Significant Developments in Local School Systems: Ontario's Educative Society, Volume VI 9781487595340

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Significant developments in local school systems This volume deals with innovative developments of many different kinds in the local school systems in the years up to 1970. Information was obtained from a sampling of school boards, including the largest. The major purpose is to show what may be expected from an educational organization that gives local authorities a certain amount of leeway to depart from standard procedures. Innovations in teaching, curricular experimentation, changes in the structure and use of school buildings, and the growth of special services are fully covered. W.G. FLEMING studied at Queen's University and the University of Toronto (MEd, Ed D). He has taught elementary (1941-3) and high school (1948-54) and was principal of an intermediate school in the province of Quebec (1943-5). He joined the faculty of the University of Toronto in 1954 and since that time has been a researcher and instructor in the graduate school. He was assistant director of the Department of Educational Research from 1962 to 1966 and was the first coordinator of research and assistant director of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. At present he is professor of education at the University of Toronto and at OISE. He has travelled widely, studying and making recommendations on educational planning, and other matters.

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ONTARIO'S EDUCATIVE SOCIETY / VI

Significant developments in local school systems W.G. FLEMING

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS

©University of Toronto Press 1972 Toronto and Buffalo Printed in Canada Volume vi ISBN 0-8020-3272-9 Complete set (8 volumes) ISBN 0-8020-3284-2 Microfiche ISBN 0-8020-0079-7 LC 77-166928

Preface

The Ontario school system has been characterized by a shif ting relationship between central control and local responsibility. Certain aspects of this relationship were considered in terms of their historical development in volume n. Brief attention was given to the gradual imposition of the authority of the Department of Education during the middle years of the nineteenth century. It is commonly assumed that the exercise of departmental powers reached a high point toward the end of the century, and that central control did not begin to decline in any major respect until the 1930s. One of the outstanding developments of the 1960s was the completion of the reorganization of local administrative units which had been encouraged during much, although not all, of the time since the 1940s, and the bestowal of increased powers on them, particularly with respect to the so-called interna of education, by which is meant the real business of the schools, as compared with the structural aspects of the system. The one major and obvious exception to the general policy of decentralization was of course the provincial government's increased assumption of responsibility for the financing of education. Whether the province could avoid the pressure for a closer accounting for the expenditure of funds at the local level, and thus a reversal of certain aspects of decentralization, was a question of considerable interest in the early 1970s. There is no question that the larger systems have shown the greatest tendency to exert initiative and to innovate. One obvious reason is of course that they have been in the best financial position to do so. The story of the development of the provincial grant system, which was recounted in chapter 8 of volume n, showed that, although boards were subsidized in inverse relationship to the taxable resources to which they had access, equality in spending power was far from being attained. The smaller systems which became largely dependent on funds from the provincial government were not ordinarily able to operate their schools above a modest standard. Even the stimulation grants provided for specific purposes did not enable them to offer a wide range of extra services. Large systems, which until January 1, 1969 were primarily urban, have indisputably been able to attract more than their share of good teachers, consultants, and administrators. Despite the attractions of life in a small community for some people, the majority are willing to tolerate the

