The Relationship Between Politics and Education in South Australia, 1834-1875
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xß15./s I )-- TÍIE RELATIONSHIP BETI,VEEN POLITICS AI'ID EDUCATION IN sollTll AUSTRALIA, L834 - 1875 by RODNEY M. GOUTTT\4AN 8.4., New England M. Ed., SydneY Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of PhilosoPhY in the Department of Education UniversitY of Adelaide Jtne 1979 ¡\rr: ' i f\t¡1ini I i 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page I TEXT 11 II TTIESIS ABSTRACT 1V III DECI.,ARATION V1 v11 W ACKNOI^ILEDGEMENTS V ABBREVIATIONS v111 11 TEKT Page CHAPTER 1 CONCEPIS A}ID AI]\4S The relationship between Politics and Education 2 Issues of the Thesis 8 References t2 CFIAPTER 2 TTf. SOUI}I AUSTRAIIAN SCFIOOL SOCIETY'S PLAN FOR SCHOULs The Plan's focYs 15 Establishnent Act for South Australia, 1854 L9 1? George Fife Angasfs influence The Planrs structure and PedagogY 33 References 42 CFIAPTER 3 DEMISE OF TT_IE SOUTT] AUSTRALIAN SCHOOL SOCIETY The argtrnents 47 Nature and establishnent of the School Society 58 Governor Gawlerts attitude to education 7T Governor Grey and the School Society 75 References 85 CFIAPTER 4 GOVERNOR ROBE'S ORDIMNCE NO.1-1 OF 1847 The argtunents 95 Governór Grey - economic recession education 97 Governor Robe - attitudes and legislative manoeuvres 106 References t28 CHAPTER 5 TFIE REPEAT OF C'OVERNOR ROBE'S ORDIMNCE N0.11. OF r847 The argunents 134 Operation of Ordinance No "LL of t847 L37 The Select Comnittee of the Legislative Cotncil, Jr;ne 5, 1-850 145 Effects of the Australian Colonies Act, 1850 L57 The Select Conrnittee of the new Legislative Cotncil, October 8, 1851 t63 Act No.20 of 1851 772 References 180 111. COMMITTEE ON CHAPTER 6 TIIE LEGISTATIVE ASSEMBT YlS SELECT EDUCATION, 18 The arguments 188 The Bicameral Parliament 190 Parlianent and the Preceptorst Association 193 Gold, the economY, and schooling 198 S"ãní"t educatioi'and the Roman Catholic Church 204 Attitudes of the Church of England 208 ftã-ii."n ecl system and the Róman Catholic Church 2L2 Abortive Education Amendement 8i11, \bY 7, LB6t 219 The Select Comnittee of l-861 225 References 233 IS COMMITTEE ON CHAPIER 7 THE LEG ISI.,ATIVE ASSEMBLY SELECT EDUCAI'ION, Iö The argunents 243 Establlshnent of the Ronan Catholic Systøn 250 Education and the rural districts 255 The Select Conmittee of 18óB 259 References 277 CHAPTER 8 TIIE EDUCATI ON ACT OF 1875 The argr.unents 284 early 1870 f s 286 Economlcs difficulties rs Denorninationalism and the Assernbly reaction 290 Hartfs abortive Education 8i11, !87t 29t Post-depression and schooling 300 Blvth's abortive Education Bill of 1875 505 Boârd of Education and the 5rd Inspector 308 Boucaut lvlinistry and the 1875 Act 319 References 326 CFI,\PTER 9 SUMMATION Surnary 336 References 550 BIBLIOGAPFIY 357 ?e a-attt- to this copy of my thesis, \.;hen depositecì in the L¡niversity' consent and photocopying. Y¡ avaiJ.able for Ioan v 8l ].V. THESIS ASSTRACT This thesis studies the relationship between Politics and Education in the period 1834 to 1-875. The major argunent is that the nature and structure of public education were fashioned to suit the needs of those who sr.rpported conrnercial capitalisn and anti- erastianism. It is suggested that the character of public education developed during this period created the value orientation of the 't\lhile future public education system in the colony. the Legislature was well aware of educational developrnents abroad and in other Australian colonies, the nature and tining of the Education Act of 1875, which introduced compulsory education, was dictated by the fears of men of property whon the colonial parliament represented' The term tpolitics' will refer to the nature and causes of the doninant social ideology, and to the institutions and policies established to promote its ethos. Being a political institution, the education systern embodied values seen as appropriate by those whom the dominant social ideology served. The expression of these values changed with corresponding changes in the pol^/er relationships within the dominant social class. The gradual movement from the rhetoric of purist voltmtaryism to that of an acceptance of State intervention in education was reflected in a shift of influence on education policy frorn the Congregationalists to the Wesleyan Methodists. In terms of education policy, this change was expressed in the denise of the South Australian School Society, the rejection of Governor Robets Ordinance No.11 of 1847, the establishnent of select conrnittees to study education in 1861 and 1868, and finally, the compulsory Education Act of 1875' V Anti-erastianism affected education policy as follows - it provided a normative yardstick against which decisions about State interyention into the private domain of education were to be measured; it was influential in deternining the kinds of social values a public education system was expected to transmit; and finalLy, it became a potent weapon against the Roman Catholic Church in the arena of education. Indeed, the subsequent withdrawal of the Roman Catholic Church from the State-subsidised education system in l-867 suited rnany members of the Legislature. They saw themselves fProtestantr administering a 'Protestantf State in the name of a monarch. This thesis argues that the najor purpose of the 1875 Education Act was social control. This became important to the representatives of the propertied classes as a means of coping with dernographic changes, the expansion of manufacture as an alternative investment to agriculture, md the spectre of many unschooled working class youth wandering the streets and arousing fears of a threat to property and to Values which the colony was seen to represent. These factors made compulsory education an attractive social stTategy. vl- DECIARATÏON I certify that this thebis contains no materìal which has been accepted for the award of any other degree òr diploma in any university. To the best of my lcrowledge and belief, this thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference is rnade in the text of the thesis. Signature: v]-1 ACKNOI{IEDGH\4ENTS I wish to thank ny supen¡isors, Professor L. Neal of the Department of Education, and the late Mr" R.L. Reid and Mr. Brian Abbey of the Departrnent of Politics, of the University of Adelaide, for their advice and consideration. A special thanks must go to the officers of the South Australia¡r Archives, ffid to those of the newspaper room of the State Library of South Australia, for their assistance. v111. ABBREVIATIONS A.P. Angas Papers S.A.A. South Australian Archives S.A.G.G. South Australian Government Gazette S.A.P.D. South Australian Parliamentary Debates S.A.P.P. South Australian Parliamentary Papers ttThe Advertiser" The South Australian Advertiser "The Register" The South Australian Register OIAPTER 1 CONCEP|S AND AINTS ?. 2 CONCEPTS ANID AIMS. The concern of this thesis is the relationship betvreen Politics and Education in South Australia between the years 1834 and 1875. This, the introductory chapter will be divided ilto two interrelated parts. The first of these will discuss the conceptual approach to be used, r,rfrrile the second will outline the nature of the argunent to be explored in this work. Alan Ryan suggests that problems in Social Science rnay be divided i¡to rfactualr and rconceptual' ccmponents.l This division provides the framework for the examination of the relationship between Politics and Education in this thesis. His 'factualr refers to matters of process, while rconceptual' denotes the implicit assrrnptions upon which the 'factuaf is fotrtded.Z Thus, in any profound analysis of a problern, an rmderstanding of the conceptual aspects is essential' T\,rlo ideas require i¡nnediate clarification, for they tend to be used synonymously, and are often confused in the literature. The first, that of a tpolitical theory of education', refers to the role education is expected to play within an existing political paradigm, for example, when education is called upon to either establish or naintain a particular kind of society. The second is the 'politics of education', which refers to relationships withi¡r the institution of education. Fred Wirt has criticised the literature on education for its obsession with process without any theoretical forrndations agairlst 5 which the real rneaning of its interactions can be r-urderstood' H" argues that this pre-occupation with description, evaluation, and prescription for education systems renain, at best, ideological pronouncements.4 tl*ry other contributors to the literature of the 3 rpolitics of educatíon'arso lament the absence of theory,s and the., proceed to describe the interdependence of political and education systems as observed in the context of a particular society. This traditional interest in empirical relationships has resulted in the uncritical adoption of the systems approach as the basic political science paradigm,6 in the study of the relationship between politics and education. This is not to suggest that the systems approach has not been criticised, but existing criticism has centred on the paradigm itself, rather than on its adequacy for clarifying the true nature of the relationship. sheldon ttrolin has attacked the applicati-on of systems theory to the study of the nexus between 'Politics and Education' because he sees inherent invalidities underlying the parad iw.T However, his criticism fails to attack the nodelrs cultural specificity - that of an idealised United States of America pluralist society. The reason for this is'that wolin's world view is similar to the ideological assunptions t¡nderlyiag the systems approach, for he seeks his anshrers regardirlg the nature of the nexus within the context of the democratic society which he feels the United States of America to be. The crucial questions for him are "what kind of individual is to be cherished and encouraged by education and what kinds of tasks need o support?"" serious doubt mrst be cast on the portability of systerns theory to societies which, due to their historical background, are culturally different from the United States of America.