Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemA political malaise: education for political understandings in Australian curriculum: history( 2016)This study examines the notion that Australia has entered a condition of political malaise. It seeks to find explanation for this development in a particular domain: Australian history education. Recent developments therein are assessed for the extent to which political understandings have been made available to students. On this basis the newly implemented Australian Curriculum: History is evaluated. The study employs a methodology of discourse analysis. Perspectives of politicians, experts and theorists are collected to examine contemporary political conditions. Theories regarding the manner in which history and education are harnessed for the purpose of constituting political and national identities are considered. Australian Curriculum: History is scrutinized in the context of the contestation that surrounded its creation and reception. The study posits the notion that the historical discourse has been coopted into the ideological conflicts of Australian party politics; that Australian Curriculum: History is constitutive of ideological predilections of antagonistic parties rather the historically informed critical faculties necessary for useful democratic participation.
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ItemThe work of the denominational and national boards of education in Victoria 1850-1862( 1965)Any historian has many difficult decisions to make concerning his choice of material, for the educational historian the problem is no less difficult. Should be concentrate on the complex issue of relations between church and state which influence both education and the life of the whole community, or should he allow his educational interests to anchor him in the classroom itself, and so develop a history of pedagogies which only rarely asks what is happening in the wider community? Should he take some issue, such as teacher training or inspection, and trace it through a period of time, or should he endeavour to see the way in which various activities are carried on in a more limited period? Both these vertical and horizontal views of history are necessary, for without the one history can appear static, and without the other the interaction of various forces can often be ignored.
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ItemThe educational ideas and influence on Victorian education of Dr. John Smyth: principal of the Melbourne Teachers' College, 1902-1927 and the first professor of education in the University of Melbourne, 1918-1927( 1967)Second in authority and influence only to Frank Tate, Dr. John Smyth was uniquely qualified to interpret the ideas of the "New Education" movement for Victorian schools at the turn of the century. Instead of using a biographical approach, this thesis outlines the diverse intellectual backgrounds which together formed the basis of Smyth's ideas. His New Zealand teaching experience coincided with the beginnings of reform there and his understanding of the "New Education" was deepened through study in Germany and Scotland from 1895 to 1901. German demands for realism in education; kindergartens and the theories of Froebel and Pestalozzi; the new techniques of Herbart and Rein; the establishment of teacher-training as a legitimate function of the university; and the beginnings of experimental psychology at Leipsic, were experienced by Smyth at first hand. The philosophy of Neo-Idealism which he espoused explains his ability to synthesize conflicting elements of the complex "New Education" movement. These major influences can be seen as the thesis examines Smyth's impact on Victorian education as Principal of the Melbourne Teachers' College (1902-27) and as the first Professor of Education at the University of Melbourne (1918-27). Separate chapters develop Smyth's attitudes to teacher-training and the College's growth under his control; his direct responsibility for the creation of the Free Kindergarten Union of Victoria and the improvement of Infant Schools; his idealistic philosophy translated into practice in the rural schools; and the significant contributions he made to the development of a School of Education at the University of Melbourne. A final assessment of Smyth the man reveals him as an intensely religious, dedicated educationist who had a lasting impact on the pattern of Victorian education. His relationship with Frank Tate emerges as that of an idealistic reformer unable to accept happily the limitations of compromise forced on Tate, the shrewd administrator, by a political and economic climate hostile to any but utilitarian educational reforms. Whilst Smyth’s educational ideas were not always fully implemented, the part he played in a period of educational history hitherto dominated by the name of Tate cannot be ignored. His intellectual stature and his actual accomplishments mark him as a key figure in our understanding of the development of Victorian education.
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ItemProvision for the education of Catholic women in Australia since 1840( 1988)An historical perspective of the Religious Orders of women which entered the Catholic education scene in nineteenth-century Australia, and an appraisal of their adaptation to the forces within Australian society which influenced their provision for the education of Catholic women in this country as they operated under the powerful direction of the bishops.
