To meet the needs of an increasing industrialized Canadian society in the late 1930?s, the elementary curriculum was revised. This essay will explore the changes BC curriculum endured as a result of the progressive movement within the Greater Victoria area by way of the Greater Victoria Survey of Schools of 1937-38 and the Curriculum Guide: The New Programme of Studies 1936-7. The new system is commonly known as progressive education or the ?new education?. Jean Barman describes new education as ?? embodying a commitment to a child-centered, relatively unstructured curriculum allowing considerable freedom of choice to pupil and teacher alike, the expression of humane, egalitarian, democratic philosophy of education?. The modern curriculum was an attempt to move away from the emphasis of memorization, facts, formalism and unrelated or irrelevant material within the classroom. John Dewey, an educational philosopher, can be held accountable for the radical outlook on education in the early 1900?s. Dewey believed there was a theoretical gap between child-centered and subject centered curriculum. This gap was a failure to recognize interaction between child and curriculum. Individual difference, child reaction and interest were vital aspect of education that had been overlooked by traditional curricula.
The refreshed program was intended to meet the child?s physical, moral, emotional and intellectual needs through a variety of revisions within the curriculum. Before browsing through the heart of the new curriculum, it is important to familiarize oneself in the parturition of progressive education before an appreciation for the impact the revisions had within the education system. Pressure from British Columbia Teachers? Federation initiated a formal inquiry by the government to investigate the devastating situation of rural schools. Lack of facilities, supplies, financial instability, remote locations, incompetent teachers, sporadic attendance and severe weather hampered pupils? progress in rural locations. Rural schools could not accommodate students adequately in basic education and therefore, were lacking equal academic levels as their urban counterparts, which concerned educators. Complaints from rural teachers and school inspector reports launched the Survey of the School System by J.H. Putman and G.M. Weir in 1925, which gave progressivism the jump-start needed to allow revisions possible. Harold Putman was the Inspector of Schools for the City of Ottawa, when he was appointed to take on this study with George Weir. Weir had recently been appointed as the first professor of education at the University of British Columbia when he agreed to take on the study. Influenced by Dewey, both men embraced the child-centered type of instruction that would later become the foundation of the revised school curricula.
The Term Paper on Early Childhood Education: Raising Children the Right Way
... education affects a child’s learning somewhat in a good way in somewhat not. When a child goes to a pre-school with teachers ... or adapt curriculum to fit the child’s needs. It is important to understand child development and to recognize each child’s individual characteristics ... that low-income children, even those under 3 years of age, will attend non-parental care, including center-based care. ...
A new educational approach was utilized in elementary schools: an emphasis on child centered schooling, individual differences, activity programs, program testing, and teacher guidance. All portions of the philosophy had equal importance; however the core theory aimed toward child-centeredness; that is, the child?s growth is heavily dependent upon his/her reactions and experiences within his/her surrounding environment. The Progressive Movement initiated the concept that students should be independent thinkers, creative beings, and expressive about their feelings. This was a sharp contrast from the prevalent educational approaches rooted in social efficiency in the early 1900s in Canada. Such approaches did not foster the importance of individualism and creativity, and instead emphasized classroom control, management and a structured curriculum that focused on basic skills. The classroom agenda was to meet the needs of children and cater to them through variety of programs suited for individual differences. Differential treatment was issued to those who were slow learners but also for those students who were fast or keen learners. Mass group teaching was no longer a sufficient approach in the 1930?s.
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Students required individualized praise or remedial help to ensure overall growth within a subject. The quality of learning was much more important than the quantity being taught in the contemporary system. Although child-centeredness was the ultimate focus in progressive education, other components within the new education complimented the core focus. To achieve a child-centered approach, an ever-changing environment was essential. Children must learn by doing and to achieve this the unit system was developed. A unit consisted of a central thought, such as, the weather or transportation, and could be merged with all subjects in one way or another. Student interaction and group work outplayed traditional rote, repetition, drill, and standardization methods of learning. The success of the unit depended entirely upon each child?s participation in each activity. A student?s personal growth therefore, was dependent on interaction of one another. That is to say, new experiences develop from the reaction of others around them, thus affecting another?s encounter. Without class interaction growth would not manifest to benefit the learning experience of each student properly.
