Evolution of Public Schooling in Upper Canada - Essay Example

Evolution of Public Schooling in - A study

Introduction

has had native population living in its soil since the melting of the ice ages. However, it was only when the settlements of the European colonial nations took permanent roots in that, early forms of education came into being. Prior to the 1840s largely informal educations was in existence. However, during the early nineteenth century, the colonial governments mooted reforms in education by setting up the publicly funded education systems. Controversial by nature, the evolution of the public schooling system in Upper Canada, has been embroiled in a maze of religious, ethnic, economic and poitical dogma.

The Early Informal Education System

On the evolution of Public Education System in , the views and interpretations explicated by radical historians like, Alison Prentice, Bruce Curtis, Corrigan, Lanning etc., offer a detailed evaluation, in the opinion of this student. According to their interpretation of history, the various ethnic and racial populations, who were minorities, were unified under a uniform identity, culturally and linguistically.

In the early years of 1820-40, rudimentary concepts of education prevailed, under edifice of family and households. Prentice (1977, p.15) states that, “the fundamental educational institutions were the household, workshop and field” because, children acquired in these places, the essential skills and training required for living, informally; with families playing an important role, and children being “bound as servants or apprentice” of various skills. Churches supplied informal education too, with “sermons, Sunday schools and camp meetings” (Prentice, 1977, p. 15). Pointing to some larger towns that had ‘monitorial schools’ organized by religious bodies, were in the practice of educating the poor and impoverished, as examples, she states the children of all ages gathered in small groups in these schools for instruction in Arithmetic, Reading and Writing, known as the three ‘R’s. However, a shortfall of such schools seem to have been increasingly felt from the 1830s, due to “a growing colony with large influxes of poor immigrants, provision was sometimes made for these children in temporary institutions while they awaited private placements” (Neff, 2004 p. 4).

As can be inferred from research studies such as Neff (2004) and article of Contenta (1993), the immigrant population was increasing rapidly and it was hard for men to find jobs, thereby impoverishing many families. Children above fourteen and women supplemented the family income with informal low paid jobs in the nearby towns, and hence education was mostly unaffordable. Hard living conditions and stretched economy, made children take up jobs at an early age, girls in domestic domains and boys in workshops and field etc. Hygiene, sanitation and cleanliness were nearly absent, and all the family members slept in the same room due to lack of facilities in such localities and frequently poor parents sent a few of the younger children to charitable homes on a temporary basis. Hence, children took to the streets, with little else to do. Juvenile crimes, child promiscuity were wide-spread, and, “by the 1890s, children were increasingly seen as morally deficient and a threat to the well-being of the society” (Contenta, 1993:13). This compelled the religious outfits like churches etc to start educating the masses with “basic lessons in natural sciences or the scriptures” (Contenta, 1993:13).

Four problems were perceived by the public school activists as wanting change in the society Viz. 1) Excessive materialism and indifference to knowledge 2) The general ignorance of the people 3) Increasing percentages of juvenile crime 4) Lack of public spirit to be successful (Prentice, 1977, p. 47). The deep dissatisfaction in some sections of the society and the poor educative system available to children was blamed to be root of all social evils. There arose the demand for schooling away from the family influences. Measures like granting formal recognition were also implemented by the legislature of in favor of district grammar schools; in the year 1816, limited government aid was provided to local common schools. As a remedy, it was suggested that, the children’s “temporary removal from the larger society, and education, or re-education, in schools" (Prentice, 1977, p. 46), resulting in common public schools.

Rise of the public schools system – the exterior and ulterior purposes

Egerton Ryerson (1803-1882) was the Superintendent of Education for Upper Canada from 1844 to 1876 built the Ontario Public School System (Mulhallen, 1958); he “laid the groundwork for a school system” (Contenta, 1993, p. 17). His belief was that uniform training by the state funded or publicly funded schools will give rise to a stable state, with its peoples more than willing to do their duties to the existing political order. With him, the control of Ontario’s school systems started being centralized and in 1846, Ryerson’s report of the above, highlights his concept of education vividly, “By Education I mean not mere acquisition of certain arts…but that instruction and discipline which qualify… the subjects…as persons of business and also as members of the civic community” (as cited by Contenta, 1993, p. 14). But this agenda of Ryerson had its drawbacks and was not appreciated by all.

Corrigan, Curtis & Lanning (1987), argue that Ryerson, and the “School reformers” of that period, “sought nothing less than the transformation of the selves of the students to the point where existing political arrangements were lived as natural”. They further explain the bureaucratic events that were instrumental in reconstructing and changing the behavior and label of children, with political overtones. The School Acts of the 1840s and 1850s progressively reduced the role of families in children’s education. “Schooling seeks to make selves” with its goal as moral regulation to facilitate “self-rule” or “self-government” (Corrigan et al., p.23); effectively revealing that, the true end of schools was not to impart literacy, but, actually mobilizing the student community into supple and voluntary of followers dominant social structures, identifying it as new “machine of power” (p. 24) .

Differing views, however, exist. John Millar (1897) emphasizes that the aim of education is to train the student in good character and conduct; and, “no government is effective that has not for its object self-government” (Millar, 1897, p. 104) and the process of schooling was but to form such subjects. Millar’s theories were very similar to that of later-day theorist Michael Foucault (1926-84), and, held that “machinery of a well-managed school” was a “most powerful instrument for forming good habits in the pupil” (Millar, 1897, p.66). Furthermore, Gidney and Millar (1990, p. 80), are of the opinion that there is proof that ''expansion took place without firm central control, and thus the development of the grammar school was shaped by the needs of the parents who used them and by the dictates of local markets for education". However, this system was hated by the poor and the ‘marginalized’ communities of . Resentment built up because, minorities disliked it when their children were compelled to attend public schools, and in some cases, at least, the teachers in such public schools were, themselves of doubtable character. There were many complaints from parents that their children were being ill-treated and corporal punishments were being accorded to children. Instances of unruly behavior on the part of students too, added to the total atmosphere of mutual distrust and dislike, with the teachers and the public school activists on one side and reluctant parents and their children on the other. (Contenta, 1993, pp 9-10).

It was a piquant situation. The very changes desired by the public school activists, increasingly led to the so-called social disorders denounced by them. This was propelled by the progressive industrial development and boom in commercial activities of that period, and intimately connected with immoral behavior of the youth of the society (Prentice, 1977, p. 46).

Other fallouts the so-called ‘hidden agenda’ of public school activists and governmental bodies, was that it created an “egalitarian” division in the schools with students being classified as “winners” and “losers” (Contenta, 1993 pp. 9-22). While the latter despised going to school, some social theorists felt, that it was in a way profitable to the society, because it helped those children who wanted to educate and elevate themselves, and cater to the rising demand in skilled labor in the increasingly industrial world. This opportunity to better the life of the individuals and the economic betterment of the community was brought about only by the public schooling system (pp. 14-17).

Conclusion

The public schools system of was born out of the need to reform the society of certain social ills. However, it initially fuelled the very source of social disorder that it desired to put out, leading to the ideological and political transformation. But, this itself, paved the way for further rethinking and further reforms, leading to an evolution that sought to benefit the entire societies and ethnic communities of .