Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemReflective practices and work intensification among training and support managers in the disability sector( 2003)Using a qualitative, case-study approach, this research is concerned with exploring potential links between work intensification, management practice, reflection and workplace learning. The study was conducted with managers from Adult Training Support Services (ATSS) within the disability sector in Victoria. Data collection methods included a survey, focus groups and interviews. The project explored changes in the workplace over the past five years, the role of reflection in workplace learning, particularly in management learning, learning in communities of practice, and the influence of work intensification on reflective practice and workplace learning. Data indicated that ATSS managers place a great deal of importance on reflective practices. Yet it appears that, due to work intensification, reflective practices have changed significantly over the past five years, for the most part, in ways likely to be detrimental to the organisations involved. It is argued that work intensification has marginalised many reflective practices for ATSS managers, to the extent that 'deep level' learning within these organisations seems to have been significantly restricted. It appears that learning opportunities would be furthered if these managers were given more time and space to reflect.
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ItemManagers perceptions of workplace learning( 1999)This thesis sets outs the post-industrial organisation as the learning context in which the manager manages. By highlighting the set of skills that is required of the post-industrial manager it then examines how the manager learns these in the course of daily work. This was achieved by conducting interviews with a limited range of managers who are employed by the same retailing company but work across two store locations. What is apparent is that the successful manager needs to be able to respond to the emotionality of the workplace by having well honed 'people' skills of which communicability is uppermost. It was found that the 'people' skills were not only the hardest to learn but also contributed to the definition of the successful manager. The thesis also establishes that managers learn to manage in and through the workplace experiences of managing thereby supporting the contention that learning is fundamentally a socialisation process which occurs within a specific context and, within that, the most meaningful individual learning is, indeed, experiential. Learning to manage is very much about dealing with 'people' issues and, in this respect, the experiences of trial and error, then reflection, are the manager's teacher.
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ItemLearning organisations and their educational impact in a corporate environment( 1995)This thesis is a study of learning organisations and their educational impact in a corporate environment. It provides an overview of the theory of organisational learning, and of learning organisations and describes several models of learning organisations. The important principles of holism and explicitness are established. Examples of learning organisation practices in overseas enterprises are compared with two case studies of Australian organisations which are aspiring learning organisations. These practices are then critically reviewed leading to the development of a new model for learning organisations, based upon 'empowered leadership', which explains holism and explicitness in detail. It concludes by addressing the issue of what learning organisations provide educationally, using the emerging prominence of 'life-long learning' as a focus.
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ItemA Review of the changes necessary to ensure the successful implementation and maintenance of a competency based training and assessment program into the Australian Customs Service( 1995)This review examines the changes necessary to to ensure the successful implementation of competency based training and assessment into the Australian Customs Service as recommended by the "Review of the Australian Customs Service and Australian Customs Service - Report of the Consultancy for a Human Resource Development Plan" completed in November 1993.
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ItemTraining for Telstra's digital video network : a story of information technology & computer literacy( 2003)This is a study of the new skills required by Telstra staff and the television Network Master Control Room (MCR) staff, to operate and maintain the Digital Video Network (DVN) efficiently, and the training program presented to assist in attaining those skills. The author was the training consultant contracted by Philips Broadcast Television Systems (now Thomson) to refine and deliver the training programs for the Telstra DVN, one of the two foci of this study. The other focus was the change or changes in work processes of staff working with the DVN for Telstra and the TV Networks. The study explored the appropriateness of the training program in transferring these required skills and the learning outcomes of training programs used. The study also evaluates the new skills that are required by Telstra and the television network MCR staff to control and operate the DVN. Telstra DVN employees and all the main television networks MCR staff were invited to take part in the study. The data collected from the study were analysed and the conclusions resulting from the analysis produced a series of recommendations that, if implemented, should improve the effectiveness of these two groups studied by increasing the learning outcome of future training programs and improving the skill levels.
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ItemAn analysis of the literature surrounding the theories of systematic design & constructivism to ascertain the relevance of each approach for the learning of soft skills-- Is the systematic model for designing Web-based training suitable for all learners?( 2002)The purpose of this paper is to analyse the literature surrounding the educational theories of systematic design and constructivism to ascertain the relevance of each approach to developing web-based training programs appropriate for both the development of soft skills in industry as well as appropriate to the needs of different learners. The systems approach, which advocates set objectives and criterion-referenced testing, has dominated the design of training for many years. However many current web-based training programs are not enabling learners to achieve the standards of performance required to compete in a global economy. Organisations are interested in developing employees who can solve complex problems and apply their knowledge to new situations. To achieve this goal organisations will need to utilise more Constructivist design strategies as they are best suited to complex, ill-structured knowledge domains. Emerging from the literature was support for the position that novices benefited from the more structured and linear approach of the systems model, whereas advanced learners required a more constructivist learning environment that advocates an open and problem-based approach, allowing more learner control and input.
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ItemThe evaluation of training( 1990)The focus of this study is on program evaluation as it applies to training and development initiatives in a large Australian organisation. The purpose of the study was to investigate an evaluation methodology that could be built in to a training program to provide information about the program's effectiveness and its impact on the target population in order to make decisions about program improvement, expansion, or termination. The trends in program evaluation that were applied in this area included contributions from the work of Michael Scriven who proposed a needs based evaluation as opposed to goals based evaluation, Bob Brinkerhoff who proposed a six stage model based on the Action Research process, and Michael Patton who focused attention on the information needs of program stakeholders, amongst others. Development of an evaluation process and methodology based on the Action Research process was achieved through research into three separate training and development programs implemented in the Broken Hill Proprietary Company Ltd over a four year period.
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ItemLearning work : an ethnography of work and learning in radiation therapy( 2003)That people learn at work seems to be a common sense view, but little is known about how professional identities and knowledge are shaped through and influenced by work. This study is an account of situated learning within the profession of radiation therapists. The study analyses tacit processes and informal practices of workplace learning, towards understanding the role of informal learning within the workplace and the profession. Ethnography and symbolic interactionist approaches and sociocultural perspectives are employed to explore the relational view of communities of practice and in the detail of day-to-day work. This case study highlights the importance of learning embedded in the routines of work practice. It also discusses the idea of cultivating learning through attention to the social context of the workplace and through an acknowledgment and understanding of the full nature of work and learning which occurs within the profession of radiation therapists.
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ItemThe influence of accelerating technological change on staff development within a specific department of a TAFE college( 1984)In this thesis the influences of rapidly accelerating technological change on staff development practices and requirements within TAFE college have been investigated. Although the investigation is directly related to one specific department, which is particularly influenced by rapidly changing technology, a broad-based review of literature covering the various aspects of technological change, TAFE and its changing role,and the generally accepted phases of staff development,was found to be necessary. From this review of literature specific implications have been drawn. To relate these implications, drawn basically from theoretical literature, to the practical requirements of a teaching department, a descriptive case study, involving the department and its teaching staff members was conducted, the relevant data collected and analysed. From the review of literature and the analysis of the departmental data a series of conclusions have been drawn and recommendations made. Finally, to complete the exercise, an integrated development programme for the department has been proposed.