Music in state-supported schooling in South Australia to 1920

This thesis is a study of the establishment of the music curriculum in state-supported schools in South Australia from the beginnings of such schooling until 1920. There will be a discussion of issues to be explored and the method by which this investigation will proceed. A literature survey of relevant research will be included, after which there will be a sketch of the development of state-supported schooling in South Australia. Several broad themes have been chosen as the means of organising the historical material: the rationales offered for the inclusion of music in schooling, the methodologies, syllabi and materials of such music instruction, the provisions for teacher training in music, both preservice and as professional development for established teachers, and the place and function of music in schooling. Each of these themes will form the framework for a chronological narrative. Comparisons will be made with three neighbouring colonies/States concerning each of these themes and conclusions will be drawn. Finally, overall conclusions will be made concerning the initial contentions raised in this chapter in the light of the data presented. Although this study is principally concerned with the establishment of music in state-supported schooling, there will be a brief consideration of the colony of South Australia from its proclamation in 1836. The music pedagogical context that prevailed at that time will be discussed and this will, of necessity, include developments that occurred before 1836. The period under consideration will close in 1920, by which time the music curriculum for South Australia was established, and the second of the influential figures in music education was at his zenith. At this time there was a new school curriculum in place which remained essentially unchanged for several decades. As well as the broad themes identified, this thesis will investigate several contentions as it attempts to chronicle and interpret the establishment and development of music in state-supported schooling in South Australia up to 1920. The first contention of this thesis is that music in state-supported schooling, once established, did not change significantly from its inception throughout the period under consideration. In seeking a discussion of the existence and importance of the notion of an absence of change or stasis, the theory of punctuated equilibria, which identifies stasis as the norm in the evolutionary growth of species, will be employed as an insightful analogy. It should be recognised that stasis exists, should be expected and may well be the prevailing norm. The second contention of this thesis is that advocates were and continue to be crucial to the establishment and continued existence of music in state-supported schooling. For change to occur there must be pressure through such agencies as motivated individuals holding positions of authority, and thus able to influence the educational system and its provisions. The pedagogical method introduced into an educational system is often that espoused by the acknowledged advocate. During the period under consideration there were two significant advocates for music in state-supported schools. The third contention of this thesis is that music was used in South Australia, as in the other colonies/States, as an agent of social reform, through the selection of repertoire and the way in which music was employed in state-supported schooling. Music was considered inherently uplifting. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the music selected for school singing carried texts with messages deemed significant by those who controlled the education system. The repertoire was not that of the receiving class but came from a middle class tradition of fully notated art music in which correct performance and notational reading were emphasised. A sweet, pure vocal tone was desired, as strident, harsh, speaking tones were perceived as a symptom of incipient larrikinism which was not desired in schooling. Music was seen as a contributor to good order and discipline in schooling.

The politics of public sector change: trends in health and education sector change in South Australia

BACKGROUND: As the changes underpinning the Coordinated Care Trials in South Australia have become more apparent, similarities have emerged between the rationalisation of public schooling in the mid 1980s and the transformation of public health in the 1990s.

OBJECTIVE: This article aims to discuss the evolution of health services in South Australia and help us answer the question of how best to manage our public and private health infrastructure in a changing economic and social context.

DISCUSSION: Both strategies in education and health share common elements of cost cutting, attempts at improving efficiencies, a flirting with the private sector and the attendant risk of reduced quality of services to the public. This situation in both sectors is indicative of a shift in public policy and a growth in the belief that private management of public sector infrastructure can help resolve the funding crises around our education and health systems.

Undergraduate pre-registration nursing education in Australia: a longitudinal examination of enrolment and completion numbers with a focus on students from rural and remote campus locations

