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World War Two and Early Childhood Education

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World War Two and Early Childhood Education

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Unlike Josh's grandparents, neither of Sophie's grandparents attended a preschool. This is likely due to the fact that preschools were not common during the period after World War Two, so some children could attend whilst others could not. Indeed, the war led to a shortage of teachers across sectors and many early childhood programs were privatised rather than centralised through government control (Press et al., 2013). Along with the baby boom, these circumstances could explain why Josh's grandparents (Elaine and Billy), attended preschool, whilst Sophie's grandparents (Cheryl, Wayne, Audrey and Dave) did not. Indeed, the surplus of children combined with the limited number of preschools indicate that not every child could attend. For example, Sophie's maternal grandmother, Cheryl, noted that there were no preschool options available for her because she was growing up in a new suburb that had yet to develop a full suite of amenities such as early childhood programs.

Sophie's paternal grandparents, Audrey and Dave, grew up in Britain and did not attend preschool. The absence of pre-schools around London, where they grew up, was largely caused by the devastating impacts of the Second World War, such as the widespread bombing during the Battle of Britain (1940-1941) that left London in rubble decades afterwards. This caused many preschool facilities to operate part-time and with the purpose of providing child care services to working mothers rather than having an educative emphasis (Nutbrown & Clough, 2014).

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Unlike Sophie's grandparents, both of Josh's grandparents attended a preschool/kindergarten. It was structured much differently compared to how kindergarten is structured nowadays. Kindergarten was treated more like daycare, rather than a place where basic foundation skills like fine motor skills and communication are taught like it is nowadays.

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Josh's father Stewart attended preschool but his mother, Karen did not. A new kindergarten was being built near her house, however her name was too far down the list to be enrolled so she was not able to attend. Furthermore, this was the only kindergarten in her area at the time. Having said that, she would be put into prep classes often by her mother who worked voluntarily in the local school. This gave her a unique experience in comparison to our other family members. Whilst she did not attend an early childhood program (similarly to Sophie's grandparents) she received a slightly more advanced preschool experience to Josh, Sophie and their other parents because she was completing work designed for school-age, rather than preschool aged, children.

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All of our grandparents attended local secondary schools, with the main differences being Audrey and Dave attending secondary school in England . However, all of them had a secondary school experience where in some way boys and girls were taught separately and learnt different content.

In England, Audrey and Dave both attended single-sex schools in the mid-1950s, and Audrey remembered that this was becoming increasingly common at the time. Audrey was taught English and Mathematics, as well as general science disciplines, domestic sciences and physical education. Dave attended a technical school, leading to him being taught skills such as woodwork.

Josh's grandfather, Billy, went to a co-educational school until Year 10, where he went to a technical school to start his apprenticeship to become a plumber. This is similar to Dave's experience in a technical school to learn a trade. Much like Sophie's English grandparents, Josh's grandmother, Elaine, went to a single-sex Catholic school, where a lot of what they learnt was about religion and the Catholic faith. Whilst they learnt mathematics and English, an important focus was to become familiar with tenets of the Catholic faith.

In contrast, Cheryl and Wayne  attended co-educational schools where the genders were separated into different classes. Cheryl remembers that classes for the girls encouraged them to learn domestic skills rather than prepare for further study or a career. As such, the girls were either taught cookery or commerce disciplines that were aimed at preparing them for secretarial roles.

Wayne remembers that Australian boys were offered similar subjects that boys in England were such as woodwork. The boys also had the opportunity to study sciences such as physics, which Wayne chose to undertake.

The two genders would be grouped for English and Mathematics, which differs from Audrey, Dave and Elaine who, because they were attending single-sex schools, had single-sex classes for all disciplines.

However, by the time our parents attended secondary school in the 1980s, the practice of separating genders and teaching them different content appeared to have disappeared from schools. Indeed, our parents found that they were in co-educational contexts and when the time came to choose subjects both boys and girls had the option to undertake any disciplines they wanted. For example, Sophie's mother Dannielle was able to study biology in secondary school, which Cheryl did not have the option to do. This was the same for us, being able to study any subjects we wanted and work in a co-educational context where the genders were typically not separated.

