Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

The “special experiment” in languages

The “special experiment” in languages PurposeThe Victorian School of Languages began on the margins of the Victorian education system in 1935 as a “special experiment” supported by the Chief Inspector of Secondary Schools, J.A Seitz. The purpose of this paper is to present a historical analysis of the first 15 years of the “special experiment” and it reports on the school’s fragile beginnings.Design/methodology/approachThe historical analysis draws on archival materials, oral sources and other primary documents from the first 15 years of the Saturday language classes, to explore its fragile role and status within the Victorian education system.FindingsThe Saturday language classes were experimental in nature and were initially intended to pilot niche subjects in the languages curriculum. Despite support from influential stakeholders, widespread interest and a promising response from teachers and students, the student enrolments dwindled, especially in the war years. As fate would have it, the two languages initially established (Japanese and Italian) faced a hostile war environment and only just survived. Questions about the continuing viability of the classes were raised, but they were championed by Seitz.Originality/valueTo date, this is one of few scholarly explorations of the origins of the Victorian School of Languages, a school which became a model for Australia’s other State Specialist Language Schools. This paper contributes to the literature about the VSL, a school that existed on the margins but played a pioneering role in the expansion of the language curriculum in Victoria. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png History of Education Review Emerald Publishing

The “special experiment” in languages

Bryant, Catherine; Mascitelli, Bruno
History of Education Review , Volume 47 (1): 13 – Jun 4, 2018
Download PDF
13 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/the-special-experiment-in-languages-5gr6FoPglt
Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © Emerald Group Publishing Limited
ISSN
0819-8691
DOI
10.1108/HER-01-2017-0002
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

PurposeThe Victorian School of Languages began on the margins of the Victorian education system in 1935 as a “special experiment” supported by the Chief Inspector of Secondary Schools, J.A Seitz. The purpose of this paper is to present a historical analysis of the first 15 years of the “special experiment” and it reports on the school’s fragile beginnings.Design/methodology/approachThe historical analysis draws on archival materials, oral sources and other primary documents from the first 15 years of the Saturday language classes, to explore its fragile role and status within the Victorian education system.FindingsThe Saturday language classes were experimental in nature and were initially intended to pilot niche subjects in the languages curriculum. Despite support from influential stakeholders, widespread interest and a promising response from teachers and students, the student enrolments dwindled, especially in the war years. As fate would have it, the two languages initially established (Japanese and Italian) faced a hostile war environment and only just survived. Questions about the continuing viability of the classes were raised, but they were championed by Seitz.Originality/valueTo date, this is one of few scholarly explorations of the origins of the Victorian School of Languages, a school which became a model for Australia’s other State Specialist Language Schools. This paper contributes to the literature about the VSL, a school that existed on the margins but played a pioneering role in the expansion of the language curriculum in Victoria.

Journal

History of Education Review – Emerald Publishing

Published: Jun 4, 2018

There are no references for this article.