This study examines the development and consequences of a crisis in a government primary school in the Australian Capital Territory. The A.C.T. system is founded upon participation in policy development at the school level - problems when they arise are usually resolved at the local level. A challenge to the school's policy is described, as is the reaction of the Board. The consequences flowing from the mechanism used to resolve the conflict are discussed in terms of the particular school and the system generally. The tensions inherent in a participatory approach to policy development at the school level are examined. The constructive as well as destructive elements are discussed.

Since its inception the A.C.T. Schools Authority has implemented a number of changes in attempts to meet its aim to provide high quality programmes for children. In the case of enrolment policy the decision to change to continuous enrolment was made in many schools less on educational grounds than as a result of economic and political pressures. However, any policy which has an impact on children's learning in schools must be examined in the light of its educational implications. This study attempts to do this. It attempts to assess the policy on educational grounds with a particular focus on the programmes offered to individual children and the day to day problems encountered by teachers who attempt to implement the policy.

In 1980 Jackson and Knowles presented a paper at the Australian Group for the Study of Mental Deficiency [A.G.S.O.M.D.] conference in Launceston, Tasmania. The paper, titled "Primary School Children's Perceptions and Understandings of Mental Retardation", reported in detail responses on twenty questions from the sixty-three item questionnaire instrument used in their study. These twenty questions reflected stereotyped responses of an alarming nature. If these responses were a reflection of how Australian children generally thought, then integration of the intellectually handicapped child into mainstream classes would be counter productive. The current study was initiated to help assess the attitudes of Australian Capital Territory children to the Intellectually Handicapped. The twenty significant questions from the Tasmanian study were formed into a questionnaire and administered to 769 children in Years 3 and 6 from six Government and two Catholic schools in the Australian Capital Territory. In most cases the results were in direct contrast to those obtained in Tasmania. At first glance this meant that the attitudes of Australian Capital Territory children towards the Intellectually Handicapped were much less stereotyped than those of Tasmanian children. Further investigation, however, led to the discovery that the results from the Tasmanian study were spurious. The date had not been accurately computerized, giving a result that was probably the reverse of what Tasmanian children actually thought. Four supplementary hypotheses, comparing the responses of Years 3 and 6 girls and boys, Government and Private schools, exposed and unexposed schools, were tested. The analysis of the data for these hypotheses supported, to some degree, past findings that older children and girls have less stereotyped attitudes towards the Intellectually Handicapped than younger children and boys. The responses of Government schools versus Private schools were varied. Three of the five significantly different responses indicated a less stereotyped view was held by Government school children, while two of these significant questions indicated a less stereotyped view was held by Private school children. With regard to exposed and unexposed schools, the two significantly different responses indicated less stereotyped views were held by the nonexposed children. Future directions are indicated in the sections dealing with Limitations and Future Directions.

This study examines the articulated vision of a new Catholic primary school in order to describe and assess its developing organisational culture. The following questions provide the major focus of the study: I How and to what extent does the Vision Statement describe the developing Catholic school culture at St Clare of Assisi Primary School? 2. What are the common beliefs and values underlying the Vision Statement at St Clare of Assisi Primary School? A review of the literature reveals that many educational researchers stress the importance of schools developing a strong, coordinated, cohesive and positive culture. The need for this culture to be based on a clearly articulated vision, embodying shared values and beliefs is also indicated and this provides the rationale for the study. A number of frameworks for school culture are examined and adapted to develop a conceptual framework for the study. The resulting Model for Developing Catholic School Culture provides a structure which enables collected data to be sorted and analysed, so that the research questions can be addressed. This study utilises the methodology of ethnographic research. Data collection strategies include participant observation, interviews, surveys, and other sources including school records and documents, photographs, artefacts and memorabilia. The findings are organised under five headings, each of which represents a belief articulated in the school's Vision Statement. These beliefs are examined to see how they are enacted verbally, visually and behaviourally by the school community Conclusions are drawn as to the relevance of the Vision Statement to the school community Other significant values and beliefs evident from an examination of the data are also identified The study concludes that the Vision Statement effectively describes the developing culture of the school for there is congruence between its beliefs and actions. What emerges of particular significance from this study is the importance of a school community articulating a shared vision. A school's Vision Statement serves a dual purpose It is the filter which allows the shared beliefs and values of the school community to be articulated, while at the same time serving as a scaffold for checking if these shared beliefs and values are being enacted by the community.

The study attempts to investigate discipline policies and practices in primary schools since the abolition of corporal punishment. The purposes of the study were to find out who is involved in the formulation of a policy; how this procedure takes place from the initial stages to fruition; the contents of a completed policy document and to canvass opinions of teachers and students about their school policy. Information was obtained from twenty-two completed questionnaires received from public primary schools in the Belconnen region of the ACT and a more detailed case study of three of these schools. A search of the literature revealed a number of key elements of a whole school discipline policy. These included: formulation of policy; recognition of appropriate student behaviour; rules and consequences; policy procedures; responsibility for policy implementation; the abolition of corporal punishment. The study showed that there is a growing awareness of the democratic decision-making process within classrooms and that schools are producing comprehensive discipline policies, many of which are now more accurately titled 'Management of Student Behaviour'. Schools are encouraging appropriate behaviour from the students, endeavouring to develop student self-discipline and self-esteem, and are using agreed logical consequences when rule violations occur. The case study concludes with comments on the ACT Schools Authority Discussion Paper 'Policy and Procedures for the Management of Student Behaviour in ACT Public Schools' issued during 1988.

