Teaching music in New South Wales primary schools : 1920-1956

This thesis concerns the place of music in New South Wales schools from 1920 to 1956. The initial chapters explore issues related to the investigation and the methodology that has guided the research. To provide a foundation for the thesis as a whole, the investigation’s British antecedents are considered and the relevant literature is reviewed. Six broad themes are used as the organisational framework for this thesis: the major events that shaped schooling, the syllabus and recommended music resources, the rationales for the inclusion of music in schools, the place of school music broadcasts, music teaching practice in schools, and the provision of teacher training. Each theme forms the basis of one chapter, with the exception of one extensive theme which is discussed in two adjoining chapters.

This investigation concluded that from 1920 to 1956, the Department of Education’s fundamental aim for schooling was to develop the state’s children into good citizens. Music was valued for its ability to contribute to this aim.

During this period, the Department engaged in a policy of music transmissionism. Specifically, the Department sought to transmit the music values, knowledge and skills that it held in high regard to teachers who in turn were expected to transmit them to their students. The dominant culture and values that were transmitted were those of Britain and the British Empire—that is, music was used to transmit Britishness to children.

The investigation also concluded that during this period there was an expansion of music curriculum and pedagogy in New South Wales. However, in a oneway traffic of ideas between Britain and Australia, it was British music education practices that continued to influence the methods used in New South Wales schools.

In addition, this investigation concluded that there were past periods when New South Wales schools were very musical places—specifically, at the turn of the twentieth century, during the Second World War and during the immediate post-war years. The successes achieved in music during these times required the interplay of six factors: a Department of Education that valued music for the contribution it made to the development of children as good citizens; a Department of Education that provided strong leadership for music by employing a conscientious, inspirational music educator or educators whose sole responsibility was to champion and supervise music across the state; a Departmental expectation that music would be taught by generalist teachers who themselves had developed music expertise during their pre-service preparation or through professional development opportunities offered to them; the existence of a reward system to encourage teachers to increase their music discipline knowledge and skills; a music syllabus that was developmental and hence built on prior music knowledge and skills; and teachers who were able to deliver quality music programs to their students because they themselves were one element in a cycle of respect for music.

Australian teaching and learning centres through the eyes of their directors : characteristics, capacities and constraints

This paper is based on research to identify common factors that contribute to the effective strategic leadership of teaching and learning centres. The second of three phases of data collection involved a survey of Directors of Australian teaching and learning centres. The data collected were quantitatively analysed using a range of descriptive, parametric and non-parametric techniques. Based on a response rate of 81.6 percent, we present a contemporary, comprehensive and representative quantitative snapshot of Australian teaching and learning centres, as seen through the eyes of their Directors. The time since last restructure, incumbency of the current Director and total Directorship experience of the current Centre Director all have mean values of ‘sometime in the previous one to three years’. Most Centres would consider their work in the areas of ‘recognition and reward’ and ‘professional development of staff’ as high impact functions, and they would be pleased with their efforts in the former area, and wish to perform better on the latter. The principal constraint identified by Centres was ‘lack of staff time’, both in the Faculties and in the Centre, to engage in teaching and learning improvement activities. Overall, Centres feel well included in relevant university committees and other activities.

Can you teach all of the people some of the time? The development and evaluation of information literacy programs at the University of Queensland Library

Information skills and computer literacy are now seen by many within the academic community as essential. They are key graduate attributes required by students for lifelong learning and leadership roles in business and industry, government and society. Trends in the higher education sector bringing a renewed focus to teaching and preparing students for a global knowledge economy are outlined.

This paper focuses upon the power of a teaching and learning policy framework which supports the integration of information literacy into the curriculum. The increasing ease with which collaborative partnerships are formed between academic planners, course coordinators and librarians is highlighted by case studies of successful programs. Challenges are identified and change strategies described.

Using technologies in teaching : an initiative in academic staff development

Academic staff development in the pedagogical applications of new technologies is fundamental to the transformation of teaching and learning in tertiary education settings. We present a case study of a staff development activity at Deakin University, a multi-campus university offering on and off-campus programs, which aimed to develop a collegial online experience for academics interested in using online technologies. It is contextualised within a broadly based centrally funded project initiated by the University to extend the use of technologies in significant curriculum areas. The initiative employed a text-based, asynchronous computer conferencing environment. We describe the structure of the online environment and explore the major issues raised by the participants based on their experience and evaluation of the conference. We conclude by raising key questions that draw on our experience of the successful outcome of this initiative to advance relevant and meaningful opportunities for academic staff development.

