A history of Collingwood community school: innovation or experimentation?

Abstract

Master of Education

Educational change in Victoria was characterized by a generality of orientation which meant that it was not restricted by any particular struggle or strategy but pursued its principles in a great variety of areas. Indeed, one of these areas was in the push for teacher autonomy and professionalism and in the re-training of teachers.

During the early 1970s, La Trobe University launched a new Bachelor of Education 'Task Force' course designed to retrain the practicing secondary teacher to the task of innovating in inner urban schools. As a major part of the education course, teacher-students2 trained within the secondary school. After calling for interested schools, Collingwood, a working-class3 high school in the inner city, responded to La Trobe's advertisement. A unique partnership was formed. The innovations brought about by collaborations between the high school and the university centered on finding a suitable educational environment for working-class migrant and native Australian students. One of these led to the development of Collingwood Community School.

This thesis explores the early life and development of the school, whilst simultaneously attempting to classify it. Importantly, the thesis is an attempt to provide a vehicle for presenting the recollections of former teachers, and particularly, former students. Giving a voice to the latter group is important as the 'personal evaluations of those working on the project' were documented in 1973. It is time to present the personal recollections of some of those `in the middle' of the project, that is, the individuals the 'project' was apportioned to.

The 'school' began as a research project or tool. Whilst some students benefited from a therapeutic, social curriculum, the school was prone to chaotic, ad hoc practices largely due to poorly thought out and conflicting philosophical positions of staff members, insufficient resources (including teachers) and the adoption of a liberal curriculum for working-class students who were generally unacquainted with liberal theory.

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