Education Commons^™

Aliwa! A Reimagined Journey: A Stage Play And Exploring A Nyoongar Theatre Text With Pre-Service Teachers: An Exegesis, Elisa M. Williams

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Australia is home to one of the oldest continuous living cultures in the world. Now, more so than ever before, government and educational bodies are recognising the importance of integrating Indigenous cultures in education as a means of promoting intercultural understanding and improving educational outcomes for Indigenous students. The Australian Curriculum has advocated that Indigenous histories and cultures be embedded into every subject rather than taught separately. Drama is a curriculum area that provides many opportunities to integrate learning about Indigenous perspectives by exploring historically and culturally rich Indigenous theatre texts. Research is showing that non-Indigenous teachers are avoiding this …

Paying Attention To Water Relations: Poetic Inquiry And Pedagogical Documentation As Curious Practices, Claire O’Callaghan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This project explores climate pedagogies with particular interest in Western Australia’s current water crisis. Human and more-than-human relations are explored with young children and educators from an early learning centre in Perth, Western Australia, with a view to reimagining education in the context of rapid environmental change. The project is grounded in feminist new materialist knowledge and is framed by an attentive focus to amplify the non-binary nature of both human and more-than-human counterparts. The research focuses on challenging colonial ways of knowing water, by decentring the child, unsettling norms, and reinstating reciprocity between human and more-than-human others (Nxumalo & …

Perspectives On The Relationship Between Theatre And Education: A West Australian Case Study, Ceri Anne Nordling

Theses : Honours

Many professional theatre companies incorporate education departments within their organisational structure to develop education offerings for schools. Education within the context of professional theatre companies offers multiple capacity building benefits. Consequently, education departments clearly have a role in strategically shaping contemporary Australian theatre companies. (Edwards & Upton, 2014). Likewise, the well documented positive impacts of arts learning is recognised by the sector. This has prompted widespread drama-education advocacy from education and theatre industries respectively, as well as through the combined efforts of education and industry partnerships. However, this project argues that for partnerships to sustain relevancy and cross-sector support, researchers …

Multimodal Learning For Dyslexic Musicians: Practical Applications For Adults, Melissa Mikucki

Theses : Honours

Dyslexia affects 15 to 20% of the population according to the International Dyslexia Association. Multimodal media, such as smartphones and tablets, which are capable of presenting varied modes of information (for example, visual, aural, and kinetic), have been shown to aid learning in dyslexic children. Music has been identified as a useful multisensory tool to help educators improve literacy skills in children. However, little research has been done on the impact of dyslexia on a child or adult’s ability to learn and perform music. Few studies have been undertaken that focus solely on dyslexia’s effect on musical ability in children; …

Comparative Pairs Judgements For High-Stakes Practical Assessments, Hendrati Nastiti

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Assessment of practical tasks, as opposed to that of theoretical tasks, has been considered to be problematic, mainly because it is usually resource intensive and the scoring is subjective. Most practical tasks need to be assessed on site or involve products that need to be collected, stored, or transported. Moreover, because practical tasks are generally open-ended, and therefore subjective, there is concern over the reliability of the scores. In high-stakes assessment, these problems are even more challenging. There is a need for an assessment method that could overcome these problems. In this study, such a method that will be referred …

A Study On The Impact Of A Music Looping Technology Intervention Upon Pre-Service Generalist Teachers’ Self-Efficacy To Teach Music In Primary Schools, John Nathan Heyworth

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In Australia, in the current climate of economic rationalism in which there has been an increasing emphasis on literacy and numeracy, funding for specialised subjects like music has been reducing. As a result, generalist classroom teachers are being given more responsibility for delivering effective music education in primary schools. However, the time dedicated to training pre-service teachers in music education in tertiary institutions has diminished. Further, time constraints involved in building pre-service knowledge and skills in teaching music may impact many pre-service teachers’ beliefs about their ability to teach music.

