Kingston RES 6101 Research Preparation Methods of Research The Kingston Data Semester One 2023 Please note Your assessment for the unit is based on interpretation and analysis of the data included in[.]
Edith Cowan University School of Education RES 6101 Research Preparation: Methods of Research The Kingston Data Semester One 2023 Please note: Your assessment for the unit is based on interpretation and analysis of the data included in this section Author: Dr Jan Gray Unit Coordinator: Dr Henny Nastiti Phone: (08) 6304 5677 Email: h.nastiti@ecu.edu.au Mt Lawley Campus, Building 16, Room ML 16.230 Research Preparation: Methods of Research: Kingston Data ECU 2023 – Author: Dr Jan Gray RES 6101 Semester One 2023 RES 6101 Semester One 2023 Research Preparation: Methods of Research: Kingston Data CONTENTS Table of Contents KINGSTON NEWSPAPER ARTICLE NEWSPAPER ARTICLES .10 OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH PROJECTS FOR SARAH AND MARTIN .11 PROFILE OF SARAH 13 SARAH’S NOTES FOR HER SUPERVISOR, MARGARET, 10 APRIL 14 INTERVIEW 16 INTERVIEW 19 INTERVIEW 22 THESIS OUTLINE .24 FILE NOTE: SARAH’S RESEARCH DESIGN .25 SARAH’S DRAFT WHICH SHE TRIALLED ON 14 FRIENDS IT HAS 12 ITEMS .26 CODING KEY FOR ALIENATION SCALE 27 TRIAL DATA MATRIX 28 SARAH’S MEMO TO MARGARET REGARDING THE RESULTS OF THE PRE-TEST 30 COMMUNITY SURVEY .32 COMMUNITY SURVEY .33 CODING KEY FOR DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION FROM THE COMMUNITY SURVEY 35 DATA MATRIX OF PRE-TEST ALIENATION SCALE ITEMS AND TOTALS .36 DATA MATRIX OF POST-TEST ALIENATION SCALE ITEMS AND TOTALS 37 OVERALL DATA MATRIX OF PRE AND POST-TEST TOTALS AND DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES 38 PROFILE OF MARTIN 40 MARTIN’S NOTES TO HIS SUPERVISOR, JEAN (1) .41 MARTIN’S NOTES TO HIS SUPERVISOR, JEAN (1) .45 MARTIN’S FIELD NOTES 49 MARTIN’S LETTER OF CONSENT 50 PLAN FOR INITIAL FIVE INTERVIEWS BEFORE SCHOOL CLOSURE 52 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS: JANICE 54 INTERVIEW .55 PROFILE OF ‘SHARON’ .60 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS: SHARON .61 INTERVIEW .62 PROFILE OF ‘DIANNE’ .67 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS: DIANNE 68 FIELD NOTES FROM INFORMAL INTERVIEWS 73 REVISED INTERVIEW PLAN FOR POST SCHOOL CLOSURE INTERVIEWS 75 PROFILE OF ‘JO’ .76 PROFILE OF ‘SUSAN’ 81 CONCEPTUAL MEMO: APRIL .93 INITIAL CATEGORY SYSTEM 94 Research Preparation: Methods of Research: Kingston Data RES 6101 Semester One 2023 This material may only be copied with permission of the current author Jan Gray ECU 2023 – Author: Dr Jan Gray RES 6101 Semester One 2023 Research Preparation: Methods of Research: Kingston Data Kingston Kingston is a small wheatbelt town 60 km from Beganup, the nearest regional centre Although Kingston is isolated by distance from the major regional centres in the state, it is reasonably well served in terms of other forms of communication The wheatbelt region has a comprehensive network of roads and rail freight transport lines developed to cater for transportation of freight and grain A postal agency is situated in the town and metropolitan mail is delivered within three working days STD and ISD networks are accessible to Kingston residents, along with limited radio and television services Major metropolitan and national newspapers are available daily at the local newsagency Kingston used to print a weekly community newspaper, but despite the clearly identified local interest, the community can no longer support the cost of the local newspaper and is now served by the monthly regional community newspaper published in Beganup Although the population of Kingston for 2007 was registered as 1103, many of these people are families who reside on farms surrounding the township A ‘local’ population of 607 (including 58 Aboriginal people) represents the business and professional community and itinerant workers and their children Most of the employed population of the Kingston township are in some form of service profession such as education, law enforcement or paramedical services Many of the teachers and their families play a significant role in local and district recreational organisations Many members of the farming community have been long standing residents over several generations Members of these families hold most of the offices in local organisations in Kingston and have considerable influence in community decisions The community of Kingston supports a local branch of the state bank incorporated into the pharmacy, a supermarket, a hardware store, a stock and station agency, two hotels, two petrol stations and several small businesses Local residents travel to the Beganup Medical Centre for all health care, as there is no longer a doctor resident in Kingston The population of Kingston is declining Farms are becoming larger as families buy out their neighbours, or sell to absentee farmers Employment prospects for young people and for redundant employees are very limited To counter this decline, younger members of the local community have introduced several entrepreneurial ventures A new craft centre has been opened in town and plans are being made to open a second hand bookshop/coffee shop Research Preparation: Methods of Research: Kingston Data RES 6101 Semester One 2023 The school at Kingston is a district high school, traditionally catering for children between the ages of five and fifteen, although with the new legislation for raising the school leaving age, the legal expectation in 2009 will be to cater for all students to the age of seventeen It has been operational since 1892, with many current secondgeneration students at the school All six teacher assistants and all maintenance staff employed at the school are local residents As such, it has been one of the focal points of social life and local employment within the community for over three decades Many of the school facilities are used for recreational and communityoriented club activities This extensive network of community involvement provides a cohesive sense of belonging and ownership to