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The Queensland School Reader: textual constructions of childhood in 1930s and 40s classrooms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2016

Sandra Taylor
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Extract

The Queensland School Reader series occupies a special place in the childhood memories of many Queenslanders, evoking mixed reactions from those who used them. The Readers were significant because in Queensland schools they were used, virtually unaltered, for close to fifty years. They were central to the early school experiences of at least two generations of Queensland children - central because for many years other sources of reading material were scarce - particularly in isolated areas. Consequently, teachers based much of their teaching on the Readers which, in turn, were carefully “rationed” out in small doses to ensure that they lasted the allotted time. Other sources, such as The School Paper, were used as supplements but textbooks were in short supply, particularly during the Great Depression and war years.

Type
Representations of the Child
Information
Queensland Review , Volume 3 , Issue 2: Volume 3 Special Issue 02 (Young in a Warm Climate) - July 1996 Editor: Lynetter Finch , July 1996 , pp. 39 - 58
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 

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References

Endnotes

Thanks to Janine Collins and Kaye Nunan for assistance with aspects of historical research conducted for the study, and to Allan Luke and Daphne Meadmore for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this chapter. Most of the texts analysed are part of the collection of Queensland University of Technology's One Teacher School Museum.Google Scholar

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