Labour politics and education in New Zealand 1904-1935: a study in the origins of the Labour Party education policy

Abstract

When the Labour government came to power in 1935 the Hon. Peter Fraser, as Minister of Education, set out on a radical policy of reorganising education in New Zealand. My aim in this thesis has been to show the origins of that policy, to trace the different influences on Labour thinking about education from the earliest days of the Labour movement up to that triumphant moment in 1935 when Labour had a chance to put into practice what it had thought about for so long. I have attempted to show that there was more to Labour education policy than the life and work of Peter Fraser: the experience of the First World War, the influence of the radical intellectuals, the work of the British Labour governments, the depression, and a number of other events and individuals all contributed something. Fraser is still the major figure who moves throughout this work, but I have tried to show him as a man in step with overseas trends in education and subject to the same influences as others in the Labour movement or closely associated with it. As the most articulate and well-read of this group Fraser was the obvious choice as Minister of Education but it does not follow, as some would believe, that there would have been no significant change when Labour took office if Fraser had not been there to guide it. This in no way detracts from his achievement as a Minister of Education.