Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Background and Call to Peru

Death of Arthur and Education

The following year (1915) I went to work at five shillings a week at Turnbull and Jones, a firm of electrical engineers, and by 1916 was earning seven and sixpence a week. In 1917 I transferred to T.H.Green and Co., a firm of wholesale grocers. My brother, Arthur, who was fifteen months younger than I, had worked there until his death at the end of 1916 (see below) and it was on account of the excellence of his work that I was offered this position. In the meantime I was attending evening classes at the Technical College in preparation for the Matriculation Examination which I successfully passed in 1920. That year I was appointed probationer at the Christchurch East School. The following year I entered the Christchurch Teachers College and commenced my University studies, my major subject being Education. I graduated from Training College at the end of 1922 and completed my B.A. the following year, during which time I taught part time at the Technical College. Under Professor James Shelley, who was an inspiring teacher I won the distinction of being the first student in New Zealand to gain a Master’s Degree with First Class Honours in Education. That year I took the middle term off in order to write my thesis on “The Effect on Children of the Transition from Primary to Secondary School”. This proved to be a most profitable field of investigation, which continued to interest me during the whole of my teaching career.

Note: Christchurch Teachers College
The College began in 1877 as a department of the Christchurch Normal School. There were 31 students on the roll: 25 women and 6 men. In 1905 the teacher training section of the Normal School was redesignated as the Training College with its own Principal. Initially a pupil-teacher system of teacher training operated. Under this plan, which lasted until 1931, students between the ages of 13 and 16 were engaged as pupil-teachers.

Note: Extract from Christchurch Cemeteries Database
Surname: MONEY
First name(s): ARTHUR THOMAS
Date of death: Thursday, 28 December 1916
Cemetery: Linwood Cemetery
Date of burial: Saturday, 30 December 1916
Block number: 35
Plot number: 306
Age: 15 years
Address: 16 MERSEY STREET
Occupation: CLERK
Place of birth: QUEENSLAND
Years in New Zealand: 12
Comments: Died: Appendix abcess, toxaemia

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