Category: Reading Analysis

Mariah Bouchard
Reading Analysis Week 10
November 12^th 2017

In what ways do our education systems show the roots of progressivism and traditionalism?

Article 1: Heyking, Amy von. “Selling Progressive Education to Albertans, 1935-1953,” in Sara Burke and Patrice Milewski (Eds.), Schooling in Transition: Readings in the Canadian History of Education, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2012: 340- 354.

Our education has changed significantly over many years, and in fact is still going through major changes today. Though there has been changes we can still notice the original plan for the education system. We see that it still has a traditional basic structure. We still hold on to the organization and discipline that comes from the original system. Maybe not so much discipline to the students but the discipline involved in teaching. We still teach the major subjects taught in the past. However, we see now a shift towards new types of learning and a more open mind to the ways of teaching. I think in Alberta they had an open mind to change and that is what made their changes in the system so impactful.

Articles 2 & 3: Stamp, Robert M. “Growing Up Progressive? Part I: Going to Elementary School in 1940s Ontario.” Historical Studies in Education vol. 17, no. 1 (Spring 2005): 187-98.
Stamp, Robert M. “Growing Up Progressive? Part II : Going to High School in 1950s Ontario.” Historical Studies in Education vol. 17, no. 2 (Fall 2005): 321-31.

The shift from having one teacher for everything to a different teacher for each class is something everyone goes through. Switching from elementary to high school. What people in charge might not realize is how this tiny thing can have an impact on your learning. Not being able to build a strong relationship with your teachers may affect your learning experience. It might prevent you from asking for help or you may struggle in finding what each specific teacher looks for. This is an issue brought up in the part 2 article. I think it is important because it is a progressive thing that was added to the education system and I don’t think it was necessarily a good change. This addition has its pros and cons and I think that it has become such a standard system now that it has almost become traditional in a way and therefor might be harder to change now.

Article 4: Axelrod, Paul. “Beyond the Progressive Education Debate: A Profile of Toronto Schooling in the 1950s,” Historical Studies in Education 17, no.2 (Spring 2005): 227-241.

We see the roots of the traditional system when it comes to singing Oh Canada or attending assemblies, and in some schools, they still hold tradition in regard to religion within the school. However, progressivism is easier to spot because honestly, I think we just keep adding to the ways in which we teach and the ways in which we construct our schools. To this day we find more advanced and “better” ways to teach children. We have more knowledge on the development of children as well as access to more resources on how to teach and interact with children more positively. I think the slow progressive change in the system has been for the most part positive. We are more free to develop ideas and apply unique ways of teaching into the classrooms.

Mariah Bouchard
Reading Analysis Week 9
November 5^th 2019

What has been and continues to be required of students and teachers during times of national crisis and uncertainty?

Article 1: Myers, Tamara and Mary Anne Poutanen. “Cadets, Curfews, and Compulsory Schooling: Mobilizing Anglophone Children in WWII Montreal.” Histoire Sociale 38, no.76 (2005): 367-398.

At this time in Montreal there was an increase in children getting into trouble with the law. Clearly this was a concern for the entire community and so actions had to be taken. They enforced curfews, and compulsory schooling on the children of Montreal.  They did this to ensure that the youth of Montreal would grow to be contributing members to society rather than delinquents. I think in cases it is important to take such measures. With this we see the importance that education plays in the roll of diminishing young crime. When education is being forced upon children it is societies way of teaching them how to be “better” suited adults in the future. I think this may be helpful and we can still see stuff like this today. It is important for the students to know that they can have an enormous impact on future societies. I also think teachers end up playing a major roll. Simply by encouraging and providing knowledge to children they can help set them up for a future that has way more potential than that of a child who may fail school and follow a bad path.

Article 2: Roy, Patricia E. “The Education of Japanese Children in the British Columbia Interior Housing Settlements during World War Two,” Historical Studies in Education, 4, 2 (1992): 211-231.

When a country or the world faces a national crisis, we can either see people band together or fend for themselves. I think it is important for students when facing crisis like the Japanese students had to face, it is important that they stayed connected. They fought for their right to be educated and to learn and to be treated fairly. I think this can also be applied to the teachers, though there were little teachers available to the students the ones that were there worked hard in staying united with their people and providing education to that generation in need.

