Dr Grant Rodwell

Biography/ Background

 Grant Rodwell was for many years a school principal in Tasmania. From 1987 he has lectured and researched in Australian universities in Education and also in Arts and Social Sciences.

 

Current PhD students:

• Rachel Bleeze: Comparative Study of the Australian and Singapore History Curricula
• Claire Bloor: Issues with the Australian History Curriculum
• Susan Kennedy: Educational Provisions for Stateless People in the Middle East
• Loretta Bowshall: Issues with the Policy of the Practicum in Australian Schools
• Christina Surmei: Australian Early Childhood Curriculum: Issues and Policy Analysis.
  

Awards & Achievements

2009                PhD (Tas.) 'Death by a Thousands Cuts': a history of the Tasmanian Essential learnings Program (2000-2006), Faculty of Education.

1998                PhD (N'castle) The Influence of Eugenics on Australian State Schooling, 1900-1960 (History Dept.). 

1988                PhD (Tas.) The Influence of Progressivism on Tasmanian State School Education 1900-20 (History Dept.)

1982                BA (Hons) (Tas) The New Education in Tasmania: 1904-20: a Study of W.L. Neale's Career as Director of Education (History Dept.)

1979                MEd (Tas.) The Applicability to the Tasmanian Education System of Malcolm Skilbeck's Typology of School-based Curriculum Development (Faculty of Education - Curriculum Theory).

1973                BA (Tas.) (University of Tasmania, History/Philosophy major).

1971                Tasmanian Teacher's Certificate

1966-68           Launceston Teachers' College (Primary Certificate)

 

Teaching Interests

Grant teaches in History/SOSE Curriculum and Pedagogy. He is also the Coordinator of the  Graduate Certificate (History Curriculum), along with being Associate Head, Professional Experiences Program

Research Interests

Grant research interests are in the general areas of History/SOSE Curriculum and Pedagogy. He also has published widely in curriculum and policy analysis, and welcomes associate researchers in these areas.

Publications

1. D. Cavanagh, A.J. Fielding, C. Syme and G.W. Rodwell, Devolving Decision-making: Contextual Foundations in Australian Education, William Michael Press, Darwin, 1991 (159 pp.).  ISBN 0 949070 28 9 (Rodwell: 25%)
2. G.W. Rodwell, With Zealous Efficiency: the Influence of Progressivism on Tasmanian State Primary Schools, 1900-45, William Michael Press, Darwin, 1992 (279 pp.).   ISBN 0 949070 96 3

3. D. Cavanagh and G.W. Rodwell (eds), Dialogues in Australian Educational Research, William Michael Press, Darwin, 1992 (317 pp.).  ISBN 0 949 070 72 6 (Rodwell 50%)
4. R.C. Petersen and G.W. Rodwell (eds), Essays in the History of Rural Education in Australia and New Zealand, William Michael Press, Darwin, 1993 (255 pp.).  ISBN 0 646 15059 6 (Rodwell 50%)
5. Grant Rodwell, Dr Lance Robey and Oberon: a Biographical and Social History, Crawford House, Adelaide, 2000 (196 pp.) ISBN 1 86333 198 0

6. Martin Crotty, John Germov and Grant Rodwell (Eds), ‘A Race for a Place’: Eugenics, Darwinism and Social Thought and Practice in Australia, Proceedings of the History and Sociology of Eugenics Conference, University of Newcastle, 27-28 April 2000 (340 pp.) ISBN 0 7259 1105 0 (Rodwell 30%)

7. Grant Rodwell (Edited and Introduced), An Early Colonial Hero: the Amazing Life of Josephus Henry Barsden, 1799-1816, BookSurge, Melbourne, 2005 (182 pp.).

 

Chapters in Books

1. G.W. Rodwell, 'Amy Rowntree, 1885-1962, Educationist', in Australian Dictionary of Biography,Vol. 11, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1988.

2. G.W. Rodwell, 'Introduction', in D. Cavanagh and G.W. Rodwell (eds), Dialogues in Australian Educational Research, William Michael Press, Darwin, 1992.

3. G.W. Rodwell, 'Historical Research in Education', in D. Cavanagh and G.W. Rodwell (eds), Dialogues in Australian Educational Research, William Michael Press, Darwin, 1992.
4. G.W. Rodwell, 'The Country Life Movement and Australian Education', in R. Peterson and G. Rodwell (eds), Essays in the History of Rural Education in Australia and New Zealand, William Michael Press, Darwin, 1993.
5. G.W. Rodwell, 'The Country Life Movement and Rural Education in the United States', in R. Peterson and G. Rodwell (eds), Essays in the History of Rural Education in Australia and New Zealand, William Michael Press, Darwin, 1993.

