Victorian Teachers Research Articles

Writers-in-Residence: Women Teachers and the Formation of Character in Hardy’s Jude the Obscure

Abstract In this article I argue that ‘the formation of the character’ of the teacher, a phrase coined by the pioneer of elementary-school training, James Kay-Shuttleworth, was of as much concern to the novelist as it was to the educationalist. Focusing on what became a classic depiction of Victorian teacher training in Jude the Obscure (1895), I situate Hardy among those educationalists and men of letters held responsible for refashioning character to suit the liberal currents of late nineteenth-century culture. Hardy read about the issue of formation in sources as varied as the letters of his sister Kate, who trained to be a teacher at Salisbury (1877–1879), and the reports of his acquaintance, and chief inspector of women’s training colleges (1885–1894), Joshua Fitch. At times his novel reflects the views of the inspectorate, but it also accommodates those who challenged the conception of the teacher that was otherwise imposed upon them. This article therefore contributes to recent interest in overlooked perspectives in the Victorian institution by addressing the ways in which women began shaping a profession in which they had become by far the largest constituent.

A Study of Victorian Teachers’ Beliefs About Student Behaviour and Their Perception of Preparation and Confidence to Engage inand Their Perception of Preparation and Confidence to Engage in Evidence-based Behaviour SupportEvidence-based Behaviour Support

Positive and proactive approaches to behaviour support have been recognised as one component required to create effective and inclusive school environments (Finkelstein et al., 2019). States and territories within Australia have increasingly adopted school- wide positive behavioural interventions and supports (SWPBIS) as a means to creating effective social and behavioural change (Poed & Whitefield, 2020). However, ensuring staff implement SWPBIS as it is intended has been a challenge, both in Australia and internationally (McIntosh et al., 2016; NSW Ombudsman, 2017). The current study identifies and seeks to address two gaps in the existing literature exploring noted barriers to the successful and sustained implementation of SWPBIS. First, limited exploration of teachers’ perceptions of their preparation (pre-service and in-service) and confidence to engage in SWPBIS practices and supports has been undertaken in Australia. Additionally, the degree to which teachers agree with a functional approach to understanding and supporting student behaviour has not been undertaken in an Australian context. The findings from such exploration may be used to inform the development of teacher training programs, and support efforts to successfully and sustainably implement SWPBIS in Australian schools.

‘Not Enough Time’: Identifying Victorian Teachers’ Perceptions of the Facilitators and Barriers to Supporting Improved Student Behaviour

AbstractStudents exhibiting behaviours of concern are at increased risk of poor outcomes during their school years. The implementation of school-wide positive behavioural interventions and supports (SWPBIS) has repeatedly been shown to be an effective, evidence-based approach that supports teachers to select and adopt effective practices to meet the social and behavioural needs of all learners. Implementation of SWPBIS within Australian schools is increasing. Although there is considerable evidence supporting the effectiveness and efficacy of SWPBIS as a means to improve the behavioural outcomes of all students, these positive outcomes largely depend on the actions of teachers. To this point, very limited research has been published that explores the experiences of teachers working in Australian schools currently implementing SWPBIS. The current study asked 206 Victorian teachers working in schools implementing SWPBIS two open-ended questions about the factors that they believed were facilitators or barriers to their ability to improve the behavioural outcomes of their students. The most commonly reported facilitators were availability of time, consistency of staff implementation of behaviour support, and adequate training. The most frequently identified barriers were a lack of time and inconsistent implementation. The practical and research implications of these preliminary qualitative findings are discussed.

Interprofessional Collaborating: A Model That Prepares Undergraduate Teachers and Social Workers for Interprofessional Practice in Schools

The Health Promoting School (HPS) premises its approach on interprofessional collaboration. Despite this, there are few studies into how Australian, Victorian social workers and teachers prepare for interprofessional collaboration within health promoting schools. There are few studies into how undergraduate social workers and teachers understand the HPS school setting and the role of social workers and teachers in promoting educational achievement and wellbeing within a HS school site. There are even fewer studies in how undergraduate social workers and teachers experience units of study delivered using interprofessional education (IPE) approaches.

