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Unchanged from previous eras, the Queensland School Readers explicitly affirm that the
intent of their use in Queensland classrooms is to instill in students a lifelong enjoyment of
reading, with a sample preface stating:
A child who has gained the habit of reading for the sake of the pleasure and the
profit that it brings will continue his self-education after he has left school.
…
To instil into the minds of pupils such a love of literature as will last beyond schooldays
and be an unfailing source of profit and delight. (Department of Public
Instruction, 1954/1960, pp. iii)
Moving from the narrative style of curriculum, this era is also characterised by an increase in
visual images to accompany text, and is evident at a larger degree than earlier eras, such as
those from the WWI era analysed in the previous chapter. This can be most likely attributed
to lowered cost of producing images in textbooks (due to their mass production) and
photographs being more cost-effective than they may have previously been. Although images
do not play a central role as learning experiences for students in the Social Studies and
History textbooks analysed for this era, their use and application has increased and they are
often used as page fillers rather than for students to engage with as an explicit pedagogical
device.
6.11.4 Critical Use of Sources.
During this era, students are increasingly seen as active in the learning process. This is
especially evidenced through high school textbooks, including those written by H.R. Cowie
(see, for example, Frankfurt to Fra Mauro, 1975; and Challenge and response: A history of
the modern world volume 2, 1976); Landmarks (Blackmore et al., 1969); and Foundations
(Hendy et al., 1976), where the Introduction, in part, reads:
...we seek to lead students to the skills of forming opinions from simple basic
narrative and interesting stimuli, both written and pictorial.
...
Students who have merely ‘received’ facts may possess some temporarily stored
information, but if they have not been actively involved with the facts, and have no
reached some conclusions for themselves, it is questionable whether they have
expanded their knowledge (Hendy et al., 1976, p. 7).
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