A Grounded Theory Analysis of the Impacts of Multicampus Colleges' Structural Reform on Pedagogies and Learning in 14 Public Secondary Schools in New South Wales

Abstract

Starting in 1998, the New South Wales Department of Education and Training reconfigured three of its Years 7-12 comprehensive schools into 'middle schools' structured with only Years 7-10 cohorts. It then built a new site structured as the Years 11-12 senior campus for the three middle schools. The four schools were integrated into one 'Collegiate' and thus the multicampus college model was introduced into the New South Wales secondary school system. Within six years of that initiative, 34 comprehensive schools were reconfigured and amalgamated into 11 multicampus colleges. By 2004, the model had become a major player providing education to 23,530 students in 10% of all New South Wales secondary schools. To date, little research has investigated the effectiveness of this relatively new model. This paper uses a grounded theory approach to develop a Dynamics Paradigm which is then used to analyse the impacts of the multicampus college model on pedagogies and learning in 14 of the secondary schools which are integrated into multicampus colleges in New South Wales. The paper concludes that: 1. the grounded theory approach is an effective tool for research into the key structural and cultural dynamics that need to be investigated to extend an understanding of the meaning emerging in the multicampus college model 2. the multicampus college model creates opportunities for improved pedagogies and learning outcomes; and 3. the multicampus college model calls for greater research and public debate.