Can a teacher-led RCT improve adolescent girls’ physical self-perception and perceived motor competence?

ABSTRACTPerceived and actual motor competence (MC) influence physical activity (PA) behaviour. Notably, both are lower in girls than in boys. This study aimed to investigate (i) whether a 12-week, teacher-led intervention that improves actual MC (Lander, N., Morgan, P. J., Salmon, J., & Barnett, L. M. (2017). Improving early-adolescent girls’ motor skill: A cluster randomized controlled trial. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 49(12), 2498–2505) could also improve adolescent girls’ physical self-perception and perceived MC, and (ii) whether change in actual MC is associated with post-intervention perceptions A randomized controlled trial with 171 girls (mean age 12.48 ± 0.34 years), measured perception (i.e., physical self-perception profile (PSPP) and pictorial scale of perceived movement skill competence (PMSC)) and actual MC (i.e., Victorian FMS Teachers’ Assessment Manual). Mixed models with post-intervention perception as the outcome, adjusting for baseline perception, group, and change in actual MC, as well as clustering, were performed. An interaction term between change in MC and intervention status was included to test the secondary aim. There were significant intervention effects on girls’ physical self-perception as well as their perceived MC. However, there was no association between change in actual MC across the intervention and post intervention perception. While the intervention improved both actual MC and perceived MC, they were not associated.

<em>Benefits Bestowed? Education and British Imperialism</em>, edited by J. A. Mangan<br/><em>The Imperial Curriculum: Racial Images and Education in the British Colonial Experience</em>, edited by J. A. Mangan<br/><em>The Making and Shaping of the Victorian Teacher: A Comparative New Cultural History</em>, by Marianne A. Larsen

Reviewed by: Benefits Bestowed? Education and British Imperialism edited by J. A. Mangan, and: The Imperial Curriculum: Racial Images and Education in the British Colonial Experience edited by J. A. Mangan, and: The Making and Shaping of the Victorian Teacher: A Comparative New Cultural History by Marianne A. Larsen Meredith Martin (bio) Benefits Bestowed? Education and British Imperialism, edited by J. A. Mangan; pp. ix + 242. Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 1988; London and New York: Routledge, reprinted 2011, £80.00, £28.00 paper, $125.00, $48.95 paper. The Imperial Curriculum: Racial Images and Education in the British Colonial Experience, edited by J. A. Mangan; pp. x + 249. London and New York: Routledge, 1993, reprinted 2011, £80.00, $125.00, $48.95 paper. The Making and Shaping of the Victorian Teacher: A Comparative New Cultural History, by Marianne A. Larsen; pp. x + 232. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, £62.00, $100.00. With Catherine Robson’s Heart Beats: Everyday Life and the Memorized Poem (2012), Mary Ellis Gibson’s Indian Angles: English Verse in Colonial India from Jones to Tagore (2011), and numerous essays and books by Tricia A. Lootens, scholars of literature are turning to the Victorian and imperial classroom with renewed attention to the ways in which cultural forms circulate and are transmitted via institutions of the state. Likewise, as [End Page 311] Marianne A. Larsen notes, recent reforms in the American and British education systems bring to the fore the ways that our “contemporary policy-0makers are not unlike the English Victorians”; “No Child Left Behind” and its complicated assessments blur to resemble the much loathed Revised Code of 1862, with what were called its “Payment by Results” schemes (5). Just as Victorian England responded to the success of the Prussian education system, so, too, does the United States education system end up in the news whenever the Associated Press reports that we have fallen, once again, far behind other first-world countries in international education rankings. One strength of Larsen’s informative book, The Making and Shaping of the Victorian Teacher, is its attempt to provide a comparative approach to Victorian education reforms, citing the ways that the Prussian education system, following the theories of Swiss reformer Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, inspired the British to nationalize and centralize their education system in the 1860s and 1870s. Though Larsen’s book, like many other histories of the Victorian education system, is bogged down by details about the variety of competing educational movements, societies, commissions, councils, methodologies, and orthodoxies, she traces a clear path through the muck of education history by following the expectations placed on the Victorian teacher—the overwhelming responsibility for the success or failure of the national system—and takes pains to show the ways in which these expectations created disciplinary and institutional control over teachers. The first section, which lays out the historical context for the study and retreads familiar theoretical approaches that have now become commonplace, reminds us of the immense amount of discourse surrounding educational practices in the first half of the nineteenth century. The second section, “Discourses of the Victorian Teacher”—particularly chapters 4, “Discourses of Crisis and Derision: Targeting the Poor and the Teacher,” and 5, “The Discourse of the Good Victorian Teacher: The Modern and Moral Teacher”—was the strongest part of the book and deserves mention because of the way it sheds light on how little has changed in our current educational landscape. The book provides a welcome range of source material about the daily life of teachers once England decided to begin institutionalizing teacher training. Thinking of teachers as students themselves—encouraged to cultivate good morals, self-reflection, and curiosity—might dispel some of the more abstract concepts of dry-as-dust pedagogues in the nineteenth century, replacing these with the ideal (perhaps seldom achieved) teacher who was not merely a disciplinarian but “a learner, a thinker, and a scholar” (76). Overall, Larsen’s account does not overturn many widely held assumptions about Victorian teachers. Schoolmasters were associated with more rigor and were more likely to discipline students; schoolmistresses were likely to be associated with maternal nurturing and to focus more on moral...

