Refugee students may come to schools with fragmented educational histories and other exile-related stressors, but many also settle fast, enjoy school and live rather ordinary childhoods. These more positive stories are not told because they get overridden by well-meaning but counterproductive stories of victimhood. This article presents a…

Often in the past, historians tended to study and write mainly about key figures, such as rulers or very famous people. However, in recent decades, historians have started to focus on local figures who had a role in their community. This paper narrates the life of one of those characters, an interesting individual who led a varied and interesting…

Background: Over 10 years ago, Lisa Scott first began making art at a studio in Sydney that supports people with intellectual disability to realise their creative ambitions. In this article, we consider what it has meant for Lisa to become an artist and, in the process, share the story of other big changes in her life. Methods: During…

Between 1870 and 1940, 25 white, middle-class, Australian-born women studied at Girton and Newnham Colleges in Cambridge. This article presents their biographical data, and includes all those listed as Australian-born in Volume 1 of the Girton Register and in the "Newnham College Roll" for the period under review. The article examines…

People with an intellectual disability in prison can be at increased risk of victimisation, segregation and isolation (Mullen ). Prison systems usually have very few resources to cater to this group's particular needs, and many people may re-enter the community with little or no rehabilitation, poor social connections, poor mental health and…

This short account of R.J.W. (Dick) Selleck's career and research suggests how he reoriented study of the history of education in Australia. Using a historicist method, he examined educational theories and practices to elucidate the educational purposes they were intended to serve. Through major biographies of leading educationists and…

The intent of this paper is to stress the importance of narrative and story, and to share the experience of opening the windows of memory to look into the past and uncover fascinating and valuable histories as portrayed in a current study. The longitudinal study of an educator follows his life story and his role in education. Set in Victoria, it…

Biography is often construed as life story, life history or memoir. The author who narrates the life of another the biographer may skim the surface to relate the events that occurred during the subject's life or dig deeply to explore the social and political issues that shaped her/his development. The subject of this biography is a man who grasped…

In 1838 a child known as Mathinna was removed from the settlement for the remnant of the Tasmanian Aboriginal people on Flinders Island and taken to Hobart to live in the house of the lieutenant governor. Sir John and Lady Franklin, the historical record recounts, were impressed by her intelligence and wanted to bring her up as a companion to…

This paper is presented as a tribute to Raymond J. Chambers. As its title suggests, it is a personal reflection through the eyes of someone who worked closely with him over a period of 10 years during a latter part of his career, and who completed a doctoral thesis with aspects of the work of Chambers as its subject. During this time, author…

In this paper, the author discusses the life of Jane Hay Brown, later Hamilton (1827-1898), who worked as a governess and schoolmistress from the late 1840s to the mid 1880s. She was a woman whose life would have remained largely unknown without emigration which resulted in a rich collection of family letters. Jane's letters provide insight into…

The following article outlines the methodological approach used to include people with learning disabilities as active participants in an oral history produced in Australia. The history sought to document life inside Kew Cottages, Australia's oldest and largest specialised institution for people with learning disabilities. This work furthers…

This article considers how a group of migrant women in the town of Shepparton, Australia, understand their futures in the spaces created by globalising forces. Shepparton is a "case study" of globalisation, at the centre of the movement of peoples, skills and capital globally. The issues it faces are compounded by profound climate…

In order to enhance understandings of the international mobility of researchers and the implications of their mobility for knowledge production and circulation, we need to develop more sophisticated conceptual resources. Here we draw on and seek to develop ideas generated from literary theory and geography in order to highlight the links between…

When Peter Fensham was appointed to the new Chair of Science Education at Monash University in 1967 he was the first Professor of Science Education in Australia, and, we think, may well have been the first such professor anywhere in the world outside USA. Over the subsequent 40+ years he has made/still makes remarkable and diverse contributions to…