In class this week, we were introduced to the history of childhood and education and began the task of understanding childhood in 19th century Canada and the rise of public eduction. In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of how the concepts of childhood and education have developed over the last century, we must ask the question: Where do our ideas about childhood and education come from? In our weekly readings, we began to delve into to the idea that the earliest models of public education for children served purposes that, although specific to the era and geographic locations, continue to influence our present-day ideas about this subject. As Neil McDonald acknowledges in his article, “Egerton Ryerson and the School as an Agent of Political Socialization,” schools are assigned high priority as secondary socializing agents [1], and are “more attractive [than primary agents] to individuals or groups seeking to control or manipulate political loyalties and values” [2]. During the 19th century, as Egerton Ryerson served as a public education advocate and later as the Chief Superintendent of Education in Upper Canada, the public school was seen “as an effective instrument to help abolish the differences and jealousies among the peoples of the new united province… [through] writing, speaking, and strictly controlling books and literature made available to the public at large, but particularly to youth” [3]. In addition to being an agent of political socialization, the public eduction system was developed to meet the unique needs of individuals in specific regions of Canada. As Ian Ross Robertson addresses in his article, “Reform, Literacy, and the Lease: The Prince Edward Island Free Education Act of 1852,” “Prince Edward Island Reformers [took] a remarkably progressive step in educational policy in 1852, demonstrating convincingly that they placed exceptional value on access to primary education” [4]. As this article suggests, one of the driving forces of the establishment of free education in Prince Edward Island was the province’s “unique system of leasehold land tenure” [5], as “popular access to basic, primary-level education was a means to redress in part the imbalance in power between the landowners who controlled most of the Island, and the working settlers” [6]. Finally, for some, childhood is an essential time to introduce children to religion, which can be achieved through educational institutions. According to John L. Hiemstra and Robert A. Brink’s article, “” “…the British North American colonies, and later the Canadian provinces and territories, experienced intense struggles over the place of faith, church, and state in schooling” [7]. However, as discussed in the previously mentioned articles, “The Constitution Act 1867 gave the provinces jurisdiction over education, enabling them to develop their school systems in response to local conditions and in accordance with their own public philosophies [including religion]” [8]. These examples indicate that although the outward purpose of the public school was to provide children a general education, influencing their political and religious beliefs, as well as the values of their communities, was also a purpose of the education system.
[1] Neil McDonald, “Egerton Ryerson and the School as an Agent of Political Socialization,” in Schooling in Transition: Readings in the Canadian History of Education, ed. Sara Burke and Patrice Milewski (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2012), 39.
[2] Ibid., 40.
[3] Ibid., 41.
[4] Ian Ross Robertson, “Reform, Literacy, and the Lease: The Prince Edward Island Free Education Act of 1852 ,” in Schooling in Transition: Readings in the Canadian History of Education, ed. Sara Burke and Patrice Milewski (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2012), 56.
[5] Ibid., 58.
[6] Ibid., 59.
[7] John L. Hiemstra & Robert A. Brink, “The Advent of a Public Pluriformity Model: Faith‐Based School Choice in Alberta,” Canadian Journal of Education 29, no. 4 (2006): 1159.
[8] Ibid.