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T e a c h i n g t h e Social Sciences
and Humanities in an
australian Curriculum
Colin Marsh & Catherine Hart

6
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) – 9781442533615 – Marsh/ Teaching the Social Sciences and Humanities in the Australian Curriculum 6th edition
C
c o n t e n t s
4.2.1 Matching teacher and student 5.3 How are concepts useful to learners? 113
priorities 83 5.4 Concepts: Their formation and
4.2.2 Teacher-centred–student-centred development by school students 114
continuum 85
5.5 Introduction of concepts in year levels of
4.2.3 Teaching groups of different sizes 85
schooling 116
4.2.4 Information and communications
technologies (ICT) 86 5.6 Organising concepts for learning 117
4.2.5 Teaching techniques 87 5.7 Teaching and learning concepts 119
4.3 Teacher-centred techniques 87 5.7.1 Developing concepts using
4.3.1 Lectures/teacher-talks 87 expository teaching 121
4.3.2 Skill practice 89 5.7.2 Developing concepts using
4.3.3 Directed questioning 89 problem-based learning 123
4.3.4 Directed reading/directed 5.8 Summary of teaching/learning activities 124
assignments 90 Web resources 125
4.3.5 Class discussions 91 Concluding comments 125
4.3.6 Demonstrations 92 Questions and activities 126
4.3.7 Media-based presentations 93 References 126
4.3.8 Construction activities 93
4.3.9 Aesthetic expression 94 6 Learning, Skills and Inquiry in
4.3.10 Map and globe activities 94 Social Education 128
4.3.11 Field trips 95
4.3.12 Guest speakers 96 6.1 Introduction 128
4.4 Student-centred techniques 96 6.1.1 21st-century teaching 129
4.4.1 Inquiry 96 6.2 Learning and teaching in social education 129
4.4.2 Constructivism 96 6.3 Learning design: Incorporating the
4.4.3 Library research 97 teaching of skills in social education 130
4.4.4 Simulation games 97 6.4 Skills in social education 133
4.4.5 Role-plays 97
6.4.1 Generic skills in social education 134
4.4.6 Learning centres 98
6.4.2 Interpersonal and intrapersonal skills 134
4.4.7 Independent study 99
6.4.3 Investigative skills 136
4.4.8 Cooperative learning 99
6.4.4 Critical and creative thinking skills 136
Web resources 102
Concluding comments 102 6.4.5 Decision-making skills 137
Questions and activities 103 6.4.6 Problem-solving 137
References 103 6.4.7 Reflective thinking 138
6.5 Thinking skills 138
5 Concept Building 107 6.6 Teaching skills: The roles of the teacher
and learner 138
5.1 Introduction 107 6.6.1 The role of the teacher in the
5.2 Concepts: Definitions and explanations 109 teaching process 138
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Teaching the Social Sciences and Humanities in an Australian Curriculum
6.6.2 The role of the learner in learning 7.9 Some approaches to interfaith
a new skill 140 understanding through studies of religion 180
6.7 Teaching social education through 7.9.1 Phenomenological approaches 181
inquiry 142 7.9.2 Typological approaches 181
6.7.1 What does a real inquiry look like? 143 7.9.3 Feminist approaches 182
6.7.2 Using a WebQuest as an inquiry 7.9.4 Sociological approaches 183
tool 144
7.9.5 Historical approaches 184
6.7.3 The use of skills in WebQuests 147
Web resources 151 Web resources 185
Concluding comments 152 Concluding comments 186
Questions and activities 152 Questions and activities 186
References 153 References 188
7 Values, Controversial Issues and 8 Assessing, Recording and Reporting 190

