Entries Tagged: Progressive education

An archive of entries with keywords: "Progressive education"

School Furniture: Desks, tables and chairs

New South Wales, Late 19th century – 2000

The design, production, and use of desks, tables, and chairs, perhaps the most obvious objects within classrooms past and present, accompanied changing ideas of pedagogy and physical health from the late nineteenth century to the present day. This was the case in New South Wales along with other Australian jurisdictions and other countries.… Continue Reading »

MACOS and SEMP

Queensland (and Australia), 1970s-1990s

The argument for social studies in the school curriculum rested on the idea that subjects such as history and geography were too bound to academic disciplines. Children and youth, especially under the circumstances of compulsory attendance, required subjects that met their individual, social and labour-force entry needs. This was not straight-forward of course, compulsory education was an opportunity for the more pervasive moralisation of children, turning them into acceptable citizen-subjects.… Continue Reading »

Thomas Report, and William Thomas (1879-1945)

New Zealand, 1900-1960

Many national and provincial governments sought to expand access to secondary schooling during the twentieth century. New Zealand was a pioneer of the comprehensive school in its region. There would be a reformed curriculum that could include many more students than an academic elite. The influence of William Thomas was not confined to New Zealand.… Continue Reading »

Landreth, Catherine (1899-1995)

New Zealand and United States of America, 1920s-1960s

Catherine Landreth is one of a small group of women who used their degree in household science as a springboard to post-graduate studies and an international academic career. Although she maintained links with household science throughout her professional life, it is Landreth’s significance as a researcher, academic and professional in the area of child development and early childhood education for which she will be remembered.… Continue Reading »

Knibbs and Turner Commission and Reports

New South Wales, 1900-1914

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 »

Milner, Frank

New Zealand, 1875-1944

Among the many New Zealand male and female secondary school principals who served their respective institutions and communities dutifully throughout the twentieth century were a small number of school leaders whose educational and societal contributions were, and are, especially noteworthy. Frank Milner features prominently within their ranks. His educational work has been—and remains—significant for several reasons.… Continue Reading »

Somerset, Gwen

New Zealand, 1894-1988

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 »

Playcentre: Whānau tupu ngātahi – Families growing together

New Zealand (Aotearoa), 1940s to 2014

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 »

Education for Complete Living (1938)

Australia, 1930-1960

Edited by Kenneth Cunningham, the first director of the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), this volume collected 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 »

Teaching and pedagogy (2)

Australia, 1850-2010

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 »