The introduction of manual/technical training, domestic science/home economics, agricultural education, health and hygiene were created to promote ?learning by doing? philosophy created by Dewey. These new courses were avenues not only created meaningful material that students could relate to but also created excellent opportunities to apply the knowledge learned in classes directly into their daily routines. SSGV states, ? health is a life to be lived and not a subject to be taught?, and children should acquire skills to maintain healthy living continuously. Physical education involved technical classroom instruction and physical manipulation management. Physical training allowed educators to recognize a direct link between healthy living and emotional health in the late 1930s. Physical activity was driven by variation. Exposure to several activities would allow children to acquire a well-rounded base for mental and physical conditioning. Manual/technical training, domestic science/home economics agricultural education activities varied between schools but the theories and aims remain constant throughout. This curriculum was used as a vehicle to promote social reform, by way of, connecting school knowledge, habits, skills, interests, appreciation, attitudes, and ideals to adult life. This area of the curriculum was to assist students in transitions from school to job placements in the future. Vocational/manual courses were to offset those who would not prevail academically. Those who were not academically driven could develop skills suited to their tastes and capacities through vocational/manual training that could be applied in related work after schooling was finished. The modernization of Canada in the 1930?s required a higher level of industrial training and it was the duty of these courses to expand individual and moral character and consequently, create productive, competent Canadian citizens.
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individual difference was recognized as a result of new education. This is to say that students learn at different, rates, speeds and depths. Students array of intellectual, emotional and physical needs had to be accommodated. Through remedial help, peer tutoring, and class activities; pupils had an opportunity to adapt according to the class skill level in any given subject. Freedom of expression to exhibit individuality and creativity within the classroom or project was introduced in the 1930?s progressive education movement. This tactic allowed individuals to think for themselves with little restrictions placed upon the outcome. Putman and Weir believed that the success of a young person functioning productively in society greatly depended on one?s ability to critically think and problem solve ?All real education at every stage arises out of life problems. If the real education can arise only from genuine life problems, we make education easy for young people in proportion as we require them to face and solve an infinite variety of these problem? stresses The Survey. Teacher guidance was used to steer children in some direction to ensure an impartial, but positive outcome.
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However, ultimately it was the pupil?s responsibility to choose what direction to follow. Through pupil testing educators could determine the guidance students needed to be successful in their studies. A permanent feature of the new program was the implementation of scientific testing. Greatly influenced by Edward L. Thorndike, Putman and Weir opted to measure the intellectual capacities of each child. Through these tests a teacher could determine what area a student would most likely succeed or have difficulty in. The teacher could then conclude where individual pupil guidance should be assisted and where guidance should be the strongest. Putman and Weir believed that individual differences could be reduced through testing ? If these individual differences are to be provided for, the modern teacher must use scientific methods of measuring abilities, of measuring progress, of diagnosing weaknesses and failure in growth, and applying remedial treatment where needed?. Tests include a wide range of aptitude tests, standardized tests, intelligence tests, and informal diagnostic classroom tests. Results from testing would provide teacher?s with scientific information to apply to a variety of settings and new courses that had become available to students but also gave teachers an opportunity to improve teaching contemporary subjects.
As a result of the Putman and Weir Survey, new courses of study were implemented into the curricula and old ones improved. The Survey of Schools of the Greater Victoria Area (SSGV) describes reading as the fundamental subject of schooling, ?pupil?s progress in the great majority of subject-fields depends very directly upon his reading ability?. Pupils? reading ability undoubtedly led to the success of other courses therefore; reading dominated a large part of the student?s day as it had before. Although students were exposed to reading a large portion of the day, they were now responsible for dividing their time between recreational reading (on their own time), work-type reading, and factual reading. These selected types of readings were now required to compliment oral and silent reading. Material of this kind could be found in a wide variety of sources: books, text books, reference books, and supplementary readers for all subject were to be made available for students to benefit from through the Free Text Book Branch established in 1929. However, there seemed to be a lack of literature available to students and teachers for these purposes. A new series of readers was introduced to students in the 1930, The Canadian Readers, to promote progress at a specific pace according to their individual skill level.
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To What Extent Should High School Students be allowed to Exercise Freedom of Speech While on Campus I think that nowadays to deal with an issue of students free speech rights is a tough problem for High School administrators. The matter is that students free speech is protected by the First Amendment. Thus it means that students are allowed to exercise free speech while on campus. But what should ...
The new program eliminated comprehension of words that were far beyond the child?s intellect and level and replaced it with words that ?meant? something to the child. While hands on work was difficult to incorporate into the new reading curriculum, it was the sole responsibility of the teacher to take advantage of the activity interaction method of teaching, introduced by progressivism, to ensure adequate individual differences were being fulfilled. Inability of teachers to incorporate this teaching technique was heavily scorned upon by school inspectors, ??There is little excuse for their lack of knowledge of modern practice in reading?, stresses William Gray and H.H. Mackenzie. Such expectations were filtered into other subjects as well. Aspects of the spelling portion of curriculum did not exist before progressive education was implemented. The ?teach it, know it, test tomorrow? technique was no longer the basis for vocabulary or spelling education. BC?s new framework for spelling was a combination of four building blocks and is stressed in the SSGV: students were given new criteria, a grace period to learn the material and a preliminary test before the study period. Teachers were then to inform students of faults in order for the children to correct themselves. Lastly, a review period was to follow testing, a technique to ensure students learned what they had been taught (pg. 27).
