Oral History Project
South Australian Educator and Children's Author Colin Thiele,interviewed in Brisbane in 1996 for Conversations by Tony Ryan
The Conversations Oral History Project commenced in 1994, with a seeding grant from the South Australian Branch of The Australian College of Educators. Over the intervening fourteen years, College Fellow Tony Ryan has recorded extended interviews with over fifty five significant educators around Australia – most of these interviewees have had a strong association with the College, including several former National Presidents and some were Founder Members. For details of edited interviews, and of those interviews that remain unedited, please see below. A selection of short audio extracts – as mp3 audiofiles – can also be accessed through this section of the College website.
Interviews
College Founder member and long time national secretary The Reverend Tom Timpson, was interviewed by Tony Ryan in Melbourne in 1994. The extensive writings by Tom Timpson on the foundation of the College are nicely complemented by this comprehensive oral history material.
Thirty two of the Conversations Oral History interviews have now been edited and lodged with the Oral History Unit of the National Library of Australia in Canberra. To access details of these recordings, in the Search Our Catalogue section of the NLA’s Oral History page, type in the words Tony Ryan - this will provide you with a listing of the thirty two Conversations Oral History interviews now available for reference through the National Library in Canberra.
Some twenty three extended interviews remain unedited, and are being held securely in the College Archives in Adelaide, pending additional funding to complete.
View the full list of interviews.
Audio Samples
The Australian College of Educators holds some fifty five extended interviews with significant Australian Educators who have had an association with this College. Further extracts from the Oral History Collection will be added from time to time. Interviews were recorded from 1994 in most states and territories of Australia. The interviewer is College Archivist and Fellow, Tony Ryan.
| Name |
Content | Download |
| Berkeley, George | First teaching appointment in Queensland | Coming soon |
| Blackburn, Dr Jean | The Schools Commission and the Education of Girls | mp3 (6.3MB) |
| Brewer, Joan |
Student at Adelaide Teachers College WW2, then later |
Coming soon |
| Densley, Alison | First teaching appointment in rural WA | mp3 (4MB) |
| Falk, Dr Barbara | Childhood and early years in Melbourne | mp3 (4MB) |
| Fricker, Lyall | War service in Europe | Coming soon |
| Hogg, Dr Anna | Female lecturers in a Teachers’ College in NSW | Coming soon |
| Jones. A W |
Meetings to establish the College in SA in late 1959; First Chairman |
mp3 (8.5MB) |
| Jordan, Sr Deirdre | From Principal to a university; student response to a nun on staff | mp3 (3MB) |
| Karmel, Peter | Report and the Schools Commission | Coming soon |
| Mitchell, Bessie | A Foundation Member from NSW; NSW Teachers’ Federation | mp3 (2MB) |
| Neal, Dr Walter | Teaching in Canada at the time of the Foundation of the College | Coming soon |
| Oats, William | Leading a group of children to safety in Europe during WW2 | mp3 (3.9MB) |
| Rogers, Ruth | Early years of Teaching; Early Childhood Education | mp3 (3.6MB) |
| Randell, Shirley | Lifelong Learning, returning to learning, and work for CAE in Victoria | mp3 (4.3MB) |
| Squire, Dr Robert |
Tertiary studies from Rockhampton; tutoring first year physics;
Hubbards Academy (1962 – 1995); Radford Report;
involvement in Science Teachers Association: Sputnik and NSSC Physics
|
mp3 (12.2MB) |
| Thiele, Colin | Educator and children's author Colin Thiele talks about his school days in Julia Creek, to the NW of Eudunda in SA. In this short excerpt, he describes the great teams of clydesdales hauling wheat to the siding ".. the teamsters would go past the school, and we'd sit like a row of starlings on the school fence watching them". | |
| Sir James Darling | Address at Geelong Grammar 1984, to mark the beginning of the Silver Jubilee year of the College. | mp3 (3.8MB) |
All recordings in the Oral History Collection are copyright. Apart from research, prior permission for use in any way must be obtained from the Australian College of Educators.
Supporting Organisations
The Australian College of Educators acknowledges the support of the Oral History Unit of the National Library of Australia in Canberra. Interviews with educators associated with this College will continue to be lodged with the National Library of Australia, thus facilitating easier access to these interviews by researchers around Australia.
From time to time the following bodies have provided funding or support in kind for this project since its inception in 1994:
- Australian College of Educators, National Office
- ACE Australian Capital Territory Branch
- ACE New South Wales Branch
- ACE Queensland Branch
- ACE South Australian Branch
- ACE Tasmanian Branch
- ACE Victorian Branch
- ACE Western Australian Branch
- The University of Adelaide, through 5UV Radio Adelaide