ABSTRACT
This chapter examines a range of sources relating to the teaching of nature study in schools. Only a few years before the new syllabus was introduced into the schools of New South Wales in 1904, most teachers did not know what nature study was. Even the inspectors were sceptical as to whether the introduction of any elementary science was practical for state schools. In public opinion schooling was primarily, if not absolutely, about reading, writing and arithmetic, a conception which has held sway to influence education to the present day. Richmond Public School provides an interesting example of nature study in practice although this particular situation was unique rather than typical. James Dawson's Annual Reports consistently applauded and encouraged school gardens and linked them to nature study: Wherever possible, school gardens, as an open-air field for Nature Study, have been formed with beneficial results in promoting first-hand observation of plant life and in the cultivation of a love of flowers.
