This educational history thesis contributes to knowledge of citizenship education in Australia during the 1940s and 1950s. It provides unique perspectives on an important part of Australian citizenship educational history. This examination of citizenship education also helps to explain contemporary trends and the recent revival of citizenship education in multicultural Australia. Following the Second World War, Australian political leaders initiated an unprecedented immigration programme to help develop and defend post-war Australia. The programme enjoyed bipartisan support and was extraordinary in terms of magnitude and nature. It became the catalyst for a citizenship education campaign orchestrated by Federal political leaders for the benefit of all Australians. The citizenship education campaign was, however, primarily aimed at non-British adult migrants. The intention of the Federal Government was to maintain the cultural hegemony of the Anglo-Celts evident in pre-war Australia. In accordance with government policy, the new arrivals were expected to assimilate into the Australian community and become loyal citizens. Citizenship rested on a common national language and thus, the focus was on teaching migrants of non-British origin English for the workplace, everyday intercourse and, as a means to dissuade migrant enclaves. This thesis comprises of three sections which illustrate how the citizenship education campaign was extended through: (i) official education channels; (ii) the media, specifically the Australian Broadcasting Commission; and (iii) annual citizenship conventions which encompasses a case study of the Good Neighbour Movement in New South Wales. These particular areas have been chosen as they identify important and different ways the campaign was expressed and funded. Discussion of the financial arrangements concerning the implementation of the campaign is important as it uniquely illustrates the power of the Federal authorities to direct the campaign as they considered necessary. It also highlights conflict between Federal and State authorities in dealing with the education of new arrivals, primarily due to the traditional two-tier system of government extant in Australia. The general theoretical framework of this thesis emanates from concepts and ideas of writers who illustrate, in general, the concentration of power within Australia society and supports this work's notion of a `top-down' paradigm, i.e. one invariably directed by the nation's political leaders. This paradigm is presented in an effort to provide an appreciation of the powerful nature of the Federal Government's immigration policy and citizenship education campaign in the dramatic post-war reconstruction period. The thesis is related to an elite theory of political change but with due consideration to issues of context, that is, Australian society in the 1940s and 1950s. Understanding that there was a citizenship education campaign provides a novel means of appreciating post-war immigration policy. The campaign embedded and tied together multifarious notions extant in the Australian Government policy for the Australian community in meeting the challenges of a nation experiencing massive social and economic change. Significantly, this study helps to explain the shift from the Anglo-Celtic, mono-cultural view of citizenship to one that officially recognises the culturally diverse nature of Australian society today.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/283171 |
| Date | January 2001 |
| Creators | JENKINGS, PATRICIA ANNE BERNADETTE |
| Publisher | University of Sydney. Policy and Practice |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English, en_AU |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Copyright Jenkins, Patricia Anne Bernadette;http://www.library.usyd.edu.au/copyright.html |
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