vi Preface

expense, the rush, and the noise of city living for the sake of the action, the cultural amenities, and the opportunities for advancement. It would take considerable financial advantage for the smaller systems - an advantage that no one has ever seriously proposed to provide - to balance the distribution of professional talent across the province. The urban areas will probably always have certain kinds of built-in advantages, and thus will be relatively well endowed with the human resources required to innovate. Large urban systems have the greatest challenge to modify educational practices and to provide new services. Not only does the general pace of change tend to be most rapid hi the city, but there are also inclined to be startling changes between one section and another within a period of a very few years. A certain area becomes a victim of urban blight, another is suddenly taken over by a concentration of immigrants belonging to a particular national group, another is transformed after rezoning from a neighbourhood of single-family dwellings to one of apartments, a sparsely settled area on the outskirts is subdivided and filled with middle class families. Expansion in itself provides opportunities for innovation hi that there are no old school buildings in the newly developed sections, and, if the architect does not have unlimited opportunities to implement his fancies, there is reasonable scope for adopting fresh approaches. Over a period of comparatively few years, there have also been substantial changes in smaller communities. For the most part, these have not been of a type to encourage an innovative educational response. A static or declining population means that many of the more restless, energetic, and capable citizens have departed, perhaps along with numbers at the other extreme who have been lured by the prospect of city welfare. The age group to which parents of school-age children belong is likely to be the most depleted. Thus the demand for improved educational opportunities tends to be at a minimum. Up to a certain point, size in itself promotes and facilitates various types of initiatives. This theory, at any rate, has been cited to justify the consolidation of the school systems in 1969. When numbers of pupils reach a certain point, it becomes practical to try to deal with some of the more unusual types of disabilities and handicaps. A wider range of consultants and other specialized personnel may be employed. In a more varied milieu, fresh ideas may be expected to flourish. The extent to which they actually do depends on a variety of additional factors such as, for example, the willingness of the boards to go outside for appointments to key administrative positions. The present volume deals with innovative developments of many different kinds in the years up to the early 1970s in the local school systems. For the reasons mentioned, they have occurred chiefly hi the large urban systems. If smaller systems, which until the 1969 reorganization covered

Preface vii

a major proportion of the province, are not given a great deal of attention, it is because they have been for the most part content to follow the beaten track, or unable to depart from it. With the formation of the larger divisional boards, it is to be expected that the systems with a history of devising "lighthouse" projects will to some extent constitute models for widespread emulation. It is to be hoped as well that the new boards will also find areas in which to make their own distinctive contributions. The present volume is not based on a complete survey of noteworthy, unusual, or interesting practices throughout Ontario. No claim is made that every project or activity worth reporting has been identified. Nor can there be any assurance that the original, pioneer example of a particular practice, or the best existing illustration, has been included. Only a sample of boards, including most of the largest, was approached, either directly or indirectly, for relevant information. The response, as might be expected, varied considerably. In some cases, substantial quantities of well documented material were made available. In others, educational officials were not persuaded that the dividends from publicizing their activities justified the effort that would have been required to assemble the information. It is increasingly obvious that administrators have been approached so often with requests for data, whether for justifiable or frivolous purposes, that some of them have built up considerable resistance to anything but mandatory official requests. Further, some officials seem to have given little thought to the distinction between routine activities governed by legislation and regulations on the one hand and genuine local initiatives and innovations on the other. Thus anything but a series of very specific requests sometimes met with little positive response despite evidence of good will and a desire to assist. During some of the writer's visits, especially to places where quite small systems had been newly combined, it became clear that there was indeed little to report that might be of general interest. A major purpose of the volume, transcending the importance of recording specific activities, is to show what may be expected from an educational organization that gives local authorities a certain amount of leeway to depart from standard procedures. There are few Canadians who would take a stand in favour of handing over control of the whole structure for formal education to a provincial, let alone a federal, government. Yet there are many who are willing to support specific measures, often on the basis of efficiency or a fair distribution of the burden of local taxation, which would contribute to the same end. It is thus particularly important that citizens understand some of the positive results that have accrued from local initiative, and some of the advantages that may be derived from it in the future. If a decision is then made to reverse the attempt of the Conservative government of Ontario to strengthen local systems, it will at least be made on the basis of evidence.

