NZHistory.net.nz, New Zealand history online - education

Education - children and adolescents, 1930-60

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 +1200

Teaching young people

By 1940 childhood was internationally recognised as a distinct stage in human development. A child's value to the family was no longer seen as primarily economic. Instead, children were viewed in terms of 'emotional capital' as socially priceless. New Zealand followed overseas trends and introduced children's education initiatives in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

Pre-school education developments

The kindergarten movement, still outside the state system in the war period, benefited from these changes. Funded by voluntary contributions and limited government grants, by 1940 the movement needed more money to ensure a sufficient supply of teachers. In 1942 the government provided bursaries for trainees, and student numbers increased from 31 in 1941 to 72 in 1944. In the same period the number of kindergartens increased from 39 to 52.

Eastbourne playcentre

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 +1200

School milk

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 +1200

Teaching pre-schoolers Maori Language

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 +1200

Maori women have been the backbone of kohanga reo (language 'nurseries' where pre-schoolers were immersed in the language) since the first opened in 1982.

By July 2000 there were a total of 11,519 children attending 611 kohanga reo. Approximately 40,000 children have passed through kohanga reo since 1982.

Archives New Zealand/Te Rua Mahara o te Kawanatanga

Men of vice or virtue? - missionaries

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 +1200

Thomas Kendall

Visit to a kohanga reo

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 +1200

Waitangi Tribunal members Chief Judge Edward Durie (left) and Paul Temm QC visit a kohanga reo at Waiwhetu, Lower Hutt, in 1985. Kohanga reo or language 'nurseries' immersed infants in a Maori language environment; the first of these opened in 1982.

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: EP/1985/2942/15-F
Further information and copies of this image may be obtained from the Library through its 'Timeframes' website, http://timeframes.natlib.govt.nz
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

National Maori Speech Contest winners, 1985

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 +1200

Marama Ormsby (left) and Erina Hurihanganui won the 1985 National Maori Speech Contests held in Wellington.

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: EP/1985/3345/18-F
Further information and copies of this image may be obtained from the Library through its 'Timeframes' website, http://timeframes.natlib.govt.nz
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

George Hogben

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 +1200

In his time as head of the Department of Education from 1899 until 1915 George Hogben helped bring New Zealand's education system into line with the most advanced educational theory and practice of the time.

Writing exercise for lighthouse children

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 +1200

According to family sources this writing exercise was completed one of the Bennett children while at Pencarrow. The word 'Overwhelm' is repeated on the left page and 'Perseverance' on the right.

It suggests that Mary Bennett taught the children herself, before deciding to return to England for the sake of their education in 1865.

Family collection

Turning boys into soldiers

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 +1200

A Certificate of Merit for bayonet instruction, presented to Wellington College cadets, 1915

Voluntary cadet groups existed in many schools prior to 1909 when the Defence Act introduced compulsory military training. This act required all boys aged between 12 and 14 to undergo 52 hours of physical training each year as Junior Cadets. Initially, this training was supervised by their teachers, although this was dropped in 1912.

A School Rifle Volunteer Cadet Corps had been established at Wellington College in 1870, and school cadets were to remain an integral part of life at the school well into the 20th century. J.P. Firth, principal from 1892 to 1920, placed great emphasis on the cadets and the importance of being physically fit. Photographs of boys in the military uniform of the school’s cadet corp or shooting teams make the transition from schoolboy to soldier more plausible. Many of the more than 1600 college old boys who served overseas during the war had learnt to handle a gun, salute and march in formation on the playing fields of the school. Students were even awarded merit certificates in bayonet instruction.