The lecturer who ‘made the drudgery of study fade away’
In 1967, around the time David Swain was graduating from the London School of Economics with a Bachelor of Science in Sociology, the threeyear-old University of Waikato placed advertisements in the Waikato Times, seeking junior lecturers. Swain family lore has long held that the practice was a deliberate strategy, one by which young New Zealanders on their OE would lure academics of a similar age to the antipodes.
Whatever the wider truth of this theory, David fell into the trap. Recently married to Valerie (Maggie) Middlemiss, he was inclined toward seeing his new spouse's country. Maggie's father, a Eureka farmer, clipped the advertisement out and posted it to her in London. Subsequently, the university's Dean of Social Sciences spent some time ringing public house after public house, attempting to proffer a job to the successful applicant, then honeymooning in the English countryside.
Thus began David's four-decade contribution to Waikato education and the wider community.
A passionate teacher, a practical and influential researcher and oral historian, an university administrator and "scourge of plagiarists" he was also in his personal life a committed political activist, a husband, a father and grandfather and a genealogist who described himself first and foremost as "a family man".
David Arthur Swain was born 1 June, 1946 in Brighton, England, the first of the two children of Victor Swain and Dorothy Swain (née Huggins). His existence was, in a sense, a triumph over statistics. Victor had defied the odds, surviving 97 combat missions as a navigator in the Royal Air Force, an achievement that more than warranted the awarding of a Distinguished Flying Cross; Dorothy had lived through Luftwaffe attacks on the airfield where she served in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force.
At war's end Victor remained in the RAF, with postings all over the United Kingdom, whilst his family remained in Brighton, with Dorothy doing much of the child rearing alone. David, an intelligent student, passed his 11+ examination, qualifying to attend the Brighton, Hove and Sussex Grammar School. The stratified nature of British education likely sowed the seeds for his life-long loathing of the class system and social injustice in general.
Elected president of the London School of Economics' Wine and Food Society, David met Maggie Middlemiss, a Waikatoraised teacher, at a party. David and Maggie were married 14 October, 1967, in Brighton, two years to the day after they first met.
Arriving in New Zealand early in 1968, David found his new surroundings uncannily familiar. He later wrote, "...there was something about this country and society...that resonated with me...coming to New Zealand felt like home...it was a real and powerful feeling".
Initially without strong academic ambition and opposed to ivory tower elitism, David felt equally welcome at an evolving, less established tertiary institution.
A foundation staff member of the new Department of Sociology and Social Policy, he found that the study of sociology was thriving, and there was no shortage of students eager to learn. And he discovered his great passion for teaching. At LSE he had been disappointed at the quality of teaching: research was all important, but conducted behind closed doors. Teaching was treated as an afterthought. He was determined to do things differently. To make sociology come alive and to help his students discover their own zest for it, for learning, and, perhaps, for social change.
Dr Maxine Campbell, a former student and colleague, remembers: “Of course, many lecturers imparted knowledge and wisdom; David’s delivery, I have to say, is what made the difference. Knowledge, wisdom, enlightenment, encouragement, a social conscience and passion, all wrapped up in a rollicking sense of humour that made the drudgery of study fade away, and the acquisition of all he had to offer us, a blast”.
Michael, David and Maggie's first child, was born within a year of their arrival in New Zealand.
David described the experience as a "joy-filled transformation of my life"; it informed his voluntary teaching of a prospective fathers' group at Hamilton's Parents' Centre, where he and Maggie had earlier attended antenatal classes. Practising as a community sociologist, he offered his services to many community groups, supporting La Leche League and later having a long association with Marriage Guidance Waikato, where he was to become a supervisor for many years and was administratively involved at both local and national level.
In 1971 the Swains returned to England, living again in Brighton whilst David, employed in a market research job, commuted to London. Rachel, David and Maggie's second child, was born during this sojourn. Having had a taste of the alternative to a Waikato academic life, the now family of four returned to New Zealand in early 1974, with David resuming his position at the university.
Alongside teaching and community work, David’s own research approach combined leading edge technology with in-depth community fieldwork.
In the 1960s, leading edge technology meant working with one of Aotearoa’s very first computers, Waikato’s first IBM mainframe. Keith Jones, the university’s first computer programmer, remembered how the use of the university’s sole computer increased when new lecturer David Swain initiated community surveys as part of the sociology programme. Sociology students stayed with the community in Tokoroa, and later Waihī, to complete a door-to-door survey; Keith wrote a survey analysis program to tabulate survey results, the project forming the basis for David’s doctoral thesis.
David's work on his Doctor of Philosophy was initiated in 1973, whilst still in the United Kingdom. Serious ill-health necessitated a suspension of research and writing for some time. The thesis, The Transition to Parenthood in New Zealand and a Developmental Conceptual Framework for the Study of Family Change, was submitted in 1985.
David’s research, originally on the transition to parenthood in New Zealand, was intended to be practical and accessible – and to puncture the comforting myths we like to tell ourselves about parenting and growing up in this country. His original doctoral research drew on fieldwork in the Waikato to explain how “parenthood” was about much more than simply child-rearing. Later research would tackle practical issues for New Zealand parents: keeping children safe as pedestrians, in the water, and around dogs. In collaboration with Brett Mcewan, he also did groundbreaking work around the consumption and abuses of alcohol.
A happy fusion of technology and people was to remain the driving force behind David’s research, both in his professional life, and in genealogy and family history.
He was an enthusiastic genealogist, quick to see the potential of the developing internet for genealogists everywhere, and a meticulous family historian, who left the family many writings including two books.
David would also be described by colleagues as an “instinctive internationalist”. He drew widely on international comparisons, looking beyond the usual suspects to Finland and the Baltics, particularly Estonia, where he spent sabbaticals and saw many parallels with New Zealand society. And he was a strong supporter of international students, including some of the first Chinese students to come to the University of Waikato in 1988. He made many Chinese friends, and his regular visits to China, initially with a professional focus, turned increasingly to seeing friends and their families.
His final service to the university was to chair the Student Discipline Committee for twenty years, including as Pro-vice Chancellor (Staff and Students) from 1992 to 2005. Here again, his passion for using technology to understand people was just what was needed. Plagiarism was exploding internationally, as new online tools made it easier to cheat, but also enabled better detection. He embraced the challenge of creating the systems and tools to hunt out plagiarism – and accepted the inevitable consequence: that those who best policed plagiarism would report finding more of it.
In this work David had a particular sensitivity to the challenges faced by students for whom English was a second language.
Today's Vice-chancellor of the University of Waikato, Neil Quigley, says “Dr Swain was known by staff and students for his wise, balanced, and humane handling of numerous difficult situations and for serving the needs of the student body, in particular international students", adding that he was "considered an innovator in his field" who "enjoyed wide respect and demonstrated an ability to always turn the negative into the positive".
David was awarded the title of Honorary Fellow of the University of Waikato in January 2010, recognising his contribution to teaching and his twenty year incumbency as the chairperson of the Student Discipline Committee.
Beyond academia, David's political commitment saw him join protests against the Vietnam War and the 1981 Springbok Tour and support action for the Homosexual Law Reform Bill.
For all of his service to the academy and the community, David put his own family first. He supported his wife Maggie’s careers in education, childcare and counselling and was a devoted father and grandfather. The family was at the centre of his life, teaching, and research.
David Arthur Swain died November 23, 2023. He is survived by wife Maggie, children Michael and Rachel, their respective partners Clara and Dean and grandchildren Julia, Ashley, Rylan, Victor and Emma.