Patrol box used to store puppets
Date1948 - 1960
Object number00044751
NameBox
MediumMetal, paint, ink
DimensionsOverall: 185 x 450 x 280 mm, 2333 g
ClassificationsTools and equipment
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Lois Carrington
DescriptionThis tin patrol box was used by Lois Carrington to store her hand made puppets and teaching props. Lois was an Education Officer with the Australian Government and taught English to migrants on board ships and in migrant reception centres after World War II. Puppets provided comic relief and were useful for acting out real life scenarios, such as buying groceries or bus tickets.
HistoryLois Carrington (nee Griffiths) was one of the first Australians recruited to teach Situational English to Europeans migrating to Australia after World War II. Situational English was developed in Australia to teach practical English to classrooms of migrants who spoke many languages. Migrants were taught complete sentences using role play, props and film, rather than focusing solely on grammar and vocabulary.
Lois was a final year Russian language student in 1949 when she responded to the call for English teachers to work in the Australian migrant camps. Her first position was at Bonegilla Migrant Reception Centre in Victoria. Lois also worked as a teacher at Greta and Benalla camps before taking on the position of shipboard English teacher on the Italian migrant liner TOSCANA (1955-1956).
Lois created a series of delightful hand and string puppets and props, which she used as teaching aids in her Situational English classes. The puppets were integral to this method of teaching and were used to act out 'Australianisation' scenes - such as purchasing a train ticket or posting a letter - to the delight of adult migrants and their children.
In 1957 Lois returned to Bonegilla for a short period before completing her university degree and becoming a secondary teacher in Melbourne. She later used her puppets to teach English in Papua New Guinea, where she lived for six years with her husband. On returning home Lois joined the Australian National University's linguistics department where she worked for more than 20 years.SignificanceLearning English was a key tenet of the Australian Government's official policy of assimilation after World War II. Migrants were offered English lessons in European Displaced Persons camps, during the ship voyage, in Australian migrant reception centres and in the workplace. This box relates to the work of English teacher Lois Carrington, one of hundreds of enthusiastic young Australians employed to smooth the passage of migrants to Australia after World War II.
