Melbourne Graduate School of Education - Theses

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    Exploring Music Teachers’ Experiences and Perceptions of Professional Learning
    Arney, Susan Elizabeth ( 2022)
    Professional learning plays an essential role in promoting student engagement and learning outcomes by actively engaging teachers in extending, strengthening, and updating their professional knowledge and practice during the course of their career. Whilst a significant body of research has examined the effectiveness and impact of professional learning on teaching practices, very little research has considered the specific needs of music teachers. This phenomenological study used a mixed methods approach to explore the experiences of music teachers in classroom, instrumental, and ensemble positions in Victorian primary and secondary schools. Research was carried out using an online Scoping Survey (297 respondents) and a deeper investigation of emerging themes through a second online Main Survey with 50 volunteer participants. Data were analysed around the themes of (1) engagement with professional learning, (2) motivation for choices of professional learning, and (3) perceptions of the elements of effective professional learning for music teachers. The findings highlight the challenges for school-based music teachers in accessing professional learning that enhances their practice and in interpreting whole-school professional learning to their contexts. The findings were evaluated against existing literature and research into the characteristics of effective professional learning, and new knowledge emerged suggesting opportunities to strengthen professional learning tailored to the needs of music teachers. The study proposes a set of seven principles for professional learning in music education to inform school leaders, professional associations, and professional learning providers.
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    Just reporting : does the school have a justifiable reporting process?
    Morrison, Caroline Mary ( 2006)
    This thesis titled `Just Reporting' aimed to explore the question: Does the school have a justifiable reporting process that meets the needs of key stakeholders (parents, students and teachers)? Through a critical review of the research literature relevant to reporting, various ethical issues were noted that assisted in the construction of the questions guiding this study. These ethical issues provided the lens through which I explored the reporting practices at the research school. The title Just Reporting emphasises the justice issues surrounding reporting as a communicative action where the integrity of each individual is maintained and relationships strengthened. The research took the form of a case study involving the participation of thirty-three parents, eleven teachers and twenty-one students from the one school setting in a questionnaire that had both quantitative and qualitative questions that gathered their affective and cognitive responses to the school's written report. I also held one focus group interview with parents to clarify information from the questionnaire. An interactive inquiry with mixed methods approach was chosen as the best way to answer the research questions. The aim was to develop a theory about reporting rather than prove an existing theory. This study examines what reporting is, the audience and purpose of reporting, and the imperatives of justifiable reporting. It gathered the opinions and beliefs about reporting at the research school from key stakeholder groups and sought to discover whether the written report met their needs and fulfilled the requirements of justifiable reporting. Final analysis of the data provided understandings about the nature of reporting at the research school and revealed a number of issues that prevented the process from being fully justifiable.
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    Defining the characteristics of a good middle school teacher in an Australian setting
    Douglas, Linda Jane ( 1995)
    The purpose of this study is to. identify the characteristics of a middle school teacher that define that teacher as a good teacher in the eyes of their Australian colleagues. A model of the good middle school teacher was developed from the North American literature. This formed the basis for interviews with Australian teachers who have been identified as good middle school teachers by their school community. This has led to the establishment of a model based on the responses from the Australian teachers. The focus centred on the characteristics of the teacher but at times has included reference to curriculum and other structures within the school. The report's results reflect the Australian teacher's approval for child centred teaching but with a subject focus. The teachers feel a need for teachers to retain a passion for a subject area in order to inspire and enthuse their students, but doing this within a context of a curriculum focussed on young people and their needs. This study clearly suggests the strong link between teaching philosophy and curriculum and the need to cater towards the needs of both the staff and students in order to educate successfully.
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    Understanding the perceptions of primary school and early childhood teachers about the inclusion of children with special needs in regular classrooms
    Suppiah, Sukuna D ( 2003)
    Today, many regular schools in the State of Victoria provide inclusive education programs. Educating children with and without disabilities is linked with upholding the rights of all children regardless of their class, culture, gender or developmental abilities. This study was aimed at exploring perceptions of early childhood and primary school teachers about the inclusion of children with special needs from six independent schools located in metropolitan Victoria. Data were analysed and compared to identify if there were differences in teachers' attitudes in relation to beliefs and values, feasibility of implementing inclusive programs in regular classrooms and their confidence to carry out inclusive practices. Findings indicated that all participants in the study were very positive about the philosophy of including children with disabilities in regular classrooms. Several factors were identified as major contributors to the positive perceptions of teachers. Data also revealed that teachers had many concerns regarding the implementation of inclusion in their regular classrooms. The findings of this study had implications for best practice to improve the implementation of inclusive programs in regular classrooms.
