He pātai: How can a school help create ideas about patriotism, duty and national identity?
The New Zealand School Journal was produced by the Education Department. During the war it carried material promoting patriotism, self-sacrifice, obedience and support for the war effort, including stories about Gallipoli / the Western Front and children’s fundraising.
Source question: What does a government-created school publication reveal about the kind of citizen adults wanted children to become?
Teachers pinned maps to classroom walls and followed events at the front. Students learned geography while also learning which places, armies and empires mattered to “us”.
Source question: Could the same map teach geography and national loyalty at the same time?
Children were involved in patriotic assemblies, fundraising, making comforts for soldiers, writing letters and — in many schools — flag ceremonies. In late 1917 education boards ordered flag salutes in schools, though some teachers objected.
Source question: When does participation become pressure to perform patriotism?
Before the war, compulsory military training already existed for most boys from the year they turned 12. School cadets drilled, marched and in some places practised shooting or bayonet exercises.
Source question: How might this change the meaning of “volunteering” at age 20?
Do not assume your school today is simply “better”. Compare the purposes and methods:
| Question | NZ school during WW1 | Our school today |
|---|---|---|
| How is citizenship / belonging taught? | ||
| What public symbols appear? | ||
| What happens when someone disagrees? | ||
| What does the curriculum want students to become? |
A wartime School Journal can be:
Which of those roles is it in our inquiry? More than one may be true.
Search Papers Past, your school archive, local library or an honour board for your school / suburb / town during 1914–18. Search terms might include the school name + patriotic, war fund, Empire, soldiers, honour roll.
One local trace we found: