What is it about?

This chapter introduces the work by outlining the parameters of the study: what the analysis does and doesn't do.

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Why is it important?

In the first study of its type in Australia, 'Reel Schools' takes a fresh look at the history of Australian schooling through the lens of Australian cinema from the silent era until 2010. I argue that the cinematic school is a pervasive metaphor for the Australian nation. I maintain that Australian films about schooling have consistently commented on the relationship of schooling to the Australian class structure as well as explored gender, race and ethnicity at school, especially after the 1970s. From then on the egalitarian dream of school education and the nation’s capacity to generate meaningful futures for the young became increasingly contested.

Perspectives

As a historian of Australian education I am interested in cinema as a form of public pedagogy, 'teaching' audiences, especially national audiences, about society over time. I am also interested in the power of the visual to both reflect and create history. This book is a history of an idea - about the idea of school and schooling - in Australian cinema. Along the way images of teachers and students are discussed. The link between this cinema about schooling and the national experience is powerful and instructive.

Dr Josephine May
University of Newcastle

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This page is a summary of: CHAPTER 1 – Introduction: The Cinematic Vernacular of Australian Schooling 1, Peter Lang, International Academic Publishers,
DOI: 10.3726/978-3-0351-0443-1/5.
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