Biography: Ashton-Warner, Sylvia Constance

Children learn to read and write at Ruatōria School in 1949. From the mid-1930s, progressive educational methods based on greater understanding of child psychology and development began to be introduced in New Zealand school rooms. These methods were consistent with Sylvia Ashton-Warner's theories of teaching literacy. She believed children should be encouraged to vent their destructive impulses, as this would then allow their creative powers to flourish.