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    Investigating the growth of teacher knowledge on teaching reading through a professional development program
    Villanueva, Victor A ( 2007)
    This thesis is an investigation of the growth and development of teacher knowledge on teaching reading to students with reading difficulties. The effect of a professional development program was examined to achieve the aim of this study. Thirty preschool and elementary school teachers volunteered and attended a 10-day professional development seminar that focused on understanding the processes in learning to read, identifying and remediating reading difficulties. The teachers' subject matter knowledge and pedagogical knowledge were tested using two separate tasks, before and after the professional development seminar. The data were analysed using both quantitative and qualitative data analyses procedures. The results indicate that a professional development seminar can significantly raise both teachers' subject matter and pedagogical knowledge on teaching concepts and procedures that research had earlier identified as essential for teaching reading. The results of investigating subject matter knowledge at pre-testing showed that there are clear gaps in what teachers know from what they should know. Particular concepts were identified to form part of what teachers know and concepts that are unknown to the teachers. The investigation of the growth of this knowledge showed that there are concepts that are more readily learned compared to others. The audit of teachers pedagogical knowledge at pre-testing revealed that teachers knew procedures that are consistent with the recommended teaching procedures for teaching literacy to students with literacy learning difficulties. The investigation of the growth of this teacher knowledge showed that there are teaching procedures that teachers have effectively learnt from the seminar. The investigation of the relationship between how teachers learn concepts for subject matter knowledge and procedures for pedagogical knowledge showed no relationship using statistical analyses. However, through qualitative analyses, the evidenced showed that the terms that teachers used on the instrument for investigating pedagogical knowledge revealed a strong relationship with subject matter knowledge growth. The teachers at post-testing showed a tendency to use concepts in literacy learning that they did not know at pre-testing. The evidence from this study lends support to notion that teachers learn new subject matter knowledge and pedagogical knowledge in an integrated manner. From this study, recommendations for the development and implementation of professional development programs for teaching reading are drawn. The value of a solid knowledge base for such recommendations is underscored. Recommendations are also made with regards to improving efforts to investigating teacher knowledge as a means to improve educational practice.
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    Teachers' roles : catering for the marginal child in Thailand's border schools
    Paripurana, Karuna ( 2005)
    This thesis investigates the roles of primary school teachers who work in remote areas along the Thai-Burmese border in Ratchaburi Province, Thailand. It also develops a framework to re-conceptualize teacher education so that it will be more concerned with the needs of poor, marginal children who are linguistically and culturally diverse, and with the needs of illiterate villagers, and remote communities. A qualitative study was conducted in the three remote primary school settings with high percentages of bilingual students in the Province. The teachers, the headmasters, the school supervisors, the school board members and the provincial primary education administrator were involved in the study. Data was collected by means of personal diaries, individual interviews, focus group interviews, open-ended responses to a questionnaire, school documentation, a personal letter, and the Rajabhat Universities' teacher education curricula. Data was analyzed using the Princess Sirindhorn's Children Development Projects to indicate the current and expected roles of teachers, and then the data was triangulated and synthesized to determine the diverse roles of teachers including: providing effective education, leading students to a better life, empowering parents, developing schools, and developing communities. These diverse roles may positively affect individual, family, and community or environmental circumstances where children are "at-risk". And these can assist children to become valued citizens for their communities and country. Taking these diverse roles as a platform, diverse knowledge, skills, and values are established, and a diverse teacher education framework is identified to better prepare pre-service teachers to work successfully in the remote schools located close to the Thai-Burmese border. Moreover, certain recommendations for policies on teacher education curricula, primary education, staff development, and assessment in Thailand, for Rajabhat Universities, are proposed as well.
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    Gender awareness through discipline and welfare : how teachers change
    Whitehead, R. J ( 1995)
    This thesis explores the considerations for change processes which are effective when gender is an issue in schools. A model is developed, based on literature related to change processes in education, and this model is then tested in a primary school setting across the period of a full school year. Strategies and approaches suggested as avenues to introduce inclusive teaching practices are also trialled, using Discipline and Welfare as .a way into addressing issues around gender in schools. The Working Model for Gender and Change and the approaches used are evaluated and conclusions are drawn, related to the outcomes of the change process conducted in the school. The study shows that the developed model works and that gender issues can effectively be raised by investigating discipline and welfare issues in a primary school. Some recommendations and suggestions for further research are made.
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    Industry placement for teacher professional development and school improvement
    Perry, Chris ( 1996)
    This thesis examines the experiences of a cohort of teachers involved in a long term professional development program linking education and industry. The thesis reports on changes in the relationship between education and industry that in part have resulted in criticism of teachers' ability to adequately prepare students to effectively enter the world of work. Teachers are seen to need to develop greater knowledge about and understanding of industry in order to impart to students up-to-date information about current industry practices. The Teacher Release to Industry Program [TRIP] is a professional development program allowing experienced primary and secondary teachers and school principals the opportunity to work in industry for a year. TRIP was established by groups from education and industry to provide for teachers to have direct experience in industry. The purpose of this investigation is to monitor how effective the TRIP experience has been for professional development for this group of teachers. Teachers' perceptions of and purposes for involvement in the program are viewed alongside those held by industry supervisors and school principals. Data are gathered about the teachers' perceptions of gains in knowledge, understandings, skills and competencies related to both industry and education. These data are viewed at the time of their experience and on their return to school. This study uses both contemporaneous and post-hoc data. Sources of data include teachers' journals, interviews with teachers, industry supervisors and school principals and written responses from teachers and university supervisors. A qualitative approach presenting case study data was seen as an appropriate means of investigation, firstly to give prominence to teachers' voice in supporting the uniqueness of the educational experience where the familiar needs to be made visible and interesting (Erickson, 1986) and secondly, to allow the features of the teachers' experience to be grounded in the literature and research on both professional development and education and industry links. There has been limited in-depth investigation of TRIP particularly in regard to the link between professional development and school improvement. This study therefore provides substantial data in a relatively un-researched area. The study reports on significant professional development outcomes for the teachers who participate in this program. In addition the study indicates that skills held by teachers are also appropriate in industry. Thus this study also contributes to understandings of the nature of teachers' work. Teachers report on the importance of establishing the worth of teachers' skills outside the school setting. Discussion also focuses on how the teachers' experience relates to school improvement. While this program appears to have significant outcomes in regard to personal professional development, the results of the study suggest that for more productive school improvement to occur, the teachers' purpose for involvement in the program must have the support of and be more related to, the needs of the school. The study gives support for TRIP as innovative program for teacher professional development and as a model of partnership between education and industry. The study makes recommendation for similar programs to be made more widely available thus allowing more teachers to be involved in this type of professional development.
