Faculty of Education - Theses
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 10 of 14
-
ItemGeelong High School 1909-16 : a study of local response( 1978)The years 1909-16 saw the expansion of public secondary education within Victoria. It represents the working out of certain aims and policies for secondary schools between a centralised Education Department in Melbourne and the local communities that were financially involved in the provision of these facilities. This thesis will attempt to identify the forces shaping the development of Geelong High School. It will outline the aims and values of this community and evaluate the significance of their perception of what secondary education should be about. The study will look at the role of the Education Department - its director, its administrative philosophy and the attitude of the State Government towards the expansion of secondary education. The study will examine the interplay of these factors with the significant contribution of the school's educational leadership and philosophy. The main argument of the thesis is that the success of Geelong High School was to a large extent due to its support from a middle class. They saw in the school opportunities for their children resulting from an education that was financially beyond them at the prestigious fee-paying public schools. In responding to these needs the school would survive in spite of almost overwhelming odds in its early years. A comparative study with Colac Agricultural High School will be made to clarify the point that it was community support, and not legislation and regulations from the Department, that was to be the main reason for the success of Geelong High School.
-
ItemSelfoverestimation and scholastic success( 1977)Three weeks before the end of year final assessments at school, 133 boys from forms one, three and five at a Victorian secondary school produced a self rating (SR) in six areas, general academic ability, industriousness in maths and in English, friendliness, and predicted final mark in maths and in English. Each student also rated all other members of his class in these six areas. The composite of these scores produced a group rating (GR) of each student in each of the six areas. The SR was then compared with the GR. If the SR>GR the student was defined as overestimating himself. The other two possible outcomes of this comparison were SR=GR (realistic) or SR
-
ItemSchool in the middle years : four Melbourne independent boys middle schools( 1978)This study revolves around the proposition that there is sound reason for the formation of an identifiable new stage for the schooling of children in the middle-years. Firstly, on the grounds that the transfer from primary to secondary school creates unnecessarily dramatic changes. Such changes not only involve adjustments to different teaching styles, different objectives and different organization patterns, but also to new people and strange surroundings. They also involve a choice of secondary school which, in spite of comprehensive trends, still narrows vocational opportunities. The provision of middle schools would enable the delaying of such choices with two less significant transfers. Secondly, on the ground that the grouping of children in the 10-13 age range would promote a closer examination of their special development needs, it would, encourage, if not force teachers to think outside traditional structures about the combination of the best in primary and secondary approaches, about the characteristic needs and important teaching principles, and about subject priorities and organizational patterns most appropriate to this stage. The following questions therefore provide the basis for the compilation of the material that follows. 1. (a) How are primary and secondary schools different? (b) What primary and secondary ideals and methods may be combined to best cater for the middle-years group? 2. (a) What are the special characteristics of the middle-years group? (b) What may the principle objectives for middle-years schooling be? 3. (a) How may the middle school be conceptualized? (b) What curriculum structures and organizational patterns may be most appropriate? These three general themes have been developed in sequence in each of the four sections of the thesis so that some of the problems are introduced in the first section, and in conjunction with this an attempt is made to introduce the boys themselves. The literature review on the other hand, establishes a basis for clarifying main propositions and the three research reports reviewed in this section come from Victoria, Scotland and New Zealand. The Victorian study was part of a dissertation completed in 1976 by the author. The choice of this work with the Scottish and New Zealand studies was not made with a comparative analysis in mind. Rather, these studies are included because they represent, as far as we can ascertain, the only major studies in this field. Although it is not possible at this stage to formulate specific hypotheses, in the third section there is an attempt to bring to light priorities for the schooling of children in the middle-years. Then the comparison of the four independent boys' middle schools follows and as far as possible, the three themes are developed here also. The thesis is titled "School in the Middle Years: Four Melbourne Independent Boys Middle Schools". It is a new field and these preliminary wanderings, although too general at times, seek to bring some of the problems into focus. The comparison of the four middle schools (Camberwell Grammar, Caulfield Grammar - Malvern House, Xavier College - Kostka Hall and Melbourne Grammar - Grimwade House) becomes in one sense a preliminary survey on which decisions about the development of this as an experimental study may be considered. In the final chapter this is taken up briefly, and one would hope to have