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Individual difference would not be ignored and additional help for those students with lower spelling skills than that of higher skilled students was to be provided. Progress charts suggested in the SSGV were used to keep track of student progress and to keep children motivated in the subject. A 10,000-vocabulary list had been eliminated and replaced with a 4,000 list. Spelling was given ample attention in order to produce exceptional written skills from students. Increase weight was put on individual correction not only in spelling but also in writing. There was encouragement to detect and correct writing personal defects, while teachers were encouraged to promote tidiness during this process. Writing drills were expected by educators in the SSGV to maintain an acceptable standard of legibility throughout primary grades (27).
Changes within the arithmetic curriculum were centered on subject practicality. Arithmetic should develop just as other subjects do. The ability to relate mathematics to real life situations and the ability grasp mathematical concepts became more important than drill work. Contemporary arithmetic did not unite pupils? experiences and ordinary problems of everyday life on the farm, in the store, and the workshop. Significant emphasis was lifted from written work and transferred to visuals through charts, pictures, and objects. Schools were now equipped with various visual material that would benefit instruction in math. Students were expected to analyze a math problem, think constructively about the answer and come to a conclusion on their own. The same math problem was broken down into sections and attacked through oral problem solving with the involvement of the entire class. Teachers were also to include guidance, and individual difference techniques just as other courses did. The largest change within the curriculum involved nature studies and social studies. Heavy stress was put on these courses for several reasons. The first being that a child?s growth (moral and intellectual) was based on the experiences her/she endures from their environment.
Social studies and science was directly related to a child?s immediate environment. This held significant importance to educators ? to provide an understanding of the world in which we live, and to promote scientific (critical) thinking on the part of the students? explained the SSGV. The responsibility of teachers in social studies and nature science was to stimulate and develop an immaculate understanding of the environment. Through this understanding, it was the objective of these courses to equip children with the necessary skills to adapt to a changing, modern and industrial society for the future. Activities for elementary were based upon play, hands on work and health that were related to nature and the environment, people, places or things. Social studies and nature study did not follow strict guidelines on any one branch of subject but rather give a general overview of several subjects for greater exposure.
The range of courses involved with the new progressive education had a large impact on teacher competence. Teachers, as leaders, were to demonstrate worth of these courses through their instruction. Teachers were expected to teach courses with little education or background experience in new fields of study. This lack of experience created difficulties integrating new methods of teaching demanded by educators. As a result, higher teacher qualifications became mandatory. To assist teachers in the new courses of studies a variety of materials were made available to them. A variety of courses were held to improve teacher knowledge of the curriculum and many attended summer school to improve their teaching skills. Special training classes held throughout the summer covered old contemporary subjects. New subjects could be found as night classes during the school year to assist in interpreting the new courses. It was the sole responsibility of the teacher in charge to maintain the aims and new philosophies within her classroom. Applying the new principles into the classroom were also outlined and realized in a series of pamphlets issued by the Department of Education. If teachers took advantage of the availability of resources open to them educators believed that instruction, the new program and the students would benefit simultaneously ? New Curriculum has given an intellectual quickening to the teaching body which has brought freshness and vitality to their teaching?. Teachers played a large role in the interpretation of the curriculum and determined the success in the classroom.
Several obstacles directly impacted the implementation of the ?new education? and its effectiveness, in turn, made progress painfully slow. Teacher training was slow, the general public was hard to convince educational change, and a plummeting financial support of the government hampered the success of progressive education. Nevertheless, the objective of the new program was always clear. Education was a place to produce efficient, productive Canadian citizens in midst of an increasingly modern and demanding society. It is important to realize that although the education was revised on paper and in theory, it does not necessarily mean that these guidelines were being followed in the classroom at a level they should have. Overall, the changes were driven towards child-centered, activity driven courses and included individual differences through teacher guidance and pupil testing. 1.The curriculum does not differ from school to school so I have chosen to look at only Greater Victoria as a case study. British Columbia, Ministry of Education, Survey of Schools of the Greater Victoria Area (SSGV) 1938. Victoria, B.C. (1938): 9. 2. Jean Mann, ?G.M. Weir and H.B. King: Progressive Education or Education for the Progressive State??, Schooling and Society in 20th Century British Columbia. ed. Donald Wilson and David Jones. Calgary, Alberta: Detselig Enterprises Ltd., 1980): 91. 3.Nancy Sheehan, ?Education, the Society and the Curriculum in Alberta, 1905-1980: An Overview.? Nancy Sheehan,ed. Schools in the West: Essays in Canadian Educational History. Calgary: Detselig Enterprises Ltd., 1986:39-56. 3.Craig Cunningham. http://www.neiu.edu.htm?Some Notes on John Dewey (1859-1952).? 11/99. http://www.neiu.edu/~ccunning/deweynotes.htm (Feb. 22, 2000).