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    The attitudes and concerns of Catholic parish primary school principals and teachers toward the integration of students with disabilities into regular schools
    Riley, Elizabeth A ( 1997)
    This study was undertaken to identify' and compare the attitudes of Catholic Parish Primary School principals and teachers toward the integration of students with disabilities. The study also investigated variations in attitude toward integration for sub-groups of the principals and teachers. In addition, this study ascertained the concerns these educators have about the implementation of integration in their schools. A three part questionnaire was used to collect the data. It consisted of items relating to the background characteristics of the respondents and their schools, a modified version of the Attitude Toward Mainstreaming Scale (Berryman & Neal, 1980) and an open ended question eliciting educators' concerns about integration. Fifty five principals and 145 full time classroom teachers in the Northern Area of the Archdiocese of Melbourne responded to the questionnaire. T-tests were employed to compare the attitudes of the principals and teachers toward integration., Thematic analysis was used to examine the concerns of educators. Several major findings emerged from the study. Principals were found to hold more positive attitudes toward integration than classroom teachers. Principals were also significantly more positive than teachers toward the integration of students with severe disabilities. Younger principals held significantly more positive attitudes toward integration than older principals. No significant differences were identified for sub groups of the teacher sample. Similarity existed between the two groups of educators in terms of their expressed major concerns about integration. Lack of school based support personnel, funding and training, in that order, were recorded most frequently by both groups of educators.
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    Accountability and professionalism in education reflected in community opinions on teacher assessment
    Willis, Raymond W. G ( 1985)
    This study takes place at a time when there is a widely-canvassed philosophy which states that the degree of accountability required by individuals in the community will come only through their more direct personal involvement in all stages of the education process. Accountability, (the visible attempts to demonstrate responsibility for a process), is said to be the concern of everybody connected with education, either as parents, taxpayers, employers or teachers and not, as in the past, restricted to the occasional external measures of performance carried out by Education Department hierarchy. We now need to know whether the education community expects a different type of accountability, if teacher assessment still forms a major part of that accountability requirement and whether teachers are still accorded the same professional status as they were. Until our knowledge in this area is improved, we will not understand whether the changes that are occurring in the Victorian education system are the result of a demand for change by the community, or political/economic expediency, or a belief that people should become involved in functions that were once considered government responsibilities. Thus this study arises from the need to understand whether changes in education are reflecting the expectations of education communities. As education communities will have a multitude of expectations, this study concentrates mainly on their expectations in respect of teacher assessment. Accountability is a demonstrable responsibility to the public through a variety of measures. Historically, assessment of teacher performance has been one of the main measures of the quality of a teacher's contribution to education, so concentration on this issue will provide much needed information on perception of accountability today. Teacher assessment is that process of gauging the quality of a teacher's performance. This process has three major functions: (a) to measure the comparative ability of teachers for promotion; (b) to maintain standards of teaching and (c) to provide a measure of accountability to the public as an indication of competency and money well spent. This case study examines the opinions of a small sample of members of state high school communities to the issue of teacher assessment and, through their opinions, provides an insight into their perceptions of professionalism and accountability in education. The sample is of five nominated persons of the education communities in each of six state high schools in the Western Metropolitan Region of the Victorian Education Department. Several happenings in Victorian education over the last five years indicate that this study is of vital importance. Firstly there has been a gradual decline in the proportion of students attending state post-primary schools. Secondly, there has been far greater involvement expected of local communities in the policy-formulation and organization of schooling with a resulting 'democratization' of processes in education. Thirdly,' there has been a gradual withdrawal of many forms of external control over secondary school teachers either through teacher assessment, student external examinations or centrally-imposed courses of study. As these happenings involve redefining the functions of state education and the teacher's role in these functions, it seems logical that a corresponding redefining of professionalism and accountability is also taking place within the community. If a shift in definition of these key concepts is not taking place within school communities, it would seem impossible for state education authorities to justify the profound changes they are demanding.