Masculinity At Prince Alfred College 1960-1965

280 Pages·2015·14.51 MB·English

by  Leah Simons

5"4'ot-
ÊV
Princes Men
Masculinity at Prince Alfred College
1960 - 196s
Leah Simons Dip Ed, B Ed (Queensland University of
Technology), M Ed Studies (University of Adelaide)
Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree
of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Education,
Universify of Adelaide
September 2001
Table of Contents
Abstract I
Declaration lll
iv
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Introduction
Gender, schooling and history 2
Historical images of masculinity 16
Prince Alfred College 1869-1965 24
South Australia and Adelaide in the 1960s 31
aa
Methodology JJ
Chapter 2: Religion 47
Methodism 47
Religious instruction 51
School chaplain: Kyle Waters 55
The Headmaster's addresses 62
Summary 66
Chapter 3: Princes Men 68
Being a PAC boy 70
Not fitting the mould 84
Summary 93
Chapter 4: School Culture and Impact 95
The development of school culhue 95
School impact 103
Role models 111
Jack Dunning: Headmaster 111
t2t
Masters
Prefects 138
t46
Summary
Chapter 5: Discipline 150
Types of discipline 150
Effects of discipline 161
Fairness of discipline 168
The role of Scouts and Cadets 177
t74
Scouts
Cadets' view of Scouts 177
Cadets 179
Scouts' view of Cadets 189
Summary 191
Chapter 6: Competition and Success 194
Sport 194
Academic achievement 220
Streaming and classroom seating plans 221
Importance of academic achievement 232
Summary 239
Chapter 7: Conclusion 240
Appendix I 257
Appendix II 259
Appendix III 26t
Appendix IV 262
Bibliography 263
Abstract
This study is an oral history based on interviews with fifty men who left Prince Alfred
College (PAC) between 1960-65. The aim was to define the codes of masculinity that
were accepted and taught at the school and any other definitions of masculinity that
were occurring sirnultaneously.
Prince Alfied College was established in 1869 as a Wesleyan Methodist boys' college
in Adelaide, South Australia. The school was based on the British model and
promoted muscular Christianity right through to the 1960s. This was achieved
throughout the school which was immersed in Christian ethics. Sport, discipline,
Cadets, Scouts. academia and school culture were used as themes to promote ethics
such as helping those less fortunate, being a team player, winning and losing with
grace- being honest. bein-e fair, accepting consequences to one's actions, respecting
one's elders and knowing that your actions affect those around you.
A Christian gentlernan was defined as an upright. good citizen. a credit to the school,
a leadet, useful in the community, of sound body and mind. He was expected to strive
to the best of his ability and not to give up when things went wrong. Boys were taught
to follow Christian ideals and teachings as a way of life rather than just apart of life,
leflecting the Methodist culture. PAC gave the boys a good preparation for life by
creating self confident. Christian gentleman to become leaders in the community.
Thele are rnany different definitions of masculinity operating at any given point in
time and the boys at PAC had rnany different ways of expressing their masculinity.
The ethics of muscular Christianity ancl the Christian gentlemen were entwined
ll
throughout the school and both were acceptable definitions of masculinity. Cadets and
sport highlighted muscular Christianity whereas, Scouts and academia emphasised the
Christian gentlemen. Prince Atfred College w-as very successful in transmitting a
Methodist emphasis of these codes of masculinity as all of those interviewed
described these ethics and many stated how they use them in their lives today.

