This thesis reports the outcomes of research into the use of restraint in the care of patients in an acute teaching hospital in Australia. The literature review undertaken for the study revealed much research into restraints showing evidence of the harm they cause, and their ineffectiveness as a safety measure. The literature indicates that the prevalence of restraint use is high - about a third of all hospital patients over the age of eighty-five years may be restrained at some time during the period of their admission.The main emphasis in my investigation was to uncover an understanding of how the use of restraints has remained possible, despite negative reports on their efficacy and questions about their possible abuse of human rights. Primarily, 1 set out to provide vide an understanding of restraint practice, and of how it is maintained and legitimised in a metropolitan teaching hospital.The study was guided by a Foucauldian approach to discourse analysis. The study reports on in depth studies of three patients. The case studies extend beyond observations of the patients to include interviews with members of the multidisciplinary team: nurses, doctors, occupational therapists and physiotherapists. Medical and nursing notes were another source of data.A discursive formation was identified by which restraint use is justified, and legitimised by the health professionals who use it. Five discourses were established, constituting: inability to 'self govern'; an appropriate environment; treatment; duty of care; and marginalisation.The study concludes that restraint use can be understood as a complex discursive practice. Through this discursive practice we can understand how staff maintain a monopoly over the truth and perpetuate claims about the inevitability of restraint use. Knowledge of these discursive practices enables an understanding of how the current ++ / educational approaches to restraint reduction are likely to have little immediate or sustained impact. With these understandings, we are hopefully better placed to change practice in a way that does not substitute one undesirable approach for another. If this is so, the value of this thesis will lie in its influence on practice as much as in its contribution to scholarship.

Abstract not available

Agriculture, industry and medicine are being altered by new biological technologies. Today's students are the citizens who will make decisions about associated ethical issues. They need to have the knowledge that will enable them to make informed choices. Hence biotechnology has an important place in science education. The aims of the research were to: 1/describe the state of biotechnology teaching in NSW; 2/determine whether teachers in NSW do not teach biotechnology because they do not have the necessary knowledge and experience; 3/identify other reasons why NSW teachers choose not to teach biotechnology; 4/describe problems encountered in teaching biotechnology in NSW; 5/suggest ways in which the problems encountered in the teaching of biotechnology can be overcome. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used in a complementary way to investigate these aims. In a sample of teachers surveyed, many reported that they chose not to teach biotechnology because they did not have adequate knowledge and experience. Other obstacles were identified. These were: 1/ the difficulty of the subject matter; 2/ the lack of practical work; 3/ lack of a program for biotechnology in junior science. The results of this trial suggested that a biotechnology unit should be developed in collaboration with the teacher and that time needs to be made available for school based program development. / Master of Education (Hons)

Amended bibliography in back pocket. / Bibliography: leaves 409-426. / xix, 426 leaves : ill. (chiefly col.), maps ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Philosophy, 1996

Bibliography: leaves 94-102.

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No description available.

Abstract not available

Doctor of Education / This thesis is situated in the research field of systemic functional linguistics (SFL) in education and within a professional context of multiliteracies for academic purposes. The overall aim of the research is to provide a metafunctional account of multimodal and multisemiotic meaning-making in print and electronic learning materials in first year science at university. The educational motivation for the study is to provide insights for teachers and educational designers to assist them in the development of students’ multiliteracies, particularly in the context of online learning environments. The corpus comprises online and CD-ROM learning resources in biology, physics and chemistry and textbooks in physics and biology, which are typical of those used in undergraduate science courses in Australia. Two underlying themes of the research are to compare the different affordances of textbook and screen formats and the disciplinary variation found in these formats. The two stage research design consisted of a multimodal content analysis, followed by a SF-based multimodal discourse analysis of a selection of the texts. In the page and screen formats of these pedagogical texts, the analyses show that through the mechanisms of intersemiosis, ideationally, language and image are reconstrued as disciplinary knowledge. This knowledge is characterised by a high level of technicality in image and verbiage, by taxonomic relations across semiotic resources and by interdependence among elements in the image, caption, label and main text. Interpersonally, pedagogical roles of reader/learner/viewer/ and writer/teacher/designer are enacted differently to some extent across formats through the different types of activities on the page and screen but the source of authority and truth remains with the teacher/designer, regardless of format. Roles are thus minimally negotiable, despite the claims of interactivity in the screen texts. Textually, the organisation of meaning across text and image in both formats is reflected in the layout, which is determined by the underlying design grid and in the use of graphic design resources of colour, font, salience and juxtaposition. Finally, through the resources of grammatical metaphor and the reconstrual of images as abstract, both forms of semiosis work together to shift meanings from congruence to abstraction, into the specialised realm of science.

With the changing age profile of teachers in Australian schools, considerable numbers of experienced teachers need to feature as educational leaders, before their workplace knowledge and expertise will be lost to schools with retirement. Stereotypes of veteran teachers depict individuals, wearied by decades of work experiences, entering professional decline when educational systems need these experienced practitioners to remain connected, communicative and motivated in their work. This thesis explores the careers and contemporary professional lives of experienced practitioners — predominantly classroom teachers — currently working in a school with a long standing commitment to student-centred education. The research identified the factors that influenced their career pathways and affected their engagement with their work. Critical incidents in the teachers’ careers and professional lives are discussed in relation to the theories of motivation and the nature of Professional Learning Communities. The study showed that necessary factors for engagement were: mutual alignment with a well-articulated and practised ethos; supportive leadership; experiencing professional influence; opportunities for learning; and variety in work. Disillusion resulted if school actions were contrary to the espoused ethos. Severely negative experiences of performance management were survived by withdrawing, and enduring management tenures but these remain very poignant memories. The teachers had few career regrets yet reflection revealed the arbitrary nature of their career progression. The research identified a need to recognise the global and societal factors influencing the nature of teachers’ work. It is argued that schools and systems need to have a greater alignment between these external forces and their internal goals whilst recapturing the moral purpose of education. Furthermore, it is asserted that educational systems need to provide better human resource management for the teaching workforce through emphasising life-balance and well-being. Additionally, professional appraisal and staff management would benefit from strong recognition and deployment of the workplace knowledge and expertise of experienced teachers. A serendipitous outcome of the research was the benefit participants gained from reflecting on their careers which proved extremely affirming, and contributed to enhanced professional identities and changed career plans.