Preparatory teachers’ perceptions of school readiness: a survey of Victorian teachers

This study surveyed perspectives held by school teachers regarding factors that contribute to successful transition to school. In addition, this study explored practices in place to enhance children’s transition to school. Participants were self-nominated, preparatory teachers from publicly funded primary schools in Victoria, Australia. From 250 surveys sent to randomly selected Melbourne metropolitan schools, 153 were returned (61.2 % return rate). Numerical data were analysed descriptively and responses to open-ended questions were coded and analysed to derive common themes. All respondents identified formal processes used to assist children to transition into the first year of primary school. They also identified various child-related factors they considered important for school readiness. Factors fell broadly into cognitive, social, self-care, emotional and language domains. When asked, the majority of educators felt that age was a critical factor. Less commonly identified issues were those related to the children’s physical abilities, and their capacity to engage in learning tasks. Whilst factors identified were broad, there was a relative consistency across respondents. These findings contribute to the discourse in regards to identifying and consistently applying strategies to support children’s successful transition into school.

Teachers' Perceptions of their Abilities to be Educational Leaders in Victorian Childcare Settings

IN THE CONTEXT OF NEW national regulatory requirements for designated educational leaders in early childhood settings, 11 Victorian teachers participated in semi-structured interviews exploring their perceptions of their ability to act as educational leaders in their childcare centres. Analysis of these interviews showed that, while teachers successfully made changes within their rooms, only those with a formal title or authority expressed confidence in their ability to lead change across their centres. Barriers to leadership included lack of time and a perception that their teacher qualifications ‘did not buy authority’. A hierarchical model of leadership appeared dominant within the centres. The findings suggest both time allowance and formal role designation as strategies to support the new leadership roles, but also raise questions about the most effective models for supporting teacher leadership in childcare contexts.

The making and shaping of the Victorian teacher: a comparative new cultural history

The making and shaping of the Victorian teacher: a comparative new cultural history

Tests, testing times and literacy teaching

Across the western world there has been a continual strengthening of the educational discourse promoting standardised student testing as a valuable method for improving educational standards and student learning outcomes. However, educators and researchers in the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK) and Australia have challenged standardised testing on the grounds of democracy, equity, identity (both student and teacher) and diversity (see Gillbourn & Youdell, 2000; McNeil, 2000). This article reports on a critical mixed methods research study of a small group of Victorian teachers’ and principals’ perceptions of the inaugural National Assessment Program—Literacy & Numeracy (NAPLAN). It explores the extent to which the teaching practices associated with the national literacy assessment and its conceptualisation of literacy open up equitable and meaningful classroom teaching and learning opportunities that address the needs of students. It also reflects on the professional tensions teachers experience when negotiating adherence to external curriculum demands and being responsive to the individual learning needs of students in their classroom.

