One way to find out what a country thinks about itself and its relations to other countries is to look at what it tells its school children. This essay examines what New Zealand pupils were to learn about their country and its relation to Britain. For this the two subjects history and geography are taken into account, because they tell most of all about New Zealand’s ideas of the past and the present world. The essay is based on three syllabi and several history textbooks. Syllabi reflect what the children were supposed to learn, textbooks give a further indication of what the contents of lessons actually were. The timespan covered reaches from the first national curriculum in 1877 to the last history textbook published before World War II from 1937.
Table of Contents
History and Geography under the 1877 syllabus
History and Geography under the 1904 syllabus
History and Geography under the 1928 syllabus
Three history textbooks between 1925 and 1937
Conclusion
Research Objectives and Themes
This study examines how New Zealand's primary school curriculum and history textbooks framed the country's national identity and its relationship with Britain between 1877 and 1937. The research investigates how pedagogical materials evolved from an initial British-centered perspective toward a nascent, yet conflicted, sense of New Zealand nationalism, while simultaneously navigating economic and political dependencies on the British Empire.
- Evolution of the New Zealand primary school curriculum from 1877 to 1937.
- Shift in the perception of New Zealand's relationship with Britain within history and geography lessons.
- The role of school textbooks in shaping national consciousness and imperial loyalty.
- Tensions between constitutional independence and the maintenance of economic ties to the Empire.
Excerpt from the Book
Three history textbooks between 1925 and 1937
New Zealand grew constitutionally apart from Britain, on the other hand it tried to keep its economical and political relations to Britain tight because Britain was its main export partner and security provider. This aroused contradictory histories in school textbooks. Historians such as Sinclair and Belich have employed the common textbook Our Nation’s Story to show the presence of imperialism in schools, a view that is underpinned by works about the New Zealand School Journal. Belich has claimed that Our Nation’s Story was a whole generation‘s textbook. Indeed it was the best selling history series of its time, between 1929 and 1941 122,000 copies were printed. But it had competitors, and when two other influential textbooks, A Short History of New Zealand from 1925 and Our Country from 1937 are taken into account beside Our Nation’s Story, strongly differing views of the relationship between New Zealand and Britain become apparent.
Colin McGeorge has shown that Our Nation’s Story contained a respectable amount of New Zealand history. His essay is meant as a direct answer to Keith Sinclair’s account that in Our Nation’s History ‘the nation was British’. Yet McGeorge’s ‘thematic as well as quantitative analysis’ is unable to disprove Sinclair’s argument. Both argue about Our Nation’s Story in purely quantitative terms. Sinclair has used the numbers to show that New Zealand was marginalized, McGeorge uses them to show that New Zealand did matter. Maybe a look into the text itself can bring light into the question whether it promoted New Zealand as an independent or British territory. Our Nation’s Story differenciates between the pupil’s country and his nationality: ‘The pupil is first taught the story of his own country, a story which cannot fail to arouse his pride and patriotism. Having carried him thus far, “Our Nation’s Story” seeks to interest him in the historical progress of the nation of which he is a citizen.’ His country was New Zealand, but his nation was British, as was his race.
Summary of Chapters
History and Geography under the 1877 syllabus: Analyzes the implementation of the first national curriculum, which established a British-centered educational framework that largely ignored New Zealand's unique geographic and social context.
History and Geography under the 1904 syllabus: Discusses the transition toward integrating more New Zealand-specific history and the shift toward an economically oriented geography curriculum reflecting colonial needs.
History and Geography under the 1928 syllabus: Explores the radicalization of economic geography and the emergence of a more pacifist, internationalist tone in history, while still maintaining deep-seated imperial ties.
Three history textbooks between 1925 and 1937: Compares influential textbooks to reveal the contradictory ways schools attempted to reconcile New Zealand’s growing constitutional independence with its ongoing psychological and economic attachment to Britain.
Conclusion: Summarizes how pedagogical materials reflected the confusion of a nation growing apart from its "mother land" while struggling to define its own independent identity.
Keywords
New Zealand history, British Empire, education, primary school curriculum, nationalism, identity, school textbooks, colonialism, geography, economic dependence, imperial ties, 1877-1937, syllabus, Our Nation's Story, recolonization theory.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research paper?
The paper explores how the evolving primary school curriculum in New Zealand portrayed the relationship between the country and Britain during the formative years between 1877 and 1937.
What are the primary subject areas analyzed?
The analysis focuses on history and geography subjects, as these were the main vehicles for teaching students about their country, their past, and their place in the world.
What is the central research question?
It aims to determine how New Zealand schools managed the inherent tension between fostering a local national identity and maintaining the country's status as a British colony and economic partner.
Which methodology is employed in the work?
The author conducts a comparative analysis of three major national syllabi and selected influential history textbooks published within the specified timeframe.
What is the main topic of the main body?
The main body systematically examines the 1877, 1904, and 1928 syllabi alongside textbooks like "Our Nation's Story" to track shifting perspectives on sovereignty, race, and colonial identity.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Key terms include New Zealand history, curriculum development, British Empire, national identity, and educational historiography.
How did the 1877 syllabus treat New Zealand's position?
It treated New Zealand as an English outpost, focusing on British history and ignoring the country's geographical distance from London.
Why were the textbooks of the 1925-1937 period considered contradictory?
They contained mixed messages that simultaneously acknowledged New Zealand's development as an independent entity and reinforced an uninterrupted, loyal attachment to the British Crown.
- Citation du texte
- David Glowsky (Auteur), 2002, New Zealand's relation toward Britain in primary school syllabi and history textbooks 1877-1937, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/20227