Within these constraints, digital technology may provide a key to …

Creative River Journeys: Using Reflective Practice To Investigate Creative Practice-Led Research, Kylie J. Stevenson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This ‘Creative River Journey’ doctoral study explored the processes of art practice and knowledge-making by six artist–researchers engaged in creative higher degrees by research (HDR) at Edith Cowan University (ECU) in three arts disciplines—performing arts, visual arts, and creative writing. The study applied the Creative River Journey (CRJ) reflective practice strategy, originally applied as the River Journey tool in music education (Burnard, 2000; Kerchner, 2006), but further developed by the researcher into a three-phase reflective practice strategy for its application in complex practice-led research projects over the extended period of the participants’ HDR studies. Six rich cases studies of HDR …

The Concert Pianist Myth: Diversifying Undergraduate Piano Education In Australia, Helen Mather

Theses : Honours

As classically-trained pianists we are in the unique position among musicians of having many employment opportunities in performance areas. In an industry where so many talented musicians are struggling to find work, pianists are regularly being offered performing work. With opportunities to pursue careers in solo performance, chamber music, accompaniment, conducting, opera or ballet repetiteur work, and in many more related disciplines, pianists are arguably the musicians with the most opportunities to create a career involving performance. However, are pianists in tertiary institutions developing the skills that would enable them to work in the music industry? Upon entering a university …

Forget Me Not: An Exhibition –And– Creative Reuse: How Rescued Materials Transformed My A/R/Tographic Practice: An Exegesis, Susan Girak

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis, comprising of a written exegesis, solo exhibition and an artist book, emerged from research undertaken by an artist-researcher-teacher. For that reason, a/r/tography was the overarching methodology used, incorporating a bricolage of methods to address a multifaceted study undertaken in two settings: a primary school classroom and an artist’s studio. A/r/tography is a multilayered interdisciplinary Arts education research methodology that correlates well with my expertise as a primary Visual Arts specialist. The methodology allowed me to immerse myself in both teaching and the artmaking process, as ways of gaining a deeper understanding of Visual Arts pedagogy. The purpose of …

Teacher Understandings Of Responsibilities For Reading Instruction In Stage One And Two English Courses Of Study In Western Australian Schools, Liana Strutt

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

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 …

From Essay To Resumé : A Study Of Writing Genre And Discursive Positioning In Senior School English, Jennifer Shand

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In 2004, the Western Australian government signalled its intention to increase the school leaving age from 15 to 17 by 2008 (Carpenter, 2004). During the period from 2004 to 2006, increasing numbers of young Western Australians completed twelve years of secondary school. For English faculties in Western Australian schools, this resulted in a notably diverse cohort of students undertaking compulsory English studies in their final two years of school. The central aim of this thesis was to examine what it means to be a writer in senior school English. In doing so, the thesis investigated the construction of student writing …

Philosophy For Teenagers: Finding New Relevence In Old Concepts, Andrea Monteath

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In 2008, the Curriculum Council of Western Australia launched a formal curriculum of philosophy and ethics education for upper secondary students. This thesis is a writing project that provides a new teaching text in support of this course. The thesis is composed of two components, a creative project and an essay. The creative project is a work of non-fiction entitled, Philosophy for Teenagers: Finding New Relevance in Old Concepts, and has been researched and designed employing the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) Philosophy and Ethics course model. Philosophy for Teenagers aims to provide an innovative introduction to concepts such …

School Aged Children: Visual Perception And Reversal Recognition Of Letters And Numbers Separately And In Context, Janet E. Richmond

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Visual discrimination, spatial orientation, and recognition of letters and numbers in context are important issues in helping young students achieve good literacy and numeracy standards. Thus, measures of Visual Discrimination of Upper Case Letters (VDUCL), Visual Discrimination of Lower Case Letters (VDLCL), and Visual Discrimination of Numbers (VDN) as well as Spatial Orientation of Letter and Number Pairs (SOLNP), Form Constancy of Letters and Numbers (FCLNP), Letter and Number Sequencing (LNS), Figure Ground of Letters in Words FGLW) and Figure Ground Numbers in Calculations (FGNC) must be linear and uni-dimensional so that student weaknesses can be identified objectively. The Simple …

