Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemAn analysis of how an innovation is disseminated by using the origins of the vertical curriculum concept in Victorian State Secondary Schools( 1985)The purpose of this investigation was twofold. One aim was to discover the origins of the vertical curriculum structure that has made a considerable impact on state secondary schools in the last decade. The other aim was to establish how the idea spread throughout the system and why schools made this major change away from the horizontal curriculum. Three research methods were used in this study. Firstly, Education Department Secondary School Handbooks were studied to identify the vertically structured schools in 1975 and 1982. Secondly, a telephone survey was undertaken in order to find more information about each of the forty-four vertical models discovered in the 1983 Handbook. This survey also enabled the original innovative schools to be identified, key individuals to be established and communication links between schools to be drawn up. Finally, the key carriers of the concept were interviewed to gain in depth information on the innovation. The outcome from the data collected should assist in the understanding of how a major curriculum change can disseminate throughout the schools in an education system. These implications should apply to educational systems outside of both Victoria and Australia.
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ItemThe struggle to achieve : the Vietnamese experience of secondary schools in working class neighbourhoods of Melbourne, 1986( 1990)Within the vast scope and complexity of the refugee experience this study deals with a simply defined, yet central issue to the settlement of young immigrants from Viet Nam in Australia. That is, the differing impact of personal factors preconditioning attitudes and values towards education, and school ecology on their educational trajectories and social destinations. To answer this question, the location occupied by this immigrant group within the school system was initially determined, and subsequently the influence of school organizational structure and classroom practice on educational performance in these settings was described and explained. Vietnamese pupils, their teachers and peers in 16 randomly selected government high schools in Victoria, and those persons responsible for the child's welfare in Australia provided rich and varied information for analysis. Detailed interpretation of this comprehensive data-base focused on one school representative of the wider sample. The study found that while educational trajectories and social destinations are largely controlled by the working class location Vietnamese youth occupy in the secondary school system, the impact of this setting is mediated by an exceptional determination, on their part, to escape the influence of multiple social factors which influence the outlooks and achievements of children, whoever they may be, who occupy these sites. Despite an heroic commitment by teachers in these schools and the determination of the Vietnamese to exploit, to the maximum, the limited opportunities available to them, the dependence of these young immigrants and their families on education for social advancement renders them vulnerable to failure. The study demonstrates, that despite the illusion of democratized educational theory and practice that these educational settings suggest, the reality is that educational conservative structures mitigate against social advancement. These institutional barriers, it is shown, operate on two levels. Firstly, the comprehensive curriculum plays a central role by disproportionately directing these young immigrants into the theoretical mathematics and physical sciences, a process consecrating them as an academic elite, while at the same time confirming the lowly position they occupy in the social hierarchy of their school and neighbourhood peers. Secondly, the study demonstrates how academic streaming is an aggravating circumstance coming on top of the other inequalities suffered by all children in these settings. Not only do the out-of-school activities of these young immigrants not support their curriculum placement, but teachers tend to misjudge Vietnamese classroom conformity as scholasticism, not passivity. Thus, rather than viewing this exceptional behaviour in working class settings as an indication of the struggle with which these young people have to cope, teacher definition of their school experience sees it as proof of an effective classroom process and of learning taking place. The study concludes that while the actual relationship that exists between the teachers and Vietnamese youth, and the schools they attend and the neighbourhoods these schools serve, remains unchanged, the price the Vietnamese have to pay for perceived scholasticism is loss of control of their immediate school experience and authorship of their own lives.
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ItemSocial competence and the core curriculum : a critical/empirical approach to the role of social education in the core curriculum( 1981)Through the reanalysis, reassessment, and reinterpretation of the data from the Essential Learning About Society study (Piper, 1977) from the point of view of current concerns about the core curriculum, this study develops an empirically-derived framework for a core curriculum in social education which takes into account the views of a substantial section of the Australian community. The study argues that social education is a necessary component of a core curriculum designed to meet the needs of both the individual student and the society as a whole; that the concept of social competence provides a valid basis for defining a core curriculum in social education; and that, in the absence of a definitive analysis of Australian society, community perceptions provide a practical alternative to the problems of defining an education for social competence. The developed framework provides a practical resource for incorporating community perceptions into core curriculum decision-making, and as such has potentially useful applications to educational policy and practice and to further research, as well as providing a body of empirical evidence in an area where such evidence is largely lacking.
