13 Facts About Gwen Somerset

Gwendolen Lucy Somerset was a New Zealand teacher, adult education director, educationalist and writer.

The family moved to Amberley when Somerset was three, and her father became headmaster of the local high school there.

When Gwen Somerset was 14, the family moved again, to Christchurch and she began to attend Christchurch Girls' High School.

In 1921, Gwen Somerset attended a Workers' Educational Association summer school in Oxford, New Zealand and met James Shelley, a professor of education at Canterbury University College.

Gwen Somerset was inspired by his ideas and said that this course changed her life.

Gwen Somerset went on to apply for a teaching position in Oxford.

Gwen Somerset's teaching methods were unconventional - she started the day with singing and dancing for example, as she found that many of her pupils worked hard on their family farms and needed relaxation at school.

Gwen Somerset removed the teacher's table and chair in her classroom as symbols of authority and sat on children's chairs herself.

Gwen Somerset branched out into pre-school education by setting up a play group for children under the age of five years.

Gwen Somerset decided to specialise in early childhood education and in 1949 was elected the first president of the New Zealand Federation of Nursery Play Centres.

Gwen Somerset wrote I Play and I Grow, which is still used as a reference and guide for Playcentres today, and a number of booklets as well as editing the Playcentre Journal.

Gwen Somerset became active in the WEA and in the Free Kindergarten movement, and lectured on child development at the Wellington Free Kindergarten Training College.

Gwen Somerset was active on the National Council of Women of New Zealand, the YWCA and CORSO.