The archives of the Institute consist of over 2,000 documents. The archivist is Aleksandra Ceferin who has collated and maintained documents of the activities connected with the teaching of Slovenian language in the school system in the state of Victoria from 1976.
Teachers said
I was delighted to find the students highly responsive, motivated to learn Slovenian and about Slovenian culture. They were keen to know about Slovenia today, as a people and about its context in the world. I incorporated authentic sources of journals, radio, newspapers, television, videotapes. The cyber world of the Web opened the window on; the country, daily news, virtual guides of cities, and new literature.
Students said
My connection to Slovenia was a tenuous one (only my estranged father is Slovenian) and it existed in my mind in post-card form as that beautiful yet strange eastern-European country where some of my cousins lived. Through Slovenian class I was introduced to many exciting and new concepts that give flavour and uniqueness to a culture, from poems and proverbs (pregovori) to contemporary short stories by Andrej Blatnik
Teachers
Some of the people whose name appears on the list have worked unremittingly and voluntarily in the field of education, language teaching, organizing cultural events, and dedicating themselves to to this work of maintaining their cultural heritage and handing it on to the next generation, for as long as 30 years.
Arrival
Life was hard for the migrants in the beginning. Many had to do physically demanding work to which they had not been accustomed. There was a great shortage of accommodation in the cities. Families were separated. Men were employed wherever needed, and lived in hostels. Families were placed in family hostels elsewhere, often at a great distance from the men. Such was the family hostel in Mildura, in the middle of the grape growing country on the Murray River.
Victorian Secondary Certification Authorities
Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Board (VCAB) was given the mandate to prepare a major curriculum and assessment educational reform at the senior level. Victorian Curriculum reform was completed, and ready to begin implementation in 1991. The first model courses were developed for all areas on the principle, that each teacher implement a two year senior studies course according to the strictly defined structure , tasks and aims, with the flexibility in the choice of topics, particularly in the case of English and Languages Other Than English (LOTE ).
VUSEB (1976-1978)
In June 1976 Aleksandra Ceferin approached Victorian Universities and Secondary Education Board (VUSEB) regarding the certification of Slovenian as a Higher School Certificate subject and received a positive response from the Head of the Committee for Balto-Slavonic languages, prof Jiri Marvan at Monash University. She prepared the required documentation including sample examination paper and a list of resources for the teaching of Slovenian.
VCAB (1986-1991)
The VISE educational reform was followed by a second complete overhaul of senior secondary school curriculum and assessment. In 1986 a new authority, the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Board (VCAB) set up nine Fields of Studies Committees (FOSCs) for all areas of teaching. Aleksandra Ceferin was appointed to the Field of Studies Committee for Languages Other than English (FOSC LOTE). She was one of the twenty-four members, comprising secondary teachers, experts and theorists on a number of languages.
VISE (1980-1986)
Following a name change of the accreditation body, to Victorian Institute of Secondary Education (VISE), Victoria conducted a major educational reform in 1978 and 1979, which affected the accreditation of Slovenian as an HSC language. Initially there was a delay of two years before the accreditation procedure could begin. Secondly Slovenian became the first and pioneer subject, so-called HSC Group 2 subject under the new HSC assessment scheme. It became a model for all subsequently accredited languages.
BoS (1993-2001) and VCAA (2001-2006)
In 2001 a review of the two-year VCE course brought some changes. The major change is that a key writing assignment during Year 12, the so-called CAT 1 was replaced with a series of eight strictly defined tasks or Outcomes in Year 11 and six tasks in Year 12. They were to be completed under test conditions and assessed by the classroom teacher.