Nancy Sheehan?s ?Alberta, 1905-1980?, p44. T. Fleming. 1998. *http://www.educ.uvic.ca* ? Progressive Education 1890-1957?. http://www.educ.uvic.ca/depts/cmfd/pages/tfreadings/progressived1.html (2/21/00).
Timothy Dunn. ?The Rise of Mass Public Schooling in British Columbia, 1900-1929? J. Donald Wilson and Paul Stortz. ? ?May the Lord Have Mercy on You?: The Rural School Problem in British Columbia in the 1920?s?. ed. Jean Braman, Neil Sutherland and J. Donald Wilson. Children, Teachers? & Schools: The History of British Columbia. Calgary : Detselig Enterprises Ltd., 1995:211. Taken from T. Flemming Readings p5 of 9. John Dewey. The Essential Dewey. V1: Pragmatism, Education, Democracy. ed Larry Hickman and Thomas Alexander. USA: Indiana University Press, 1998. British Columbia, Ministry of Education, Survey of Schools of the Greater Victoria Area (SSGV) 1938. Victoria, B.C. (1938): 19. British Columbia, Ministry of Education. Curriculum Guides: Programme of Studies 1936. Victoria, B.C. 1936: 5. Taken from T. Flemming Readings:5/9 British Columbia, Ministry of Education. Survey of Schools of the Greater Victoria: Inspector Reports. 1936-1936:40-118. And reports from1937-8.41-65.
Jean Mann. Progressive Education: 98. H.A. Child. ?Herbert B. King, Administrative Idealist.? In Robert S. Patterson, et.al. Profiles of Canadian Educators. Canada: D.C. Health Canada Ltd, 1974: 316. Dr. Patrick Dunae. *http:www.mala.bc.ca/homeroom*?Topics:Text Book Branch? *http:www.mala.bc.ca/homeroom/textbks.htm* (2/21/00).
Shirley Cuthbertson. ?Those Memorable School-Books? 1997. http://rbcm1.rbcm.gov.bc.ca/discover/ds24495/7-schbks.html (3/4/00).
Students were originally required to ?articulate words far beyond his understanding?, hence more appropriate words were chosen that were related to the child?s everyday experiences. SSGV: 29. Quote taken from SSGV (1938) from William Gray, M.A., Municiple Inspector in N.Vancouver and H.H. Mackenzie, B.A., Inspector of Schools In Vancouver. SSGV (1938), emphasis on individual difference is clearly defined here. 20. George Deane. Inspector Report 1938-9: 59. The improvement portion of the survey suggests different methods that should be used by teachers. It is clear what math teaching should involve. SSGV: 30. Inspector reports of Greater Victoria: 1937-1938. Public School Report 1936-7: I58. Report submitted by George Deane. SSGV. General Recommendations for the Improvement of Instruction: 71. Public School Reports. 1939-40: 32. Report by H.B King. The purpose of this essay was to reveal changes in the curriculum whether they were being applied or not. I was not concerned with the lack, quality or absence of implementation of progressivism.
Bibliography:
Bibliography Axelrod, Paul. The Promise of Schooling:Education in Canada, 1800-1914. Canada: University of Toronto Press, 1999. Barman, Jean, Sutherland, Neil, Wilson, Donald ed.. Children, Teachers & Schooling: History of British Columbia. Calgary, Alberta: Detselig Enterprises Ltd., 1995. British Columbia, Ministry of Education, Survey of Schools of the Greater Victoria Area (SSGV) 1938. Victoria, B.C. (1938).
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Johnson, F. Henry. A History of Public Education in British Columbia. Victoria: Morris Printing Company Ltd. 1964. Mann, Jean. ?Schooling and Society in the 20th Century British Columbia?. Donald Wilson and David Jones. ed. Calagary, Alberta:Detselig Enterprises, Ltd. 1980. Sheehan, Nancy. ?Education, the Society and the Curriculum in Alberta, 1905-1980: An Overview.? In Nancy Sheehan, ed. Schools in the West:Essays in Canadian Educational History. Calgary: Detselig Enterprises Ltd., 1986:39-556. T. Fleming. 1998. ? Progressive Education 1890-1957?. http://www.educ.uvic.ca/depts/cmfd/pages/tfreadings/progressived1.html (2/21/00).
Wilson, Donald, and Paul Stortz. ? ?May the Lord Have Mercy on You?: The Rural School Problem in British Columbia in the 1920?s?. ed. Jean Braman, Neil Sutherland and J. Donald Wilson. Children, Teachers? & Schools: The History of British Columbia. Calgary : Detselig Enterprises Ltd., 1995:211.