Interfaith Understanding 155
8.1 Introduction 190
7.1 Introduction 155 8.2 Some definitions 191
7.2 What are values? 156 8.2.1 Purposes of assessment 191
7.2.1 Some key terms 156 8.2.2 Intended audiences 192
7.3 What are the origins of values? 158 8.3 Modes of assessing 192
7.3.1 Values and schooling 158 8.3.1 Diagnostic/formative—summative 192
7.3.2 Recent emphases on values 8.3.2 Informal—formal 194
education in Australia 159
8.3.3 Norm-referenced—
7.3.3 Previous government values criterion-referenced 195
initiatives 159
8.3.4 Process—product 197
7.3.4 Values inculcation 161
8.3.5 Learner judged—teacher judged 197
7.4 Values in social education 163
8.3.6 Internal—external 197
7.5 Values processes 164
7.5.1 Teaching elements of valuing 8.3.7 Inclusive—exclusive 198
process 164 8.3.8 Technicist—liberal/postmodernist 198
7.5.2 A six-stage inquiry process for 8.4 Commonly used assessment approaches 198
values teaching 164 8.4.1 Direct observation 199
7.6 Service learning 170 8.4.2 Anecdotal records 200
7.7 Controversial issues 172
8.4.3 Objective tests 200
7.7.1 Distancing procedures 174
8.5 Current trends in assessment 201
7.7.2 Compensatory procedures 174
8.5.1 Authentic assessment 201
7.7.3 Empathetic procedures 174
8.5.2 Outcomes-based assessment 202
7.7.4 Exploratory procedures 174
7.8 Interfaith understanding 176 8.6 Performance assessment 203
7.8.1 What do young Australians think 8.6.1 Assessment tasks 203
about spirituality? 176 8.6.2 Portfolios 205
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c o n t e n t s
8.7 Collecting assessment evidence 209 10.2.1 Evolution of geography 247
8.8 Recording 210 10.3 Key concepts 249
8.9 Reporting 211 10.3.1 Key geographical questions 250
Web resources 212 10.3.2 Distinctive and contributing
Concluding comments 213 features 251
Questions and activities 214 10.3.3 Geography: A misunderstood
References 215 subject 254
10.4 Geography and the textbook dilemma 254
9 History: Time, Continuity 10.5 ‘How’ to teach geography: Student-
and Change 219
centred, inquiry-based 255
10.6 Curricula changes 256
9.1 Introduction 219 10.6.1 Curricula changes and the demise
9.2 The importance of teaching and of geography 259
learning history 220 10.7 Towards an Australian curriculum 261
9.2.1 What is history? 220 10.7.1 Geography in primary education 261
9.2.2 Grand narrative history 221 10.7.2 The future of geography in
9.2.3 ‘New’ history 221 primary education 262
9.2.4 Critical approaches to history 224 10.7.3 Geography within social
9.3 Why is school history important? 225 education in junior secondary 263
9.4 Key concepts and skills 226 10.7.4 Senior secondary geography 265
9.4.1 Time 227 10.8 Skills pivotal to geography 265
9.4.2 Continuity and change 228 10.8.1 Information and communication
9.5 Questioning 228 (ICT) skills 269
9.6 Interpreting and evaluating evidence 228 10.8.2 Tools used by geographers 269
9.7 Empathy 232 10.8.3 Fieldwork: The heart of geography 269
9.8 How is history organised in Australian 10.9 Universal values shape contemporary
schools? 232 geography 273
9.9 The Australian History Curriculum 236 10.9.1 Geographers as informed,
Web resources 242 responsible, active citizens 275
Concluding comments 242 10.9.2 Global education integrated
within geography 275
Questions and activities 242
10.10 Strategies for implementing quality
References 243
geography lessons 276
10.11 The future 279
10 Geography: The World Is Its
Web resources 280
Laboratory 245
Concluding comments 280
10.1 Introduction 245 Questions and activities 281
10.2 Defining geography 246 References 282
ix
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11 A Role for Economics Education in 12.3 Why teach Aboriginal and Torres Strait
21st-Century Curricula 285 Islander studies? 311
12.3.1 Embedding through culture and
story 312
11.2 The concepts and scope of economics
education: A role for economic literacy 286 12.3.2 Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander consultation 314
11.2.1 Resource allocation and the role of
consumers and producers 289 12.3.3 Reading the country: Symbols
11.2.2 Work, enterprise and and art forms 316
entrepreneurship 289 12.3.4 Life histories, social memory and
11.2.3 Economic reasoning and mythologies 317
interpretation 290 12.4 Pedagogy 320
11.3 Why economics education? 291
12.4.1 Curriculum that embraces
11.4 The contribution of economics education Aboriginal and Torres Strait
to social education 294
Islander perspectives 321
11.4.1 Economics and civics and
citizenship education 294 12.4.2 An Australian context 323
11.4.2 Economics and environmental 12.4.3 The history of teaching Aboriginal
awareness 295 and Torres Strait Islander children 326
11.5 Teaching and learning economics: 12.5 On resources 327
A snapshot across Australia 295 Web resources 329
11.6 Specific teaching and learning ideas 296
11.7 Thinking and the economics classroom 303
11.7.1 The reading/media log 303
References 331
11.7.2 Hot seat role-play 304
11.7.3 Pinning questions on the wall 304
13 Civics and Citizenship 333
11.7.4 Question dice 304
11.7.5 Predict, observe, explain (POE) 304
11.7.6 Postbox 305
13.2 Why civics education at this particular
11.7.7 Role-play 305
time? 335
Web resources 306
13.2.1 New geo-political contexts 335
13.2.2 A deficit in civic knowledge 336
13.2.3 Civic megatrends 337
References 308
13.2.4 Civic realities 337
12 Teaching Aboriginal and Torres 13.3 Main concepts and understandings in
Strait Islander Studies: Nunta Benta— civics and citizenship education 338
Look and Learn 309 13.3.1 Public and private interests in
democratic citizenship 338
12.1 Introduction 309 13.3.2 Rights and responsibilities in
12.2 Two-way learning 311 citizenship 339
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c o n t e n t s
13.3.3 Curriculum structures for 14.6 Major terms 366
delivering civics and citizenship 14.6.1 Culture 366
education 339
14.6.2 Ethnicity 367
13.3.4 Democratic classrooms for a
14.6.3 Racism 368
democratic society 339
14.7 Curriculum approaches 370
13.3.5 Values and citizenship 340
13.4 What do young Australians know 14.7.1 Teaching the exceptional and
about their civic and citizenship culturally different 370
responsibilities? 341 14.7.2 Human relations approach 370
13.5 Programs of civics and citizenship 14.7.3 Single-group studies approach 370
education 345 14.7.4 Multicultural education approach 370
13.5.1 Victoria 346 14.7.5 Education that is multicultural
13.5.2 Queensland 347 and social reconstructionist 371
13.5.3 Western Australia 348 14.8 Teaching approaches 372
13.6 Resources for civics and citizenship 14.8.1 Interdisciplinary studies 373
education 350 14.8.2 Using literature and stories as a
Web resources 351 springboard 375
Concluding comments 352 14.8.3 Story writing 375
Questions and activities 353 14.8.4 Role-playing 377
References 353 14.8.5 Field studies and inquiry learning 378
14.8.6 Inquiry 378
14 Multicultural Education, Global 14.8.7 Service learning 380
Studies and Studies of Asia 356
14.8.8 Cooperative learning 381
14.1 Introduction 356 14.8.9 Civics and citizenship education 381
14.2 Definitions 357 14.8.10 Online learning 382
14.3 Multicultural education 357 14.9 Resources 382
14.3.1 Multiculturalism in Australia 359 Web resources 383
14.4 Global studies and global education 361 Concluding comments 385
14.4.1 The Australian context 363 Questions and activities 385
14.4.2 Global education framework 363 References 386
14.5 Studies of Asia 364
14.5.1 Asia literacy 364 Index 392
xi
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preface
Readers will note that the title Teaching the Social changes to chapters and these are outlined in
Sciences and Humanities in an Australian Curriculum the ‘New Features Summary’. There is increased
is deliberately wide-ranging. Between 1993 and 2008 attention given to the practical needs of student
Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE) has been teachers and every effort has been made to ensure that
taught extensively in many states and territories. Over the latest information is provided about curriculum
recent years there have been some criticisms of SOSE developments in each state.
in terms of insufficient depth of knowledge and issues Chapter 1 explores the nature and purpose of social
of fragmention. It was not surprising therefore that education within the curriculum. Key theoretical
history was nominated as a specific discipline in the approaches are overviewed and relevant practical
Australian (National) Curriculum (with geography issues are identified.
and economics to follow). This move seems to Chapter 2 describes how teaching units and lesson
reinforce the importance of separate social disciplines. plans can be developed. Special attention is given to
Yet others argue that SOSE is far from defunct and is the use of curriculum planning models and a number
currently in transition. There are still many proponents of practical devices, such as checklists, are included to
for an integrated approach to teaching as exemplified aid the student teacher.
by SOSE. It is too early to judge what will be the final Chapter 3 provides a wealth of practical inform-
outcome, and that is why in this edition the value of ation about resources, including additional
studying separate SOSE disciplines and the integra- information about the World Wide Web (WWW)
tive benefits of SOSE are both given prominence. and computer-based products such as laptops, tablet
Global events, especially acts of terrorism that have PCs, personal digital assistants (PDAs), blogs and
occurred and continue to occur in many countries, interactive whiteboards.
reinforce the need for all persons to make thoughtful, In Chapter 4 a number of teacher-centred and
reflective decisions in facing these personal, national student-centred strategies are presented, including
and international problems. It is essential for teachers a detailed analysis of cooperative learning and
and students to examine the societal problems—to constructivism. This chapter provides an overview for
develop well-informed logical arguments in grappling subsequent chapters, which focus on specific teaching
with present-day acts of terrorism, violent retaliation, techniques.
censorship, repression and ideological conflicts. The teaching of concepts and skills and inquiry
This new edition includes a number of major is presented in Chapters 5 and 6. In each of these
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P
p r e f a c e
chapters a detailed theoretical analysis, together with ideas for teachers, such as the use of interdisciplinary
numerous practical examples, forms the basis for studies and service learning.
discussion. For all chapters, Web resources, questions and
Chapter 7 focuses on values and schooling, activities are provided that have the potential to
controversial issues, and interfaith understanding. challenge readers and to encourage them to read
Chapter 8 not only examines the purposes and further from the extensive and up-to-date reference
modes of assessment but also provides approaches list included at the end of the chapter.
for assessing students’ achievement of outcomes,
strands and levels through the use of portfolios and Acknowledgments
assessment tasks. Extended analysis is provided about The practical examples, ideas and concepts incorpor-
outcome-based assessment and portfolios. ated by the authors in their respective chapters have
Chapters 9 to 11 focus on the core social science been derived from various sources and from many
disciplines. In Chapter 9, the teaching and learning different states of Australia and from New Zealand,
of history is overviewed. Core concepts and skills are and so it is difficult, therefore, to acknowledge
identified as critical to historical literacy and the broader individual sources.
development of historical consciousness. Chapter 10 Special thanks are due to Everlyn Tan for her expert
demonstrates the importance of geography as a organisational and word processing skills, and to
separate teaching subject and highlights the important Katie Millar for her thorough checking and valuable
role of geography in the development of globally advice.
aware and responsible young people. Chapter 11 treats An impressive cast of reviewers provided many
economics as an important subject in its own right and helpful suggestions for the development of this
stresses the importance of teaching economic literacy. edition. The authors and the publisher are grateful to a
These chapters provide explicit classroom examples to number of anonymous participants and the following
demonstrate the importance of these disciplines to the academics:
teaching of social sciences. Importantly, the chapters Wally Moroz, Edith Cowan University
also provide a detailed overview of the development Kate Smyth, University of Sydney
of an Australian Curriculum across these disciplines. Carol Collins, University of South Australia
In Chapter 12, the case for including Aboriginal Julie Dyer, Deakin University
and Torres Strait Islander studies is made very Robbie Johnston, University of Tasmania
convincingly, and various teaching strategies and Tim Jetson, University of Tasmania
resources are described. Angelina Ambrosetti, Central Queensland
Chapter 13, ‘Civics and Citizenship’, has been University
greatly expanded and revised. The emphasis on geo- Alia Imtoual, Flinders University
political contexts is evident.
Chapter 14, ‘Multicultural Education, Global Colin Marsh and Catherine Hart
Studies and Studies of Asia’, highlights practical July 2010
xiii
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contributors
Angelina Ambrosetti
Chapter 6
Angelina Ambrosetti is a lecturer in the School of Education at CQUniversity, teaching SOSE
and pedagogy courses with undergraduate students. She is an experienced primary school
teacher who has taught a diverse range of learners. Angelina’s research interests include
learning design and mentoring in pre-service teacher education.
Dr Susan Bliss
Chapter 10
Susan Bliss is the Director of Global Education in New South Wales, was past President of
the Geography Teachers’ Association NSW and past Director and Business Manager for
the Australian Geography Teachers’ Association. She has written 11 geography textbooks and
chapters in over 50 textbooks and refereed journals. Susan won an excellence in teaching award
at Sydney University and the McDonald Holmes Medal for geography. She has recently been
on ACARA.
Dr Anita Forsyth
Chapter 11
Anita Forsyth is currently a senior lecturer in teacher education in the Education Faculty at
Monash University and she is director of the Faculty’s Victorian DEECD School Review unit.
Her main research and teaching interests are in curriculum and pedagogy related to economics,
business, enterprise and civics and citizenship education and leadership, school accountability
and school improvement.
Dr Catherine Hart
Chapters 1 and 9
Catherine Hart has worked as a teacher educator for ten years across a number of New
South Wales and Victorian universities. Her research interests focus on the work of history
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C
c o n t r i b u t o r s
and humanities teachers. Keen to re-engage with the work of teaching and learning in the
humanities, Catherine has recently returned to the secondary school classroom.
Dr Deborah Henderson
Chapters 5, 7 and 14
Deborah Henderson is a senior lecturer at Queensland University of Technology where she
teaches History Curriculum and Social Education Curriculum for secondary pre-service
teachers. Deborah’s transdisciplinary research interests include values, cross-cultural
understanding and critical inquiry in the history and social education curriculum; politics and
policy making for Asia literacy; teacher leadership and professional development.
Harry Van Issum