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Acknowledgments

I am deeply indebted to the Honourable William G. Davis, Minister of Education and of University Affairs at the time of writing, for providing me the full co-operation of his departments in the production of the series of volumes constituting ONTARIO'S EDUCATIVE SOCIETY. In this task I was given access to all pertinent material in the two departments under his direction. His officials at the time of writing, headed by Dr J.R. McCarthy, Deputy Minister of Education, and Dr E.E. Stewart, Deputy Minister of University Affairs, were also extraordinarily cooperative and helpful. I am particularly grateful to these officials for enabling me to pursue the work in a way that most appeals to a member of the university community: that is, I was completely free to choose, present, and interpret the facts according to my own best judgment. I did not feel the slightest pressure to adapt or modify the material in any way so as to present an "official" version of educational developments in Ontario. As a consequence, I am completely responsible for any opinions or interpretations of the facts that the work contains. The generous assistance for the project provided by the Ontario government, without which publication would have been impossible, does not involve any responsibility for the contents. I would like to express my particular gratitude to those who assisted me so devotedly in the project: Miss L. McGuire, my loyal secretary, who served from the time the work began in the spring of 1968, Mrs E. West, who also served with extraordinary devotion and competence during most of the same period, and Mrs S. Constable, Miss D. McDowell, and Mrs G.J. Moore, each of whom participated during an extended period. Mr C.H. Westcott, who served as Executive Assistant to the Minister of Education and University Affairs, gave me continuous encouragement and helped to deal with practical problems relating to production and publication. Particularly helpful advice and information were given by Dr C.A. Brown, Professor E.B. Hideout, and Dr J.A. Keddy. Arrangements by Dr G.E. Flower to relieve me of the majority of my other professional obligations during most of a three-year period are also greatly appreciated. In addition, I would like to acknowledge my general indebtedness to the hundreds of people who supplied infor-

x Acknowledgments

mation so willingly in a variety of forms. That I am unable to name them all individually does not mean that I am any the less grateful for their contributions. W.G. FLEMING

July 1971

Contents

PREFACE / V ACKNOWLEDGMENTS / ÍX 1

Approaches to teaching / 1 2 Curricular experimentation, research, and innovation / 54 3

Buildings and facilities / 118 4 Distinctive schools /129 5 Extended use of school facilities / 154 6 Administration and operation of school systems and schools / 177 7 Special services, classes, and schools / 203 8 Education for employment / 240 9 Research / 244 10 In-service teacher education / 270

xii Contents

11

Centennial celebrations / 282 Notes / 286 Contents of volumes in ONTARIO'S EDUCATIVE SOCIETY / 293 General index / 297 Index of persons / 305

ONTARIO'S EDUCATIVE SOCIETY / VI

Significant developments in local school systems

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ONE

Approaches to teaching

INTRODUCTION

Major innovations in leading Ontario schools during the late 1960s centred around a more flexible, pupil-centred, and permissive approach to classroom organization and teaching. Some of the key expressions were "individualized instruction," "continuous progress," "self-directed study," "experience program," "open classroom," and various synonyms thereof. These changes involved a number of elements such as teacher planning, teacher performance in the classroom, curriculum content, timetabling, the use of equipment, materials, and media, and the physical environment. These elements were introduced in different combinations and patterns from one school to another. In some cases one feature seemed to be clearly most worthy of notice. In others, where several features competed for special attention, it was difficult to select the most appropriate heading under which to classify the example. The decision made was necessarily somewhat subjective and arbitrary. It may well be that some of those who were actually on the scene may feel that a feature of secondary importance was selected for emphasis. It is to be hoped that they will accept the legitimacy of more than one point of view. In some cases where classification under a specific heading threatened to do serious injustice to a broadly innovative program, a specific example was classified under "innovative schools." INDIVIDUALIZED PROGRAMS

Various concepts of individualized instruction were considered hi volume in, chapter 3. Some of the earlier arrangements to which this term was applied involved grouping pupils with similar capacities and interests and offering the group opportunities to advance more regularly and smoothly than the once-a-year promotion scheme made possible. In recent years the program has been regarded as being truly individualized only if each child engages hi a set of educational activities tailored to meet his own particular needs. Like many other educational concepts, this one may be regarded as an ideal which local systems and schools may strive to attain but which, in the nature of things, they may realize only imperfectly.