Student-generated submicro diagrams : a useful tool for teaching and learning chemical equations and stoichiometry

This paper reports on a pedagogical approach to the teaching of chemical equations introduced to first year university students with little previous chemical knowledge. During the instruction period students had to interpret and construct diagrams of reactions at the submicro level, and relate them to chemical equations at the symbolic level with the aim of improving their conceptual understanding of chemical equations and stoichiometry. Students received instruction in symbol conventions, practice through graded tutorial tasks, and feedback on their efforts over the semester. Analysis of the student responses to formative test and summative exam items over consecutive years indicates that there was a consistent improvement in the abilities of the various cohorts to answer stoichiometry questions correctly. The responses provide evidence for diagrams of the submicro level being used as tools for reasoning in solving chemical problems, to recognise misconceptions of chemical formulae and to recognise the value of using various multiple representations of chemical reactions connecting the submicro and symbolic levels of representation. The student-generated submicro diagrams serve as a visualisation tool for teaching and learning abstract concepts in solving stoichiometric problems. We argue that the use of diagrams of the submicro level provides a more complete picture of the reaction, rather than a net summary of a chemical equation, leading to a deeper conceptual understanding.

The effect of the introduction of teaching interventions and assessment strategies in first year management units

This Scholarship of Teaching research aimed to ultimately become a report and a series of recommendations on the teaching of first year Management units in universities. Many of the Australian universities benchmark themselves against the leaders in the Course Experience Questionnaires (CEQ) (Ramsden 1991) of graduating students in Australia. Most Australian universities have their own student satisfaction evaluation method. In this study the subject university uses the Student Evaluation of Teachers and Units (SETU) as their internal method of measuring the effectiveness of teaching on units on a cohort by cohort basis. This project, using one of the largest units in a Business and Law Faculty had specific measurable objectives; the results of the unit teams' interventions demonstrate that it is possible to increase student satisfaction during their transition year by as much as 11.5%. The ten recommendations ranging from changes to unit objectives, assessment methods and updated methods of marking, communication and student support, if acted upon, should have ongoing benefits for teaching and learning of first year management units.

Australian higher education institutions transforming the future of teaching and learning through 3D virtual worlds

What are educators‟ motivations for using virtual worlds with their students? Are they using them to support the teaching of professions and if this is the case, do they introduce virtual worlds into the curriculum to develop and/or expand students' professional learning networks? Are they using virtual worlds to transform their teaching and learning? In  recognition of the exciting opportunities that virtual worlds present for higher education, the DEHub Virtual Worlds Working Group was formed. It is made up of Australian university academics who are investigating the role that virtual worlds will play in the future of education and actively implementing the technology within their own teaching practice and  curricula. This paper presents a typology for teaching and learning in 3D virtual worlds and applies the typology to a series of case studies based on the ways in which academics and their institutions are exploiting the power of virtual worlds for diverse purposes ranging from business scenarios and virtual excursions to role-play, experimentation and language development. The case studies offer insight into the ways in which institutions are transforming their teaching for an unknown future through innovative teaching and learning in virtual worlds. The paper demonstrates how virtual worlds enable low cost alternatives to existing pedagogies as well as creating opportunities for rich, immersive and authentic activities that would otherwise not be feasible or maybe not even be possible. Through the use of virtual worlds, teaching and learning can be transformed to cater for an unknown future.

Use of management control systems in university faculties : evidence of diagnostic versus interactive approaches by the upper echelons

Drawing on upper echelon theory and focusing on the context of higher education reforms in Australia within new public management in university faculties/colleges, this study investigates the diagnostic versus interactive uses of management control systems by Deans/Pro-Vice Chancellors of Faculties/Colleges (hereafter called Faculty PVCs). It seeks to identify how the professional and experiential characteristics of these senior academic executives and the structure of their Faculty, impact on their managerial and collegial orientation as reflected in their approach to using management controls. A mail survey of Faculty PVCs is conducted amongst a census of all Faculties/Colleges of all universities in Australia. Supplementing this survey are semi-structured interviews with the PVC of the business and science Faculty at a large Australian university. Results reveal that PVCs who have had a longer career in higher education tend to use MCSs more interactively (or collegially). There is also evidence that as PVCs hold their current position for longer periods, they tend to move from an early diagnostic use of MCSs to a subsequent interactive use. Further, the higher the complexity of a Faculty the more a PVC will adopt an interactive approach to MCS use. Other PVC and Faculty characteristics did not reveal patterns of significant influence on the interactive or diagnostic use of MCSs. A key revelation from interviews is that PVCs will give over-riding importance to meeting centrally-set diagnostically-focused KPI, but still take a collegial approach within their Faculty to the broader use of MCSs. The findings lend limited support to upper echelons theory, but provide a grounding for further research into the impact that a managerial versus a collegial approach by PVCs/Deans may have on their Faculty’s growth in innovative capacities, teaching qualities or financial strength.