Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemThe political ramifications of changes in the delivery of nursing education in Victoria( 1993)The purpose of this research was to determine; whether, between 1974 and 1987, undergraduate Nursing education in the Colleges of Advanced Education tended to politicize the new recruits to the profession via curricula. whether those asked to participate in the research believed that there was a level of information being provided during their Nursing course which they considered to be political in nature. whether those asked to participate in the research believed that this level of information that they considered to be political in nature influenced their subsequent participation in activities which could be considered in turn to be political in nature. what constraints in the workplace were identified by those asked to participate in the research, which may have adversely effected any political activity they may have been involved in, or influenced by. whether there were any other real or conceptual factors not identified or not specifically addressed in the research which could have impacted on the research participants, and possibly influenced their responses, and thus, research outcomes. Subsequent to the research, the information obtained would be scrutinized for possible outcomes, ramifications and commented on. This process is more formerly addressed in the methodology.
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ItemThe teaching of French in New South Wales and Victoria 1850-1958( 1958)This thesis is a study of the development of the subject French at the Universities of Sydney and Melbourne and in the schools of New South Wales and Victoria. It seeks to show why French was taught in this land so far from France, by what methods it was taught, to whom and by whom it was taught. It was impossible to discover the answers to these questions without studying the growth of the two Universities and in particular the changes of curriculum in their Faculties of Arts, the relationship between the Universities and the schools and the influence of the University Departments of French on French in the schools, the growth of secondary education and the public examination system, and the reforms in the curriculum of the secondary schools in the twentieth century as a result of changes in educational theory and philosophy. Only against this background is it possible to understand the rise and fall of one particular subject.
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ItemArt and community schools in Victoria : a focus on the Artists and Architects in Schools Programs as models in evaluating negotiation and participatory decision making as a basis for developing arts curricula( 1990)This study has argued that the learning context should be linked not only with the student's growing knowledge and skill within the curriculum but it should also allow for an understanding of how that curriculum connects and relates with the democratic society of work and leisure. It is further argued, that as, a consequence of arriving at that understanding; students acquire a sense of empowerment and control over their lives. In Chapter 1, the study establishes the historical background to the Artists and Architects in Schools Programs, and the role of the art teacher and the artists and architects within those programs. As an introduction, Chapter 1 also briefly explains the following Chapters. Chapter 2 discusses the history and development of the state community school movement, its-establishment in Victoria, and the radical nature of its underpinnings. Reference is also made to the private alternative school movement. In Chapter 3, the process. of decision making in Croydon Community School and Sherbrooke Community School in respect to their Artists in Schools Programs is examined. In Chapter 4, the issues discussed are: three orientations to the curriculum, the American Discipline Based Art Education, and the recent curriculum guidelines of the Victorian. Ministry of Education. A comparison is made of the approaches to learning and negotiating the curriculum between Swinburne Community School and Croydon Community School. Finally a summary is presented of negotiation and the arts integration of the curriculum during the Artists and Architects in Schools Programs at Croydon Community School in 1982. In Chapter 5 some of the movements towards participatory democracy throughout the 20th century in industry and in social, political and business institutions by workers, residents and other concerned groups through control by that means of the workplace, the means of production, and the neighbourhood are examined. Reference is made to their philosophic basis and the parallel movement of the community schools in Victoria. In Chapter 6 the history of the development of the Artists and Architects in Schools Programs is examined. Comparison with and evaluation of the criticism of the British and American Programs is also included to illuminate the role of the art teacher and the artists and architects. In Chapter 7, the arts integration of the timetable for both the Artists and Architects in Schools Programs at Croydon Community School in 1982 and 1983 is evaluated: Note is also taken of the consistent philosophic approach. A brief comparison is made with other Artists and Architects in Schools Programs to elucidate the theme of whole school community involvement. In Chapter 8, Community Arts, have been defined and discussed in relation to the ideologies that motivate the management of community schools. Note has also been taken of community arts practice in Britain and America as a comparison with the Australian context. The potential for the relationship of the community artist with the community school is also evaluated. In Chapter 9, a Creative Arts Curriculum Model for Community Schools has been designed to provide a comprehensive arts curriculum with a contextual basis for the growth of the whole person. The design allows for decision making through participation to be practised to provide the framework for the development of an arts curriculum relevant to contemporary society in the 1990's. In concluding, Chapter 10 has examined, evaluated and clarified a number of key themes which are the central elements to the writer's thoughts. These are: the role of negotiation and participatory decision making in developing a democratic curriculum, and the role of art within that context. Observation is also made on the way the themes relate to the events of the 'real world'. A brief note is made of possible areas for further research. Finally, a comment is made on the relevance of the community school in the reorganised system of the Victorian Ministry of Education forward into the 1990's.
