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1
Cavanagh, Robert F. „The culture and improvement of Western Australian senior secondary schools“. Curtin University of Technology, Faculty of Education, 1997. http://espace.library.curtin.edu.au:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=11830.
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The operation and development of Western Australian senior secondary schools is based upon traditional theories of organisational management and school administration. The study sought to explore alternative conceptions of the nature of schools and the processes by which they can be improved.Examination of research on school effectiveness revealed that student learning outcomes were consequential on the values and norms of the staff of schools. These values and norms constitute the culture of a school and govern the professional activity of teachers. School culture can be contrasted with the formal school organisation in which the work of teachers is prescribed by explicit rules and regulations. Viewing schools from a cultural rather than organisational perspective requires conceptualising the school as a learning community. A learning community is bonded together by common expectations about the roles of teachers and the learning of students. The predominant consideration is the educative mission of the school and not the requirements of the formal organisation. Organisational development is viewed as cultural transformation. The improvement of the school is facilitated by the growth of a school culture which is supportive of the professional needs of teachers and the educative needs of students.The study utilised a developmental mixed-method research approach to investigate the nature, temporal stability and improvement of the culture of local senior secondary schools.A quantitative instrument was developed to measure aspects of school culture identified in the school effectiveness literature. The School Cultural Elements Questionnaire (SCEQ) provided a measure of the level of teacher efficacy, emphasis on learning, collegiality, collaboration, shared planning and transformational leadership in local schools. The SCEQ data were supplemented by data from a ++stratified sample interview programme in two schools. Empirical findings indicated school culture was internally dynamic, in interaction with its external environment and capable of changing. Interview data provided examples of internal and external influences on the maintenance, growth and decline of school culture.The results of the empirical phases of the study were applied in the development of a model of school culture, the School Improvement Model of School Culture. The model contained six cultural constructs which are characteristic of school culture and the processes by which it can be transformed. The model was then applied in a detailed examination of practical and theoretical aspects of Western Australian systemic school improvement initiatives. The effectiveness of these initiatives was explained as a consequence of implementation strategies and their interaction with the prevailing school culture.The study is important for school level personnel, school improvement programme designers and educational researchers. In particular, the School Improvement Model of School Culture provides a significant alternative conception of the nature of schools and the processes by which they improve.
2
Cavanagh, Robert. „The culture and improvement of Western Australian senior secondary schools“. Thesis, Curtin University, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/2189.
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The operation and development of Western Australian senior secondary schools is based upon traditional theories of organisational management and school administration. The study sought to explore alternative conceptions of the nature of schools and the processes by which they can be improved.Examination of research on school effectiveness revealed that student learning outcomes were consequential on the values and norms of the staff of schools. These values and norms constitute the culture of a school and govern the professional activity of teachers. School culture can be contrasted with the formal school organisation in which the work of teachers is prescribed by explicit rules and regulations. Viewing schools from a cultural rather than organisational perspective requires conceptualising the school as a learning community. A learning community is bonded together by common expectations about the roles of teachers and the learning of students. The predominant consideration is the educative mission of the school and not the requirements of the formal organisation. Organisational development is viewed as cultural transformation. The improvement of the school is facilitated by the growth of a school culture which is supportive of the professional needs of teachers and the educative needs of students.The study utilised a developmental mixed-method research approach to investigate the nature, temporal stability and improvement of the culture of local senior secondary schools.A quantitative instrument was developed to measure aspects of school culture identified in the school effectiveness literature. The School Cultural Elements Questionnaire (SCEQ) provided a measure of the level of teacher efficacy, emphasis on learning, collegiality, collaboration, shared planning and transformational leadership in local schools. The SCEQ data were supplemented by data from a stratified sample interview programme in two schools. Empirical findings indicated school culture was internally dynamic, in interaction with its external environment and capable of changing. Interview data provided examples of internal and external influences on the maintenance, growth and decline of school culture.The results of the empirical phases of the study were applied in the development of a model of school culture, the School Improvement Model of School Culture. The model contained six cultural constructs which are characteristic of school culture and the processes by which it can be transformed. The model was then applied in a detailed examination of practical and theoretical aspects of Western Australian systemic school improvement initiatives. The effectiveness of these initiatives was explained as a consequence of implementation strategies and their interaction with the prevailing school culture.The study is important for school level personnel, school improvement programme designers and educational researchers. In particular, the School Improvement Model of School Culture provides a significant alternative conception of the nature of schools and the processes by which they improve.
3
McKay, Erin. „Sexuality Education in Western Australian Schools 2013-2014: Results of the First Western Australian Survey of Educators of Sexuality Education“. Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/15947.
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1 ABSTRACT 1.1 Aim The First Western Australian Survey of Educators of Sexuality Education 2013-2014 (WA Survey) aimed to assess the current state of sexuality education (SE) in the state of Western Australia (WA). 1.2 Significance The 2010, 1st National Survey of Secondary Teachers of Sexuality Education (NS) by La Trobe University, only had 16 respondents from Western Australia (WA). The National Survey (NS) outlined a number of recommendations for further research, which the WA survey aimed to address. This was achieved by gaining a more representative sample size than the NS through the design and execution of the survey. This difference involved providing the opportunity for all K-10 educators to participate. 1.3 Methods An online survey questionnaire was developed and distributed to all schools in WA. This included government, Catholic and independent schools and external agencies. The survey was open to all educators within the schools and obtained 1000 valid respondents. 1.4 Results Secondary school teachers are providing more hours of sexuality education instruction than the national average. However, they are mainly teaching about ‘abstinence from intercourse until married’, ‘effects of alcohol/drug use on decision-making’, ‘puberty’, and ‘sex and ethics (respectful relationships)’. The least taught subjects included ‘Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI)’, ‘birth control’, ‘impact of media on sexual identity’, and ‘sexual orientation’. The WA Syllabus does not cover these topics. The updated 2015 version of the GDHR website also does not offer any learning activities on pregnancy prevention. This is of concern considering WA has proportionally high rates of STI in youth aged 15 to 19 (Department of Health, 2015), and teen pregnancies (Hilder L, 2014) when compared nationally. 1.5 Implication of findings The results of the WA Survey and key findings of this thesis are significant as they provide a snapshot of SE in WA. These results form a baseline measure ahead of the role out of the Australian Curriculum (AC) and new WA Syllabus which mandates SE from 2017. This baseline can be used to inform future policy and provision of training and support for educators to provide evidence based, comprehensive SE.
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Oakes, Ivan Alvin James. „Two Western Australian Primary Schools’ Responses to the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority Guidelines on internationalisation in schools“. Thesis, Curtin University, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/70387.
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This study explores the extent to which two Western Australian primary schools are embracing internationalisation in response to the expectations set by the Australian Curriculum Assessment, and Reporting Authority (ACARA). Findings indicate that to some extent the two schools are internationalising their learning and teaching, curriculum and school activities but the focus is limited due to many intervening factors. The thesis makes recommendations for the improvement of internationalisation strategies in schools.
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Brooks, Zoe A. „An examination of middle leadership positions in Western Australian secondary schools“. Thesis, Curtin University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/367.
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This study examined the complexities inherent within secondary school middle leadership positions. These formal positions typically have line management accountability for the supervision of teaching and/or ancillary staff, through the Deputy Principal to the Principal. The study investigated the formal position requirements, as well as the professional perceptions and expectations of Western Australian, secondary school middle leaders. A mixed methods research design was used with a qualitative phase followed by a quantitative phase of data collection and analysis. The qualitative phase involved two stages of data collection and analyses. Firstly, a document analysis was conducted on the formal position descriptions of middle leadership positions in a purposive sample of ten Western Australian secondary schools. The formal position descriptions detailing the professional responsibilities of middle leaders were collected and analysed using content analysis techniques. Additionally, nine semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of subject, pastoral and program-based middle leaders across three Western Australian secondary schools. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with a senior leader of each school sampled. The quantitative phase involved the construction and administration of an instrument designed to measure middle leaders’ perceptions of their role. The survey data were subsequently statistically analysed using the Rasch measurement model.The results of interviews with middle and senior leaders revealed six key aspects of the middle leadership position including: the dual and dynamic nature of middle leadership; the organisational functions of middle leaders; the problems and limitations associated with middle leadership positions; the effective qualities of middle leaders and their professional needs; the support and review requirements of the position, as well as the aspirations and role satisfaction of middle leaders. The results of the quantitative survey reveal middle leaders attitudes relating to five key facets of their position, including: role clarity; role authority; role support; role value and role fulfilment. The combined results of the qualitative and quantitative phases of the study resulted in the identification of seven key areas for the growth and development of middle leadership position in secondary schools. These include: the development of clear expectations and a school-wide understanding of the position; a focus on strengthening the influence of middle leaders on whole-school development; the provision of opportunities for leadership and management development; the need for peer support initiatives; the need for consistent performance appraisal and feedback processes; a focus on collaboration between middle and senior level school leaders; and the promotion of the position within the school and educational community.The implications of this study for schools include the need for clear role definition for middle leaders and targeted professional development opportunities, with a focus on leadership development. A significant outcome of this research is the construction of an instrument which measures middle leaders’ role perceptions. The instrument could be used by schools as a means of identifying the needs of middle leaders within a specific context and could also be usefully applied to future research into middle leadership. The work of middle leaders is vital in secondary schools and this research provides insight into the many dimensions of the role.
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Gray, Valerie Joyce. „Teaching and learning with ICT in Western Australian government primary schools“. Thesis, Curtin University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/1960.