Co-author, Chapter 12
Harry Van Issum is a Wappa-burra man who has worked as a secondary teacher with
Education Queensland. He has also been a lecturer in Indigenous education in the higher
education sector for over 15 years. He has completed a Masters in Education and is currently
completing his PhD. He is also a current member of the Queensland Indigenous Education
Consultative Committee.
Professor Kerry Kennedy

Chapter 13
Kerry Kennedy is Chair Professor of Curriculum Studies at The Hong Kong Institute of
Education. He researches in the areas of curriculum policy and theory and citizenship
education. He has recently published the 4th edition of Curriculum Construction (with Laurie
Brady) and Routledge has just released the paperback edition of his Changing Schools in Asian
Societies: Schools for the Knowledge Society (with John Lee). He is the General Series Editor of the
Routledge Series on Schools and Schooling in Asia.
Dr Dale Kerwin
Co-author, Chapter 12
Dale Kerwin is a proud Goori from the Worimi Nation, New South Wales. He has been
awarded a Diploma of Primary Teaching, Graduate Diploma of Museum Studies and Cultural
Heritage Management, Masters of Philosophy and a PhD. He remains committed to furthering
knowledge about Aboriginal cultural heritage and inscribing Aboriginal ontology on the body
of Australian history.
xv
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Professor Colin Marsh

Chapters 1–4, 8 and 14
Colin Marsh is an Adjunct Professor at Curtin University. He has had extensive teaching
experience as a primary school teacher, secondary school teacher and university lecturer in a
number of countries. He is a prolific writer and has published over 35 books. His latest book is
Becoming a Teacher (2010), 5th edition, Pearson Australia, Sydney.
xvi
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S
n e w
f e a t u r e s
new features summary
s u m m a r y
Major changes have been made in this edition to address likely changes with the imminent implementation of
an Australian Curriculum. All chapters address Australian Curriculum issues and specific details are provided
in the History, Geography and Economics chapters. In order to update the text during this period of transition,
the authors have deliberately utilised existing terms such as ‘SOSE’ as well as more current, broader terminology
such as ‘social sciences’, ‘humanities’ and ‘social education’ throughout the text.
There are many new chapters in this edition, namely:
Chapter 1 Exploring the Importance and Relevance of the Social Sciences and Humanities to Student
Learning in the 21st Century
Chapter 6 Learning, Skills and Inquiry in Social Education
Chapter 9 History: Time, Continuity and Change
Chapter 12 Teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies: Nunta Benta—Look and Learn
Chapter 14 Multicultural Education, Global Studies and Studies of Asia
Major rewrites and updating have been undertaken for all other chapters.
There has been a major emphasis upon Web sources throughout the book. Many new practical activities and
case studies are included.
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chapter 1
1
exploring the
importance and
relevance of the
social sciences and
humanities to student
learning in the
21st century
Interviewing people … drawing a map … critical thinking …
estimating distance … using a keyboard … constructing a graph … dancing
1.1 Introduction
As an area of study, Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE) is both
complex and contested. It is complex because it is difficult to succinctly
define; what is the nature and purpose of SOSE? And it is contested because
there is no agreement on when, where and how it should be taught. Should
it continue as an integrated area of study or should separate disciplines
be given more prominence? Currently, there is diversity across Australian
states and territories in terms of the ways in which this area of study is
grouped and classified (refer to Table 1.1).
As we leave the ‘noughties’ and enter the second decade of the
21st century increased controversy surrounds the future of SOSE. The
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roll-out of an Australian (National) Curriculum for Victorian Schools in 2007, in which they define
across Australian schools from 2011 suggests that Social Education (SOSE) thus (p. 2):
the return of discrete subjects is imminent. How
will different states and territories respond to the Social Education is a broad area which draws from
Australian Curriculum and what will this mean to the the broad Humanities including politics, history,
learning and teaching of SOSE? Certainly, SOSE and geography, sociology, anthropology, psychology and
its various iterations are under threat. economics.
In this chapter you will be asked to consider the Students learn about:
following: • the historical, cultural and geographical basis
of their society in particular and about other societies
• What is SOSE and how is it currently organised
across Australian states and territories? • the environmental settings in which their society
exists and how change has occurred over time
• When, why and how was it developed? Why
• the various cultures that make up this society, and the
is SOSE important to the education of young people?
factors influencing culture including ethnicity, race,
• What are the dominant theoretical perspectives for
gender, religion, history, geography and others
understanding SOSE?
• shared values and beliefs, as well as the values and
• How should SOSE be organised?
beliefs of particular social groups
• How is the Australian Curriculum likely to impact • the ways in which community decisions are made
on SOSE? and implemented
And, most importantly, • how societies are structured
• What is your personal rationale for including SOSE • contemporary issues
in the curriculum of your school? • the ways in which the local society interconnects
with the global society.
1.2 What is social education?
The field of SOSE education is one marked not by Given the breadth of this area of study, it is perhaps
consensus but by controversy, as there is no clear not surprising that SOSE is organised in different
agreement about the nature, purpose and future of ways across Australian states and territories.
SOSE in Australian schools. To privilege a specific
definition of SOSE or a specific perspective on it 1.2.1 How is social education organised
across Australian states and territories?
is therefore difficult. In this chapter we offer you
a range of different and sometimes competing Over time and across different state and territory
perspectives on, and approaches to, SOSE. In doing jurisdictions SOSE has been/is variously known as
so, we encourage you to critically consider the Social Studies, the Social Sciences, Human Society
importance and relevance of SOSE to your role as and Its Environment, the Humanities, Society and
learner and teacher. History, and the list continues. Table 1.1 overviews
Broadly, SOSE has been defined as ‘the study of the current state and territory iterations of SOSE.
humans and their interaction with their society and What do these varied names mean? Are they mere
environment’ (Reynolds 2009, p. 1). While this is a semantic differences or are they representative of a
useful starting point, the definition does not speak to much broader debate about the nature, purpose and
the complexities of SOSE, and in an attempt to more future of SOSE? To understand these questions, you
clearly define this area of study, Social Education need to more clearly understand when, why and how
Victoria (SEV) released Social Education: A Statement SOSE was developed.
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1
exploring the importance and relevance of the social sciences and humanities to student learning in the 21st century
Table 1.1 An overview of SOSE subjects across the states and territories
State/Territory SOSE subjects K–10 SOSE subjects 11–12
Western Australia Society and Environment Aboriginal and Intercultural Studies,

