Faculty of Education - Theses

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    What do 'at risk' boys say about their schooling experiences ? : creating agency for boys' views and feelings about school
    Ward, Michael ( 2008)
    The following discussion outlines the theory and operational methods that inform a general ethnographical study, designed to understand the views and perceptions of three 'at risk' boys relegated to a specialised Victorian state school. The methodology hopes to empower the male students taking part in the study by giving emphasis to the didactic importance of their views, opinions and experiences expressed during a series of interviews in which they participate. It is hoped that the boys will be able to identify areas of education that need improvement, and define real life problems within their own learning experiences, so genuine male learning dilemmas and insights are generated and debated in the research. However, Connell (1989, 1995) characterises boys as `inheritors of an all conquering hegemonic masculinity' and this classic feminist perspective seems to be preventing the evolution of a boys' paradigm in education by diverting attention away from boys' educational issues by asking `which girls' and 'which boys' are specifically disadvantaged. This generic ethnographical study attempts a pro-male research project which holds boy's views, opinions and experiences paramount in the research logic processes, and makes use of key foci descriptors conceptualised in recent government research and programmes to discover how young males experience and dialogue about their schooling lives.
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    Link between teacher-student relationship, student emotional wellbeing, coping styles, classroom engagement and peer relationships
    Sabir, Fizza ( 2007)
    This research explored the link between teacher-student relationship, student emotional wellbeing, coping styles, peer relationship and classroom engagement of year 8 students. The participants were Catholic school students and the focus was limited to English class and teacher. The data sources were a Student-Survey (SS) and the Adolescent Coping Scale (ACS) (Frydenberg & Lewis, 1993). The first component of the research was scale development, to validate the hypothetical categorization of items in the scales; the second was the testing of the hypotheses. Teacher-student relationship was highly correlated with classroom engagement and coping style-solving the problem. The correlation between other variables was positive but not significant.
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    Parent professional partnerships in IEP development : a case study of a MAPS process
    Morgan, Philippa Teresa ( 2007)
    The practices, language and behaviours which professionals adopt when they meet with parents prior to Individual Education Program (IEP) planning may have a significant effect on the attitudes and capabilities families bring to the educational setting. During this case study the adult family members of a child with additional needs were observed as they addressed the developmental and programming needs of their child by participating in the McGill Action Planning System (MAPS) and a subsequent Program Support Group (PSG) meeting. Themes indicating attitudes or perceptions that empowered the family towards continued participation in collaborative teams for IEP development emerged in the observational data and were defined through the methods of informant diaries and semi-structured interviews. Less dominant quantitative methods were used to verify that the participant's ongoing attitudes towards parent professional collaboration corroborated with the final themes of flexibility, unification, satisfaction and function.
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    Investigating the relationship between self-concept and sexual behaviour of Singaporean gay men
    Ong, Keith ( 2005)
    Through a process of cooperative inquiry and interpretive ethnographic research, this thesis sets out to explore and reflect on the experiences of Gay Asian Men (GAM) in order to draw out possible implications for work around aiming to minimize the transmission of HIV/AIDS (Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). At its core is the journey of six GAM from Singapore who settled in Australia; who shared their experiences pertaining to their lifestyles in Singapore; and who shared their experiences in relation to their new lifestyles after settling in Australia. This thesis highlights the factors involved in their life experiences using a discourse/thematic analysis and issues such as family, "coming-out" and dealing with their sexual orientation were identified as significant. This is achieved through the use of semi-structured interviews that explored the participants' experiences and journey. The participants' stories are analysed thematically, revealing multiple layers of meaning and perspective. As well as examining the development of a sub-cultural identity and sexual risk taking behaviours relevant to HIV/AIDS, this project aims to give an insight into the possibilities of reducing such behaviours. This project will aim to honour the experiences of participants and shed some light on the cultural identity of these Singaporean gay men. While this research reflects on the experiences of the participants and their environment, it is ultimately about the meaning-making journey and their experiences while living in Singapore and Australia. The cultural context an individual inhabits can play a significant role in providing an environment for the individual that is either affirmative and encouraging or disapproving and judgmental. My initial interest was to examine the implication this might have around sexual behaviour and this thesis moved on from this initial concern.
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    Establishing a multi-sited disposition for ethnographic research in the field of education
    Pierides, Dean Christian ( 2008)
    This thesis responds to the challenge of how educational research might be practised in a contemporary world that is no longer necessarily organised by nearness and unity. Focusing on ethnography, it argues for what a multi-sited disposition contributes to research in the field of education. By giving prominence to the notion of multi-sited ethnography. as it has been developed by the anthropologist George Marcus this thesis shows how ethnography conceived this way is now necessary in educational research. The study brings together recent concepts from anthropology with Australian educational ethnography, providing an analysis and reconstruction of how to go about doing ethnography in a world that is characterised by partial connections. To highlight the contributions to education of this research disposition, the final part of the thesis provides an exploratory account as an example of how to approach a specific research topic in this field. In sum, this thesis makes a unique contribution' to educational research by providing an ethnographic approach for the study of contemporary educational lives.
