Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Inclusive education Australia'

The context of this study is the inclusion of students with dillabilities in secondary schools. The introduction of legislation in the United States and Australia has resulted in large numbers of students with disabilities being included in regular classes by subject teachers. Inclusion in secondary schools has proved especially challenging to teachers. Reviews and research highlight the need for teacher training. but do not specify the knowledge and skills that teachers need to become inclusive. It has been proposed that professional teaching standards have the potential to guide preservice and inservice training. Before standards could be assessed for their inclusivity, however, it was necessary to identify the knowledge, skills and attributes of inclusive secondary school teachers and how they could be acquired.

Integration has been the policy of the New South Wales Department of Education and Training since 1981. Regular classroom teachers are responsible for implementing this policy at the classroom level. In order to achieve this, teachers need to make informed decisions about aspects of the class program and practice that may need to be adapted or modified to provide opportunities for integrated students to participate meaningfully in regular classroom environments. The purpose of this study is twofold: to extend research into adaptations made by New South Wales teachers under a policy of integration by surveying teachers' perceptions on various adaptations/modifications and to explore factors related to teachers? implementation of these adaptations/modifications to programs and practices for students with mild disabilities and/or learning difficulties. Researchers have studied integration (variously named and interpreted) since the eighties and the current research is based on a body of research conducted over the last twenty-five years. The current research identified the frequency of different types of adaptations/modifications used by regular classroom teachers. An attempt is made to identify various barriers and isolate particular factors that may influence the use of these adaptations/modifications in regular classrooms. Results indicated that teachers reported using different adaptations and modifications to varying degrees. Teachers indicated that they held a preference for adaptations and modifications that could easily be implemented for all students in the class. Teachers reported that barriers such as: 'Lack of preparation and planning time'; 'Demands on instruction time'; and 'Inadequate staff ratios' have the greatest affect on their implementation of adaptations and modifications. The level of qualifications held by the teachers was the only factor that had a significant correspondence to the frequency of adaptations and modifications implemented for students with mild disabilities and learning difficulties. Further research is recommended to investigate across a larger area of population, the type and level of disabilities experienced by the students and the influence of teachers? choice on frequency of adaptations and modifications.

