre-based approach to the teaching of writing : a study of classroom discourse
    Suherdi, Didi ( 1994)
    This study is concerned with the characteristics of exchange structure patterns of an adult low-level English as a second language (ESL) classroom using a genre-based approach to the teaching of writing in an Australian context. To provide an appropriate system of analysis, Ventola's (1987; 1988h) system for analysing conversational structure in service encounter texts has been expanded to suit the characteristics of the data in the current study. Applying the expanded version of Ventola's system, the whole data have been segmented into exchanges. Two major categories of exchange structure patterns have been identified: non-anomalous, which comprises simple and complex exchanges, and anomalous, which comprises elliptical, defective, and broken exchanges. Using this exchange categorisation as a basis, the characteristics of the interactional patterns, the shifts of roles of information supplier, and the variability of language use in a genre-based approach classroom have been identified and explicated. Exchange structure patterns dominant in certain sub-stages vary in accordance with the variation of other factors. In conjunction with the shifts of roles of the information supplier, for example, in Sub-stage 1, in which the students were cast to serve the function of information supplier, B-event exchanges were dominant, Only a small number of A-event exchanges occur in this sub-stage. In contrast, in Sub-stage 2 and Rehearsal where the teacher served the function of information supplier, A-event exchanges were dominant.
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    Coming, ready or not! : predicted growth in participation in adult education over the next decade
    Whyte, Elizabeth Ann ( 1989)
    This report identifies the expectations the adult education sector has of school leavers if a system of lifelong education is to be achieved in Australia, and predicts strong growth in participation in lifelong education. It finds that young people need to have a positive attitude towards learning throughout life and it explores how the number of students who leave school with a negative attitude towards learning might be reduced. In exploring problems with schooling it became apparent that changing schools alone would not achieve the desired outcomes. Thus the report also looks at the likely demand by adults for lifelong education and some of the policy and legislative changes as well as changes in the workplace that are necessary if lifelong education is to be a reality for all who wish to participate. The material for the report was gathered from a joint Australian Teachers Federation and Commission for the Future project and associated inquiries. This was combined with ideas and strategies outlined in a number of major recent. Australian reports to develop predictions about participation in lifelong education over the next decade. Two of the inquiries used a modified Delphi technique to achieve concensus about expectations of schooling and strategies to reduce the number of students who leave school with inadequate basic skills and a negative attitude towards learning. Ancillary material about the kind of skills adults think they will need in the next ten years was collected from simple interviews with 52 members of the general public. To predict likely demand for adult education the research combines demographic data with enrolment statistics and value segment analysis. Value segment analysis describes the population in terms of its values and has been used because of the relationship between motivation and participation in adult education. Overall the project is a descriptive piece of research developed through selective survey methods involving interviewing groups and individuals and combining this data with ideas identified through a literature review. The numbers of people involved in the two Delphi inquiries and interviews are so small that the findings can only be treated as indicative of the public's views rather than as finite statements. The report concludes by predicting a strong growth in participation in lifelong education caused by increased educational expectations in the community generally the ageing of the population increased need to continually learn and update skills for work and personal life and a growing concern generally about our social and physical environments.
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    The education of an adult : the ideas of Martin Buber
    Webster, Jill ( 1991)
    Martin Buber regarded adult education as a means towards the transformation of societies through the process of community renewal. He insisted that the principal object of teaching adults should be to foster in them the spirit of action, and to make them the agents of their own learning. Education, to Buber, was a dialogue conducted between the teacher and the student. He was disturbed by the disillusionment and cynicism he observed in the modern youth of his time, and he saw the teacher-student dialogue as being concerned with the nurturing of hope and faith. Buber did extensive work in the field of adult Jewish education both intellectually and in practice. He was involved first in Germany during the period of the Nazi rise to power, and later in Israel, where he worked vigorously for the cause of community education and the training of teachers for adults. This thesis attempts to explore some of these issues. There are six chapters. The first is a biographical introduction, followed by a discussion of the development of Buber's thought from early mysticism to his later dialogical philosophy. The third chapter is devoted to his ideas concerning social education, which, he believed, would be a force that could bring about a revolution from within society against political power. The next two deal with Buber's convictions on such topics as creativity, freedom and authority and the process of education, leading to his adult educational activities in both Nazi Germany and Israel. Finally, attention is drawn to the influence of his ideas in. providing a philosophical foundation for the theories of other educationalists, such as Paulo Freire. An attempt has been made to demonstrate that in his theories of education, Buber applied the principles of this anthropological philosophy to the concrete realities of teaching and learning. In this way he has provided a valuable mechanism for the contemporary educator who may choose to use his suggestions in any critical evaluation of education.