2 Significant developments in local school systems

The unit system in elementary schools Hamilton school system The schools of Hamilton were the first hi Ontario to adopt the unit system of promotion, which was introduced in 1939. Although falling short of the concept of individualized instruction, this system made better provision for slow and rapid learners than did procedures prevailing in schools operated according to the usual pattern. The program in each of the first six grades was organized in three units. A child who completed the work of one unit proceeded to the next, although remaining in the same classroom with the same teacher for an entire year. The more rapid learners might cover four or five units in one year while the slow learners completed as few as two units. After a child had gone three or more units beyond the average, he might be said to have skipped a grade, although he had not missed any work along the way, as happened in the usual process of grade skipping. If a child who was capable of doing four units a year was not properly identified until he was at the unit 10 level, he might still complete grades 4 to 7 inclusive in three years. Those who made normal progress and covered three units hi a year earned unit promotions at Christmas and Easter; those who advanced more rapidly earned promotions at the end of November, January, April, and June; and those who moved more slowly earned promotions at the end of January and June. Classes were reorganized at the end of June in preparation for September. An effort was made to set up classes with a spread of one to three sequential units. If the children in the lower unit were more rapid learners than those in the higher unit, the class would tend to become more homogeneous as the year progressed. For example, a combination of bright unit 9 children and average unit 10 children would be expected to complete unit 12 by the end of June. In practice, this kind of arrangement was not always possible. Some of the smaller schools had to put a wider spread of units in each class. A group consisting of bright, average, and slow learners would tend to pull apart during the course of the year. Some difficult decisions had to be made at the time of unit promotions, particularly in June, because individual children had often reached a different level of achievement in each of the key subject areas. A particular child might, for example, be able to read at the unit 11 level, spell satisfactorily at the unit 10 level, but do arithmetic only at the unit 9 level. The scheme might not be sufficiently flexible to give him optimal placement in all three areas. Each child's progress was re-assessed during the year, and changes were made in grouping if they seemed desirable. Adaptations of teaching methods to the unit system differed widely according to the subject. Reading material varied in difficulty, with more thought-provoking questions for the brighter pupils. Each group within the limits of a single grade had the same spelling, but methods differed

Approaches to teaching 3

according to the capacity of the learners. While there was a good deal of class instruction in arithmetic with material of a common nature, there were arrangements for special help for those with particular difficulties. The identification of pupils who were capable of undertaking the accelerated program depended partly on group tests of ability administered hi grades 1,4, and 7. In addition, candidates for the program were usually given individual tests. Other factors taken into account were a high rate of achievement, good attitudes, and industriousness. Those who proved unable to do the normal three units were studied with equal care so that they might be placed where they could be challenged to do their best work. It was the general policy, although there were exceptions, to permit only one three-year period of acceleration during the elementary school years. One study demonstrated that 10.7 per cent of the pupils hi the first six grades did four units during the previous school year, 69.8 per cent did three units, 14.1 per cent did two units, 4.5 per cent did one unit, and 1.0 per cent did none. According to a report made in 1961-2, of those grade 8 pupils who had had all their formal education in Hamilton schools, 21.2 per cent had taken the accelerated course and covered the eight grades in seven years, 49.0 per cent had covered them in eight years, and 30.0 per cent had taken a longer period. An assessment by an anonymous educator, made before recent concepts of continuous progress had become generally recognized, was highly favourable. The Unit System has over the years proved its worth. An opportunity has been provided for every child to experience steady and continuous educational progress from unit to unit as his rate of achievement indicates. It challenges every pupil to do his best by making it possible for him to enjoy the satisfaction of accomplishment. An opportunity is offered, to those whose education had been interrupted, to make the necessary adjustment and reach the proper placement on the educational ladder as soon as possible. This is an advantage to those who have been ill for long periods, to immigrants from Europe and to those who move into our system from other parts of the country. According to the writer of this appraisal, the chief difficulty had to do with the identification of those who were capable of acceleration. There were a great many factors affecting the learning rate, such as home life, health, frequency of transfers from one school to another, social and emotional factors, sibling rivalries, and parents with too much or too little ambition. A later re-examination of the unit system in the Primary and Junior divisions grew out of discussions at meetings of principals. In January 1967 a special principals' conference was held at which the history, philosophy, and characteristics of the system were examined, some searching questions were answered, and further study was recommended. A steering