Primary teachers' linguistic knowledge and perceptions of early literacy instruction

This study examined 120 Victorian preservice and inservice teachers' ability to implement evidence-based, early literacy instruction by examining whether teachers possessed positive perceptions of explicit instruction in sound-letter relationships, and a proficient knowledge of language structure. Teachers' confidence in teaching students of known risk for learning difficulties was also investigated. Findings indicated that while teachers report positive perceptions of explicit phonics-based instruction, they generally did not nominate this approach as their predominant early literacy instruction method. School sector also influenced early literacy instruction practices and linguistic knowledge: independent school teachers reported higher linguistic knowledge scores than their Catholic counterparts and were more likely than Catholic or state school teachers to report using phonics-based instruction to teach reading. Inservice and pre-service teachers did not demonstrate adequate knowledge of metalinguistics. Also, the majority of teachers did not report high levels of confidence in their ability to teach reading to diverse student populations.

Justice at Last?: The Temporary Teachers Club and the Teaching Service (Married Women) Act 1956

In 1956, the Victorian parliament passed the Teaching Service (Married Women) Act, removing the marriage bar in the Victorian Education Department. Introduced under the 1889 Public Service Amendment Act by liberal reformers with a profoundly gendered vision for the state, the marriage bar excluded married women from teaching, deeming them temporary 'outsiders'. During World War II, married women temporary teachers returned to teaching in considerable numbers. In 1955, their lobbying in the Victorian Teachers Union led to the formation of the Temporary Teachers Club (TTC) and the waging of a 'cooperative campaign' forcing the Department's hand on the matter of reinstatement, but at a cost: the denial of their superannuation entitlements. The TTC's campaign is not only an important and overlooked episode of feminist activism in an era renowned for conservatism; it is testament to the claim that women's achievements were hard won - a struggle, not a gift.

Understanding Educator Attitudes Toward the Implementation of Inclusive Education

This paper presents the findings of an empirical study to investigate the attitudes of regular education teachers toward the implementation of inclusive education. The cited study was part of a two-pronged research inquiry which investigated teachers attitudes toward, and their concerns about inclusive education. This discourse was based on semi-structured interviews, conducted with mainstream teachers in state schools in Victoria, Australia. The results imply that Victorian teachers are in the main positively inclined towards the philosophy of inclusive education, perceiving the process as beneficial to all participants within the inclusive setting. However, they remain cautious about the inclusion of students with more severe disabilities.

Front and Back Covers. Volume 20, Number 6. December 2004

Front and back cover caption, volume 20 issue 6VICTORIAN LEGACY'Miss Perkins', a school teacher during the reign of Queen Victoria, introduces this special issue on anthropology and education. She reminds us that the Victorian era gave birth to anthropology: though initially deemed a highly controversial, even sacrilegious, pursuit, it came to be seen as promising hope for the betterment and civilization of humankind in the British Empire.In this issue Paul Sillitoe traces the earliest dissemination of anthropology back to the activities of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in the 1840s and 50s, which eventually formed a separate Section H of Anthropology in 1884. Brian Street, taking a post‐Victorian perspective, suggests that British anthropologists have lost their way with regard to education, and ignore the study of language and ethnography of communication at their peril. Paul Cooper examines how policy‐makers in government and in universities increasingly, but mistakenly, regard education as a consumer service, a commodity which can be bought and sold. Sue Wright highlights the role of education in forming the social subject, and the ways anthropology can both contribute to and analyse this process. Keith Hart argues that academics have been far too elitist about university education and moreover have failed to organize themselves effectively. Despite their own long schooling, many now earn less than school teachers. David Mills looks at what European anthropologists are saying about the Bologna Agreement, which seeks to standardize university courses and qualifications across Europe. In a separate c cccomment, Mills recollects past unfulfilled promises of anthropology's potential in schools, and how it is now anthropologists who are forced to sit in the educationalist's classroom.Miss Perkins, our Victorian teacher for this issue, is played by professional actor Karen Powell, who regularly introduces schoolchildren to the Victorian classroom at the Ragged School Museum, Mile End, London. Modern teachers today no longer enforce discipline through the dunce's cap, the cane or the backboard; the Queen's portrait is unlikely to be found in today's classrooms, and ink pens have been replaced by keyboards. Today's anthropology is not the same as that of Victorian times ‐ nevertheless, as contributors to this issue make clear, the hand of authority continues to be felt in education in various, albeit less visible, ways.