K–10 Syllabuses (2007) Ancient History, Economics,
Geography, Modern History, Politics
and Law, Religion and Life
Queensland Years 1–9 Year 10 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

Essential Learnings— Studies of Society History Studies, Ancient History, Economics,
Queensland Curriculum, and Environment Geography Geography, Legal Studies, Modern
Assessment and Reporting History, Political Studies, Religion
Framework (2009) and Ethics, Study of Religion, Study
of Society
New South Wales K–Year 6 Years 7–10 Ancient History, Business Studies,
K–10 syllabuses (2005/2006) Human Society Aboriginal Economics, Geography, Legal Studies,
and Its Studies, Mandatory Modern History, Society and Culture,
Environment Geography, Studies of Religion
Mandatory
History, Elective
Geography,
Elective History
Australian Capital Territory Social Sciences Accounting, Business and Economics

Every Chance to Learn: Studies, Cultural Studies, Geography,
Curriculum Framework for History, Legal and Political Studies,
ACT Schools (2007) Religious Studies
Tasmania Society and History Ancient Civilisations, Australian

Tasmanian Curriculum Studies, Australia in Asia and the
(2008) Pacific, Geography, Economics, Legal
Studies, Modern World History,
Psychology, Religion and Philosophy,
Sociology
Victoria P–Year 4 Years 5–10 Business Studies, Economics,

Victorian Essential Learning The Humanities Economics Geography, History, International
Standards (2005) Geography Studies, Philosophy, Sociology
History
South Australia Society and Environment Aboriginal Studies, Ancient Studies,

South Australian Australian and International Politics,
Curriculum, Standards and Australian Studies, Economics,
Accountability Framework Geography, History, Legal Studies,
(2001) Philosophy, Studies of Religion,
Studies of Societies, Sustainable
Futures, Women’s Studies
Northern Territory Studies of Society and Environment Same as South Australia

