Secondary student conceptualisations of subjects facing a survival dilemma: The relationship between student conceptualisation, motivation, and value proposition in the case of technology and languages.
- Publication Type:
- Thesis
- Issue Date:
- 2025
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Technology and languages education in Australia face a crisis of participation and performance. Calls for greater participation in technology subjects exist alongside a recognition of a greater need for foreign language learning. There is a dilemma to resource schools in subject areas of perceived need yet lower enrolments. Investigation in this study is based on student conceptualisations of technology and languages subjects produced in participant-drawn concept maps and interviews. Qualitative content analysis revealed the nature of student conceptualisation and the extent that value perception played in student motivation and subject selection. This thesis reports on the application of the conceptual frame of ‘disruptive innovation’ to understand value perceptions held by students in the case of technology and languages. Findings inform schools on how the application of specific strategies to the dilemma embedded in a disruptive frame may be applied by school decision-makers to (1) better equip schools in subject resource allocation, and (2) enable students to better identify value in subjects they select. For technology and languages teachers, approaches are presented for enhancing student participation and better aligning subject delivery with student expectations.
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