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Story: Primary and secondary education

1881 lesson plans

These are suggested lesson plans for classes of children of different ages, based on observation of a daisy. In some ways, they are ahead of their time. They were published in a teachers' magazine, New Zealand Schoolmaster, in 1881, but it was not until 1904 that nature study based on observation became a formal part of the curriculum.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: The New Zealand Schoolmaster, August 1881, p. 6 (S-L 1136-6)

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Nancy Swarbrick, Primary and secondary education – Curriculum changes, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/zoomify/36645/1881-lesson-plans (accessed 24 June 2026).

Story by Nancy Swarbrick, published 29 May 2012.