The research articles presented in this portfolio originate from questions and concerns about the organization, leadership and practices of government secondary schools in NSW. There are presently 395 high schools and 66 central schools providing secondary education in government schools (DET, 2004 Directory, p.55). Of these high schools, 98 are specialised in some way – selective, performing arts, sports, technology, senior and multi campus (Vinson, 2002, p. 126). Over one quarter of schools are now specialised in some way, leaving just under 300 comprehensive high schools. Of these, 30 are single sex. The Department of Education and Training in NSW now says that it does not offer a system of comprehensive high schools, but a comprehensive system of high schools (Vinson, 2002, p.127). The specific focus of the research is to examine how NSW government secondary schools came to be where they are today. Change in secondary schools from both the systemic and school level is examined. The issue of the selection of a school by parents and students is also considered. And finally, development of an initial learning culture in a new high school was also a focus for research / Doctor of Education (D. Ed.)

Magister Educationis - MEd / This research report investigated the impact of the decrease in numbers of learners at a working class high school in Cape Town. The decrease is a consequence of the early school leaving and learner migration. / South Africa

M. S.

M.S.

For several years teachers in the public schools have attempted to teach game conservation, but have been confronted with the problem of having available sufficient information on the subject. They have found an abundance of material which has been written in the field, but very little of it has been written in the language of the youth or the layman. This condition has seriously handicapped both teacher and pupil, resulting in fewer units being taught in the field of game conservation. It has been the intention of the author to prepare a volume that would meet the requirements of the high school boy and girl in supplying subject matter material in the field of game conservation. The thesis is divided into three parts, namely: (1) The interdependence of Living Things: (2) Practical Game Management; and (3) Natural and Life Histories of Game Species found in Virginia. The intention of Part I is to attempt to make the pupil realize the necessity and importance of conserving the natural resources, and to show how one form of life is dependent upon other forms. They must realize the necessity of man conforming to the plan of interdependence as set up by nature. Conservation of any of our natural resources must be by this plan or it is doomed. Much has been written on the subject of game management, but relatively little has been organized for use by the general public. It has been written for the technical experts and not in a language understandable by the average person. It has, therefore, been the intention of the author to take the most practical and usable information from the many sources and translate it into material for the average person. Suggested pupil activities were listed in most of the chapters of Part II. Two activities were analyzed in the chapter “Taking a Census of Game Populations” to give the teacher a guide to go by in developing other activities. It was the opinion, not only of the author, but of many consultants, that the content should not be procedure but should be confined mainly to subject matter. From this could evolve unit plans or job analysis suitable to the group with whom the teacher is working. Part III deals with a relatively complete and concise natural and life history description of game species found in Virginia. It will be found that much additional information may be procured from various sources for specific groups or species. The author has attempted to compile, sort, and simplify the material so that it may be in a readable form for the average practical conservationist. / Master of Science

This thesis is the report of an experiment carried on under the direction of Harry Huffman, Professor of Business Education at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, using material in Programmed Business Mathematics which was written by Dr. Huffman especially for post high school students and college freshmen. The programmed material used in the experiment consisted of the first 239 frames covering the basic fundamentals of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The main emphasis of the program is on building speed and accuracy in applying the skills and concepts related to these basic processes. The subjects of the experiment were eleven high school students from grades 9, 10, and 12, at Eastern Mennonite High School. The purpose of the experiment was to obtain these data: 1. What kind of errors do high school students make on the program? 2. What changes need to be made in the program to adapt it for use on the high school level? 3. Can the program be adjusted so that high school students can work through it with five percent or less of errors? The writer found that errors were grouped under these major headings and in this order: Lack of comprehension of concepts introduced, carelessness, and computational (errors of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division). The frames were revised three times during the experiment. Revision consisted of adding prompts of underlining or new words, rewriting frames, or constructing new frames. Two students went through the original frames: average errors, 6.56 percent. Three students worked with the first revision: average errors, 11.58 percent. Four students worked with the second revision: average errors, 3.13 percent. Two students worked with the third revision: average errors, 2.56. Although the error rate did not drop consistently, it did drop from a high of 11.58 percent on the second round of testing to 2.56 percent for the final round, a decrease of 9.02 in percent. Individual differences in I.Q., previous training, and the manner in which the student-editors worked undoubtedly account for part of the variation in error percentages. The results of the experiment show that it is possible for high school students to work on the fundamentals of business mathematics frames with an error limit of five percent or less. / Master of Science

The outline of lessons in animal production, as made in the following pages, was planned with two aims in view: first, to suggest a skeleton for a lesson in each phase of livestock which should be taught in Virginia; and second, to suggest to the agricultural instructors some of the best textbooks and bulletins which can be used to advantage in working out the daily lessons. / Master of Science

M.S.