Doctor of Philosophy
The current study explored the formative processes of twelve student teachers constructing role understandings in the context of their experiences and interactions with people with disabilities. In particular, it examined the participants’ changing notions of self-as-teacher and their unfolding perceptions of an inclusive educator’s role in teaching children with disabilities. The research aimed to investigate personal and professional forms of knowledge linked with the prior subjective life experiences of the student teachers and those arising from their interactions in situated learning experiences in community settings. The contextual framework of the study focused on the development of the student teachers’ unique understandings and awareness of people with disabilities through processes of biographical situated learning. The investigation examined participants’ voluntary out-ofcourse experiences with people with disabilities across three community settings for the ways in which these experiences facilitated the participants’ emerging role understandings. These settings included respite experiences in families’ homes of young children with disabilities receiving early intervention, an after-school recreational program for primary and secondary aged children and adolescents with disabilities, and an independent living centre providing post-school options and activities for adults with disabilities. ii Two groups participated in the current study, each consisted of six student teachers in the Bachelor of Education Course at the Bathurst campus of Charles Sturt University. Group One participants were in the second year compulsory inclusive education subject and Group Two participants were in the third year elective early intervention subject. The investigation examines the nature of reflexive and reflective processes of the student teachers from subjective, conflict realities in an attempt to link community experiences with real-life issues affecting inclusive educational practices. The voluntary community experiences engaged the research participants in multi-faceted interactions with people with disabilities, providing thought-provoking contexts for their reflections on observations, responses and reactions to situations, such as critical incidents. The participants engaged in reflexive and reflective processes in records made in learning journals and in semi-structured interviews conducted throughout the investigation. Results were analysed from a constructivist research paradigm to investigate their emerging role understandings. Prior to this study there had been few practical components in the compulsory undergraduate inclusive education subject which meant that previously student teachers gained theoretical knowledge without the opportunity to apply their learning. Many student teachers had expressed their feelings of anxiety and uneasiness about what they should do and say to a person with a disability. Thus, the community experiences were selected in order to give a specific context for student teachers’ learning and to provide participants with expanded opportunities to consider their professional identity, social awareness and acceptance of people with disabilities. iii An analysis of the data demonstrated the centrality of reflection within a situated teaching and learning framework. Understandings of prior experiences and motivation were shown to interact with the outcomes of the community experiences through an on-going process of reflection and reflexivity. This reconstructing process encouraged learners to reflect on past, present and projected future experiences and reframe actions from multiple perspectives as a way of exploring alternatives within broader contexts. The data reveal the participants’ engagement in the community experiences facilitated their awareness of wider socio-cultural educational issues, while focusing their attention on more appropriate inclusive teaching and learning strategies. The reflective inquiry process of identifying diverse issues led participants to consider other possible alternatives to current community practices for better ways to support their changing perspectives on ideal inclusive classroom practices. The dialogic nature of participants’ on-going deliberations contributed to the construction of their deeper understandings of an inclusive educator’s role. The findings of the study identified external environmental and internal personal factors as contributing biographical influences which shaped the student teachers’ emerging role understandings. The results emphasised the value of contextual influences in promoting desirable personal and professional qualities in student teachers. Importantly, situated learning enhanced participants’ unique interpretations of their prospective roles. As a result of analysing their insights from interactions in community contexts, the student teachers had increased their personal and professional understandings of individuals with disabilities and broadened their perceptions of their roles as inclusive educators. Thus, the study found that encouraging a biographical reflexive and reflective orientation in participants was conducive iv to facilitating changes in their understandings. Overall, the outcomes had benefits for student teachers and teacher educators in finding innovative ways for integrating biographical perspectives into situated teaching and learning approaches. The study showed that contextual influences facilitated deeper understanding of role identity and produced new ideas about the nature of reflexivity and reflection in guiding student teachers’ learning. (Note: Appendices not included in digital version of thesis)

This thesis investigated Korean and Australian teachers’ pedagogical practices and beliefs related to early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS) and their assumptions about human-nature relationships. This comparative case study identified that the teachers’ practices, pedagogical beliefs, and assumptions differed, aligning with predominant cultural characteristics of the two countries. Although teachers in different contexts may draw on similar ECEfS pedagogies and learning theories, understandings and interpretations can vary across cultures, and ECEfS practices can be reproduced by these cultural contexts. This research endorses the need for cultural consideration in understanding teachers’ practices, pedagogical beliefs, and assumptions for a culturally inclusive ECEfS.

At the intersection of adult education and social gerontology, and propelled by the ageing phenomenon, educational gerontology has a critical place in the study of older adult education. To contend with older learners' needs, professional adult educators require an enhanced preparation, and concomitance to a reinvigoration of current adult learning programs to include the constructs of educational gerontology and the geragogical imperative. Through survey and interviews, this research investigated evidence of, and the capacity for, Australian Adult Education programs and Ageing Research centres to meet this requirement. Results of this case study indicate a paucity of evidence of educational gerontology in adult education programs, coupled with significant potential for capacity development in this field through collaboration with Ageing Research initiatives. The findings suggest an expansion of current curriculum in adult education programs to include aspects of educational gerontology, professional development of Adult Education academics in the specialized area of educational gerontology, and broader adult education engagement with external stakeholders and the ageing research community as a contribution to social betterment.

At the intersection of adult education and social gerontology, and propelled by the ageing phenomenon, educational gerontology has a critical place in the study of older adult education. To contend with older learners' needs, professional adult educators require an enhanced preparation, and concomitance to a reinvigoration of current adult learning programs to include the constructs of educational gerontology and the geragogical imperative. Through survey and interviews, this research investigated evidence of, and the capacity for, Australian Adult Education programs and Ageing Research centres to meet this requirement. Results of this case study indicate a paucity of evidence of educational gerontology in adult education programs, coupled with significant potential for capacity development in this field through collaboration with Ageing Research initiatives. The findings suggest an expansion of current curriculum in adult education programs to include aspects of educational gerontology, professional development of Adult Education academics in the specialized area of educational gerontology, and broader adult education engagement with external stakeholders and the ageing research community as a contribution to social betterment.