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ItemAn evaluation of an orientation to higher education studies program( 1996)This study is an evaluation of the effectiveness of an Orientation to Higher Education Studies program presented at the Footscray campus of Victoria University of Technology (VUT) in February 1994, to new and continuing students who perceived themselves to be underprepared for university studies in general, and for meeting the standards required for written assignments in higher education in particular. The investigation was undertaken to gain insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the program's present curriculum, delivery techniques and organisational details, but, more importantly, it sought to better understand the potential short term and medium term effects for students of participation in the program. Deeper understandings of these issues will allow the presenters to make informed decisions regarding the development and delivery of future orientation programs for non-traditional students who enter higher education studies. It is also anticipated that this work will contribute to the current interest in the experiences of students in the first year of undergraduate degrees. A variety of methods was used to collect data for the study, including surveys, a questionnaire and interviews. The informants included the participants in the program, five case study students, lecturing staff and an independent assessor. Whilst data gathered through the questionnaire were useful in providing background information, it was investigation into the five case study students' experiences that gave deeper insight into the short and medium term effects on students' attitudes and actions with respect to the preparation of their first written assignment. The evaluation revealed that students from diverse non-traditional backgrounds can gain much from participating in such a program, particularly if it is complemented by the provision of on-going support . As well as identifying the benefits which occurred for the case study students, some limitations of the program were also revealed.
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ItemVCE course development days, 1991 : an appraisal( 1992)This minor thesis traces the evolution and rationale of the development and implementation of the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) from its inception in 1987 to its first full year of operation in 1992. It outlines the design and operation of the professional development program undertaken to assist the implementation of the certificate. Its focus is an appraisal of the major element of the professional development program - the 1991 course development days. Three perspectives are offered in this account of the effectiveness of the 1991 course development days - a district evaluation, individual presenter's responses and a regional survey. The appraisal concludes with an overview and a set of recommendations for continuing professional development for VCE teachers beyond 1992.
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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.
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ItemLiterature and English teaching : a study of literature in the teaching of English at Scotch College, Melbourne( 1991)The first chapter of this thesis provides a personal memoir of my teaching career, and places it in the wider historical context of developments within English teaching in England and Australia. It establishes my own position at the key points of these developments in 1966, 1975, 1980 and 1985 and introduces the main area of interest - the place of literature in the teaching of English. The second chapter concerns the vast amount of writing on the nature and teaching of literature in English. It provides an historical review of the main body of this writing and derives some of its focus from the seminal work of John Dixon in 1966, as well as the Bullock Report of 1975. The vigorous yet sometimes slightly artificial debate on the issue of literature teaching is also examined in the review of the important journal, The Use of English. Chapter Three develops the ideas propounded in some of the writings examined in the previous chapter and provides an analysis of my own experience at Melbourne Grammar School. Chapter Four shows the similarities and differences existing between Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar School and details a more critical view of the state of English teaching from 1980 - 1990 at Scotch College. It reviews some of the specific examples of literature teaching and shows the slow progress which has been experienced over a decade within the College. The final chapter brings together the case of Scotch College and reviews possible future progress in the light of perceived difficulties inherent in the structure of the College. The general outlook for English at the College is seen in positive terms and suggestions are provided for further research into both the reading habits of students and the processes involved in the teaching of literature within the current restraints.
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ItemSchools of the Future and curriculum development and implementation : an investigation( 1995)Restructure of the Ministry of Education has ensured that schools are no longer centrally administered but are self-managing within the Schools of the Future program under the Directorate of School Education. As a result, changes have occurred in many areas including administration, financial management, staffing structure and teacher support in areas such as curriculum. This study investigates three schools that are members of the Schools of the Future Pilot Program and seeks to find the effect that the changes from the Program, have had on Curriculum Development and Implementation. The study reviews the literature available on the topic, in particular the notion of self-managing schools in Victoria. Therefore it reviews information on the Schools of the Future Program. It also seeks to understand the effect of changes in curriculum policy and the provision of professional development. The study also seeks to explore the effect of leadership style on the implementation of curriculum within a school. Qualitative research methods were employed when data was collected from the three participating schools. The schools were selected for the following reasons: (i) they are members of the Schools of the Future Pilot Program(or Intake 1); (ii) they are situated in a similar socio-economic area; (iii) the author had ready access to those schools. By applying grounded theory technique to the data a model was developed - The Curriculum Triangle. This model is a suggested representation of what is occurring in the selected schools and could be used further to analyse data from schools, and thus generate the possible areas requiring professional development and curriculum leadership.
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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
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ItemFactors influencing the development of curriculum initiatives in Victorian secondary schools( 1989)This thesis is based on a study of teachers at Preston East Technical School. The purpose of the interviews was to illicit information about teachers' perceptions of themselves as compared with their given role in the state system. This is then analyzed against what is offered as the ideal role of a teacher. It is suggested that if it is the teacher's role to improve educational opportunity, then teachers should be concerned with the outcome of exiting students. This would involve detailed monitoring of programmes, possible delivery of additional programmes and industrial campaigns not only for necessary educational resources but also for job creation for youth. This thesis demonstrates that teachers are too involved in the psychic reward of their job and this, combined with the undermining of their conditions, is preventing further curriculum development. Processes, such as the participatory model used by the Ministry of Education which involve teachers in anything other than viewing student outcome, are time-consuming and divert attention from the issue of equity. What is recommended as an ideal learning situation is the formation of a partnership between student and teacher, where both work as if part of a research team, who will call upon the wider community for clarification of values and information.