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ItemFace-to-face : cross-cultural communication with Somali-speaking parents( 2008)This research thesis reports on an investigation of cross-cultural communication at one Victorian primary school, at which the linguistic and cultural backgrounds of the staff and a sizeable proportion of the parents differ markedly. This qualitative, case study investigated the perspectives of one group of parents, all from a Somali speaking background, and school staff about the current levels of cross-cultural communication and how these key stakeholders believed home/school links could be improved. Data for this investigation were gathered from parent participants through group and individual interviews, some of which were conducted in Somali with the assistance of a bilingual research assistant. Consideration of these participants' vulnerable social status (Liamputtong, 2007), was an important aspect of this research process thus ensuring these parents, seldom heard within the school environment, had the opportunity to express their opinions and relate their experiences of cross-cultural communication with school staff. The data collection process, therefore, provides a model for excellent cross-cultural communication between an institution, such as a school, and a marginalised parent community. Written questionnaires, comprising open-ended and some ranked questions were used to investigate staff perspectives of cross-cultural communication. This was followed by a group interview with some staff members in which issues were discussed with greater depth. This research project revealed that the low-levels of cross-cultural communication noted at this school are not an indication of the level of goodwill held by Somali-speaking parents and school staff. On the contrary, all participants expressed a strong desire to learn more about the other and for communication levels to improve, recognising the importance of strong home/school links in improving educational outcomes for students. Through the suggestions, opinions and experiences of participants, a series of recommendations are made in this report, so that the momentum of improved communication, initiated by the research project, might be continued at the school, or within similar educational contexts.
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ItemLearning literacy : a case study of the development of English literacy skills in two adult ESL students( 1997)This minor thesis reports on the findings of a study done of two adult international students of English as a Second Language. The study attempts to outline the issue of difficulties experienced by these students while learning to write in English in preparation for tertiary studies in Australia. The main aim of the study was to attempt to illustrate that international students need to be instructed by their teachers in how to write in the genre required for tertiary study. An attempt was made to measure the language level of the two students to determine how thoroughly prepared they were in the genre they were mainly required to write in their tertiary study. For these two students, this genre was business report writing. It was realised that although the two students had received practice in responding to General English writing tasks, they had not been taught how to write business reports. This conclusion was drawn through the study in which qualitative techniques of research and text analysis were used. Firstly, the students were given a series of reading and writing tasks to perform to determine their levels of English at the start of the study. At the end of the study there was a similar set of tasks for the students to perform. Secondly, the students and two of their teachers were interviewed. The students tried to reveal their perception of what their English Language intensive courses had taught them. The teachers who had taught these students attempted, through their responses to the interview questions, to outline the objectives of the courses they had delivered Thirdly, the students' attempt at writing report genres in their tertiary study was commented upon. At the end a short business report was selected as the target text and this was analysed. Systemic functional grammar was drawn upon to analyse the target text. The analysis of this model text was used to compare the analyses of the responses of the students to business report writing tasks. A summary of the findings is presented in this thesis and comparisons made in order to come to a conclusion that there does exist a need for overseas students intending to go on to further tertiary study to be taught explicitly through deconstruction of model texts by the teacher. The genre of the model text has to be directly related to the tertiary course of study that the students are going to follow. The students need to be provided with close guidance by their teachers, and constant practice of the genre is required.
