George W McLean

(1877-1957)

George Walker McLean was a progressive teacher- and part of the strike committee that fought for better conditions and pay for teachers in 1920 when he was head teacher at East Fremantle School.

He was born in Beaufort Victoria.  His father Donald McLean and mother Helen Dawson Cochrane Walker (1836–1920) had a large family of 13 children.

In 1897 he came to Western Australia and in 1899 he married Mary Sprigg (1876–1943) in Wagin. Their first two children Harold Robertson (1902–1902) and Ronald Lancelot (1902–1902) were born and died, while at Mornington Mills. In 1905 and 1908 sons Glen (1905–) and Kelvin James (1908–1986) were born there and their final child Kieth Walker was born in 1911 in Wagin.

Dec 1911 The Kelmscott State School held its annual sports...In the evening the children gave a very successful concert in the Public Hall...Much credit is due to the head master (Mr. McLean) for the success of the concert...(reference)

1912 The ball at White Gum Valley was crowded on Wednesday evening last, when a children's concert in aid of the Silver Chain movement was held under the direction of the headmaster of the local school (Mr McLean). (reference)

George was a member of the Strike Committee in 1920- that advocated closing the schools on strike for better pay and conditions for Western Australian teachers. Information on the strike has been detailed in the book  A Fair Chance in Life- Primary Schools and Primary Principals in Western Australia 1850-2005 by Michael Berson 2006

July 1920 Meeting at Fremantle- Objects of strike explained - The Civil Service Association held a largely attended meeting in the Fremantle Town Hall last evening to explain the aims and objects of the strike… Mr. McLean (headmaster of the east Fremantle School) claimed that ‘’the Western Australian education system was the best in the Commonwealth and the Commonwealth system the best in the world, and he thought for this reason alone the Government should pay its servants better. The education system of Western Australia had been built up on sweated labour. (Hear, hear). This was the age of reconstruction and it was the teachers who were responsible for the front lines of civilisation…’’(reference)

June 1922 PSYCHOANALYSIS- It’s Importance In Education. At a meeting of the Metropolitan Head Teachers' Association held on Friday last at James-street School, Mr. G.W. McLean of East Fremantle, delivered a lecture, in which he dealt with the most recent conclusions in Psychoanalysis. He said, the father of the science of Psychoanalysis was Sigmund Freud, a Viennese doctor, whose studies convinced him that underlying the conscious mind lay a great reservoir of unconscious, which could be tapped in various ways… he proposed that ‘‘'The fatal flaw in our present system sprang from the fact that mentally a child was often unequally developed. He might be good at mathematics but weak in English, and vice versa. The solution of this problem,it seemed to him, was to abolish the class teacher in favour of the subject teacher. In this way a child could be in the ten year class for arithmetic and in the twelve year for English. This was, of course, merely a suggestion. But the whole problem was to evolve some system which would render it impossible to unfit by a system of repression a large number of children for a life of useful citizenship...’’ (reference)

May 1923  The following paper on 'Substitution of Intelligence Tests for Examination of Scholarship Students' was read by the president, Mr. G. W. M'Lean, at the Interstate Conference of Teachers, held at Sydney in Easter Week, and is reproduced from the last issue of the 'W.A. Teachers Journal': That the present scholarship examinations are merely convenient expedients few will deny. The system, indeed, has advocates who fondly believe they can make out a case for its retention. They claim that at least 80 per cent of scholarship children make good at secondary schools. The figures as figures are striking. Yet the correctness of the conclusion may well be questioned... (reference)

From 1923-1930 George was the President of the State School teachers Union of WA. This was a strong platform for him to share is progressive ideas about education:

Aug 1923 The President’s address- The 26th  annual conference of the State School Teachers' Union of W.A. was opened this morning at the Hibernian Hall. Mr. G. W. M'Lean presided over an attendance of about 100 delegates…”I am putting forward a plea for more liberty in our schools. This is a young State. The dead hand of conservative tradition should not be so heavily upon us as in older settled communities, and therefore our schools should be very suitable for testing out methods which give promise of success’’(reference)

1929 Problem of Leisure- A notable contribution to academic educational thought of the day was made by Mr. G. W. M'Lean, president of the State School Teachers' Union, in his opening address to the annual conference… (reference)

1928 Mary McLeans mother died- their address at this time was Maylands. (reference)

1930 SMALLER CLASSES- Teachers' Plea. The necessity for smaller classes was stressed by Mr. G. W. M'Lean, the retiring president of the W.A. Teachers' Union, in an address to the thirty-third conference of teachers this afternoon. 'We have long advocated smaller classes,' he said 'Let us not give up hope...We shall only get this in the requisite quantity when we give our children every advantage in their education.' (reference)

1938 Mr. G. W. McLean, headmaster of the East Victoria Park State school, the largest primary school in the State, will retire from the Education Department on June 3, having reached the retiring age. Before coming to this State from Victoria Mr. McLean was engaged in teaching and he has spent 44 years in that work- 41 years in this State. In addition to country State schools, Mr. McLean has been headmaster at schools at White Gum Valley, East Fremantle, Newcastle street (before it became the Junior Technical School), Boulder and East Perth. He has been headmaster at the East Victoria Park State school for eight years. Mr. McLean has served as president of the West Australian Teachers' Union on two occasions. (reference)

1938 HEADMASTER RETIRES After 41 years service in the Education Department. of Western Australia, Mr. W. G. McLean, who has been headmaster at the East Victoria Park State school for the past eight years, retired yesterday… Speaking of Mr. McLean's work, the senior inspector of schools (Mr. J. H. Hatfield) said that Mr. McLean had had a wide experience as a teacher. The department very much regretted his retirement and his place would be very hard to fill. He had been closely connected for a number of years with several boards in the Education Department and had done excellent work in this capacity. References to Mr. McLean's work were also made by Mr D'Arcey (representing the Teachers' Union), Miss Bell (head mistress of the Princess May School, Fremantle), Dr. T. W. Meagher (president of the East Victoria Park Parents and Citizens' Association) and Mr. H. S. Raphael, ML.A. (patron of the Parents and Citizens' Association). On behalf of the teachers, scholars, ex-teachers and ex-scholars of the school, the first assistant (Mr. R. W. Prince) presented Mr.McLean with a handsome set of book cases. Mr. McLean, in replying, said he had enjoyed his career as a school teacher. He said he felt a much better time was coming both for teachers and students when the ideal would be that children would be taught to do their best along the lines to which they were best adapted. The trend of modern teaching was towards this end and he had tried to carry it out to a limited extent at the East Victoria Park school...he said that his eight years at East Victoria Park had been the happiest of his 41 years of teaching. (reference)

Photo: The new headmaster of the East Victoria Park State school (Mr. R. W. Prince). left, shaking hands with the retiring headmaster (Mr. W. G. McLean), after he had been presented with a bookcase.

His wife Mary died in 1943.

George died on 24 May 1957 in Perth, aged 83.