the opportunity to take the study further at a later stage. This dissertation originally grew out of an examination of the primary to secondary school transition and some quite general but important conclusions emerged. These are here summarized. Strong links need to be established between teachers and students involved with the primary and secondary school transition. These links need to be formed between teachers at the Grade 6 and Form 1 levels, particularly in Education Department schools. During the year prior to transition, students require careful counselling and guidance with regard to selection of schools and in matters relating to the day-to-day organization and geographic layout of the secondary school to which they will go. Matters specifically relating to secondary school: time table, specialist rooms, methods of teaching, general expectations and the secondary school life style, all need emphasis. The possibility of special new-student orientation days and the careful use of counsellors and guidance officers is here highlighted. The teaching atmosphere in the first year of the secondary school needs to be carefully considered. It is desirable that the one teacher/one class relationships common to primary schools be continued as far as possible in order to provide security for students in an otherwise strange secondary school atmosphere. The clear differences between the primary and secondary schools, their different approaches to teaching and general philosophy need to be understood by teachers involved with students at the pre- and post-transitional stages. An understanding of these similarities and differences is fundamental to an understanding of the problems students face. Children will develop best when education is a continuing and an uninterrupted experience. This ideal has the best chance of being achieved in the one-campus school where divisions within the school can be established to match the growth stages of students and provide new challenges at all levels. The departmentalized approach in the secondary school is vastly different to the self-contained classroom approach in the primary school. Wherever possible these differences need to be understood and minimized by making adjustments to teaching methods and organization at the senior-primary and the junior-secondary levels. There is evidence to suggest that some students regard transition as an exciting new adventure with inbuilt growth opportunities. Teachers and parents need to present the opportunities in the secondary school in these terms. There is a liking amongst many students for the challenge of the new and an eagerness to experience those things that are different. There need not be a shrinking from added pressures. It is important that parents should be kept in close touch with teachers and Headmasters as decisions are made about the most appropriate secondary school, and as information is disseminated about the beginning-of-year procedures for enrolling students. Personal discussions and school visits are strongly recommended. There is not one age considered to be most appropriate for the primary-to-secondary-school transition. There is, however, some evidence to indicate that students of poorer ability from working-class type homes are likely to be more successful at the age of 12 or 13. It is asserted that given one to two more years of development these praticular students will make a more successful transfer to their new school. More advanced students from homes that provide educationally stimulating support are most likely to make satisfactory progress as they transfer to their new secondary school. These are the students who are likely to approach the challenge and the responsibility of their new school with plenty of confidence and a certain amount of adventure. The concept of a middle school, providing for children between the ages of 9 and 13 is promoted as an educationally and psychologically sound solution to the problems of transition as they are known in the present two-school system. Two less disturbing changes, from primary to middle and middle to secondary school, should provide for more effective sequencing of learning experiences over the twelve or thirteen years of schooling. The following conclusions which more particularly relate to the nature of schooling for the middle-years group, provided a basis for examining and comparing the four selected middle schools. It is not suggested that the comparison of these schools necessarily validates the conclusions, but it should help to clarify them. It is felt that the middle school should be a place that provides for the integration of experience through the continuance of a home-room system and for the specialization of experience through the use of subject teachers. If the primary school's preoccupation with the present and the secondary school's increasing concern for the future can be borne in mind, then the middle-school may be able to achieve a useful blend: security with enrichment, a grounding in basics with diversity and adventure, a ready response to the immediate and present with a sensible view of life to be faced in the future, a main concern for the process with certain realism about the importance of the end product. It is considered that the middle-school should aim firstly at fostering the intellectural growth of its students, including the development of critical faculties, inventiveness and creativity. Then secondly, at psychological health, promoting self esteem in interested, optimistic, active and expressive individuals. And finally the middle-school should aim to produce in its students a social sense, concern for the good of others and a desire to serve for the betterment of community. It is also concluded that the middle school curriculum will best cater for youngsters at this intensely personal, vulnerable but expansive stage if the creative arts