Author: Alan Laslett
Laslett, Alan, 2018 An inquiry into the value of embedding English studies into the interdisciplinary program at the Australian Science and Mathematics School as a preparation for further studies and post-school work: A case study 2003 to 2010, Flinders University, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work
Terms of Use: This electronic version is (or will be) made publicly available by Flinders University in accordance with its open access policy for student theses. Copyright in this thesis remains with the author. You may use this material for uses permitted under the Copyright Act 1968. If you are the owner of any included third party copyright material and/or you believe that any material has been made available without permission of the copyright owner please contact copyright@flinders.edu.au with the details.
This single-site case study employing narrative inquiry methodology was designed to investigate what past students valued and deemed to be effective from their studies of English embedded in an interdisciplinary curriculum delivered across Years 10 and 11 at The Australian Science and Mathematics School (ASMS). The school was a joint development between the South Australian Department of Education and Children’s Services and Flinders University. It opened in 2003 with a mandate, as dictated in its Charter (Context Statement, 2011, Appendix 1), to foster excellence in science and mathematics education amongst students and local, national and international educators. The interdisciplinary curriculum embraced concepts, issues and applications central to the conventional sciences and studies generally associated with the arts and humanities, including English. These were integrated and delivered through eight Central Studies programs over a two year cycle. The assessment procedures and course content were designed to meet the requirements of the South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) Stage 1. While a number of reviews and studies have produced reports that provide an evaluation of the success of the school as an educational institution and in meeting the goals of fostering excellence in mathematics and science education, no study has specifically examined the place and value of English, a mandatory subject for the completion of the SACE, as a component of the interdisciplinary approach.
Data were collected from hour-long guided interviews conducted with a sample of randomly selected past students who graduated from the school between the years 2003 and 2010, and from archival materials. The interview transcripts were subsequently re-shaped and presented as narratives. The initial analysis focussed on the collated recollections and evaluative comments of the graduates. Because of the nature of the interdisciplinary program, much of what the graduates responded to related to the overall benefits they experienced from engaging in an interdisciplinary approach and consequently only in part to their specific experiences with English studies. While several graduates felt that there should have been a greater emphasis on literary analysis as a preparation for Stage 2 studies in English, and almost all commented on the limited focus on teaching the conventions of written English, overall they were positive about what was delivered as a preparation for Stage 2 studies and even more so about the preparation for post-school studies, work and life in general. In fact, the influence of the school in developing skills for living was highly regarded.
The dissertation also examines the changing nature of English both as a school subject and as an academic discipline and seeks to align the responses of the graduate students and the goals espoused by the ASMS to some contemporary trends in English education to inform the curriculum leadership team of the ASMS and encourage other sites to examine inventive possibilities.
Keywords: Interdisciplinary, interdisciplinarity, English studies, Australian Science and Mathematics School
Subject: Education thesis
Thesis type: Professional Doctorate
Completed: 2018
School: College of Education, Psychology and Social Work
Supervisor: Dr Pam Bartholomaeus