Abstract
My choice of this subject was due to the current controversy arising out of the statement of the present Minister of Education that “education in New Zealand must of necessity have an agricultural bias.” Before deciding that question I felt that I should know something of the significance of the Wharetoa School and its relationship to the district in which it is situated.
There has also been much adverse criticism of the School and pupils by teachers and people outside the district. I was “warned” about the type of school I should be entering when I was appointed to the Wharetoa School in 1930. I have since found that many of the criticisms were unfounded and applied perhaps only to the period 1928-1929.
The district, as the following description in the introduction will show, is very suited to an inquiry of this type, being isolated and having defining characteristics of its own. […] [Extract from Forword]