Unit 1
The Evolution of Public Schooling

The aim of Unit 1 is to make you think about the purpose of public schooling, and to help you gain a historical understanding of the origins and development of the Canadian education system. In this unit, we examine the origins and development of common public schooling and its relationship to the overall social, political and economic aims of nineteenth-century Upper Canada (Ontario). We also introduce questions about the interpretation of educational history.

As you work through this course, you will come to recognize that the educational issues of yesterday are also the issues of today. Current issues that are rooted in Canadian education history include public vs. private schooling; the purpose of state education; who controls public education; the provision of equal opportunities for students of different social classes, ethnic backgrounds and sexes; and progressive education vs. “back to basics” movements.

Objectives

After completing Unit 1, you should be able to

1. identify several differing historical perspectives, and discuss how educational historians use them to account for the development of publicly funded schooling.
2. identify the prevalent social, political and economic developments that had a bearing on the evolution and structure of the publicly funded school system in nineteenth-century Upper Canada.
3. discuss the ways in which schooling attempts to construct “political selves.”