TAG - Geological Society of Australia

RecognitionGSA FellowsJohn CannGeological career and profileIn 1937, John Cann was born at The Rock, alittle-known town in New South Wales. Howmany geologists could claim such an auspiciousstart in life? He showed an early economicinterest in rocks and minerals: quartzcrystals he collected from mullock aroundmine shafts at Forbes were identified asdiamonds and offered for sale to relatives,and chalcopyrite he found at Cloncurry wasthought to be gold.John’s formal geological education began in1956 at the University of New England wherehe studied to become a secondary schoolscience teacher. Geology was selected initiallyas a fourth subject, after physics, chemistryand mathematics. However, under the tuitionof people such as Alan Voisey, Ken Campbell,John Wilkinson and Keith Crook he soondeveloped a lasting passion for the EarthSciences and went on to a double major ingeology for his BSc. During those undergraduateyears he developed and maintained aconviction that geology should have anequivalent place and status with the othermore traditional sciences in Australiansecondary schools. In NSW, geology wasavailable as a senior secondary sciencesubject, although it was taught in only asmall number of Sydney schools, and therewas no Earth Science in the syllabus forjunior classes.This was an interesting time in technology andscience education. When Russia successfullylaunched its Sputnik satellite in October 1957,the USA and much of the rest of the worldresponded with a sense of competitiveurgency. School-based science education inthe USA, the UK and subsequently Australiareceived priority funding and new curriculawere developed. At this time a major review ofNSW secondary education, including scienceeducation, was underway. In his DipEd thesis(1959), John Cann proposed a case for theinclusion of geology in the NSW junior secondaryscience program, a case that was thensuccessfully argued by Alan Voisey.John’s career in science teaching began in1960 at Canberra Grammar School. In hissecond year of teaching he introducedgeology as a senior science subject, and asthe restructured four-year School CertificateJohn Cann.Courtesy University of South Australia.program was phased into NSW and ACTsecondary schools, he was given the task ofpreparing a science curriculum in whichgeology enjoyed an equal place with physics,chemistry and biology. Moreover, at that timehe was the only science teacher in Canberrawho had formal qualifications in geology,so he found himself playing a pivotal roleas mentor in the ACT Science Teachers Association.Other schools adopted his curriculum:he ran workshops for teachers, led field trips tointeresting geological localities in the Canberradistrict and assisted teachers to collectsuitable geological materials for teaching.Subsequently, although still very early in hiscareer, John was promoted to take chargeof the Science Department at CanberraGrammar School. He remained in this roleuntil 1968, overseeing the introduction ofthe science components of the Higher SchoolCertificate. This included the transition ofsenior secondary school geology from theformer Leaving Certificate syllabus, whichassumed no prior knowledge of the subject,to the new program following four years ofgeneral science, including the fundamentalsof geology.During 1969–1970 John and his young familylived in Nauru where he had been appointedPrincipal of the Nauru Secondary School. Thiswas an interesting time for him, both personallyand professionally, but he did not easilyaccommodate the reality of the separationfrom classroom teaching that accompaniesschool administration. This fact, togetherwith a difficult bureaucracy, convinced him toreconsider his career options. However, it wasin Nauru that he first developed his longtermand continuing interest in coral reefs,carbonates and phosphates.In 1971 John was appointed foundationLecturer in Geology at Salisbury TeachersCollege (an institution that underwentsubsequent changes of name and status, andunderwent amalgamations to eventuallybecame part of the University of SouthAustralia). So, as he had done before inCanberra, he set about developing study areasfor geological field trips, and collecting andpreparing materials for laboratory classes. JimGehling, then a Lecturer in Science at anothermetropolitan teachers college, and ColinBranch, then Head of the Applied GeologyDepartment at the South Australian Instituteof Technology, were particularly helpful.William (‘Haggis’) Shackleton was appointed,and he and John developed a field mappingcamp at Oraparinna in the Flinders Ranges.This became a flagship activity for thedepartment. In the following years, similarfield activities were developed for areas ofolder rocks in the Olary–Broken Hill area,and younger rocks of southeastern SouthAustralia and western Victoria. Additionalexcursions on long weekends complementedthe field program. At this time Australia wasenjoying a mineral resources boom and therewas much interest in geology and geologicaleducation. Student numbers increased rapidlyin a four-year program and an expandedEarth Science Department was established tomeet the demand. Additional geology courseswere developed for students (other thanteacher trainees) who had a focus in environmentalmanagement, such as National ParkRangers. However, the Salisbury staff neverlost sight of the fact that they were primarilypreparing their students to become teachersof geology, an educational focus that receivedgeneral recognition in the wider Australiangeological community. This focus culminatedin the Australian Earth Science textbookPerspectives of the Earth, edited by Ian Clarkand Barry Cook, and published by theAustralian Academy of Science.Subsequently, ‘Haggis’ Shackleton becameHead of Department as John took charge ofthe mathematics and science secondaryteacher education degree program. This wasinitially a four-year concurrent BEd, but later,as amalgamations of institutions wereunderway to form the University of SouthAustralia, the program was reaccredited as26 |TAG December 2012