The practice of separating genders in the mid-twentieth century, and the fact that it was a practice that became increasingly rare towards the turn of the century, is likely due to the changing priorities of the Australian Curriculum. According to Martin (2003), the mid-century practice of teaching females domestic sciences whilst giving males the skills to use in a workplace such as a trade or more advanced sciences occurred due to society's priority of promoting a nuclear family where the women focused on raising children and men were the economic providers.

Nowadays, schools are focused on fostering key skills in all students in basic disciplines such as literacy and numeracy, and the onus on workforce training has shifted to institutions such as TAFE and universities. The increasing prevalence of using these institutions to become qualified is showcased through the majority of our parents and us attending university, whilst only Wayne, Elaine and Billy did in our grandparents' generation. Even then, Wayne's attendance of university was not aimed at gaining qualifications directly after completing school, as he attended to increase his pre-existing qualifications later in life.

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The pedagogies used in Year 9 have shifted significantly. In Josh's experience, Years 7 and 8 was structured around teacher-centred pedagogy, where the teachers would direct the learning and deliver the content. This is in vast contrast to Year 9 where the learning was very much student based and we were responsible with our own learning, being able to access many resources with the use of technology. Sophie also found that this was the case, having a Year 9 program in place where student-directed learning was prevalent and students partook in a variety of activities from camps to building robots.

This is very different to our parents, who were not able to have the same access we are privileged to nowadays. For our parents and grandparents in the 20th century, pedagogy was largely teacher-centred in secondary school even in Year 9 despite that being a year that many students become disenfranchised with school. However, Sophie's father Matthew is an outlier, having attended a secondary school called Woodleigh that emphasised student independence. Thus, he had many camps in secondary school aimed at providing a diversified curriculum.

Due to the increase number of students leaving to pursue other forms of education, the education department created alternative pathways for students, for example VCAL which is an alternative to VCE, which occurs in Year 11 or 12. VCAL takes a more hands-on approach to learning, for example learning about mathematics relevant to their chose apprenticeship. They are also examined quite differently compared to VCE (Debrincat, 2015). Even nowadays, some students do not gain the opportunity to complete VCAL, as Josh's school Keysborough Secondary College offered it but Sophie's school Balcombe Grammar School did not. Programs like VCAL may be the reason that many students remain at school rather than leaving school early. Indeed, many of our grandparents remember students finishing school early during the 1960s due to the academic focus of school, but nowadays we have witnessed many of our peers wanting to pursue apprenticeships but remaining at school and undertaking programs such as VCAL.

STEM is also another program becoming increasingly emphasised nowadays where science and technology are the focus points for learning. It gives students who are more talented in these areas of school an opportunity to further develop their skills. STEM is a highly regarded program as it is believed that STEM encompasses vital concepts that are seen as a necessity for the future (Hobbs et al., 2017). STEM education appears more encouraged nowadays than it was previously, with Sophie's Year 9 program devoting specific STEM time for students. However, this was not as prevalent in the 20th century, with family members such as Sophie's grandmother Cheryl not learning science extensively in secondary school.

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In 1972, the feminist lobbying of the Women's Liberation Movement led to the passing of the Child Care Act,  which directed greater funding towards preschools in Australia and thereby increasing the presence of early childhood education (Whitehead & Krieg, 2013). This underpins why Josh's father (Stewart) and both of Sophie's parents (Dannielle and Matthew) were able to attend preschool in the 1970s, as well as both Josh and Sophie in the early 2000s. Whilst Karen was unable to attend preschool like Dannielle and Matthew were, it was not due to the systemic reasons of insufficient funding and teacher shortages that caused Sophie's grandparents in both Britain and Australia to not receive a preschool education. Instead, it was the result of individual circumstances.

The increase in funding enabled both of us attend preschool, where we both had a very similar experience to our parents. Indeed, we and our parents remember preschool having a significant focus on play-based learning, including crafts and a dress-up corner.

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The Changing Relationship Between School and the Employment Market

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The Changing Relationship Between School and the Employment Market

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The different experiences that our grandparents, our parents and us had in secondary school has been determined by the changing priorities of the education system. In this section, we will focus on how these changes impacted high school education, and in the "Tertiary Education" section of this timeline we will discuss the impact on our family's ability to undertake further studies.