can be structured near to the centre of things. What is being considered here is a school where the main medium for fulfilling student needs and for their exercising within the basic skills, is the creative and expressive aspects of curriculum. Thus we provide the means whereby activities in English, maths or social studies may be explored and where these experiences may be enriched. Chapter VIII begins with a general description of the four schools; Camberwell Grammar Junior School, Melbourne Grammar - Grimwade House, Xavier College - Kostka Hall and Caulfield Grammar - Malvern House. This is followed with an account of survey procedures including the design of questionnaires and methods for compiling and presenting data. Material here is again presented within the three themes of the thesis and then there is a description of the "fifth school", an interpretation of the sum of staffs' opinions about the life and style of the four schools. This is not an ideal school and the three main propositions stated above cannot be validated in this way. However, the survey enables a reflective commentary providing support and raising questions where necessary. The final Chapter of the thesis deals with the question of how this study may be taken up experimentally. There is a sense in which it is only possible at this early stage to declare the issues and provoke the search for clearer definitions. The multiple regression model is presented as one possible means for analysing the success of middle-schools in terms of their unique objectives; it is presented as one method suitable for comparing the four middle-schools with each other or with alternative schools.
-
ItemAn analysis of the recent reform movement in education, with special reference to Victorian secondary schools in the late nineteen sixties( 1977)The school reform movement in the nineteen sixties accompanied unprecedented change in culture and society. Curriculum reform was attempted throughout much of the developed world; in Victoria, the Curriculum Advisory Board was formed, and the Education Department initiated the Curriculum Reform Project for secondary schools. But the reform movement was complex; there were several distinct groups within it (deschoolers, educational technologists, and liberal humanists) whose aims and methods were often contradictory. The major reform philosophy in Victoria was liberal humanist and expressed most notably in the writings of the Director of Secondary Education, R.A. Reed, whose Curriculum Reform Project was not necessarily successful in its own terms, but nevertheless had a significant effect on secondary schooling in Victoria. The reform movement demonstrated how complex is the phenomenon of educational change; it is obviously more complicated than is suggested by the ideas of circular change or pendulum swing, and is perhaps best seen as resulting from the disturbance of equilibrium in a strong field of forces. Attempted liberal reform in Australia has led to the formation in 1973 of the Australian Council for Educational Standards, a group dedicated to the resistance of reform. There is presently a crisis in education, a crisis marked by uncertainty. The crisis should be resolved by encouraging alternatives in education, and by reorganizing educational institutions so that they can become more flexible and adaptable.
-
ItemEnglish in the training of primary teachers( 1975)in 1968 a three year course of training for primary teachers was introduced in Victorian State teachers' colleges. The course was founded upon the report of an Advisory Committee on the Three Years' Course of Training for Primary Teachers published in March 1967 and commonly termed the 'Pryor Report'. One of the objectives of this course was to develop a well educated cultured person (with) the desire to read widely. with discrimination and appreciation of all that is best in literature . Means of achieving this objective included a compulsory two years' study of English, incorporating the best in traditional and contemporary writing', and children's literature. There is need for some evaluation of the degree to which this objective has been achieved. in this study, twenty-one young teachers who completed the three year course at one provincial teachers' college, and who were teaching in one-teacher rural schools, were visited and invited to discuss the subject of English, particularly English literature. in their college courses. Their current reading habits. and views and attitudes to literature were also discussed. The data collected from these discussions suggest that the objective of the three year course referred to above is not being achieved in the case of this small and possibly unrepresentative sample of graduates of the course. These teachers do not read widely. Their attitudes to literature are disappointing and the effects of these attitudes on the children they teach represent a matter of grave concern. It Is suggested that the compulsory study of 'adult' literature In a course of training for primary teachers is educationally doubtful. On the other hand compulsory study of the immensely rich field of children's literature appears justified on literary, sociological and educational grounds. The need for clear aims and procedures for studies In the language arts and methods of teaching English In the primary school Is also suggested by the lack of confidence shown in these areas by the young teachers. The presentation of the views and attitudes of a group of young, inexperienced teachers in a difficult and sometimes lonely school environment is an attempt to give life to problems in teacher training which statistical data may illuminate. No firm conclusions are possible from data obtained in this study but the study indicates a need for thorough evaluation of the efficacy of courses of training of teachers such as those founded on the 'Pryor Report.'
