Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemEquity of access to higher education in Australia : discussion and analysis of issues( 1991)This thesis is concerned with examining policies that have been advocated by successive governments in Australia from 1974-1990 in relation to promoting equity of access to higher education. The thesis outlines the theoretical aspects of equity and reviews the relevant research conducted in Australia and overseas. There have been several attempts to promote equity of access to higher education in Australia: fees were abolished in 1974, TEAS was introduced to replace existing scholarships, AUSTUDY replaced TEAS in 1987, retention rate to year 12 increased from 30% to over 60% in 1990, certain groups were targeted as disadvantaged groups and were afforded special entry, and finally the "White Paper" saw the introduction of the HECS or Graduate Tax in 1988. Research in Australia carried out during the late 1970s and early 1980s suggested that there was a considerable under-representation in higher education of children from the lower SES groups. This pattern appears to have continued despite efforts to promote equity. The analysis carried out in this thesis suggests that there are still many concerns related to equity. It is likely that the HECS will have the effect of increasing the price of higher education and will therefore act as a deterrent to students from less affluent backgrounds, and it may significantly effect part-time and external study. Whilst there appears to be considerable funding for AUSTUDY it may well be not sufficient to encourage students to enter higher education. Of the students entering higher education recent research has suggested that the social mix has remained unaltered. What is certainly not known is the social mix of graduates. If policy has been effective one would expect the social mix to be more balanced. Research needs to be conducted to monitor the impact of HECS to see whether higher education is becoming less available or more equitably available.
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ItemSocial area indicators and educational achievement( 1982)This study was concerned with the development and validation of a national indicator of educational disadvantage which would be suitable for guiding resource allocation decisions associated with the Disadvantaged Schools Program in Australia. The national indicator was constructed by using a series of stepwise regression analyses in order to obtain a linear combination of census based descriptions of school neighbourhoods which would be highly correlated with school mean achievement scores. A correlational investigation of the properties of this indicator showed that it was an appropriate tool for the identification of schools in which there were high proportions of students who (1) had not mastered the basic skills of Literacy and Numeracy, (2) displayed behavioural characteristics which formed barriers to effective learning, and (3) lived in neighbourhoods having social profiles which were typical of communities suffering from deprivation and poverty. A theoretical model was developed in order to estimate the optimal level of precision with which indicators of educational disadvantage could be used to deliver resources to those students who were in most need of assistance. This model was used to demonstrate that resource allocation programs which employ schools as the units of identification and funding must take into account the nature of the variation of student characteristics between and within schools. The technique of factor analysis was employed to investigate the dimensions of residential differentiation associated with the neighbourhoods surrounding Australian schools. Three dimensions emerged from these analyses which were congruent with the postulates of the Shevky- Bell Social Area Analysis model. The interrelationships between these dimensions and school scores on the national indicator of educational disadvantage presented a picture of the 'social landscape' surrounding educationally disadvantaged schools in Australia as one in which there were: high concentrations of persons in the economically and socially vulnerable position of having low levels of educational attainment and low levels of occupational skill, low concentrations of persons living according to the popular model of Australian family life characterized by single family households, stable families, and separate dwellings, high concentrations of persons likely to have language communication problems because they were born in non-English speaking countries.
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ItemStanding strong or standing weak? Equal opportunity, violence against women and the school curriculum : a case study( 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.