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ItemThe transmission of the charism of Marcellin Champagnat by principals in Marist schools( 2000)Members of religious orders in Australia face generally declining numbers and aging membership. Some, both within the orders and among their lay partners, have recognised the desirability of transmitting the charisms beyond the members of the order, if those charisms are to continue to inform the vision and culture of the enterprise. The Marist Brothers are no exception. Education is their main focus and the schools that they have established have been recognised as having a particular 'flavour' to them. The Marist way of educating has identifiable characteristics, inspired by the charism of the founder, Marcellin Champagnat. The success of the Marist style of education can be seen in the strong support for the schools. There is a clear desire among many, both religious and lay, to nurture and carry on conducting schools in the Marist way. As more lay people assume responsibility for these schools, it has been acknowledged that attention needs to be formally given to the ways in which the charism can continue to be transmitted. This study has examined the ways in which selected principals in Marist schools have influenced the transmission of the charism within their schools. Through the use of the case study methodology, it has documented actions that have been identified as conducive to passing on the charism to the school community. It has observed that certain characteristics of leadership style are more likely to positively influence the transmission of charism. The study has also identified some factors that may work against such a cause. As a result of the study, certain recommendations have been made which may assist in the process of ensuring that the charism of Marcellin Champagnat continues to flourish in those schools founded in his name.
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ItemCultural mission of the sisters of St Joseph( 2004)This research study examines the history of Sacred Heart Catholic School, Newport, Victoria, established within the tradition and application of the educational philosophy of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, founded by Mary MacKillop in 1866. The work includes three distinct areas of research which are: 1. The MacKillop System of Education in its early stages. 2. The growth of multicultural theory and practice in Australia and in Catholicism. 3. The story of one school, Sacred Heart Catholic School, Newport, situated in the western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria. These areas connect up and illuminate one another throughout the thesis, evoking a sense of school life as it was experienced by members of the school community at different stages of the school's development and within a variety of social and educational contexts. The research appreciates the integral vitality of the founding spirit manifest in Mary MacKillop, especially as it was reflected in the Sisters appointed to the school at Newport as administrators and as teachers. The study examines the long-term adaptation of the mission of the Church, namely the evangelisation of cultures in the local community of Newport throughout its hundred years history. Focus is brought to bear on the interpretation of Mary MacKillop's philosophy of education in its first fifty years and the changes perceived during the later period of massive and fundamental transformation in the ethnic composition of the local community as well as the broader Church and State. By reconstructing the past this study provides a reference point for those involved in education by shedding light on the present and raising questions for the future.
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ItemThinking about historical thinking in the Australian Curriculum: History( 2012)This study analyses and evaluates the approach to historical thinking in the Australian Curriculum: History. This research study adopts interpretative discipline based pedagogy, with a document content analysis method. The study draws upon the research of Peter Lee (1983) on historical substantive and procedural concepts which have influenced the models of historical thinking by Wineburg (2000), Seixas (2006), Lévesque (2008) and historical reasoning by Van Drie and Van Boxtel (2008). These models provide a theoretical frame to critically evaluate the relationship and application of the disciplinary structures in the Australian Curriculum: History. Historical methods and procedures engage students in the process of historical construction through active historical thinking and reasoning. Research judgments are made on the effectiveness of the curriculum and its design in understanding and communicating the relationship between the substantive and procedural concepts of history as a discipline. The research findings indicate that the curriculum fails to recognize the importance and distinctiveness of substantive concepts as the building blocks of historical knowledge that make historical inquiry meaningful and intelligible. The analysis of substantive concepts in the Australian Curriculum: History using unique, organizational and thematic concepts reflects a curriculum that does not always pay attention to historical context. The study revealed that the curriculum fails to make explicit the interrelationship between substantive and procedural concepts in the Historical Knowledge and Understanding strand and the Historical Skills strand. This has resulted in a curriculum that does not enact the analytical and evaluative nature of procedural concepts such as historical significance, continuity and change, etc. Also, there is limited understanding of the method of application of procedural concepts like historical perspectives, contestability and empathy in the curriculum and as a result this undermines the role of these concepts in facilitating historical thinking. From this analysis a new pedagogical model, “Framework for Historical Reasoning” emerges which relates the historical substantive and procedural concepts and historical skills as a unified pedagogical approach. This model provides a framework which teachers can use to engage with the enacted curriculum and facilitate student historical inquiry and understanding.
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ItemBrother Ronald Fogarty's Catholic education in Australia, 1806-1950, volumes I and II: a re-appraisal( 1990)This thesis is an attempt to re-appraise the history of Brother Ronald Fogarty in his work Catholic Education in Australia 1806-1950 in the light of the specific themes which he determines as basic to the development of Catholic education. It has been generally acknowledged that these themes are not only relevant to the Catholic or educational sphere of Australian history, but also provide insight into the development of Australian society as a whole. Fogarty's history celebrates the triumph of a minority group as part of a reaction to the developments instituted by the majority. Overall, Fogarty's interpretation of why and how a separate Catholic education system developed makes a significant contribution to Australian historiography in general.
