Melbourne Graduate School of Education - Theses

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    Towards a model for colleague support : matching support to needs and contexts
    Rogers, William A (1947-) ( 1999)
    This thesis explores the issue of colleague support in schools observed in five case site schools over several years. The study sought to ascertain how colleagues perceive, rate, utilise and value colleague support and the effect of colleague support across a school culture. The research study is predominantly qualitative using participant observation and interviews, over several years. The interviews are based on an earlier pilot study (conducted in 1995-96) and a later survey of each of the five case site schools that make up this research study. The thesis outlines how colleagues describe, value, and utilise colleague support and proposes a typology of support based in grounded theory. This typology asserts that schools have definable `colleague-shape; based in characteristics and protocols of support that have an increasing degree of school-wide consciousness. The typology, and emerging protocols, it is hoped, have both a descriptive and diagnostic facility and an adaptive utility. This thesis concludes with a chapter on adaptive facility proposing suggestions, arising from this study, that might increase a school's conscious awareness and use of colleague support.
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    Children's perceptions of changes in families
    Ryan, Maureen ( 1991)
    The three studies reported in this thesis take as their subjects over one thousand "ordinary primary school children" from state primary schols in the western region of Melbourne. The sample has not been drawn using methods such as newspaper requests (Burns, 1980), from Parents without Partners groups (Kurdek and Siesky, 1978), from university towns (Franz and Mell, 1981) or through court records (Hess and Camara, 1979; Dunlop and Burns, 1988). The western region of Melbourne is socioeconomically and ethnically diverse and predicted to grow faster than most other areas of Melbourne in the next decades. In essence, these children are that future. Certainly, their perceptions of families and of changes in families will help to shape their own futures. Children have much to say about families as has been noted in studies by Ochiltree and Amato (1985) and Goodnow and Burns (1985). Children in Studies 1 and 2 in this thesis wrote eloquently and often with passion about families generally and about family changes specifically. Previous studies (Csikszentmihalyi and Rochberg-Halton, 1981; Silcock and Sadler, 1980; Wallerstein and Kelly, 1980; Riach, 1983; Ochiltree and Amato (1985) and Cooper (1986) have looked at children's perceptions of families. Some, like Csikszentmihalyi and Rochberg-Halton, (1981) and Cooper (1986) have drawn attention to gender differences; others, like Silcock and Sadler, (1980), to techniques employed in the collection of data. In addition, Selman and his colleagues (1979, 1980, 1986) have focussed on children's developing understanding of social relations. Selman's stages of development of social understanding, like those of Hoffman (1983) for empathy development are based on Piagetian stages of cognitive development. The present studies are an attempt to draw together around a single theme, children's perceptions of families, the impact of a range of techniques for data collection (as Silcock and Sadler, (1980) have suggested is appropriate) and consideration of age/stage differences as defined by Selman et al. Additionally, gender differences are investigated as suggested by Csikszentmihalyi and Rochberg -Halton, (1981). In Study 1, a group of forty Grade 5/6 children completed a questionnaire, Children's Perceptions of Changes in Families. Subsequently, this group of forty was divided into a target and a control group. The target group of children took part in an eight week videotape/discussion program with family matters as content while the control group continued with general classroom activities. At the completion of this, children were presented with the responses they had prepared previously to the questionnaire and invited to change these in any way they considered appropriate. Analysis revealed that elaboration occurred in the responses of children in both target and control groups. Statistical analysis revealed very little in the way of differences between the responses made by those children who had taken part in the videotape/discussion program and those who had not. Coming out of this study, however, were gender differences and tendencies for children to describe parents in stereotypic roles which are reminescent of other larger studies (Goodnow and Burns, 1985; Cooper, 1986; Ochiltree and Amato, 1985). Girls, for example, expressed far more interest than boys in the experience of caring for a new baby; boys referred more than did girls to the fights likely to ensue should a new child come into the family. Father's movement from the children's home to live elsewhere was considered unhappy because of his loss as a playmate; in mother's case, it was her inability to continue caring for the children which was noted. Such patterns were revealed in the content analysis of the children's responses to the questionnaire. The children in this first study served as a window into the other studies reported in this thesis in that the researcher spent considerable time speaking with both groups through their two completions of the questionnaire and with the target group during the videotape/discussion program. In addition, statements made by these forty children were used as the basis of Study 3. In Studies 2 and 3, children prepared written responses to the tasks set them. In Study 3, 1118 Grade 3/4 and Grade 5/6 children drawn from twelve state primary schools in the western region of Melbourne were read statements by