Northern Territory
Curriculum Framework
(2002)
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1.2.2 When, where and how was social Issues-centred social studies is an emphasis
education developed? promoted by authors such as Evans (1998) and Aitken
Although the term ‘SOSE’ has been used in Australian (2005), who contend that an issues-centred social
education only since 1991, there have always been studies prepares thoughtful, knowledgeable and
elements in the school curriculum that might broadly clear-thinking citizens. These different approaches
be called ‘social’ and ‘environmental’ (Kennedy 2007, give some indication of the ‘turf wars’ in social
p. 2) or ‘social studies’ (Marsh 2008, p. 103). Carving studies (Evans 2000) and are discussed in more
out a body of knowledge is extremely difficult con- detail below.
ceptually, pedagogically and politically, as witnessed
by the ebb and flow of the school subject ‘social 1.2.3 Transmission or transformation?
studies’ since it was first coined by US educators in the Thornton (2001, p. 20) refers to the legitimacy of social
late 19th century. studies and concludes that it all comes down to ‘the
The term ‘social studies’ was first used in an 1893 perennial curriculum question, what knowledge is
Report of the National Education Association. The of most worth?’ Many scholars, teachers and more
report was produced by respected academics who recently politicians have felt entitled to answer this
had the task of planning a sequence of school subjects question, but the answers vary widely with regard to
at primary and secondary school levels. As noted by social studies.
Seixas, ‘things would be simpler if there was an easy Stanley (2005) and Ross and Marker (2005) provide
correspondence between school social studies and interesting comments on the question of whether
academic disciplines’ (2001, p. 2). Social studies is a the role of the social studies teacher is to transmit the
subject that largely rejects disciplinary definitions. social order or to transform it. Stanley (2005)
This raises some interesting questions. Has social reluctantly concludes that most social studies teachers
studies been evolving positively since the term was teach about the dominant social order even though
first coined in 1893? Is it evolving in a particular there are persistent social problems to be addressed
direction or has it been multidirectional? How do you (e.g. poverty, discrimination, inequality).
rate the evolution of a subject? What might be some One school of thought is that a social view of
indicators to illustrate that the subject of social studies curriculum is most important and this does not rely
has matured and has raised its level of credibility? necessarily on the academic disciplines. Martin (1993),
Taking a more specific stance, other questions for example, asserts that the school curriculum ‘is
might be raised. Is there content that is especially not a mirror turned on knowledge’ (p. 111) and
relevant to social studies? Are there processes, that a curriculum ‘should develop kinship bonds
such as inquiry, that are especially relevant to among girls and boys of different races, social classes,
social studies? ethnicities’ (p. 127). Building on this, Ross (2001) and
Seixas (2001) argues that the boundaries of social North (2006) argue that a social justice perspective is
studies are very porous. Inquiry problems and topic needed in social studies. The social studies curriculum,
studies in social studies might also be applied across according to Ross, must address the real problems of
many subjects in the school curriculum. Where do you 21st-century society—‘to foster broad participation
draw the line about the boundaries of social studies? in a democratic community of inquirers’ (Ross 2001,
If a disciplinary focus is applied to social studies, what p. 324).
are the constituent subjects? Should they be taught Despite these claims, it is evident that a social
separately to retain their integrity, or be integrated, or transformation outlook has had marginal influence on
both (Thornton 2001)? educational policy and practice. Some educators argue
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1
that education for social transformation could be there has been an acceptance of a diversity of pur-
undemocratic. Leming (1992), for example, contends poses and approaches to the teaching and learning
that the critical analysis of social problems is beyond of SOSE, and that powerful groups such as the
the cognitive capacity of the vast majority of K–12 Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting
students. He asserts that it is the knowledge of history Authority are now attempting to exert an absolutist,
and the social sciences that are the bedrock of social conservative stance on knowledge. As noted by
studies education. Peshkin (1986, p. 299):
Although these turf wars in social studies have
. . . absolutists without a political arm are not deeply
been ongoing for many decades, there is some recent
worrisome: with a political arm they acquire the
evidence in the United States, the United Kingdom
power to legislate, to exercise police power, and to
and Australia that ‘right-wing’ groups are dictating
replace our many competing orthodoxies with their
the need for social studies to be knowledge-based.
single one.
Not only do these groups include powerful players
but they are linked to political decision-making. For Given the alternative approaches and pluralism
example, most teachers would be aware of the critical described above, it is interesting to note how the
comments made by the former Australian prime teaching of social studies has occurred over time
minister John Howard on his perceptions of social in two countries, namely the United States and the
studies teaching in Australia: United Kingdom. The approaches in these countries
have significantly influenced the directions taken in
There is something both deadening and saccharine in
Australia, as indicated in the next section.
curriculums where history has been replaced by the
broader ‘time, continuity and change’ and geography 1.2.4 The United States
by ‘place, space and environment’. Both should be In the United States the term ‘social studies’ was
stand-alone subjects. (Reported by Rhianna King, used to categorise history and the social sciences
West Australian, 9 February 2007, p. 6) (Evans 2000). The National Council for the Social
Studies, formed in 1921, had a wide, consensus
Former Minister of Education Julie Bishop definition of social studies, which included history,
furthered this sentiment at an address to the History government, economics, geography and sociology
Teachers’ Association of Australia conference in (NCSS 1923).
Fremantle in October 2006: ‘there is currently no Massive government funding for curricular reform
guarantee that students even have an opportunity to in the 1950s, brought on by the Cold War and
study Australian history in a systematic, structured Sputnik, led to an era of the new social studies, where
way’. There is increasing concern that neo-liberalist social scientists, such as Fenton (1967) and Senesh
stances are attempting to reduce and/or eliminate (1973), emphasised the structures and concepts
the tolerance of pluralism in the field of social of the academic disciplines. At primary schools,
studies (Kennedy 2005). This is most evident in as well as at secondary schools, units and topics
current moves towards an Australian Curriculum. specially designed around basic human activities
Advocates of SOSE have expressed serious concern and key social processes were widely proposed.
over the decision to develop national curricula based Social studies materials developed in the Taba
on traditional disciplines. This has implications for Program and Man: A Course of Study (MACOS),
both teaching and learning, as this chapter will later and many other programs, offered teachers and
explore. It is important to note that for many decades students new inquiry approaches that had the
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potential to make the subject more relevant, exciting 1.2.5 The United Kingdom
and motivating. In the United Kingdom in the 1920s the term ‘social
Rice (1992, p. 224) refers to ‘a sense of electricity studies’ was initially used to describe courses dealing
in the air, of expectancy and high hopes in the with an amalgam of historical and geographical
1960s—there was to be rich rewards in teaching considerations. Since then, a range of other terms have
the social sciences as intellectual disciplines’. Alas, been used, including ‘humanities’, ‘modern studies’
this did not happen. By the mid-1970s the New Social and ‘liberal studies’, all of which to a large degree have
Studies had run its course and the revival of history encompassed social studies within a much wider field
became the dominant trend. This was followed shortly of study. At the tertiary level, universities appear to
afterwards by the creation of curriculum standards have no fixed preference for the term ‘social studies’.
for history, geography, economics, civics, psychology For example, the University of London has a Faculty
and social studies (Ross 2001). It is interesting to note of Social Science, whereas the University of Sussex has
that the single discipline standards were quite specific a School of Social Studies.
and had detailed requirements about content and In the 1930s an amalgamation of history and
processes. By contrast, the social studies standards geography with a little civics was introduced into
create only a broad framework of themes (Mathison, primary and secondary schools. Geography, in
Ross & Vinson 2001). particular, expanded rapidly in the schools in the
Some US writers concede that, in the current 1930s, especially a regional approach to the subject
standards emphasis, social studies as an entity will (Goodson 1993). Utilitarian reasons for students to
be eclipsed and perhaps this will lead to its early study geography appeared to be a major reason for its
demise. Yet there are others who would argue that popularity. This led to major education figures such as
some of the individual disciplines in social studies do Sir Cyril Norwood, chair of the Board of Education’s
Committee, to publicly state that ‘geography is an
have a future. For example, Ross (2001) suggests that
essential part of education whatever forms education
the advantages of history courses lie in their ability
may take, and . . . there can be no question of dropping
to demonstrate the complex relationship between
it in any considered course of study’ (Norwood 1950,
the past and the present and the future/s. New
p. 5).
scholarship in areas of study previously ignored in
The horrors of the Second World War led the
history, such as issues about women, various ethnic
Ministry of Education (1949) to make some sug-
groups and cultural and intellectual development,
gestions about making the curriculum more socially
‘hold the potential to significantly transform the
relevant. According to Gleeson and Whitty (1976):
traditional history curriculum’ (p. 15).
Kincheloe (2001) takes a similar stance when . . . many schools chose, in a wave of unprecedented
he contends that ‘as history is removed from the enthusiasm, to introduce a whole variety of forms
afternoon shadows cast by the dominant culture, of social studies which specifically focused upon
its truth telling reshapes the present as it creates citizenship, democracy and contemporary social issues.
new visions of the future’ (p. 624). With reference Current affairs, civics and moral education grew up
to geography, Kincheloe (2003) argues that a global in a confused manner to challenge the traditional
environmental perspective is crucial for the subject if place of history, geography and religious education.
it is to survive as a credible discipline. He laments the Environmental studies emerged as the popular
rote memorisation of facts that he claims is still the compromise, redefining the relations between history
dominant method used by teachers in schools. and geography with some biology added on.
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1
But by the mid-1950s, the wave of enthusiasm narrow, traditional subject with a focus on producing
for social studies had significantly waned, although students who would have a homogeneous British
influential reports such as the Crowther Report (1959) identity. Various educators criticised this narrow focus,
and the Newson Report (1963) drew attention to the such as Figueroa (1993) who noted that ‘themes such
need for schools to provide social studies courses to as black British history, immigration, the Caribbean,
help young workers to find their way in the world. the Indian subcontinent, Islam, receive relatively little
These reports questioned the insularity of separate attention in National Curriculum History’ (p. 129).
disciplines in the curriculum, but the entrenched Similarly, Gill (1993) criticises the national geography
disciplines of history and geography proved to be too for being very narrow, giving little attention to
powerful. The compromise, and not a very good one, inequalities based on racism, sexism and class, and not
was for secondary schools to include social studies on exploring the extent of these in spatial patterns.
the timetable, but this was largely a pragmatic device
1.3 The teaching of Social
for catering to less able pupils. History and geography
education in Australia and
remained as the examinable, high-status subjects for the subsequent creation of
academic students. According to Gleeson and Whitty a new subject, SOSE
(1976), ‘the hotchpotch development of social studies Separate subjects, predominantly history, geography
became increasingly restricted to the curriculum of and civics, were the accepted ones at primary and
the low-status pupils during the late 1950s and early secondary schools in Australia for many decades.
1960s and it was almost exclusively regarded as a non- A change was heralded in 1967 when a UNESCO
academic subject’ (p. 6). conference on the teaching of the social sciences was
A further attempt to rejuvenate social studies held in Melbourne (Marsh 1976). The momentum
occurred in the 1960s under the guise of the British was continued with the establishing of a National
New Social Studies movement, which focused on Committee on Social Science Teaching in 1970 and
trying to legitimate the teaching of the social sciences a number of seminars and workshops were held in
in schools, with a particular emphasis on sociology- many states (Marsh & Stafford 1988).
based social studies. The movement spread in the It should be noted that there was far from agreement
1970s but did not last, petering out in the 1980s. There on whether the term ‘social studies’ or ‘social sciences’
was too much emphasis on methods and materials should be used. State education systems provided
based upon the social science disciplines. Little social studies syllabuses (Marsh 1976) but there was
attempt was made in these school courses to question still considerable interest in the scientific methods of
prevailing notions of knowledge. Topics were to be the social sciences. It was not surprising that a middle
taught in terms of their centrality to the discipline path was chosen for a new national curriculum project
rather than their relevance to students. Teachers in 1975, titled the Social Education Materials Project
tended to revert to history, geography and civics, even (SEMP) (Marsh 1983).
though a marginally wider social perspective may Whether there were significant further changes
have crept into their teachings. in the organisation of social studies/social sciences in
This trend was consolidated and legitimated schools in the 1970–80s is problematic, as noted
by the Education Act in 1989, which introduced a by Parry (1999). The next major curriculum event
National Curriculum in England and Wales. National to occur was initiated by John Dawkins, the then
Curriculum Statutory Orders were established for Commonwealth Minister for Education, who used the
history and geography. History reverted back to a term ‘education in crisis’ (Dawkins 1988) to introduce
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Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Married or
single?, Vol. 1 (of 3)
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License
included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the
laws of the country where you are located before using this
eBook.
Title: Married or single?, Vol. 1 (of 3)
Author: B. M. Croker
Release date: November 12, 2023 [eBook #72106]
Language: English
Original publication: London: Chatto & Windus, 1895
Credits: MWS and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at

https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from
images generously made available by The Internet
Archive/American Libraries.)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARRIED

OR SINGLE?, VOL. 1 (OF 3) ***
MARRIED OR SINGLE?
BY
B. M. CROKER
AUTHOR OF “DIANA BARRINGTON,” “A FAMILY LIKENESS,” ETC.
IN THREE VOLUMES
VOL. I.
LONDON
CHATTO & WINDUS, PICCADILLY
1895
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
CHAPTER PAGE
I. The Pupil-teacher 1
II. No News 23
III. The Breaking-up Dance 41
IV. The Last Train 67
V. Expelled 89
VI. “Poverty comes in at the Door” 102
VII. A Telegram for Miss West 117
VIII. Not Married after All 135
IX. Bargaining 157
X. Mrs. Kane becomes Affectionate 167
XI. Change of Air and Scene 190
XII. “She will do!” 205
XIII. Mr. West’s Wishes 224
MARRIED OR SINGLE?
CHAPTER I.
THE PUPIL-TEACHER.
MRS. AND THE MISSES HARPER.

