Faculty of Education - Theses

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    Walter Bonwick (1824-1883) : Walter Bonwick and the establishment of music teaching in the national schools of Victoria, 1855-1856
    Maclellan, Beverley ( 1990)
    This thesis examines the development of music teaching in the National Schools in the vicinity of Melbourne for the years 1855 and 1856. While Walter Bonwick was not the first music teacher to be appointed by the National Board, he was the most influential, and from his appointment in February, 1855, began a career which was to span a quarter of a century. He continued as a vocal music teacher and later as a instructor of music teachers with the National Board and. its successors until his death in 1883, at the age of fifty-eight. Walter was a member of a circle of colonial teachers and- writers who were connected by marriage, and his success in obtaining a position with the National Board was certainly in part the result of the influence of his family and their friends. But the significance of his music teaching in 1855 and 1856 was his insistence on a modification of Hullah's system. Walter persuaded the Board that Hullah's system for teaching vocal music was unsuitable for the schools in the colony because the course was too long, the exercises too tedious, and the music not sufficiently pleasing or attractive to children. His solution was to request the Board to sanction the introduction into National schools of a Manual of Vocal. Music to be compiled by him. The Board agreed to his proposal, and so began a series of publications for instruction in the schools. This paralleled a similar request to the Board by his brother James to sanction his publication of a Geography text book for use in the schools. Walter's weekly reports reveal a wealth of detail of the incidents of colonial life; flood, heat, falling trees, death, and even toothache. They also show Walter to be sensitive, hard-working, and dedicated to his music and his pupils. The Secretary and Commissioners of the Board - are treated with respectful familiarity; rather unexpected in a subordinate. One hundred miles a week by horse, Walter was the archetypical peripatetic vocal music teacher.
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    Catholic Ladies' College : a case study in Catholic education in Victoria
    Walsh, Maureen Cecille ( 1990)
    This case study of Catholic Ladies' College Eltham Victoria shows major shifts in its style of operation from the late nineteenth century to the present. These shifts are seen as reflections of change in the philosophy and provision of Catholic education generally, as it responds to different historical and social pressures. Evidence for the Chapters dealing with the general background of Catholic education has been largely drawn from histories and sociological investigations, while evidence for the particular history of the school has been largely drawn from archival material documents, interviews and survey results. Findings are that within the school changes in style and direction can be noted which illustrate major trends and changes in Catholic education. Some evidence of differences in style of operation between Catholic, government and independent schools was found in the contemporary context, though full organization and school climate studies were not conducted.
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    Equal pay and the women teachers of the Victorian Education Department, 1939-1967
    Schilte, Simone ( 1992)
    The history of equal pay for women teachers commenced well before the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission awarded equal pay for work of equal value in 1972. This thesis examines the financial status of women teachers in the state schools of Victoria between 1939 and 1967. In particular, it covers the campaign for equal pay. This campaign was persistent and hard fought under the guidance of people such as Hilma Cranley, and with the support of influential trade unions and favourable international policy. In Victoria, female teachers constituted nearly half of the primary teaching service yet traditionally meagre regard was paid to their status. Women teachers were discriminated in terms of pay despite their skills and responsibilities being recognised as tantamount to men's. A study of the discrimination and the protracted campaign to achieve equal pay through the analysis of the policies of the governments, wage legislation, contemporary evidence and the archival records, makes it clear that the teachers' reasons for equal pay were legitimate and morally irrefutable. However, social attitudes, the set up of the work force, financial considerations and government reluctance slowed the introduction of equal pay. Through the examination of women's growing importance in the Australian working scene and social influences of the time, such as the Second World War, the teachers' equal pay campaign has been interpreted. The Victorian Teachers' Union monitored these changes, and as public support for equal pay grew, so did the prospects for achieving equal pay. As women were increasingly essential to the maintenance of a comprehensive education system, their low wage status could not be ignored. The teacher s campaign, with particular emphasis on the Victorian Teachers' Union, is therefore the focus of this thesis. The study concludes that the women's teachers financial status did improve, however, the struggle for equality of opportunity was still ongoing.