their teacher and invited, on one occasion, to indicate their thoughts about each statement and, on another, to indicate their feelings. The phrases from which children were invited to select in indicating their responses were based on the definition of problem and expression of feelings components of the Interpersonal Negotiation Strategies Model (Selman et al., 1986b) and were representative of levels of complexity of thought and feeling described in the model. Girls' marked superiority over boys in their choice of feeling responses representing higher levels of complexity was the most significant finding in this study. This finding coupled with findings from Study 2 that girls made significantly more references than boys in their descriptions of families to emotional aspects of families makes gender differences a powerful finding in the studies presented in the thesis. The emotional aspects of families to which girls referred significantly more often than boys in responses to the question, "What is a Family?" were love, care, sharing/belonging, understanding problems/talking. In contrast, boys and younger children (Grade 3/4) referred significantly more often than girls and older children (Grade 5/6) to family structure. The finding that older children made significantly more references than did the younger children to many aspects of families is not surprising and likely to be due to their general experience and superior verbal ability (Jacklin and Maccoby, 1983). The gender differences in the content analysis was reinforced in coding undertaken of children's responses according to levels based on Bruss-Saunders' levels (1978) of social understanding of parent-child relationships. Here, the descriptions written by Grade 5/6 girls were coded as representing highest levels of complexity and the descriptions written by Grade 3/4 boys as representing lowest levels of complexity. In the studies, levels of complexity of children's responses are considered according to theories of cognitive development. In addition, the influence of contextual factors on the thoughts and feelings children express about families are discussed. Questions about the relationship between these two are raised with regard to the capacity children acquire for coping in their present and future families.
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    Teacher training in Carlton: the predecessors of the Institute of Education
    Garden, Donald S. (1947-) ( 1992)
    On 1 January 1989 the Melbourne College of Advanced Education and the Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne were amalgamated to form the Institute of Education within the University of Melbourne. Although the two institutions had in various forms resided on adjacent campuses in Carlton/Parkville for several decades, both devoted to teacher education, they brought together different educational cultures. Melbourne CAE was descended from a long line of government-controlled teacher training institutions which had operated at first in Melbourne and from 1889 at Carlton in the corner of the University campus. Melbourne Teachers College was for most of this history the main institution for the training of teachers for Victorian government primary schools, but also played a significant role in the training of most types of teachers until the Second World War. It had little independence and was used largely as an instrument of policy by the Education Department and its political masters, subject to the vagaries of changing policies and economic conditions. These also affected the conditions and status of the teaching profession, which in turn impacted on the appeal of the profession and therefore on the socio-economic and gender mixture of recruits to the College. After 1945 teacher education became fractured into several geographically spread and more specialized colleges, and MTC was joined on its campus by a new Secondary Teachers College. During the 1950s and 1960s MTC and STC essentially ran pragmatic courses which churned out large numbers of teachers to fill places in the burgeoning number of schools. The two colleges merged in 1972 and gained independence from the Department in 1973. After much tossing and turning in the tertiary sector, in 1983 the Carlton college was amalgamated with the Institute of Early Childhood Development as Melbourne CAE. The University of Melbourne commenced its formal involvement in teacher education in 1903 when a liaison was established with MTC. For three decades MTC and the Faculty (as it became in 1923) shared their senior officer, administrative links, courses and students. The closeness was a two-edged sword for the University, for while greatly assisting the Faculty's work it also brought a substantial and frustrating degree of Education Department influence. The links were broken in the late 1930s, against the University's will, but thereafter the Faculty enjoyed greater intellectual and administrative freedom, and pursued its own course development. It came increasingly to be involved in theoretical and research studies, and to look down (with some justice) on its Department-dominated, less intellectually-oriented college neighbours. During the 1950s-1970s the Faculty was also under great pressure to meet the demand for teachers, and as a result somewhat lost its way as an intellectual and educational force. Throughout their history the institutions were influenced by diverse professional and community attitudes, philosophies and needs - how children should be raised, how schools are best organized, the most appropriate moral and instructional content of education, the attributes required in a teacher, and how teachers are best trained and/or educated. Rising standards of living and new technology, and the demands of the labour force, produced different occupational needs. All of this contributed to changing community expectations of schooling and teacher education.
