Gwyneth Dow
Gwyneth Dow (1920 – 1996) was an Australian educator, notable for her contributions to the Australian education system.
Early life
Dow was born in Melbourne. She took her BA and a Diploma Education (DipEd) in 1957, completing a Master in Education in 1961 and a Doctor's in Education in 1984.
Career
She worked as a personnel officer during World War II. She became one of the first industrial welfare officers employed in Melbourne industry. She was briefly married to journalist Rohan Rivett, before marrying University of Melbourne academic Hume Dow in 1947.
Dow's initial academic career started with her as a lecturer in the education faculty at the University of Melbourne in 1957. She was a proponent of change in both the school curriculum and teacher education. Dow founded the Victorian Curriculum Advisory board and served on it from 1966 to 1970. She wrote numerous papers on educational theory and pedagogy.
One of her accomplishments was to introduce DipEd courses into the Australia's educational system, and launch course B that she had designed. The course placed students in schools 3 days a week, and was a noted concept at the time for giving teachers real experience through work placement.
Dow was an active unionist. As part of this, she pushed for achieving permanent status for married teachers who were working in schools. In retirement she continued to work, publishing books, in some cases collaborating with her husband.[1]
References
- Flechs, Juliet "40 Years, 40 Women" University of Melbourne Library, 2015