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ItemInteractions between first and second language writing skills in Macedonian bilingual children in Australia( 2009)The theoretical belief arising from the interdependence hypothesis suggests that there is a common underlying proficiency in bilingual literacy development, particularly with respect to literacy skills, strategies and knowledge transfer across different languages. According to this view a strong establishment in one language not only develops skills in that language, but also facilitates the development of a second language. The aim of this research was to look at the interactions between literacy in Macedonian and English and to analyse the role of the first language literacy in second language acquisition in two dissimilar languages. Although the research explored the relationships between first language (Macedonian) and second language (English) writing skills, strategies and knowledge, the influence of motivation and the performance in English were also discussed. Namely this research investigated the skills and strategies that Macedonian bilingual children use for writing in Macedonian script and whether these strategies have a positive or negative transfer to English literacy. This research also analysed the writing behaviours, and attitude towards the two languages and how they affect the transfer of literacy skills and strategies. To address the aim of this research and gain an in-depth understanding about bilingual children's language acquisition and development a qualitative case-study method was employed. The subjects for this research were six nine year old children from a Macedonian/ English bilingual school. They were asked to write recounts in both languages, Macedonian and English, in order to investigate the transfer of skills, strategies and knowledge across both languages. The think-aloud protocols were used to look into the writing process and to categorise the types of writing strategies that the children can transfer from Macedonian to English literacy. This method was used to observe children's writing processes while writing and simultaneously discussing what thoughts were going through their mind. The childrens' attitudes towards learning in two languages were discovered by using semistructured interviews. The official results from the literacy assessment conducted at the school were also analysed and compared. The discussion of findings from the six children focussed on the transferable skills and strategies and the relationship between Macedonian and English writing. This research confirms that writing behaviours and strategies that the children displayed were consistent across both languages, even though the languages have different writing systems. In fact this research provided a better understanding of children's biliteracy development from an early age in a bilingual setting. Results of the study indicated that there is an interdependent ability between the first language and the second language writing and that there is a positive transfer of skills, strategies and knowledge from Macedonian to English. Therefore the conclusion is that the development of the stronger language literacy (Macedonian) facilitates literacy development in the second language (English) and that access to two languages from an early age and the possibility of learning those languages can facilitate literacy development.
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ItemEvaluating the Santa Maria College information literacy program( 2007)This is an impact study, which evaluates an Information Literacy Program that has been running in the Santa Maria College Library since February 2000. It investigates the effectiveness of the Program inputs and processes and seeks to identify impacts on learning in student outputs and College wide outcomes. The study builds on previous research that was conducted from 2000 to 2004 and seeks to develop new understandings through new methods. This study draws on literature that examines methods of collecting evidence of learning impact in school libraries. The literature recommends micro-research in secondary schools that examines students' skills before and after they have been involved in integrated information literacy instruction, as well as empirical studies about the impact of the six step research process model on learning. The literature also suggests investigation of the impact of school libraries on the broad aspects of learning, and the development and application of new methods for collecting qualitative data in the library setting. From Terms One to Term Four in 2005, mixed methods were used to capture evidence of student learning in the Santa Maria College Library. Students were observed as they carried out Program research tasks. The assignments that they produced at the end of the research process were assessed. Surveys and focus group interviews explored the perceptions of a sample of the students and teachers who participated in the Program. In exploring the data, changes in learning behaviour and attitudes to the research process were identified and analysed. The effectiveness of various aspects of the Program such as task design, explicit process instruction, cognitive strategies, note taking scaffolds and assessment practices were examined. Two theoretical frameworks synthesised from the literature were used in the research. The first framework is based on criteria for effective libraries such as staffing, funding, collection size and technological infrastructure. The second framework combines the effective approaches to learning in school libraries that are evident in the literature. Those frameworks were applied to assess the pre-conditions for learning in the Santa Maria Library. A third framework based on criteria that identify outcomes and indicators of student learning in school libraries, was used to identify evidence of student learning across the data sets. The key research questions were used to organise the discussion of the findings. The findings demonstrated that student outcomes have improved in a broad range of learning experiences. The study deepened my understanding of the distinctive features of the Program and its strengths and weaknesses. The strengths included: the use of constructivist pedagogy and inquiry learning; the collaborative planning, implementation and review processes; the infusion of the learning activities in real units of work; the learning scaffolds and instructional interventions at the point of need; and the assessment and feedback strategies. All of those inputs and processes are critical success factors in the Program. The note taking grids and the associated skill development in reading for meaning, identifying and recording key points, and combining information for final products are particularly effective aspects of the Program, which were highly regarded by the students. The weaknesses of the Program included: the gradual erosion of collaborative planning, implementation and evaluation processes; a general feeling of Program fatigue; the fact that the assessment of student outputs to track Progress is not standard practice; and the lack of a process for fading scaffolds in the Year 9 and 10 levels to shift control of the learning process from the teachers and teacher librarians to the students as they move through the Program. The study incorporates a series of recommendations for ongoing monitoring, and future Program delivery and implementation.
