From 'special experiment' to state specialist language school: the Victorian School of Languages 1935 - 2015

This thesis is a historical investigation of the Victorian School of Languages (VSL), which is a 'complementary provider' of language education. It is 'both a story and a study' and it utilises a combined research methodology of historical analysis and theory. It draws extensively on primary sources such as archival documents and oral history. It presents a chronological narrative and an analysis of the origins, the growth and the development of the VSL. It uses several theoretical lenses to investigate the way that this non-conformist school and its subject communities gained and maintained legitimacy in the Victorian education system.