While the close investigation of teachers’ classroom practice received considerable attention in the 1960s and 1970s, fine-grained observational studies of classrooms have progressively disappeared from the research landscape. Research in recent decades has tended to have a restricted focus of attention, concentrating on the objective measurement of ‘effective’ teaching to identify forms of classroom practice that can raise educational standards. This research agenda has been increasingly critiqued for oversimplifying the complex nature of classroom life, but capturing a more complete picture presents a number of challenges. There is a need for researchers to provide a fine-grained account of teachers’ practices in the classroom while giving a sense of the purposes framing these actions together with an alertness to salient contextual influences. The study presented in this thesis set out to engage with all these challenges and provide a ‘fresh’ interpretation of teachers’ day-to-day practices in comparison to many past studies. Given the intent to capture both teachers’ practices and how they framed these actions, Robin Alexander’s definition of ‘pedagogy’, which highlights the need for researchers to adopt a ‘bigger picture’ perspective, was an appropriate heuristic guide for this study. Six teachers of physical education working in different secondary school contexts participated in this study and a key concern in sampling was the desire to recruit highly competent practitioners. A pilot study and conversations with a number of key informants ensured the participants chosen were highly skilled teachers. This study was conducted in two inter-related phases. The first phase of the research involved tracking these teachers in their school context and 88 lesson observations were conducted to view them ‘in action’ with classes. The second phase involved conducting a semi-structured interview with each teacher to explore the insights gained about their practice during the observation phase of the research. A theoretical framework – featuring five framing categories and a ‘teacher-pupil power dynamic’ element – was constructed to encapsulate the main findings from the observation and interview research. The five framing categories represent the patterns of classroom interaction identified in this study, i.e.: teacher-directed, teacher-guided, pupil-led, pupil-initiated, and teacher-pupil negotiated practice. There was a degree of variation in all the participant teachers’ practices that were observed in this study, contrasting markedly with research in the physical education literature reporting an over-use of ‘direct’ teaching. The ‘teacher-pupil power dynamic’ derived from observation and interview work and is composed of two related dimensions. The first dimension captures the ‘fine-tuned’, ‘negotiated’ and ‘responsive’ nature of these teachers’ practices and highlights how teachers and pupils simultaneously shape classroom events. The second dimension encapsulates the core factors – respect, familiarity, time, and context – shaping teacher-pupil relationships and the decisions made about classroom practice. The thesis sets out how the teachers in this study carefully enacted a repertoire of teaching approaches by: ‘fine-tuning’ practice in advance of lessons taking place; ‘responding’ to situations in the immediate act of teaching; ‘negotiating’ the learning intentions for lessons with the pupils; and making judgements about practice against the changeable nature of teacher-pupil relationships. These insights contribute to the education and physical education literature by presenting a dynamic picture of classroom life and suggest that a more responsive, interactive form of teaching was displayed by these teachers than is revealed in the majority of past research studies. The central insights gained from this study contribute to research on pedagogy by providing a close analysis of the micro-interactions that take place in school classrooms and the influences shaping these interactions. A related and equally important contribution to pedagogy emerged from the sustained period spent observing these teachers, which developed a deep understanding of their teaching actions over time and across different physical activities and stages of schooling. The teachers in this study both responded to, and shaped, the dynamics of the classroom; and the interactive forms of teaching that they displayed are not adequately captured in existing definitions of pedagogy. Accordingly the thesis presents an expanded version of Alexander’s definition of pedagogy that foregrounds the dynamic nature of teacher-pupil relationships.

This problem is to construct a set of cumulative record cards for use in the elementary and secondary schools of Utah. In order to realize the above purpose it will be necessary to (1) make forms for the systematic recording of the data and (2) provide for standardizing methods of collecting these data.