Everyday Philosophy, Andrea Monteath

Theses : Honours

My thesis is a work of creative non-fiction, in the form of an introductory, philosophy workbook. The workbook, tentatively named Everyday Philosophy, is intended to appeal to upper secondary students aged sixteen to seventeen, and contains a broad cross-section of information about the philosophy tradition. The workbook is loosely constructed around the new Western Australian Certificate of Education 'Philosophy and Ethics' curriculum, due to be launched in 2008. The aim of my thesis is to provide an introduction to Philosophy and Ethics that is thought-provoking yet easy to understand, employing examples, analogies and illustrations that are relevant and current …

Teachers' Implicit Theories Of Expression In Visual Arts Education: A Study Of Western Australian Teachers, Diana J. Brown

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study examines the differences in the beliefs of primary (elementary) class teachers about the role of expression in visual arts education. The focus is on the relationship between primary teachers implicit theories, and expression in their visual arts lessons. Expression here, refers to the manifestation of an individual students interests or views through visual images. Students' expression of their personal responses through visual images, is a central intended outcome of the visual arts curriculum in Western Australia (Curriculum Council, 1998).

The Lived Experience Of God And Its Evolution In Children And Adolescents, Anne P. Devenish

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Children's and adolescents' spirituality is important, especially to those entrusted with their education. To effectively nurture children's spirituality, parents, teachers, and ministers would benefit in knowing how young people experience God, what they think about God and how they relate to God: in effect, their lived experience of God. Learning about these phenomena could help greatly in communicating with children and adolescents about God. This study aims to build on the work of those who have investigated elements of the spirituality of children and adolescents in a qualitative way.

Cultural Hybridity And Visual Practice: Towards A Transformative-Repair Multicultural Pedagogy For Visual Arts Education, Kim Le

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research project examines how transitional multiculturalism, cultural hybridity and transformative-repair are practiced by a professional artist-researcher and novice artists. Transitional multiculturalism and cultural hybridity are examined through a series of artworks by a Vietnamese-born artist-researcher. This series of artwork, which reflects 35 years of creating art in both Vietnamese and Australia, demonstrate a personal engagement with issues of cultural diversity, upbringing, and related aesthetic studies. The intention of this exhibition is to chart the characteristics of the artist's expression, which is culturally hybridised. This part of the study aims to identify those artistic conventions associated with specific visual traditions …

The Good Language Class: Teacher Perceptions, Rosemary Senior

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This is a qualitative, descriptive study of group processes in classes of adult language learners, viewed from the perspective of practising teachers. The study has an internal narrative which takes the reader through the process of the research, from the initial question raised by a casual classroom conversation to the discussion chapter which questions a number of assumptions underlying current English language teaching practices within western educational contexts. The study falls into two distinct phases. The first phase uses the constant comparative method of data collection and analysis to integrate the perceptions of 28 experienced language teachers into the following …

The Arts As Strategy Or The Arts As Process? : A Comparison Of Two Learning Approaches In Religious Education In The Catholic Primary School, S. L. Desker

Theses : Honours

This study examined differences in understanding of Christian values between two groups of children experiencing two different learning approaches in religious education in the Catholic primary school. One learning approach used the arts as strategy. In it children expressed themselves discursively through worksheet activities: colouring in pre-designed pictures and completing written sentences, paragraphs or crossword puzzles. The other approach was learning through the arts as process. In this approach children expressed themselves non-discursively through their creative products: paintings, play dough modelling and construction scenarios. Each group comprised 30 subjects who were in Year 5, and whose ages ranged from 9 …