SELECT ESTABLISHMENT
FOR
YOUNG LADIES.
The above, engraved in bold characters on a highly-polished brass
plate, may be read on the gate of an imposing mansion situated in
the far-spreading suburbs of Riverside, one of the principal
mercantile towns in England. “Harperton” is a solid and secluded
residence, standing in its own grounds (of two acres, one perch). It is
planned to resemble a country house of some pretensions, but the
symmetry of its proportions is spoiled by a long, low building jutting
out at the side, that may be taken for anything from a stable to a
billiard-room, but is, in fact, the scene of Mrs. Harper’s scholastic
labours, erected at her own cost—in other words, the schoolroom.
This apartment is illuminated by six windows, the lower halves of
which are, of course, of muffled glass. The floor is carpeted here and
there, as it were, in squares or plots, and in the midst of each square
there is a desk and a comfortable cushioned chair. These indicate
the localities of the various classes. The schoolroom walls are
covered with maps, book-cases, lists of rules, and practising hours,
and lined with narrow desks and benches. A worn piano, a prim,
white-faced clock, and a high wire fender comprise most of the
furniture—ornamental and otherwise; unless we include the two
young ladies who are sitting at one of the far desks, making the most
of their time whilst the boarders are out for their usual walk. One of
these damsels has mendaciously pleaded ear-ache in order to
escape the hateful daily promenade. The other—that nondescript
character, a pupil-teacher—is fulfilling a part of her duties, and
diligently darning the “little ones’” stockings, whilst her companion,
with both elbows on the desk, and both hands in her ruffled hair,
watches her and talks.
“This must be perfectly awful for you, Maddie dear,” she was
saying. “Don’t you loathe it all, and wish you could run away? I
should, if I were in your shoes.”
“Run away! What nonsense, Flo! Where could I run to, even
supposing such an insane idea had entered my head, which it never
has done? You forget that I have no friends in England; and, after all,
I am not such an object of pity as you seem to imagine,” darning
steadily all the time.
“If you are not, I should like to know who is!” demanded her
schoolfellow, emphatically. “You are one day at the top of the tree,
the head of the first class, the best pupil Herr Kroot ever had, adored
by the Harpies”—here Miss Blewitt alluded to her respected
instructress and daughters—“always exquisitely dressed, with heaps
of pocket-money, sleeping in the best room, allowed a fire in winter,
every extra—claret and coffee—and I don’t know what! After years
and years of this style of thing, and when you are seventeen, and
almost finished, your father suddenly stops supplies, you are not
paid for for three whole terms, and the hateful Harpies make you into
a regular drudge—a pupil-teacher, a nursery governess, a servant!
You sleep in the attic with those odious little Smiths—wash, dress,
and teach them; you go messages to the shops, and even into
Riverside—you, who were never allowed to stir one yard alone; you
mend and darn and teach.”
She paused, not from lack of words, but from want of breath.
“And a very good thing that I can do something to pay for my
living,” remarked the other, with composure. “If I could not sew and
mend and teach, what would become of me, I should be glad to
know? I could scarcely expect the Harpers to go on keeping me at
their own expense; and now I take the fifth class, the little ones’
music, and I save a servant for those Indian children, I work for my
bread—and I am worth it.”
“I should rather think you were,” rejoined her listener, sarcastically.
“You are worth a hundred a year to them as teacher, besides being
dressmaker and nursery-maid. It makes me wild—I feel quite crazy
—when I see all that they get out of you, early and late, and the
shameful way they treat you! Once upon a time you were ‘darling
Madeline’—their ‘dear, bright-faced girl,’ their ‘model pupil,’ now you
are ‘Madeline West,’ or ‘Miss West,’ and you are ‘slow,’ ‘awkward,’
‘lazy,’ and ‘impertinent.’ Oh dear me! dear me! sometimes I feel as if
I should like to fly at Miss Selina and bite a piece out of her, I am so
savage.”
“I hope to goodness you will restrain your feelings,” said Madeline,
with a smile, as she threaded a long needleful of black wool, and
commenced on a gaping heel. “The Harpers are only human, after
all! It was very hard on them, my father having failed; and all my
music-lessons, and painting, and singing, and German, for two
terms, had to be paid for out of their own pockets. Signor Squaletti
charges half a guinea an hour. Then there were my clothes. I feel hot
all over when I remember the quantity of money I laid out, believing
that it would be all settled, as usual, by father’s cheque at Christmas.
There was that white dress for the breaking-up party——”
“In which you made such an impression on the Wolfertons’ friend,
young Mr. Wynne,” interrupted Florence, with a meaning nudge. “Oh
yes, I remember the white dress!”
“Don’t, Flo! Your elbow is like a knife,” expostulated her friend, with
some discernible increase of colour. “As to Mr. Wynne, what you say
is nonsense, and you know Mrs. Harper forbids us to speak of—of—
such things.”
“I know that Mrs. Harper was most uneasy in her mind when she
saw him dancing four times with you running—yes, dance after
dance—and she came up and introduced him to Julia Flowers’ two
red-haired sisters, and said that gentlemen were so scarce, and her
girls were not out, and all that sort of rubbish; and she sent him down
to supper with old Mrs. Browne, and she sent you to bed because
you looked pale! Oh yes, I saw it all—all. I saw that Mr. Wynne never
danced again, but stood with his back to the wall for the rest of the
evening, looking as cross as two sticks. Very likely he would never
have given you a thought, if you had not been so plainly and openly
banished: absence makes the heart grow fonder! Mrs. Harper put
the idea into his head by making such a stupid fuss—and she has
only herself to thank. He sent you those flowers, he came to our
church, and Miss Selina took it all to herself—the ridiculous old cat!
As if he would look at her! She closed on the flowers: much good
may they do her!”
“Now, Flo, how do you know that they were not for her?” asked her
companion with a smile. “But, don’t let us talk about them. It is an old
story.”
“But I will talk about them,” persisted Flo, angrily. “I’ll talk about
your nice green tailor-made, and your winter coat trimmed with fur,
and your opera cloak, and your white dress—the white dress, which
they took away from you!”
“Well, they had paid for them, you see,” rejoined Madeline quietly.
“I am glad they did take them—I owe them the less.”
“Thank goodness your gloves and boots were too small,”
continued Flo, in a tone of fervent congratulation, “otherwise they
would have gone also. They are rather different from the Harpers’
chaussure, which is of the canal-boat type and size. Now I know
what pedestrians mean when they talk of ‘covering’ miles of ground.”
“Well, my dear excited Flo, they did not make their own feet,” said
the other coolly.
“How philosophical you are becoming! Quite an old head on young
shoulders! Who made their tempers, I should be glad to know?—or
their tongues? Thank goodness, this is my last half! Good-bye to
early rising, lectures, scoldings, resurrection pies, milk and water,
and rice puddings. Good-bye to Harperton—penitentiary and prison.
Good-bye to Harpies, and hurrah for home!”—throwing, as she
spoke, a dictionary up to the ceiling; failing to catch which, it fell
open, face downwards, with a bang.
“That is May’s dictionary, Flo,” remonstrated the other. “You will not
improve its poor back.”
“If you stay here long, Madeline, you will certainly become just as
preaching and particular as one of the Harpies themselves. You are
tremendously sobered as it is. Who would think, to look at you
darning away so industriously, that this time last year you were the
queen and moving spirit of the school; always getting up charades,
dances, and concerts, and carrying your point on every question,
and figuratively snapping your fingers at the Harpies if they interfered
with your schemes—which, to do them justice, was very seldom! Ah!
my poor Maddie, since then what a change has come o’er the spirit
of your dream! It is terrible. If you had always been a pupil-teacher it
would be another matter, or if you had gone to another school, where
no one knew that you had fallen from your high estate; but here, the
scene of your triumphs, to make the descent to the very foot of the
ladder, is—is frightful. I often wonder how you can bear it so well.”
“I often wonder too,” said Madeline shortly, winking her tears back
with a great effort. “You are not going the best way to work to help
me to endure my lot, Flo, raking up all these things. Bad or good, I
must submit. I have no alternative—nowhere to go, until my father
comes home. The best thing I can do is to be patient, and try and
repay the Harpers for some of the money they have expended on
me.”
“Repay them!” echoed Miss Blewitt, scornfully. “They made a very
good thing out of you for nine years—large profits and quick returns.
Now, although your father has not sent his usual remittance—is not
that the word?—and they have heard that he is in business
difficulties, yet I think they might have given you a little more law—a
longer day. They might have exercised some patience. You have not
heard of your father for more than a year, have you?” she added
bluntly.
“No, not for sixteen months,” answered the pupil-teacher.
“But even if he were dead,” proceeded Flo, with a fine disregard of
her friend’s feelings, and an open defiance of the laws of good
breeding, such as is occasionally to be found in girls of her age, “you
could not honestly pretend to be very much cut up! You have not
seen him since you were a small child. You left Australia when you
were seven years old. He is a stranger to you.”
“A stranger, certainly, in one way; but still he is my father, and I
have a presentiment that we shall meet again, and before long,”
rolling up a pair of stockings as she spoke, and averting her eyes
from her outspoken schoolfellow.
