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Dorothy Kass, Ph.D., Macquarie University. Posted .
The Commission on Primary, Secondary, Technical, and Other Branches of Education was appointed in New South Wales in early 1902. Commissioners George Handley Knibbs, University lecturer, and John William Turner, Headmaster of Fort Street Model School, travelled widely in Europe and America enquiring into education for the purpose of reforming education in New South Wales.… Continue Reading »
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Suzanne Manning, MEd, University of Auckland. Posted .
Gwen Somerset was a well-known New Zealand educationalist in adult and early childhood education. The daughter of Clara Buckingham and Frederick Alley, Gwen was born in 1894 in Canterbury. She trained as a primary school teacher as well as studying at Canterbury College (now the University of Canterbury), and spent almost 17 years as Infant Mistress at Oxford, a small rural town in Canterbury.… Continue Reading »
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Dorothy Kass, MA DipEd DipLib, Macquarie University. Posted .
Nature Study was a new subject introduced to elementary school curricula throughout the English speaking world in the 1890s and the early 1900s. It was an important component of the educational reform movement known as New Education. Nature Study was supported by a considerable body of theoretical and practical literature. Its subject matter introduced plant, animal, and geological studies to even the youngest children in elementary or primary schools.… Continue Reading »
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Suzanne Manning, MEd & Sue Stover, PhD, University of Auckland & AUT University. Posted .
Unique to New Zealand (Aotearoa), Playcentre is a parent-led educational organisation providing adult and early childhood education since the 1940s. Founded on democratic principles embedded in the Progressive Education movement, Playcentre has evolved in response to the social changes in New Zealand society, in particular the changing role of women. As well as pioneering adult education publications and pedagogies, Playcentre was part of the normalisation of very young children in spaces designed for their learning through play.… Continue Reading »
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Craig Campbell, PhD DipEd, University of Sydney. Posted .
Edited by Kenneth Cunningham, the first director of the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), this volume collected the papers given during the travelling conference of the New Education Fellowship through 1937.
Education for Complete Living was likely the most influential of any nongovernment publication about education and schooling in Australia in the first half of the twentieth century.… Continue Reading »
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Craig Campbell, PhD DipEd, University of Sydney. Posted .
From the 1850s there was a fundamental reform in school instruction, brought about by the introduction of classroom teaching. Even into the twenty-first century, the classroom is the most common departure point for a great range of educational activities that occur in schools.
This reform was supported by the introduction of systematic teacher training and education, especially for those employed in public schools.… Continue Reading »