Article 3: Gleason, Mona. “Disciplining Children, Disciplining Parents: The Nature and Meaning of Advice to Canadian Parents, 1945-1955,” in Sara Burke and Patrice Milewski (Eds.), Schooling in Transition: Readings in the Canadian History of Education, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2012: 357-375.

This article focused on the overwhelming access to violent comics children had in the past, and it focused on the impact those comics had on the children. This is still a very common debate we see today. With all the violence on T.V. and with video-games. Children are so open to seeing that violence now that we do worry of the impact it will have on them. I think what really can be applied here is the nature verses nurture debate. A child may in their pure natural makeup have natural violent tendency. And when we put that with the nurturing of a parent who allows them to be surrounded with violence we can see this have an impact on the child. The problem here is it is never one or the other that causes things its always both. I think this can be applied to the roll teachers have on children. Teachers especially in elementary grades very much have a roll on the nurturing aspect of a child. And so, it is important that they are helping to provide good care for the children they teach.

Mariah Bouchard
Reading Analysis Week 8
October 31, 2017

How have “experts” defined the healthy/normal child and what remains of such definitions for school policies?

Article 1: Through no fault of their own’: Josephine Dauphinee and the ‘Subnormal’ Pupils of the Vancouver School System.

In the past children with mental disabilities were isolated from the other students. However, to control those with mental disabilities even more so children with “lesser” minds were being sterilized to further control and assimilate children with mental disabilities. In the past children with mental disabilities were judged harsher and not given any chance to live up to their full potential. They would simply judge a child based on their looks, even if they looked different they would not give them a chance to test their mental abilities. The education system and society has changed greatly today. We try not to separate a child with mental disability from children who are considered “normal”. We also see more support and opportunities being given to people with a mental disability. However, I think there can still be room for improvement. I also think that in some cases sterilization is the right choice for some people. However, I do know that each case is unique, and it should not be a blanketed rule like it was in the past. I have personal experience with a person with a severe mental disability and I am thankful she lives in 2017 and not 1917.

Article 2: THE RISING GENERATION”: LAYING CLAIM TO THE HEALTH OF ADOLESCENTS IN ENGLISH CANADA, 1920-70.

A healthy normal child was something that was not a major concern of the past, and when they did start to research and conduct understandings of what child is normally like this completely took off in the last couple years. They did have n understanding and a basic form that they expected a child to fit into. A child was expected to understand the basic components of school as well as have good outdoor play and the ability to work. Where we are now with society what is expected of a normal healthy child can be broken down to each month of a child’s life practically. Now people are expected to go to school for years in order to care and educate babies, toddlers, and school age children. In each stage of a child’s life we are given cues to look for to tell if your child is developing at the expected pace. We also take the health of children more seriously. Not just physical health but mental health as well.

Article 3: “Race, Class, Health: School Medical Inspection and ‘Healthy’ Children in British Columbia, 1890-1930

In our society now, the knowledge on children health has been taken to a new level. We are much more aware of the importance of mental and physical health as well as we are more educated and expected to follow through with these procedures. However, what is getting over looked is that the things that are expected for parents to do for the children to ensure good health does not take into consideration the race of the family. The blanketed rules have been laid out for those who are completely westernized without understanding the different traditions, rules and ways of life other races may want to uphold in their children. So instead of stating that there is only one way for your child to be healthy and normal, there should be more of an understanding of the unique circumstances that each child is unique.

Mariah Bouchard
Reading Analysis Week 6
October 15th, 2017

How can we school for equality or decolonize education based on lessons from the past?

Article 15: Schooled for Inequality: The Education of British Columbia Aboriginal Children.

In order to have equality in our future we clearly need to learn from the mistakes of the past. The Aboriginal people of BC did not experience equality. They poor treatment and sufferings of the past that they went through still have effects on the generations now. Kids who have experienced abuse or alcoholism in their family as well as other issues continues in a cycle from generation to generation. To learn from this, we as a society must see the importance of equality. This does not mean treating people special or buying back an entire races respect. The damage is done and what needs to be done now is a blanketed effect of equal treatment. All people must have access to the same education, job opportunities, living opportunities and more. If we no longer label schools for a certain group and just have them strictly open for whoever wants to come we take away that divide that was created in the past.

