History of the Canadian Educational System

Introduction

The system of education that existed in precolonial Canada was the “traditional community based socialization”, an informal education practised by the aboriginals. Prior to colonization in the 1600s the traditional education that existed among the indigenous population was replaced with formal Euro-Canadian education (Stonechild 2006, 127). During the French regime of colonization as the first European settlers in Canada, the Catholic church with the backing of the French government established the petites écoles was the first means of formal education introduced into the country (Gaffield 2013). However, after the British conquest in 1756, the Canadian educational system evolved through a number of phases and birth the public school system, accepted the universal elementary education in every province of the country and spread secondary education to children in local communities” (Windsor 1959, 167).

Points of Convergence

According to the articles reviewed by these authors, the introduction of public school systems into the Canadian education was to train the younger generation to become better citizens by acquiring skills, attitude and behaviours that would enhance political freedom and independence while bridging the social inequality gap that existed. In Clara Morgan’s article, the public school system was created “to make future generations better than the existing ones through school organization and discipline” (Morgan 2011, 133) According to Kenneth Windsor’s review, “education had become a necessary concomitant of political liberty”. The haul of freedom was progressing and education had to develop as fast as liberty to avoid confusion in the state (Windsor 1959, 168). In Chad Gaffield’s article, “the motive behind the public school system was to inculcate political and social attitudes, appropriate habits and proper value to children” ( Gaffield 2013).

Points of Divergence

The review of these articles however disagreed with the assimilation of indigenous children into formal education as it the approach used wasn’t favourable and several of those children (approximately 6,000) died at the residential schools which eventually caused imbalance, trauma, disruption and social insecurity among the indigenous population. Chad stated how the introduction of formal education affected the indigenous population, in his article “ there was a persistence from the Canadian educators to assimilate the indigenous population into Canada’s culture by forcefully separating indigenous children from their parents and making them stay in residential schools which eliminated the children’s culture and traumatized them”, (Gaffield 2013). Additionally, Clara in her article, stated “the importance of improving the educational outcomes of aboriginal students as the imbalance and social inequality that exists among the population has been the root cause of low incomes and higher unemployment rate among the indigenous population (Morgan 2011,147)

Critical Assessment

From my critical point of view, Morgan in her article addressed the historical evolution of Canada’s system of education, in Gaffield’s article, he gave an overview of Canada’s education and also addressed the functions and challenges of the country’s educational system. In Windsor’s review, he analyzed the phases of development of education in Canada and achievements attained.

Conclusion

The Canadian educational system has evolved from being religious based institutions to become fully overseen by the provincial government with exceptions in some provinces. The structure of the Canadian educational system in now staged at the early childhood, elementary, secondary and tertiary education.