“Pooh! I don’t believe in presentiments. I had a presentiment that
father was going to give me a cart and cob last holidays, and it
ended in smoke. If your father had been in the land of the living,
surely you would have heard. I know I am saying this very baldly and
plainly, but there is no use in beating about the bush—is there? You
must face the position sooner or later.”
“You mean the position of being an orphan?” said Madeline,
tremulously. “But I refuse to accept that until I have not one grain of
hope left. It is easy for you, who have your father and mother and
five brothers at home, to talk in this way. Remember, I have only one
relation in the world, and when I lose him I lose all.”
“Well, all I can say is, that I hope your presentiment will turn out
better than mine! Oh, here are the girls coming back!” she exclaimed
peevishly, as a long file of figures appeared, passing the windows
two and two. “What a bore they are! They seem to have only been
out a quarter of an hour, and here they come marching in, disturbing
our nice comfortable little talk.”
Florence Blewitt, who so successfully practised the art of plain
speaking and trampling on other people’s susceptibilities—people
were welcome to trample on hers, she declared; she had none—was
a short, squarely-built girl of sixteen, with a sharp nose, thick brown
hair, intelligent grey eyes, and a very dark skin—a skin that betrayed
no soupçon of foreign blood, but was, nevertheless, more brown
than white. She was brusque, eccentric, clever, and indolent.
Florence could—if she would—but she so seldom would. She
preferred the ease of an undisturbed seat at the very bottom of the
class to ambitious battlings and feverish strivings for the first place.
She was the spoiled only daughter of a wealthy merchant and
shipowner, and, being deferred to and made much of at home, was
disposed to be both arbitrary and independent at school. Moreover,
she was selfish, which is not a taking trait in a young woman’s
character, and was anything but a popular idol. She would borrow
readily, but hated to lend; and the only thing with which she was
generous was her advice; the sole present she was ever known to
make was her opinion—gratis. Few were honoured by her liking, and
if she had a friend at Harperton, it was the girl who sat beside her,
conscientiously mending a basketful of most hopeless-looking
stockings.
“I wonder what your fate will be, Maddie?” said Flo, staring at her
meditatively, and studying her delicate profile, her pencilled
eyebrows, her shining hair.
“I wonder too,” echoed Madeline, with a profound sigh.
Madeline West had been born in Melbourne, and sent home at the
age of seven to Mrs. Harper’s establishment, where she had
remained for ten years. From a skinny, elf-like, wildly excitable child,
she had grown up into an extremely pretty girl, with what the
drawing-master termed “wonderful colouring.” Her hair, eyebrows,
and lashes were dark, her eyes two shades lighter, but it was in her
complexion and the exquisite modelling of her head and features
that her chief beauty lay. Her head was small, and beautifully set
upon her shoulders; her skin was of creamy fairness, with a faint
shade of carmine in her cheeks—a colour so delicate that it went
and came at a look or word. She was tall, slight, and wonderfully
graceful; full of vivacity, activity, versatility and resource, ready to
throw herself warmly into any scheme for amusement or mischief—
that was to say, twelve months previously. She was by far the most
striking-looking and admired of Mrs. Harper’s forty boarders, and,
notwithstanding this drawback to feminine goodwill, was a great
favourite with pupils, teachers, and servants. Her popularity had
even survived that terrible test of altered circumstances—that dire
fall from the wealthy Australian heiress to the unpaid slavey of the
establishment. She changed, of course, her ringing laugh and her
happy air; her merry repartee and snatches of songs had
disappeared with the pretty frocks and hats and shoes which she
had loved so well. She was developing a staid, grown-up manner,
according to her fellow-pupils; she held back from their advances—
abdicated of her own accord, and her place as queen of the school
was filled, after a decent interregnum, by a rich Cockney, who was
as lavish of her shillings, as she was frugal in the matter of h’s, and
who, according to Flo Blewitt, was “a harmless, good-natured,
vulgar, poor creature.”
It must not be supposed that Madeline West did not keenly feel
her altered position. Many a bitter tear she shed in secret; many a
sleepless hour she lay awake, when all her companions—with only
to-morrow’s lessons on their minds—were slumbering peacefully in
the arms of Morpheus. Every small indignity, every slighting speech
and sharp glance entered as an iron into her soul, but she made no
remonstrance or reply; her swiftly changing colour was the sole
index to her feelings, and what were a school-girl’s—a pauper
school-girl’s—feelings to Mrs. Harper? To tell the truth, Madeline had
never asserted herself even in her days of sunshine. She never
could face an unpleasant situation; she put aside a crisis with a
laugh or a gay word; her sensitive, luxurious nature shrank
instinctively from all unpleasant things. She was a moral coward,
though no one suspected it.
The present clouds on her sky had brought out, in an unexpected
manner, unexpected depths in her character. Madeline, the humble
semi-nursemaid, was an industrious, prudent, self-possessed
person, who laboured gravely, doggedly from morning to night, a
totally different girl to the extravagant, generous, easy-going
Madeline, the butterfly who had fluttered the happy hours away for
nine whole years. She was now at another seminary. Adversity is
said to be an excellent school, and offers a fine test of character.
Anomalous as it sounds, Madeline West had risen to the state of life
into which she had fallen.
CHAPTER II.
NO NEWS.
Three months had passed, and still no sign or token from Mr.
Robert West. How anxiously his daughter’s eyes followed Miss
Selina’s skinny fingers, as they dealt out the letters every morning
during breakfast time—these letters having previously been
thoroughly turned over, examined, felt, and even smelt, by that lady
and her relatives. It was always the same in answer to Madeline’s
unspoken appeal. “No, nothing for you, Madeline,” or, “No letter yet,
Miss West,” according to the frame of mind in which Miss Selina
found herself. And then Mrs. Harper, who was seated behind an
immense copper tea apparatus, would peer round it, with her keen
little eyes and bobbing grey curls, and shake her head at the pupil-
teacher, in a manner which signified that she did not approve of her
at all! As if poor Madeline was not sick with hope deferred, and wild
with a frenzied desire to get away and never pass another night
under that lady’s roof-tree; only there was one big but, one immense
drawback to her own most eager wishes, she had nowhere else to
go.
The Miss Harpers, who were fully alive to Madeline’s value, were
by no means equally anxious for her departure. She corrected
exercises, ruled copybooks, relieved them of several distasteful
duties, and took the little ones’ music—an agonizing ordeal. She
really did as much as any two paid teachers, and—an ecstatic fact—
for nothing! Moreover, they had the delicious sensation that they
were performing a charitable action all the time, and looked primly
self-conscious and benevolent when their friends exclaimed: “How
good of you, you dear, kind, Christian people, to keep that
unfortunate Australian girl!”
Miss Selina, who was forty, with a complexion like that of a wax
doll who has been left lying in the sun, would sigh softly and murmur
the word “duty,” when perhaps at that very moment the unfortunate
Australian was fulfilling the least agreeable of hers—putting those
fretful, ungovernable, sickly little Anglo-Indians to bed—and to sleep.
They were too young for school routine; spoiled, fractious,
disobedient, and mischievous, they were Madeline’s almost entire
charge. Happy Madeline!
It is winter when we once more enter the schoolroom at Harperton,
a bitterly cold day, and the small fire behind the wire screen does not
half heat that great bare apartment, with its numerous doors and
windows. Those at a distance are “out in the cold” indeed, for a
double file of girls is gathered closely round the fender, talking four at
a time, and making noise enough for a rookery. This is the half-hour
after tea, and exclusively their own; they are indemnifying
themselves for many hours of silence and French—which almost
amounts to the same thing. Their speech is vigorous and unpolished,
for no teacher is present except Madeline—if teacher she can be
called. She is standing at a remote desk, mounting a drawing by the
light of a cheap little hand-lamp. The gas is never turned on in the
schoolroom until half-past six, because the twilight is so delightful (so
economical they meant), quoth the thrifty Miss Harpers.
The coals, which have been angrily stirred up, throw a good blaze,
and reveal the faces and figures of the fire-worshippers assembled
round the screen, especially the face and figure of Isabella Jones,
the present reigning potentate. She has hitched herself up on the
edge of the fire-guard, holding on there by the mantelpiece, and from
this elevated position is dispensing law, wit, snubs, and patronage.
She is very tall and thin, stoops a good deal, and is the proprietor of
a tip-tilted nose, a pair of quick little brown eyes, and millions of
freckles. She is also the proprietor of a quantity of pretty dresses, of
unlimited pocket-money, a vast amount of self-esteem, and the
largest and reddest hands in the room.
Mrs. Harper’s seminary is only intended for the offspring of
wealthy folk. Izzie’s father has made his pile in margarine, and has
desired that his daughter may have the best of everything—every
accomplishment, every extra, just like a duchess. Izzie has,
accordingly, a separate bedroom, and lessons from the most
expensive masters; nevertheless, she is far—oh! very far—from
being like a duchess. Her education was begun too late; she is
naturally dull.
“I say, girls,” she is screaming sociably, “isn’t it grand to think that
in ten days more we shall all be at ’ome?
“‘This day fortnight, where shall I be?