En tant qu’instrument d’action publique, l’histoire de l’enseignement moral et civique français peut être observée comme un révélateur efficace de l’évolution subie par l’esprit du temps entre 1944 et 2014. Promu, dès l’immédiat après-guerre, par des néo-pédagogues investis d’une visée, à la fois républicaine et émancipatrice, l’enseignement moral et civique français fut convoqué, à la Libération, pour conjurer “la dégradation de la conscience morale”. Mis en valeur, voire, instrumentalisé par les promoteurs d’une idéologie émancipatrice, il ne fut pourtant pensé qu’en fonction des services qu’il pouvait rendre à une morale républicaine résolument unitariste. Tenu comme à ses débuts d’éveiller la conscience nationale chez l’enfant, il était alors concerné par l’obligation de refondre des liens abimés pendant l’occupation, mais aussi, plus tard, pendant la guerre d’Algérie. Dans un deuxième temps, en revanche, entre 1965 et 1984, le sort progressivement qui lui sera réservé devait bel et bien révéler l’avènement d’un nouvel homme, plus hédoniste, plus libre, plus vindicatif et, de fait, résolument plus individualiste. Malgré l’intervention d’intellectuels soucieux de le voir servir de garde-fou face aux excès de la postmodernité, cet enseignement sera d’ailleurs supprimé en 1977. L’État-éducateur constatant plus tard les méfaits d’un excès d’individualisme et finissant par prendre en compte la nature inédite d’enjeux contenus dans la gestion d’une France plus métissée qu’hier, finira alors par réagir et finalement symptomatiser une forme d’ambivalence française. C’est ainsi qu’à partir des années 1980, des hésitations constantes sur le rôle qu’il devait jouer dans la fabrication du vivre-ensemble sauront incarner l’obligation faite au politique de proposer un discours dépassant l’opposition classique entre individu et collectif. / As an instrument of public action, the history of french moral and civic education can be seen as an effective indicator of the evolution of the spirit of the time between 1944 and 2014. He was promoted, from the immediate post-war by neo-pedagogues with, both Republican and emancipatory points of view, this teaching has been convened in 1944 to ward off "the degradation of moral conscience". Highlighted, even manipulated by emancipation ideology promotors, it was observed through the services this could get to a decidedly unitary republican morality. Held like in its early to awake national consciousness in children, it was mainly concerned with the requirement to consolidate the links damaged during the occupation, but also later, during the war in Algeria. Secondly, however, the fate that will be gradually awaiting for it between 1965 and 1984 in particular was indeed to reveal the advent of a new man, more hedonistic, more free, more vindictive and, in fact, resolutely individualistic. Despite the intervention of intellectuals anxious to see it used as railing against the excesses of postmodernism, this course will also be abolished in 1977. The « educator-state » later noting the harm of excessive individualism and ending with taking into account the unique nature of the issues contained in the management of a France more mixed than it was, will finally react symptomatising a form of french ambivalence. Thus, in the 1980s, constant hesitations about the role of moral and civic education in « together-life spirit » production will embody the obligation for politics to provide discourses beyond the classical opposition between individual and collective.

Dès sa création, en 1909, l'enseignement spécialisé se situe entre l'application de règles collectives et la considération de situations particulières. Si ce secteur n'a pas d'existence juridique, il peut se définir par défaut, en opposition à l'enseignement général : il concerne toutes les structures et dispositifs où interviennent des enseignants spécialisés. Initialement, les classes spécialisées s'inscrivent dans une filiation sociale et médicale à l'origine d'un développement structurel hors de l'école. Ainsi, les enfants inadaptés relèvent davantage du champ médico-social. A partir des années 1960 et 1970, l'enseignement spécialisé et l'école se rapprochent du fait de réflexions sociologiques, de réformes institutionnelles et pédagogiques. Dans le même temps, les politiques d'intégration et d'insertion se développent : elles concernent l'échec scolaire, la relégation sociale et le handicap. Elles sont défendues par les associations de personnes handicapées qui s'appuieront ensuite sur les réflexions internationales et sur les normes européennes. En ce sens, la reconnaissance des besoins éducatifs particuliers des élèves participe, à ce jour, à la définition d'une société inclusive. Ce passage d'un secteur séparé de l'école sur le fondement d'observations scientifiques à une reconnaissance particulière et individuelle de chaque élève interroge les finalités de l'éducation. En considérant le double objectif de l'école qui prône la participation de tous au nom de l'acquisition d'une culture partagée et la promotion du mérite dans une optique d'orientation professionnelle, il convient d'étudier les raisons mêmes de cette reconnaissance et les conditions de sa mise en place. / Since its creation in 1909, special education has evolved between a strict respect of collective rules and adjustment to specific cases. Even if special education has no legal existence, it sets against the mainstream school system: it deals with all the organizations and tools used by specialist teachers. Originally, special education was built on a social and medical relation that generated its own development out of the school system. Consequently, misfit children got considered in a social medical framework. During the 60s and 70s, special education and school system got closer thanks to sociological thinking, changes in teaching and institutions. At this same period, politics in favor of integration and insertion developed: they dealt with students' failure, social relegation and disability. Disabled people associations promoted these politics that got support from the international thinking and European standards. Nowadays, acknowledgement of the students' specific education needs helps build an inclusive society. This evolution from a field apart from school, field based on scientific observation, towards an individual acknowledgement of each student raises challenges about the objectives of education. Considering the double objective of education that praises the involvement of each individual in the name of a common cultural sharing and promotion of merit to relevant professional students' course choices, it is worth investigating the reasons of this acknowledgement and its implementation.