ASSIGNMENT 1 EDUC 301
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ATHABASCA UNIVERSITY
ASSIGNMENT 1
COURSE CODE AND NAME: EDUC 301 &
EDUCATIONAL ISSUES AND SOCIAL CHANGE 1
TUTOR NAME: DR. THERESIA WILLIAMS
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1.
Select one of the historical perspectives discussed in Unit
1, and explain why that perspective appeals to you more than the others.
Public school systems began to emerge in all British North American colonies after 1840. A state-supported elementary education system was established in Upper Canada in the middle of
the nineteenth century, and it remained virtually unchanged until the 1950s. Over the past few decades, educational historians have engaged in intense debate regarding the goals of education reformers in Canada in the nineteenth century. Some reformers were determined to increase the potential of education for the common people, while others were seen as imposing social control on a society that was becoming increasingly industrial. Whig History, Social History, Revisionism, and Ethnographic History are a few historical perspectives covered in Unit
1. My interest is most piqued by the revisionist historical perspective. Before the 1960s, most historians offered a Whig interpretation of history in which testimonials like biographies and narratives are used to uncritically document education's growth and development. Whig’s history is not analytical and does not question the social context of events. Instead of focusing solely on the professional and instructional aspects of formal education, the social history perspective encouraged educational historians to recognize that "society is a complex web, a variety of social forces and institutions interact, exerting mutual influences, and schools are but one aspect of this dynamic". This contrasted with Whig history. Oral history and in-depth studies
of specific family, ethnic, and cultural groups, on the other hand, are used in ethnographic histories to learn about the experiences of individuals and small groups of people.
According to revisionist historians, early Canadian education historians with a Whig orientation tended to focus more on the work of individuals than they did on the effects of the social context. As a result, the development of public education was explained by the myth of a "public
school movement" whose promoters were primarily motivated by democratic and humanitarian impulses. In the 1970s, radical revisionism and moderate revisionism emerged as the two main
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forms of alternative interpretation. Although these two wings of revisionist history similarly analyze educational history, their interpretations of the relationship between the past and the present are different. Radical revisionists “set out to replace the sentimentalized and Whiggish profiles of modern school promoters with a rigorous set of intellectual constructs through which our educational experience could be analyzed.” Radical revisionists were often criticized for focusing too much on “macro-level” issues of power and domination, therefore moderate revisionism appealed the most to me as it considered a broader social context. Instead of focusing solely on the students and procedures in state-recognized schools, moderate revisionism redefined education to include both formal and informal learning. This technique urged antiquarians to analyze private, self-improvement, and altruistic instructive organizations for understudies of any age and sexual orientation, from newborn child schools to grown-up training. According to Bruce, it also encouraged historians to investigate the educational experiences of all subclasses and ethnic groups. According to Athabasca, moderate revisionists
"basically accepted the notion that battles over educational reforms in the past did result in improved public education" and "present past events in the wider social, religious, political, and economic context of the times in which they occurred." Both of these statements are true for moderate revisionists. Moderate revisionism is the most reasonable method for examining the development of the educational system in light of the political and social contexts. Consequently, moderate revisionism, as opposed to Whig historians and ethnographic historians, considers a much broader range of factors. While Whig historians relied solely on testimonials, moderate revisionists presented past events within the broader social, religious, economic, and political context in which they occurred. This resulted in a narrow perspective on history. In comparison to other historical perspectives, moderate revisionism is not as opposed to radical revisionism. One particularly promising form of revisionism is "moderate revisionism appears to be immune
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to many of the worries that seem to fuel hesitancy and resistance to revisionist approaches," as stated by Vargas. Modern revisionism does not work based on elimination, so it takes a different
approach. Because it is crucial to know everything that went into each event, it considers all previous information and works to correct rather than deny it. It can result in shifts in focus, perspective, or approach, revision is a complicated process. These are the reasons that moderate revisionism piques my interest when attempting to determine the objectives of education reformers.
2. Discuss the origins and purposes of public schooling in nineteenth-century Upper Canada in the context of the social, political, and economic climate at the time and identify which specific social issues public schooling was seen to address.
Public and non-denominational education gained popularity in Canada during the latter half of the nineteenth century for a variety of reasons. Reformers assert that children would acquire the
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skills necessary for productive citizenship and employment. However, some parents opposed education because it did not conform to their language or religion, while others opposed education because children's labor was essential to the family's ability to survive. In 1871, Ontario established free and compulsory public education as a response to significant social and economic issues of the time. By the 1890s, most people believed that public education would make children's lives better and make Canada fairer and just. In the current social, political, and economic context, this essay will identify specific social issues that were thought to
be addressed by public education.
