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A Comparative Study of Controversy in the Education Systems of Western Australia, Victoria and New Zealand: Community Participation in Government Schools 1985-1993

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A Comparative Study of Controversy in the Education Systems of Western Australia, Victoria and New Zealand: Community Participation in Government Schools 1985-1993 Edith Cowan University Research Online Theses: Doctorates and Masters Theses 1-1-1998 A comparative study of controversy in the education systems of Western Australia, Victoria and New Zealand: Community participation in government schools 1985-1993 Anne M. Coffey Edith Cowan University Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses Part of the Educational Administration and Supervision Commons Recommended Citation Coffey, A. M. (1998). A comparative study of controversy in the education systems of Western Australia, Victoria and New Zealand: Community participation in government schools 1985-1993. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1001 This Thesis is posted at Research Online. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1001 Edith Cowan University Copyright Warning You may print or download ONE copy of this document for the purpose of your own research or study. The University does not authorize you to copy, communicate or otherwise make available electronically to any other person any copyright material contained on this site. You are reminded of the following: Copyright owners are entitled to take legal action against persons who infringe their copyright. A reproduction of material that is protected by copyright may be a copyright infringement. Where the reproduction of such material is done without attribution of authorship, with false attribution of authorship or the authorship is treated in a derogatory manner, this may be a breach of the author’s moral rights contained in Part IX of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Courts have the power to impose a wide range of civil and criminal sanctions for infringement of copyright, infringement of moral rights and other offences under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Higher penalties may apply, and higher damages may be awarded, for offences and infringements involving the conversion of material into digital or electronic form. A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CONTROVERSY IN THE EDllCATION SYSTEMS OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA, VICTORIA AND NEW ZEALAND: COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS 1985-1993. by Anne Marie Coffey A Thesis submitted in Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of Doctor of Philosophy At the Department of Educational Polic)' and Administrative Studies, Edith Cowan University Perth, Western Australia Date of Submission: October 6, 1998 USE OF THESIS The Use of Thesis statement is not included in this version of the thesis. ABSTRACT The releasi: of lktter Schools in Westem Australia: A / 1rogrm11111e J;,,. /111provement ( 1987). in line with other public sector agency reforms, contained a prescription for the restructuring ofthi: Education Department of Western Australia from a bureaucratic to a corporate managcment system of school administration. These changes were intended to render the education system. and especially schools. more flexible. responsive and accountable. Among the proposals for edur.dtional restructuring was a new opportunity frlf community participation through ··school based decision making groups.'" Contemporaneously. the education systems in Victoria and New Zealand were undergoing similar reforms. The research agenda for this thesis is based on two questions. The first research question is: In what ways did the reforms conducted by the governments in Western Australia, Victoria and New Zealand change the participation of the school community in school decision making in state schools during the period 1985-1993? The extent to which the new organisational structures, based upon corporate management, facilitated the admission of the school community into the school decision making process is investigated. In order to facilitate the analysis of policy, this thesis develops a conceptualisation of the notion of controversy. The controversy framework involves the investigation of a number of elements of a controversy - stimulus, context, events, issues, arguments, protagonists, constraints, consequences and closure. The use of this framework is intended to assist in educational policy rnalysis by highlighting and elaborating upon the interdependent elements, including power relationships, involved in educational policy formulation and implementation. The second research question is: 11 How effective is controversy as!• framing device for educational policy analysis'' The adequacy of '\:ontroversy" as a framing device is evahiated at the conclusion of the thesis. In order to in\'Cstigatc the research problems a variety of data was gathered and analysed. Scrutiny of the major Government and Education Department policy documents as well as a review of literature such as journals, books, newspapers, and documents produced by organisations such as teacher unions, was undertaken. In the case of Western Australia face-to-face interviews \Vere conducted. A series of video-taped interviews with major actors in the controversy in Western Australia was also used in the data gathering process. The data was then systematically ordered using the controversy framework which enabled comparison of the controversies in Western Australia. Victoria and New Zealand. The conclusions drawn focus upon the manner in which corporate management and genuine democratic community participation are antipathetic. Despite rhetoric to the contrary, the school community was unable to exert meaningful influence upon the direction being charted for government schools. As a framing device for educational policy analysis it is concluded that controversy. at this preliminary stage. appears to have merit and further use and refinement of this framework is recommended. DF:CLARATION ") certil)1 that this thesis does not incorporate, without acknowledgement, any material previously submitted for a degree or diploma in any institute of higher education and that, to the best cf my belief: it does not contain any material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the text., . '-/ Anne Coffey Date: c2 8 / 7 J.:; 7 ACKNOWLED(;F:MENTS In submitting this thesis I wish lo acknowkdge a debt of gratitude to the following people who have assisted me immensely during the course of this study. I am enormously indebted to my supervisor. Dr Bruce Haynes. whose wisdom and wit han! provided a constant challenge and source of invigoration during the past eight years. Thanks must also be extended to my assistant supervisors Dr Mike Harvey and Dr Norm Hyde whose insightful criticisms. suggestions and support have assisted greatly in the writing of this thesis. The suppo11 of my family has been immeasurable. I owe a considerable debt of gratitude to my parents and sister whose continued encouragement and confidence has been greatly appreciated. Finally. I thank Mark and my son Shaun. for their forbearance and support during the past, somewhat difficult. eight years. TABLE OF CONTENTS C'haptcr 1- Introduction ............................................................................................ 1 Background ......................................................................................................... 1 The Research J>roblcm ........................................................................................ 2 Controversy as the Key Conceptual Frame ........................................................ 2 The Research Questions ..................................................................................... 3 Methodology ....................................................................................................... 4 Significance of the Study .................................................................................... 7 Structure of the Thesis ........................................................................................ 7 Chapter 2 - School Community Participation and Power...................................... 9 The School Co1nnn1nity ...................................................................................... 9 Devolution ........................................................................................................ 10 Power and School Community Participation ................................................... 12 Participation ...................................................................................................... 18 Bureaucracy and Corporate Management. ........................................................ 21 Chapter 3 - Controversy .......................................................................................... 26 \Vhat is a Controversy? ................................................................................... .26 Closure ............................................................................................................ 31 The Merits of Controversy ............................................................................ 33 Chapter 4 - Controversy: School Community Participation in the Western Australian State Education System l 987-1993 ...................................................... 37 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 3 7 4.1 Stimulus .................................................................................................... 3 7 4.2 Context ...................................................................................................... 38 4.3 Eve;lts ......................................................................................................... 47 4.3.1 The Phas~ One Report ...........................................................
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