The international movement to include children with disabilities in education has resulted in significant legislative and policy change. However some have argued that this has not translated into actual practice and that inclusion (as opposed to integration) is not the usual practice in Australia. There are fears that inclusion, if implemented poorly, will be detrimental to the wellbeing of students with disabilities. Similar concerns exist for students with vision impairment. The quality of their inclusive experiences varies dramatically from school to school, with an isolated few children reaping the expected benefits of inclusion. The variation in these experiences has not yet been explained.The purpose of this research was to determine which, if any, factors predict successful inclusion for children with vision impairment in regular early education in Australia. The research occurred in two phases: (1) a formative, qualitative phase; and (2) a quantitative, longitudinal phase.The aim of Phase 1 was to select factors that stakeholders perceived were important in influencing the inclusive early education of children with vision impairment in Australia. Nominal Group Technique elicited the perception of five stakeholder groups (allied health professionals, visiting teachers, classroom teachers, parents of, and students with vision impairment) (N = 25). The ranked items generated by each stakeholder group were combined using content analysis. These were then ranked overall. The top-ten ranked ‘stakeholder factors’ formed the independent variables for the second phase of the study.Phase 2 had three aims relating to regular early education in Australia: (1) to describe the situation that children with vision impairment are exposed to (i.e. the stakeholder factors identified in Phase 1); (2) to compare the inclusive outcomes (participation, engagement, child interaction, academic and overall) of children with and without vision impairment; and (3) to determine the influence of the stakeholder factors on the inclusive outcomes of children with vision impairment. A prospective, longitudinal cohort design was used; conducted over two years. Twenty children with vision impairment and 37 sighted classmates (mean age 65 months) who attended regular kindergarten to grade one classes in Australia participated.Three aspects were commonly found to be poor in the regular class situations: access to vision aides and equipment, support for staff, and teacher training and experience; however the individualisation and physical environment were adequate. Nonparametric analysis demonstrated that both education staff and parents were more involved with children with vision impairment compared to classmates. The children’s social skills differed only at the end of the second year.Children with vision impairment had significantly poorer inclusive outcomes than classmates. Mann-Whitney U Tests found that children with vision impairment participated significantly less in class activities, were less engaged in tasks and experienced poorer social interaction than classmates at each point during the two years. At the end of the second year, children with vision impairment had significantly poorer academic performance.A three-step process selected the stakeholder factors that had a significant individual influence on the inclusion of children with vision impairment, relative to their classmates. Receiver Operating Characteristic curve analysis then demonstrated that Indices of these combined stakeholder factors predicted successful inclusive outcomes of children with vision impairment up to two years later. Presence of a combination of at least six factors, categorised as Environmental (teacher attitude, teacher training and experience, adult involvement, vision aides and equipment and physical environment); Personal (early intervention); and/or Activity Performance (social skills) significantly improved the likelihood of success.This study demonstrated that a high proportion of children with vision impairment in Australia are exposed to less than adequate situations in early education, and, as such, experience poor quality inclusion. Given the long term effects of early experiences, it is imperative that children have positive early education experiences. This research provided new knowledge of the factors that can improve regular early educational outcomes for students with vision impairment. This can further guide the decisions of policy makers, educators, health professionals and parents concerned with improving the life of children with vision impairment.

Using a critical pedagogy framework, this study examines dependency on Australian Aid and local ownership/sustainability in the introduction of inclusive education in Kiribati through document analysis, interviews with key local stakeholders and school-based focus group discussions. The results indicate that a positive commitment towards inclusive education is emerging and that Australian Aid provided essential advocacy through direct management of initiatives. Inclusive education initiatives remain dependent on Australian Aid for direction and sustainability. Sustainability of inclusive education initiatives in Kiribati will depend on continued development of local ownership including community support and commitment by the Government of Kiribati, particularly budgetary support.