As Bambach (1979) has highlighted, schools in the mid-century were focused on preparing students for employment. Indeed, in both England and Australia, university was expensive and thus reserved for those who could pay the high tuition, and as Sophie's grandfathers highlighted, schools thus prepared students to attain either an apprenticeship or employment in an entry-level profession.

As such, Sophie's grandfather Wayne explained how the Australian school system operated in this context. Many left after the equivalent of Year 10 (known as Intermediate) to pursue a trade. Many others, like my grandfather, would leave after Year 11 (known as the Leaving Certificate) to work in the public service. Only those who would attend university would complete Year 12 (known as Matriculation).  Similarly, Dave also witnessed an expectation for students to enter the workforce in England, and his secondary education at a technical school became a logical progression to his apprenticeship in pattern making.

However, in the 1970s the concept of school being a way to support those yet to enter the employment market changed (Bambach, 1979). This altered the way our parents and us experienced secondary school. Indeed, all of our parents except Josh's father Stewart (who completed Year 11) achieved Year 12. By the time our parents entered secondary education, there were no certifications except for recognition of completing Year 12, such as the HSC or VCE. This differs from the multiple options our grandparents had, being able to receive certificates for Year 10, 11, or 12. Therefore, by the 1980s students were encouraged to stay at school as long as possible rather than leave at a particular point depending on their employment pathway. This gave our parents a different experience to our grandparents whereby education was about learning rather than preparation for employment.

Nowadays, it appears that the majority of students complete Year 12 and achieve the VCE, even if they do not complete exams and receive an ATAR. Indeed, the government's focus appears to have shifted to providing students with the highest level of education possible rather than simply preparing them for employment. This is reflected in that between both of us we only met one person who left school prior to Year 12, which is vastly different from our grandparents who witnessed many leaving prior to that point.

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In Victorian Government schools, corporal punishment was banned in the year 1985, and was banned in Victorian non-government schools in the year 2006, under the enactment of the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2017).  Having said that, it was common during the 2010’s to find some form of corporal punishment around school sports clubs to punish any players that either weren’t playing up to a particular standard, or were misbehaving, (Gershoff, 2017).

Our grandparents' generation during the 1950s, and to some extent our parents' generation in the 1970s witnessed corporal punishment in schools. It was more common for our grandparents to receive the strap, and sometimes for very unnecessary reasons. For example, not lining up correctly or in time would result in getting the strap. Sophie's grandfather, Wayne, remembered that because writing with one's right-hand was favoured, some children would get the strap if they wrote with their left hand. When Josh's parents went to school, the strap was not as common, however they remember some students did occasionally receive punishment. If they were misbehaving, they would be hit over the knuckles with a ruler or a hard cover textbook over the hand. However, Sophie's parents did not experience this. They did not receive corporal punishment because throughout the 1970s, proliferation of the practice continually decreased until it was eventually banned. Many childhood welfare agencies fought to get rid of these types of punishments and eventually succeeded in changing the rule, meaning that we did not have to witness this practice at school in the 21st century.

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In this section we will highlight how the school experiences of our family members contributed to their careers. Analysing both of our families has shown us that for our grandparents historical and personal circumstances have limited their opportunities. However, progressing from our parents' experiences to ours has shown us that as time has progressed and the historical landscape has altered it has become increasingly easier to follow one's dreams.

For Sophie's grandparents, the nature of the education system and their family circumstances limited their opportunities. Indeed, Cheryl and Wayne wanted to attend university. Cheryl wanted to become a cookery teacher. However, her difficulties learning in primary school due to the large class sizes meant that she was unable to get the help she needed from her educators. This limited her ability to reach her full potential in secondary school, causing her to leave after Year 9 and commence her career in retail. Sophie's grandfather Wayne wanted to study pharmacy, but the expensive nature of university prevented him from gaining the opportunity. This led to him commencing his career in the public service.

The situation appeared similar in England. Audrey wanted to attend university to become a physical education teacher, but ultimately worked for a bank due to the expensive nature of university. Dave was a successful pattern maker, running a business for many years. However, he did not want to attend university and commenced his career in his chosen field.

