Inaugural student intake
The first day of the new college has arrived
After two years of intensive planning and course preparations, the day arrived for the first cohort of teacher education students to be enrolled at the newly established Mount Lawley Teachers College. Following the standard practice, all first-year students entering teacher training had to present themselves at Claremont Teachers College. So, on Monday, February 9, 1970, all prospective teacher education students assembled at Claremont. There they were addressed by the Director of Teacher Education on expected standards and duties while at college and how they should present themselves as representatives of the Education Department at College, on teaching practice and workshops in schools. However, of importance for bringing all students together was to even-out the number of students across the then three colleges. For many students coming from traditional, well-organised senior high schools, this was a daunting introduction to their college life. As one student explained it:
I remember all the prospective students in the intake for teaching in 1970 meeting at Claremont Teachers College campus where we stood with those, with whom we had arrived, milling around in some confusion and bewilderment, looking for others that we might know.
After an initial preamble about the three colleges – Claremont, Graylands and the new Mount Lawley campus, we were then directed to form three lines – depending on which campus we wished to attend and then according to the home location. Having initially opted for Graylands, I was soon moved to the Mount Lawley line – for which I am now so grateful. (Sue, personal correspondence)
The building program for the new college at the Scaddan Pine Plantation in Mount Lawley was running well behind schedule. Consequently, other accommodation had to be found. On February 10, 1970, the first intake of 142 women and 51 men entered the temporary accommodation at the Western Australian Education Department In-service Centre in Bagot Road Subiaco. While a double-demountable classroom was provided, as well as additions to the main in-service education building, it was also necessary to hire a nearby hall and playing fields. Library facilities could not be provided and students had to use the Education Department Library in West Perth, where the recently appointed Mount Lawley College librarian was located. As well there were the libraries of the other three colleges (Claremont, Graylands, and the recently completed Secondary Teachers College in Nedlands) (Mount Lawley Teachers College, 1970, p. 1).
At Subiaco, the cramped accommodation for students, staff and administration presented a major hurdle to the implementation of an exciting new teacher education program, one markedly different from the traditional programs offered at Claremont and Graylands. However, all staff and students “accepted the challenge and with great spirit attacked the problems which arose. An interesting by- product, it is felt, of the cramped conditions was that barriers of reserve were quickly broken down and a sense of identity with the new College was early established” (Mount Lawley Teachers College, 1973, p. 10).
In welcoming the students, the Principal Robert (Bob) Peter emphasised that teachers “serve children and society in a direct, intensive way. On a broader plain it has been said that the fate of mankind itself, at this, the most critical time in its history, will be determined by the kind of education which children receive” (Peter, 1972).
Bob Peter realised that this was not an easy task, particularly for primary teacher training, “since there are numerous pressures on the colleges to conduct courses in a wide range of subjects, all of which are required to be undertaken by all students”.
He contrasted this with universities, which at that time restricted their Arts degree courses to a small yearly number of subjects, four or five, of which one or two might be studied at considerable depth. He argued that: “Teachers college students must be prepared to shift quickly from subject to subject and this could be intellectually frustrating. I ask them to bear with this. It is simply a reflection of the need for primary school teachers to have some degree of mastery of all the subjects taught in the primary school as well as a level of scholarship which will mark them as educated and, of course, an adequate knowledge of the theory and practice of the profession of teaching as a science.
In recognising the wide range of subjects, the shortage of available time for in-depth study and the rapid daily transition from one subject to the next, the Principal outlined his vision for a new approach to teacher education and the reason for adapting modern educational theory and practice into the newly built Mount Lawley Teachers College, the first new college built in Western Australia since 1902, and culminating in a radical new building design.
This vision included:
- Introduction of a semester system
- Continuous assessment
- New instructional techniques
- Integration of theory courses with the practical teaching programme
- Students actively involved in policy formulation and decision making
- Minimal lecture mode with independent study and group interaction – with “open door” policy for staff
- Home tutor groups of 16 students – meeting once per week.
- Integration of history and geography into social science unit
- Emphasis on community participation and involvement
- Focus on art acquisitions and greater involvement in music, drama and arts.
Although Bob’s vision presented to the students may have given an ideal of the future at the new campus in Mount Lawley, the temporary accommodation at Bagot Road provided its own unique introduction to tertiary education for this new group of inaugural students. Staff also had to adjust to the cramped conditions at Bagot Road, where they “were quartered in a former classroom with cupboards and filing cabinets forming petitions between the various departments. A ‘spin-off ’ of the cramped conditions was a very lively, cooperative spirit among staff. A similar effect was noted among students (Peter, 1970).
