School of Education

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https://hdl.handle.net/2440/108101
This collection contains Honours, Masters and Ph.D by coursework theses from University of Adelaide postgraduate students within the School of Education. The material has been approved as making a significant contribution to knowledge.

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Browsing School of Education by Advisors "White, Mathew"

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    How does outdoor education develop character and spirituality in an all-boys school?
    (2020) James, Catherine; White, Mathew; School of Education
    This dissertation will investigate the role outdoor education plays to develop character and spirituality in an all-boys school. Many independent all-boys’ schools in Australia use outdoor education as a mechanism to develop character as part of a holistic curriculum. Outdoor education is far from a series of disjointed activities completed in an outdoor environment, it has the opportunity to integrate and develop character and spirituality in adolescents. This study asks, how does outdoor education develop character and spirituality in an all-boys school? Adopting the neo-Aristotelian theoretical framework of character education, developed by the Jubilee Centre, the dissertation investigates the application of character and spirituality in an outdoor education program at an all-boys school (n=1100) in Adelaide, established in 1867.This dissertation highlights and critiques the frameworks for character, spirituality and outdoor education from the literature, analyses how character and spirituality may be integrated within an outdoor education program and evaluates the opportunities to integrate character and spirituality in an all-boys school. A systematic literature review and document analysis was undertaken. Documents analysed included the Research School’s outdoor educational programs from years 3 to 9. The results of the analysis highlight how outdoor educational experiences are out of balance within the development of different character virtues, as they are dominated by the performance virtues, whilst overlooking the intellectual, moral and civic virtues. Following the analysis, the dissertation provides for three recommendations. Firstly, a comprehensive audit of all the activities in the outdoor education programs, to identify the character and spirituality developments. Secondly, further debate with senior leadership regarding the more comprehensive integration between school values, culture and outdoor education. Finally, an ongoing recommendation of staff development and learning to ensure the alignment of these theories within teaching practices.
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    ItemOpen Access
    How does sport develop character at an all-boys’ school?
    (2020) McCallum, Heath; White, Mathew; School of Education
    Schools, and particularly independent all-boys’ schools, spend significant time and financial resources providing sporting opportunities to their students on the assumption that competitive sport provides important character development opportunities. Competitive sport may also have tangible negative impacts on character development, including promoting violence and bullying, reinforcing gender stereotypes, and promoting heteronormative ideals. Given the rich historical role sport plays in many allboys’ schools, this can be a difficult to reconcile. This research investigates how sport develops character at an all-boys’ school in Adelaide, South Australia, adopting the neo-Aristotelian framework developed by the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues. Using document analysis to review the historical relationship between character education and sport, the research finds that there is significant rhetoric when it comes to the claims about sport, but little evidence about its benefits. The study argues there is potential for character development from competitive sport, but only with well-designed frameworks with well-trained staff in coaching positions. Without a comprehensive character education framework at the school level (or better yet the national level), there are diminishing returns to time and financial resource investment by schools. Schools must also be mindful of the potential negative implications from promoting a culture where sport dominates, particularly the impact it has on the boy’s achievement gap, and those students who do not possess natural athletic ability. This tension applies to every school in Australia, though more research is needed on the character development potential of competitive sport, the potential harm a sports culture can do to students, and how to get the most benefit out of time spent on sport.