With the intention of "improving the moral tone of society," the Ontario school system was seen
as a tool for socialization. Because the church and the family were no longer able to meet the needs of the youth, moral character was an important part of the school's role in addressing the problems caused by urbanization and assisting immigrants in settling in by instilling feelings of national unity and identity. Axelrod claims that social reformers thought that education would impart morality, discipline, respect for private property, and good manners to children from low-
income families. Professionals, businesspeople, lawyers, and their families made up the middle class. Additionally, it attempted to alter human behavior. The challenge, according to Woloshen & Sandwell, was convincing the general public that to advance as citizens, they needed to put in
more effort at work, save money rather than spend it on alcohol, and engage in productive leisure activities. The community would be a safer place if everyone were educated because the
poor would be influenced by the middle class, which would result in a state of class harmony. Even if the children of middle-class families already attend school, public education may also be
beneficial to them.
If voters voted to fund elementary schools through public funding, tuition fees, and other educational expenses would no longer fall on individual parents, even though middle-class children already attend school. Through the dissemination of a common spiritual message and
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fundamental Christian morality, public education would also contribute to the establishment of a moral foundation. According to Axelrod, they thought that the state should not have more control
over education and that public schools should not be able to teach general Christian teachings that would meet the needs of their denomination.
The most significant political development was the formation of the Dominion of Canada in 1867
from the Confederation of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Ontario. The Canadian government-imposed taxes that increased the cost of imported goods. Canadians' increased preference for goods made in their own country led to an increase in manufacturing. According to Woloshen & Sandwell (2002), farmers in the west would have access to a market for the products produced on their farms and would also be able to purchase manufactured goods made in central Canada that would also be transported by rail and sold at a profit. The Canadian government saw this expansion as a way to create a Protestant, English-speaking region and end American influence in British North America. Farmers and businesspeople began to see the west as a land of opportunity. Educators and leaders in Canada compared the United States, which they claimed to be more individualistic, materialistic, aggressive, and disorderly, to their nation's civility, order, respect for tradition, and individualism. On the other hand, Canada was shown to be more traditional. In Canada, lessons on Loyalist mythology and the British flag were commonplace in the middle of the nineteenth century.
In the new Canadian province of Dominion in 1867, half of the three million people who lived there were under the age of 17. The fur trade, logging, fishing, and farming provided for approximately eighty percent of families. There was not enough farmland in large families to guarantee the economic security of everyone in subsequent generations, even though farmers typically hoped their children would eventually take over their farms (Axelrod, 2003). Additionally, several repercussions that had an effect on society and the economy were sparked
by advancements in transportation, international trade, and technology toward the end of the
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1840s (Woloshen & Sandwell, 2002). Manufacturing was taking over Canada's reliance on the sale of raw materials like fish and fur as more people worked in factories in growing cities. According to Oreopoulos (2005), household labor was gradually being replaced on the farm by salaried jobs, so public education could give people a chance to make money in other jobs. Axelrod (2003) says that getting an education and training would make people "economically competent" in other jobs, so parents considered sending their kids to school as a way to give them some of their inheritance.
During a period of social change marked by rebellions and when economic progress necessitated civil order, schools were crucial in preserving political stability. Schools were seen as having an impact on understudies' perspectives on citizenship, property privileges, authority, and reliability. According to Axelrod, Ontario school superintendent Egerton Ryerson argued, "education should prepare youth for their appropriate duties and employments of life, as Christians, as persons of business, and also as members of the civil community in which they live." Free public education could effectively address this pressing issue as a mandatory service.
REFERENCES:
Unit 1 The Evolution of Public Schooling. (n.d.). Retrieved May 2018, from http://wcs.lms.athabascau.ca/mod/book/view.php?id=3638
Woloshen, M., & Sandwell, R. (n.d.). Compulsory schooling in Ontario: 1871. Retrieved May 2018
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Oreopoulos, P. (2005). Canadian Compulsory School Laws and Their Impact on Educational Attainment and Future Earnings,5-21. Retrieved May 2018.
Axelrod, P. (2003). The promise of schooling: Education of Canada, 1800-1914. Toronto: Univ. of Toronto Press. Moss, M. (2014). The Politicization of Schooling. Retrieved May 2018, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3138/j.ctt1287t3m.8
Wilson, J. D. (1990, April 01). Review: The New Diversity in Canadian Educational History. Retrieved May 2018, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/30303494
Vargas, M. R. (n.d.). The Revisionist's Guide to Responsibility. Retrieved May 2018, from http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~uctytho/dfwVargas.html