A case study approach was adopted in this research to explore the wellbeing of gifted adolescents who participated in a two year immersion class. Qualitative evidence supported ability-grouping to compact three years' curriculum into two while incorporating social-emotional skills. Vignettes of challenges beyond the safety of the class however, revealed changed behavior that influenced student development and identity. A whole-of-school approach to wellbeing was recommended to foster a shared ethos of inclusive practice and empathy. Insight from the research has global significance for gifted adolescent wellbeing.

Both researchers and clinicians have observed an apparent increase in the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in current and upcoming student populations (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016; CDC, 2018). In response to these findings, the Australian Federal Government and Queensland Government have policies in place to support students in inclusive general education settings for children with ASD. The purpose of this study was to develop a more sophisticated understanding of expectations of teacher capacity to implement the inclusive practices required in Queensland educational policy, and the actual capacity of teaching staff to support their students with ASD in one school with a Special Education Program (SEP) attached. The epistemological stance adopted for this study is constructionism with the theoretical perspective interpretivism, and embedded within this perspective is symbolic interactionism. Consistent with these perspectives, case study methodology has been used where data collection, adopted to investigate the case, included document analysis, survey and semi-structured individual interviews. During the exploration phase, data were obtained from the document analysis of pre-service courses offered to teachers and teacher-aides in Queensland, Australia and an online survey of 24 participants, consisting of both teachers and teacher-aides. During the inspection phase, data were obtained from individual, semi-structured interviews with 16 of the 24 participants, comprising 12 teachers and 4 teacher-aides. This research supports previous research findings which outline a need for more ASD-specific pre-service and in-service training for teachers, however, these findings have been extended through the use of a Symbolic Interactionist lens, where five theoretical propositions have been advanced. Drawing on these theoretical propositions, the D.I.S.I Dilemma Model has been promoted as a reflection of the school environment. The findings have clear implications for departments of education and pre-service training institutions for both teachers and teacher-aides.

This study describes various aspects of socio-economic diversity in the Australian early childhood education and care (ECEC) workforce, and considers their implications for educators’ practice. Its main hypothesis is that educators’ qualifications are likely to be associated with other aspects of social advantage, and that this association may contribute to the relationship between educators’ qualifications and quality of practice that underpins ECEC workforce development policy in Australia. Drawing on the work of Pierre Bourdieu, the study conceptualises social advantage as comprising different levels of cultural, economic and social capital, which influence practice through the mechanism of habitus. The study uses existing data from three large-scale surveys to identify indicators that relate to capital and its effects for the Australian ECEC workforce, and describe their relationship with educators’ qualifications. The Australian Bureau of Statistics Census of Population and Housing is used to describe educators’ position in Australian society; the National ECEC Workforce Census to describe educators’ subjective experience of their work; and the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth to describe educators’ school and family backgrounds, and transitions. The results indicate that the effects of cultural capital (especially achievement at school) are associated with educators’ qualifications as Bourdieu’s theory predicts, as is educators’ access to economic capital. The study also identifies various strengths and challenges associated with social advantage for educators with different qualifications, which may have bearing on the quality of their practice. The study concludes with discussion of how these findings might inform support for educators’ professional growth, including by informing educators’ own collaborative professional reflection. The study aims to guide more inclusive approaches to ECEC workforce development, by looking beyond qualifications to the dynamics of social advantage that complicate ECEC workforce reform.

Policies of widening participation and internationalisation in Australian universities have escalated student numbers and increased the proportion of diverse and ‘non-traditional’ students. Newer students and their educators are challenged by aspects of this new diversity, particularly the divide between the literacy practices of ‘non-traditional’ students entering tertiary education and those required for success in academic and professional worlds. This challenge is compounded by diversification of textual resources in institutional and life-world contexts through global and digital connectivity. In spite of these momentous trends, traditional university curricula and pedagogies retain literacies based in elite social-structural positions, which exclude the literacy practices and life-worlds of ‘non-traditional’ students, potentially disadvantaging them in their learning. In a case study using practitioner Action Research, this thesis examines the possibilities and constraints that emerge when students’ literacy practices are utilised as assets for learning, and elite academic codes are made explicit, in university curriculum and pedagogy. These asset-oriented pedagogic approaches were enacted over two cycles of research in a Bachelor of Social Work undergraduate program in an Australian University, providing basic research to illuminate wider consideration in other disciplinary areas of the contemporary university. Participating students responded to questionnaires and focus groups, educators were interviewed and the researcher maintained a field journal throughout to examine the possibilities and constraints that emerged from the curriculum and pedagogies that were introduced. It is argued that these curricular and pedagogic practices offer possibilities to amplify learning for all students, and bridge socio-cultural divides that tend to disadvantage ‘non-traditional’ students. The research confirmed the potential of such practices to create effective bridges between the literacies of ‘non-traditional’ students and the acquisition of disciplinary knowledge, facilitating the successful participation of all students. At the same time, institutional arrangements - governed by economic, cultural and socio-political conditions besetting tertiary education - constrained these potentials. It is argued that these constraints need to be negotiated and challenged to enable broader application that might contribute to a more equitable tertiary education system.