-
ItemSchool-based curriculum development : its introduction and implementation in Victorian state high schools 1968-1978( 1979)Curriculum reform in the nineteen-sixties was in part a response to economic and technological change. In examining the antecedents to secondary curriculum reform in Victoria, however, I have discussed educational as well as economic factors. Secondary curriculum reform was closely associated with the Director of Secondary Education, Ron Reed, the Curriculum Advisory Board he established, and the introduction of a policy of school-based curriculum development. The scope of the review, the strategy and the implementation policy adopted by Reed and the C.A.B. were unusual and are examined in detail in this study. The devolution of responsibility to schools for continuing development of the new curriculum was fundamental to Reed's policy. But while its basis was pedagogical, it involved a redistribution of control over education and thus was inherently political. The conflict between secondary teachers and secondary inspectors of which curriculum control was a part was therefore probably unavoidable. It was exacerbated, however, by an incomplete understanding of the limited nature of the policy, and of the curriculum theory on which it rested. By 1973 the reform movement had reached its peak. Many schools abandoned the reforms because they had failed to produce the anticipated results. Some schools persisted in developing the new curriculum, however, and the experiences of one such school, Ferntree Gully High School, are examined in detail here. It is my hypothesis that without the power within the school to revise the curriculum in the light of experience, continued development could not have taken place. It is clear, however, that this was not a sufficient condition, and I have examined the school experience in order to reveal some of the other conditions necessary. The impact of the reform policy, although primarily concerned with curriculum content and organization, was on the practices and organization of the school as a whole. In order to understand this it is necessary to see the relationship between curriculum content and classroom interaction and between curriculum organization and school organization. These relationships, implicit in the work of the C.A.B., are only now beginning to emerge in curriculum theory. ii
-
ItemThe status of physical education in a sample of Geelong primary schools and analysis of the constraints affecting its teaching( 1978)272 teachers from 30 Geelong primary schools responded to the survey (74 percent response rate) which sought information concerning teacher attitude towards physical education, the extent and nature of physical education teaching and teacher perceptions of factors which inhibited physical education teaching. Schools in the study were all in the Geelong Metropolitan area with an enrolment of 200 or more pupils. Data from the questionnaires were analysed to determine the basic statistics such as the mean, mode and standard deviation for each item and data from a select number of items were factor analysed to discover any underlying patterns of association between variables. Results revealed that 30 - 60 minutes per week was the average time devoted to physical education although most teachers indicated a desire to teach more. Ball handling and Games were taught most often because teachers felt confident with these areas. The Education Department Curriculum Guides were considered a valuable aid by 86 percent of teachers yet only 37 percent admitted using them as a major source of curriculum ideas. 86 percent of teachers considered their physical education teaching to be effective and enthusiasm and planning were revealed by teachers as the most important contributions to effective teaching. The main reasons identified for teaching physical education were 'to release built up energy' and 'to develop physical skills and physical abilities'. Physical education was ranked as the 3rd. most important school subject and as a group the teachers expressed a favourable attitude towards physical education. Although the positive attitude toward physical education was encouraging, using time spent teaching physical education as the criterion, the status of physical education in the sample schools was considered to be low. Teachers identified human type constraints as more inhibiting to physical education teaching than material type constraints. The factor analysis revealed seven interpretable factors. Two of the factors further supported the notion of two groups of constraints and the main factor identified variables associated with the time spent on teaching physical education and the effectiveness of such teaching.
