Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemThe educational work of the Presentation Sisters in Victoria, 1873-1960( 1965)The general aim of this study is to examine the activities of one congregation of religious teachers, the Presentation Sisters, in one state, Victoria. Within such a small world it is possible to recognise in very human terms the working out of forces set in motion by political procedures, developments which in a more general history would be dismissed in one or two rather abstract statements. Who would expect to find more than a brief reference to Dr. James Francis Corbett in a general history of formal education in Australia? Such trifles as the names and the fortunes of the nuns caught up in the stream of events would be too infinitesimal to be considered, except in so far as, for better or for worse, in some vague, shadowy way they helped maintain a system of independent schools. It is the human element that interests the writer most – the impact of events on people of certain character and temperament, the interaction of widely differing personalities, the emergence of leaders, the formation of opinions, the movements towards decisions, the careful plans, the apparently haphazard developments. The specific aims of the study are to provide a record of the work of the Presentation Sisters in Victoria from 1873 to 1960, and to show how far latter day trends, within the Congregation, are explained by its history. The framers of policy in 1873 could not envisage the scene of 1960, yet that scene can be interpreted only in terms of the forces set in motion during the early years. Those forces have gathered momentum and have resulted in the development of distinctive characteristics in the Victorian convents. Amalgamation is an interesting case in point. The two oldest foundations, Presentation Convent, Windsor, dating from 1873, and Star of the Sea, Gardenvale established in 1885, had their roots in Limerick and Kildare respectively. These Irish houses, though essentially the same, developed as separate foundations with strong local traditions. By 1960, however, there are twenty four Victorian convents amalgamated under on Mother General resident at O’Neill College, Elsternwick. Parallel to this development is the process of adaptation, as essentially European traditions have been reinforced, modified or completely changed, under the impact of the Victorian educational environment over a period of nearly one hundred years. This is not to imply that amalgamation and acculturation are developments peculiar to the Australian communities, but merely to point the fact that certain characteristics may be explicable only in terms of the Victorian educational scene. The phrase “certain characteristics’ calls for emphasis. As a religious order working within the Catholic Church in five continents, the congregation must be viewed within this wider context if its Victorian story is to have any real significance. Valuable data preserved in the archives of the twenty four Victorian Houses : there are many senior nuns who lived with the Foundresses of the earlier established houses, and who are well informed about the origin and growth of the Congregation in Victoria. As yet, no systematic attempt has been made to assemble this information for the benefit of the younger members of the communities. It is the writer’s sincere wish that this first effort may open the way for further research. This work is presented in two parts. Each chapter of Part I deals with a major chronological period: Part II is concerned with major developments in the schools, therefore each chapter cuts across the chronological periods.