Kingston residents There are currently 118 students enrolled at Kingston District High School Despite the reasonably consistent numbers in early primary years, there are currently only 22 students in high school Most classes in the school include combined year groups, with all classes in primary school well below 30 students There are 12 primary school staff at Kingston DHS (including three specialist teachers), assisted by teacher assistants Table Number of Primary School Students at Kingston DHS in 2005 PP Yr 1/2 Yr 3/4 Yr 5/6 16 26 22 19 To cater for the decline in numbers for students in years to 10, at the beginning of the 2004 school year the principal of Kingston DHS amalgamated the four year groups to form a Middle School There are 35 students in the Middle School, who are taught by staff in a range of groupings appropriate to curriculum needs Table Number of Middle School Students at Kingston DHS in 2005 Yr Yr Yr Yr 10 13 10 Despite protests by the Kingston community, a political decision has been made to close the high school section of Kingston DHS, leaving only the pre-primary and primary sections of the school Students in years to 10 will travel 60 km by school bus to Beganup Senior High School to complete their secondary schooling The decision to close the high school has been justified by the Education Department with enrolment figures and staffing numbers over the last nine years (see Table 3) and in light of the proposed changes in legislation for the raised school leaving age ECU 2023 – Author: Dr Jan Gray RES 6101 Semester One 2023 Research Preparation: Methods of Research: Kingston Data Table Student enrolment data for Kingston DHS 1995/2005 Year Students Teaching Staff Non- Teaching Staff 1995 215 24 12 1996 208 22 12 1997 190 21 10 1998 167 20 10 1999 150 20 10 2000 149 20 2001 127 20 2002 126 20 2003 126 19 2004 123 19 2005 118 19 Research Preparation: Methods of Research: Kingston Data ECU 2023 – Author: Dr Jan Gray RES 6101 Semester One 2023 Newspaper article Page THE CHRONICLE THURSDAY FEBRUARY 11 Town protests school closure plan By Gail Sheedy THE Kingston school community is up in arms over reports that the secondary school is to close at the end of the year There had been talk since 1995 about the possibility of closure Kingston High School, a combined primary and secondary school, has been open since 1892 School deputy-principal, Harold Whitehead, disclosed at last night’s meeting of the local Parents and Citizen’s Association that he was expecting a transfer at the end of the year to a new school because the Education Department had finally decided to close the high school section Secondary students would be bussed to Beganup Senior High School, according to Mr Whitehead The primary school would stay open Principal Jill Bateson would not comment last night on Mr Whitehead’s disclosure “I will be contacting the District Superintendent as soon as possible,” she said Shire President, Alan Rixon, said he was outraged by the suggestion of closure “I was talking to the Minister for Education last month He didn’t breathe a word about the closure,” Mr Rixon said “This is a marginal electorate and there’s an election early next year Our local member, Bob Pearson will block the closure, for sure Those economic rationalists in the city need to be put in their place,” he added School Parents and Citizens’ Association President, Dick Fels, said that his phone had been running hot since the news leaked out The P & C would be holding a special meeting on Friday night to discuss the possible closure “We aren’t a wealthy community,” he said “The high school has to stay open The future of the town depends on it.” 10 Research Preparation: Methods of Research: Kingston Data RES 6101 Semester One 2023 Newspaper articles Page 15 THE CHRONICLE THURSDAY FEBRUARY 12 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Community say no We were not consulted OUR SCHOOL is very important to our community and we have worked extremely hard over the past decade to make sure our kids get the best facilities and education possible It is not right for city bureaucrats who don’t even know our town to make a decision about whether our school should remain open It is not right that the government simply decides to close our school without even consulting us As a community we will fight this closure We stick together out here in the country and any city bureaucrat who thinks we’ll simply close the school obviously hasn’t bothered to get to know us As parents, we want our children to be educated locally, and we will fight for this right THERE HAS been talk for years about closing our school How come decisions have been made about closing the high school section without consulting those of us who have children involved in changes? I am not interested in having my children forced to spend hours in a hot bus travelling to school each day We are not a rich community and closing the high school will mean some parents chose to send all their children to Beganup schools Our community will suffer, and business will be lost I find it insulting to hear of such an important decision through rumours and newspaper reports We will fight this decision I don’t believe ways can’t be found to fund keeping the school open I would like the Director of School Operations to know in Kingston we have ‘economic concerns’ too My children deserve better than this JANICE GEOFFREY Kingston ANN MASTERS Kingston School closure scandal IT IS scandalous to think economic rationalism can be used as justification for closing a school which has been operating effectively within our community since 1892 It is also scandalous to think this move had to be carried out without true consultation with our community Were you afraid of our reactions, Minister? Our community is faced with paying a terrible price for your callous action The school employs many people from our community and provides the mainstay for many local businesses Shame on you, Minister, for underhand decisions made away from our town C WOODHAMS Kingston ECU 2023 – Author: Dr Jan Gray