HER    NATURAL   DESTINY

Her Natural Destiny explores the education of women and girls from the first elementary schools in nineteenth century NSW to the first steps of young women into male dominated universities.  The view of the "natural destiny" of women, still commonly cherished today and certainly unchallenged in the 19th and early 20th century, neatly encapsulates the formidable obstacles faced by women in the Australian educational system; male supremacy and the subsidiary role of noble self-sacrifice, indissolubly linked to the home and motherhood, assigned to women and girls.

 In Australia books about women in education are rare even today. When Noeline Kyle wrote this book in 1986 there were no comprehensive histories about women and their schooling.  It is of major interest not only to teachers and students of education but also to those studying the broad pattern of Australian history or undertaking comparative educational research.

Topics such as the state education of girls, teacher training, technical education, the schooling of girls in religious institutions, industrial and reformatory schools for girls, and an examination of the less prominent private schools are covered in depth and present both a fascinating view of a system designed to channel the energies and creative intelligence of young women into the home.  It is also a story of how women and girls slowly challenged the system and the surprising support they often received from female teachers, religious women and their parents.

Return to home page