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    Young single factory women in 1927 : a study of issues of women and work
    Paisley, Fiona ( 1990)
    In 1927, a Department of Labour inquiry focussed upon a group of young female metalworkers employed in a Melbourne factory. A range of contemporaries, including the female workers, gave evidence to the inquiry, resulting in recommendations regarding female work conditions. This thesis aims to investigate the process of deliberation which took place at the inquiry. Issues of women and work contained within the resulting report raise questions concerning working women's experiences which have relevance not only to contemporary labour legislation but also to subsequent feminist historical analysis
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    Donald Clark : the first chief inspector of technical schools
    Whiteley, Robin H ( 1980)
    Australia is a country which has always honored its pioneers. Our history, both written and oral, is suffused with images of stubborn battle against seemingly overwhelming forces of finance, economy, climate, and society. Our cities and towns are dotted with monuments proclaiming the strength of those who fought and won the battles. Donald Clark was Victoria's foremost pioneer of technical education. His life was an unending battle to make society realise the importance of technical education. His monument is the technical education system in Victoria, the schools and colleges that even today are organised along lines he established and according to a philosophy he propounded. What kind of man leaves such a monument behind him? This thesis will attempt to examine the development of Clark's beliefs and attitudes and will tell the story of the battles he fought in his lifelong effort to build in Victoria a system of technical education of value to the people, the State, and the world.
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    An education to prayer: the establishment and development of a parochial school in the Catholic parish of St. Brendan's Flemington, Melbourne. 1887 -1947
    Kauzlaric, Lydia S. ( 1990)
    �� the present system of Catholic Education in Australia developed not from any predetermined plan but as a result of the conflicting forces in educational development in the nineteenth century and the circumstances of the times." In the latter half of the nineteenth century �conflicting forces� and �the circumstances of the times� resulted in the establishing, in 1887, of a Catholic primary school in the inner Melbourne suburb of Flemington. (From Introduction)
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    A comparative study of ten Victorian Protestant girls' school histories 1875 to 1920
    Johnston, Carol ( 1985)
    In recent years a number of histories of independent girls' schools have been published and it now seems an appropriate time to draw together some aspects of this history. This thesis will trace some of the common features of these histories with a view to explaining the changes in the development of female education in Victoria during the period 1875 to 1920.(From Introduction)
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    A history of the psychology, guidance and welfare work of Counselling, Guidance & Clinical Services (formerly the Psychology Branch and the Psychology & Guidance Branch) 1947-1985
    Jacobs, Ann ( 1986)
    The development of the school psychology, guidance and welfare work of Counselling, Guidance and Clinical Services (formerly the Psychology Branch, then-the-Psychology and-Guidance Branch) 1947-1985 is presented. Archival material and interviews with former administrators provided the sources of the finding. On the whole, the services developed in the manner described in the literature on this topic. The very early work was in the traditional mode: psychometric, direct services to children. Subsequently, the range extended to include the four levels of intervention discussed by Joel Meyers (1973): direct services to children, indirect services to children, direct services to teachers and services to the school as a system. In addition, services to the Department/Ministry of Education and to the community of which the school is a part were provided. Some research was conducted and liaison with tertiary institutions and professional bodies was emphasized. The extension of the range of services appears to have been an appropriate response to the increasing demands on the psychology, guidance and welfare staff. Current developments in Victorian education suggest that, while all levels of intervention will be required, much attention should be given to services to the school system and to the community of which the school is a part. Services at the systems level, however, will continue to be geared to facilitating the optimal development of the individual child in the system. Suggestions for further research are made.