6. R.C. Peterson and G.W. Rodwell, 'Introduction', in Essays in the History of Rural Education in Australia and New Zealand, William Michael Press, Darwin, 1993.

7. G.W. Rodwell, '"There are other evils to be put down": temperance, eugenics and education in Australia: 1900-20', in Roy Lowe (Ed.), History of Education: Major Themes, Vol. 3, Studies in Learning and Teaching, Routledge/Falmer, London, 2000. (A reprint of a journal article below. The four-volume study is of the most influential international journal articles in the History of Education published since WW2.)

 

Externally Refereed Journal Articles

1. G.W. Rodwell, 'Australian Open-air School Architecture', History of Education Review, 24, 2, 1995, pp. 21-41. (University of Sydney).

2. G.W. Rodwell, 'Nature Enthusiasm, Social Planning and Eugenics in Australian State Schools, 1900-1920', Journal of Educational Administration and History, 29, 1, 1997, pp. 1-19. (University of Leeds). 

3. G.W. Rodwell, 'Dr Caleb Williams Saleeby: the Complete Eugenicist', History of Education, 26, 1, 1997, pp. 23-40. (University of Sheffield). 

4. G.W. Rodwell, 'Lessons in Eugenics from Arthur Mee's Children', Encyclopedia', Educational Research and Perspectives, 24, 1, 1997, pp. 94-110 (University of Western Australia).

5. G.W. Rodwell, '"Only by Persistent Effort in the Face of Discouragement": Civic and School Playgrounds, and Eugenics in Australia, 1900-1920', Melbourne Studies in Education, 37, 2, 1996, pp. 129-48. (La Trobe University). 

6. G.W. Rodwell, '"If Known Hereditary Defectives could be Prevented from Reproducing": Special Education and Eugenics in Tasmania: 1900-1930', Issues in Educational Research, 8, 2, 1998, pp. 131-56 (University of Newcastle).

7. G.W. Rodwell, 'Open-Plan School Architecture: a Continuation of a Tradition of Bureaucratically Imposed Innovation in Australian State Schools', Educational Research and Perspectives, 25, 2, 1998, pp. 99-119 (University of Western Australia).

8. G.W. Rodwell, 'Curing the Precocious Masturbator: Eugenics and Australian Early Childhood Education, 1900-1939', Journal of Australian Studies, 59, 1998, pp. 82-92 (University of Queensland).

9. G.W. Rodwell, 'Professor Harvey Sutton: National Hygienist as Eugenicist and Educator', Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, 84, 2, December 1998, pp. 164-179 (University of Sydney).

10. G.W. Rodwell, 'Domestic Science, Race Motherhood and Eugenics in Australian State Schools, 1900-60', History of Education Review, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 67-83 (James Cook University).

11. G.W. Rodwell, '"There are other evils to be put down": temperance, eugenics and education in Australia: 1900-20', in Czelaw Majorek, et al (eds), Schooling in Changing Societies: Historical and Comparative Perspectives, Paedagogica Historica, Supplementary Series, vol. 4, (Pedagogical University of Krakow, Krakow, 1998).
12. G.W. Rodwell and John Ramsland, ‘Cecil Healy: a Soldier of the Surf’, Sporting Traditions, 16, 2, May 2000, pp. 3-16 (University of Western Sydney).