However, the changing economic landscape that led to university loan deferrals, as well as the changing nature of secondary education, meant that unlike both of Sophie's grandmothers' Dannielle had the ability to study to become a teacher. This has been the same for both of us and Josh's mother. It is interesting how many members of our families wanted to become teachers, but societal changes meant this was not possible for our grandparents' generation, but it was for our parents. Sophie's father Matthew was able to attend university as well and study business.

Josh's grandfather was a plumber, a draftsman a tennis coach, and played professional football for the Sandringham Zebras in the VFA. He was always very passionate about playing football and was recruited by the Zebras after playing in one of their practice games. His grandmother was a secretary and a bursar at the local primary school. In our grandmothers' days, it was common that women work as a secretary. Indeed, Sophie's grandmother Cheryl's classes in secondary school encouraged development of secretarial skills in female students.

Josh's Mother is a primary teacher at the local primary school. This was because of the opportunity she had to go to university. Like Sophie's mother (Dannielle), Karen was passionate about teaching future generations and still finds the profession rewarding. My father used to work in the finance industry, from managing loans to owning his own finance business. He has now changed to work into the education system, becoming the facilities hiring manager at the local secondary school. Josh's father completed Year 11 and left school to play gold professionally. Due to his parents wanting him to have a full time job, he chose to work in the finance industry, only recently moving into the education system. As such, for Josh's father it was not systemic issues that affected his career choices, but rather family circumstances

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Sophie's maternal grandparents, Cheryl and Wayne both attended local government primary schools. For both, the curriculum focused predominantly on the fundamentals - reading, writing and arithmetic - with a lesser focus on humanities, sciences and arts. There was a significant focus on handwriting. Cheryl, a left-hander, found that children were encouraged to write with their right hand even if they were left-handed. Josh's grandparents had a similar experience, having limited science education during their primary school years.

The curriculum appeared to broaden by the time our parents reached primary school age in the 1970s, with a greater focus on exposing children to diverse disciplines and experiences. Whilst literacy and numeracy were still a focus, it was no longer the predominant focus of education. Indeed, Sophie's father Matthew noted that handwriting was not a concern of his teachers, which contrasts with the experience of our grandparents who felt that handwriting was of major importance when they were at school. Schools had a significant focus on Australian history in the 1970s and 1980s, with Dannielle remembering learning about content such as Matthew Flinders' circumnavigation of Australia and the Eureka stockade. Similarly, Josh's mother Karen mentioned learning a lot of Australian history as well. However, this was not as prevalent for Josh's father, Stewart, because his school had a significant focus on physical education. The curriculum explored Australian history for us in the 21st century as well, where we learnt about events such as the Indigenous civil rights movement. Just like we did, our parents enjoyed a greater exposure to visual and performing arts in primary school. For example both Sophie and Matthew learnt guitar at primary school.

Our experience in primary school during the 21st century bears similarity to that of our parents but is dissimilar to our grandparents. For both of us, there was a diverse curriculum including humanities, sciences and arts as well as school camps. We remember primary school being very hands-on, where we would experience a lot of student-centred learning. For example, Sophie remembers dissecting a brain in Year 6, which was more tactile than anything her grandparents experienced. For our grandparents' generation, teacher-centred pedagogies appeared to be favoured.

The reason why more diverse disciplines such as the arts were more present during primary school for us moreso than our grandparents in the 1950s and even our parents in the 1970s is due to the fact that in the employment market has continued to change due to globalisation, meaning it became increasingly important for students to learn skills like creative thinking and citizenship (Zhao, 2010). Indeed, this is a stark contrast to the credentials required for our grandparents (Wayne mentioned that students were prepared mainly for clerical or trade-based jobs).

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Impact of World War Two on Primary School

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Impact of World War Two on Primary School

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The impact of the Second World War differed in severity between members of our families. According to Potts and Maadad (2019), Australia was affected minimally compared to Europe, and the predominant impacts on Australian schoolchildren were teacher shortages brought on my educators joining the armed forces. Consequently, Sophie's paternal grandparents' (Audrey and Dave's) primary school education in Britain was impacted by the war to a higher extent than Sophie's maternal grandparents and Josh's grandmother in Australia.