Challenging masculine privilege: The women's movement and the Victorian secondary teachers association, 1974–1995

Challenging masculine privilege: The women's movement and the Victorian secondary teachers association, 1974–1995

'Proud and Employed': The Gay and Lesbian Movement and the Victorian Teachers' Unions in the 1970s

Despite the great deal of attention given to social movements in recent years, a number of issues remain surprisingly under-explored. In particular, the relationship between various social movement...

Cultural Differences in Teachers’ Work: an ethnography

Abstract The subject of this paper is one aspect of the two cultures of ‘head work’ and ‘hand work’ in secondary education. It is based upon an ethnographic study of Victorian trade teachers who had previously been employed as tradespersons. The paper concludes that particular defining characteristics were significant in the maintenance and integrity of the trade teacher work culture. These characteristics related to: work practices that were linked to identities that had been constituted in an industrial world; attitudes to work, gender, and the perceived perspective and image of mainstream teachers; and, the architecture and society of, what were once, technical schools. This group was initially distinguished by being referred to as ‘tradies’ by both themselves and others. At the same time, they worked alongside mainstream teachers who referred to themselves as ‘academics’, but who were referred to by the trade teachers as ‘accos’ (which rhymes with tobacco and is a derivative of academic).

The impact of professional development on teachers' self perceptions

This study was designed to examine the impact of inservice professional development programs on dimensions of teachers' professional self perceptions among a sample of 273 Victorian teachers drawn from government and non-government, primary and postprimary schools. From measures on observed and latent variables of Professional Development and Self Perception, the results indicated that there were strong, positive effects of Professional Development on teachers' professional Self Perceptions, and particularly those concerned with indicators of Energy, Enthusiasm, and Satisfaction. The paper provides a detailed account of the methodology, and briefly discusses the policy-related implications of the findings.

Australian Attitudes Towards Abortion: Recent Complementary Surveys

SynopsisFew detailed studies have been undertaken concerning contemporary community attitudes towards abortion in Australia. However, two surveys have been completed recently. One is a localised survey by the authors of specific attitudes utilising structured questionnaires given both in 1976 and in 1981 to some 500 tertiary students at a Victorian primary teacher training institution. The other, by Saulwick and Associates, is a similarly structured and complementary survey conducted in 1980 throughout Australia based on a random stratified sample of 2000 households. These surveys show that attitudes vary according to male or female responses and according to educational levels and religious preferences. Likewise pro- and anti-abortion views are apparently modified depending upon the circumstances involved. They range from overwhelming endorsement of abortion in cases involving incest, rape, infant defects and maternal health, to much more uncertain or negative attitudes when it comes to ‘merely’ aborting...

Attitudes toward Reading and the Teaching of Reading in a Group of Student Teachers

AbstractThere are widespread assumptions and convictions about the importance of positive attitudes for the acquisition of reading skills, and the importance of the teacher in promoting such attitudes in pupils. But the teacher and his/her attitudes are relatively neglected variables in the massive reading research literature. This paper reports the construction of a semantic differential instrument to assess primary school teachers' attitudes toward reading and the teaching of reading. The instrument was administered to 317 final year prospective primary school teachers from five Victorian teachers' colleges. The semantic differential data were analyzed in two different ways and the correlational patterns obtained from each analysis are discussed. Components of the attitude instrument were found to be related to reading achievement.