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Have you ever wondered how far educators have come in response to the political push for improvements in teaching and learning with ICT? As a society, we have a responsibility to prepare young people to make a strong contribution to our future. This is characterised by rapid technological change in global communications and interactions. Since the early 1980s, governments around the world have committed vast resources to the provision of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in schools. This means that schools have been implementing the introduction of ICT for nearly thirty years!This research examines how successful Western Australian primary schools and their teachers have been in implementing the use of ICT in teaching and learning. The research has been informed by a previous study that took place nearly ten years ago and resulted in the Pearson report (2001) and later the DET Teacher ICT skills survey (2005). The current research examined the role that leadership, teacher attitudes and professional learning played in ICT implementation. The study utilised a mixed methods approach to data gathering which included participant observations as well as auto-ethnographic methods.The key outcomes of this research indicate that teacher proficiency and skills in utilising ICT in teaching have not significantly improved over time in the sample schools used in this study. This is despite successive Western Australian governments making substantial investment into new technologies, high-speed broadband and professional learning opportunities for teachers and schools.The study concludes that for the successful integration of ICT into teaching and learning teachers and administrators must have time to develop and reflect on technology based pedagogy, as well as time and opportunities to engage in continuous, meaningful professional learning that not only considers the technical aspects but also new pedagogy and best practice to better meet the needs of their children. This can only be done if administrators and teachers change their attitudes and beliefs about how technology can enhance their teaching and learning. In addition, they must rethink the philosophical and pedagogical assumptions of education by making better use of the technologies that already exist in their schools by changing what we do in the classroom.
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Faulkner, Matthew. „The Induction Of Beginning Teachers In Western Australian Catholic Primary Schools“. Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 1994. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1470.
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The survey study was primarily exploratory and descriptive in nature and attempted to report on the perceptions of beginning teachers entering the Catholic primary schools in Western Australia in 1991. Their perceptions on the form of induction they received, and how their pre-service teacher education equipped them for this transition were attained. In addition, data from Catholic primary school principals, Catholic Education Office of Western Australia administrators and teacher institutions administrators were collected in relation to perceptions of the transitions from teacher training to teacher employment. The main sources of data collection were questionnaires and interviews. The data collated indicated that most principals and administrators support the conclusions expressed in the literature that most graduates are satisfactorily prepared for the teaching role. However, this is only the start of an ongoing process of pre-service, induction and professional development. Few of the beginning teachers in the population were given any concessions in their initial months of teaching and few received an effective, ongoing induction plan to ease them into their teaching careers. The literature on induction is prescribed to support the importance of developing school based comprehensive induction plans for the beginning teachers who enter the workforce each year. Finally, based on the results of the survey study and literature, a framework of a model for induction was prescribed to assist in the development of a comprehensive, system based induction policy for Western Australian Catholic primary school.
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Watt, Margaret Wendy. „Maintaining the difference: The disadvantaged schools program and its implementation in a Western Australian high school“. Thesis, Watt, Margaret Wendy (1989) Maintaining the difference: The disadvantaged schools program and its implementation in a Western Australian high school. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 1989. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/51390/.
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This thesis is about the Disadvantaged Schools Program of the Australian Government's Schools Commission. It operates on two levels: the general rationale and objectives of the Program, and a case study of its implementation in a Western Australian High School.
The Program was set up primarily as an attempt to improve the schooling, and hence the life chances, of disadvantaged children. The research was undertaken on the assumption that the most obvious connection between schooling and life chances in Australian society concerns the gaining of educational credentials needed for access to jobs and further education. Therefore improving the life chances of disadvantaged children through schooling must amount primarily to helping them gain those credentials. The central question addressed in this research is whether the D.S.P. as implemented in that school achieved this goal.
The central conclusion is that the Program activities over the period did not lead to improved scholastic attainment, and, further, that they were not designed to do so. Two related explanations are offered for this. The first is a lack of clear direction in the guidelines provided by the Schools Commission. The second concerns the freedom given to the staff, under the Commission's implementation policy, to determine the direction of the school's goals. The staff were found to have used this freedom to modify the school's curriculum in ways that tended to reduce students' opportunities to gain educational credentials. This was related to generally held beliefs about the students' limited capacity to gain those credentials.
The researcher had a participant status as a member of the school's staff and a resident of its neighbourhood. The approach to gathering and analysing data varied according to the nature of the material. National D.S.P. policy was examined through an analysis of Schools Commission documents. Data about the case study school was obtained in a variety of ways: examination of documentary records held in and out of the school, and observation and interviewing within the school.
The significance of this study goes beyond the apparent failure of the Commission's reform initiative to improve the life chances of the students in that school at that time. The conclusions point to the obstacles in the way of any attempt through schooling to improve the position of the least privileged groups in the class structured Australian society. The obstacles highlighted are those which arise from the class-based ideology of teachers, who must be responsible for the implementation of any such liberal educational reform.
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Spears, Lachlan T. „Early career teachers’ experiences with assessment for learning in Western Australian secondary schools“. Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2022. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2608.
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International research suggests that when teachers enact Assessment for Learning (AfL) they can greatly improve student outcomes. In Australia, the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership’s Professional Standards for Teachers mandates that teachers regularly engage with assessment, reporting and ongoing professional learning (PL). However, little is known about the perspectives and practices of early career teachers (ECTs) who are challenged to enact AfL and develop assessment literacy (AL) in complex policy and school contexts within Western Australia (WA). In this study, ECTs are defined as teachers within the initial four years of their teaching career.
This research project was an interpretive study that employed a case study methodology to generate in-depth understandings of how four ECTs in two WA independent secondary schools were engaging with AfL and developing it as a component of professional practice. The study was guided by four research questions: (1) How are ECTs in WA developing their knowledge and understanding of AfL? (2) What factors are influencing WA ECTs’ choices to variously engage with AfL and develop it as a component of their practice? (3) How are ECTs in WA using AfL in their teaching and assessment? (4) How do contextual dimensions affect early career teachers’ policy roles and enactment of AfL?
The policy enactment work of Braun et al. (2011) informed exploration of ECTs’ enactment of AfL in relation to the professional, situated, material and external contexts and the positioning of ECTs as policy actors (Ball et al., 2011) who were challenged, through various enabling and constraining contextual dimensions, to enact assessment policy in their classrooms. This enactment, and ECTs’ associated development of AL, were considered in terms of Marshall and Drummond’s (2006) guiding work on the ‘spirit and letter’ and analysed alongside a PL continuum in AfL (DeLuca et al., 2019).
Data collection for each teacher involved classroom observations, documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews over 15 months. As the study took place from 2019 to 2021, it also captured school responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, and ECTs’ reactions to the sudden policy shifts.
Results report the ways in which each of the contextual dimensions affected the teachers’ enactment of AfL. Findings reveal how various aspects of each dimension enabled or inhibited the ECTs’ enactment of AfL and the significance of interrelations between the contextual dimensions. Mapping the ECTs’ enactment of AfL to the PL continuum revealed that these ECTs were engaging with practices more closely aligned to the letter, than the spirit, of AfL. Factors limiting application of AfL, including the effect of COVID-19 in WA, are discussed.
The insights from this thesis contribute to the current understanding of AfL enactment and extend knowledge about the opportunities, benefits and values of an AfL approach, particularly in WA. It contributes to the existing literature on contemporary teaching and learning practices in AfL as well as initial responses and pedagogical approaches to COVID-19 school closures. A series of reflections and implications from this study will assist initial teacher education institutions, systems, schools and departments to support ECTs to enact AfL to improve teacher AL and, therefore, their use of AfL.
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Kindler, Michael. „Human literacy : liberal neglect in A Statement on English for Australian Schools /“. View thesis, 1996. http://library.uws.edu.au/adt-NUWS/public/adt-NUWS20030902.170901/index.html.
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Gaujers, Regina D. „The impact of the expectations of significant others in the school setting on female leadership in physical education in Western Australian government secondary schools“. Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 1996. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/944.
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This study investigated the impact of the expectations of significant others in the school setting on the promotional aspirations of female physical education teachers in government secondary schools in Western Australia. It explored the ways in which meanings and expectations in the school environment are constructed in relation to wider societal values and ideologies, and how they are negotiated in social settings that are characterised by both constraints and opportunities for action. Despite the equitable proportion of females and males teaching the subject, and the absence of Education Department policy constraints on female promotion since 1972, females remain significantly underrepresented at Head of Department level. In 1995, women held only two (2.7%) of the 73 substantive appointments. The critical paradigm adopted for the study and the research methodology was qualitative. The research design comprised five interrelated and sequential phases. During phase 1, preliminary data was gathered on the perceived essential skills and qualities required by Heads of Department in physical education. Phase 2 involved in-depth interviews in order to document government school female teachers' own accounts of their lives, career aspirations and the expectations of significant others in the context of the school and wider social world; and the accounts of female teachers' significant others with regard to their perceptions and expectations concerning female leadership. During Phase 3, interviews were conducted with female Heads of Department in nongovernment schools to ascertain system differences which may have led to the greater number of these women in the leadership role. Follow-up interviews with the government school female teachers were conducted during phase 4 of the study, and served to clarify and validate findings. Female physical education teachers considering applying for promotion also emerged as a sample group during the course of the study, and these women participated in a group discussion forum. The sample comprised government school female and male physical education teachers and Heads of Department of physical education and nongovernment school female Heads of Department of physical education. The study aimed to build on the findings of my previous, exploratory research regarding factors contributing to the underrepresentation of females at Head of Department level in physical education (Bloat, 1992); to sensitise the participants to the nature, construction and impact of expectations regarding female leadership; and to develop recommendations to redress the imbalance of female Heads of Department in physical education in government schools. The findings of the study confirmed that the expectations of significant others in the school setting have a powerful impact on the promotional aspirations of female physical educators. Expectations regarding the appropriateness of female leadership in physical education were constructed on the basis of individuals' interactions with the social system, characterised by a male paradigm, male dominance and male power. These expectations were communicated to female teachers by means of chauvinism; exclusion; the lower status accorded women in Physical Education Departments; the lack of both encouragement towards promotion, and female role models to demonstrate the opportunities for women; and the fact that the leadership role is more difficult for females. They impacted on the carter development of female physical educators by constraining the women's promotional aspirations. Finally, recommendations based on the findings are made primarily to the Education Department, but also to teacher education institutions and female physical educators. The suggested measures to address the problem focus on the need to move beyond mere policy change. The recognition and valuing of feminine leadership; the establishment of targets for increasing female representation; the identification and sponsorship of potential female candidates; and the introduction of a five year contract for Heads of Department are among the essential strategies needed to stimulate and nurture the promotional aspirations of female physical educators.
