Faculty of Education - Theses
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 4 of 4
-
ItemAn administrative review of the Commonwealth English as a Second Language (ESL) Program within the Office of Schools Administration, Ministry of Education, Victoria( 1990)This thesis presents an administrative review of the Commonwealth English as a Second Language (ESL) Program within the Office of Schools Administration, Ministry of Education, Victoria. The approach and framework adopted are similar to those used by Campbell et al. in their review of the Commonwealth ESL Program for the Commonwealth Schools Commission in 1984. There are no prejudgements concerning major issues, but an interest in monitoring events from program establishment at a Commonwealth level to program organisation issues in schools. A number of "Levels of Administrative Reality" are identified through which the following educational agencies are examined - the Department of Employment, Education and Training (DEET), the Office of Schools Adminstration, and schools. The "Levels of Administrative Reality" used are Intentions, Structure, Resource Allocations Mechanisms, and Program Organisation. These are considered broad enough to enable major issues to be raised. Data have been collected over a two year period from a variety of sources including policy documents, questionnaires, memoranda and minutes of meetings. Major issues raised include : (a) the development of a nationwide curriculum framework/syllabus for the teaching of ESL; (b) the location of ESL within the Office of Schools Administration; (c) the location of consultancy support to schools; (d) the level of resourcing; (e) the qualifications of ESL teachers.
-
ItemAn analysis of education provision to older non-English speaking background youth with minimal or interrupted schooling in the Richmond/Collingwood area( 1987)This study is an analysis of educational provision in the Richmond/Coilingwood area for young people aged 16 to 24 years of age, of migrant or refugee background, who have a history of minimal or interrupted schooling. These students are mostly of Indo-Chinese or Timorese background , and face severe problems relating to their lack of literacy and poor English proficiency. Many of these students are unaccompanied refugees and face economic hardship in Australia. Educational programs running in five postprimary schools, two TAFE colleges and two language centres are examined in light of their relevance to the needs of these students. It emerges from this study that a small number of institutions provide responsive quality programs for this group. There are, however, general problems relating to the low status and marginalization of ESL programs in most of the institutions. These problems are compounded by a lack of funding, unsympathetic administration, ignorance of the issues and difficulties relating to accreditation. In some institutions, no provision at all is made for these students. Needs emerging from these issues may be summarized as follows. A greater awareness of the educational requirements. of this group must be developed. An informed collaborative approach must be adopted to respond to these needs in the form of appropriate ESL programs. Policy and administrative support must be forthcoming to assist in achieving these goals.
-
ItemThe selection and role of literary texts in the ESL classroom( 1995)This study investigated five secondary teachers selection of literary texts and perception of the role literature plays in the ESL language classroom. The teachers were chosen from four schools in the Melbourne metropolitan area and were interviewed individually except for one school where two teachers were interviewed for the research. The interviews were tape recorded and transcribed and formed the main body of data As supplementary data interviews were also conducted with ten students (one 'good student and one weak student chosen by each teacher). The case studies revealed that criteria for text selection were related to considerations for students needs features of the text the teachers preferences in reading practical issues related to the availability of text and examination requirements. The research confirmed the perceptions of writers on this area who have maintained that literature is often used as a context for generating language activities and for imparting knowledge about the target culture The data also found that literature was used to affirm the students own cultural identities.
-
ItemRhetoric and reality: the struggle to achieve school status for language centres( 1988)The Language Centre Program (LCP) has been in existence for more than ten years. Language centres have never had formal status as schools nor as annexes of schools. As a result two major problems have emerged: first, because language centres do not have access to school councils, the usual resources which are made available to mainstream schools are denied them; and second, teachers in language centres lack a career structure comparable to that of their colleagues in mainstream schools. The Victorian Government's social justice strategy allows a focus to be placed on student outcomes. It also provides a framework within which the issue of school status for language centres in the period 1982 to 1988 is considered. There are clear contradictions between rhetoric and reality. Three different committees/working parties have addressed the issue and five key reports have been written in the six-year period. A number of factors explain why it-has been difficult to achieve school status for language centres: the volatility of the LCP itself; the dynamics of Commonwealth immigration policy; the complexity of Commonwealth-State funding arrangements; the nature, composition and outcomes of the committees/working parties which have addressed the issue; institutional inertia; and the changing attitudes expressed by interested parties. The Minister for Education's in-principle endorsement of the third report of the Working Party on Language Centre Status and a significant increase in Commonwealth per capita funding provide a note of optimism. But a clearly articulated New Arrivals Strategy Plan which translates the broad rhetoric of the State's social justice strategy into terms which are meaningful and realistic to the LCP needs to be developed