The Report of the Working Committee on College Proposals for the Australian Capital Territory (Campbell Report, 1972) led to far-reaching changes in senior secondary education. Hawker College, opened in 1976, is one of eight resulting government secondary colleges. The writer, a member of the Committee, has been Assistant Principal (Curriculum) at Hawker since its inception. This field study examines the dynamics, nature and achievements of curriculum change at Hawker, from the planning year in 1975, to 1980. Data includes student surveys and interviews; discussions with teachers, administrators and counsellors; college curriculum documents; and the writer's own observations. The Campbell Report's educational philosophy was eclectic, and "progressive". Strengths and weaknesses of the Working Committee's analyses and recommendations are assessed. Seven curriculum aims "clusters" are synthesized: four concerned with individual development, and three with the student as an effective, contributing member of society. ACT systemic strategies and structures fostered and sustained purposeful curriculum innovation, despite some problems and shortcomings. In the optimistic, idealistic climate of 1975, enthusiastic, pre-identified teachers planned Hawker's curriculum, often co-operating with staff of other colleges. Course writers' aims were highly congruent with those of the Campbell Committee. Teachers of some subjects used course models from overseas and interstate. Others developed ideas quite innovative for Australia as a whole, and sometimes without known precedent anywhere. Almost all the curriculum aims espoused by the Campbell Report are reflected in written or "unwritten" course aims. In content, a core of basic subjects are very similar to those offered for the NSW HSC. Others offer students either greater breadth or depth than does the NSW curriculum, or attend to the affective and psychomotor domains. Most teachers had modified their pedagogy, moving to a more progressive style. Hawker has had significant success in promoting students' individual 'development. It has been markedly less successful in preparing students to function within, and contribute to, society. The opening of ACT secondary colleges coincided with widespread social innovation and with changes in educational administration, funding, staffing structures and teacher education. All these created a favorable milieu for curriculum innovation. By the early 1980s, teacher weariness, some disillusionment, and social, political and administrative changes were apparent. These have slowed the rate of educational change and caused Hawker teachers to re-evaluate their aims, course content, and methods.

The context in which open space high schools were pioneered in the ACT is examined in the light of Basil Bernstein's (1971) theory of the reasons for changes in curricula and of the organisational conditions necessary for the changes which he considers to be taking place. The context which is examined is derived from analyses of the perspectives and views of the Australian Schools Commission, of the planners of the new design high schools in the ACT, of the Campbell Committee, which provided the rationale for the restructuring of the ACT secondary school system, and of the Principal and teachers of one of the original open space high schools in the ACT. From the analysis of the context of the establishment of a specific open space high school, "Windy Hill", a number of factors are seen to be significant in the process of educational change. In particular, it is claimed that any theoretical perspective on the reasons and conditions for educational change, if it is to have much influence on the change process, must take into account the perspectives of the practitioners in schools. It must also take into account the complexity of events which affect the process of educational change in systems and in schools. The relationship between imposed organisational structures and the curricular goals of schools is examined. It is claimed that changes to administrative structures must emerge from the existing aims of the system and the institution, rather than be imposed in order to effect curricular changes. Assumptions about the nature of educational change, made by the planners for the open space high schools in the ACT, are identified and related to the problems perceived by the Principal and teachers at "Windy Hill". From this analysis is derived a set of features of school settings which need to be considered when innovations in education are being contemplated. These features of the process of educational change are used to generate a number of recommendations which apply to the adoption and development of changes in education systems and schools.

Most health professionals are aware of the amazing diversity of the Australian population, which is made up of people from over 140 different countries. Of these, an increasing number have arrived as refugees under Australia's humanitarian resettlement program. Research indicates that at least 30% of the 12,000 or so people arriving in Australia under the humanitarian assistance programmes each year have been exposed to physical and emotional torture and trauma. They also have well documented health deficits relating to the health standards in their countries of origin, the level of deprivation experienced prior to arrival in Australia, and the time they have spent in transit before arriving in Australia. The purpose of this study was to review the health status of refugees from the former Yugoslavia, and to identify the perceived needs of this group, which represents one of Canberra's largest communities of recently arrived refugees. Utilising both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, findings showed that the cohort had significantly lower levels of both physical and mental health than the wider ACT and Australian population. The difficulties of socialisation of the refugees into the Australian lifestyle are highlighted. In particular, findings from the study have demonstrated the lack of appropriate information given to some refugees on arrival, and the struggles experienced by most of the group with learning a new language, and coping with unemployment and inadequate housing. The problem of covert political harassment in Canberra was also described during the interview process. Recommendations for improving the situation for these refugees were that information for refugees prior to, and following arrival in Australia needs to be consistent and readily available, and there needs to be provision of a formalised support system from the time of arrival, including a review of language facilities. The study also recommended that culturally sensitive health promotion and treatment programs should be incorporated into current health service provision. Nurses are identified as the appropriate health providers to take a leading role in developing such programs for refugees, although findings from this study indicate that current nurse education programs need to place more emphasis on a transcultural framework for the provision of care.