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MacDonald, W. L. „The nature and extent of pastoral care in five Western Australian government secondary schools“. Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 1994. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1101.
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The research is centred upon the nature and extent of pastoral care provision in five Western Australian Government secondary schools. The project took the form of five case-studies, set in schools which each had well established pastoral strategies in place. The schools plans and policies were influenced by contexts of State and Federal education programmes, by the community setting of each school, by community concerns, and by other priorities within the school itself. In the study, information was collected through interviews and written responses from school staff, through documentary evidence of plans and policies for pastoral care, and through the observation of meetings which related to pastoral concerns. The study found that each school had complex structures in place which were resource intensive and which were designed to deliver pastoral care. The basis of those structures rested upon the presumption that pastoral care delivery took place at classroom level, particularly in Form classes. Findings suggested that such delivery was adversely affected by time constraints, and by deficiencies in pre-service and in-service training For teachers in the area of pastoral care. The services of specialists in the schools had decreased due to expenditure restraints, at a time of increased pastoral demands. Little evaluation of the outcomes of plans, policies, and delivery structures for pastoral care was found.
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Lunay, Ralph G. „A study of feelings of alienation among relief teachers servicing Western Australian government metropolitan primary schools“. Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2005. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/659.
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It is perhaps fair to say that the relief (substitute) teacher should be viewed as an extremely important educational resource, Reviewed literature spanning the better part of twenty years indicates that in parts of Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, many students spend as much as one full year (or more) of their K-12 education having curriculum delivered to them by these individuals. Unfortunately, the literature also indicates that many relief teachers are still viewed by many as less than "real" teachers in terms of perceived competence, skill and capability. In addition to this, the existence of a number of pervasive, enduring systemic problems have been identified as being present in the educational systems of the abovementioned regions, which have been seen to impact negatively on the relief teacher, making the difficult job they do, even more arduous. There is reason to hypothesise that as a result of exposure to these problems, relief teachers could be expected to suffer from feelings of alienation and further "disconnection" from tenured (or contracted) colleagues, and that this may further marginalise them from the rest of the greater educational community. The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether feelings of alienation were present in relief teachers servicing Western Australian government metropolitan primary schools, and if so, what they identified as contributing to those feelings. Additionally the research attempted to ascertain what (if any) support strategies for relief teachers were actually offered by the schools that had been serviced by the subject population. The research itself was qualitative in nature, using semi-structured interviews as the main data gathering tool, with twenty "currently serving" relief teachers being interviewed. The current study established strong positive links between feelings of alienation in the subject population and exposure to a number of major systemic problems, which currently exist within the educational "system" of this state. The present research also identified a number of support strategies offered by some schools, which indicates some cognisance of the problems faced by relief teachers during the course of their work. " As a result of the research findings, several recommendations for further action emerged. Implementation of these should, logically, go some considerable way toward reducing feelings of alienation and disconnection among relief teachers, and more importantly augmenting their effectiveness as an arguably increasingly important educational resource.
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Pascoe, Beverley J. „The measurement of classroom music learning using an outcomes framework in Western Australian schools“. Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 1999. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1233.
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This study addresses the problem of a lack of reliable and systematic methodology for evaluating progress in classroom music, using an outcomes framework, in primary and secondary schools in Western Australia. An innovative range of assessment tasks was developed for use at system, school or classroom level in order to develop a Music Achievement Scale, so that in the future, meaningful reporting of student outcomes in music, in relation to The Arts Student Outcome Statements (Education Department of Western Australia, 1996), can occur. Music tasks were tested with a representative sample of 2191 government primary school students from Years 3 (946) and 7(921), and 324 secondary students from Year 10. The tests are designed to assess student progress in relation to outcome levels rather than for specific Year levels, thus making them useful for the collection of information on student achievement between Years 3, 7 and 10. The Music Achievement Scale is composed of two parts: an Analysis test and a Process test. The Analysis test is designed to address the two 'appreciating' strands of The Arts Student Outcome Statements (Education Department of Western Australia, 1996) and the Process test is designed to address the two 'expressing' strands of the statements. The Analysis test is a pencil and paper test in which individual students respond to excerpts of taped music. The Process test is a developmental process in which students respond to a stimulus by creating a short musical composition, which is developed, rehearsed and performed in a group situation, and which includes students' critical appraisal of their performance. The tests consist of a combination of multiple choice and extended answer questions types and where possible, tasks are open-ended in order to provide the opportunity for students to perform to the maximum of their abilities. Through the use of common items and common stimulus materials, tasks allow for the linking of items through Years 3, 7 and 10, thus providing valuable information on student progression through the outcome levels. The open-ended tasks are polychotomous, allowing for the partial credit of student responses, rather than being either 'right' or 'wrong.' The tests were administered, in school classrooms that reflected students' usual learning environments, by their usual teachers of music. In primary schools this was sometimes a specialist music teacher and sometimes their usual classroom teacher. In secondary schools, the specialist music teacher administered the tests. All teachers used explicit administration instructions, which included time allocations to be apportioned for specific sections of the tests. All tests were centrally marked by experienced specialist music teachers who underwent training in marking procedures that included processes of moderation. Markers used marking keys that addressed the complexities of open-ended and polychotomous items to allocate a raw score to each student on both the Analysis and the Process test. An extended logistic model of Rasch (Andrich, 1988a) through the use of the RUMM (Andrich, Sheridan & Luo, 1996) item analysis computer program, was employed to analyse the data. The Scale has good content validity and the tasks fit the measurement model, providing further evidence of validity. Reliability of the scale is high: the Person Separation Index is 0.900 and the Item Separation Index is 0.928. The Test-of-Fit Power is 'excellent,' indicating that a valid and reliable Scale of Music Achievement has been created. Results indicate that the mean level for each year group shows a clear pattern of student development in music appreciation and music expression. Around 80 per cent of year 3 students demonstrated skills associated with level 2 outcomes in classroom music, in excess of 55 per cent of year 7 students demonstrated skills associated with level 3 outcomes, and over 80 per cent of year 10 students demonstrated skills associated with level 4 outcomes. To increase the awareness of teachers and Principals in the differential performances in music of sub-groups, a collection of data was undertaken on the performances of boys and girls, Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) students and non-Aboriginal students, and English speaking background and non-English speaking background (NESS) students. There were significant differences in the performances of some of these sub-groups that raise issues to be addressed in the future. The study is of importance to Western Australian teachers and schools because, for the first time, specialist and generalist teachers will have access to reliable, authentic assessment materials that reflect exemplary classroom practice, as well as an instrument that allows for the mapping of student progress on a continuum of achievement related to the outcomes framework. Reporting to parents using the method of assessment developed in this study will provide more information on students' skills and abilities than in the past. Issues related to the differential performances of sub-groups as well as issues of access and inclusivity, will be important at the system level for future developers of curriculum, as well as future developers of music assessment materials. Now that baseline data has been gathered and new methods pioneered, the way has been paved for future, improved methods of assessment in the Arts, and music in particular.
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Tay, Vanessa. „Comparing Western Australia and South Australia public high school’s cyberbullying policies – is there a need for a legislative change“. Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2023. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2647.
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The internet provides some of the most effective means of communication. Cyberbullying occurs when the internet is used to bully another person. Along with the positive aspects of the internet, cyberbullying is certainly one of the most negative aspects, especially with regard to school students. Victims of cyberbullying may be able to obtain legal sanctions, however, this usually occurs after the harm is done. In Australia, some states such as South Australia have recognised the need for preventive strategies by requiring schools to have an anti-bullying plan in place. Other countries, like Ontario, Canada have implemented similar preventative strategies in their legislation.
One way to reduce cyberbullying in schools is to create an anti-bullying culture within the school. The implementation of a cyberbullying policy that promotes a positive school culture, prevention and intervention strategies, support systems, clear definitions and reporting procedures, aid in creating this culture. An effective school cyberbullying policy will aid in the promotion of an anti-bullying school culture and thus lead to a reduction in bullying and cyberbullying behaviours.
This thesis argues that Western Australia should follow South Australia and Ontario in implementing legislation to require high schools to have a cyberbullying policy. This argument will be tested by answering two research questions: First, whether the cyberbullying policy is more prevalent, robust and openly displayed in South Australian public high schools compared with Western Australian public high schools; and second, what lessons can be drawn from legislation pertaining to cyberbullying in schools in Ontario and South Australia.
The research finding suggests that Western Australian public high schools do not have and do not openly promote policies pertaining to cyberbullying, whereas South Australian public high schools do. The research found that 88% of South Australian public high schools openly display their bullying policy, in comparison to only 51% of Western Australian public high schools. South Australia also has a state-wide bullying prevention program and legislation regarding the implementation of policies regarding bullying and harassment in schools. Legislation from Ontario provides a different perspective regarding the implementation of bullying and cyberbullying policies in schools. Ontario’s Education Act is more extensive than the legislation in South Australia with regards to cyberbullying in schools, as it includes definitions of bullying and cyberbullying, the rights and responsibilities of teachers, principals, and the school board to prevent and address bullying in schools, as well as encouraging a positive and inclusive school experience, and promoting strong and respectful relationships within the school and the community. Given that the existence of a cyberbullying policy in high school is an important tool in preventing and dealing efficiently with cyberbullying, these findings support the thesis argument that there is a need for similar legislation like the Education Act in Ontario, to be implemented in Western Australia.
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Dowrick, Margaret. „A multi-attribute evaluation of education outcomes for students who attend three Australian special schools /“. View thesis, 2004. http://library.uws.edu.au/adt-NUWS/public/adt-NUWS20051209.094232/index.html.
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Shimanuki, Chie. „A feasibility study on implementation of the Peer-Gatekeeper program in Western Australian secondary schools“. Thesis, Shimanuki, Chie (2015) A feasibility study on implementation of the Peer-Gatekeeper program in Western Australian secondary schools. Masters by Coursework thesis, Murdoch University, 2015. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/27915/.