lv
Acknowledgments
A big thanks to my anazingfamily David, Val and Tanya Simons for their love,
encouragement and continued support throughout the entire process.
Thanks to my supervisors Gillian Weiss and Margaret Secombe for their editing skills,
patience and feedback. Thanks to Jean Barman for sharing her interviewing experiences and
exchanging ideas about interviewing men.
Tha¡ks to Dr. Webster the then Headmaster of PAC and the Old Scholars Association for
allowing me to use their lists to contact potential interviewees. A big thanks to the PAC
archivist, Brian Baldwin for all the wonderful information and allowing me to sift through the
archives. To Milton Hasselof , retired Deputy of PAC, thanks for filling in the many gaps in
my information and for always being available to answer my nrmerous questions. A special
thanks to the frfty men who made time to be interviewed for this study.
Tha¡ks to my work colleagues Donna Triggs, Fran Aitken, Ric Dance, Di Whitington, Andy
Mewett and Pepina Argyropoulos for their encouragement and tolerance. Thanks to James
Telfer for his support by helping me through many blocks, finding the fabulous book,,4
Christian Gentleman and for the background information on the military. A special thanks to
my dear friend Julie McMillan, who maintained my sanity with her undying support,
encouragement and advice throughout, especially the last few frustrating months.
Saraswathi Karthagasu, Kristianne Stelmach and Chris Hurley thanks for saving my very sore
arms by helping me with the typing. To Martin Foreman many thanks for helping with all
those computer glitches that seem to appear when they are least needed.
I
Chapter 1: Introduction
There is currently a growing concern about boys' behaviour and performance in school as
well as a more general concern in society about unacceptable aggressive behaviour such as
child abuse and beatings perpetrated by men. Additionally there is a growing number of
young male offenders entering the prison system, many of whom have committed violent
offences against other males. It is important to have an understanding of how and where these
male behavioural characteristics were acquired and developed.
The role of the family in society is changing and there is a general lack of appropriate role
models for boys in many homes. Schools are potentially becoming more important in teaching
boys acceptable male behaviour. An understanding of the links between schooling and
masculinity is essential to how schools have been and continue to be a major tool of
socialisation. To date there has been a lot of study on the role of schools in teaching
femininity to girls but liule on the links between masculinity and schooling. Understanding
the past can help educators to improve the future for male and female members of society
alike. Behaviour and performance of boys today relates to the homes and schools of
tomonow. These boys are the potential fathers and role models for the next generation.
This study is about a small group of men who attended Prince Alfred College (PAC) in the
early 1960s and what sort of men they were taught to be at school. They are some of today's
male role models and are all fathers. This research is a historical investigation based on
gender and how schooling effects the development of masculinity in boys. It is one step in the
process of finding the links between masculinity and schooling from a historical perspective.
This study does not deal with the links between families and the teaching of masculinity.
2
Gender, schooling and history
Masculinity for the purpose of this research is defined as the social construct consisting of
values and characteristics that were associated with the male gender during the early to mid
1960s. The biological sex of individuals does not encompass their social attributes or their
socialisation process and therefore this study is based on gender. Gender is defined by
Connell as .the way that social practice is ordered'.l This definition is broad and flexible in
that it allows for 'masculine' women and 'feminine' men. It is therefore not always tied to
sex. Connell also states that 'gender is a process and not a fixed social practice. It's about
bodies, what bodies do and how they react.'2 Therefore there are many different masculinities
at any given point in time. Hegemonic masculinþ is the definition out of the many that is set
up as or considered the noÍn. This is usually based on middle class values and is therefore
most often, but not exclusively, found in the middle class.
Gender identities are complex, structurally determined processes that occur at the same time
as the individual is actively constructing his/trer personal masculinity/femininity. Gender also
interacts with social class, ethnicity and other factors that make up a person's backgtound and
life experiences. Gender construction therefore occurs when individuals interact with society,
developing their individual identities within particular cultural and historical contexts. As
Kimmel states 'Men are not born; they are made. And men make themselves, actively
constructing their masculinities within a social and historical context.'3
t R. V/. Connell (1995) Masculinities, Allen & Unwin, St. Leonards, Ch. 3, pp' 71-76'
2 ibid.
t frrfì"tru"l Kimmel and Michael Messner (1995) Men's Lives,Allyn & Bacon, Boston, 3'd ed., p. xx.
3
Secondary schools are highly organised institutions that cater primarily for adolescents and
as such are important arenas where individual gender identities are experienced, challenged
and developed. Connell agrees that 'schools do not simply adapt to a natural masculinity
amongst boys ... they are agents in the matter, constructing particular forms of gender and
negotiating relations between them.'4 Carrigan, Connell and Lee 'see social definitions of
masculinity as being embedded in the dynamics of institutions.'s
Until recently Australian history has been written from a white, Anglo-Saxon, middle class,
male perspective and has tended to focus on important events and the outstanding
accomplishments of great people - usually men. This approach ignored the experiences and
everyday lives of the majority of the people, as well as factors such as race, gender, sex,
socioeconomic background and all the other facets that make us individuals: History was, and
often still is, written from an ideal masculine perspective, which is assumed to be the nonn,
and therefore personal issues have not traditionally been the subject of critical reflection and
analysis. Exceptions have occurred in extreme situations such as wars, which produced some
people who questioned the inculcation of masculine attributes such as the aggression and
blind obedience to authority that society demands at these times. This traditional approach to
history omitted many other areas of men's lives and reinforced the hegemonic masculinity of
the time.
Historically, schooling has been perceived as reinforcing the inborn nature of the sexes, which
directly related to their biology, as well as preparing individuals for their roles in society. The
definition of this inborn nature has only varied slightly through time. Traditionally, boys have
o R. W. Connell (1989) 'Cool Guys, Swots and Wimps: the interplay of masculinity and education', Oxford
Review of Education, vol. 15, no.3, pp. 291-292.
t T. Cu.rigun, B. Connell and J. Lee (1985) 'Toward a new sociology of masculinity', Theory and Society,vol.
14, no. 5, p. 591.