This Report examines the history of the planning of Canberra with emphasis on the systems devised for determining land use, development control and public participation. Part One covers the periods during which various authorities and Departments have been responsible for planning and development. The long term effect of autocratic attitudes of the early planners and the subordinate position of the employee/tenant/lessee on the ordinary rights of the community to participate in planning is considered. The single minded objective of creating a monumental city, the determination to preserve at all costs what each generation of planners regarded as the original plan, the overriding concern with physical planning and construction, and the determination of the bureacracy not to share power or responsibility is noted. Part Two examines those places in Australia and elsewhere which have developed democratically and have devised systems to make planning responsible to the community. A number of common characteristics are noted. The limitations on the extent of public participation is acknowledged. Part Three examines a statutory planning system for the ACT. The conclusion is reached that the existing system, relying as it does on antique NSW laws adapted fifty years ago when the town was in its infancy are totally inadequate for a medium size city. The existing legislation is particularly defective in providing for the town planning process and development control needs of the Territory. The deficiencies of the latest planning review are noted, and although the retention of the existing planning authority is supported, its compulsory democratisation through a Planning Act providing statutory requirments for plan making and public participation, is advocated.

This study deals with the writing of senior students in the subject English from two ACT secondary colleges. Whilst the written work analysed is from students enrolled in courses accredited for tertiary entrance, the ACT'S high retention rate and students' tendency to avoid 'non-tertiary' courses, ensures that the scripts analysed are wide-ranging. Broadly, this study rests on the theoretical approach to language and learning that came out of Dartmouth: that which is associated with James Britton. Its focus is twofold. In Volume I it presents a heuristic, describing its development and discussing the thinking, and learning students appear to do - and the writing they do - as a result of using it. The heuristic is called 'streaming' by the students who use it and is based on Vygotsky's notion of 'Inner Speech'. A key phrase that expresses a powerful or rich idea about the subject being studied is used as a starting point for student thinking. Students explore the layers of cognitive and affective meaning encapsulated in the idea, and perhaps extend the idea, in writing. The writing is very rough, and an act of thought whereby the meaning of the phrase is accommodated, rather than a communication to others. Students are asked NOT to think prior to setting pen to paper, but to let their writing 'bring their thought out of the shadows' by giving words to it. This avoids superficial or cliched response because the process of 'thinking out loud in writing' allows an interplay of cognitive and affective meaning that seems to lead students in to abstract thinking, generally by way of poetic abstraction. The 'streaming' that students do becomes the basis for further discussion or writing in a variety of forms. Volume II is given over to an explication, and use, of Graham Little's development and refinement of an analytical model for investigating language use. Based on the variables of situation, function and form, it enables the empirical analysis of 237 examples of writing from students who had used the heuristic presented in Volume I. The analysis indicates that students who use the heuristic write differently from students who do not. Their writing shows a wide range of function and form and achieves unusually high levels of abstraction. The thinking and writing that students do when using the heuristic is usually realised poetically and used as a basis for further writing. The range within the student writing indicates a high degree of language competence whereby students are able to write in different forms. Little's analytical model is a simple and powerful means of quantifying elements of school language in order to make qualitative judgements that are sensitive to the complex and holistic nature of language development and use.

This study commences with the assumption that action can be taken to lessen the disruption to the mathematical progress of Year 11 students in the Australian Capital Territory senior secondary colleges. If students are to perform their best in mathematics they need their transition from high school to college to be as smooth as possible. Nevertheless, many students change their mathematics enrolment soon after commencing college. The study relies particularly upon The Theory of Reasoned Action to determine whether students have the intention both before and during the transition of performing well in mathematics at college. Although this measure provides a predictor of the intention, it does not necessarily follow that the conditions allow the student to comply with the prediction. Statistical instruments were also used - to determine whether students initially enrol in appropriate courses and whether they perform as well in their first semester at college as in Year 10. A small sample of students was interviewed to elicit whether there was supporting evidence for some conclusions drawn from the results and the literature survey. Analyses of the predictor of intention indicate that during the transition period a very high proportion of students intends to perform well in mathematics at college. Analysis of the components of the measure pinpoints some small differences between high schools. The statistical analyses show that a significant proportion of students completes Semester 1 in mathematics courses other than those of initial enrolment and that performance by the Year 11 students correlates well with Year 10 performance. Discussion centres around actions of intervention and their focus. Parents and guardians are possible recipients of further information since the evidence suggests they are the most influential advisers in the lives of this age group. College teachers are possibly the best current providers of that information, although, high school teachers and careers advisers could take a more prominent role following appropriate training. Recommendations are made concerning the enrolment procedure and the beginning of Year 11 routine. Other conclusions and recommendations concern action by classroom teachers that could ensure more students succeed in the course of initial enrolment, whether they are in the course most suited to their previous performance or are attempting a more difficult course.

