This learning resource is based on an image database which documents the social and cultural history of Australian children 1880-1940. We have chosen a wide sample of these images and deconstructed them using functional principles. Four themes emerged during our analysis. We found that in this key historical period, the dominant image is associated with a more 'innocent', less pluralistic conception of childhood than we find today. (If you click on the caption under each photo, you can see the reading and its relationship to each theme.)

This has been a joint project between Macquarie University Library and the Institute of Early Childhood. Development of this Curriculum Resource was funded from the Mabel Harriet Sutton Bequest.

CULTURAL WARNING

Users of this web-site should be aware that it contains images of Indigenous peoples who may be deceased. In some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities, hearing names and viewing images of deceased persons may cause sadness or distress, particularly to the relatives of these people. It is not our intention to offend users of this web-site.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This project was initiated by the Macquarie University Library and funded from the Mabel Harriet Sutton bequest. Staff of the Institute of Early Childhood and the Centre for Flexible Learning were responsible for developing the content and design of the website.

Thank you to Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen whose ideas from "Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design"(1996) helped to reveal many meanings hidden in these visual images. We are grateful for their kind permission.

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT

Images on this website are used under licence from the Work and Play Collection, Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales.