Jenna Wiebe (Blog 3)

Blog 3

           

            As a history major, I found this chapter to be quite intriguing., but also disheartening as well.  I have always found learning about the history of Canada to be quite interesting, although I had never really learned about the history of the education system in Canada.  However, the more I learn about what actually happened in the past, the more I am saddened about events related to this.

On a different note, one thing that stood out to me in this chapter was the different types of schools in Post-Confederation Ontario, where the Ontario School Act of 1871 “transformed grammar schools into two types of high schools—ones that focused on classical instruction, called collegiate institutes, and high schools, which offered classical training but also had a track for an “English course” that focused on natural sciences and “practical” topics instead of the classics” (page 63).  Before reading this, I had never understood the history behind the difference between collegiate institutes and high schools.  In my own experience, however, I attended a collegiate institute located in Manitoba, so I have to wonder about the history behind the school that I attended.  When I attended high school, there was no option to take any of the classics, although I wonder if this was an option many years ago?   

It was interesting to me to learn about teacher training and how it evolved over the years, particularly with the “normal school”, as “a normal school is the name that was given to the first teacher training institutions.  The name derives from a learning approach that would provide “model classrooms” for student teachers to learn model teaching practices” (page 84).  I think it would be interesting to compare this mode of training teachers to the level of training required in today’s day and age, where two university degrees are required, plus a certain amount of time spent inside a classroom.  It would be interesting to learn more about how these “normal” classrooms were run and how the teachers in training responded to this mode of certification.

Finally, another quotation from the text that I found to be interesting stated that, “in the nineteenth century, women who married could no longer remain teachers because being married made them ineligible to be considered “professional” (page 83).  I am thankful that this outlook has changed, otherwise I would not be eligible to teach.  It is always interesting to see how views have changed over the years and the reasons behind these changes. 

Discussion Question:  How has your own personal experience with education shaped and influenced the person who you are today?