Ashton-Warner, Sylvia (1908–1984)

Sylvia Ashton-Warner, New Zealand teacher, writer, and educational innovator and reformer is best known for her work with Maori children. Ashton-Warner pioneered a process for teaching reading built upon the concept of organic language. Using key vocabulary, meaningful words with emotional connections to her students' experiences, she fashioned a method for fostering literacy based upon students' language and culture. Imaginative and uncompromising, her work received international acclaim, especially in the United States of America.

Born in Stratford, New Zealand, on December 17, 1908, Ashton-Warner was the fifth of eight children born to Francis Warner and Margaret Maxwell. Francis Warner was penniless when he immigrated to New Zealand at the age of 16 and had difficulty finding and maintaining gainful employment. Deteriorating health in 1904 forced him to remain at home with his children while his wife became the breadwinner. His immense love of storytelling impacted Ashton-Warner profoundly, shaping her novels through a blend of fantasy and reality.

Ashton-Warner's mother, Margaret Maxwell, worked as a teacher. Her abrasive personality, [Page 70]harsh teaching style, and authoritarian discipline caused frequent trouble for the family. The family often lacked money and was forced to relocate to small rural communities for Maxwell's employment. Maxwell taught Ashton-Warner to read and write and appreciate music; she valued musical expression and insisted upon the presence of a piano for her children. Music captivated Ashton-Warner just as did her father's storytelling.

Though Ashton-Warner was primarily interested in music and art, her writing began to gain recognition at Masterson District High School where she won an essay contest. Because she aspired to become a concert pianist or artist for much of her childhood and young adulthood, Ashton-Warner saw teaching as inhibiting her creativity and thwarting her personal success. Nevertheless, she taught a year at Wellington South School and a year at Wadestown School (in New Zealand) before passing the Teachers D Examination and entering Auckland Teachers' Training College. There Ashton-Warner won a prize for poetry in a student publication contest during her second year, while her musical aspirations began to diminish under the pressures of reality.

Ashton-Warner met her future husband, Keith Henderson, while in college. Henderson proposed to her in 1930 before leaving Auckland for a position as sole-charge teacher at Whareorino School in Taranaki. Ashton-Warner accepted his marriage proposal and left for Cornwall Park School in Auckland as a probationary assistant. After completing her qualifications, she spent a year painting before accepting a position at Eastern Hutt School in Wellington (New Zealand). On August 23, 1932, Henderson's father, a Methodist minister, married the couple in Wellington.

After several years of marriage, Ashton-Warner decided to return to teaching and proposed that the couple apply for positions in a Maori school. At that time, many Maori teachers were not certified and the Native Schools Service was a separate branch of the education department. Teaching in the Maori schools was perceived as a foolish choice by mainstream educators; nonetheless, the couple taught in Horoera, Pipiriki, and Fernhill. Ashton-Warner remained in teaching for more than 20 years in spite of her initial opposition to the profession.

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