by Nicholas Klar

A Supervised Project (Thesis) undertaken by Nicholas Klar in 1998/9, supervised by Lesley McAuley-Jones of University of South Queensland.

Grade: A (Distinction)

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A brief overview of the rationale and index for the project:

I began this project after being appointed History Co-ordinator at Temple Christian College in Adelaide. The department had previously suffered from a lack of materials and focus, plus a high turnover in teachers. Most of the materials, curriculum and lesson plans (where available) were quite dated. The syllabus was disparate and the History objectives drawn up for the middle school did not even match what was being taught. Sadly, a lack of enthusiasm from the students for the subject was evident early on.

Encouraged by the many new eager teachers in the department I undertook a complete restructure from the ground up. This included a review and purchase of materials (including more use of AV and IT), a new curriculum for the middle school with measurable outcomes (moving away from the present Eurocentric syllabus, and including new "Asia" and "Cold War" modules), ensuring the teaching of basic history skills in Year Eight, provision for liaison and support with other faculties, a dedicated history resource library, a new senior school history seminar room, a mission statement, regular faculty meetings, the construction a History Handbook, and set modules / lesson plans / core examinations.

Using a Project Management methodology, just some of the attributes taken into account were,

Resources

Planning

Supervision

School organisation

Time management

Change and its effect on the staff

Evaluation

Policy and documentation

The Project was undertaken in three stages

STAGE I : Conceptual Report: Overview, Goals & Theory

1.0.0. Rationale for the Project

1.0.1. Problems

1.1.0. Introduction

1.2.0. Why study History at Temple?

1.3.0. Initial Considerations

1.4.0. A Profile of the School

1.4.1. The School Philosophy

1.4.2. Students and Backgrounds

1.4.3. School Stakeholders

1.4.4. Staff

1.4.5. Staff Factors to Consider

1.4.6. Courses

1.4.7. History Faculty

1.4.8. Summary

1.4.9. Other Factors to Consider

1.5.0. Conclusion

Stage Two: Development & Implementation

2.0.0. Suggested Methodology / Procedural Plan

2.1.0. A Suggested Framework

2.1.1 Stage One: Conception, Consultation, and Planning

2.1.2. Stage Two: Priorities and Specifications

2.1.3. Stage Three: Development

2.1.4. Stage Four: Implementation

2.1.5. Stage Five: Evaluation and Maintenance

2.2.0. Decision Making Practices

2.3.0. A Definition?

2.4.0. Consultation and Feedback

2.5.0. Concerns to be addressed

2.6.0. Further recommendations

2.7.0. Conclusion

Stage III: Evaluation & Maintenance

3.0.0. Formal evaluation

3.0.1. Factors to consider

3.1.0. Preparing the evaluation plan

3.2.0. Strategies and Aims

3.3.0. Evaluation Models

3.4.0. Who should be involved?

3.5.0. A suggested curriculum evaluation form.

3.6.0. Conducting the evaluation

3.7.0. A critique of the evaluation model

3.8.0 The final decisions

3.9.0. Problems recognised and suggested solutions

3.10.0. Positives

3.11.0. The Final Word

© 1999-2008, Nicholas Klar, PO Box 280, Brighton SA 5048, AUSTRALIA 

May be reproduced for personal use only. Any reproduction in print or in any fixed or for-profit medium is not allowed without written permission. If any of these pages are copied, downloaded or printed the copyright statement must remain attached.

Any use of this or other works for academic and/or other research must be duly acknowledged by bibliography or reference.

REF: Nicholas Klar, 1999, "A Broad Restructuring of the Temple College History Department - Planning, Implementation, and Results", www.klarbooks.com/academic/Thesis.html + date accessed