Article: Implementing Integrated Education Policy for On-Reserve Aboriginal Children in British Columbia, 1951-1981.

In 1951 the Indian Act was changed so that First Nations could attend public schools off reserves. Though it took many years for a difference to actually be seen it was an important change for the Aboriginal people. It was a step towards equality. I think this plays a role in our education system now because we are starting to see schools opening on reserves strictly for First nations children. I think this has positive and negative aspects. One it is important for the First Nations to be educated on their culture and their people however a negative thing I worry about is the slippery slope this can be. Yes, these schools were opened by Aboriginal people and are not something that is forced on anyone so they do differ from the schools of the past. However, if we start opening segregated schools now I see this as a dangerous plan that can lead to the separation of the Canadian people that we have worked so hard to build in the past. This article was not about this issue but the question for this week’s readings made me think. I took years when they changed the act back in 1951 for Aboriginal children to start attending public schools and I don’t want to see all the changes we have made for the better slide backward.

Article: A New Understanding of Things Indian’: George Raley’s Negotiation of the Residential School Experience

I think a key thing to learn from the past is to realize that we don’t know exactly everything. A lot of things from history have to be speculated and there for taken with a grain of salt. When we think of residential schools we think of one of Canadas darkest moments, and don’t get me wrong it was a terrible mistake. However, something that I think often gets over looked is the other experiences of residential schools. There has been account of people who had good experiences there. They learned a lot and did not find it to be as traumatizing and life altering as some others. I think what this means is that when we apply past lessons to developing a better future we must take all aspects of the past. We can’t pick and choose what lessons we think are key.

Mariah Bouchard
Reading Analysis Week 5
October 8^th, 2017
How is separate school today similar or dissimilar to segregated schooling in Canadian History?

Article 13: Black Parents Speak: Education in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Canada West

In the past many people of minority tried to get access to schools but where denied that simple ability. In the past segregated schools was a forced thing as a way to sperate races. The schools were lesser and given less recourses then the main public schools. Children’s education was then hindered due to the fact that they did not have the same opportunities as other kids. The school Act of 1816 enabled the establishment of schools for property owners. This may have assisted in some ways but owning property was hard to do if you were a person of minority. Segregated schools of the past were more of a punishment or a way for the dominating white race to keep power. If we compare that to schools now that are separate we see it as more of a luxury or choice rather then something forced. Now if parents want their children to attend an indigenous school or even a religious school it is something that they have the power to choose. They schools are also more beneficial. They teach children about their heritage while still maintain a certain level of mandated curriculum. Of course, these are very recent schools and it is too soon to see their full benefits on the children. As it was not too long ago that Canada had completely gotten rid of its last forced segregated school.

Article 14: White Supremacy, Chinese Schooling, and School Segregation in Victoria…

The separation of the Chinese from the rest of the white dominant Canadians was a terrible act, and this was not the only time white people separated themselves from the other races. I think an impact we must think about here more than just the lack of support and resources the Chinese were given, but imagine being a child in a new country and having to live with the fact that this country you are in does not want you. I think the impact that would have mentally on a child to feel unwanted and separated from peers would be something that would take a toll on you. This not only applies to the terrible segregation of the past but I think needs to be considered when it comes to the option to separate students we have now. Yes, it might be nice for your child to go to a strictly indigenous school or all Chinese school as a way for them to keep in contact with their heritage. But, what does that do to the progress we have made. Children now do not find it bad to have a class full of children from all over the world, and if we start separating them now it could bring down what we took so long to build.

Online Article: “Black Nova Scotian Women’s Experience of Educational Violence in the Early 1900s:  A Case of Color Contusion.

The schools the blacks of Nova Scotia had access to I think share similarities to the access black students in the “hoods” of America must deal with. The struggle to attend school and to be successful in the school setting can be seen in the African people of the past and present. The struggle for extra support and encouragement for these people who live poorly continues even to this day. These black Nova Scotian women were denied basic access to school and were not given the same rights as the white kids and I think we still see some of this in the states.

Mariah Bouchard
Reading Analysis Week 3
September 24th 2017

Why have young people been compelled to attend school and should this still be the law?