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    An investigation of Australian OECD Pisa trend results
    Urbach, Daniel ( 2009)
    This thesis investigates a range of equating-related issues for the Australian data collected under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The implications for Australia's reported trend results are considered in detail. Following the exploration of differential item functioning (DIE) and dimensionality of the Australian PISA scales, a single scale, over all three PISA cycles (namely 2000, 2003 and 2006) for each major PISA domain (namely Reading, Mathematics and Science) was constructed. Previous published PISA results have employed a common reporting scale across all cycles for Reading, however scales common to all cycles have not been utilised for Mathematics or Science. Two further classes of equating issues are considered in this paper. First four different approaches to equating were used - two different treatments of missing data as well as two different item sets (all items and link items only) were estimated for each scale - and for each approach the implications for trends were discussed. Second, the equating approaches studied here used item parameters which are set at the country level rather than at the international level, thus allowing an examination of the impact of country DIF on the Australian trend results. Australian PISA trends were first explored in terms of means and standard deviations, and then in terms of the overall shape of the estimated performance distribution. This was achieved through the use of Q-Q (Quantile-Quantile) plots. Where applicable, comparisons were made with published trends. While results showed many similarities between models and published results, some differences were found. Australian PISA Reading means were statistically significantly lower when treating all omitted (or missing) responses as not administered at the item calibration stage compared to treating embedded omitted responses as incorrect and trailing omitted responses as not administered in PISA cycles 2003 and 2006. Between 2003 and 2006, published Australian Mathematics means were significantly lower than those found in this study. The published results showed a decline in means between 2003 and 2006, whereas the results reported here showed no change in the Australian means between these two cycles. Published Australian Reading distributions reported a decline from 2000 to 2003 and 2003 to 2006 in the number of Australian students located at the top end of the performance distribution. Between cycles 2000 and 2003 there was a decline from around the 70th percentile onwards and between cycles 2003 and 2006, the decline was even more severe; the higher the ability group the higher the decline from around the 20th percentile onwards. These estimated changes in the distribution shape were not replicated here, where the Australian data is analysed independently of the international data. The reanalysis undertaken here found a decline between the first two PISA cycles, but remarkably in the bottom 15 per cent of the distribution only. Between cycles 2003 and 2006 an almost constant decline across the whole proficiency distribution was found and not a decline that was limited to the top end of the distribution. The reported results highlight some of the potentially important differences that can occur when different analysis methods are used.
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    Why do they/we laugh? A study of theories of humour and the manifestation and interpretation of humour in multicultural classrooms
    Tuckett, Pamela ( 2006)
    This study has been an examination of the everyday occurrence of laughter in the contemporary school classroom where students of many cultural backgrounds can be found. The laughter was taken as an indicator of humour, and the study was an attempt to ascertain the link between humour and culture in the generation of and responses to humour. The episodes of laughter that were the subject of the study were recorded in a post primary school of culturally diverse population. The episodes were written as a series of Critical Incidents with the known cultural aspects of each episode included in the written construction of each Incident. Responses to the Critical Incidents were taken from members of the staff of the school, and the cultural backgrounds of the staff were recorded. The Critical Incidents and the staff responses were analysed and comparative tables were assembled, in order to determine in what way and to what extent culture was a factor in the episodes of laughter that indicated humour in the school setting. Humour and culture were investigated through the study and analysis of writing about them. Written theories of humour were analysed, and a comparative measurement of cultures that had been undertaken by international research was investigated for its relation to humour. The study has proposed that culture affects both the generation of humour and its reception, and that staff understanding of humour generated by students is affected by the cultural knowledge, experience and background of the individual staff member.
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    The poetical understanding of children's imagery of nature : how is poetical understanding evident in children's art?
    Zaper, Suzana ( 2005)
    This study explores the way in which preschool children engage in the creative process and how their sensory engagement with nature leads to invention of poetical attributes and symbols in their art. The study also examines the teacher's role in creating an environment that nurtures sensory learning, provides new energy and fosters discovery. This study also inquires into the educational theories of 'Reggio Emilia', 'emergent curriculum' and 'phenomenological pedagogy' and their influence in exploring significant moments of children's art creating within the process of 'aesthetic engagement' and 'aesthetic cognition'. The data related to these moments consists of children's visual and verbal images of nature that allowed me to unfold their perceptions of nature associated with beauty and make them evident to the viewer. In that sense data analysis reveals both mine and children's discoveries, with an emphasis on utilizing children's voices within the arts curriculum and making them protagonists of their own learning.
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    Understanding student engagement with gymnastics in physical education classes by way of Dewey's notions of interest, occupation and purpose
    Peters, Jacqueline L ( 2008)
    This study examines the engagement of two secondary school students participating in a compulsory gymnastics unit within a physical education class. Using Dewey's notions of engagement, interest, occupation and purpose, the student experience has been considered. An important element of the outcome has been the consideration of the occupations of the student-gymnast and gymnast-student. These arise as important factors in the planning and teaching of secondary school gymnastics.
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    Learner access to language research
    Rowland, Luke Hennessy ( 2008)
    This is a study of how my class of learners perceived the relationships between English language learners, teachers, and researchers, during a five week Intensive Academic Preparation ELICOS course at an Australian university. As a starting point, it seizes on the fact that learners, unlike teachers and researchers, are rarely, if ever, encouraged to engage with language research as a potentially valuable resource for language learning. Noting the dearth of literature surrounding this topic specifically, this study focuses on the appropriateness of various practitioner inquiry models for a naturalistic exploration of my own classroom. The approach taken is one of Exploratory Practice, which is a set of guiding principles motivated by a strong ethicality towards learners and teachers. Using everyday pedagogical activities as data collection methods, such as group discussions and summaries as well as individual written pieces, this study reveals three important characteristics of my learners: a sense of pride in their personal knowledge of English language learning, an understanding of themselves as individuals within the language learning process, and a deep concern with the practical aspects of learning English. Meanwhile, my learners generally portray the relationships between learners, teachers, and researchers as hierarchical and unidirectional, with researchers and research on top. Overall, the study suggests that there is some value in providing access for my learners to language research, and in the conclusion to the study I make some recommendations for future research centring around ideas of learner identity, teacher/learner understandings of roles, and the place of the individual language learner within language learning.