-
ItemRelation of anxiety and adjustment to educational environment( 1975)This investigation was concerned with the effect of different educational environments on factors associated with personality development, particularly adjustment and anxiety. The report was divided into two parts. The first part was concerned with a critical analysis of certain contemporary theories of education and with the empirical evidence relevant to these theories. The second part used the major beliefs of the theories as grounds for hypotheses which were tested with one hundred and seven tertiary students doing the Diploma of Education at the Melbourne State College in 1973. The theories in question all assume the intrinsic goodness of man and his urge for "self-actualization" when he is operating in a free and unconstrained manner. These theories derived from the writings of humanistic psychology and particularly from the work of Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow and are expressed in the writings of educators including John Holt, Everett Reimer, and George Dennison. In the first part of the investigation the theories were scrutinized both from the point of view of logical consistency and from that of empirical evidence relating to such concepts as self esteem, persuasibility, adjustment and anxiety in educational and non-educational contexts. In the second part, Rogers' own non-normative definition of adjustment was used to ascertain whether there were any changes during the course of the year in the adjustment of students in three different types of educational environment. Rogers (1954) believed that good adjustment was characterized by a small discrepancy between self and ideal self concept. He argued that good adjustment occurred when people were allowed to act freely and make their own decisions without interference from others. It was therefore hypothesized that students in an unstructured group, given maximum opportunity to decide their own educational activities, would exhibit superior adjustment to students in either a semi-structured or highly structured group. The adjustment of students in the semi-structured group was hypothesized to be next best to that of students in the unstructured group, while the adjustment of students in the highly structured group was hypothesized to be the worst of students in any of the three groups. Adjustment in this study was taken to be the distance between the concepts "Myself" and "The Person I'd Like To Be". These concepts and eight others judged to be of importance to either self esteem or education, were rated on a seven point semantic differential scale in relation to eighteen bi-polar adjectival scales (Osgood, Suci and Tannenbaum, 1957). It was also hypothesized that both the trait anxiety measured on the first testing occasion, and state anxiety measured on three occasions over the year, would be lowest in the unstructured group, higher in the semi-structured group and highest in the most highly structured group. The measures of anxiety used were devised by Spielberger, Gorsuch and Lushene (1970). Pre-test analyses of variance, repeated measures analyses and covariance analyses in which scores on the third testing were covaried for scores on the first testing, all failed to support the two main experimental hypotheses. A hierarchical grouping analysis, which is a purely descriptive technique for examining data, lent tentative support to the hypothesis regarding the superior adjustment of the unstructured group. On the pre-test analyses there were significant interactions between group membership and anxiety level. There were also significant results obtained from group differences alone and from differences in the level of trait anxiety. However, none of these differences revealed superior adjustment or significantly lower trait anxiety for the unstructured group. Further, when covariance analyses were carried out only one significant difference between groups remained. This concerned School Principals and Unpleasant and Bad Things. The structured group judged these concepts to be significantly further apart than did the unstructured group. This suggested different attitudes towards authority figures by students in the two groups. While the unstructured group failed to show the superior adjustment expected by the Rogerian hypotheses, or a significantly lower level of either trait or state anxiety, there were significant group differences on initial trait anxiety as revealed by an analysis of variance. There were also significant differences in state anxiety as revealed by a repeated measures analysis over three occasions. For both measures of anxiety, it was the semi-structured or core-elective group which exhibited significantly lower levels of anxiety than either the unstructured or highly structured groups. Contrary to the hypotheses the unstructured group and the highly structured group had anxiety levels (both trait and state) of a markedly similar kind. It was concluded that membership of the group allowing most freedom, did not have the hypothesized effect of producing superior adjustment or lower levels of either trait or state anxiety. Further, the lack of significant results after the covariance analyses suggested that educational environment, regardless of whether it was unstructured, semi-structured or highly structured, did not radically alter the adjustment or anxiety levels of the tertiary students who were the subjects of this investigation. Implications for education were discussed.
