Kelli McGraw

In 2010 I completed a doctoral thesis in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney titled ‘Innovation and change in the 1999 NSW HSC English syllabus: Challenges and problems’:

In very general terms, the purpose of this research project is to analyse the 1999 HSC English syllabus, as well as its reception and implementation, in order to produce an account of the theoretical changes and innovations that are embedded in the syllabus documents, and challenges and problems that continue to shape the way it is perceived by a variety of stakeholders and delivered in the classroom. (McGraw: thesis introduction)

My doctoral research analyses the 1999 HSC English curriculum in NSW.  Specifically, I collected evidence relating to the development and implementation of the 1999 HSC syllabus for the mainstream mandatory courses in English (i.e. the Standard and Advanced courses), and explored both the innovations inherent in the syllabus, as well as some of the resulting challenges.

You can download the thesis in full via Sydney Uni Digital Theses (Open Access).

In my thesis I report on three sets of data:

1. Content analysis of newspaper items appearing in the major state and national papers from 1995-2005
2. Teacher interviews and observations
3. Selective content analysis (using theoretical sampling) of the syllabus and related documents

My findings relating to how the syllabus was challenged in various newspapers were published in English in Australia (2005): HSC English in the Media: The Reporting of Conventions and Controversies.

You can find posts on this blog relating to my PhD thesis by browsing the research category.