In the words of one student:
“we were the inaugural students we didn’t have any “older” students to talk to for “what to expect”, we were naïve students straight out of high school, you lecturers were also “new” to this teaching diploma – so I think I was a happy “guinea pig” prepared to see what this 3-year course would involve. You were all very enthusiastic about your courses and I’m sure that enthusiasm flowed onto us. Everybody helped/supported everybody.
The lectures at Bagot Road were all a very new way of learning, sitting at those chairs with a side flap to write on was novel, having to be out of the Centre by 4pm because of the after school courses for teachers were happening was “what we did”, the semester system was how we were going to learn and no exams – just a continuous assessment program – very different to what we’d had at high school (Ruth, personal correspondence).
Bagot Road also had some advantages as indicated by another student:
Being located in Subiaco we were able to shop, have lunch or wander around the town during breaks or free periods. I remember buying my first outfit with my own money from a small boutique in the main street of the shopping precinct.
The Bagot Road buildings were not very extensive, but were able to accommodate the first year intake of students and the foundation staff. For the time we used these premises, staff and students shared spaces and developed a very communal, friendly and relaxed atmosphere. Some lectures would take place in the gardens or in the little church within the grounds. Art theory tutorials frequently took place in the small church or in the outdoors if the weather permitted. This enabled a strong bond between the students and between students and staff to develop (Sue, personal correspondence).
For six months staff and students lived in temporary accommodation. But by August, the first major teaching building was made ready for occupancy with its white cast-concrete pillars and beams supporting a steel shell. There were huge, panelled glass windows with red infill sections and the brickwork was in fashionable purplish or grey roughcast concrete bricks. Large double entry doors to all parts of the building featured bright yellow fibreglass circles opening into the spacious corridors.
The corridor carpet was a defiantly deep purple. Alas, while the building was still not fully secured some opportunistic thieves entered the campus one weekend and stole a great length of it. To this day the mystery theft was never solved but somewhere in Perth, presumably, a whole house maybe is still carpeted in that intense purple. As recalled by a student:
When staff and students initially moved in, the building was still largely under construction and the eastern end of the ground floor was completely open. The section being used was painted, carpeted and furnished. Rich purple carpet and modern tables and purple and chrome chairs. However, we all returned one Monday morning to discover that over the weekend someone had taken advantage of the open construction site and had carefully removed the wide purple carpet for the passageway by cutting it at each doorway and rolling it up and removing it, along with a selection of comfy chairs and tables! Someone now had a uniquely styled home! (Sue, personal correspondence).
Finally, on the 15th of September 1970, the south wing of the main teaching and administration block of the new building was ready for accommodation. Even then, spaces were cramped and staff had to share offices. The lectures were conducted in temporary locations and some lecture rooms were used for the College office, library, bookshop and student government (Mount Lawley Teachers College, 1970, p. 2).
Initially, the campus was a barren, sandy area with very few trees for shade and little vegetation to give a warm, welcoming feeling to staff, students and the surrounding population. The buildings looked “amazing” and impressive and stood out among the traditional architecture of the Mount Lawley community.
The grounds of the campus were in a somewhat primitive state for gardens had not been established. However, the architects had provided for large window boxes and other walled garden beds close to the buildings. In September when classes were able to start, gardening enthusiasts among staff and a combined effort with students soon had loam and manure aplenty and the rawness of the new buildings was soon somewhat alleviated. It was also the beginning of a determined effort to retain the remnants of the few natural bushes and trees (mainly paperbarks) and as many as possible of the original maritime pines on the peripheries of the campus. Trees in the local park on the southern side of Bradford Street and in the Mount Lawley Golf Club on the northern border of Central Avenue helped to give a framing greenery to the building site. This verdancy was to be the future of the campus for many years to follow.
As recalled by a student:
The community feel and spirit was maintained by that initial intake of students throughout the years of our course. Events such as the landscaping of the front street verge and surrounding areas of the new buildings built strong bonds. All students and staff spent a complete day planting, digging, mulching etc to establish the initial gardens which are still seen today. Len McKenna organised choosing, purchasing and planning this venture. I now tell my grandchildren as we pass the Bradford Street corner that my friends and I helped plant the huge trees and bushes back in the early 1970s.
Camps at Rottnest and other venues further fostered our bonds, friendships and collegiality throughout our teacher training (Sue, personal correspondence).
Overall the transfer from Bagot road to the new campus, in September 1970, was achieved with minimum disturbance. Staff and students bonded into working teams and were active in making the whole campus an exciting place to work, teach and learn. Much of this was due to the spirit, drive and enthusiasm of the foundation staff, especially selected for the new college by its Foundation Principal, Bob Peter.