Melbourne Graduate School of Education - Theses

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    Student expectations of the future
    Pepper, Laele ( 1992)
    Specific aims of the study To investigate how present-day students view the future and their place in the workforce of the future. To establish whether or not students regard their present educational experiences as an adequate preparation for their future work. To investigate acceptance of unconventional futures scenarios as possible futures.
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    Another world like here : futures studies and early childhood education
    Page, Jane M (1963-) ( 1995)
    This thesis examines the discipline of futures studies and its potential for application in early childhood education. The need for an increased futures-orientation in education is established by a survey of the overwhelmingly negative commentaries of youths on the topic of the future. These comments, it is argued, point to a vacuum of understanding about the future which educators should seek to counterbalance. This task should be particularly emphasised by early childhood educators since they share a commitment to the central objective of laying foundations for life-long learning. Futures studies offers a useful methodology for this task. The thesis examines the major tenets of futures studies and its translation into primary and secondary educational settings. The applicability of futures studies to early childhood education is established by demonstrating the many principles which futures studies and early childhood education share in common. A futures-focused curriculum need not involve the educator in any radically new philosophical and educational frameworks. It, rather, provides a means of extending and re-articulating existing developmental objectives from the vantage point of new perspectives. The thesis resolves the issue of whether or not futures concerns are beyond the reach of four and five year olds by examining how pre-school children conceive time and the future. Young children are seen to possess many of the qualities which futures studies seek to re-instill in adults and older children. The educator should seek to capitalize on this by combining the positive aspects of children's innate perceptions of future time with the more abstract 'adult' understanding of time. A research project on pre-school children's attitudes towards the future sheds further light on their understandings of the future while also enabling their own opinions on the topic to be heard. The thesis then defines the principal objectives of a futures-focused curriculum and translates them into practical learning experiences. It concludes by exploring the implications of the findings contained in the thesis for early childhood education and by discussing some of the ways in which the educators themselves might come to terms with the issues articulated in this study.
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    Human capital : a case study of the AMEP
    McElgunn, Barry ( 1995)
    This study is an investigation of the Human Capital Approach to education in Australia. It examines whether or not the Commonwealth Government is steering education towards the incorporation of policies that invest greater emphasis and resources into human beings as contributors to economic productivity than it invests in their cultural and aesthetic value. The study incorporates the philosophies of the Human Capitalists and how successive Commonwealth and State Governments apply these philosophies in education policy formulation - particularly the provision of English language to adult migrants through the Adult Migrant Education Program in Victoria. The methodology used is a questionnaire of closed and open-ended questions distributed to AMEP teachers. The researcher duly followed up the questionnaire with interviews of four AMEP teachers in an endeavour to shed more light on the reasons behind the responses given by teachers in the questionnaire. The researcher undertook an analysis of the responses in order to investigate whether or not the Commonwealth Government gives primacy to economic objectives of the migration program over its social, cultural and linguistic objectives. The findings are that the AMEP teachers surveyed believe that the Commonwealth Government does emphasize economic objectives over all other objectives of the migration program. A Human Capital approach to education, reflected in the application of Economic Rationalism, is apparent in Australia's education system according to AMEP teachers surveyed and that such has been the case since the late 1970s. The literary works of Schultz, Smith, Dawkins, Piore, Crittenden, Benovat, Green, Pusey, Kennedy, Marginson and Grubb are included in this study. These works form the literature review of the Human Capital approach. As well, the Reports chaired by Karmel, Williams, Kirby, Fitzgerald and Campbell, and a variety of Commonwealth Reports and Working Party Papers into various aspects of education in Australia are represented in an investigation of the application of the Human Capital approach to education in Australia's main education policies. The findings of this research are that the Human Capital approach to education is influencing the AMEP and that this has wider implications for the national education system in Australia. Almost all AMEP teachers surveyed believe the AMEP no longer follows its own National Plan, in which it spells out its aims and objectives, but pursues the Commonwealth Government's primary objective of pursuing the economic aims and benefits of the migration program.
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    The influence of Chinese sociocultural values about education on the educational outcomes of Chinese students in Australia
    Tsao, Roslyn ( 1996)
    This is a study into how Chinese sociocultural values attached to education have influenced the academic performance of Chinese students. The scope of this investigation is resident students of Australia whose parents have migrated to Australia. These students are largely educated in Australia. In the literature review reference is made to studies of Chinese cultural values including works by M. Bond, G. Hofstede, F. Hsu, D.T. Nakanishi and H.W. Stevenson. The methodology employed is appropriate to Chinese collective culture of small group bilingual interviews of parents whose children are 'excellent students. A proforma is used to collect profiles of the participating parents so that significant information about these participants can be taken into consideration when various factors are speculated and surmised. The study has focussed on a group of Chinese parents who are largely bicultural / bilingual, well educated and motivated to promote their children's opportunities to survive Australia where they lack social contact or capital. Underpinning and threading through this wish to see progress for their children is the undying cultural values attached to being, an educated person within the Chinese concept of "self".
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    Jewish secular humanist education in Australia
    Ruth, Julie ( 1997)
    The purpose of this thesis is to examine the nature, origins and implications of the recent development of Jewish secular humanist education in Australia; as represented by the establishment of the JSH School in Melbourne in 1992: the first of its type in Australia. This thesis explores the interactive relationship between three key concepts: education, identity and community. The study is set against five contexts: the development of the Jewish community in Australia, the development of Jewish education in Australia, the development of Jewish secular humanism as philosophy, issues of Jewish identity for individuals and community and the community/education interface in the wider society. In the light of these contextual insights, the reception, viability, implications and impact of this recent educational initiative on the Australian Jewish community is given close consideration. The findings suggest that although the reception of the JSH School in its first five years has been mixed to generally positive, the viability and future development of the School and similar enterprises looks promising. The author believes that the knowledge and insights gained from this research study offer readers and practitioners a substantial illumination of the subject as well as providing the author with considerable guidance in her professional educational practice, and may guide others working in the field of community-based education.
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    Returning home : the cross-cultural education of Australian missionaries from Latin America
    Onans, Lindsay S ( 1998)
    The purpose of this study is to investigate the experiences of Australian missionaries returning from Latin America and relate these to the training provided by the mission organisations that sent them. This thesis focuses on the issues related to culture adjustment and the pattern of instruction used by mission organisations to keep missionaries psychologically, spiritually, physically and socially whole throughout the international cycle. The study includes an examination of pre-departure, on-field and post return education strategies used to create smooth cross-cultural transitions and successful re-entry into the Australian culture from Latin America. Data was collected from both mission organisations and missionaries and the different interpretations of training needs were examined. Qualitative methodology has been used in this study because reverse culture shock encompasses underlying human cognitive elements and thought processes that affect behaviour and communication. Evidence from the study indicated that there are no specific, formal education programs developed by the mission organisation to deal with the problems associated with re-entry. This thesis recommends that the mission organisations involved in this study need to exercise a duty of care towards their missionaries and to drastically overhaul their cross-cultural education programs.
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    Girls & post school achievement : discourse, meaning & subjectivity
    Paulke, Yvonne ( 1998)
    In an overall sense the concern of my research is the question of gender. It is concerned with girls' engagement with the discursive fields which make up their lives, their acquisition of meaning and formation of subjectivity. Specifically, my research is concerned with the role of discourse in girls' acquisition of meaning about gender, achievement and success, and the ways in which teachers can develop strategies to support girls to negotiate the complex and contradictory discourses which surround them. As a poststructuralist feminist researcher I assume a keen awareness of the semiotic, discursive dimension of the social and from such a perspective consider the question of gender in relation to girls' education and post school achievement and career success. Through an emphasis on the discourses and texts which make up schools and educational practices, such a perspective makes relevant the emotional, psychic and physical embeddedness of girls in the discursively constituted categories to which they belong. The study undertaken is a critical engagement with one of the discourses shaping girls' identities. It draws on data gathered from a focused analysis of a selection of four celebratory feminist texts. The complex and contradictory nature of the meanings within the texts are examined, and the potential of this genre of feminist discourses to remake meanings and challenge the gender order of society is explored. My own personal and professional biography and the focus of the literature review have fashioned the specific questions I posed.