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The present study examines the possibility of implementing a peer-gatekeeper program in Western Australian secondary schools by focusing on barriers for the process of implementation and effectiveness of those programs. The present research focuses on rural/remote areas of Western Australia, Indigenous communities, culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, school settings, issues around youth involvement, and limitations of gatekeeper programs to identify possible barriers. The study then identifies some strategies to remove those barriers. Suicide prevention strategies and those efforts in Western Australia require a human ecological approach which focuses on a variety of systems existing in complex society. As such, a peer-gatekeeper program should be considered as a part of multi-layered approach to tackling suicide issues.
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Goh, Kimberley Puay Theng. „Written Feedback: Exploring the Reflections of Upper Primary Music Students at Two Western Australian Schools“. Thesis, Curtin University, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/75677.
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This qualitative practitioner research study investigated the reflections and responses of upper primary music students in relation to written teacher feedback. Findings from this study provided insights into students’ perspectives on written feedback, personal responses to written feedback, and processing of written feedback. A key outcome of this study was the development of practical recommendations to assist teachers in empowering primary school students to use written feedback more effectively.
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Dixon, Kathryn C. „Factors affecting the institutionalisation of career and vocational programs In Western Australian government secondary schools“. Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 1999. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1479.
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The aim of this study is to investigate the institutionalisation of career and vocational programs in Western Australian government secondary schools. Five specific objectives form the basis of the study. First, the study aims to determine the meanings which teachers construct for Career Education programs in schools. Second, the study examines the direct effects of personal construction of meaning, individual assimilation and organisational assimilation on the institutionalisation of Career Education. Third, the study determines the relationships between the personal construction of meaning, individual assimilation, organisational assimilation and institutionalisation of Career Education. Fourth, the study investigates the effectiveness of a causal model based on prior theoretical assumptions and factors identified by the sample and the literature as being influential in the institutionalisation of Career Education, using the method of path analysis. Fifth, the study develops an instrument to measure the institutionalisation of Career Education in secondary schools.
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au, coral pepper@murdoch edu, und Coral Mary Pepper. „Leading for Sustainability“. Murdoch University, 2007. http://wwwlib.murdoch.edu.au/adt/browse/view/adt-MU20071217.105345.
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Prelude
A short piece to prepare the way
(Sadie and Tyrrell, 2001)
Education for sustainability and educational leadership are the two faces to my research. Although there are differences between the concepts of environmental education and education for sustainability they are often confused. Environmental education deals with awareness raising and encouraging behaviour change to support environmental management and conservation. On the other hand, education for sustainability recognises the transformative role of education, while implicitly referring to intergenerational equity, ecological sustainability and the fair distribution of resources. The confusion is evident at the school level. Leadership is also a term fraught with confusion and misinterpretation. While there are many definitions of leadership, two common perspectives which have persisted over time are definitions of leadership as a matter of influence and of leadership as a skill. In educational terms sustainable leadership represents a shift to capture and merge contemporary leadership theory with the international pressure for sustainability through education.
There is a dearth of information available to describe education for sustainability despite recognition by both Australian and Western Australian governments of its importance in this, the early years of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014). The aims of this qualitative research are to capture leaders understanding of how education for sustainability is conceptualised, incorporated across the curriculum and led in Western Australian government secondary schools. In addition this study seeks to determine how education for sustainability becomes embedded and sustained in these schools.
The research re-conceptualises leading for sustainability. Four key concepts are identified as essential for embedding education for sustainability into Western Australian government secondary schools. These key concepts are: understanding sustainability; imagining the future; building relationships; and taking action. Combined, they enhance the meagre knowledge base about leading for sustainability in Western Australian secondary schools and provide a springboard for further research in the fields of sustainability and educational leadership.
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Ainsworth, Sharon G. „Perspectives on differentiation in practice : an interpretive study from teaching Japanese as a second language in Western Australian secondary schools“. Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2007. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/288.
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This focus of this interpretive study was aimed at presenting an active conception of differentiated curriculum from within the context of Western Australian (WA) second language teaching practice. Significantly, research into differentiation is a relatively new phenomenon in Australia and in particular, to WA second language teaching. Data was collected from seven Japanese language tcachers and their perspectivcs illustrated the realities of individual teaching in the construction and implementation of diffrerentiated curriculum. These teachers worked within an outcomes-based Curriculum Framework (Curriculum Council. 1998) mandate which defines curriculum for all WA schools and require responsive teaching to cater for the myriad range of learners apparent in classrooms. Differentiation authors suggest how teachers may differentiate classroom elements of ' content', 'process'. 'product' and 'learning environment' and design curriculum in response to student needs and address learner characteristics of 'readiness', 'interest', 'learning profile' and 'affect'. Teachers' interviews in this study highlighted how students enter Year 8 with a range of prior primary school second language learning experience that differs in terms of intensity, duration or type. Students in transition to secondary school may therefore be both beginners and continuers of the Japanese language and be in the same Year 8 class.
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Kirk, Gillian. „Kindergarten teachers' practices to support children's social and emotional development: Case studies in Western Australian catholic schools“. Thesis, Kirk, Gillian (2014) Kindergarten teachers' practices to support children's social and emotional development: Case studies in Western Australian catholic schools. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 2014. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/24302/.
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This study investigated how teachers in Western Australian Catholic schools supported kindergarten children’s social and emotional development. By employing a sociocultural conceptual approach to analyse the data, this study highlighted the contribution of the local community’s educational values on the methods and patterns of programming and interactions within the classroom. The quantity and quality of teacher-child interactions, and where they occurred in the program were indicative of the support given to children’s social and emotional development.
An ethnographical approach was employed to investigate the complexity of classroom interactions and cultural influences on the program. Six teachers volunteered to participate in the study, providing a diverse range of not only pedagogical styles but also socio-economic areas and cultural backgrounds. A triangulation of research instruments were used to provide a more holistic view of how the teachers were supporting children’s social and emotional development. These included a teacher survey that investigated how the teacher interpreted their pedagogical approach; a survey that required teachers to rate the participating children’s social and emotional development; extensive participant-observations, and informal and formal teacher interviews. The data were presented as case studies with the emerging themes and patterns discussed in the cross case analysis.
This study found that children’s social and emotional development was best supported when (1) the classroom program provided a balance between teacher- and child-guided activities, (2) the teachers perceived both modes of activities as important vehicles for learning, and (3) the teachers recognised the importance of their role in supporting children’s social and emotional development in both teacher- and childinitiated activities. In addition, the teachers that were more effective in supporting children’s social and emotional development placed equal emphasis on relationships, play and physical and psychological environment. The data suggested that different suburbs in the Perth metropolitan area held different values on educational goals. These values influenced kindergarten teachers’ pedagogy and the emphasis they placed on supporting social and emotional development. This study has implications for early childhood educators and the way they organise their programs and classrooms. Specifically it emphasises the importance of the teachers’ role in supporting children’s social and emotional development in all aspects of the classroom context, not just during teacher-initiated activities.
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Chapman, Sian. „Understanding, interpreting and enacting arts curriculum: A kaleidoscopic view of teacher experience in Western Australian primary schools“. Thesis, Chapman, Sian (2019) Understanding, interpreting and enacting arts curriculum: A kaleidoscopic view of teacher experience in Western Australian primary schools. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 2019. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/49829/.
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Arts education in Western Australian primary schools consists of learning opportunities outlined by mandated curriculum and implemented by classroom and specialist arts teachers in schools. This study considered how, and in what ways, do teachers understand, interpret and enact arts curriculum in Western Australian primary schools? Conducted across three phases of inquiry, this qualitative study used key theoretical constructs from curriculum theory and policy enactment theory to understand the impact of contextual variables on teachers and schools.
In phase one, the perspectives of 11 arts curriculum leaders were drawn from in-depth semi-structured interviews. Marginalisation of the arts, the disconnection of schools and teachers to the arts, and the limited impact of professional learning were found to have influenced arts teaching and learning in unintended ways. Findings influenced phase two of the research.
In phase two, interviews with 24 participants across four schools revealed the importance of purpose, value and practice as three key concepts in better understanding curriculum implementation in arts education. A purpose, value and practice framework was developed to mitigate the effects of curriculum misalignment, and suggestions for increasing teachers’ criticality and connoisseurship were explored as important pathways for improving arts learning for young people.
In phase three, the trajectory of one teacher’s experience was documented in order to consider the creation of professional agency in an increasingly challenging school environment. As one possible model of successful arts curriculum implementation, the conditions and challenges this teacher experienced were explored. Issues relating to relationships, time, purpose and constraints, work-related identity, experiences, and work communities, as well as isolation, ongoing support and the development of community were uncovered as a result.
The study concludes by considering the practical findings through complexity theory, suggesting the nested nature of systems are an insightful way to better understand the complexity of curriculum implementation in our schools.
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Lock, Graeme. „The prevalence and sources of perceived occupational stress among teachers in Western Australian government metropolitan primary schools“. Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 1993. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1155.
