The focus of this research was Year 12 student leadership in three Catholic schools. Pivotal to the thesis were the leadership experiences and self-perceptions of the schools’ Year 12 students. Two theoretical propositions underscored the study: all Year 12 students are called to some form of leadership within their school; and schools should strive to build a leadership culture inclusive of all Year 12 students. The review of the literature drew attention to three themes which formed the conceptual framework underpinning the research, namely organisational leadership, Christian leadership and its meaning for the Catholic School, and student leadership. In the light of the review it seemed appropriate that the conduct of the study should be predominantly qualitative, interpretive, and planned around collective case study. For each of the three case study schools, data collection took the form of a document search, an interview with a key informant staff member, a Year 12 student survey questionnaire utilising both qualitative and quantitative questions, and two Year 12 student focus group interviews. The “general analytic strategy” (Yin, 1994, p. 30) employed in this research was to follow the theoretical propositions underlying this study which, in turn, reflected a set of seven research questions. Findings from the study indicated that there was a strong belief among senior students from the three schools that every Year 12 student should have the opportunity to participate in leadership. Furthermore, students saw leadership as entailing duty, a sense of service, as well as involvement with younger students. Students also highlighted a range of benefits associated with leadership participation, as well as certain pressures, notably the need to balance study commitments with leadership responsibilities, and the demands of having to be a role model “all the time”.

This study examines the opinions of a randomly selected sample of Year 12 students attending Narrabundah College in 1979. A survey was administered to determine what tasks the students believed important for secondary schools and how well the students considered Narrabundah College achieved these tasks. It has been possible to analyse the relative importance and achievement of the individual tasks because of the ranking procedure involved. Part I of the research instrument was extracted from a survey, commissioned by the Committee of Inquiry into Education and Training, distributed to New South Wales students. This was a component of a comprehensive study of the views of students, teachers and parents conducted by the Community Expectations Group, School of Teacher Education, Canberra College of Advanced Education, 1978. The responses given by the Narrabundah College students are compared with the N.S.W. students' responses and are also compared with the conclusions from other surveys concerning the objectives of secondary education. These comparisons are discussed with reference to the unique characteristics of the secondary colleges which developed from the Report of the Working Committee on College Proposals for the Australian Capital Territory, Secondary Education for Canberra (1973).

The aim of this Field Study is to establish the extent to which Year 12 students understand and appreciate the ACT College System of senior secondary and the information which appears on the ACT Year 12 Certificate. In order to provide the reader with a basis for understanding what happens over the final two years of secondary education in the ACT the author has established the historical context that gave rise to the establishment of the Secondary Colleges in the ACT. This brief history outlines the causes and reasons which led to separation from the NSW state system of education and the decision to develop a different approach to the provision of education for students in Year 11 and 12. To provide an idea of how the system works a description of what makes up the College System is provided. This includes an explanation of how the colleges relate to the high schools, their curriculum, the accreditation of courses, assessment and certification. The role of the ACT Schools Accrediting Agency is explained in the way it underpins the credibility of the system and of how it carries the responsibility for the final generation of the ACT Year 12 Certificate. While this study looks at the system some seven years after it began, earlier evaluations had taken place which examined matters linked with the ACT Year 12 Certificate. In writing this report the author reviews two important assessments of the system, one of the role of the ACT Schools Accrediting Agency and the other concerned with the success of the Colleges as educational institutions from a student viewpoint. The author also attempts to compare the changes which came with the ACT College System with recent developments and current thinking about senior secondary education in other Australian states. The major part of the Field Study was a survey of a sample of Year 12 students at the end of 1983 to establish the extent to which they understood the aspects of the system they had been a part of for two years. The data and findings of this survey are presented. The report concludes with an outline of the most recent changes, developments and reactions which in some way affect the system. At the end of the conclusion, the author presents a list of recommendations aimed at overcoming some of the problems pin-pointed in the report.

In 1976, following the recommendations of the Campbell Report, school-based course development and assessment replaced the New South Wales Higher School Certificate courses and public examinations. Under the auspices of the A.C.T. Schools Authority, the A.C.T. Accrediting Agency took control of administering the new system. Nine years after the system was introduced, the benefits of the new system were very clear in the area of English curriculum at Years 11 and 12 level. To a considerable degree, the hopes of the Campbell Report have been fulfilled in terms of providing students with greater freedom of choice and flexibility in the selection of options in an English course composed of a number of term or term equivalent units. Assessment instruments have become much more wide-ranging. Teacher/student relationships have become less authoritarian. Teaching strategies and learning approaches have generally made students more active participants in the learning process. The field study drew heavily on English course documents in the senior secondary colleges, presenting an overview of the workings of the English curriculum. Because courses are being continually reaccredited, it was necessary to set the curriculum overview at a particular time, in 1984. As the A.C.T. is a small education system in Australian terms, it was possible to gain some concept of the whole picture, although 428 term units is not an inconsiderable number. The field study, because of its significant data base, poses more questions than it answers. It does, to a degree, present "what is", or rather "what was" in the 1984 English curriculum at Years 11 and 12 level in A.C.T. colleges. And it points directions for further research.

