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The "problem of practice" that is the focus of the study in this thesis has arisen from the writer's current position as principal in a primary school. Across the state of New South Wales as well as across Australia, primary schools are involved in the adoption of syllabuses expressed in terms of student learning outcomes. The study seeks to investigate, through qualitative analysis, the ways in which three primary schools have gone about the process of adopting outcomes-based syllabus. The study suggests a model to explain the processes occurring in each school. ... The study also recognises a growing distortion in emphasis and balance in teaching the Key Learning Areas. Schools are accommodating a dichotomous tension. The tension arises from a systemically driven, functionalist school performance agenda based on measuring outcomes and an interpretive approach that is being adopted by practitioners in implementing syllabuses based on student learning outcomes. A model is proposed that attempts to explain common patterns and stages of development in the three schools. The researcher recommends similar research in other primary schools through the application of the model in a wider context. Asking whether teaching and learning are actually improved through outcomes-based syllabuses should underpin any future research to test the implicit assumption that such syllabuses are better than syllabuses based on content or process. Finally, the study suggests research into effective educational leadership In schools that are becoming incrementally more self-managing. |
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