13. G.W. Rodwell, 'The Eugenic and Political Dynamics in the Early History of Physical Education in Australia, 1900-50', Melbourne Studies in Education, vol. 40, no 1, 1999, pp. 93-114  (La Trobe University).
14. G.W. Rodwell and John Ramsland, ‘The Maritime Adventures of Joseph Barsden, According to His Own Account, 1799-1816’, The Great Circle, vol. 21, no. 1, 1999, pp. 16-45, (Flinders University).
15. G.W. Rodwell, ' "The Sense of Victorious Struggle": the Eugenic Dynamic in the Australian Popular Surf-Culture, 1900-60', Journal of Australian Studies, no. 62, 1999, pp. 56-63 (University of Queensland).
16. G.W. Rodwell, ‘Persons of Lax Morality’, Journal of Australian Studies, no. 64, 2000, pp. 62-75 (University of Queensland).
17. G.W. Rodwell, 'Shoes Well Cleaned and Heels Repaired': Scientific Management, Eugenics and Teacher Selection and Preparation in Australia, 1910-70’, Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, vol. 24, no. 1, 2003 (University of Queensland).
18. G.W. Rodwell, ‘Death by a thousand cuts’: the Failings of the Tasmanian ELs Curriculum (2000-06): The Political Dynamics’, Educational Research and Perspectives, vol. 36, no. 2 December 2009, pp. 110-134.
19. G.W. Rodwell, The Tasmanian Essential Learnings Curriculum (2000-06): The Ecology Metaphor in Analyzing a Failed Statewide Curriculum Innovation’ Curriculum Perspectives, 2010, vol. 30, no 1, pp. 40-52.
20. G.W. Rodwell, One Newspaper’s Role in the Demise of the Tasmanian Essential Learnings Curriculum: adding new understandings to Cohen’s moral panic theory in analyzing curriculum change, Journal of Curriculum Change, 2011, vol. 12, pp. 441-56.
21. G.W. Rodwell, Historical Novels: engaging student teachers in K-10 history pre-service units, Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 2010, 35, 7, pp. 15-29.
22. G.W. Rodwell, ‘Half-pregnant with Bartlett’s baby’: contested policies in Tasmanian Post-secondary Education: 2007-2010: Through the Lens of Kingdon’s Agendas, Educational Research and Perspectives, 36, 1, pp. 27-60.

23. G.W. Rodwell. Developing and Implementing Educational Policy in a Hung Parliament: the Tasmanian Green-Labor Accord (2011), and Kingdon’s Agendas’, Educational Research and Perspectives, 39, 1, pp. 42-69.
24. G.W. Rodwell. ‘A Bridge too Far?’ The Politics of Tasmanian School Retention Rates and Post-secondary Provisions for High Schools, Educational Research and Perspectives, (under review)

 

Refereed Conference Papers

1. G.W. Rodwell, 'The Dalton Plan: Experiments in Curriculum Innovation in Tasmanian State Schools: 1921-1935', Proceedings, Twelfth Annual Conference of the Australian and New Zealand History of Education Society, Hobart, 1982.

2. G.W. Rodwell, 'The Hobart Activity School: An Experiment in State Selective Education For Intellectually Superior Children: 1933-37', Proceedings, First National Conference For the Australian Society For the Education of Gifted and Talented Children, Melbourne, 1983.

3. G.W. Rodwell, 'New Directions in the Study of the History of Progressive Education' Proceedings, Nineteenth Annual Conference of the Australian and New Zealand History of Education Society, University of Newcastle, 1989.

4. G.W. Rodwell, 'The Nature Ideal and Australian State Education: 1900-40' Proceedings, Twentieth Annual Conference of the Australian and New Zealand History of Education Society, University of Auckland, 1990.

5. G.W. Rodwell, 'Clitoridectomies in Glasshouses: Eugenics in our Kindergartens: 1900-1939', Proceedings, Twenty-first Annual Conference of the Australian and New Zealand History of Education Society, Adelaide, 1992.

6. G.W. Rodwell, 'Why Devolution of Decision-making is necessary for Educational Advancement', Proceedings, Australian College of Educational Administrators Conference, Darwin, July 1992.

7. G.W. Rodwell, 'Australian Open-air School Architecture: 1900-1920', Proceedings, Twenty-second Annual Conference of the Australian and New Zealand History of Education Society, Melbourne, 1993.

8. G.W. Rodwell, 'Social Engineering and NSW Public School Architecture: 1848-1905', Proceedings, Twenty-third Annual Conference of the Australian and New Zealand History of Education Society, Perth, 1994.

9. G.W. Rodwell, 'Lessons in Eugenics from Arthur Mee's Children's Encyclopedia', Proceedings, Twenty-fourth Annual Conference of the Australian and New Zealand History of Education Society, Sydney, 1995.

10. G.W. Rodwell, 'The Beginnings of Educational Research in Tasmania: 1900-1940', Proceedings, Twenty Fifth Conference of the Australian Association for Research in Education, Hobart, 1995.

11. G.W. Rodwell, 'Temperance, Eugenics and Education in Australia: 1900-30', Twenty-fifth Annual Conference of the Australian and New Zealand History of Education Society, Brisbane, 1996.

12. G.W. Rodwell, 'There are other evils to be put down': temperance, eugenics and education in Australia: 1900-20', Proceedings, XVIII International Standing Committee on the History of Education Conference, Pedagogical University, Krakow, 1996.

13. G.W. Rodwell, 'Eugenics and Christianity: Some Implications for Education, 1903-40', Proceedings, XIX International Standing Committee on the History of Education Conference, University of Ireland, 1997.