Not in this academee,
Eating scrape and drinking tea.
This day fortnight, where shall I be?’”
She chanted in a sing-song voice, more or less through her nose.

“And there is the breaking-up dance,” put in one of her satellites; “I
don’t want to go home till that is over.”
“Gracious! I should hope not. What fun it will be,” exclaimed Miss
Jones. “I hope there will be lots of men this time. I ’inted as much to
Miss Selina. What is the use of going to the expense of supper, and
us all getting new dresses, just for the day boarders? That’s what I
say.”
“What good, indeed!” put in Flo, sarcastically, as she elbowed her
way to the very middle of the fire. “But pray do not make yourselves
unhappy about the expense of the supper, my dear young friends. It
will not concern us. I heard Mrs. Harper telling mademoiselle that
they did not intend to have the girls in on this occasion, gobbling up
the ices and confectionery, like so many locusts.”
“I did not know that locusts went in for confectionery,” remarked
Isabella, with a sniff of scorn.
“This marvellous discovery in natural history was Mrs. Harper’s,
not mine,” said Flo, with swelling dignity. “However, the meaning is
plain. We are not to sup. We are to ’ave”—mimicking her
schoolfellow—“buns and egg-sandwiches ’anded round in the
schoolroom, whilst the company are carousing downstairs.”
The “take-off” was entirely lost on Isabella, who was far too much
impressed with the intelligence to be alive to Flo’s impertinence. A
dead silence followed this disagreeable announcement, which was
at length broken by Miss Jones, who, sliding from the top of the
screen in the excitement of the moment, shrilly exclaimed—
“Well, I declare! I won’t stand it! I shall tell Mrs. H. so to her face.
Why, our parents pay for the supper! Locusts, indeed! My father
pays handsomely for extras and everything, breaking-up party and
all; and to be put off with a bun! I think I see myself—I just do!
Why”—warming with her theme—“supper is ’alf the fun! There are
the crackers and mottoes and jokes, and every one taken down by a
gentleman, arm-in-arm. I’ll go to supper for one, and stay up to the
last. I did not get my new pink dress just to dance with girls, and eat
an egg sandwich and go to bed. Rather not. Leave it to me, girls”—
looking round on her companions with an air of friendly
encouragement—“I shall have a word with Miss Selina. We shall all
go to supper, or Isabella Jones will know the reason why.”
“Oh, you dear, good Izzy!” cried two voices simultaneously. And
one continued, “You know you can do anything with Snappy, and if
you ask, it will be all right. But about partners, I am afraid they will be
few and far between; Snappy and Miss Harper keep the best for
themselves and their friends. Anything is good enough for the girls.
Last time I was thankful to dance all night with a little boy in a jacket;
however, it was a shade better than sitting-out.”
“There are the Wolfertons,” observed Flo, “and they generally
bring two or three men. Last year there was Mr. Wynne, who was
tremendously struck with Madeline.” Then raising her voice, “Maddie,
do you remember Mr. Wynne? Come over here, and let us see if you
are blushing.”
“Mr. Wynne, Fred Wolferton’s friend!” cried Isabella, with great
animation. “He is a barrister, and, of course, without a penny to jingle
on a milestone—poor as Job. My father don’t approve of my getting
to know these paupers. You know I’m an heiress”—giggling—“and
father says——”
“Oh never mind your father!” broke in Flo, rudely. “You need not be
alarmed; Mr. Wynne won’t look at you as long as Madeline is in the
room—and perhaps he may not come. Who else are invited—the
Sangsters, the Wallers, the Rays?”
“All common sort of people,” remarked the grand-daughter of a
baron. “Very worthy in their way, and well enough for a girls’ school
breaking-up; but I should not dream of knowing them at home, or of
bowing if I met them anywhere;” and she threw up her chin, and
looked about her superciliously.
No one combated this dire announcement; they were all a little in
awe of Miss De Ville and her ancestors—especially of the one who
had fought in Palestine—and they were silent and impressed, being
young. At length a word was whispered, which quickly set every
tongue wagging. That magic word was “dress.” What were they all
going to wear? One lacked new shoes, another gloves; a fan was
lent—in prospect—in return for good offices in the hair-dressing line.
Amidst this gabble, Isabella’s piercing voice was heard high and
shrill above all, describing the body of her new pink dress. Madeline
had joined the crowd, looking white and cold—and no wonder.
“Keep away your fingers, my dear, if they are sticky,” said Flo;
“and, by the way, what are you going to adorn yourself in? Your white
dress was taken by the Harpies, as most unsuitable to you now.”
“I have nothing but my black cashmere,” she returned, “and this”—
holding out a shabby serge sleeve.
“They really must give you something!” cried Isabella,
impressively, “if only for the look of the thing. For the credit of the
establishment, they can’t have you appear like an old rag-picker.”
Madeline coloured vividly. “I don’t mind giving you a dress myself,
if you will take it.”
“Now, I call that a French compliment, Isabella Jones,” remarked
Flo, with her usual candour, “and you know it. If Madeline has to
wear the old black, so much the worse; but, whatever she wears,
she will always look a—lady,” accompanying the remark with a
glance at Miss Jones that gave it point and significance, and made

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Progress in Heterocyclic Chemistry Volume 29 1st

Research Methods for the Behavioral and Social Sciences

Colin Marsh & Catherine Hart

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7 Values, Controversial Issues and 8 Assessing, Recording and Reporting 190

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Harry Van Issum

Professor Kerry Kennedy

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Professor Colin Marsh

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State/Territory SOSE subjects K–10 SOSE subjects 11–12

Western Australia Society and Environment Aboriginal and Intercultural Studies,

Queensland Years 1–9 Year 10 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

Australian Capital Territory Social Sciences Accounting, Business and Economics

Tasmania Society and History Ancient Civilisations, Australian

Victoria P–Year 4 Years 5–10 Business Studies, Economics,

South Australia Society and Environment Aboriginal Studies, Ancient Studies,

Northern Territory Studies of Society and Environment Same as South Australia

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Title: Married or single?, Vol. 1 (of 3)

Release date: November 12, 2023 [eBook #72106]

Original publication: London: Chatto & Windus, 1895

Credits: MWS and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARRIED

MRS. AND THE MISSES HARPER.

“‘This day fortnight, where shall I be?

She chanted in a sing-song voice, more or less through her nose.

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