Nursery World - Opinion: To the point - Learning from the past

The history of nursery schools is treasured by Pat Wills.

I have always enjoyed listening to stories retold by those who experienced the reality. Even the least exciting raconteur holds the attention of the listener because their involvement in their own life story is given additional vibrancy and emotion based on actually living it.

A visit to Ellis Island in New York is a fascinating way of learning the power of oral history. The curators in the 1970s, realising that collecting first-hand experiences of its first immigrants would soon be lost as they neared the end of their lives, made them central to the exhibition.

The representation of such a wide and diverse group of cultures, religions and ethnicity provides a rich source of information about human nature at times of crisis. There is the contrast between the perceived needs of Jewish, Eastern Europeans and an Italian Catholic family. A pair of shoes, a Bible, candlesticks, children's toys, a samovar and cooking pots, all make a poignant display.

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