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1. How did you come to work at the Mt Lawley Campus?
| Answers |
| applied to an advertisement and heard through a government instrumentality |
| I was a successful teacher n the education department. I started as a Primary School teacher, then moved up to Secondary - coincidentally at Mt Lawley Senior High School. After 5 years there, an advertisement appeared for the Music position at the new Teachers' College. The pre-requisites were rather strange, but they fitted me to a T. I applied and was successful, but had to survive an appeal process. I was only 30 at the time. Alan True
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| Applied for a position as Lecturer in Science Education - appointed to commence duties January 1974. |
2. How long did you work there?
| Answers |
| thirty years |
| 1970 to 1987 . Then I was transferred to Churchlands in 1988 where I stayed until early retirement in2001
|
| Two years - 1974-75 |
3. What were your subject area/s?
| Answers |
| philosophy of education
curriculum design and development
education policy
critical thinking |
| Music Education
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| Sceince Education |
4. What were the most innovative aspects of the course/s you taught at Mt Lawley?
| Answers |
| fourth year BEd units
external studies
postgraduate supervision |
| Semester system. I had total control of content. Also I was the consultant to Stan Hewitt the College Architect for the planning of the specialist Music/ Drama block. David Hough also was the consultant for the Drama section. We were given what we wanted to be able to teach in the way we wanted.
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| Continuous assessment rather than end-of-year exams
Small group teaching rather than massive lecture groups
Microteaching |
5. How did you like working at Mt Lawley?
| Answers |
| found it challenging.
Enjoyed the content aspect. |
| Loved it. It had a wonderful working atmosphere in the early days as Bob Peter ensured that everyone had a role to play. The committee system was revelatory.
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| Very much - I probably learnt more, as a newly fledged academic, than the students did! |
6. What were the highlights of your time at Mt Lawley?
| Answers |
| Surviving |
| Being able to take part in creating WAAPA between 1977and 1980.
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| Highly supportive staff and administration |
7. What changes were enacted during your time there?
| Answers |
| fourth year BEd
external studies
not sure if WACAE happened then |
| The semester system was refined and student access to appeals was important with other students representatives sitting old the panel. It
was very democratic. |
| Student participation |
8. What were the most enduring benefits of working at Mt Lawley?
| Answers |
| My defined benefit Unisuper pension |
| Self worth. Bob Peter trusted us implicitly to create our own courses. I was given the opportunity to pursue outside interests. I sat on the Board of the Australian Society for Music Education, the WA Opera Company. I was also able to devote time to gaining a Masters Degree at UWA. |
| I learnt a lot about tertiary teaching and a lot about primary science education |
Are there any stories you would like to share about your time at Mt Lawley?
| Answers |
| Not sure at this point.
Remember ensuring that the academic staff association did not become affiliated with the ACTU. |
| There' isn't enough space. Graduation ceremonies were a revelation as we were encouraged to include as much music as possible. he first few were held old caps, but we outgrew it and so decided to move things to the Perth Concert Hall where I [played the pipe organ for the proceedings. Students provided the rest of the music every year.
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| It was a fairly young staffing profile so there was quite a lot of staff social activity that supported the development of a cohesive approach to training our future teachers. |