Schooling in the Industrial Society of New Zealand

In order to understand schooling in New Zealand as it is, we need to remember that the education system originated in Britain and developed in a British colony in the nineteenth century and that it was based on the English national school system. We also need to understand the key influences of the industrial age on education (Hood, 2001). Some of the issues arising in the readings are the influence education has on society, how society can be shaped by education and what role the government plays in education. Another important issue is the development of an education system that is designed to match the ways different children learn and what their different abilities and interests are. Most important of all how by looking at the history of education and the development of the education system we can see ways of moving forward.

Life in Britain during the industrial age was still to a large extent ruled by the class system and education was for the ruling classes. However, the French Revolution altered the view common people in England had of the aristocratic system and the Industrial Revolution continued to bring about major changes (Campbell, 1941). After the French Revolution there was a change in how working class Britons viewed life and their place in society. They realised by looking at the French example that the aristocratic system that had long been their way of life did not have to be in control if the masses chose to change their "lot in life." During the 18th century more families started to earn a living from industrial work rather than from agricultural work and at the same time the country's population increased more rapidly than ever before. A result of this was an increase in unemployment producing social unre...

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... (1965). "Secondary education: Origins and directions" (pp.185-191). New York: Macmillan.

Editorial in "The Southern Cross", June 10, 1848.

Grey-Grey Dispatch, 1847.

Hood, D. (2001). Pacific Vision International Conference - Leadership in Education. Retrieved June 2, 2004 from the Worldwide Web:

http://www.minpac.govt.nz/resources/reference/pvdocs/leadership/hood.php

Lee, G. (1992). "The school curriculum as a definition of knowledge."

Melnick. O. (2000/2001). "The origins of modern education." From Schoolhouse Home Education News, Winter 2000/2001. Retrieved June 8, 2004 from the Worldwide Web: http://www.schoolhouse.org.uk/html/news/news_ostap_jan01.html

The 1847 Education Ordinance