Article 7: Motherhood and Public Schooling in Victorian Toronto (pg 115-126)
When the attendance of public school became mandatory and strict for the city of Toronto it changed the way families had to live their lives. Children were now having to work two jobs, one being all the work they had to do at home for their parents and the second being their mandatory attendance of school. In early Victorian Toronto the attendance of school was incredibly more strict then it is now in 2017. In the past they had actual Truant Officers who would patrol looking for kids who were late or skipping school. In our society now children skip class so often and it usually comes with little or no consequences. This proves that the attendance of school was taken more seriously in the past as they believed school was a necessity to a child’s life. However for the kids that had no choice to miss school due to the need to work for their family having a form of law come after them could have been seen as a way of negative reinforcement and only ended up discouraging the child’s desire to attend school even more. In this historical time in Toronto the need to attend school was societies form of bettering their people for the future. With a whole new generation capable of reading and writing and basic arithmetic it enabled the society to get away from the poverty stricken families they had. These children would eventually be able to get good jobs and work and provide for their families better than how their parents were doing it. With this being the main reason behind school I think it is still relevant today. Now we have a society that does need high school to succeed but instead needs university or college to get a good paying job and provide for their families.

Article 8: The Boy’s in the Nova Scotia Coal Mines (Pg.126-139)

Working in the mines from childhood to adulthood raised the question on why go to school at all? You already have a form of employment at just 8 years old. The incredible need for the children to work and help provide income to their families made the need to go to school more of a nuisance than anything else. These boys had work in the mines and already had a way of making money so going to school to make no money and be of no help to your family didn’t seem like a logical thing for a lot of families at the time. In our society now we have made school a necessity more than a choice, you will never be able to find work without having at least your grade 12. Our society has made school a must have rather than just a desire. The main difference from the past and the present is the mandatory use of children in the workforce. In a time where children were not just supposed to help but it was a necessity, it was much harder for them to want to attend school. Compare that to where we are now, where children are not allowed to join the workforce until 15 unless parents and strict rules permit them to work at  a younger age. A parent’s main focus now is for their child to go to school and to succeed in school so that they can eventually get a good job and begin working.

 

 

Mariah Bouchard
Reading Analysis Week 2
09/17/2017

Article 3: Egerton Ryerson and the School as an Agent of Political Socialization

The focus of this article is on Egerton Ryerson and his establishment of the Canadian education system when Canada first started to become a country. This article not only talks about the development of the system but why it was so important for the political socialization of the Canadian people. Ryerson believed that education is the foundation in which the order of our society is built on. Without education, there will be a lack of order in the societies social and political ways. The main point of this article was to point out the need for an education system that will assist in the proper development of society. The thought that education and a functioning society go hand in hand may lead us to believe that we as humans have still not quite mastered the art of education. There may still be fundamental things that we are missing or maybe in the past were doing and have now turned away from. We also see the flaws in Ryerson’s theories his beliefs and concepts were idealistic in the hopes that every person would know their place and abide by rules when we know very well that’s not how humans work. However, Ryerson’s theory on the education system as an agent of political socialization is one that can be applied and is easy to see as relevant.

Article 4: Reform, Literacy, and the Lease: The Prince Edward Island Free Education Act of 1852

The article focusses on the time in Canadian history when Prince Edward Island started a system in their province in which you did not have to pay a tuition cost to attend school. Prince Edward Island started this act before any of the other provinces and the main question was why this province was so keen on making sure their people did not have to pay for education. There is belief that they did this because this island dealt heavily with land tenure as its main production. Many of the average people of the island were unable to deal with their own paperwork and affairs due to the lack of education for the people. So by providing free education they were ensuring that all people in the future would be capable to take care of themselves and their family. This article was enjoyable because though Canada has developed a public-school system that is accessible for all people we still have the debate about the cost of university. Many countries offer free post-secondary studies, and I think this is something Canada really needs to consider. We live in a country that is constantly fighting unemployment or low minimum wage and the governments solution seems to be to encourage people to work at Starbucks and live off of the 12$ an hour you make. Why not instead offer people free post-secondary education so that they are not afraid to go to university (due to the crippling debt you leave with) but instead encourage people to thrive for more education, so that you can have a job where you don’t have to stress over unemployment or low pay.