This study investigates key factors contributing to literacy development of underachieving readers in a junior secondary school. Two intervention programs designed to enhance the reading skills of eight underachieving readers in a junior secondary school were used. These eight individuals, of normal intelligence, had in common a history of reading difficulties. In the first of these programs eight students participated in a one-on-one reading intervention program using an adaptation of the program Making A Difference (Ministry of Education and Training, Victoria, 1992). In the second program four students from the above-mentioned cohort participated in a one-to-four intervention program involving the use of a Meta Language Awareness Program involving, among other things, Reciprocal Teaching (Palinscar and Brown 1985) procedures. The underlying premise to this study is that underachieving readers are characteristically non-strategic and that through two explicit methods of instruction used they can improve their reading. A key to helping the participants break the cycle of failure in reading is to help them make the connection between effort in the use of particular reading strategies and success in the reading process. This study reveals that struggling adolescent readers have many reasons for their difficulties with reading and require different approaches to the process of reading. However, with teacher persistence in appropriate conditions, and tailoring reading experiences to meet student needs, such individuals can become successful, engaged readers who enjoy reading. A detailed analysis of one case, ‘Sarah,’ is presented since “it can provide insight into the class of events from which the case has been drawn” (Burns, 1995, p. 320). Evidence measured in tests and anecdotal records illustrate general findings about Sarah and the other seven participants. Themes related to the participants’ ultimate success in reading are elaborated in this thesis, not because they are thought to be unique but because they will most likely be recognisable to other teachers of struggling adolescent readers.

This case study research explores the experiences of five beginning teachers within four Catholic secondary schools in Australia. The research employs a qualitative approach framed within an interpretative paradigm, drawing on perspectives of symbolic interaction to interpret interview and journal data. These perspectives are used, in conjunction with a conceptual framework derived from the relevant literature, to interpret the experiences of five new teachers against the relevant data. The literature typically investigates the stages of teacher development, where the first year is often seen by researchers as a survival year. Key literature themes include the development of self image and the impact school culture has on beginning teachers. There are two other features less often present in the literature but central in this research. One is the life history of the beginning teacher. A second, which is the major notion employed in this study, is that of professional identity and specifically how identity develops once the novice teacher is immersed within the school organisation. Each teacher was interviewed several times during their first year and each kept a journal. The discussion includes matters of comparison and contrast between the five teachers’ experiences. The symbolic interactionist framework seeks to identify the meanings individuals construct of their experiences. These meanings are located from the journal and interview data gathered. Each text is examined both independently, in relation to other texts and in the light of the conceptual framework. A key procedure is to identify critical events which are then analysed and connections made to the experience of other teachers and literature themes. The key findings of the research include developing a new model for understanding the experience of beginning teachers. The research suggests that the current literature on beginning teachers is limited. It neglects beginning teacher individuality and in particular agency and competency and centrally the dynamic and complex interaction between culture and identity. This research seeks to add significantly to the beginning teacher literature.

This research was concerned with the phenomenon of problematic school-related absenteeism (PSRA) within the Victorian secondary school system with particular reference to middle schooling. The study investigated categories of PSRA, identified major risk factors associated with PSRA, and outlined outcomes relevant to selected school-based strategies employed in the management and minimisation of PSRA. A review of literature was undertaken that identified a number of major categories and risk factors that were associated with PSRA. Subsequently, a conceptual framework was developed. It was the conceptual framework underpinned by the research questions that guided the research design and the collection and analysis of data. Five research questions underpinned this research. The primary research question was:

Twenty first century Lutheran secondary schools operate in a complex and demanding social, historical and theological environment. Leadership needs to be conceptualized in a manner which is appropriate for a fluid, dynamic learning community. Contemporary thinking about school leadership explores concepts such as teacher leadership, shared and distributed leadership. Successful school leadership is also perceived to impact positively on student educational outcomes. The leadership of the deputy principal in many school sectors has traditionally been structured on the basis of a bureaucratic, hierarchical model. Such models are increasingly perceived as unhelpful in the school context, yet in response, little has changed for deputy principals. The purpose of the current study was to consider the situation in Lutheran secondary schools. It explored the understandings about leadership embedded in the current role of the deputy principals. This was achieved by comparison of the participants’ perceptions with historical leadership narratives. The key finding of this research is that in Lutheran schools, the leadership role of the deputy is often not as fully developed as would be appropriate in the existing climate, where schools and principals are expected to provide ever expanding services and fulfil multiple purposes. In many schools, the leadership role of the deputy does not provide sufficient training for succession to the principalship. Deputy principals are seen to focus on activity which supports educational leadership, but leaves them on the fringe of it. Deputies are often not involved in major teaching and learning strategic planning, vision and change management. This hinders their preparation for a future role as principal, but also deprives the school of a potentially significant source of leadership activity. Deputy principals are seen to model the Christian ethos of the school through the way they interact with staff and students and their involvement in the devotional life of the school. However, in-depth involvement in ongoing dialogue about Lutheran identity and the church in the school is usually dependent on the interest and passion of the individual deputies, not inherently demanded by the role. There is also a limited understanding of servant leadership influencing the practice of deputy principals in the schools. In order to maximise the effectiveness of the leadership role of the deputy principals in Lutheran secondary schools, it would be timely to draw together key doctrinal statements, leadership theory and Luther’s reflections on vocation, into a cohesive and practical understanding of leadership. This could form the basis for further development of distributed leadership in Lutheran secondary schools and help to ensure that they continue to successfully meet the needs of their communities.

The theory and practice of Catholic schooling, particularly with respect to religious education, have the purpose of promoting the spiritual and moral development of young people. This includes a special emphasis on acquainting them with the religious traditions and spirituality of the Catholic Church. Because Catholic schooling has always endeavoured to meet the religious and personal needs of students, there has been an ongoing interest in monitoring the spirituality of youth to inform the development and planning of a relevant and effective religious education. Hence, there has long been an interest within the Catholic education sector in research on youth spirituality. A significant volume of research has been conducted on the spirituality of contemporary youth within the last decade. This has included a number of major studies in Australia (Crawford and Rossiter, 2006; Flynn and Mok, 2002; Hughes, 2007; Mason et. al. 2005, 2007) and in North America, Smith & Denton (2004). This project reports on an empirical investigation of the views of senior school students in three metropolitan Catholic schools in Australia. The first part of the study, a literature review, provided an opportunity to review research on the spirituality of young people to give a broad perspective on developments and issues, particularly for young people in westernised cultures. The first section of the review considered the way in which structural development theories have been used to interpret young people’s spirituality. The second section explored research related to the components and development of youth spirituality. The third section examined a number of cultural influences on young people’s spiritual and moral development. The second part of the project canvassed the views of all 207 Year 12 students in three metropolitan Catholic high schools about their understanding of spirituality and about the links between their spirituality and the experience of Catholic schooling. Each school has its own gender, charism, and multicultural dynamic. A systematic questionnaire provided quantitative data, a summary of which was then discussed in focus groups of students in each of the three schools. In this way, students were invited to interpret the empirical data and to attempt to explain why young people thought and felt as they did – yielding qualitative data. The focus groups also responded to an innovative use of cartoon caricatures of God which prompted participants to talk about the ways in which they and other teenagers imagined God and God’s role in the world and in their own lives. The study contributed to the current body of research information on youth spirituality, especially in a sample group of senior school students in Catholic schools. The key findings were: Evidence that youth spirituality is both eclectic and diverse; Evidence of some non-religious elements to spirituality; it is not linked exclusively with religion; Young people are conscious of their roles in ‘choosing’ and ‘constructing’ a spirituality, rather than just accepting a ‘traditional’ pattern of spirituality; Acknowledged a strong parental influence; also the importance of friends; While a number of students identified their spirituality as ‘religious’, the trend was a spirituality that was not as strongly rooted in religious traditions as was the case for previous generations; The most prominent image of God for this sample of young people was a God of unconditional love and forgiveness. There was less emphasis on a ‘checking’ and ‘punishing’ God that seemed more prominent for earlier generations of Catholics. In discussing the meaning and significance of the empirical data, a comparison was made between the results of this study and those of five recent major studies of youth spirituality examined in the literature review. In conclusion, the project explored a number of issues and implications for educators interested in the spiritual and moral education of young people, especially in the Catholic education sector. These included: In the light of a significant and continuing increase in both ‘individualism’ and ‘moral selfreliance’ in children and adolescents, there is a need for refinement in the ways developmental theories (such as those of Kohlberg and Fowler in particular) are used for interpreting the spiritual and moral development of young people; There is a need for further understanding of how cultural factors like ‘postmodernity’, ‘individualism’ and ‘relativism’ affect young people’s spirituality, particularly as regards linkage with religious traditions; Young people’s images of God and their ideas about how God might ‘work’ within the world are key transcendent elements to youth spirituality; Planning for a ‘relevant’ religious education – which helps young people negotiate contemporary spiritual/moral issues, as well as provide access to spiritual heritage – needs to take into account the findings of research on youth spirituality.