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The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence and sources of self- reported occupational stress among primary school teachers in Western Australian Government schools. Five specific objectives form the basis of this study. First, the study develops an instrument which measures the perceived levels of occupational stress and reveals the sources of such stress. Second, the study applies this instrument to determine the perceived levels, and sources, of occupational stress among primary school teachers in metropolitan Perth. Third, the study investigates differences in the perceptions of stress and stressors when categorised by socio-biographical characteristics of teachers. Fourth, the study investigates the relationship between occupational stress and satisfaction. Fifth, path analysis techniques are used to test the adequacy of a stress-stressor model derived from a priori assumptions and temporal sequence. A qualitative meta-analysis reveals characteristics of the literature which discursive reviews may omit. Such characteristics include trends in research interest in the topic of teacher stress over time and geographical area, the balance between types of studies, the relationship between types of studies, aspects of teacher stress and geographical area, findings of the studies, and determining categories into which the findings can be examined. Definitions of stress and burnout, definitions of teacher stress and teacher burnout, reasons for concern about teacher stress and teacher burnout, the prevalence of stress in the teaching profession, sources of stress in the teaching profession, perceptions of stress and stressors when categorised by socio-biographical characteristics, and the relationship between stress and occupational satisfaction are the areas from which information is accessed for the literature review. Prior to the development of a conceptual framework, the purpose of such a framework is discussed. The conceptual framework itself is developed from two broad areas. These include teacher stress and corporate management theory. The role of and contribution made by the present study to each of these areas is explained. The methodology of the present study is discussed in six broad areas. These include the preparatory phase, the sampling procedure, development of the research instrument ethical considerations, data collection, and data analysis. The process of structural equation or causal modelling forms the final section of this chapter. The outcomes which emerged from the study are analysed in relation to both the quantitative and qualitative data obtained during the investigation. In respect to the former these outcomes include the prevalence of stress among the teachers who participated in the study, differences in the numbers of responses in stress level categories, the perceived sources of stress, the identification of stress factors, differences In responses to perceptions of stress and stress factors when categorised by socio-biographical characteristics, analyses of the multi-item scales used in research instrument, the relationship between occupational stress, satisfaction and attitude towards teaching, and the development of a causal model of teacher stress. The qualitative information is discussed initially in terms of the socio-biographical characteristics of the teachers who were interviewed, as well as their perceived levels of occupational stress and satisfaction. Other information which is examined includes the perceived attitude of the Ministry of Education and/or Government of Westem Australia towards teachers, the nature of the identified stressful events, the incremental nature of normally non-stressful events, assessment of the research instrument and other information obtained during the data collection phase. The study concludes by summarising the entire research process, making implications based on the findings and suggesting areas for further research.
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Frisina, Wendy-Cara. „Factors influencing students who continue or discontinue their music studies from year 8 to year 9: A survey of selected Western Australian secondary schools“. Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2001. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1061.
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This research examined the most significant factors which influence students' decisions to continue or discontinue their music studies from Year 8 to Year 9, in selected Western Australian Secondary Schools. The research was conducted during term 4, 2000. Results from the questionnaires were analysed and interpreted to determine the most significant factors which contribute to the discontinuation or continuation of instrumental music studies. Analysis of data examined factors as to why students continued or discontinued learning music or studying an instrument. Findings indicated that students' self-concept and music ability levels strongly influence the success or failure of a student undertaking music studies. Career choice, parental influence, parental support, peer pressure, time commitment, part-time work, teacher influence, choice of music studied and the fear of failure are the main contributors for students discontinuing their instrumental studies. Through the recognition of the most common problem areas it may be possible to assist with strategies to promote the retention rate of students in music studies. This study may assist non-music teachers to appreciate problems and help them to perceive music as part of the school program.
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Kindler, Michael. „Human literacy: liberal neglect in A Statement on English for Australian Schools“. Thesis, View thesis, 1996. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/272.
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This thesis critiques A Statement on English for Australian Schools (1994) for what it does, and what it does not, say in respect of literature education. It argues the need to reconceptualise the way literature education is thought to benefit adolescent readers. The initial discussion identifies the issues which are raised in that document. This yields the need to redefine literature education as Human Literacy. It does so on the basis of a theoretical exploration of reader and text. Human Literacy is able to define reader response to show certain orientations which have either been left out, misunderstood or inadequately portrayed in A Statement. This thesis places Human Literacy within real world educational aims of homo economicus as well as homo sapiens sapiens. Such a context recognises liberal and utilitarian value positions, and is able to balance these in a manner which A Statement does not. In placing Human Literacy within educational philosophies of competing models of practice, literature education becomes nested within a more comprehensive understanding of education. Human Literacy provides a way by which educational value of literature is maximised. However, this projects a paradigm shift for A Statement, by identifying a liberal neglect through flawed assumptions, omissions, and contradictions. The presence of these in A Statement inhibit literature from working to best advantage. Human Literacy provides a more comprehensive way by which current theory is accommodated within an English curriculum
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Bambach, Matthew. „Maximising Board governance effectiveness in small and medium-sized Australian independent schools“. Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2020. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2310.
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My experience of working with boards of independent schools has led me to conclude that boards often struggle to know how they might make their governance more effective. Very little has been written and few empirical studies have investigated governance of independent school boards in Australia, despite the considerable responsibility and power entrusted to them. This study asks how well such boards are governing and what they could do to engender fully effective governance.
Currently, there are no standards or instruments for assessing the effectiveness of board governance. This study identified seven governance effectiveness factors (GEFs) from the literature on governance in schools and other non-profit organisations. These factors were used as assessment instruments in seven case studies of school boards in small to medium-sized independent schools. The research was predominantly qualitative and involved four research methods: a survey, semi-structured interviews, a review of board documents and observation of board meetings.
The data were explored by assessing the GEFs within each case and across cases. The findings showed that five boards demonstrated poor governance effectiveness, one was very poor and only one was effective. Three unexpected themes emerged from the data, showing how boards can move towards governance by delegating operational management of the school to the principal. These involve boards understanding, first, the nature of governance and developing the intention to govern effectively, second, when and how to make the difficult transition from operational management to governance, and third, how to adapt their approach to governance as they gain experience with it. A model of this transition process and a framework to guide managers and researchers through key decisions were developed. These fill a critical gap in the literature on board management in independent school governance.
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Suliman, Rosemary, University of Western Sydney, of Arts Education and Social Sciences College und School of Psychology. „The motivational and linguistic context of the school achievement of Lebanese-background students in high schools in South-western Sydney“. THESIS_CAESS_PSY_Suliman_R.xml, 2001. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/94.
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The purpose of this thesis is to examine the educational outcomes of Lebanese-background students in high schools in South-western Sydney, and to investigate some of the factors contributing to their pattern of achievement. The main thrust of this study is to empirically examine in detail two factors which are strong contributors to school achievement. The first is the motivational goals of these students. The second is the Language proficiency of Lebanese-background students in their first language (Arabic) and their second lanaguage (English). The study involves quantitative analyses of two sets of questionnaires administered to all the Year 9 students in three South-western metropolitan Sydney high schools. The Year 10 School Certificate results of this same group of students was then used to measure their level of achievement. Four groups were established for comparison: the non-Lebanese-, English-, Chinese- and Vietnamese- background groups. This study is contextualized within a discussion of some of the family factors which contribute to the achievement of migrant children in schools. Of particular relevance to Lebanese-background students are the socio-economic and educational background of parents, and the historical and social context of the Lebanese in Australia. The thesis concludes by putting forth some recommendations which involve the collaborative efforts of the home, the school and the community, suggesting that part of the solution lies in this collaborative effort. Boundaries can be crossed and stereotypes changed only through a concerted effort by the three sidesDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)
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Tognini, Rita. „Interaction in languages other than English classes in Western Australian primary and secondary schools theory, practice and perceptions /“. Connect to thesis, 2007. http://portalapps.ecu.edu.au/adt-public/adt-ECU2008.0013.html.
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Dynan, Muredach Benedict Camillas. „A case study of curriculum innovation: The implementation of the physical science course in Western Australian secondary schools“. Thesis, Dynan, Muredach Benedict Camillas (1985) A case study of curriculum innovation: The implementation of the physical science course in Western Australian secondary schools. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 1985. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/51525/.
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This study was designed to examine the Innovation processes associated with the Introduction of the Physical Science course in Western Australian secondary schools in 1978. Case study methods. Including participant-observation, Interviews and more quantitative techniques were used to describe and analyze the processes. Influencing factors and change agent strategies prior to and during Implementation. Implementation, the main focus of the study, was conceptualized as one of five Interrelated phases, the others being Inception, development, dissemination and Incorporation.
At the Inception phase, the processes of negotiation among key groups were found to be Important in determining the form of the Innovation. The curriculum development phase was shown to Involve creative adaptation of existing Ideas and materials. The dissemination phase was characterized by a strategy of persuasion. Various factors Influencing adoption were Identified.
Three aspects of the Implementation phase were examined. Firstly, analysis of the Implementation strategy revealed four elements of which the collaborative model of inservice development was central. The other elements were resource provision, communication linkage and Innovation protection. Secondly, the processes of Implementation were analyzed in terms of adaptation. Factors Influencing these processes were Identified. Questionnaire data from the second cohort of teachers revealed significant associations between these factors and perceived success of Implementation.
Thirdly, variations in modes of Implementation were analyzed and three dimensions contributing to these modes Identified. An exploration of possible relationships between the dimensions and student cognitive and attitudinal outcomes revealed little statistical evidence of association in this case.
Following initial Implementation, the degrees of Institutionalization, Incorporation and achievement of the goals of the Innovation after a five-year period were examined. Various factors Including teacher transfer and changing contextual Influences were found to affect the Incorporation processes.
Based on the findings, propositions are advanced in respect of each Innovation phase. These are brought together in ten major theoretical conclusions about curriculum innovation within school systems.
The thesis concludes with a discussion of the Implications of the findings and suggestions for further research in this area.
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Tognini, Rita. „Interaction in languages other than English classes in Western Australian primary and secondary schools: Theory, practice and perceptions“. Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2008. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/26.
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This descriptive study investigated the interaction of teachers and learners in ten primary and secondary school languages other than English (LOTE) classes in Western Australia, with the aim of providing a detailed picture of its nature and patterns. Teachers' and learners' perceptions of this interaction were also examined as part of the study, through interviews conducted with them.
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Dowrick, Margaret. „A multi-attribute evaluation of education outcomes for students who attend three Australian special schools“. Thesis, View thesis, 2004. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/26696.
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The absence of information that identifies desirable learning outcomes for students who attend Australian special schools and the absence of data that demonstrate the levels of mastery students have attained during their scholastic years, leave special education service provision vulnerable. This study, the first of its kind in Australia, developed a four phased evaluation process designed to assist special schools to ascertain desirable learning outcomes for students of school leaving age and to measure those outcomes. The process incorporated principles of the Outcome- Based Education approach as well as current philosophical trends in the provision of special education. The process was applied in three special education settings in the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales. Despite acknowledged limitations, the study provided an informative insight into the learning abilities of students in three Australian special schools. Strategic practices for future application of the process are identified.