One thing Audrey and Dave remember from primary school that did not occur for our Australian grandparents were school meals. Audrey and Dave mentioned that every day at school they would receive a hot lunch, as well as being expected to drink a bottle of milk every morning. They remember the purpose being to ensure that the children were having their nutritional needs met at school. Indeed, the economic strain and food rationing that followed World War Two meant that many households struggled to provide an ideal amount of food for all the members of the family.

Also, many children were impacted by the bombing London underwent during the Blitz. Dave remembers that his immediate family were displaced due to the bombing and had to live with his aunt, requiring him to attend a primary school near his aunt's home. Because Melbourne was not impacted by bombing, Sophie's maternal grandparents Cheryl and Wayne and Josh's grandmother Elaine were not affected by this.

Because the effects of the war subsided over time, our parents were not impacted by the time they reached school in the 1970s. As such, the war predominantly affected the educational experience of our grandparents in the 1950s.

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The ability of members of both families to undertake tertiary studies has emanated from the economic situations regarding personal circumstances and the fee structure of university in each era.

During the 1960s when our grandparents were leaving school, university students had to pay the predominance of their university fees which rendered higher education accessible predominantly to those of a higher socioeconomic situation. This is why Sophie's grandfather Wayne was unable to complete Year 12 directly after completing Year 11 and achieve his dream at the time of studying pharmacy at university. His parents could not afford to fund his university education. Similarly, Josh's grandparents were able to complete tertiary education. Josh's grandfather Billy completed a 4 year apprenticeship to become a plumber. He went to a university to use his skills to graduate and become a draftsman. He also went to and graduated from a university to become a qualified tennis coach. Josh's grandmother Elaine went to and graduated from a business college and studied commerce whilst she was there.

However, during the 1970s Prime Minister Gough Whitlam conducted a historical reform that removed fees for all tertiary students (McDougall, 2015), making university accessible  and the dreams of many Australians, including Sophie's grandfather, now achievable. Indeed, because of Whitlam's reform, Wayne attended night school to complete Year 12 and undertook a diploma in business studies such as computing and finance at Monash University.

In 1988, the Hawke government changed the university fee structure once again, bringing in the  loan deferral system (McDougall, 2015). This allowed university to remain largely accessible. Sophie's parents and Josh's mother all benefitted from this increased accessibility, having the ability to attend Monash University at the end of school. Our mothers both studied Primary Education, whilst Sophie's father completed a business degree. Unlike Sophie's grandfather, our parents were able to complete Year 12 and commence university as soon as they wanted to. This wealth of opportunity came as a consequence of these reforms.

We are similarly benefitting from these reforms, being able to complete Year 12 in 2020 and commence degrees at Monash University. It was interesting to discover the many similarities between our families regarding tertiary education. Indeed, it was interesting to discover that many members of both families undertook study at Monash University, and that both of our mothers studied the same Bachelor Degree as us: Primary Education.

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In conclusion, the changing nature of the education system has created more opportunities. Judging by our experiences at school, our grandparents may have had a vastly different experience nowadays. They may have learnt different things, attended school longer, and even completed a university degree. This assignment has made us thankful for our educational opportunities, and hopeful to see what our future students will be able to achieve in light of the ever-changing landscape the education sector is in.

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Due to the war (WWII) many of those who were teachers had to join the armed forces, and many died whilst in service. This led to a shortage in teachers in the years afterwards, resulting in combined classes and an increasing number of students per class. For example, Josh's grandmother Elaine said that her classes throughout her primary education were almost double the size they are today. Similarly, Sophie's grandparents all found that large classes were common in primary school, as well as classes that combined year levels (such as a combined Years 5 and 6 class). Looking back, Sophie's grandmother Cheryl found that the large classes in primary school limited her ability to learn effectively. She said that in many cases teachers could not understand each student's level of ability and address their difficulties due to the many children they had to teach.

The notion of large classrooms also tied in with the amount of babies being born after the war. “The first peak of Australia's baby boom occurred in 1947 with 182,400 babies born to couples resuming family lives disrupted by the war”, (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 2004). In order to resume family life and help restore the economy, the government encouraged the increased production of babies. During the Great Depression the total fertility rate was 2.1 per 1000 females. This increased to 3.1 per 1000 females during 1947. Being part of this generation, our grandparents remember there being more children in one classroom than there are nowadays.

