Secondary teaching studentships and their effects on the lives of female recipients 1950–1980

270 Pages·2013·1.38 MB·English

by  Marilyn Bowler

‘how lucky my generation was’:
Teaching studentships in Victoria 1950–78

Submitted by Marilyn Bowler, Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts
preliminary, Dip. Ed.

A thesis submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the
degree of Masters of Arts

History Program
School of Historical and Cultural Studies
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

La Trobe University
Bundoora, Victoria 3086
Australia

October 2012
Dedication
I would like to dedicate this thesis to my parents, Lillian Bowler and Robert Smith, who
encouraged their working class daughter to go as far as she could with her education. And to
my husband, Ron Leslie, my heartfelt thanks, for all the meals prepared and the housework
undertaken over the four years I was researching and writing. Above all, thanks for your
constructive criticism, your constant support and your unswerving belief that I could complete
this thesis and that it was a project worth undertaking.
Acknowledgements

I would like to thank all those former studentship holders who happily completed surveys,
generously answered interview questions, patiently provided additional information by email,
and shared memories and souvenirs of their tertiary years and their later careers with me. As a
researcher, I could not have had a more welcoming and helpful group of subjects.

I would also like to acknowledge my supervisors, Professors Richard Broome, Marilyn Lake,
Diane Kirkby and Katie Holmes, whose inspiration, guidance and feedback helped clarify my
aims, place my research within its historical context and structure my arguments. And whose
encouragement, particularly Richard Broome’s, enabled me to keep going.

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A personal note
My own narrative parallels those that many of the studentship holders related in this thesis. I
attended Monash University between 1965 and 1968 on a teaching studentship. During that
time, I was a member of the Monash Labor Club and involved in student politics to a minor
degree. I taught in Victorian government secondary schools from 1969 to 1986 and was an
active member of the Victorian Secondary Teachers Association, before leaving to work for
state and local governments and as a self-employed writer, editor and trainer/teacher.

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Table of contents
Introduction 12
1. Overview 12
2. Methodology 15
 Surveys 15
 Interviews 17
 Other primary sources 18
 Oral history issues 19
 Oral history issues and studentship holder interviews 23
 Issues raised by the interview process 27
 Secondary sources 35
Chapter 1: Post-war educational, social and political changes 38
1. Educational changes 38
 Secondary education 38
 The Ramsay report 1949 41
 Union, media and political views on the Ramsay report and on
Victorian education 45
 Tertiary education 50
2. Social and political changes in Australia in the second half of
the 20th century 54
Chapter 2: Leaving school; leaving home 63
1. An overview of teaching studentships 63
2. Previous research about trainee teacher socio-economic backgrounds 64
 Socio-economic backgrounds of those surveyed for this thesis 68
 Male-female socio-economic backgrounds 70
3. Educational backgrounds 72
4. Perceived ability to undertake tertiary studies 73
5. Male and female participation in teaching training 76
6. Place of origin 81
7. Teachers hostels 82
Chapter 3: Tertiary years—academic studies and broadening horizons 90
1. Expanding horizons 91
2. Beyond formal studies 95
3. Intellectual interests or teacher training? 99
4. Difficulties at university 101
5. Differences between universities and teachers colleges 106
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Chapter 4: Student teacher attitudes to social and political activism 121
1. Political activism at university 121
 1950s 123
 1960 to early 1970s 131
 Early 1970s to early 1980s 148
2. Political activism at teachers colleges 155
3. Social attitude changes 160
Chapter 5: School teaching careers 164
1. Fulfilling the bond or a lifelong career? 164
2. Teacher career longevity 168
3. Experience of teaching 177
4. Teacher unionism 183
5. Sexism and discrimination 195
Chapter 6: Beyond teaching careers 202
1. Social and cultural mobility 203
2. Effects of receiving a studentship 211
 Work 217
 Relationships 220
3. Those who can teach, can do anything: an analysis of post-teaching 221
careers
Conclusion 229
Appendices 236
Appendix 1: Surveys 236
Appendix 2: Interview questions and prompts 255
Appendix 3: Numbers of male-female secondary studentship holders
entering training 257
Bibliography 258
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Summary