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    Standing strong or standing weak? Equal opportunity, violence against women and the school curriculum : a case study
    Ollis, Debbie ( 1994)
    Despite violence against women becoming a very public issue in recent years, remarkably little material on this subject has so far found its way into the school curriculum. This thesis examines a set of curriculum materials called Standing Strong, which specifically aims to help students make sense of violent and sexually abusive relationships. The thesis outlines and evaluates the materials in light of their ability to achieve one of the major objectives of recent equal opportunity policy, namely, to help achieve "equality between the sexes, and...improv(e) the conditions of life for girls and women...taking account of their cultural, language, and socio-economic diversity...". (Commonwealth Schools Commission, 1987: Recommendation 2, p. 25). The evaluation takes two main forms, one theoretical, the other empirical. The theoretical evaluation draws upon recent post structuralist and constructionist feminist writings. The empirical evaluation is undertaken by drawing upon the research findings derived from in-depth interviews with 24 young women who had used the Standing Strong materials during their secondary school education. The thesis argues that Standing Strong is flawed theoretically, and that this is likely to hamper its usefulness in practice. The research data confirm this pessimistic conclusion. The thesis concludes by reflecting on whether a focus on education might be more of a hindrance than a help to the development of a meaningful and effective solutions to violence against women.
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    Student perceptions of giftedness, gifted students, teachers and education of the gifted
    Long, Patricia E. ( 1990)
    The purpose of the study was to identify perceptions, preferences and attitudes of a sample of secondary school students in relation to giftedness, gifted students, teachers, and educational provision for the gifted, and to investigate differences and similarities between gifted and nongifted students. The sample consisted of 40 identified gifted and 40 nongifted students from Forms 8 to 10. A review of the literature described the history of the development of gifted education, particularly in Australia, and research concerning students' perceptions of the study topics. The study utilised a theoretical background of implicit, social cognition and labelling theories, and a version of the critical incident technique. The findings showed many similarities between the views of the gifted and the nongifted, including a generally positive view of giftedness, of educational provision for the gifted and of gifted students, although they were viewed somewhat less positively than were the provisions for them. The students generally perceived a need for gifted programs, especially at secondary level. They clearly wanted a combination of mixed ability classes and top sets in one or more subjects, not mixed ability classes as the only provision. Withdrawal for the gifted was generally endorsed by both groups. Provision for the gifted within the regular classroom was generally acceptable to the gifted, specifically in the form of advanced rather than wider content, but the nongifted generally rated both forms negatively. The students considered that the most important quality of a teacher was that the teacher should know the subject well. In general, personal-social characteristics of teachers were regarded as less important than intellectual qualities and teaching competencies. Certain characteristics were regarded as more important by the gifted and others by the nongifted. Recommendations were made for the particular school and in general.
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    Disability, education and ethnic families: the changing Greek-Australian experience
    Kuzmanoski, Vikki ( 1996)
    This study set out to examine whether there would be a difference in the attitudes held towards people with disabilities by two different generations of Greek Australians. The first group were those who had spent their formative years in the mother country whilst the second had been born in Australia. It was assumed that the attitudes held would be shaped by both the experience and the communal value system. The working hypothesis was that the attitudes held by the Anglo oriented group of young Greeks would be more akin to the general community than to the Traditional Group. The literature indicates that children raised in a multicultural environment will begin to absorb the values of the dominant society even when their own ethnic group maintains a cohesive set of values and provides a context in which to live a fulfilling life. The literature suggests there are six areas where the Greek tradition might significantly vary from the dominant group. These can be illustrated by the specific questions:- causes attributed to disability, responsibility for care, access to social services, access and participation in mainstream education, access to employment, and the rights to personal development. A survey was undertaken to evaluate the attitudes system of the groups, two of Greek background and one of Anglo-Australians. The results, with two small exceptions confirmed the hypothesis and provided conformation of the proposition that attitudes towards disability are shaped by the cultural context in which one lives and schools need to take into account the structure of ethnic families of Greek background. To maximise the levels of cooperation and communication the family values must be understood and respected. For the schools to assist those with disabilities to achieve meaningful and satisfying lives it is necessary to ensure that the whole family unit benefits.