Going to School in Oceania

Citation

Johnson, L. (2013), "Going to School in Oceania", History of Education Review, Vol. 42 No. 1, pp. 104-106. https://doi.org/10.1108/08198691311317741

This extremely well researched and put together collection of chapters will appeal to anyone interested in the history of schooling or of the five countries discussed. In the Introduction the editors, Craig Campbell and Geoffrey Sherington, explain the book's structure, the authors’ considerations in the chapters, and common concerns and difficulties in comprehensively charting histories and life experiences prior to more contemporary written records and fields of focus. The five body chapters of roughly equal length then present a fascinating exploration of schooling in Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Samoa.

This book certainly fulfils the claim in the Series Foreword, of “provid[ing] a rich description of how schooling is related to national culture; religion; identity; social, political, and economic structures; and economic development” (p. viii). The book certainly piques interest into prevalent themes of intersections of schooling with culture, politics, governance, and social structures. The authors are knowledgeable and informative about historical developments and the people who contributed to such change. Research and claims are solidly supported with exhaustive referencing and evidence.

The chapters follow a generally chronological structure with introduction, pre‐nineteenth century, nineteenth century, twentieth century, present day, day in the life of a student, notes, and bibliography. The chapters thoroughly explore and address developments in levels of formal schooling (primary, secondary, post‐secondary); schooling experiences and opportunities are differentiated by students’ sex, status, ethnicity, ability/merit, and geographical location. Schooling purposes, approaches, and experiences are contextualised by social and governance structures and practices, hierarchical systems, and ways of understanding cultures and worlds. The educational role and influence of religious groups and churches upon European contact is also explored.

Both directly and through implication, the chapters historically contextualise and chart such wide‐ranging debates as: perceived ideal purpose, content, mode and delivery of formal schooling; free and compulsory nature of formal schooling; effects of and tensions between religious and civic involvement in formal and informal schooling and cultural norms, as impressed upon schooling practices, and government funding for private and faith‐based schools; trends in educational and school management and funding, and their effects on curriculum, division and content of schooling delivered; commonality and uniformity across distances over curriculum and assessment, teacher training and professional identity; and the popularity of and reliance on a focus on examinations, extrinsic rewards for success and public reporting of student results.

Fascinating detail is provided during an exploration of various educational effects of foreign colonialism. The authors’ admirable historical knowledge is further apparent in discussion of difficulties evident in these countries’ stories of attempts to achieve a culturally and economically appropriate form of schooling, and the shadow of foreign influence and intervention is reflected in arguments and conflicts regarding the place of indigenous and vernacular languages in formal schooling. These and other examples of context‐driven responses to ever‐changing expectations and demands upon schooling provide considerable insight into the peoples involved and have obvious contemporary international parallels.

The high level of detail about formal schooling practices since European contact compares starkly in the book with the lack of similar information about pre‐contact periods. Campbell and Sherington's Introduction will have already alerted readers to this frustrating lack of knowledge regarding the pre‐European era, and the authors have clearly conducted exhaustive research mindful of this gap which has affected these countries to different degrees. Nevertheless, it is disappointing that in the Australian chapter, indigenous stories appear to have been dealt with somewhat superficially. The impression gained is that most attention is directed towards topics potentially offering greater empirical evidence. Further, given the number of countries that make up Oceania, a succinct explanation for the selection of these particular five countries is warranted, as is a discussion of potential replicability of stories of schooling across the entire geographic area. The editors point out that this book “represents the first major effort to write an overview of the history of education” (p. 1) in this area, and therefore some limitations are understandable; and this collection is indeed a timely contribution and encouragement for further work to complete the picture.

Ultimately, governments, educators, public, religious groups and industry across these and other countries shape their societies through their responses to complex, wide‐ranging issues and developments; schooling practices shape and are shaped by society, often in unintended ways. These authors remind us all of the importance of critically considering the human experience when making educational decisions that will, undoubtedly, have much broader consequences now and into the future.