Introduction

The objects in this resource were selected as indicators of teaching methods, lesson content, resources and technologies of each era. They are intended to illustrate the changes and continuities in education in NSW. They provide evidence of the causes and effects of changing teaching methods, society's attitudes and of emerging technologies. 

Education eras

The objects have been loosely grouped together into three eras – 1870 to 1910, 1910 to 1950 and 1950 to 1980. These eras roughly represent the main eras in primary education in NSW between the 1870s and 1980s. Student work, resources,  equipment, furniture and architecture reflect the philosophy and practices in teaching and learning  in each era. 

Teaching and learning

These teaching and learning practices were:

• gallery-style teaching and rote learning in the 1870s to early1900s

• a focus on hygiene and a broader curriculum from 1905 with the 'new era' of education

• a move towards using visual aids in the late 1940s and 50s

• the beginnings of personalised learning and use of concrete materials from the 1960s.

Technological developments

Objects used in education also reflect technological developments through that time:

• hand-made objects from natural materials in the 1870s to early 1900s

• limited use of paper to the early 1900s

• the connection of electricity to schools in the 1930s 

• development of electric-powered technologies from the 1930s

• invention of plastics in the 1940s

• colour printing, duplicating and projection technologies of the 1950s and 60s. 

Diverse experiences

Whilst generalised statements are made in interpreting the featured objects, not all schools and all students had the same resources and educational experiences. 

A range of factors such as school size, funding, remoteness and cultural heritage affected this. For instance, due to government policies during this period, Aboriginal children experienced discrimination and unequal access to formal learning in the education system.

Before 1870

Prior to the introduction of public education churches ran schools. The Board of National Education established a public education system in January 1948 based on the Irish National School System. The NSW Public Instruction Act of 1880 introduced compulsory education. Students were to attend 70 days per half year. 

The 1880 Act formed the NSW Department of Public Instruction, withdrew funding from denominational schools, set regulations for teachers and prescribed a course of instruction for schools. 

1870s building boom

Many small schools were built in rural areas in the late 1870s and 80s, similar to the 1877 schoolroom of North Ryde Public School. They were built with gallery-style schoolrooms to accommodate large numbers of multi-aged students. 

Gallery-style teaching

The 1880 Course of Instruction was very prescriptive and all students were expected to attain the stated standards. There was a focus on reading, writing, arithmetic, history and geography. Taught on mass, students sat at long tom desks on backless forms. Permanently screwed onto a stepped floor, the students were passive receivers of information delivered by the teacher at the front. Rote learning, neatness in presentation and orderly behaviour were expected. 

Copperplate writing

There was an emphasis on neat handwriting as it was seen as a way to move into the workforce. Copperplate was the handwriting style at this time written with flexible metal pens and ink. A person applied for a job in writing and was judged by their handwriting at the first instance. 

Australian School Series readers

The Australian School Series of readers were prescribed in the 1880 Course of Instruction. They mark the beginning of Australian reading content in schools.

Needlework and manual skills

Girls had four hours of needlework each week, taught by the teacher's wife if the teacher was male. This was to teach skills in sewing and mending needed for their role as wife, home-maker and mothers. Boys learnt manual skills such as woodwork.

Drill

Orderly behaviour was drilled into students with the introduction of compulsory drill exercises in the late 1890s. Corporal punishment could be administered as punishment for inappropriate behaviour or work effort. 

Inequalities

There was inequality in education for students in Aboriginal schools and students in remote areas due to policies regarding establishment of schools, staffing them and the syllabus developed for Aboriginal schools.

New era of education

The year 1905 saw the 'new era of education'. There was a strong focus on hygiene in the community at the time and that was reflected in education - in both teaching and classroom design. 

High narrow schoolroom windows were to be enlarged to enable cross-ventilation, walls were to be smooth and corners curved to minimise dust collection and book presses (book cupboards) were to be built in to reduce accumulation of dust. 

Class groups

Students were now to be taught in class groups. Stepped floors were to be flattened and concertina doors in new double classrooms enabled greater flexibility in learning spaces. All these features are demonstrated in North Ryde Public School's 1910 classroom additions.

The curriculum expanded and classroom teaching could be more hands-on. Lessons could be taught outside and include outdoor nature lessons. The Gould League of Bird Lovers of NSW commenced in 1910 and became very popular with students and schools through the 1930s to 50s.

The wars

During this period Australians fought in the First and Second World Wars. Compulsory military drill and training commenced for boys 12 years and older in 1911 with training undertaken at school.  At school students supported those at the front through fundraising, making comfort items and vegetable growing. 

Patriotism and pride in Australia’s association with the British Empire was built through lessons, assemblies, The School Magazine and participation in Empire Day celebrations.

Teacher-directed

Class groups were large and double timber desks and seats screwed to the floor maximised space. Teaching and learning continued to focus on acquiring knowledge through rote learning. An emphasis on neat presentation of bookwork continued.

Cursive writing

A new syllabus was introduced in 1925 which introduced the Cursive style of handwriting. This continued to be written using a flexible metal pen and ink. 

