School of Historical and Philosophical Studies - Theses
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ItemCollection, collation & creation: girls and their material culture Victoria, 1870-1910( 2018)The thesis broadly explores the lives of girls who resided in the colony/state of Victoria, Australia between 1870 and 1910. A largely understudied and underappreciated area of historical study, the thesis takes a broad scope. Three case studies- urban girls’ collection of dolls, rural girls’ collation of scrapbooks, and Indigenous Victorian girls’ creation of fibrecraft- illustrate that tangible material culture can serve as evidence for intangible and marginalised histories. It overarchingly contended that girls, in any historical period, can express agency and resilience, individuality and creativity, through their material culture. In interacting with their day-to-day, seemingly mundane things, girls challenged, however subtly, repressive societal ideals that attempted to circumscribe their identities and their lives.
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ItemThe education of women in England 1650-1750: changes in ideas and pedagogy( 2010)The period 1650 to 1750 in England saw the development of small but positive changes in the education of women and girls. Increasingly, various writers began to argue that more attention and resources needed to be devoted to the way in which girls were taught. Although the accepted curriculum of religion, various kinds of needlework, reading, household management, music, dancing, history and French was not seriously questioned, there were attempts by authors such as Charles Rollin and Archbishop Fenelon of Cambrai to write schemes of study that taught these skills and topics in a more rigorous and interesting manner. A key development was the entry of women into the discussion, with writers such as Mary Astell and Bathusa Makin arguing for the need of better schools and a richer, more serious curriculum for girls. As this thesis is focused as much as possible on actual teaching practices as well as shifts in ideology, changes in the way Primers and Spelling books, which were used by mothers and governesses as aids to teach young children to read are also examined. Increasingly, there was a recognition of the need for intelligent girls to be stretched and of the danger to the household of badly educated mothers and wives. Female authors expressed their frustration with the limited education offered to girls. This thesis examines a range of authors and texts, including the fictional work of Sarah Fielding, the personal records left by eighteenth- century governess Nelly Weeton and discussions which took place in newspapers such as the Spectator, in order to tease out and illustrate the development of these changes.