This study was concerned with determining the competencies required and the subsequent education needed for the implementation of inclusive practices within the park and recreation industry. With 3.6 million people or 19 percent of its total population possessing a disability, Australia is experiencing a transformation of its programs and practices as they relate to the inclusion of people with disabilities. Especially noteworthy is the impact that inclusion is having on the park and recreation industry. In order for park and recreation professionals to achieve a cutting edge standard of service delivery to people of all abilities, a study was undertaken to determine the skills, ability and knowledge that are needed to ensure inclusive practices. Parks and Leisure Australia agreed, through its National Board of Directors, for its members to serve as participants in this study. The data analysed to obtain the results of the study was gathered from a questionnaire that was mailed to a random sample of eight hundred Parks and Leisure Australia members. It sought information in the following areas: • The importance of competencies to park and recreation professionals' jobs for including people with disabilities. • The level of perceived competence park and recreation professionals possess for including people with disabilities. • The professional development needed by park and recreation professionals for implementation of inclusive practices. This study examined the results of a needs assessment of Parks and Leisure Australia members and provides a list of recommendations for continuing education programs that will assist the park and recreation industry to break down existing barriers to inclusive practice. The results of this study will provide important opportunities for the enhancement of the professional development requirements of modern day park and recreation professionals and the promotion of the rights of people with disabilities and their families.

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Medical education must prepare doctors to be able to work with patients and communities as they face emerging challenges. Climate change has been described by leading authorities as the defining issue for public health during this century and the greatest of threats to health. Educational interventions are best devised with input from students as stakeholders. This project explored the attitudes of Australian medical students about the health impacts of climate change and the relevance of these issues to medical school curricula. The project also explored the implications of these student attitudes to curriculum planning from the perspective of medical educators. This study is a mixed methods design in three stages. This design was selected because in this new area of educational research, it enabled the exploration of beliefs and ideas for change from stakeholders; the assessment of how representative certain views were amongst the student population, and finally a study of the perceived implications of student opinion on future curriculum design. In Stage 1, 27 students from two universities were interviewed about climate change, and what methods of learning they would most engage with in exploring topics relating to climate change and health. In Stage 2, 283 students from four universities in three states of Australia (RR=8.7%) completed a questionnaire which was informed by issues raised by students in Stage 1. Students indicated support for climate change in the curriculum, but raised concerns about potential loss of other important curriculum content. Analyses showed that support for climate change issues in the curriculum was associated with female gender and with understanding climate change to be relevant to patient care. In Stage 3, fourteen medical educators were asked about their own views on climate change and how the findings from Stages 1 and 2 could influence medical curriculum planning. Climate change was seen as a politically-charged topic. The range of views which students bring to such discussion were seen to require sensitive and skilful management so as to ensure safe learning environments. Our findings indicate that the use of examples relating to climate change health impacts and environmental sustainability in the medical curriculum may be used to teach core knowledge and competencies for doctors, and to give an accurate understanding of the evolving determinants of health in a changing world.

