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Full-Text Articles in Education

School Staff Positions On P1 Composite Classes, Elizabeth Stamopoulos Jan 2001

School Staff Positions On P1 Composite Classes, Elizabeth Stamopoulos

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

As a result of a government strategic decision in 1995, a new formation (the PI class) has emerged in Western Australian primary schools and its implementation is now set to accelerate across the state. Unlike multi-age groupings, PI is constructed when there are insufficient numbers of children to run straight pre-primary classes. School staff responsible for developing PI classes have raised a number of concerns. For example, the basis on which PI curriculum is to be built has yet to be promulgated. Also, a formal process for dealing with the ideological differences with respect to pre-primary and primary education has …


Cognitive Apprenticeship In A Building Design Office, Craig A. Baird Jan 2001

Cognitive Apprenticeship In A Building Design Office, Craig A. Baird

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis presents a research study that investigated student learning in a mentor supported design office situation, using a cognitive apprenticeship learning approach that utilised authentic design project tusks. In this study, 29 final year Technical And Further Education (TAFE) building design students undertook authentic building design projects with expert building designers, who acted as mentors, in commercial design office situations. The mentors guided student learning by using a cognitive apprenticeship approach to learning, implemented with authentic design projects designed to replicate the everyday culture of practice activities typical of commercial design office operations. This study follows the progress of …


An Evaluation Of The Orientation Program For Newly Appointed Catholic Primary Principals, Samuel G. Fontaine Jan 2001

An Evaluation Of The Orientation Program For Newly Appointed Catholic Primary Principals, Samuel G. Fontaine

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

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.


Factors In The Development Of Early Childhood Distance Education Curriculum Materials For Language And Literacy In Western Australia, Elisabeth Turner Jan 2001

Factors In The Development Of Early Childhood Distance Education Curriculum Materials For Language And Literacy In Western Australia, Elisabeth Turner

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Many factors influence the changing nature of education: family structures, cultural diversity, rapid technological change, social conditions. In response to these changes the Curriculum Framework for Western Australian schools has been developed to establish the learning outcomes expected of all students from K-12. Students in isolated and distance education settings are supplied curriculum materials designed to meet their diverse educational needs. This study presents one snapshot of an ongoing research project in which new language and literacy curriculum materials for early childhood distance education learners were developed, trialled and further developed. Some factors that appear to be important in the …


Early Childhood Teachers' Perceptions Of Their Leadership Roles, Glenda Boyd Jan 2001

Early Childhood Teachers' Perceptions Of Their Leadership Roles, Glenda Boyd

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Early childhood education has long been regarded as having the lowest status in the education system. Recent government reforms in Australia based on financial rather than education concerns means early childhood education will continue to face declines in status, conditions and appropriate resources, unless educators exercise leadership skills in advocating for appropriate programs and curriculum for young children. A new model of Early Childhood Teacher Leadership was created to measure leadership skills, including leadership in advocating for young children, and tested in Phase One of the study. The model involved General Leadership (Classroom Leadership, Self-directed Leadership, Program Leadership and School …


A Socio-Historical Study Of The Construction Of Knowledge In Secondary Media Education In Western Australia - Whose Knowledge?, Robyn Quin Jan 2001

A Socio-Historical Study Of The Construction Of Knowledge In Secondary Media Education In Western Australia - Whose Knowledge?, Robyn Quin

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis investigates the history of the construction of knowledge in the school subject media studies using the Western Australian experience as the case for the study. It seeks to explain why the subject media studies looks and sounds the way it does today through the production of a genealogy of the subject. The problems addressed are first, why was this subject introduced into the curriculum in the 1970s. Secondly, how has the knowledge in the subject been defined and contested, how and why has it changed in the course of the subject’s history. Thirdly, which knowledge attains the status …


Teacher Perceptions Of Student Speech, Yvonne G. Haig Jan 2001

Teacher Perceptions Of Student Speech, Yvonne G. Haig

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Although language variation is widespread and natural,it is subject to judgement. Where a standard language has developed, other varieties tend to be judged against its "standards". While a number of overseas studies have found that this type of linguistic bias occurs in education and negatively impacts on dialect speakers, there has been little research in Australia. The research reported in this thesis investigates how teachers perceive the speech of school-aged students and whether the socio-economic status or level of schooling of the students influence these perceptions. Further, it examines the relationships between the teachers' background, the way they define Standard …


Early Childhood Teachers' Knowledge Of Children With Disabilities And Teaching Children With Disabilities, Pamela A. Kilgallon Jan 2001

Early Childhood Teachers' Knowledge Of Children With Disabilities And Teaching Children With Disabilities, Pamela A. Kilgallon

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Trends to integrate students with disabilities into general education schools, rely on early childhood teachers utilising their knowledge and skills to provide successful induction into the education system, and fully including students with disabilities in the teaching program. This study describes early childhood teachers' knowledge of children with disabilities, and the teaching of these children, through teachers recounting their sources of knowledge and experiences in teaching children with disabilities. This study was conducted in the northern metropolitan teaching districts of Perth, Western Australia. Using both quantitative and qualitative methodology, 22 early childhood teachers completed a survey involving open-ended questions, followed …


Factors Influencing Students Who Continue Or Discontinue Their Music Studies From Year 8 To Year 9: A Survey Of Selected Western Australian Secondary Schools, Wendy-Cara Frisina Jan 2001

Factors Influencing Students Who Continue Or Discontinue Their Music Studies From Year 8 To Year 9: A Survey Of Selected Western Australian Secondary Schools, Wendy-Cara Frisina

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

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 …


Girls Playing Netball : Factors Influencing Participation In Community Sport During A Transition Phase, Suzanne Sharp Jan 2001

Girls Playing Netball : Factors Influencing Participation In Community Sport During A Transition Phase, Suzanne Sharp

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study describes the influences on continued sporting participation in netball for a group of adolescent girls as they make the transition from primary to secondary school and between sub-junior and junior sporting structures. A qualitative research design using one to one and semi structured focus group interviews was applied. The research describes how these meanings and identities both influence decisions about ongoing sporting participation and are influenced by situations, events and people as the participants move from primary to secondary school. Individual and focus group interview and survey data, indicate that for this group of young adolescent girls a …