Policies advocating the use of digital technologies in government schools
are promoted by all public school education systems in Australia. This is
reflected in the release of political media statements, policies, plans,
budgets, digital networking rollouts, curriculum developments, and
professional development activities. Resources are being directed towards
such initiatives from within school education budgets and from
departmental and 'whole of government' initiatives, at state, territory and
federal levels. While there is considerable activity being supported by
governments, outside of these activities academic publications specifically
about these school level initiatives are limited.
This research sets out to answer the question: 'what does public schooling
mean in Australia in the 21st century given its past tradition of free,
compulsory and secular schooling, and given the present policies that are
urging the ubiquitous use of digital technologies?' The purpose of this
research is to interpret, understand and explain the policies of the public
schooling systems in Australia advocating the use of digital technologies. In
doing so, this thesis aims to contribute to the development of a stock of
Australian research specifically in the schooling sector, about the use of
digital technologies in schools. Further, this thesis aims to stimulate and add
to the conversations concerning these policies. It is argued that the use of
digital technologies in schooling has the capacity to redefine what has
previously been understood by 'public schooling'.
This thesis is the outcome of an interpretative social inquiry where narrative
theory and hegemony have provided its theoretical bases. This thesis has not
set out to merge these theories nor has it attempted to reconcile the internal
differences within them, but rather, to draw from them, and to use
approaches that are pertinent to this study. While such an approach may be
contentious and bring some inherent difficulties, the intention of the research has been to draw upon the abstract understandings afforded by
these theories and apply them to concrete, particular, yet newly emerging
educational activities. This is to provide interpretative and explanatory
perspectives to the advocated use of digital technologies in Australian
schools and systems, and, in Chapter Six, to forward a proposition for future
action.
There are several different ways in which this thesis could have been
approached and finally could have been structured. Likewise, there are
many avenues that require research but have been left without investigation
due to limitations of size, space and time. This is not to negate their
importance, but rather it is to recognise the limits of this project and to
highlight the necessity for more research to be undertaken.
Throughout the thesis distance education has been considered in conjunction
with the policies directly impinging upon 'face to face' schooling. It is
argued that with the advocated use of digital technologies as an inherent part
of public schooling, there is emerging, a convergence in these two styles of
schooling. Further it is argued that experiences from school level distance
education practitioners have the potential to offer some insights that may be
useful for those in 'face to face' schools using digital technologies. It is
intended then, that the implications from this research will have the capacity
to influence how we view centrally developed school education policies,
curriculum leadership and management as well as what is intended to
happen in the classroom.
The thesis has been arranged into three parts. The first three chapters
comprise Part One. Chapter One identifies the research space for the thesis.
This is achieved by describing the fields of research from which this thesis
draws, and introduces the theoretical bases used in the research space
identified for this thesis. Chapter Two provides the theoretical bases for the
thesis in more detail. In doing so, positivist approaches to the research are
rejected. Chapter Three describes the research methods used to interpret,understand and explain the public schooling sectors' digital technologies
policies. Together, these three chapters provide an outline of the nature of
the research undertaking, and the theories and methods used.
Part Two also has three chapters. These are structured around the temporal
concept important to narrative theory; that of the past, the present and the
future. Chapter Four looks to the past and provides an account of the history
and three traditions, it is argued, impinge upon this research project. In
particular, this chapter discusses what was intended by the phrase 'public
education' in Australia during the 19th and 20th centuries. This chapter
establishes the context for the interpretations of the policies that follow.
Chapter Five seeks to understand and explain the policy narratives of the
present, defined as the research period between 1997 and 2001. This period
of time is thought of as sitting temporally between the past history and
traditions outlined in Chapter Four and the possible scenarios for the future,
proposed in Chapter Six.
Part Three brings the thesis to its conclusion by reflecting on the central
question identified for this thesis: 'what does public schooling mean in
Australia in the 21st century, given its past tradition of free, compulsory and
secular schooling, and given the present policies that are urging the
ubiquitous use of digital technologies?'
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/216578 |
| Date | January 2002 |
| Creators | Moyle, Kathryn, Kathryn.Moyle@canberra.edu.au |
| Publisher | Swinburne University of Technology. |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | http://www.swin.edu.au/), Copyright Kathryn Moyle |
Page generated in 0.7209 seconds