Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemGeography in Victorian government schools, 1900-1950( 1983)Geography has a long tradition as a component of the teaching programs of both the elementary and secondary schools of Britain and her former colonies. Research has shown this to be the case in nineteenth century Victoria, where Geography was seen as an important subject. The subject was taught in the Victorian secondary schools which developed in the twentieth century. This has been substantiated by French who claims that by the end of the nineteenth century 'no group of secondary schools gave an education markedly different from that given in the generality of schools, and this included Geography very traditionally.' The thesis traces the history of the teaching of Geography in government elementary and secondary schools in the period 1900-1950. 1950 was chosen as the end of the study period because an established tradition, which existed during the previous fifty years, was drawing to its end. Major changes in teaching programs occurred in elementary schools in 1954 and in secondary schools in 1956. These changes altered what had existed until the 1950s, and for this reason the period under discussion constitutes a reasonably unified whole. Initial research indicated that a wealth of material on Geography in Australian schools was available and this resulted in the decision to discuss only the government schools of Victoria. Within these government schools, the years from Preparatory through to grade ten have been considered. Certain areas have been excluded from the research in order to keep the thesis within the stated limits. One of the notable exclusions is discussion of the assessment of students. Teacher education is another area which has been largely excluded. Much material exists on both of these areas. (From Introduction)