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    Social studies in Victorian technical schools, 1938-1974
    Edwards, Kenneth J. ( 1987)
    This thesis investigates the changes which have occurred in social studies in Victorian Technical Schools from 1938 to 1974. Social studies first appeared in Victoria when it was introduced into Preston Technical School during 1938. By the early 1940s social studies was starting to replace history and geography in most Victorian Technical Schools. Its status was low, and its course of study was usually reserved for those technical students who were labelled as under-achievers who would probably not progress beyond forms 3 or 4. The boys were relegated into the trades, while the girls headed for domestic courses. The teaching of social studies during the 1950s was undertaken by many teachers who had escaped from teaching subjects traditionally associated with an academic discipline, and by teachers who were unqualified. This situation remained virtually unchanged up until 1967. The whole "aura" of social studies and its curriculum went through something of a renaissance, which had its birth in 1967 at Burwood, Victoria, at the U.N.E.S.C.O. Seminar on the "Teaching of the Social Sciences at the Secondary Level". Immediately following the Burwood Seminar, the Victorian Advisory Committee on the Teaching of Social Science in Secondary Schools was established. In 1968 the Technical Schools Division set up a Standing Committee on Technical Schools Social Studies (SCOTSSS), and in the same year curricula autonomy was devolved, and the Director-General of Education in Victoria gave all schools in the state the right to determine their own curriculum. The Victorian Secondary Social Science Project (SSSP) was established in 1971 under the jurisdiction of the Victorian Advisory Committee, while the National Committee on Social Science Teaching (NCSST) held its first meeting in November 1971. In 1972 the Victorian Association of Social Studies Teachers (VASST) created a regular journal, Study of Society. Other key factors which have helped in the development of social studies have been the direct financial assistance from federal sources, overseas influence on social studies/ science teaching, a. rapid upsurge of student teachers completing social studies method courses, and a unique body of curriculum personnel working outside the Education Department. All of the above factors were instrumental in the re-birth of the subject of social studies in Victoria's Technical Schools since 1967.
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    The life and veterinary contribution of Dr. Harold E. Albiston
    Clarkson, G. T ( 1992)
    This thesis examines the life and veterinary contribution of Dr Harold E. Albiston. Through his professional life can be traced the history of veterinary science in Victoria, from the horse doctor days of pre World War I to the re-establishment of the University of Melbourne Veterinary School in September 1962. Special attention is paid to the late 1920s which saw veterinary teaching cease at the end of 1927 and the University of Melbourne Veterinary School officially close in June 1928. Albiston, who was on the staff of the Veterinary School, witnessed this critical time in Victorian veterinary history. During the world-wide veterinary recession from 1920 to 1935, due to the declining influence of the horse, Albiston was one of the first veterinarians to appreciate that a new direction was necessary for the profession. While he was assistant-director, he upgraded the facilities of the Veterinary School, and encouraged research and diagnostic work on farm animals. As the day of the horse passed Albiston had built up the Veterinary School or the Veterinary Research Institute (VRI) as it became known in 1931, into an organisation of status serving the emerging livestock industries. The VRI was a unique establishment since it functioned as a normal university department, under the aegis of the University of Melbourne, yet performed diagnostic and research work for the Department of Agriculture. The VRI became an enlightened veterinary centre - a meeting place where veterinarians would visit, browse in the library and discuss problems with Harold Albiston or the VRI senior staff. It also became the centre of post graduate veterinary education in Victoria since all conferences, meetings and seminars were held there and for twenty-three years it was the home of the Australian Veterinary Journal (AVJ). The thesis also examines Albiston's research and diagnostic achievements before he was engulfed by administrative responsibilities. In 1927 he helped to solve black disease, or infectious necrotic hepatitis, which was costing the sheep industry millions of pounds. He also played a major role in diagnosing and eradicating the first Newcastle disease outbreak in Australia in 1930. In 1933 he was credited with giving the first post-graduate veterinary course in Australia when he gave a series of poultry lectures at the VRI. So successful was this venture that he gave a similar course on cattle diseases the following year. Harold Albiston has been the longest serving member of the faculty of veterinary science, the longest serving editor of the AVJ and the longest serving member of both the Veterinary and Zoological Boards of Victoria. His contribution came from his humanity and a dogged determination, at board, faculty or committee level to make the most effective use of his talents - his warmth, his lack of pomposity, his consultative ability and his capacity for hard work. In 1959 Harold Albiston was awarded the Gilruth Prize for meritorious service to veterinary science. In 1963 he was awarded the honour of Commander of the British Empire.