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ItemFact and fiction in Joan Lindsay's "Picnic at Hanging Rock"( 1990)Joan Lindsay's novel Picnic at Hanging Rock, has been examined on a variety of levels. Scholars have viewed the novel as a study of the conflict of humanity versus nature, in symbolic terms as the embodiment of an archetypal religious myth, as a philosophical treatise on the passing of time and merely as an ambiguous and sinister disappearance. The purpose of this thesis has been to discriminate between fact and fiction in Picnic at Hanging Rock, with particular reference to the education of women. The novel has been explored in historical terms in an attempt to ascertain how much it is a reflection of Joan Lindsay's educational experiences at the Clyde Girls' Grammar School and her social experiences as a daughter of a prominent Melbourne family. Lindsay's experiences as a student at Clyde Girls' Grammar from 1911-1914 and the lifestyle of her family provide a historical picture of an upper middle-class family and their pattern of behavior at the turn of the century. This thesis examines Joan Lindsay's family, married life and literary works, paying particular attention to her childhood. The upper middle-class lifestyle, social mores and customs of the Weigall family provide much of the raw material for Lindsay the novelist's portrayal of turn-of-the century life at Appleyard College and the village of Macedon. This thesis also studies the staff, educational objectives and teaching methods employed at the fictional Appleyard College and compares these with a historical study of the staff and teaching practices of the Clyde Girls' Grammar of Joan Lindsay's experience. It concludes that although Lindsay has portrayed Appleyard College as institution with a shallow, haphazard approach to education, embodying all of the negative facets associated with education of females in the Victorian period, the education offered at Clyde appeared to be of sound intellectual standard and of the best quality available to the females of her generation. Through the characters in her novel Lindsay highlights different approaches towards education in the late Victorian era. Through Appleyard's imposing headmistress, Mrs Appleyard, Lindsay satirizes the attitude that social status in the most important value no matter what the cost. Mrs Appleyard is obsessed with her students' social background and displays little concern for their intellectual development. The character of Dianne de Poitiers plays out the role of the accomplished woman, a teacher who is hired for her ladylike appearance and demeanor and fluent French rather than any outstanding intellectual qualities. And in contrast to de Poitiers, Lindsay casts Greta McCraw as a mathematic mistress whose little appreciated mathematical brilliance and outlandish physical appearance designate her as a bluestocking. The different approaches of these two teachers personify the acceptable and unacceptable gender characteristics for women in the late Victorian era. Lindsay would have been well aware that the superficial education offered at Appleyard College defended class boundaries and the lifestyle of the upper middle classes which she so humorously describes later in the novel. Her examination of the manners, prejudices and social practices of this privileged sector of society is humorous in its intention and often scathing in its perceptions. And although her depiction of Appleyard College is not a reflection of her years at Clyde, Lindsay's position as a daughter of a privileged Melbourne family has provided her with an intuitive understanding of the upper-middle-class lifestyle of the late Victorian era.
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ItemThe Point Puer experiment: a study of the penal and educational treatment of juvenile transportees in Van Diemen's Land, 1830-1850( 1954)This work is intended to present the results of research into the transportation of juveniles to Van Diemen's Land. Much of the study of necessity was centred around the station at Point Puer, the establishment for boy convicts, an adjunct of Port Arthur, which was opened in 1834. The foundation of this station reflected the perceptible evolution in the character of transportation, which coincided with changes in the relationship of the Mother Country with the colonies. Even by the mid-thirties, convicts were no longer acceptable to the colonies as human junk. The colonies, and Van Diemen's Land in particular, were increasingly demanding that, if convicts were to be admitted at all, it should be on their terms and not Britain's. Point Puer illustrates this state of affairs in two particulars. First, the emphasis was henceforth to be placed on reformation, and the reformation of youth as being the material most likely to benefit the colony. Secondly, the British Government began to modify the transportation system by the "free emigration" scheme, usually associated with the notorious "Pentonvillains", after 1840. The reformation of youthful offenders for citizenship in a new and pioneering society was an ideal stressed by several experienced leaders associated with the transportation system in the thirties. With this end in view, Booth outlined the procedure at the Point, for which he was largely responsible, in his report to the Lieutenant Governor in 1837. The reformative process was designed to centre round three aspects: religious, mechanical, and scholastic training. These were, he stressed, the three skills necessary for a balanced character.