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Strutt, Liana. „Teacher understandings of responsibilities for reading instruction in stage one and two English courses of study in Western Australian schools“. Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2011. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/370.
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The purpose of the study was to explore secondary teachers’ understandings of their responsibilities towards students who demonstrate poor literacy skills with regard to the Reading Outcome in the Western Australian English Courses of Study. As an experienced secondary English teacher, the researcher was aware that the reading demands of senior secondary classrooms were challenging for some students and that many teachers were unsure of how they should respond to the needs of the students. Since the education reforms which began in Western Australia in the late 1990s and the subsequent introduction of Courses of Study in 2006, a great deal of debate has arisen over the delivery of curriculum that addresses literacy in senior school classes. As reading is considered to be a key action of learning in the senior school context, the introduction of the Courses of Study in Western Australia has forced a review of the role of English teachers in terms of their key responsibilities. Through the methods of a survey and follow-‐up interview, this investigation has explored what teachers regard as their core responsibility in the classroom with regard to reading. The participants were from Western Australian rural and metropolitan schools across the sectors of Department of Education and Training, Catholic Education Commission schools and the Association of Independent Schools of Western Australia. The study showed that teachers are primarily concerned with engaging students in the reading process when they deliver the curriculum. They acknowledge the existence in their classes of students who cannot access the texts set for study, but they do not know how to diagnose specific reading problems, nor how to support their students in what are essentially reading acquisition skills. It is concluded that teachers acknowledge their responsibility to ensure students are able to access the texts used in these classes, but do not have the skills to do this.
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da, Silva-Branco Kristina. „Through the lens of teachers: Understanding the implementation of sustainability as a cross-curriculum priority in Western Australian schools“. Thesis, da Silva-Branco, Kristina (2019) Through the lens of teachers: Understanding the implementation of sustainability as a cross-curriculum priority in Western Australian schools. Masters by Research thesis, Murdoch University, 2019. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/49750/.
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Education for Sustainability (EfS) can be understood as an effort to equip individuals with the knowledge and skills necessary to make environmental, social and economic decisions that consider the needs of present and future generations. In Western Australia (WA), EfS has been incorporated into the official state curriculum by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA) as a cross-curriculum priority (CCP) (referred to as the Sustainability cross-curriculum priority [SCCP]). To date, very little research has been conducted on the various factors contributing to the implementation of the SCCP and whether these factors are connected to teachers’ perceptions of sustainability, the curriculum and/or teaching practices. This research sought to explore the integration of the SCCP into the curriculum through the lens of practising primary school teachers. In this study, nine primary school teachers in the Perth metropolitan region (five generalist; four specialists) were interviewed about the extent to which the Western Australian Curriculum has guided and supported their teaching practices in relation to sustainability and the SCCP, their perceptions of sustainability and their methods for teaching the SCCP. The findings showed that: 1) both generalist and specialist teachers are integrating the SCCP into their teaching practices across various learning areas to various extents; 2) in addition to the curriculum, teachers recognise the need for additional support and resources, school leadership being a relevant one; and 3) teachers’ understandings of sustainability captures its multiple dimensions as described in the literature (i.e., the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainability) and has resulted in the adoption of a multidimensional approach to teaching. Through detailed and rich examples of classroom practice the participants illustrated the web of inter-related factors that characterise the implementation of the SCCP. Overall, the most salient take-home message of this work is that teachers are the main actors driving the implementation of the SCCP, making informed decisions about how the curriculum is to be incorporated in their teaching while responding to students’ interests and needs.
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Evans, Rebecca. „When teachers are victims : A study of support in Western Australian government schools for teachers who have been assaulted by students“. Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2000. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1382.
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The aims of this study were to determine the personal effects of student assault upon a teacher and what assaulted teachers feel that they need in the way of support. In particular, I wanted the study to focus on the personal aspects of the cases as I was convinced that assaulted teachers experience similar anxieties, fears and barriers to support and similar difficulties in having those feelings recognised. Many clinical studies of assault victim support have been conducted, however, seemingly none of them are specifically related to assault by a student upon a teacher. This specific type of assault involves distinctive factors which effect the victim, such as the assailant being a minor and the victim an adult and the student being an inescapable part of the teacher's vocation. Given these aims, narrative form was considered the most appropriate methodology for the study. Narrative form uses emotive, context-specific language to build meaning, a plot based upon some form of conflict and the use of multiple voices. Thus the participants of the study became characters within the framework of an academic study. The idea that from the telling or reading of a story a type of truth can be developed is gradually becoming more accepted within the social sciences. This 'truth' is created by the reader actively constructing knowledge from constant reflection on the experiences of the characters and then modifying these experiences within the story by using cultural knowledge as a basis for comparison (Gray, 1996, p3). In this study three individual stories were collected during extensive interviews and were blended by the narrator (researcher) into a story of teacher assault that highlights the effects of workplace violence on the victims and their support needs. The story format allowed the portrayal of the assaulted teacher's perception and a brief insight into the frustrations experienced by members of the assaulted teacher's family. The study also developed a program of the types of support that should be provided for teachers when they have been assaulted by a student. The study revealed that the assaulted teachers experienced many similar anxieties, fears and barriers to support. The need for a specific support program for assaulted teachers was verified, as was the fact that support is currently nut being provided. Using information from the interviewed participants, a program of necessary support was formulated. A plan for schools to follow in order to establish effective support programs was also established.
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Graham, Eric N. „An analysis of the curriculum process as represented by the development of history and geography in Western Australian primary schools, 1890-1936“. Thesis, Graham, Eric N. (1995) An analysis of the curriculum process as represented by the development of history and geography in Western Australian primary schools, 1890-1936. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 1995. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/51436/.
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The present study traces the evolution of the history and geography syllabuses in Western Australian education in the period from 1890 - 1936. This period was selected because it provides a valuable case study of the kinds of problems which beset the stages of curriculum dissemination and implementation.
The study is important because no adequate survey of the history of the geography and history syllabuses seems to exist. The main contribution of this study is to trace the evolution of the history and geography syllabuses, and to identify some distinctive features which may be ascribed to the special circumstances of Western
Australia.
The study contributes both to our understanding of history and geography as a curriculum area, and the special problems posed by curriculum process.
One outcome of the study will be a model depicting factors that facilitate or impede the curriculum process.
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Smith, Sandra Faye. „Western Australian home economics teachers' perceptions of the function and relevance of home economics in the 21st century: An exploratory review“. Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2024. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2866.
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In Western Australia (WA), the subject of Home Economics is confronting a series of issues, including a fresh round of curriculum reform at the national level, inconsistent enactment within the curriculum since the introduction of the Technologies Learning Area (LA) in WA in 2018 that has led to ad hoc implementation within schools, and changing external societal pressures, especially in relation to food and textiles. With further curriculum review scheduled, it is timely to review the function and relevance of Home Economics in WA, and appropriate for this review to be undertaken from the perspective of teachers who deliver the subject, as they are most impacted by the current issues and potential future change, and are well placed to comment on them.
To undertake this review, an explanatory sequential mixed methods study approach was utilised. An initial state-wide survey was conducted to understand the breadth and significance of the issues as perceived by 107 WA Home Economics teachers. Analysis of the survey data informed a series of semi-structured interviews with 10 teachers, adding depth of understanding into the current issues and potential future directions for Home Economics in schools from the teacher’s perspective. The findings showed confusion with the current curriculum that resulted in wide-spread inconsistency with enactment of Home Economics.
However, teachers described the subject as critical to the development of informed citizens and showed deep interest in revitalising the subject through embedding sustainability and contemporary societal issues into the curriculum and their teaching practice.
Clarifying the ongoing function and relevance of Home Economics in WA schools from the perspective of the teachers themselves, may assist policymakers and stakeholders in future curriculum planning and implementation. The findings also suggest ways to address Home Economics curriculum and enactment in WA so that it meets the changing needs of students, educators and the community, and supports the development of the whole child in the 21st century.
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Suliman, Rosemary. „The motivational and linguistic context of the school achievement of Lebanese-background students in high schools in South-western Sydney“. Thesis, View thesis View thesis, 2001. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/94.
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The purpose of this thesis is to examine the educational outcomes of Lebanese-background students in high schools in South-western Sydney, and to investigate some of the factors contributing to their pattern of achievement. The main thrust of this study is to empirically examine in detail two factors which are strong contributors to school achievement. The first is the motivational goals of these students. The second is the Language proficiency of Lebanese-background students in their first language (Arabic) and their second lanaguage (English). The study involves quantitative analyses of two sets of questionnaires administered to all the Year 9 students in three South-western metropolitan Sydney high schools. The Year 10 School Certificate results of this same group of students was then used to measure their level of achievement. Four groups were established for comparison: the non-Lebanese-, English-, Chinese- and Vietnamese- background groups. This study is contextualized within a discussion of some of the family factors which contribute to the achievement of migrant children in schools. Of particular relevance to Lebanese-background students are the socio-economic and educational background of parents, and the historical and social context of the Lebanese in Australia. The thesis concludes by putting forth some recommendations which involve the collaborative efforts of the home, the school and the community, suggesting that part of the solution lies in this collaborative effort. Boundaries can be crossed and stereotypes changed only through a concerted effort by the three sides
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Smith, Julie Kathryn. „An evaluation of the effectiveness of the Primary Extension and Academic Challenge (PEAC) Online Programme for gifted and talented students in Western Australian primary schools“. Thesis, Curtin University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/2070.
