‘Schools are no longer merely educational institutions’: the rhetoric of social efficiency in Ontario education, 1931–1935

Christou, Theodore Michael

doi:10.1080/0046760x.2013.832409

Cited by 5 publications

(14 citation statements)

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“…Rotary classes remain in many of Ontario's publicly funded schools today. In his work, Christou (2013) As part of the educational reforms in Canada and the United States, the overall goal of this utilitarian perspective was to attain "social efficiency", which was influenced by "progressivist rhetoric" inspired by John Dewey (Christou, 2013). In a 1929 issue of The School, an elementary teacher "argued that students had to assume a personal responsibility for serving the social and industrial needs of their country", stressing that even before the age of 10, children could be made to understand their obligation to work toward "their future economic niche" (Christou, 2013, p. 569).…”

Section: Early-20 Th Centurymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Early-20 Th Centurymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Depression-era initiated a focus on efficiency within educational institutions in Ontario (Christou, 2013). In 1931, school attendance rose dramatically due to lack of employment, yet facilities and the number of teachers remained the same, with teaching salaries also dropping sharply (Christou, 2013). In order to increase the usability and efficiency of schools, staggered and rotary classes modelled after factory shift work were implemented (Christou, 2013).…”

Section: Early-20 Th Centurymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 1931, school attendance rose dramatically due to lack of employment, yet facilities and the number of teachers remained the same, with teaching salaries also dropping sharply (Christou, 2013). In order to increase the usability and efficiency of schools, staggered and rotary classes modelled after factory shift work were implemented (Christou, 2013). Rotary classes remain in many of Ontario's publicly funded schools today.…”

Section: Early-20 Th Centurymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rutherford (of Western Technical School) argued in The School that students "'need to be trained in the fundamentals of good citizenship … the characteristics of which are speed, accuracy, and uniformity'" (as cited in Christou, 2013, p. 570). As early as the 1910s, Dewey's (1907), The school and society was a mandatory part of teacher education (Christou, 2013).…”

Section: Early-20 Th Centurymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Producing “Good” Citizens: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Publication, Achieving excellence

Lalonde¹,

Codie²

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Section: Early-20 Th Centurymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Early-20 Th Centurymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Early-20 Th Centurymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Early-20 Th Centurymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Early-20 Th Centurymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Producing “Good” Citizens: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Publication, Achieving excellence

Lalonde¹,

Codie²

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From Missionary Zeal to Holiday Appeal: Summer School, Professionalization, and Teachers in Canada, 1915-1959

McLean

2023

Hist. of Ed. Quarterly

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For over forty years, presidents of the Summer School Association of Queen’s University wrote annually to teachers across Canada, encouraging them to attend summer courses for credit toward a bachelor of arts. In the 1920s, presidents’ messages associated attendance with societal progress and the professionalization of teaching. In the 1930s, such messages linked attendance with personal growth and career development. In the 1940s and 1950s, they linked attendance with having an enjoyable summer vacation. This article analyzes how and why these messages evolved and argues that the underlying structure of the messages remained consistent: they were means through which Queen’s Summer School Association presidents marked symbolic boundaries between more and less professional teachers. This article contributes to our understanding of the social history of teacher education by interpreting a unique primary data source to explore the participation of teachers themselves in the construction of symbolic boundaries marking professional status.

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“We Find Ourselves Preoccupied with the World of the Present”: Humanist Resistance to Progressive Education in Ontario

Christou

2015

Hist. educ. q.

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The work here explores the voices of Ontario's humanist educators, who advocated for the preservation of a curriculum theory rooted in faculty psychology, mental discipline, and the classics in the face of progressivist revisions to the province's public school organization. A great deal of scholastic sweat has been poured over the subject of progressive education, its meanings, and its purposes. Much less has been said about the critics of progressivist reform, who are referred to here as humanists; this term follows from the work of Herbert Kliebard, who characterized humanists as one of four competing interests in an epic struggle over the curriculum in the United States. Theodore Christou dubbed humanists “foils” to the progressivist reformers who succeeded in overturning Ontario's Programmes of Study for the public schools. Kliebard defined this group as:the guardians of an ancient tradition tied to the power of reason and the finest elements of the Western cultural heritage… to them fell the task of reinterpreting, and thereby preserving as best as they could, their revered traditions and values in the face of rapid social change and a burgeoning school system.

show abstract

‘Schools are no longer merely educational institutions’: the rhetoric of social efficiency in Ontario education, 1931–1935

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Producing “Good” Citizens: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Publication, Achieving excellence

Producing “Good” Citizens: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Publication, Achieving excellence

From Missionary Zeal to Holiday Appeal: Summer School, Professionalization, and Teachers in Canada, 1915-1959

“We Find Ourselves Preoccupied with the World of the Present”: Humanist Resistance to Progressive Education in Ontario

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