The dissertation presents the argument that the formal training of a professional social worker is relevant but not equivalent to the training needs of a professional manager in the social work field. Social work professionals as managers do not, without management training, have the same credibility and/or skills as professional managers of social work. Within the general topic of welfare, research is first directed to the Australian welfare experience in its historic sense. Selecting relevant philosophical and ideological frameworks the writer a) critically explores traditional and contemporary theories, with special reference being made to bureaucracy, organization, and management; b) investigates theories and practices of social workers and social work managers to ascertain their relevance to contemporary Australian society, using the A.C.T. Family Services Branch as an example of a social welfare agency. This assists in explaining the context, functions and obligations of a welfare agency, as it responds to the needs of the community and of the staff it employs.

This field study attempts to analyse the development of an integrated humanities programme at a recently built open space high school in the A.C.T. during the first three years of its existence. The school opened shortly after the beginning of the A.C.T. Educational System and the staff were imbued with the idealism and innovative climate that prevailed at this time. There was an absence of system constraint that co-incided with the political proclamation of school based curriculum development. This field study is the story of what can happen when a staff is plunged into the deep end of innovation without the necessary support systems. Nevertheless some of the innovations have stabilised, with some promise of permanency, during these first three years. Open View began with a radical curriculum from the beginning: i) a child centred curriculum ii) vertically integrated teaching groups iii) non-streaming of students iv) open access curriculum v) an individualised teaching programme vi) little traditional class group teaching vii) staff participation in decision making viii) a mini-school structure based on a strong pastoral system ix) non competitive continuous assessment x) a large degree of subject integration All of these innovations can be viewed in the humanities programme. A controversial programme such as humanities has had a radical effect upon the rest of the school. Hence in tracing the development of the humanities programme, the field study indirectly traces the development of the total school. The innovation that has particular relevance to educationalists is the development of the mini-school structure and the combination of the pastoral and the academic through the teaching teams of the minischools. The principal theme of this field study is the effect that the mini-school and subject integration has had on traditional roles such as that of the subject seniors and the assistant principals.

This study attempted to investigate the self-esteem of high school teachers in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Its purpose was to measure the self-esteem of high school teachers in the ACT, identify perceptions of life-stage factors that might contribute to teachers' self-esteem and to identify teachers' perceptions of job-related factors that contribute to their self-esteem. The sample consisted of 219 teachers (94 male, 124 female, one of unidentified sex) in 12 of the 17 high schools in the ACT. A questionnaire based on that used by Swafford Jolley (1985) was used. It consisted of 4 parts - Part 1 demographic data, Part 2a Barksdale Self-Esteem Index No. 69, Part 2b Life-stage Characteristics, Part 3 Job-related characteristics, Part 4 - three related questions for open responses. Data were analysed using the SPSSX data recording and analysis system (Norusis 1983). Means and differences between means were computed to establish discrepancies. Pearson product moment correlations were employed. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to isolate the best predictors of self-esteem from among the 34 work-related factors. A rank discrepancy index of affect on self-esteem was also computed. Findings show that eighty per cent of the teachers may be hindered by low self-esteem. There is no difference between male and female average age (39) nor between the male and female average self-esteem index (62.2). Younger teachers were found to be just as likely to have low self-esteem as older teachers. The factors which most affect teacher self-esteem and which are closest to the ideal were found to be feelings of competency as a teacher, pride in one's work, establishment of specific personal goals and the opportunity to determine one's own teaching methods. The factors with the greatest discrepancies were found to be the opportunity to advance professionally, positive representation by the media and prestige of the teaching profession. It was concluded that in no one area are the self-esteem needs of high school teachers in the Australian Capital Territory being adequately met. Responsibility lies with the individuals themselves and with the ACT Schools Authority to work out joint ways of enhancing teacher self-esteem and development. It is argued that this cannot be left to chance by the organisation but must be planned for as a matter of urgency. Recognition of the individual is seen as the key in any such planning but organisational objectives also need to be considered.

This study investigated whether the conditions in which the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory was administered had any effect on subjects' scores on the Inventory. The study also examined normative and reliability scores in the ACT, the effect of various demographic variables and the relationship between happiness scores and self-esteem. The Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory was administered to groups of year seven students from a Canberra high school under two different conditions: friendly and impartial. After five weeks the Inventory was readministered to rearranged groups under the different conditions. No significant differences were found in the scores from the students in the different conditions. No significant differences were found on an indication of student happiness under each condition. A normative value was calculated combining scores from the first testing sessions and a test-retest reliability correlation calculated from combined scores from the first and second testing sessions. The validity of the lie scale and the use of the Inventory in Australia are discussed. With a few reservations it appears that the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory measures a relatively stable trait and is a reliable measure of overall self-esteem. A summary of recent literature using the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory is included. Mean self-esteem scores on the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory were compared with students grouped by sex, socio-economic status, birth order, whether they came from a single parent family or whether their mother worked. Significant differences were found with SES and birth order but recent literature shows that these variables are often interrelated and results may be instrument dependent. New self-concept tests (based on a sound theoretical framework) are being developed which acknowledge the multidimensionality of self-concept and appear more able to detect variation in facets of self-concept.