Conceptions and Construction of Contemporary Australian Bachelor of Arts Programs Deanne Gannaway BA Grad Dip Ed (Wits), MEd (USQ) Student ID: 2049303 School of Education Faculty of Education, Humanities and Law Flinders University Date of Submission: March 2015 Supervisors: Professor Janice Orrell (Flinders), Professor Fred D’Agostino (UQ) and Professor Faith Trent (Flinders) ABSTRACT The Bachelor of Arts (BA) is the oldest and largest undergraduate degree program in Australia, graduating thousands of students since 1856. Yet contemporary Australian BA programs are under pressure. Deans of Humanities, Arts and Social Science faculties report challenges in articulating the contribution that BA programs make to the preparation of a workforce suited for a knowledge economy. They describe declining enrolments in the BA and increasing attrition rates. They also note a systemic absence of reliable data required to judge the capacity of Arts programs to support and respond to national strategic ambitions. This study maps and deconstructs planned curricula of BA programs offered in Australian universities between 2007 and 2011. The study draws on comparative historical analyses techniques supplemented with data collected and analysed using focused ethnography methods. This approach enabled a sector-wide scan and analysis of Arts programs at all 39 Australian universities, supplemented by a detailed, focused study of curriculum and processes at three institutions. Publicity materials, official curriculum documentation and personal perspectives were collected and analysed in an iterative manner across five stages of analysis using a framework of common curricula elements: purpose, content and sequencing. As a result of the changing context, programs are increasingly pressured to meet the needs of a knowledge economy. This pressure results in explicit responses to marketization, managerialism and performativity imperatives requiring curriculum to be viewed from a whole-of-program perspective. Sustained system-wide curricula changes indicate a tendency among Australian Arts programs to embrace the discourse of preparing work- ready graduates, together with a narrowing of discipline offerings and increasingly more prescriptive curriculum structures. A further impact of the changing context is that curricula in generalist Arts programs are becoming increasingly operationalised and constructed at the level of program, rather than at the level of discipline or major. ABSTRACT 1 However, changes made in response to the external and internal pressures did not follow a common trend. Instead, differences in the ways that institutions chose to respond to these pressures resulted in Australian Arts programs taking different forms and purposes across the sector. Despite having similar titles, four distinct models of Arts programs were identified through this research. These different models were also found to be in operation within single institutions. Individuals with different levels of responsibility for curriculum within the same institution were found to hold different views of the program. Despite these differences, those interviewed assumed a consensus of opinion within their institution and across the sector about the purpose and construction of Arts degrees. This thesis contributes to curriculum practices in higher education by providing a sector-wide view of the contemporary Arts curriculum landscape. It addresses the need for empirical evidence and provides definitions to support the development of a verifiable evidence-base that can be used to inform future decision-making. It also offers models that can be used as heuristics to facilitate informed planning of Arts curricula. The study contributes to higher education curriculum theory by generating an understanding of the impact of the neoliberal milieu on curriculum planning in Australian Arts programs, tracing the decision-making paths in curriculum planning in generalist programs. Finally, it offers a research methodology that combines comparative historical analysis with focused ethnography as a useful approach to researching higher education curriculum. ABSTRACT 2 DECLARATION I certify that this thesis does not incorporate without acknowledgment any material previously submitted for a degree or diploma in any university; and that to the best of my knowledge and belief it does not contain any material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the text. Deanne Gannaway, March 2015 DECLARATION 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENT I would like to thank my beloved husband, Dennis, and our two wonderful children, Andi and Kaylee, for all they have given and, perhaps more importantly, given up. You have provided me with the motivation and the capacity to keep going through your steadfast faith in my ability to succeed whenever I was overwhelmed (which was often!). In particular I want to thank Dennis for the long Saturday afternoon think-tanks, for all the time spent being a patient sounding board for so many brainstorm sessions, for your constant and consistent support. Without you, I would never have been able to climb my Everest. This thesis is also the culmination of the unwavering faith that my parents have always had in my ability to engage with intellectual pursuits. Thank you for supporting my initial steps into academia and ensuring that I continued along this path, doing everything within your power to enable and support me whenever I needed you. I am eternally grateful for the support, career advice and inspiration from the co- supervisory team, Fred D’Agostino and Faith Trent for the calm reassurance and sage advice that kept me on track. I am indebted to my friend, mentor and supervisor, Janice Orrell, for sound advice and for generous hospitality whenever I needed to spend some focused time on the thesis in Adelaide. While you keep saying it was part of your job, I am sure that late night and weekend phone calls, amazing dinners and brainstorming telephone calls at 11pm are beyond the traditional scope of supervision! Particular thanks to Dr Patricie Mertova for ongoing support and editorial expertise in proofreading this thesis. I would also like to acknowledge the support of the Deans of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, who supported this project through providing unprecedented access to members and the datasets collected for other purposes. Finally, I would like to acknowledge and thank all those who were interviewed, provided information and who participated in so many ways in this research. ACKNOWLEDGMENT 4 DEDICATION This work is dedicated to Andi and Kaylee, quintessential BA students, who, despite the pressure to study something “sensible” that reflected their stellar school exit scores and would guarantee them a well-paid job on graduation, opted to follow their academic passion. And to every one of those who make it possible for them to do so. DEDICATION 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................... 1 DECLARATION ......................................................................................................... 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENT ............................................................................................... 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................... 6 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ 9 LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ 10 GLOSSARY ............................................................................................................. 11 KEY TERMS ................................................................................................................. 11 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................ 14 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 15 1. BACKGROUND .................................................................................................... 15 1.1. Impact of neoliberalism on Australian BA curricula ................................................. 19 1.2. Scope of existing investigations and arguments....................................................... 20 1.3. Focus on the level of program .................................................................................. 20 1.4. An Australian focus ................................................................................................... 21 1.5. A paucity of data ...................................................................................................... 21 2. OVERVIEW .......................................................................................................... 21 2.1. Research Questions .................................................................................................. 21 2.2. Research Approach ................................................................................................... 22 3. CONTRIBUTION .................................................................................................. 23 4. THESIS STRUCTURE ............................................................................................ 24 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ..........................................................................