The most difficult issues in Canadian educational history have largely been around how schools would respond to the population diversity that has always characterized Canada, even before it came into being as a single political entity. Disagreements about the role of language and religion in schooling, and the extent, to which a single system of education could be imposed, have been among the most heated political issues throughout Canadian history. Compromises over and protections for religion and language in schools were at the heart of the bargain of Confederation in the 1860s. The Manitoba Schools Question in the 1890s created a national crisis and may have changed the outcome of a key national election. Nor have these issues receded in more recent years. The full funding of Catholic schools in Ontario in 1984, the change in the Quebec system from religious to linguistic in the 1990s, and the constitutional amendment around religious schools in Newfoundland in 1996 show the continuing prominence of these issues.
In recent years educational concerns about diversity have broadened beyond the longstanding issues of official languages and religions. The appropriate organization and governance of Aboriginal education, in First Nations and in urban areas, has been a subject of growing concern especially since 1970. The declaration of Canada as a multicultural society was part of increasing attention to the place of Canada’s large immigrant and ethnic minority population. The rise of feminism throughout the 20th century brought a focus on creating equal opportunities for girls and women. And the normalization movement beginning in the 1960s, followed by a great deal of political lobbying and litigation, brought many controversies about how to accommodate the needs of people with disabilities. In all these cases we have witnessed a great deal of conflict over what schools ought to do and how they ought to do it. No matter what one’s views on these various issues, it would be impossible to write a history of Canadian education without giving questions of diversity a prominent place.
Diversity of Educational Systems in Canada (Presentation)
Next, I would like to spark a discussion: Public versus Private education.
I want you to listen a lecture by His Excellency John Ralston Saul on the subject of "In Defense of Public Education". His thoughtful analysis of the foundations and objectives of Canada's public education system and his philosophic understanding of the intimate relationship between Canada's public schools and Canadian democracy requires serious consideration by policy makers and citizens alike.
Most people believe that compulsory education was invented to educate. But here is an interesting fact: compulsory education and factory’s made their appearance around the same time. Factory’s came but the people rejected this kind of degrading work at first, working in factory’s was thought of being similar to slave labour and nothing a gentleman (the system started in England) should do. They could not change the adult people to accept the work in factory’s but they could create a system which would condition the next generation to think of this kind of work as normal; compulsory schooling. That’s how it started, Prussia and England were the first places, from their it came to the Soviet union were Marxist principles were added and this system than found it’s way to the US - thanks to the Rockefeller foundation. And fallowing World War II they have started to re-import it to Europe were the people are now blown with this kind of Neo-Marxist indoctrination which does not really educate.
Most people believe that compulsory education was invented to educate. But here is an interesting fact: compulsory education and factory’s made their appearance around the same time. Factory’s came but the people rejected this kind of degrading work at first, working in factory’s was thought of being similar to slave labour and nothing a gentleman (the system started in England) should do. They could not change the adult people to accept the work in factory’s but they could create a system which would condition the next generation to think of this kind of work as normal; compulsory schooling. That’s how it started, Prussia and England were the first places, from their it came to the Soviet union were Marxist principles were added and this system than found it’s way to the US - thanks to the Rockefeller foundation. And fallowing World War II they have started to re-import it to Europe were the people are now blown with this kind of Neo-Marxist indoctrination which does not really educate.
Listen John Taylor Gatto, an American retired school teacher and author of several books on education, and what he has say about compulsory schooling and why it is bad.
And here is "A "Schoolhouse Rock"-inspired look at the origins of the American education system, which I believe always has an influence on ours.
So, while some of you may still agrue that the public education should be compulsory, here is another question. Should the religion and education be together or separate?
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