14. G.W. Rodwell, 'Professor Harvey Sutton: a Biographical Sketch of an Australian Eugenicist', Proceedings, Australian History Regional Conference, University of Newcastle, 1997.

15. G.W. Rodwell, 'Race Motherhood in Australian State Schools, 1900-70', Twenty-sixth Annual Conference of the Australian and New Zealand History of Education Society, Newcastle, 1997.

16. G.W. Rodwell, 'Multi-Media Education and Sydney's Health Week: a Pioneering Exercise in Eugenics for School Children, 1921-1950', Proceedings, XX International Standing Committee on the History of Education Conference, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, 1998.

17. G.W. Rodwell, 'Girls' Physical Culture Education, Race Motherhood, and Eugenics in Sydney Secondary Schools 1920-30', Twenty-seventh Annual Conference of the Australian and New Zealand History of Education Society, Auckland, 1998.

18. G.W. Rodwell, 'Lessons From the First World War: Drs Harvey Sutton and J.S. Purdy: Sydney's Health Week: 1921-1950', Sixth Biennial Conference of the Australian Society of the History of Medicine, Sydney, 1999.

19. G.W. Rodwell, '"Turn Off the Mediterranean Tide": the Australian Suppression of Italian Immigrants and Their Schooling, 1920-45', Proceedings, XXI International Standing Committee on the History of Education Conference, University of Sydney, 1999.

20. G.W. Rodwell, 'The Social Engineering Dynamic of the New South Wales Junior Farmers' Clubs, 1927-70, Twenty-eighth Annual Conference of the Australian and New Zealand History of Education Society, Sydney, 1999.

21. G.W. Rodwell, 'Sydney's Health Week, 1921-1950', Proceedings, Australian History Regional Conference, University of Tasmania, 1999.

22. G.W. Rodwell, Dreams of a New Race of Australians: Nudism, Sun-Worship and Eugenics in Australia During the 1930s’, Proceedings, History and Sociology of Eugenics Conference, University of Newcastle, 2000.

23. G.W. Rodwell, ‘The Unkindest Cut of All: Eugenics, Masturbation and Circumcision’, Proceedings, History and Sociology of Eugenics Conference, University of Newcastle, 2000.

24. G.W. Rodwell, 'Hiking in Australia During the 1930s: the Eugenic Dynamic in a Middle-class Craze', Proceedings, History and Sociology of Eugenics Conference, University of Newcastle, 2000.

25. G.W. Rodwell, ‘Dreams of a New Race of Australians’, Nudism, Sun-Worship and Eugenics in Australia During the 1930s’, Proceedings, History and Sociology of Eugenics Conference, University of Newcastle, 2000.

26. G.W. Rodwell, ‘Australian Teachers’ College Psychology Textbooks: Hereditarian Theory, Instinct Psychology, Eugenics and Racism, 1900-1960’, Proceedings, XXII International Standing Committee on the History of Education Conference, Alcala de Henares, Madrid, 2000.

27. G.W. Rodwell and Paul Webb, The History of Touch in Australia, Proceedings, Twelfth Biennial Conference of the International Society of Comparative Physical Education and Sport, the University of the Sunshine Coast, 2000.

28. G.W. Rodwell The Establishment of Tasmanian vacation schools for gifted and talented children?, Australian Association for the Education of the Gifted and Talented, Hobart, 9-11 July 2008.

 

Examples of Major Publications Wherein My Research Is Cited

Ross L. Jones, The Master Potter and the Rejected Pots: Eugenic Legislation in Victoria, 1918-1939, in Janet Giltrow (Ed.), Academic Readings: reading and writings in the discipline, (2^nd Ed.), Broadview Press, Ontario, 2002.

Graeme Davidson, The Social Survey and the Puzzle of Australian Sociology, in John Germov and Tara Renae McGee (Eds), Histories of Australian Sociology, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 2005.

Cameron White, ‘Save us From the Womanly Man’: the transformation of the body on the beach in Sydney, 1810-1910’, Man and Masculinities, 10, 1, 2007, pp. 22-38.

Fiona Paisley, Childhood and Race: growing up in the empire, in Philippa Levine (Ed.), Oxford History of the British Empire: Companion Series, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2004.

Melissa Harper, The Ways of the Bushwalker: on foot in Australia, University of NSW Press, Sydney, 2007.

Kathy J. Cooke, ‘The Limits of Heredity: nature and nurture in American eugenics before 1915’, The Journal of the History of Biology, 31, 2, 1998, pp. 263-278.