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    Participation and influence on policy decision-making by principals and senior administrators in the Adult Migrant Education Services
    Howells, Yvonne (1942-) ( 1987)
    From the late seventies to 1986 the Adult Migrant Education Services (AMES) in Victoria changed, from a simple organisation structure managed by direct supervision, to an extensive organisation with a complex organisation structure managed through delegated responsibility. The impetus for this study is the observation that policy decision-making processes are not generally understood by organisation members. The purpose of the study is to contribute to an increased understanding of decision-making processes in the Adult Migrant Education Services by examining the characteristics and determining conditions and outcomes of these decision-making processes. The objects of study are a number of principals of Adult Migrant Education Centres and senior AMES staff. Their participation and influence on two policy decisions at State level is examined with regard to past, present and future aspects of organisational development. The theoretical focus of the study concerns the location of the decision-making power within the organisation and the identification of the relative forms of participation in a policy decision. Two models for analysing the processes of decision-making were used, as presented in the works of Thomas Dye and Per Erik Ellström. A system devised to permit classification of forms of participation was used to identify the dimension of participation in policy decision-making. Data was collected through recorded and verbatim reports of interviews, minutes, internal organisational reports and government reports. As the study progressed, AMES management made the first steps towards corporate planning and program budgeting. The initial impact of such planning on the participation of principals and senior staff in policy decisions is described. As a result of the analysis of the data it is found that the lack of legitimate participative policy generating processes and structures at principal level was related to the lack of strategic planning. In conclusion, examples of the overall management function of the middle and senior level in a decentralized organisation is suggested.
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    Confucian confusion: a western analysis of the efficacy of contemporary workplace training methods in a multicultural environment
    Hoare, Lynnel Anne ( 1999)
    This research investigated the extent to which experiential training techniques are appropriate for use with multicultural groups by testing an assumption that a dissonance exists between the perception of training efficacy assumed by "Western" adult education methods, and the concomitant perceptions of training participants of Asian/Confucian background. Data relating to the research question was collected through a process of interpersonal interviews with adult educators working in Victoria and from focus groups involving people of Confucian background who have participated in workplace based training. The responses of the two groups were compared and contrasted. The research found that significant difference of perception exists between the two groups. The research identifies opportunities to render training programs more culturally inclusive through adaptations to program structure, processes, attention to learning styles, the level of interpersonal interactivity and the training environment. The research proposes that we are often unaware that our accepted notions and most ethically based intentions are often blinkered by our subconscious cultural socialisation. The implications of these findings are significant for those who have the responsibility to design, implement and coordinate workplace education and training. The research concludes with suggestions for changes in practice and recommendations for future research.
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    Visions, values and versatility: an examination of the management committees in adult education
    Crossing, Elinor Elizabeth Myra ( 1988)
    Adult education in Victoria is community based. An integral part of the adult education system throughout the State are the adult education committees of management. Adult education centres were mostly initiated by these committees and developed in response to expressed community needs. These committees of management are the subject of this thesis. The problems experienced by these committees in the context of a changing adult education scene are examined. In particular, membership of the committees, the roles and responsibilities of committee members, the methods of decision making, the general operation of the committees and the predominance of women in adult education. A management and training strategy that leads to the more efficient operation of an adult education committee of management is proposed. Attention is focused on the committee members for the forty-three Local Advisory Committees to the Council of Adult Education in Victoria. It is hoped that this study will benefit these committee-members and as well, the paid staff who are employed by the committee.