4 Significant developments in local school systems

committee was formed to direct the study, and an appeal was made to the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education for qualified people to visit six schools, make observations, engage in discussions with staff, pupils, and parents, and deliver a report on their findings. As a result of its preliminary activities, the steering committee became convinced that a study of the unit system of promotion should not be conducted in isolation, but that there should be an examination of the philosophy and practice of all aspects of education in the primary and junior schools. A series of principals' conferences was thereupon arranged to enable the participants to consider team teaching, open-space classrooms, and other innovations. In the fall of 1968 they heard the results of the OISE study of the unit system, and at a later session were addressed by Lloyd Dennis on the philosophy of the report of the Provincial Committee on Aims and Objectives. While these conferences were being held, there were discussions of the same topics at area principals' meetings. Attention was given to experiments being undertaken in various Hamilton schools to evaluate new approaches. A new emphasis in evaluating, recording, and reporting pupil progress was developed in harmony with circular pi Jl issued by the Department of Education. The steering committee met early in 1969 to outline the last phase of its work. It was decided that teachers, principals, supervisors, consultants, inspectors, and assistant superintendents must co-operate to bring together their findings and to conduct whatever further studies were considered necessary. Two sub-committees were formed: the primary school study committee and the junior school study committee. Each of these subcommittees planned to meet at least half a day each month, to get the benefit of the experience of outstanding educators in Canada and the United States, to appropriate books and periodicals, and to visit other systems for discussion and observations. As of 1971 the unit system remained under study. Ottawa school system A continuous progress scheme was initiated on an experimental basis in the primary division hi sixteen public schools in Ottawa in 1957, and adopted throughout the system in 1960. According to this scheme all primary classes were divided into three groups, and pupils in each group were promoted to the next grade when they had completed the required work. The brightest pupils were found to be ready for promotion after seven or eight months, the middle group after a year, and the slower group after a period of between thirteen months and two years. In September each group had a short period of consolidation and review, and then proceeded from where it had left off the previous June. A change of teachers did not interfere with the continuous progress of the group. The cumulative effect of the differing rates of progress was that the

Approaches to teaching 5

bright pupils completed the work of the first four grades in three years, the average pupils completed it in four years, and a substantial number of the slower pupils completed it in five years. Most of those who required even longer were recognized as being candidates for special education, and were usually transferred to auxiliary classes in their second or third school year. There were arrangements for transferring a particular child from one group to another if it became evident that there had been an initial error in placement or if his rate of achievement showed any great change. Continuous progress in elementary schools North York school system The North York system gave individual public school principals a good deal of responsibility for deciding when they and their staffs were ready for innovations such as non-grading. By 1964-5 twelve schools had adopted this scheme in some form. The essential element was that no time factor was associated with progression as it was with the traditional graded organization or the unit system. There was no accounting in June on the basis of the year's work. Accompanying the introduction of continuous development programs was a change in the method of reporting progress. A revised report card indicated the child's achievement in relation to his own growth potential and his mastery of skills at his own level of development rather than how he stood in relation to the rest of the class. In the North York system, non-grading or continuous development programs were not considered to be the only way of providing for the child's individual needs. Teachers were expected to supply different kinds of learning experiences even for a single child. Materials were provided that could be handled independently. Pupils were encouraged to go to the library or resource centre to find information or to learn by discovery. Field trips were considered an important contribution toward meeting the same objectives. Kingston school system For a considerable number of years Kingston followed a unit system hi grades 1 to 4 which resulted in the acceleration of about 25 per cent of the pupils. The rate of retardation, however, was almost the same percentage between grade 2 and grade 8. The system was criticized on the grounds that it did not promote an understanding of how to deal with the frustration and loss of confidence and self-respect of those who failed. During 1966-7 a committee of teachers undertook a study of ungraded programs for continuous progress, visited schools where such programs were in operation, and arranged for limited trials in local schools toward the end of the school year. A decision was made to introduce the program at the

