- Entry type: Person
- Entry ID: PR00146
Agnew, Mary Ann Eliza
(1857 – 1940)- Born 6 November 1857, Openshaw, , England
- Died 14 June 1940, South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Occupation Education reformer, Kindergarten teacher
Summary
Educated in Liverpool, England, Mary Agnew moved to Queensland in late 1890 to join the Queensland Department of Public Instruction, taking the position of Kindergarten Instructor. Agnew was given the task of raising the standard of education for young children. Applying the methods of Friedrich Frobel, Agnew introduced a syllabus based on the importance of education through activity and play, stressing that young children could not spend long periods of time each day engaged in intellectual learning. Influencing departmental policy on infant and kindergarten work, it was only in the last years of her career that her revolutionary work in pre-school education began to be implemented.
Published resources
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Resource Section
- Agnew, Mary Ann Eliza (1857 - 1940), Grieshaber, Susan, 2006, http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/AS10007b.htm
- Book Section
- Report
- Journal
- Journal Article
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Resource
- Trove: Agnew, Mary Ann Eliza (18571106-19400614), http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-753054