Year 12 has been identified as a critical decision point in the career decision making process for students. Students have been found to make decisions in different ways some having already defined goals for the future others are doubtful and make tentative goals. At the end of Year 12 students are faced with the task of career decision. During the final two weeks of year 12 these students will have to make choices about their imminent future that is whether to do tertiary studies/seek apprenticeships look for immediate employment or defer studies for a time and seek employment. A review of major theories relating to career determination was undertaken. Decision-making theories have identified twelfth grade/age range 16 - 18 years, as being one of the critical decision periods for an adolescent. 355 A.C.T. Year 12 students from Catholic Colleges were given a questionnaire designed to probe students' self awareness in relation to study habits coping abilities, as well as a description of some of their personal qualities relating to school life, subject interest, and career benefits derived from the future career considered. The information gained from the Questionnaire was reduced to a number of sets of relationships by factor analysis. The personal factors of subject interest, career benefits and further study interests were examined by canonical correlation techniques with Career Types. Students with an interest in scientific careers exhibited an interest in the physical science subjects. Those with an expressed interest in a blend of science and expressive arts career were a group of students with creative ideas / leadership aspirations,an interest in cultural and physical science subject, and a desire for further- studies. Another group of year 12 students involving more girls than boys showed an interest in a cluster of careers with a social involvement component but a rejection of routine activities. Students with an interest in environmental subjects with a possession of management and living skills looked towards careers that provided out of doors activities involving social work and selling. There was a positive correlation between these personal factors and the students' choice of a career.

This field study aims to identify and examine the consequences and influences of course selections and career choices made by students, their parents and college staff. Because of a lack of information regarding the implications of their selected programmes of study, many students choose unwisely and as a result, have become confused about the relevance of their choices in relation to the achievement of their ultimate career aspirations. To achieve the aims of this study, an analysis of the course selections and career choices of the Year 12 graduates of 1983 from Copland College was completed. This field study is divided into three main sections. The first section comprises Chapters I and II which outline the historical development of secondary colleges within the Australian Capital Territory. The author briefly discusses the influence of both the Hughes and the Campbell Reports and illustrates how these Reports were used as the basis for the establishment of the educational structure we now have for our senior secondary college students in Canberra. In addition, this section details the historical background of careers education within the Australian Capital Territory and the influences this has had on the status of career education at Copland College. The second section covers Chapters III, IV and V. In this section the function of the Student Services Faculty within Copland College is discussed and also a brief explanation given of the type of information gathered by college and administrative staff for career and course advice. The author provides a description of the procedures II used to obtain and collate the information collected for this field study. A questionnaire method of data collection was the basis used to examine the post-collegiate activities of over 240 graduate students of 1983, and part of the questionnaire relates specifically to the destinations of these ex-students. Finally, the third section incorporates Chapters VI and VII. It details the results of my research covered in earlier chapters and at the same time, synthesizes that of other educationalists as it relates to this field study. The concluding portion of this section sets out recommendations proposed to meet the problems identified in such areas as student course selections and careers advice.

The career counselling services industry is currently being challenged by a unique set of conditions which has resulted in calls for a greater client orientation in the delivery of career services. The current study takes up this challenge by using marketing concepts to explore the relationship between the expectations (desired) people in career transition have of a career counselling service and the perceptions career counselling service providers have of client expectations. In the process, it also examines variables (career transition group membership, career decision-making self-efficacy, age, gender, and previous experience with a career counselling service) that may impact on the expectations people in career transition have of a career counselling service. The study used a three-phased mixed method approach to gather expectation and perception data. In Phase 1, focus group interviews were conducted with participants from three career transition groups - Year 12 students, final year university students, and adults in midcareer transition. A series of one-to-one interviews with three groups of career counsellors (those in schools, tertiary institutions, and private practice) was undertaken in Phase 2. Phase 3 consisted of a questionnaire, which was administered to broader populations of people in career transition and career counsellors. The people in career transition subject group completed a three-part questionnaire consisting of the Expectations About Career Counselling measure (developed by the researcher), the Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy-Short Form (an existing measure), and demographic questions. Career counsellors completed a two-part questionnaire, which included the Expectations About Career Counselling (EACC) and demographic questions. The people in career transition subject group were asked to respond to the EACC according to what they wanted from a career counselling service. Career counsellors were asked to respond to the same measure as if they were one of their clients attending their first career counselling interview. In the development of the EACC, an existing measure (the Expectations About Counselling-Brief Form; Tinsley, 1982), was modified using career counselling expectation themes derived from the analysis of data collected in Phases 1 and 2. Factor analysis of the data obtained from the EACC identified four clear factors. These factors were named Career Counsellor Responsibility, Client Responsibility, Quality Outcome and Realism. The findings from Phase 3 indicated that people in career transition had high to very high expectations for the EACC subscales Career Counsellor Responsibility and Quality Outcome, moderate expectations for Realism, and moderate to high expectations for Client Responsibility. Significant differences were found based on transition group membership, gender, age, and previous experience with a career counselling service. In addition, it was found that people in career transition had moderate to high career decision-making self-efficacy and that respondents with higher self-efficacy scores also had higher expectations of a career counselling service. The findings also indicated that there was a significant difference or gap between the expectations of people in career transition and the perceptions of career counsellors concerning client expectations of career counselling. Career counsellors perceived that clients were less committed and more unrealistic about the career counselling process and the counsellor's role than was indicated by the results from the people in career transition subject group. Recommendations based on the findings of this research study were made for career counsellors, professional associations, education and training organisations, education institutions and systems and government policy makers. Specifically, the recommendations addressed the importance of acknowledging, clarifying, and managing client expectations, providing interventions to educate people in career transition about the career decision-making process and the role of the career counsellor, and the implementation of processes to promote ongoing professional development in the career counselling services industry.