This study examined the efficacy of a multimodal intervention with conduct disordered boys in the middle primary years. The intervention consisted of a behavioural classroom program; a small group, social skills program; and a behavioural parenting program Resource implications of this model were also evaluated. A review of the current literature on conduct disorders showed that these children account for less than 5% of the population, but they have a strong impact on families, teachers, peers, schools and the wider community. About 50% of children with severe, early behavioural problems will continue with these problems, not only throughout their adult lives, but into the next generation. Early intervention appears to offer our best hope of altering this trajectory. Interventions with this population have been largely unsuccessful. At the present time the most promising intervention is behavioural parent training programs. Combining these with child focused social skills programs, and behavioural programs in the school setting, increases their efficacy. This study used a single subject experimental design to examine the effects of this program on four boys with behavioural difficulties. Continuous measures were taken with parent, and teacher daily record charts, and classroom observations. Pre, post and followup measures were taken with the Child Behaviour Checklist. The results of the study were mixed. Some subjects, according to some respondents, improved in home and school behaviours. All three subjects, for whom there was followup data, had improved. The classroom, and parenting programs appeared to be associated with positive changes in child behaviour, the small group was associated with more disruptive behaviour at school.

This study sets out to analyse the teaching skills of an effective Australian teacher of French in a primary school in Canberra. Chapter One provides an overview of the primary education in Singapore with particular emphasis on the language policies. The purpose and scope of the study and the approach used in carrying out the study are also described in this chapter. Chapters Two to Six present descriptive features of the teacher's teaching approach. Clarity in her goals and instructions to her Year 3 and Year 5 classes were analysed through extracts of the classroom discourse. The way the teacher provided encouragement and feedback on errors to her Year 3 class were also described. The variation in the pace of her speech in relation to the activities and the adjustments made when she posed questions according to the language proficiency of the pupils, also form part of the data analysed. In Chapter Eight, conclusions were made of the possibility of transferring the teaching approaches to the teaching of English as a second language in primary schools in Singapore by comparing the French program described in Chapter Seven with the primary education system in Singapore. The study concludes with an overview of the areas that need further research and study.

This study researched two major aspects of the primary school principalship in the Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory viz., (1) How current trends in educational governance have affected the role of the principal, and (2) Assessment and selection procedures used for promotion to the principalship in the present educational environment. The context of the study has been outlined by presenting a brief historical and organisational overview of public education in both Territories, along with an examination of the literature on recent trends and issues in educational governance and promotion procedures. The research methodology used to examine the questions posed in this study is qualitative or descriptive in nature. The data was collected through the use of a semistructured interview technique and represents the ideas, opinions and perceptions of a specially targeted group of principals and aspiring principals from both education systems. The findings demonstrated that many aspects of the role of the primary principalship in the N.T. and A.C.T. are changing, due to a new set of values in educational policymaking and increased political control. There was a high degree of similarity between respondents in each Territory in regard to how the role is being reshaped. It was also found that the level of support provided by both systems to assist principals in coping with the changes has been inadequate and that the changes have led to a degree of conflict and new job-related pressures for most primary school principals. It was concluded that assessment and selection procedures should be rigorous and demanding, commensurate with the significance of the position. In this regard both educational systems need to improve present procedures by addressing perceived weaknesses. To this end assessment centres may have a role to play. Finally, further implications of the conclusions are addressed in terms of the necessity for thorough preparation and training of aspirants to the principalship to enhance their chance of selection and help them cope with the new expectations and demands of the position. This responsibility should be shared between the aspirant, professional associations and the employing education department.

This field study examines the changes in primary schooling in New South Wales from 1904 to 1922 in an attempt to provide an historical perspective on contemporary schooling. Two distinct phases are identified. The first of these is a settlement (1904-1916) dominated by the eclectic concerns of the New Education movement. It is argued that this settlement was a fragile arrangement held together by the rhetoric of prominent educationists but that it did not operate effectively at the classroom level. The contradictions inherent in it, and the bureaucratic resistance to which it was subjected, as well as the practical difficulties faced by teachers, meant that the settlement disintegrated into crisis when teachers' frustrations were further aggravated by the effects of the Public Instruction (Amendment) Act of 1916 and popular perceptions of declining standards. The hardships caused by the First World War heightened the difficulties under which teachers were expected to work, adding to the turmoil. The crisis which began in 1916 and continued until Peter Board resigned, was characterized by a preoccupation with retardation and a growing interest in intelligence and achievement testing. The third and final chapter examines the wider social, economic and political concerns of the period and explores the connection between events in society and those in the schools.

This research reports on the factors that a sample of teachers in a rural Primary and Secondary School perceive as being influential on the initiation and implementation of a curricular innovation. The innovation herein is the creation of a Gifted and Talented Programme to cater for identified students in this school, an area of current interest amongst educators and researchers in New South Wales and Australia. A methodology is outlined for the collection and interpretation of data on the factors involved, that may be employed by coordinators and researchers interested in curricular provision for Gifted and Talented children. In this case study school, it was found that the factors were many and varied, that they differed in their supportive or inhibitive nature in the Primary and Secondary Schools. These findings provided a foundation for subsequent planning in the initiation stages of the implementation of this innovation. This research had important implications for this School that may be of interest for future research in other schools.