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Murray Giles Little is a name that doesn’t readily come up in conversation or in print when scholars or historians refer to prominent educators in Western Australia. Nor, for that matter, is Mr. Little mentioned in the annals of The University of Western Australia (UWA), where he studied. Sometimes, even when a particular person rises through the ranks to become the Western Australian Director of Education between1940-50, he can slip through the cracks.

Mr Murray Giles Little was born in North Melbourne on the 10th August 1886 to Murray and Jessie Little [nee Gardiner]. The family moved to Western Australia in 1895 by boat with eight children, William, Betsy Rodger, Jessie Florence, Murray Giles, Archibald Chatham, Gladys Maud, Blanch Eva Victoria and Rodger James.   The economic conditions in Victoria contrasted markedly at this time with those in WA. A recession in Victoria and indeed much of eastern Australia drove many to the west where there were significant gold discoveries, beginning in 1894 at Coolgardie, approximately 600km east of Perth.

Murray Little attended Perth Boys State School after which on 3rd February 1902 he was appointed a 4th Class Pupil Teacher  at the age of 15 years and eight months, with an annual salary of £30.00.  In September 1903 he entered the Teachers’ College, Claremont, for a three year period, returning as an assistant teacher at Claremont School on 3rd September 1906.

Between 1907 and 1909 Mr. Little served as an Assistant Teacher at Perth Boys School, and Perth Central School, James Street.  From January 1910, Mr. Little’s career headed to the country, where he was appointed  First Assistant Teacher in Northam . As  was the case with young, new teachers, Mr. Little moved around the state serving in a variety of schools.

University Studies
Mr. Little was accepted as a student at UWA on the 11th March, 1913, aged 26years. He enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts degree, taking English 1 and Psychology [Logic],  having passed his Matriculation exams through London University in January, 1911.  In 1923, Mr Little returned to UWA, where he achieved passes in English 11, Education and Mathematics. In 1924, he received passes for English 111, Ethics and Mathematics 11. History B [Distinction] and Latin 1 [Pass] in 1925. After a one year absence, Mr Little returned in 1927 and received Second Class Honours in English and First Class Honours in Philosophy.

In 1923, Mr Little became a member of the College of Preceptors [UK] and achieved the Licentiate, the equivalent of a Master of Arts degree.   In 1932, he received a Master of Arts degree from The University of Western Australia .  The title of his thesis was “The Changing Attitude of Society Towards the Child in the Nineteenth Century.”

Director–General of Education
Mr Little was Acting Director- General from 10th April, 1940 and was appointed Director-General on the 18th November, 1940.  The Second World War [1939-45] dominated all life during a significant period of Mr Little’s tenure. This included reduced expenditure on educational infrastructure, the loss of male teachers to military service, particularly with the entry of Japan into the conflict. Thus teacher training standards deteriorated. Some college and school premises were temporarily given over for military training. However, during the first years of Mr Little’s directorship, pre-school education became more important and with Commonwealth assistance, technical training expanded.

During the 1940s, Mr Little consolidated the rural schools and encouraged the introduction of indigenous children into State schools alongside non-indigenous children.  Mr Little ensured that secondary [three year high] schools would  receive staffing on the same basis as five year high schools and the first Inspector of Secondary Schools was appointed. Mr Little gave active encouragement for increased opportunities for secondary education in rural WA. Larger combined primary-secondary schools in rural towns were named junior high schools.

Whilst the number of schools were reduced during the war, M. Little, knowing that at some point in the future the war would end, ensured that adequate land was set aside for future schools to be built.

In July 1948, Mr Little, representing all Australian Directors of Education, attended a United Nations Economic Scientific and Cultural Organisation [UNESCO] conference in Beirut, Lebanon.  One of the primary aims of UNESCO is to mobilize for education, so that every child, boy or girl, has access to quality education as a fundamental human right and as a prerequisite for human development. From there, Mr Little travelled to Great Britain and America to study how their educational systems worked and in particular how handicapped children fitted in to their systems.

One thing M. Little regretted was the low age [14 years] at which a child could leave school. In a speech at a Perth Legacy Club luncheon on Tuesday 13th October, 1942, Mr Little stated that the “neglect of  youth was one of the biggest blots on our social system, but … the war had quickened our sense of responsibility towards our youth.” To put it in perspective, Mr Little remarked that “in Russia it had been recognized that children should attend school to the age of 17 years, but in this country we still retain the school leaving age at 14 as fixed 40 years ago.

It must be noted that in Western Australia, “students will have to stay in school until the year they turn 16 under new laws passed through Western Australia’s State Parliament and by 2008, the compulsory school leaving age will rise to 17”.

There is no doubt that Murray Giles Little was an outstanding if retiring student, educator and administrator who oversaw education in WA during a period of war and the transition to peace.

Therefore, it would be remiss of me to not to include a quote by Mr Little in 1943, speaking at a Subiaco Parents and Citizens Association meeting, when he stated that “they [P&C Associations] were doing a splendid job with their various activities to help the war effort: why not turn their war committees into social groups after the war to work for others. The more people worked for others the happier they were. Only the useful could be happy.”

After a short illness, M. Little died in Fremantle Hospital on the 25th July, 1968 at the age of 80 years. Mrs Minnie Esther Rosa Little died 15th June, 1967. Mr Little and his wife, Minnie Esther Rosa had two children. Murray Frederick, born 19th October, 1915, died 28th April, 1969 and Herbert John, born 23rd January, 1924, died 29th October, 1992.

Lindsay Dorman is the Volunteer Coordinator with the United Nations Association of Australia [WA Division] and holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from Curtin University.