This is an area I will go into in more detail later.
I began school in the mid-seventies and now when I look back I recognise the foundations the system was built on. My schooling is quite varied as I went to a few different schools that represent extremely varied social contexts. .
I attended O"Sullivan Beach Primary School located in the South of Adelaide in the late 70's. The junior primary area of the school was open plan, which was all the rage at the time. There were between 500 and 700 students that attended the school. The area was working class (mostly blue-collar workers or unemployed). Students were from a predominantly Anglo-Saxon background although Aboriginal groups were strongly represented. .
In my early years of schooling I remember being frustrated with the rules and the lack of flexibility with school. My parents had made me learn the whole alphabet during a trip away and yet in year two my teacher would not let me write the letters past K because the rest of the class hadn't gone past there yet.
I remember looking into some alternative science on a topic we were looking at during our lessons and my teacher was outraged with me. I remember being very upset but looking back now I see that I was using my initiative and exploring as many views on the subject as I could. Through those primary school years it was if I could hear the system speaking, "Don't break the mould Cathie. Don't catch me out. Fit in, bend, break if you have to but don't break the mould, don't expose me.".
My parents were blue- collar workers with strong religious beliefs. They were unhappy with the local primary school so they sent me to Maranatha Christian School. Those that attended the school were a mixture of middle class white-collar workers and working class from a predominantly Anglo-Saxon background. The families at this school were strong Protestant church going people.
The school was a small urban school that emphasised alternative education.