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Boarding school, etiquette, girls school

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Boarding school, etiquette, girls school

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Boarding schools are considered a home away from home where students are given parent-like figures to help them develop them into quality adolescents who can competently contribute to society. (Hodges et al., 2013). In the 1950s, they taught students things such as table manners, organisation of your dormitory and religious studies if you went to a religious boarding school. For example, Josh's grandmother, Elaine, went to a Catholic boarding school. They had sister Nuns who would guide them with their religion, for example being taught the Lord's Prayer. This is vastly different to the experiences of any other family members, as Elaine was the only member in both families to attend boarding school. However, other family members did attend religious schools. In Sophie's family, Sophie and her mother Dannielle both attended Anglican schools.

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Over time the academic standards in schools has varied immensely. What’s required of students has drastically changed, for example, before approximately 1989, the academic standard of students was deemed quite low so the National Education Goals Panel advocated for higher cut scores which are essentially passing marks and there was an increase in the challenge in assessments. (Cizek, 2012). This then created more and more students who were failing due to the increased rigorous testing. Consequently, when Josh's mother Karen was in high school, her classmates were given two choices, continue with HSC or leave early and complete a trade. Doing a trade was quite common back then as many students were not able to complete HSC/VCE due to the increase in academic standard. Similarly, Sophie's parents experienced the HSC/VCE, with both remembering the importance of their Year 12 exams. This has continued for us in the 21st century, with both of us completing the VCE.

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Factors that lead to going or not going to uni/other Tertiary education

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Factors that lead to going or not going to uni/other Tertiary education

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A factor that can lead to someone going taking up tertiary education is family. Similarly to us, students may have parents or family who went to university to become teachers. This may entice students into going to university to follow in their footsteps. Our mothers, Karen and Dannielle, went to university to become teachers. Karen went to Monash Peninsula to become a primary teacher. Karen also achieved her Tap Diploma and Teachers Diploma teaching dance through the Australian Academy of Dancing.

Another reason as to why students took part in tertiary education, is due to the fact that it is believed that there may be a bias towards those with some experience with tertiary education. This bias is referred to as the 'skill biased technology change’ (Machin & McNally, 2007, p. 10).

A decisive factor in whether or not you attend tertiary education, is whether or not it is financially accessible. When Josh's grandparents were at the tertiary education stage, many of their friends could not afford to pay for the education. HECS was not around when they went to tertiary education, so they had to pay the full fee up front, making it hard for most families to afford such payments. This impacted Sophie's grandparents as well. Indeed, Wayne's family could not afford a university tuition.

Not having interest in tertiary education and wanting to pursue other passions is also another big factor. Josh's father, Stewart, decided not to partake in tertiary education as he had other things going on in his life. For example, my father had interests in pursuing a career as a professional golfer. At the age of 17, he had a handicap of 8 and was very passionate about playing full-time. It was a very legitimate possibility as he had won a tournament in Hawaii. However, when he left school his parents wanted him to work full time instead, and he began working in a bank after leaving after year 11. Similarly, Sophie's grandfather Dave chose to undertake a pattern-making apprenticeship because he enjoyed woodwork and wanted to work in a trade-based profession.

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In secondary school, the size of classes has appeared to impact the educational experience of family members.

Our grandparents' generation appeared to experience larger class sizes, with Cheryl stating that her large classes prevented her being able to effectively learn. Indeed, she explained how it prevented her from having extensive one on one consultation with her teachers whereby they could understand and cater to her skill level. Similarly, Josh's grandmother Elaine found large class made it difficult to talk to the teacher.

However, Sophie's mother Dannielle  had a very small year level in Year 12, partly due to the fact that she attended a new school that did not have many students yet. She found that she was able to develop a more personal relationship with her educators, and that they were able to work to develop her individual skills. Sophie had a similar experience in secondary school, whereby it was a small school with small class sizes, and found that it did make a difference to the educational experience because she was able to develop a more personal relationship with her educators.