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One of the key areas of the Western Australia’s Department of Education and Training’s Plan for Government Schools is ‘to provide access to quality, relevant, balanced, timely and inclusive programs that are challenging and enjoyable for all students.’ Online access for students through the Primary Extension and Challenge (PEAC) programme is a strategy that is currently being used to provide inclusivity for many gifted and talented students across Western Australia who are unable to travel to PEAC centres. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the online delivery programme for gifted and talented students in primary government schools in Western Australia.Data and information was collected the key stakeholders involved in the PEAC programme and was based around four research questions which looked at: the skills and professional development of the teachers, the role and needs of the support persons, the course design and content and the perceptions and needs of the online students.Some of the results found that teachers are spending more than their allotted time and much of their work is done at home. The professional development of teachers is not centrally managed and is done ad hoc without set guidelines of best practice and principles. Support for the online students mainly occurs in the student’s home, although both teachers and parents believe that the support should take place in the school. There is a disparity in the perceived value placed on the programme by the teachers and parents; parents believe that schools do not value the programme whereas teachers believe they place a high value on the programme. The PEAC Online courses themselves are modified classroom courses which, although the students find the courses of value, parents perceived the courses as too difficult and needing more structure to help their online student. This is backed up by the high dropout or non completion rate of the courses. Recommendations are made to improve the effectiveness of the programme reflecting in higher learning outcomes of the participating gifted and talented students.
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Whettingsteel, Emma. „“It would give you a space to be yourself”: The role for interior design in increasing Aboriginal student sense of belonging in Western Australian boarding schools“. Thesis, Curtin University, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/81961.
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This thesis explored the role of interior design in Aboriginal students' sense of belonging in Western Australian boarding schools. Through Participatory Action Research, data were collected by yarning and drawing with 27 current boarders, 18 recent alumni, and 7 boarding staff. Four major themes emerged: Place Identity, Social Atlas, Spatial Voice, and Third Space. From these, a 'feedback model' for belonging is proposed in which the built environment can be a reciprocal storytelling tool.
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Malik, Ranbir Singh. „Influence of home and school environments on the academic performance of Chinese-Australian and Anglo-Australian students studying at an academically-oriented high school in Perth, Western Australia“. Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2000. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1390.
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Although minority status has been associated with low academic achievement, the “high Asian achieving syndrome" remains as one of the unresolved sociological puzzles. Consistent evidence suggests that regardless of the family status, children from the Asian migrant families, settled in the industrialised countries, tend to perform academically better than their counterparts from the dominant group. This disparity is attributed to a number of factors, which taken separately, do not address this complex issue. In Australia little research has been done to compare the home environment and school experiences of children coming from Chinese-Australian and Anglo-Australian families even though the number of children from the Southeast Asian region has steadily increased. This thesis investigates the influence of home and school on the academic performance of high school students coming from Chinese-Australian and Anglo-Australian families who resided in a predominantly middle class suburb and their children attended one particular state school in Perth, Western Australia. By studying children in their homes and classrooms I have attempted in this ethnographic study to construct some theoretically coherent explanations to understand the disparity in academic performance of Chinese-Australian and Anglo-Australian high school students. In order to capture what teachers, parents, and children say and do as a product of how they interpret the complexity of their world this study explores how macro and micro processes are linked to children's academic performance. As this study aims to understand social events from each individual's point of view it assumes that human behaviour is the result of indispensable and continuous interactions between persons and the situations they encounter. The findings of this study, with no claim to generalise beyond these families, suggest that the reason why Chinese-Australian and Anglo-Australian children have different educational outcomes is that these families socialise their children differently. From this study emerge two different models: and academic oriented Chinese-Australian model and a sports oriented Anglo-Australian model. At the start of high school there was no marked difference in ability and performance based on ethnicity. By the time they completed lower secondary school all Chinese-Australian students had improved in English and enrolled in a normal stream in English. Except for one student, they had selected TEE subjects with a university education as their main goal. At this stage, Anglo-Australians, with the exception of two students (who had selected TEE subjects), had decided to study either a mixture of TEE and TAFE subjects or easier TEE subjects. At the end of Year 12 all Chinese-Australian, except for one, had qualified to study at university. From Anglo-Australian group, only two students had qualified to study at university. This pattern of performance is consistent with the high Asian achieving syndrome and lack lustre performance of Anglo-Australian students. However, this study serves some sober reminder about the narrow focus by Chinese-Australians and lack of effort by Anglo-Australian students.
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Gillan, Kevin P. „Technologies of power : discipline of Aboriginal students in primary school“. University of Western Australia. Graduate School of Education, 2008. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2008.0183.
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This study explored how the discursive practices of government education systemic discipline policy shape the behaviour of Aboriginal primary school students in an urban education district in Western Australia. First, this study conducted a Foucauldian genealogical discourse analysis of the historical and contemporary discursive forces that shaped systemic discipline policy in Western Australian government schools between 1983 and 1998 to uncover changing discursive practices within the institution. This period represented a most turbulent era of systemic discipline policy development within the institution. The analysis of the historical and contemporary discursive forces that shaped policy during this period revealed nine major and consistent discursive practices. Secondly, the study conducted a Foucauldian genealogical discourse analysis into the perspectives of key interest groups of students, parents and Education Department employees in an urban Aboriginal community on discipline policy in Education Department primary schools during the period from 2000 to 2001; and the influence of these policies on the behaviour of Aboriginal students in primary schools. The analysis was accomplished using Foucault's method of genealogy through a tactical use of subjugated knowledges. A cross section of the Aboriginal community was interviewed to examine issues of consultation, suspension and exclusion, institutional organisation and discourse. The study revealed that there are minimal consistent conceptual underpinnings to the development of Education Department discipline policy between 1983 and 1998. What is clear through the nine discursive practices that emerged during the first part of the study is a strengthened recentralising pattern of regulation, in response to the influence of a neo-liberal doctrine that commodifies students in a network of accountability mechanisms driven by the market-state economy. Evidence from both genealogical analyses in this study confirms that the increasing psychologisation of the classroom is contributing towards the pathologisation of Aboriginal student behaviour. It is apparent from the findings in this study that Aboriginal students regularly display Aboriginality-as-resistance type behaviours in response to school discipline regimes. The daily tension for these students at school is the maintenance of their Aboriginality in the face of school policy that disregards many of their regular cultural and behavioural practices, or regimes of truth, that are socially acceptable at home and in their community but threaten the 'good order' of the institution when brought to school. This study found that teachers and principals are ensnared in a web of governmentality with their ability to manoeuvre within the constraints of systemic discipline policy extremely limited. The consequence of this web of governmentality is that those doing the governing in the school are simultaneously the prisoner and the gaoler, and in effect the principle of their own subjection. Also revealed were the obscure and dividing discursive practices of discipline regimes that contribute to the epistemic violence enacted upon Noongar students in primary schools through technologies of power.
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O'Brien, Patrick. „A critical analysis of devolution and the corporate reform of teachers' work“. Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 1999. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1214.
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The corporate transformation of bureaucratic public education in Western Australia commenced in the late 1980s. The reforms announced in the Better Schools Report (1987) aimed to devolve responsibility to schools for the purpose of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of public education. Designed to be responsive, adaptable, flexible and accountable, the administrative style accompanying the reforms is described as corporate managerialism. Devolution has impacted heavily on schools and teachers' work. Evidence presented in this thesis suggests that the corporate values and practices that dominate the organisation and management of schools create personal and professional conflict for many classroom teachers. Devolution and corporate managerialism have not only marginalised and in many cases alienated teachers, but failed to improve student learning. In short, the reforms aimed at improving efficiency and effectiveness have in fact created additional dilemmas and tensions for classroom teachers. Using teachers' stories this qualitative study examines the perceptions of Level Two secondary classroom teachers about the impact of corporate reforms on their work. It highlights a number of crises that exist for teachers and which threaten their sense of professional autonomy and job satisfaction. Based on the findings the study makes a number of recommendations for creating a critical, collaborative learning environment for classroom teachers.
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Fontaine, Samuel G. „An evaluation of the orientation program for newly appointed Catholic primary principals“. Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2001. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1054.
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The structure and operation of Catholic schools in Western Australia have been in a process of change since the early 1970’s. Prior to 1971, most Catholic primary schools were administered by religious orders and much of the religious character of the school reflected the charisma of the particular religious order that operated the school. In the Year 2000 most Catholic primary schools former part of a state-wide system in which the Catholic Education Office (CEO) plays a major administrative and co-ordinating role.
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Joll, Lois A. „An examination of the reasons why parents send their daughters to specific, independent, non-Catholic schools for their secondary education in Western Australia“. Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 1989. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1112.
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This study examines the reasons why parents send their daughters to specific, independent, non-Catholic Schools for their secondary education in Perth, Western Australia. Initially, through a review of related literature, variables which might influence parental choice of a private school were identified. In order to establish the relevance of these variables, and to identify any other previously unidentified variables which may influence parental selection of a particular independent girls' school, a survey was undertaken of sample groups of parents whose daughters had entered Year 8 in 1989. Further data was obtained through interviews of a small number of parents from each of the five schools in the study. Analysis of the data was undertaken through consideration of the percentage frequency of responses to statements with Likert scale response fields; cross tabulation of responses with background data supplied by the parents; factor analysis and canonical variate analysis. The latter analyses established that there were several important influences on choice which were common to all schools and some elements which distinguished between schools. The common factors included: a desire for a well-rounded education, a caring environment, a desire for good communication between the school and home, firm discipline, a strong academic programme, a competent teaching staff and a good reputation, although the importance of these variables varied between schools. The variables which were of special importance in parental choice of a particular school included family tradition, distance between the home and the particular school and location with respect to an independent boys' school. This research identified a group of variables which influence parental choice of independent, non-Catholic girls' schools in Western Australia. The nature of the variables indicates that, overall, parents are seeking an education for their daughters which combines a strong academic programne with opportunities for a variety of enriching educational experiences in a caring environment.
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Fittock, Simon. „The socialisation of early career principals in Western Australia“. Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2020. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2309.
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This research aimed to investigate and understand the socialisation of early career principals in Western Australian public schools. It is widely acknowledged that school principals are critical in the successful education of students and delivering on this is seen to be the core purpose of the role. It is evident that the development of effective principals has great value. As a result, the socialisation of principals during the formative early career stage, whereby they learn the necessary knowledge, skills and understandings of the role, is important in the educational experiences of students. Due to the impact principals have on student learning, research into the socialisation of early career principals holds significance.