Introduction: There is much evidence to indicate a shortage of Registered Nurses (RNs) in Australia and to suggest that the shortage may be more pronounced in rural and remote locations. Attracting RNs to work in rural and remote areas may not be as simple as increasing the intake of students into university undergraduate pre-registration nursing courses. There is some evidence indicating that student nurses may be more likely to enter the nursing workforce in rural and remote locations if they have existing associations with rural and remote areas and/or their undergraduate education provides opportunities to undertake supported placements in rural and remote settings. Two important difficulties have been associated with measuring outcomes in relation to rural and remote pre-registration nursing students. One is defining what constitutes a rural or remote location and the other is suspect data on the number of nursing students enrolled in, and completing, nursing courses. The aims of this study were to provide a longitudinal profile of the number of domestic students studying and completing undergraduate pre-registration nursing courses in Australia, with a particular emphasis on identifying those at rural and remote university campuses, and to compare results across States and Territories.
Method: This study presents the combined findings from two investigative reports. Data on undergraduate pre-registration nursing student numbers were collected via electronic survey instruments completed by staff at all Australian educational institutions offering undergraduate pre-registration nursing education programs in 2001 and 2002. Australian domestic students were the focus of this study. Data included the total number of domestic students enrolled in undergraduate pre-registration nursing courses in 2001 and 2002, the number of domestic students who successfully completed courses in 1999, 2000 and 2001, and estimates for the number expected to complete in 2002. Surveys were sent to course coordinators or other staff nominated by heads of divisions of nursing at each institution.
Results: There was a 100% response rate. Twenty-four rural and remote campus locations were identified using an adjusted form of the Rural, Remote and Metropolitan Areas (RRMA) classification system. The Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory did not have any rural or remote campus locations. In contrast, undergraduate pre-registration nursing in Tasmania was offered at a rural campus only (for the first 2 years). From 2001 to 2002, there was an increase of just over 5% in the total number of domestic students enrolled in undergraduate pre-registration nursing courses in Australia (2002 total = 22 811 students). Rural and remote location students accounted for slightly more than 25% of these students in 2001, and almost 27% in 2002. The States Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland had the highest percentage of students enrolled at rural and remote campus locations, greater than the Australian average for both years. In contrast, South Australia and Western Australia had less than 11% of students enrolled at rural and remote campus locations for each year. Total undergraduate pre-registration course completions increased by approximately 16% across Australia between 1999 (n = 4868) and 2002 (n = 5667), although for 2002, the figure was projected. Of these total course completions, the percentage of students completing at rural and remote campus locations increased from almost 23% to nearly 28% during the same period. Of the States/Territories with both metropolitan and rural/remote campus locations, only Victoria and Queensland had more than 25% of their total student completions consisting of students enrolled at rural and remote campus locations for each year. In contrast, South Australia and Western Australia had approximately 6% of student completions consisting of students enrolled at rural and remote campus locations in 1999, increasing to approximately 12% projected for 2002.
Conclusion: In this study, the authors attempted to improve the accuracy of data collection in relation to the number of domestic undergraduate pre-registration nursing students in Australia, which is representative of the potentially new Australian domestic RN workforce. There was a trend towards an increasing number of students being enrolled in undergraduate pre-registration nursing courses, and also toward an increasing number of course completions. From the perspective of the rural and remote RN workforce, the percentage of students enrolled and completing courses at rural and remote campus locations was found to be increasing. However, there may be some areas of concern for education and workforce planners in States and Territories that are providing a smaller percentage of their undergraduate pre-registration nursing courses in rural and remote areas. Several study limitations are discussed and suggestions made for future research.

Scales of policy intervention : problematising high poverty contexts in South Australia.

Education policy intervention for schools in high poverty neighbourhoods has focused on the capacity of local schools to make a difference and on the kinds of co-ordinated human services provision that might support individual families with “high needs”. In this paper I suggest that a more detailed analysis of “the problem” represented in such schools might yield a richer and more integrated policy approach. I use the notion of “scale”, arbitrary and imperfect approximations of spheres of activity, and apply it to a specific context in Adelaide, South Australia, to demonstrate the connections between the local school and factors which impinge on its capacities to make a positive difference. I suggest that the implication of the analysis is a more holistic approach to policy.

Is it only 'what works' that 'counts' in new knowledge economies? Evidence-based practice, educational research and teacher education in Australia

Recent texts on globalisation and education policy refer to the rapid flow of education policy texts producing or responding to common trends across nation states with the emergence of new knowledge economies. These educational policies are shaping what counts as research and the dynamics between research, policy, and practice in schools, creating new types of relationships between universities, the public, the professions, government, and industry. The trend to evidence-based policy and practice in Australian schools is used to identify key issues within wider debates about the ‘usefulness’ of educational research and the role of universities and university-based research in education in new knowledge economies.

`Zealotry or nostalgic regret`? women leaders in technical and further education in Australia : agents of change, entrepreneurial educators or corporate citizens?

