Secondary education in Queensland, 1860-1960

Abstract

Secondary education has seen more rapid growth in the last two decades than any other section of Australian education. All Australian states have appointed committees to examine the present systems and to make recommendations for changes. As yet there has been no general agreement on such matters as the aim and purpose of secondary education, the most desirable curriculum, the role of public examinations, the place of the university, or the training of teachers. This book traces the origins of the system of secondary education in Queensland - the early grammar schools and small academies, the church schools, the state high schools. It examines the influence of the Scholarship Examination and the effect of university control over public examinations. It deals with the work and influence of individuals - politicians, administrators, headmasters, and teachers. To explain the course of events, it proposes hypotheses which might well form the basis for similar studies in other states. All those concerned with education will find this book of value. For politicians and for educational administrators and historians, there is food for thought in the author{u2019}s account of one hundred years of secondary education in Queensland, and in the comments and criticisms he has to make, while for those engaged in the teaching profession in Queensland it is essential reading.