Education

In the late twentieth century historians of education came to argue that the urban experience can only be fully understood through the social processes and social relations associated with schooling. The new 'social history' of education has thus often been closely aligned to the history of cities. In Australia the 'new' social history of the city has often been written in terms of family formation, sometimes related to the history of childhood, but there has only been marginal attention to the specific nature of education in Sydney as an urban phenomenon. This essay focuses on Sydney schools and other educational institutions, although it raises questions about social processes and social formations. It suggests that the history of education in Sydney can be understood in a number of phases and themes, each related to the changing social history of Sydney. Informal education had long been part of the culture of indigenous society prior to the British invasion of 1788. In the early colonial period, up to about 1830, governments established schools for the children of convicts based in Sydney and even for Aboriginal children. There were also 'private venture' schools for the sons and sometimes daughters of free settlers. In the period from 1830 to 1870 the city of Sydney emerged as a metropolitan centre of educational establishments including schools, colleges and the University. From around 1870 to the end of World War II, with the growth of the city of Sydney and its suburbs, schooling was increasingly related to social class, gender and religion as part of suburban life. From 1945, the 'neighbourhood' school and even the 'local' university has become part of a pattern of regional differences associated with the expansion of the city through migration and population growth

Growing up in the Illawarra

This is a social history of an Australian region. Its theme is the changing experiences of children growing up. The history of the lllawarra region of New South Wales captures many of the developments and fluctuations of Australian social life over the past two centuries. From the displacement of the original aboriginal inhabitants of the early twentieth century through the rural and mining settlements of colonial Australia to the industrial development and changing composition of the population in the twentieth century, living in lllawarra has generally been a microcosm of the wider world of being an Australian. In particular, much of the focus of the white settlers of the past one hundred and fifty years has been on \u27growth\u27 and preparing what they thought was a better world for their children. By looking at the lives of children and their families in the \u27everyday\u27 and other circumstances we can discover as much, if not more, about social and other relationships than by examining more public institutions such as parliament or trade unions, all of which are dominated by adults. It is not always easy to find out about families, children and \u27everyday life\u27 in the past. For the nineteenth century we have relied on traditional documentary sources such as newspapers, diaries, published accounts of observers and the archives of such public institutions as schools. We have also used, where appropriate, the census and the records of the Registrar-General\u27s Department for figures on marriages and births. For the twentieth century we have drawn on the personal memories of many who grew up in the lllawarra region, and who were prepared to share their experiences with us. By using oral history it was possible to get behind the general figures, on such matters as school attendance and housing growth and to understand what it was like to be young in the previous age. The book is organised into five chapters. We look first of all at the arrival of European settlers, their impact on the aboriginal tribes of the area, and the general pattern of growth in the first half of the nineteenth century. In the next two chapters we have chosen contrasting environments for growing up in nineteenth century lllawarra, looking closely at family life and schooling in the rural settlement of mid to late nineteenth century Kiama and the mining village of Bulli. In our third chapter we consider the slow transformation of the region into the industrial heartland of New South Wales and the consequences that this had in many ways for children growing up in the period from the turn of the century to the beginning of the Second World War. In our final chapter we examine some of the multiplicity of changes that have overwhelmed the region since 1945, particularly the arrival of new waves of overseas immigrants who have brought new traditions and expectations for the young.https://ro.uow.edu.au/uowbooks/1015/thumbnail.jp

‘Being a College Man’: Sport and the Male Colleges at the University of Sydney 1850-1950

The origins of university sport in Australia lie in the creation of ‘modern games’ and the ‘sporting revolution’ in schools and universities in nineteenth century Britain. Recent studies of sport at Oxbridge make it either a form of spontaneous sociability amongst undergraduates or a form of imposed moral and physical endeavour under the ideology of ‘athleticism’ brought from the public schools. But we need also to recognise the colonial and national transformation that gave sport in Australian universities new dimensions associated with both social class and gender. The University of Sydney was a secular foundation with teaching and examinations centralised but with attached residential Colleges. Denied a teaching function, the Colleges soon became one of the main pillars of sport at the University. College students assumed the leading role in sporting teams, defining the meaning of appropriate games for the student body. This role remained unchallenged until the early to mid-twentieth century. These overall changes can be understood through three eras: Foundation 1850-1890: The University remained small until the 1880s but the student experience and ‘sociability’ was soon defined principally in terms of sporting achievements, with the sanctioning of five appropriate games ¬– cricket, rugby, rowing, athletics and tennis. College students were at the forefront of all these activities. By the 1880s many University teams were predominant in colonial competitions. Consolidation 1890-1914: The ‘golden period’ of male sport at the University, including the formation of the Sports Union in 1890 – a movement sponsored from within the Colleges. The dominance of sport in College life related to the growing significance of athleticism and the formation of such bodies as the Athletic Association for Great Public Schools from whence many College students now came. It also led to resistance from women students who formed their own competitions and eventually their own umbrella body. Sport in the University was thus becoming part of both class and gender relations. Challenge 1914-1950: The First World War weakened the hold of the Colleges on University sport and brought in a student body less enamoured of old values of athleticism and amateurism. By the 1930s the student experience had spread well beyond sport to involve politics and other student activities. By the 1950s many College students had withdrawn from general participation in University life, though the Colleges were still well represented on traditional sporting teams, such as rugby and cricket. Well-founded College traditions such as the Rawson Cup provided a continuing focus for what had become an elite minority culture in the University

Accommodating the Faithful? Religion at the University of Sydney since 1850

As a secular institution the University of Sydney has been constantly engaged from its foundation in accommodating religious bodies, organisations and movements. The first process of accommodation emerged from the decision of the colonial state to provide financial and other support for the establishment of denominational colleges. This had the effect of ensuring that all the major religious denominations were treated equally but it also led to serious divisions within those denominations, although the Catholic community in particular secured a college base that would meet the social aspirations as well as the religious commitments of Catholic youth. The second process of accommodation involved the creation of Christian student organisations which became the first student youth movements within the University, and nationally, being supported by a number of the Professors. But this ultimately led to a series of divisions within Protestant Christian youth as well as fierce contest between fundamental religious and non-religious students over the role of religion within the University. The final process involved the University from 1945 accepting the emerging multi-faith nature of Australia and engaging organised religion in forms of social welfare for the student body. By the early 21st century religion had a new multi-ethnic face, while ‘secularism’ seemed to be leading to the possibility of new privileges for all religions. Geoff Sherington has a Personal Chair in the History of Education