Paramedicine is a relative newcomer to academia, with paramedic education programs existing in Australian universities since the turn of the century. As such, minimal research exists into the experience of paramedics in general. Gay and Lesbian people are an under researched minority group within the workplace, despite their high participation rates in employment. This research sets out to redress the gap in the literature by investigating the current workplace experience of Gay and Lesbian paramedics in Australia. Using a qualitative approach informed by a bricolage of critical theory and hermeneutic phenomenology, the experiences of inclusion and marginalisation of participants was explored. Experiences of the accounts of the hidden population of 10 Gay and Lesbian paramedic participants provide the first known account of the culture of the paramedic workplace in Australia from a non-heteronormative perspective. Participant experiences also give form to the impacts of practices that exclude and marginalise Gay and Lesbian people in the paramedics’ workplace.

The established Filipino and the newly emerging Karen/Karenni communities, although satisfied with their immigration journey, perceive forms and processes of closure in the socio-economic and cultural spheres of the Australian society. The resettlement of hundreds of Karen/Karennis into the regional City of Geelong, Victoria, coincides with rapid socio-economic changes and wide-ranging ramifications due to globalisation. Forms and processes of social closure coupled with the local resistance to the processes of globalisation are deployed by those who control, maintain, and dispense forms of power by ensuring that these ‘Third World-looking’ immigrants do not pose a threat to the competition of scarce desirable opportunities in the labour market. In what could be considered times of turbulence and uncertainties, this study examines the lived experiences of the established Filipino and the newly emerging Karen/Karenni communities in the Geelong region. It addresses issues of difference hounding members of these diasporic communities, their engagement with access and equity, and relative positioning within the social inclusion/exclusion arena. By employing the Weberian theory of social closure in exploring the lived settlement and resettlement experiences of two immigrant communities, I aim to investigate the contemporary situation of members of these communities in regards to their positioning in the labour market relative to their qualifications and social capital, and the way they are included and excluded in many spheres of the mainstream of the host society.

This is an historical investigation into the provision of education services for deaf children in the State of New South Wales in Australia since 1860. The main focus is those deaf children without additional disabilities who have been placed in mainstream classes, special classes for the deaf and special schools for the deaf. The study places this group at centre stage in order to better understand their educational situation in the late 1990s. The thesis has taken a chronological and thematic approach. The chapters are defined by significant events that impacted on the education of the deaf, such as the establishment of special schools in New South Wales, the rise of the oral movement, and aftermath of the rubella epidemic in Australia during the 1940s. Within each chapter, there is a core of key elements around which the analysis is based. These key elements tend to be based on institutions, players, and specific educational features, such as the mode of instruction or the curriculum. The study found general agreement that language acquisition was a fundamental prerequisite to academic achievement. Yet the available evidence suggests that educational programs for most deaf children in New South Wales have seldom focused on ensuring adequate language acquisition in conjunction with the introduction of academic subjects. As a result, language and literacy competencies of deaf students in general have frequently been acknowledged as being below those of five their hearing counterparts, to the point of presenting a barrier to successful post-secondary study. It is proposed that the reasons for the academic failings of the deaf are inherent in five themes.
PhD Doctorate

This is an historical investigation into the provision of education services for deaf children in the State of New South Wales in Australia since 1860. The main focus is those deaf children without additional disabilities who have been placed in mainstream classes, special classes for the deaf and special schools for the deaf. The study places this group at centre stage in order to better understand their educational situation in the late 1990s. The thesis has taken a chronological and thematic approach. The chapters are defined by significant events that impacted on the education of the deaf, such as the establishment of special schools in New South Wales, the rise of the oral movement, and aftermath of the rubella epidemic in Australia during the 1940s. Within each chapter, there is a core of key elements around which the analysis is based. These key elements tend to be based on institutions, players, and specific educational features, such as the mode of instruction or the curriculum. The study found general agreement that language acquisition was a fundamental prerequisite to academic achievement. Yet the available evidence suggests that educational programs for most deaf children in New South Wales have seldom focused on ensuring adequate language acquisition in conjunction with the introduction of academic subjects. As a result, language and literacy competencies of deaf students in general have frequently been acknowledged as being below those of five their hearing counterparts, to the point of presenting a barrier to successful post-secondary study. It is proposed that the reasons for the academic failings of the deaf are inherent in five themes.
PhD Doctorate