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    Spiritual health: its nature and place in the school curriculum
    Fisher, John W. ( 1998-04)
    As spirituality first appeared in Australian curriculum documents in 1994, it was important to establish how educators thought it related to student well- being. In this research a description and four accounts of spirituality - spiritual rationalism, monism, dualism, and multidimensional unity - were developed from available literature. The literature also revealed four sets of relationships important to spiritual well-being. These were the relationships of a person with themself, others, environment, and Transcendent Other. The model of spiritual health proposed here claims that these four sets of relationships can be developed in corresponding Personal, Communal, Environmental and Global domains of human existence, each of which has two aspects - knowledge and inspiration. Progressive synergism describes the inter-relationship between the four domains. The quality of relationships in the four domains constitutes , spiritual well-being in each domain. Spiritual health is indicated by the combined effect of spiritual well-being in each of the domains embraced by a person. The principles of grounded theory qualitative research methodology were used to investigate the views of 98 teachers from a variety of schools near Melbourne. Feedback from 23 Australian experts, on the researcher’s definitions, is discussed. To encompass all the teachers’ views of spiritual health, to the initial categories of Personalist, Communalist, Environmentalist and Globalist, a fifth category was added for the small group Rationalists, who embraced the knowledge, but not the inspiration/transcendent aspects, of the first three domains of spiritual well-being. All the teachers believed spiritual health should be included in the school curriculum, most rating it of high importance, two-thirds believing it should be integral to the curriculum. The teachers’ major curriculum concerns focussed on Self, Others, the Transcendent, or Wholeness. Investigation of those teacher characteristics seen as important for promoting spiritual health, with associated hindrances and ideals, showed variation by gender, personal view of spiritual health, major curriculum concern, teacher and school type. Greatest variation was noticed when comparing school type. State school teachers emphasised care for the individual student from a humanistic perspective. Catholic school teachers were concerned for the individual, with religious activities being implemented by dedicated teachers. Other Christian school teachers focussed on corporate, not individualistic, activities, and emphasised relationship with God. Other non-government school teachers emphasised tradition, with attendant moral values. Implications of these variations on school choice are discussed. Principals’ behaviour, speech and attitude were considered by the teachers to be vital in providing opportunities for spiritual development in schools. A 30-item Spiritual Health Measure (of Humanistic and Religious Aspects of Spiritual Health) was developed using the researcher’s model of spiritual health and data from 300 UK teachers. The SHM should be useful as a diagnostic for individuals or groups to provide base data from which to plan enhancement of their spiritual health. This thesis contains an analysis of how well the Victorian Curriculum & Standards Framework provides guidelines for promoting spiritual health. A position of responsibility, called Spiritual Facilitator, is proposed to help ensure that the rhetoric about spiritual well-being is put into practice in schools.