Education has been restructured in many Western post-industrial nation states during the 1990s. The Australian Technical and Further Education sector (TAFE) has been particularly susceptible to discourses of responsiveness to the market and the new entrepreneuralism. This article explores how women have been repositioned in contradictory and ambiguous ways as the new entrepreneurial middle managers by existing and emergent discourses that circulated in and through TAFE organizations. In turn, it points to how discourses of change management and client responsiveness took on particular readings within specific institutional and professional cultures of the eight Technical and Further Education institutions (TAFEs). At the same time, the restructuring that arose from the corporatization of TAFE, in a highly gendered process, through the twin strategies of marketization and the new managerialism produced new possibilities for individual women educators who moved up into middle management. Yet these individual women were positioned within highly masculinist 'neo-corporate bureaucratic cultures' that co-opted their passion for the capacity of education to make a difference and incorporated these new entrepeneurial work identities.

Mapping music education in Australia

Music education research in Australia has grown almost exponentially over the past 25 years. Particularly in the area of doctoral research studies, there has been a substantial increase in the number of theses completed from two in 1977 to 72 in 2002. In addition, there have been increases in professional research undertaken by university academics, in the number of nationally competitive research grants being awarded by the Australian Research Council and other research funding agencies, and in commissioned research studies. This article reviews the various types of music education research being undertaken in Australia and also discusses the dissemination of the findings of research through articles in national and international scholarly journals and papers presented at local and international conferences. One of the conclusions drawn is that Australian music education has ‘come of age’ in terms of both the quantity and the quality of its national research profile.

The history of distance education in Australia

This article presents a history of distance education in Australia. Australia's large distances and widely distributed population has meant that distance education has been an important part of its history. From the earliest provision of schooling by mail through a series of correspondence schools, both state and federal governments have provided a sound infrastructure to support distance education. Innovative uses of technologies to provide communication and interaction and ease the isolation of distance have also been a feature of Australia's distance education history. The impact of this history is particularly relevant as the Internet and information and communication technologies are changing this field and making distance educators of all institutions and sectors.

The influence of weather and solar elevation on perceived colour of Blue Lake, Mount Gambier, South Australia

Previous studies of the remarkable seasonal colour changes of Blue Lake, Mount Gambier, South Australia have speculated on the roles of weather and solar elevation in this phenomenon. In this study the influence of weather and solar elevation on apparent colour is examined. Solar elevation and some weather variables were found to have a statistically significant influence, particularly when Blue Lake is undergoing transition from its blue to grey stage. However, the proportion of the overall variation in colour explained by solar elevation and weather was only 16%, so it is concluded that in-lake properties are probably the main determinants of colour.

Asynchronous patterns of reproduction for the sympatric scallops Chlamys bifrons and Chlamys asperrima (Bivalvia : Pectinidae) in South Australia

Patterns of spawning activity were assessed by monitoring gonad states over 2.5 years for Chlamys asperrima and Chlamys bifrons at two sites in Gulf St Vincent, South Australia. Chlamys asperrima appeared to have a minor spawning in June, followed by a major spawning starting in late August. In contrast, the gonads of C. bifrons were regressed only during winter and it appeared that C. bifrons spawned for a long period, from late spring (September) until early autumn (March). At one site where sampling was frequent, there was evidence of three series of C. bifrons spawning events during the summer of 1994/95 and at least two series of events during 1995/96. Build-up and decrease in gonad weight was quick, but there was strong evidence of serial spawning for both species. Subsequently, we once observed C. asperrima spawning in situ at Edithburgh Jetty, at a time when gonad weights had been decreasing in previous years, but also long after the time when peak gonad weights had usually occurred. Only patches within the population were seen spawning, with scallops not spawning observed less than 100 m away from those that were. Indirect sampling of gonad condition also suggested that spawning in C. bifrons at Largs Bay was not always synchronous among patches of scallops within a population, nor always between sexes within patches.

Is it only 'what works' that 'counts' in new knowledge economies? Evidence-based practice, educational research and teacher education in Australia

Recent texts on globalisation and education policy refer to the rapid ¯ow of education policy texts producing or responding to common trends across nation states with the emergence of new knowledge economies. These educational policies are shaping what counts as research and the dynamics between research, policy, and practice in schools, creating new types of relationships between universities, the public, the professions, government, and industry. The trend to evidence-based policy and practice in Australian schools is used to identify key issues within wider debates about the `usefulness' of educational research and the role of universities and university-based research in education in new knowledge economies.