In 1950, secondary teaching studentships were reintroduced in Victoria. This thesis studies the
effects of receiving a teaching studentship on recipients’ lives—either at university or at other
teacher training venues. From the ranks of former studentship holders, 168 were surveyed and
34 were interviewed. Studentship recipients were mainly from working and lower middle class
backgrounds. Women, and those from migrant and rural origins, were more highly represented
than they were in the general university population. Contributors to this thesis saw
studentships as enabling them to undertake tertiary studies that would otherwise have been
impossible or difficult. The availability of cheaper hostel accommodation was seen by country
students as vital. Former trainee teachers perceived their tertiary studies as having broadened
their lives academically, intellectually, socially and culturally. Neither university nor teachers
1
college training was without difficulty , for trainees who were often the first members of their
families to go beyond secondary schooling. Though student teachers were amongst university
activists, the majority of those interviewed and sur veyed were neither radicals n or student
leaders . However, they did see themselves as having become more liberal and left - wing than
their parents or siblings as a result of their tertiary experiences. Though previous researchers
suggested that being bonded to become teachers could result in high attrition rates and in a
lack of commitment, those interviewed for this thesis had lengthy teaching careers and were
enthusiastic about their ability to make a difference in their students’ lives. Interviewees were
also active teacher unionists who saw their actions as motivated by idealism. Graduate
teachers, especially males, were more likely to be able to find careers beyond school teaching.
By their own accounts, teaching allowed them to become more socially mobile and affluent,

1
Throughout this thesis, I have used ‘teachers college’, ‘teachers hostel’, ‘girls school’ and ‘three years service’,
following the rule that the apostrophe is dropped when the compound noun is descriptive rather than possessive.
th
(Style manual for authors, editors and printers, 6 edn, John Wiley & Sons Australia Ltd, Canberra, 2002, p. 87.)
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though they tended to measure this in terms of the opportunities it gave them, rather than in
material possessions.

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Statement of authorship

Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contains no material
published elsewhere or extracted in whole or part from a thesis submitted for the award of
any other degree or diploma.
No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the
thesis.
The thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary
institution.
Research procedures reported in this thesis were approved by the Human Ethics Committee.
Signature: Date:
Abbreviations

ABC Australian Broadcasting Corporation (previously Company)
B.Ed. Bachelor of Education
Dip. Ed. Diploma of Education
FLN Front de Libération Nationale
HECS Higher Education Contribution Scheme
HOD Head of Department
HSC Higher School Certificate
MLA Member for the Legislative Assembly
MLC Member for the Legislative Council
NLF National Liberation Front
OSCW Open Sub-Committee on Women’s Issues (VSTA)
para. Paragraph
Phys. Ed. Physical Education
SATC Secondary Art Teachers Certificate
STC Secondary Teachers College
SRC Students Representative Council
TAFE Institute of Technical and Further Education
TITC Trained Infant Teacher’s Certificate
TPTC Trained Primary Teacher’s Certificate
TSTC Trained Secondary Teacher’s Certificate
TTAV Technical Teachers Association of Victoria
VWLLFA Victorian Women’s Liberation and Lesbian Feminist Archives
VSMPA Victorian Secondary Masters Professional Association
VSTA Victorian Secondary Teachers Association
VTU Victorian Teachers Union
U3A University of the Third Age
WAP White Australia Policy
WEL Women’s Electoral Lobby

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List of tables

Chapter 1

Table 1: Teacher numbers 1950 41
Table 2: Teacher numbers 1977–78 50
Table 3: University undergraduate numbers at Victorian universities 1950–85 52
Chapter 2

Table 4: Estimated fathers’ income of Australian university students by percentages 66
Table 5: Fathers’ occupations of those surveyed 69
Table 6: Female undergraduates as percentage of the total Victorian undergraduate
population 79
Table 7: Female studentship numbers and percentages 80
Table 8: Women as a percentage of Victorian undergraduates and studentship holders 80
Table 9: Importance of hostels to studentship holders 84

Chapter 5

Table 10: Drop-out rates for students by field of study 166
Table 11: Attrition rates for teaching students 166

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