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    The counselling needs of parents of children of high intellectual potential (CHIP)
    ALSOP, GLENISON ( 1994)
    The study reported in this dissertation examines the experiences of parents of children of high intellectual potential (CHIP) in their interface with three contexts, those of support networks (family and friends), community resources and education professionals. Its premise is that by comprehending such contextual experiences the need of these parents for counselling support could be better understood. Although the literature associated with families of the intellectually "gifted" abounds with recommendations regarding counselling, the definition and reporting of these needs has been largely anecdotal and inferential. Reporting of clinicians has suggested what are the issues of primary concern. Research evidence has not been collected to substantiate these observations. Furthermore, issues reported as being of primary significance for potential family dysfunction have relied on an interpretation of intra-family dynamics. Counselling literature has largely ignored these families in contextual settings and relationships. Two survey instruments were developed. A questionnaire collected empirical data on parental experiences in relation to assistance and attitudes within support networks, to assistance and attitudes from community resources (including professionals other than those associated with teaching), and to assistance and attitudes in relation to educators. A semi-structured interview schedule was also developed to compile information about how individuals felt about their experiences, and the impact on their sense of competence and confidence as parents of CHIP. A sub-sample of personality data was also collected using the 16PF to relate objective data on personality to subjective inference. Triangulation of data suggested exceedingly negative experiences for parents of CHIP within all three support contexts. Parental responses to these interactions varied. The most damaging was that associated with the educators of their children. The responses of these parents suggested that their experiences had had an adverse effect on them and their sense of competence and personal effectiveness. The 16PF data confirmed the predictable personality of parents who would persist in the negative environment in Victoria. The findings associated with school movement exceeded the State norms by a factor of five. The continuing difficulties faced by this group of parents was further demonstrated in additional movement of children from schools even after the collection of the survey data for the thesis. The findings suggest that there is potential for personal and family dysfunction among this population in situations where the usual support systems and productive relationships with professionals are absent. This study therefore offers strong evidence of the need for counselling support of parents of children of high intellectual potential.
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    An evaluation of the reading comprehension of students in Victoria who are profoundly, prelingually deaf and of an intervention programme to improve their inferential reading comprehension skills
    Walker, Lynette M. ( 1995)
    This thesis is concerned with the reading comprehension of students in Victoria who are profoundly prelingually deaf. The study firstly addresses reading abilities of these students and the factors that affect these abilities. Secondly, this study implements a programme for a sub-group of underachieving readers. The research was conducted in two stages. Stage one evaluated the reading comprehension outcomes for 195 prelingually, profoundly deaf students in government and non-government schools. The subjects were tested on the Stanford Diagnostic Reading Comprehension Test. It was found that there was a wide range of reading comprehension ability amongst the subjects. However, 58.0% of these students were reading in the below the average range compared with 23.0% of their hearing peers. The average rate of advancement for the Australian subjects was found to be 0.5 of a grade per year. The deaf students over 15 years of age achieved an average reading level of grade 6.0 which was commensurate with recent findings from America and higher than that found in Britain. Some significant differences between sub-groups were found. Female deaf readers were reading better than males. There was also a significant difference between the reading competency of the subjects according- to their aetiology. The Rubella subjects tended to be the poorest readers and the Meningitic subjects the most competent readers. Overall the subjects' literal reading scores were significantly higher than their inferential scores. An analysis of the scores for the textual, functional and recreational reading genres showed a significant difference between the scores from the three educational settings with mainstreamed students reading better than integrated who read better than segregated students in all areas. The subjects were also tested for their ability to infer meaning from pictures. Further, a multiple regression showed that being female, having above average academic potential and being in an mainstreamed oral setting and having the ability to use inferential strategies with pictures were all significant predictive factors for reading comprehension competence. Stage two of the research involved 60 subjects who were identified as underachieving from stage one. An intervention programme which aimed at using pictorial material to encourage the use of inferential strategies in reading was developed. The research design involved four groups of 15 subjects (two experimental, two control). The experimental groups received 30 lessons of an intervention programme to teach inferential reading strategies using pictorial and written text. One of the control groups underwent a reference skill programme and the other did not receive any specific intervention. Using the Stanford Diagnostic Test of Reading Comprehension, post-intervention reading comprehension competence was measured. A significant improvement in the reading comprehension competence of the experimental subjects was found. The amount of improvement was more than two reading grade levels over a twelve month span. It was further shown that the subjects over 15 years of age also improved. The programme was particularly effective with the weakest and the youngest deaf readers. The findings of this research have implications for educational programmes designed to improve the literacy of profoundly, prelingually deaf readers. By placing an emphasis on the processes involved in inferential comprehension, the deaf readers learned to interact with the text.