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ItemPerceptions of educational change: a case study of LOTE teachers in Catholic schools( 2000)Change permeates every aspect of education. The objective of this study has been to investigate the multidimensional nature of educational change as perceived, experienced and managed by teachers of Languages Other Than English (LOTE) within the context of global school change. It was designed to gain insights into effective change processes and bring to the fore characteristics that challenge schools to become even better schools. The research undertaken is innovative as it targets teachers of Languages Other Than English (LOTE). Whilst the educational change literature has expanded over the last twenty years, LOTE teachers have been given little attention by researchers of educational change. This and the tentative nature of LOTE programs in schools acted as inspiration. The literature review focused on three dimensions of educational change relating to the individual, the curriculum and the organisation. These dimensions form the basis of the study and are discussed in relation to individual professional and personal experiences and reactions to change initiatives and to the impact of structural organizational changes on curriculum renewal. Particular emphasis has been given to curriculum development as an eclectic process. However, through the interaction of the three dimensions the process of change recultures, renews and transforms the learning community. This study draws on historical ethnography in a case study of a critical event. Through oral history, hindsight provided a more considered appraisal of results. It was evident in this case study that subjective and objective realities gave meaning to change. Participants shared their perceptions of educational change, and in particular how these influenced their professional lives and consequently how their personal lives influenced their work. The amalgamation of three schools was used as the vehicle of the research. It challenged teachers to rethink the way they went about teaching and learning. Values and beliefs were questioned imposing strain on self-confidence. New beliefs and values were embraced out of loss, grief and anxiety. Whether or not desired, real change brought with it uncertainty, ambivalence and contradiction. Yet, these very factors spurred growth and encouraged shared meanings in a myriad of change factors.
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ItemChildren's adjustment to the first year of school( 1994)The aim of this study was to determine whether children's adjustment to the first year of school was influenced by the number of transition activities conducted by schools. The study was undertaken in a number of state-run primary schools in the Melbourne Metropolitan Region and comprised two stages of inquiry. Stage 1 of the study involved 100 randomly selected schools in a telephone survey to identify the type and number of transition activities conducted by schools. This stage provided essential background information for the selection of schools for the second stage of the study since no documented accounts of the type and number of transition programs conducted by Melbourne or Victorian schools could be located. Results of this preliminary study revealed considerable variety in the type and number of transition activities reported by schools prior to, and following, the commencement of school, involving children, parents, families, and collaboration between staff at the school and preschool levels. Stage 2 of the study involved 203 children from four metropolitan schools. The schools were selected on the basis of the number of transition activities they conducted. Children's adjustment to school was measured after eight weeks of schooling using the Social Skills Rating System. Forms were completed by teachers and parents, and children's adjustment was rated in the domains of social skills, behaviour, and academic competence. Additional background information was sought from parents regarding the child's family, previous preschool experience and whether or not the child commenced school with a familiar playmate. The results indicate statistically significant associations between children's adjustment to the first year of school and numbers of transition activities conducted by schools. In addition, there were significant associations between adjustment and children's preschool experiences, as well as the presence of a familiar playmate in the same class.
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ItemOf secrets, sorrows, and shame: undergraduate nurses' experiences of death and dying( 2007)This phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of undergraduate nursing students who cared for the dying and deceased whilst on clinical placement. To this point, studies on this phenomenon have focused on the experienced, qualified nurse. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the impacts of caring for the dying and deceased, on the student-nurse, and the implications for nursing education. The ten study participants were undergraduates enrolled in the Bachelor of Nursing program at a metropolitan-based university in Melbourne. The study of their experiences, from the perspectives of the student-nurses, was conducted using a semi-structured interview for data collection. Analysis of the data, using a Miles and Huberman (1994) style matrix, revealed four emergent themes: intensity of emotion; perceptions, growth and awareness; and opportunities. These themes were explored to yield results which established there were often profound, and sometimes disturbing, impacts of grief for both the student-nurse, the patient, and others. This study contributes to the This phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of undergraduate nursing students who cared for the dying and deceased whilst on clinical placement. To this point, studies on this phenomenon have focused on the experienced, qualified nurse. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the impacts of caring for the dying and deceased, on the student-nurse, and the implications for nursing education.