-
ItemThe movement to establish a higher technological institute in Victoria, 1940-1963( 1976)The general thesis is that the series of episodes during this period, during which attempts were made to establish a higher technological institute, constitute an important background to the policy adopted with respect to non-university tertiary education in Victoria as a result of the Martin Report of 1965. In 1940 demands were made within the Technical Schools' Association of Victoria and the Council of Public Education by W.G. McRobert and G.R. King for degrees in technical science to be awarded by Melbourne Technical College. This is seen as initiating a series of moves forming a continuous thread, ending about 1963 with the Ramsay Report on the future of tertiary education in Victoria. The course of a number of proposals for a higher technological institute are traced: the movement for an institute of technology, 1943-1947, including the Seitz Committee and Report; the joint college of technology proposal by the University of Melbourne and the Melbourne Technical College, 1948-1950; the University of Technology Committee of 1955-1956 and the impact of the Murray Committee; the establishment of Monash University, 1958 and the search for alternative solutions to the problem of higher technological education; and the impact of the Ramsay and Martin enquiries during the early 1960s. Some themes developed include the effect of the 1939-1945 war on the public esteem for technical education; the attitude of the University of Melbourne towards proposals for other degree-granting institutions; the significance of the failure of the draft institute of technology bill, 1947; the failure of the university of technology proposal and the crisis over student demand for university education of the early 1960s; and the tension between state and commonwealth attitudes to the development of tertiary education in Victoria in the early 1960s. A continuous thread throughout the story is the aspiration of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology to attain an unquestioned pre-eminence in higher, technological education. Victoria was not, in fact, able to establish the higher technological institute which had been supported by a number of important groups in Victorian education during the period. An important conclusion is that the role of the technical colleges prescribed by the Martin Committee in fact pre-empted the situation by diverting the largest of Victoria's technical colleges from its possible destiny as a higher technological institute. Rather it became one of a number of colleges of advanced education whose purpose was to extend, in an economical manner, tertiary education opportunities on a broad front.
-
ItemThe Victorian teachers' unions, 1946-1975( 1979)Victorian teachers' unions have a continuous history going; back to the 1880s although their influence prior to the Second World War was erratic. Teachers tended to be divided amongst themselves with the primary teachers dominating their post-primary colleagues. The 1946-1975 period saw dramatic changes in teacher. unionism and a growth in the field of white-collar unionism'. To start with Victorian state school teachers were unified within a confident V.T.U., which in 1945 had helped to. defeat the State Government and had subsequently seen, the establishment of the Teachers' Tribunal, but disunity. followed. The period became dominated: by the relationship between primary and post-primary teachers and the ensuing conflict led to the fragmentation of the V.T.U. and the establishment of separate unions for secondary and technical teachers v the V.S.T.A. and the T.T.A.V. The conflict was aggravated by the expansion in post-primary education and the fact that schools were ill-prepared' to cope with it. Thus the growing numbers of secondary and technical teachers became disillusioned with the conservatism of the V.T.U. and supported the establishment of new unions which catered specifically for their needs. These events led to a reassessment of the nature of teachers' unions and their methods of exerting influence. The V.S.T.A. and', to a lesser extent, the T.T.A.V., applied industrial tactics more commonly used by blue-collar unions in their attempts to initiate changes and. to make teaching a profession. The successes included abolition of some outmoded practices, control of entry to teaching, abolition of inspection, the development of a conditions policy and changes to the Teachers' Tribunal. Towards the end of the period in question a combination of internal and external factors-saw the V.T.U. lose some of its conservative image: and move closer to the other two unions, making a future federation of all state school teachers' unions a possibility. The three unions that evolved adopted a democratic structure, with large membership involvement and with policies decided by annual conferences and then implemented by all other levels - from council and executive down to, individual school branches. All three unions saw their function as developing industrial,, educational, pressure group, and social and "Friendly Society" policies and tactics. Teachers' unions continued to share many of the preoccupations and features of the white-collar movement. There was an uncertainty as to whether they should have allied themselves with the professions or with the blue collar unions. The uncertainty affected their methods of campaigning and their relationship with other bodies. Moves to develop closer links; with other unions through membership of the Trades Hall Council brought internal disagreements, although two of the unions took the step without encountering difficulties. The direction of the unions was influenced by two further factors: a change in the passive/conservative role of the dominant women members, and the difficulty of communicating policies. to the: public through the media.. Finally, there was more awareness; of the need of teachers to act in unity in the face of common problems, to develop links with other. employee organizations, and to look at new methods of strengthening their unions and planning for the future.