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Book Review: Secondary Education in Queensland 1860–1960

Book Review: Secondary Education in Queensland 1860–1960 BOOK REVIEWS Goodman, R., Secondary Education in Queensland 1860-1960. Canberra: A.N.U. Press, 1968. Pp. 396. $10.50. The quality of this first substantial history of Queensland secondary education is variable. Early chapters integrate well material from a growing body of student theses, from original letters and from other primary sources, and relate educational development in Queensland to that in other States. Accounts of the early " private venture" schools and of developments outside Brisbane provide a commendable coverage. Later chapters provide an impressionistic introduction, characterized by omissions, errors, and a lack of historical perspective. Goodman's attitude is reflected in his comments on the typical Queens­ lander characterized by " apparent slowing down compared with the typical Australian-slowness of speech, slowness of gait, slowness of thought, even slowness in progress" (p. 21). "He was loath to learn from others" (p. 22). Concomitant with this attitude is a tendency to ignore or play down major developments. Although the Queensland multilateral high school developed in country centres a generation before the post-World War II doubts and controversies in England, to Goodman" It must be assumed, therefore, that the organisation of country high schools was one of convenience rather than one of deep educational planning" (p. 283). Similarly, there is no recognition the planning (concurrent with Spens) for the development of secondary of education in the 1940's and only a passing reference to a very valuable outcome of this planning, the economical acquisition of several dozen high school sites ten to twenty years before the building programme of 1954-66. The develop­ ment of vocational courses in high schools is ignored. There is no sign that basic source material for later chapters has been perused. As the chapter on public examinations in the twentieth century has apparently been written without consulting the records of the controlling boards, there is no appreciation of the shift in control under successive boards from the University to the Director-General. Failure to consult such material means there is no indication of the efforts of L. D. Edwards to raise the status of such subjects as Domestic Science in the 1920's by having them included in the Junior Examination. Proof reading errors include" Noctes Latinal " (p. 263) and the Senior subjects Mathematics I and II are described as Mathematics A and B (p. 363 ff). More important than such errors are the misleading impressions created by inaccurate writing. It might be inferred (pp. 279-80) that there was selection for entry to the Brisbane State High School in the 1920's and 1930's or that the academic and sporting successes were greater before the principalship of H. G. Watkin. References to other individual secondary schools are probably equally inaccurate. The comment (p. 343) that by 1954 educational statisticians had become aware of changes in population structure suggest that the contents of Ministers' reports for 1948 and other years have been overlooked. The first half of the book is a well-written, scholarly account of undoubted value for the student of educational history; the later chapters are not of the same quality. S. A. RAYNER, Uni'L'ersity of Qfleensland. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Australian Journal of Education SAGE

Book Review: Secondary Education in Queensland 1860–1960

Rayner, S. A.
Australian Journal of Education , Volume 13 (3): 1 – Oct 1, 1969
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Publisher
SAGE
Copyright
© 1969 Australian Council for Educational Research
ISSN
0004-9441
eISSN
2050-5884
DOI
10.1177/000494416901300310
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

BOOK REVIEWS Goodman, R., Secondary Education in Queensland 1860-1960. Canberra: A.N.U. Press, 1968. Pp. 396. $10.50. The quality of this first substantial history of Queensland secondary education is variable. Early chapters integrate well material from a growing body of student theses, from original letters and from other primary sources, and relate educational development in Queensland to that in other States. Accounts of the early " private venture" schools and of developments outside Brisbane provide a commendable coverage. Later chapters provide an impressionistic introduction, characterized by omissions, errors, and a lack of historical perspective. Goodman's attitude is reflected in his comments on the typical Queens­ lander characterized by " apparent slowing down compared with the typical Australian-slowness of speech, slowness of gait, slowness of thought, even slowness in progress" (p. 21). "He was loath to learn from others" (p. 22). Concomitant with this attitude is a tendency to ignore or play down major developments. Although the Queensland multilateral high school developed in country centres a generation before the post-World War II doubts and controversies in England, to Goodman" It must be assumed, therefore, that the organisation of country high schools was one of convenience rather than one of deep educational planning" (p. 283). Similarly, there is no recognition the planning (concurrent with Spens) for the development of secondary of education in the 1940's and only a passing reference to a very valuable outcome of this planning, the economical acquisition of several dozen high school sites ten to twenty years before the building programme of 1954-66. The develop­ ment of vocational courses in high schools is ignored. There is no sign that basic source material for later chapters has been perused. As the chapter on public examinations in the twentieth century has apparently been written without consulting the records of the controlling boards, there is no appreciation of the shift in control under successive boards from the University to the Director-General. Failure to consult such material means there is no indication of the efforts of L. D. Edwards to raise the status of such subjects as Domestic Science in the 1920's by having them included in the Junior Examination. Proof reading errors include" Noctes Latinal " (p. 263) and the Senior subjects Mathematics I and II are described as Mathematics A and B (p. 363 ff). More important than such errors are the misleading impressions created by inaccurate writing. It might be inferred (pp. 279-80) that there was selection for entry to the Brisbane State High School in the 1920's and 1930's or that the academic and sporting successes were greater before the principalship of H. G. Watkin. References to other individual secondary schools are probably equally inaccurate. The comment (p. 343) that by 1954 educational statisticians had become aware of changes in population structure suggest that the contents of Ministers' reports for 1948 and other years have been overlooked. The first half of the book is a well-written, scholarly account of undoubted value for the student of educational history; the later chapters are not of the same quality. S. A. RAYNER, Uni'L'ersity of Qfleensland.

Journal

Australian Journal of Education – SAGE

Published: Oct 1, 1969

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