The aim of this thesis is to develop a model for the analysis of curriculum structure and organisation in Australian secondary schools and to apply a computer formulation of the model to two case studies. The model proposes the construction of indicators of curriculum provision and teacher workload using the raw data provided by school timetables and class lists. This in turn leads to the idea of standardising curriculum structure in a way that will enable comparisons to be made between different schools, the same school with different timetables or between school substructures such as year groups. Limitations and advantages of this approach are explored through an analysis of the concepts of modelling, information and organisation. It is proposed that this view of curriculum implies an evaluation perspective that focusses on school improvement as a process of informed criticism and collective decision-making. Several applications of curriculum analysis are suggested including the setting of specific goals for school improvement programmes, industrial applications in the area of workloads and a scheme for the classification and standardised description of curriculum plans.

This thesis examines the appropriateness of the current secondary school curriculum in the Republic of Maldives within an overall context of national education and development planning. Emphasis is placed on access to secondary education by all. In pursuing this aim, data was gathered on aspects of the economy and demography of the country as well as government policy on education. Data was also gathered on student performance in the period 1985�1992, and subsequent employment characteristics of graduates. The framework of analysis adopted for this thesis encompasses the special problems faced by Small Island States in their efforts to provide education for their people. Links between education planning and development planning are explored in depth. The analysis of the data established that the current system of education contributes to increasing social inequalities. Further, it was established that this system cannot be sustained in the long term. It has been argued in this thesis that this system of education could, in the long term, contribute to the demise of national and cultural identity. Hence, it has been argued that the current curriculum is inappropriate for the people of the Maldives at this juncture. On the basis of the findings of this thesis, a broad outline of an alternative education system which could be developed, and the assumptions about development made by this model is presented.

An exploratory study of Board-Registered School Subjects was undertaken in 1989 to investigate the impact of this category of subjects on the curriculum for Year 11 and 12 students in Queensland secondary schools. The study was undertaken at two levels -the Systems and the Schools levels. At the Systems level, analysis of Reports and other documents was supplemented by interviews with key personnel in the education authorities. The segment at the Schools level consisted of interviews with administrators or teachers in ten schools in South East Queensland and a small student survey. Board-Registered School Subjects, first developed in that State in 1982, broadened the Senior curriculum from its traditionally academic base. The development of this category of subjects also heralded the beginnings of school based curriculum development in many secondary schools in that State. However, in the latter years of the 1980's, policies and syllabuses developed by the Queensland Department of Education indicate that a shift to systems based curriculum development is probable in the 1990's. Four sub-categories of Board-Registered School Subjects were identified in the sample schools. These were alternatives to core subjects, such as English and Mathematics, vocationally oriented subjects, those related to life/leisure skills and subjects which reflected the nature of the geographical area. The response by many schools to the development of these subjects was enthusiastic; most schools in the sample offered six to eight Board-Registered School Subjects to students in Years 11 and 12. Although many of these subjects were developed initially for students of "lower ability", a reported recent trend was for "academic" students to select one Board-Registered School Subject. The enthusiastic response by schools was curbed to some extent by the reaction of some teachers, students and parents to these subjects. Several Board-Registered School Subjects offered in 1989 were not implemented because insufficient numbers of students selected them. The major factor which mitigated against successful implementation of Board-Registered School Subjects was that students' results in these subjects could not be used in the calculation of the Tertiary Entrance Score, the basis for selection to tertiary institutions. For many students and parents, the Tertiary Entrance Score appeared to be the major goal of Senior secondary education.