By ERIKA ALLEN
DAVID Harris turned his bedtime stories into an award-winning article, reviving the history of a humble one-teacher school in the Gippsland Hills.
Gippsland’s scenic Grand Ridge Road was once a bustling highway, passing through mining and forestry settlements.
All that remains are traces of a small community, including a sign denoting where the Livingston one-teacher school (1913-1938) once stood.
While the school may no longer occupy a tangible space, its indelible mark on Victoria’s regional education history endures through the stories of those who imparted or acquired knowledge within its humble walls, including David Harris’ father, Arthur Leslie (Les) Harris.
“I grew up with stories about Livingston because my father (Les) taught there in 1932 when he was 21,” David said.
“My bedtime stories were basically stories about the people at Livingston.”
David, a former Latrobe University lecturer, brought the tales of the Livingston one-teacher school back to life in his commendation-winning journal article titled, Livingston: A One-Teacher School in the Gippsland Hills, 1913-1938, which was honoured at the 2023 Victorian Community History Awards.
On February 2, Mr Harris was presented with his commendation at the Melbourne Arts Centre.
Mr Harris was pleasantly surprised to receive the honour, and emphasised the awards positive role in keeping community histories alive.
In recognition of excellence in historical methods, the annual awards are organised by The Royal Historical Society of Victoria (RHSV) in partnership with the Public Record Office of Victoria, which Mr Harris fondly called “his second home.”
When Mr Harris spoke to the Express, many facets of the term ‘community’ were discussed.
Most poignantly, Mr Harris alluded to the connection between schools and the communities in which they operate.
Beyond being places for learning, schools cultivate community bonds through collaboration and support, fostering a shared sense of identity.
Mr Harris’ journal article speaks to this narrative.
“I think one-teacher schools were a really important part of the government education system in country areas because they were so much a part of the community,” Mr Harris said.
“My sense from reading the archives and the inspectors reports on teachers (at Livingston), was that a really quality education was delivered quite often to the students at that school.”
However, it was a challenging feat.
The Livingston school, named after Gippsland South’s Member of the Legislative Assembly, Thomas Livingston, opened in 1913 on steep terrain in the Strzelecki Ranges near Boolarra.
The environment and climate were harsh at Livingston, but the school was established to incentivise farmers to stay. However, a decline in numbers led to its closure in 1928.
The school reopened in 1932 as part of a state government scheme to employ families to cultivate the land. Eleven new families sharing 20 children joined the settlement, as did David’s father, Les, who was the teacher during the reopening.
Teachers were grappling with funding and salary cuts at the time, and positions at Livingston were often ‘temporary’ as a result.
Despite this, Mr Harris spoke of the ‘idealism’ that teachers like his father possessed, which spurred them on regardless.
Les Harris had recently graduated from Bendigo Teachers’ College when he started at Livingston. Inspector reports said he was an “earnest” and “conscientious” teacher.
During Les’ time at Livingston, the Victorian Education Department denied funding for the school’s upkeep.
A fundraising dance was held at the community hall to cover costs for garden fencing, wire netting to keep the rabbits out, and maintenance of the horse yard. Meanwhile, Les paid for the gardening tools out of his pocket.
Mr Harris highlighted the unwavering dedication displayed by the educators at Livingston, emphasising that despite the school’s brief existence, it remains intricately connected to the enduring legacy of Victoria’s rural education system – community building through child-centred learning.
“Often when people think of older styles of teaching, it’s all about reading, writing, and arithmetic, but what is really evident looking at the teaching in Livingston was that it was more than that,” he said.
He pointed out that, even during that era, students’ interests were the focal point of education, stating, “it was about finding things that interest the student – you began with the student’s world, and then you expand it out from that.”
“That’s a really contemporary idea … those sorts of ideas are still around in modern education. But here they were being discussed in Victoria before the First World War.”
“So, the idea of child-centred education isn’t a recent idea.
“I think it’s really evident at a place like Livingston. It was part of training that my father had and another teacher there, Irene Ennis would have had, to bring the school and community together.”
Changes to the curriculum at Livingston occurred as ideas to champion the children’s interests took priority. These included introducing regular physical activity like woodchopping, a thrilling pastime for the children, who often brought axes to school for lunchtime and recess woodchopping competitions.
Mr Harris said one of the largest families attending Livingston was the Caldwell’s, a name etched into the Victorian Axemen’s Council woodchopping hall of fame.
“Champion axeman Ken Caldwell was also at Livingston. So, when he later appeared on the TV or in the newspapers it would set dad off with stories about Livingston and stories about woodchopping competitions,” Mr Harris said.
While Les Harris was not sure about the duration of his tenure at Livingston – it was a mere five months before he was transferred to another school – both his dedicated commitment during his time there and the nostalgic fondness of the memories formed underscore the pivotal role of teachers in fostering shared positive community outcomes within rural schools.
“That was the funny thing,” David responded to his father’s short time at Livingston.
“Because I grew up with all of these stories, I thought he’d been there much longer, but when I went to research it, I realised that he’d only been there for five months before they moved him to another school.”
Mr Harris added that his father was particularly fond of one-teacher schools because it was “really rewarding.”
“He always talked about the community and the strength of the community,” Mr Harris said.
“It was always something he remembered fondly as he got older.”
“Education was his life, and even after he retired, he did voluntary work in education.”
Mr Harris intends to write more articles about his father’s experiences in one-teacher schools.