The School Magazine

The New Australian School Series of readers were published in several editions from the early 1900s. The School Magazine was first published in 1916 and in the mid 1920s the NSW Department of Education published its first infants readers. These were replaced in the mid 1940s with a series of coloured infants readers. 

Radio broadcasts

Schools were connected to electricity in the 1930s and Australian Broadcast Commission (ABC) radio broadcasts to schools commenced in 1932, the first inclusion of external media in education. Projection and duplicating technologies emerged during this period such as the epidiascope projecting opaque and transparent images.

Aboriginal schools

Inequality in education continued for Aboriginal students. Students in Aboriginal schools had untrained teachers and a modified course of instruction focusing on manual and domestic skills. It concluded at Third Grade to 1940 then Fourth Grade until 1952. It was also a period of discrimination for many Aboriginal students trying to access education in mainstream schools. 

Remote students

Some remote students accessed limited education in half-time, house-to-house and travelling schools taught by untrained or minimally trained teachers. Remote students could enrol in correspondence school from 1916 if unable to attend school due to distance.

1952 curriculum

The 1952 Curriculum for Primary Schools recognised the social changes and rapid technological developments occuring in society after the Second World War. It was still prescriptive on a grade by grade level as evidenced in sewing books and social studies books from across the state from that period. 

Population increase

Due to the post-war housing boom, baby boom and post-war migration, school enrolments quickly increased. At North Ryde Public School enrolments leapt to over 1600 students, requiring the use of outdoor weather sheds and local halls and churches for learning spaces.  School photographs show the large class sizes of this period  - 40 to 50 students in a class - and school uniforms becoming common at this time.

Segregated classes

In many large schools separate girl and boy departments were established in the primary grades. Classes were usually streamed based on yearly exam results and were named by their academic level and gender such as '5AG' - 5th Grade, A class, girls.

Double timber demountable classrooms were erected, similar to the one used as a recreated 1950s classroom by the NSW Schoolhouse Museum. Desks and chairs were moveable and could be easily rearranged in a classroom enabling some flexibility in the learning space.

Audio-visual technologies

There was wide production and use of audio visual resources in schools. In the 1950s and 60s the NSW Department of Education's Visual Education Unit produced hundreds of filmstrips and distributed thousands to schools. It also had a large motion picture films lending library.

Filmstrip and slide projectors and later, cassette players, were a feature of classrooms. Film projectors, carousel slide projectors, reel-to-reel tape players, controlled reader projectors, televisions and listening stations were shared between rooms. 

Educational resources

The Visual Education Unit became the Teaching Resources division and produced a wide variety of concrete materials and resources. These included wooden jigsaw puzzles, wooden blackboard maps and geometry templates, mathematics materials, boxes of Cuisenaire rods and large wall maps and charts. They also produced audio-visual kits containing slides, cassette tapes, booklets and copying masters.

Concrete materials

Cuisenaire rods were introduced as concrete materials to support mathematics lessons, marking the beginnings of the use of concrete materials in schools.

Reading schemes

The NSW Department of Education published a set of infants coloured infants readers and work books used extensively in public schools. Commercial publishers also published sets of readers and reading schemes during this time. 

Individualised learning

An enormous variety of readers were produced, accounting for individual differences for the first time. Some schemes were supported by reading cards, workbooks and teacher guides. The SRA reading laboratory kits of the 1960s provided one of the first individualised and self-guided learning program.

Modified cursive writing

Cursive writing continued in the 1950s with a change to modified cursive in 1961 using an inflexible round-tipped stainless steel nib and ink. Plastic biros were used instead of pen and ink from the late 1960s.

Gender stereotypes

With gender roles still defined by society at the time,  girls continued to be taught needlework and boys manual crafts in segregated classes. Gender stereotypes were depicted in the readers, puzzles and filmstrips of the period.

Duplicators

'Stencils', known now as worksheets, were hand-made or commercially produced and duplicated using Fordigraph spirit duplicators and Gestetner duplicators. Jelly pads (gelatine hectographs) enabled printing directly into students' books.

Diversity

In 1957 all remaining provisional schools became public schools and from 1968 the few remaining Aboriginal schools also became public schools. Aboriginal children were enrolled in mainstream public schools and officially could not be racially excluded from 1972. 

School of the Air commenced in 1956 catering for remote and correspondence school students. In areas with migrant populations, small migrant classes were established to cater for those student's needs. 

175 year anniversary 

In 2023 the NSW Department of Education commemorates 175 years of public education. In this resource we've given just a small snapshot of around 100 years in the middle of that period. 

Your story

What would you write about primary education today? What are the key influencers and ways of knowing and working?

Consider:

• digital technologies, activities and tools

• Internet

• online resources 

• personal devices

• flexibility in furniture and learning spaces

• individualised learning

• flexible learning.

The future?

Never did we imagine lockdowns and learning from home during part of Term 1 and 2 in 2020 and for all of Term 3 and part of Term 4 in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

What will the future of primary learning and teaching look like?