Katherine Ellinghaus, ‘Indigenous Assimilation and Absorption in the United States and Australia’, Pacific History Review, 75, 4, 2006, pp. 563-585.

Warwick Anderson, The Cultivation of Whiteness: science, health, and racial destiny in Australia, Melbourne University Publishing, Melbourne, 2002.

Stephen Garton, ‘Seeking Refuge: why asylum facilities might still be relevant for mental health care services today’ Health and History, 11, 1, 2009, pp. 25-45.

Neil Gunson, Brig .V. Lal and Vicki Luker, Telling Pacific Lives: from archetype to icon, ANU E Press, Canberra, 2008.

Jim Jose, ‘The “Sons of Tricky-Dicky”: and the soft-soaping of history’, Journal of Australian Studies, 91, 2007, pp. 33-44.

Tara Brabazon, ‘Australian Popular Culture and Media Studies’, The Year’s Work in Critical and Cultural Theory, 9, 1, 2002, pp. 82-118.

 

Creative Works: Published Australian Historical Fiction

1.      Grant Rodwell, Tiger, Tiger Burning, Sydney, William Michael Press, 1994 (364 pp.). ISBN 0 646 18449 0.  An Australian social/political novel, nationally reviewed: Canberra Times 15 Oct. 1994: 'ALP steals the limelight in this political thriller'; Bendigo Advertiser, 12 Aug. 1994: 'Political ambitions are burning bright'; Advocate (Tasmania), 20 Dec. 1994: 'Political thriller includes strong Tasmanian links'.

2.      Grant Rodwell, Fortunes of Fire: a Historical Saga, Crawford House Australia, Adelaide, 2003. ISBN 1 86333 261 8 (442 pp.)

Richly atmospheric and deeply satisfying…truly the best of both reading worlds: a page-turning story of the exploits of an astonishing man and an indelible portrait of an unforgettable time and place.

Ellen Tanner Marsh New York Times Best Selling Author.

3.      Grant Rodwell, Goulburn’s Deliverance, Sid Harta Publishing, Melbourne, 2008 ISBN 1-921362-52-9 (342 pp.)

* 'a riveting read' Ellen Tanner Marsh, best-selling New York Times author.

* 'Innocence is shattered in this period novel as the harsh reality of prison life is about to fall on a young Irishman'. John Morrow, Booktopia.

* 'Bravo to author Grant Rodwell for an intelligent, well-crafted and riveting read which paints a personal portrait of life in early Australia – frills, warts and all. This is not only a story about one man’s personal triumph – flowing and ebbing beneath the pages is a riveting love story. The author is a learned man who has masterfully captured the tone of life in early Australia.  The book is loosely based on the early Australian author, James Francis Dwyer. But this is no biography, it’s a captivating and clever work of fiction from beginning to end.' Wendy O'Hanlon,  Acres Australia, Editor.

4.      Grant Rodwell, Gommera Woman, Sid Harta Publishing, Melbourne, 2009 ISBN 1-921362-52-9 (342 pp.)

Known for his painstakingly researched and colorful historical novels…Rodwell is back with what may very well be his best novel yet. [His] fertile imagination [has} created characters who literally live and breathe on the page, particularly Fuhi, who is as unforgettable as this absorbing and stunningly vivid work…surely one of the most complex characters in modern literature.

Ellen Tanner Marsh New York Times Best Selling Author.

5.      Grant Rodwell, Blood Her Maiden Sword, Sid Harta Publishing, Melbourne, 2011 ISBN 1-921829-62-1 (93,504, words, 389 pp.)

Readers who have a natural affinity with the Australian bush will love this book.  Not only does Rodwell beautifully describe the bush, but he has certainly researched the old ways of the Wiradjuri tribe to bring a real sense of cultural depth to this novel.

 

Rodwell has also explored our history through European and Aboriginal eyes and married them together perfectly to keep readers entertained with an outback story that weaves in stories from the dreamtime.

 

The more immersed I became in this novel, the more appreciative I was of Rodwell’s skills at recounting a story filled with history, traditional ways and just plain good old fashioned storytelling. John Morrow, Booktopia.

 

Rodwell is a fine writer and a masterful storyteller. This is Australian literature at its best. The colonial world of Australia, particularly Sydney, and the struggle and excitement in building this great country is the backdrop of this fictional story. Rodwell brings this world to life and brings the countryside to life. A must read for Aussies who cherish this country, its landscape and its history. Wendy O’Hanlon, Acres Australia.

 

 

Entry last updated: Monday, 25 Mar 2013