Faculty of Education - Theses
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 3 of 3
-
ItemComing, ready or not! : predicted growth in participation in adult education over the next decade( 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.
-
ItemParticipation and influence on policy decision-making by principals and senior administrators in the Adult Migrant Education Services( 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.
-
ItemVisions, values and versatility: an examination of the management committees in adult education( 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.