The Department of Education (DoE) is the largest employer of school principals in Western Australia. DoE see effective leadership as a key priority and is committed to the development of effective principals through the provision of professional learning. In the past, research (including Clarke et al., 2011; Gurr et al., 2014; Wildy & Clarke, 2008a, 2008b) has reported that Western Australian early career principals have faced many complex challenges during their socialisation. Much of this research was conducted over 10 years ago and it is problematic that the topic of principal socialisation in Western Australia has received little attention since. My research sought to address this problem by providing a current insight and investigate the extent of which the findings from previous studies are still relevant. Furthermore, this research provided an opportunity to investigate whether DoE’s professional learning provision had addressed the challenges faced by early career principals as suggested by previous studies.
The participant cohort for this research was comprised of seven early career principals of Western Australian public schools. The participants were located in multiple regions across the state of both metropolitan and rural areas. This research used a qualitative methodology because it aimed to develop an understanding of the meanings that the participants attached to their experiences. To gain this understanding, individual semi-structured interviews were used as the data collection method.
Findings from the data suggest that during the initial stages of their career, the participants felt unprepared, unqualified and isolated. Unpreparedness came from a lack of understanding of what the principalship would entail and inexperience in school management tasks. The feeling of being unqualified emerged from an increase of focus in the area of school management in comparison to other roles the participants had held prior to becoming a principal. Feelings of isolation were evident as a result of being an outsider to the school community and, for the rural participants, the geographical location. The significance of this study can be seen in the alignment between its findings and with those of previous studies. The findings also have provided a current insight into the challenges faced by early career principals and the type of support they perceive to be most beneficial. This information could be seen to be valuable to DoE and their ongoing provision of professional learning to early career principals.
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Witten, Harm P. „School administrators' beliefs regarding the relationship between school improvements and formal school registration“. Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2013. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/872.
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In 2004, the Government of Western Australia introduced an inspection-type formal school registration process for Non-Government (Independent) Schools, fulfilling the legislative requirement of a new School Education Act of 1999 (Part 4, Sec.159). This formal school registration process featured twelve criteria that are used to evaluate the quality of education. The government claimed that it would ensure a good education for all students in Western Australian, including those students enrolled in Independent Schools. However, very little is known about this formal school registration process, the twelve criteria used in it, or even if school administrators believe that it has helped make improvements at their schools. This study examined a new formal school registration process and investigated the beliefs of School Administrators at Non-Government (Independent) Schools in Western Australia to the relationship between formal school registration and school improvement. It considered those beliefs according to the government’s twelve criteria of formal school registration: (1) Governance; (2) Financial Viability; (3) Enrolment and Attendance; (4) Number of Students; (5) Time Available for Instruction; (6) Staff; (7) School Infrastructure; (8) Curriculum; (9) Student Learning Outcomes; (10) Levels of Care; (11) Management of Disputes and Complaints; and (12) School Compliance with Written Laws. A questionnaire based on these twelve criteria was designed with five items per criterion, each answered in two perspectives (what was expected and what actually happened), and conceptually ordered from easy to hard, making an effective item sample of 120. All 150 primary and secondary non-government schools were invited to participate between 19th March 2011 and 30th November 2011, but only 110 school administrators answered the questionnaire, and only 60 (approximately 56%) completed all twelve parts of the questionnaire. Fourteen School Administrators agreed to participate in one-on-one interviews. Two unidimensional, linear scales were created using Rasch measurement: (1) School Administrators’ Beliefs That Actual School Improvements Were Due to Formal School Registration (48 items); and (2) School Administrators’ Beliefs That Expected School Improvements Would be Due to Formal School Registration (42 items). Items that were easy and hard were identified from the scales. Twenty-four Guttman scales were created: one for each of the twelve registration criteria by actual improvements (12 scales) and by expected improvements (12 scales). Easy and hard items were identified and they supported the Rasch scale results. The measures were analysed against seven independent variables (gender, school size, school type, school location, qualification, age and seniority). The interview data were analysed by the Miles and Huberman method in which themes or issues were created, and supported by the data. The Rasch scales, the Guttman scales, the correlation analysis and the interview data analysis produced many interesting results that are discussed and explained. School Administrators responded positively, as well as negatively, with beliefs that school improvements were due to the formal school registration process. There were differences in School Administrator beliefs in large and small schools, and in remote and metropolitan schools. The influence of school culture on school improvements due to formal school registration was highlighted by the School Administrators in non-government schools. School Administrators and Policy Officers should take note of these results.
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Eid, Mahmoud M. „Public schools or Islamic colleges? : factors impacting on parental choice of schooling for Muslim children“. Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2008. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/192.
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This portfolio focuses on issues associated with the education of Muslim children in Western Australia, within the broader national context. Based on ABS 1996 Census, Clyne (2001) states "there is a considerable potential demand for education within the Muslim community with at least 60 000 children within the compulsory years of schooling (5-15 years)" (pp. 118-119). However, according to the Islamic schools' principals, "approximately 10 percent of these children are enrolled in Islamic schools" (p 119). This means 90% of Muslim school children are enrolled in non-Islamic schools despite the fact that the community has 30 full time Islamic schools nation wide. At the moment, most Islamic schools are relatively small. In this respect, Buckley (1997) states: If we accept a total figure of 300,000 Muslims in Australia, and we estimate that 70% of them are school-age students, then these Muslim schools are catering for less than 2.5% of the total Muslim student population (p. 6)
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Asante-Nimako, Davida Aba Mensima. „West African families' experiences and perspectives regarding the Australian education system: An ethnographic case study in Western Australia“. Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2024. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2808.
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School experiences of migrants in host countries are crucial to their overall success in life. In Australia, most studies that explore the circumstances of African migrants are limited to North and South African people, especially refugees from these regions. Therefore, there is a lack of evidence on the unique experiences of West African migrants concerning the Australian education system. West African people have a similar high school final examination within the region called the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), which is similar to the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) awarded to students who have successfully completed two years of senior secondary schooling and have achieved the required standard. West African people share similar linguistic and cultural backgrounds which are quite distinct from those of other parts of Africa. Based on this unique background, it is unclear if West African people in WA have different experiences of settling into Western Australian education compared to other regions of Africa. This study explored West African families’ experiences and perspectives regarding the education system in Western Australia (WA). The families came from diverse migrant backgrounds, including refugees, family streams, skilled migrants, and international students. The study also considered migrants of different visa categories: citizens, permanent residents, and temporary residents. A qualitative ethnographic case study approach, and interpretivist paradigms, guided the study, which involved five West African families in WA, including Nigerian, Ghanaian, Liberian and Togolese. At least three members of each family had been, or were, in the WA education system at the time of the study. Conversations, interviews, participant observations, documents such as family books, photographs, a community forum and audio and video recordings were used over a seven-month period to explore the participants’ experiences and perspectives of the Australian education system. The conceptual framework used in this research was underpinned by Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). The data were transcribed, coded and analysed inductively, prior to linking it to Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory. The findings revealed diverse experiences across educational levels, grouped into five main themes: education experiences in WA; being and belonging; racism and discrimination; linguistic repertoire; and sociocultural issues. The education experiences participants faced included issues relating to cultural awareness, a lack of representation in learning resources, cultural differences in the curriculum and society, and parenting challenges borne out of the differences in the WA school system compared to those of the participants’ home countries. Social components, iii including hair, skin colour and friendship, influenced their sense of belonging, as did the existence of the Organization of African Communities, WA. The study recorded the diversity of participant experiences, which showed evidence of verbal, subtle and physical racial discrimination. Rapid Australian speech affected participants both in society and in the classroom. In addition, the classroom context of unintelligible accents and indiscernible words affected participants’ spelling and performance. Despite these experiences, the resilience of participants was demonstrated through their faith and nature. The findings suggest that various linguistic, cultural and systemic challenges influence the experience of West African people in WA, which may conceal their full potential in education and society. The findings also offer informative data to the Western Australian Department of Education, particularly educators teaching West African people in Australian schools and at the tertiary level. This research highlights the importance of cultural competence and professional development in the education system in WA. Because the participants in this study represent people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, this research is likely to be of great benefit in helping teachers engage more effectively with migrants. The study has implications for both educational and social practices and policies, by emphasising the importance of educators’ cultural competence, which may enhance the opportunities for migrants to settle quickly in WA and flourish holistically.
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McDavitt, Karen. „School social work: Supporting children’s primary education in the South West of Western Australia“. Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2017. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1979.
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In many countries, social workers play a role in the education of children. In Australia, this is evident in the state of Victoria which has a long history of school social work. However, it is not the case in Western Australia where there are very few government-funded social work roles in public schools. With the barriers to education rising for increasing numbers of students, the social work profession could be one component in a multi-disciplinary whole that supports students and the broader community so that each child has the best chance of reaching their full potential.
This thesis poses the question: Is there a role for social workers in regional primary schools in the South West of Western Australia in relation to identifying and addressing external barriers to education? The term external barriers to education is used in this thesis to denote barriers which, unlike disability or illness, are external to the child. The Australian Association of Social Workers’ Practice Standards for School Social Workers provide a list of the range of issues that may impact on a student’s ability to engage with education, identifying areas where a social worker is well placed to provide support and direction. For the purpose of this study, the focus is on those matters external to the child, such as (but not limited to) family changes, drug and/or alcohol misuse within the home environment, poverty, violence, abuse and neglect, transiency or instability of housing.
To answer the research question, this study first reviews literature pertaining to education, social work and government policy and then explores the experiences of five Edith Cowan University social work students who undertook a field placement in one of three host regional government primary school in the South West of Western Australia. The study also explores the perspectives of five staff from the three host schools and the external field educator who supervised all five students. Data was collected by way of interviews and focus groups with the participants, with the data then being subject to thematic analysis.
The rich data derived from this study depicts the work undertaken by the social work students, the possibilities for the profession of social work and the implications this research may have in relation to identifying and addressing external barriers to children’s learning and education. The findings are distinct and unambiguous, identifying a major gap in the support that is offered to students and their families. This thesis suggests that the gap identified by this study may result in children having reduced possibilities to learn and, as a result, they may be denied life opportunities; a matter which it is argued could impinge upon children’s human right to education.