6 Significant developments in local school systems

kindergarten and the first year primary level at Centennial and Macdonald public schools. As interpreted in these schools, continuous progress emphasized continuity and gave the teacher and pupils more freedom to work creatively. They were encouraged to use books regardless of the grade level for which these were considered appropriate. The teacher was not held to a formal plan or a rigid time schedule, but was enabled to adapt the program to the child's needs and interests. The children were exposed to a wide variety of materials, and were encouraged to explore and discover, while at the same time being given specific help to develop the necessary basic skills. While the teacher worked with a small group or an individual child, other children were engaged in a variety of planned activities designed to extend their experiences. Each child had opportunities for individual conferences with the teacher, for involvement in group lessons, and for his own "research." He might be encouraged to type his own stories, to review filmstrips, or to listen to recordings. After visiting Centennial School, a reporter for the Queen's Journal reported his impressions hi that publication in February 1967. The article began with the astonishing statement that a grade 2 teacher had "thrown out the lecture method." It is rather hard to picture a teacher capable of introducing a major innovation attempting to handle a class in that manner. In any case, the children were exploring and discovering things for themselves while the teacher was acting as a guide. The class was divided into work groups consisting of about five children each. They worked on a particular project for as long as they were interested - usually about half an hour, and then tackled another. The teacher placed cards on the project table indicating the problems which the children attempted to solve. At one table, for example, they looked at slides of the Arctic, read books about Eskimos, and then discussed their findings. It is somewhat of a mystery how a significant amount of effort could be made in all these areas within half an hour. In the science corner, members of a group lay on the floor with jars trying to reproduce the rotation of the sun, moon, and earth. Their reading led them, as if by accident, to the idea of an eclipse. At certain times, pupils might choose to write a story, select a poem they wanted to learn, or read books at leisure. Among the skills they were acquiring were typing and mimeographing. The teacher played what appeared superficially to be a very passive role, avoiding interference with the groups, and taking part only when asked a question. The children were responsible for their own self-discipline. At the back of the room there were discipline sheets on which each child indicated which of the following statements applied to him: 1 /1 am not behaving; 2 / 1 cannot accept responsibility; 3/1 have not completed my work. Anecdotal report cards had replaced the more traditional form of letter grading.

Approaches to teaching 7

Extended choice of subjects in Elizabeth Simcoe Public School, Scarborough A rather cautious move toward increased pupil choice was reported from Elizabeth Simcoe Public School in Scarborough in 1968-9. While pupils in grade 7 and 8 followed the regular course during most of the week, every Thursday afternoon they were allowed to select subjects not on the regular curriculum. The idea was to give them an opportunity to assume greater responsibility for their own program. Among the available options were photography, script-writing, tape recording and editing, ceramics, dramatics, chess, and tumbling and gymnastics. The most popular subject among the boys was cooking, while the girls preferred learning to become assistant teachers in lower grades, with crafts a close second. The pupils studied one subject for five weeks and then moved on to another. Instruction was given by the teachers with special hobby interests in the subjects. Among the advantages cited by the principal, H.W. Stevenson, was that more teachers and pupils became mutually acquainted. Stevenson expressed the opinion that some of the compulsory subjects hi the regular program should be made optional to enable pupils who could not handle certain subjects to succeed at something else. Individualized program in Cedarbrook Public School, Scarborough The transfer of intermediate level pupils to a new senior school in 1968 provided an appropriate opportunity for the reorganization of Cedarbrook Public School, Scarborough, on an ungraded basis the following year. After a year's operation, the effectiveness of the scheme was evaluated before a decision was made to continue along the same lines hi 1970-1. An account of the experience was presented by A.H. Waters and R. Stevens at the Twelfth Annual Conference of the Ontario Educational Research Council in 1970.1 Initial plans for the new organization were worked out by a committee consisting of the principal, two vice-principals, and a curriculum chairman. The scheme was then passed on to the eight grade chairmen, who received it favourably and consulted the teachers at their respective grade levels. At a general teachers' meeting, questions were answered and approval was registered. After authorization to proceed was obtained from higher administrative levels, parents were invited to meet to discuss the plan in detail. Those who were unable to attend received an explanatory booklet. Further details were worked out by staff curriculum committees in co-operation with subject specialists. The pupils were grouped in four teams at the junior and four at the primary level, hi addition to the two kindergarten classes. Each team consisted of about a hundred pupils covering an age span of about three years. A teaching team was made up of three teachers, one of whom was designated as the captain; each teacher had an opportunity to indicate whether

8 Significant developments in local school systems

or not he was happy with his placement. Teaching teams met for a fifteen minute period once a week during school hours to discuss the puplis and the program. Provision was made for modification of the plan during the year in the light of the teachers' criticisms. Near the end of the year the responsibility for developing evaluation procedures was placed in the hands of a committee consisting of eight teachers, two parents, two research consultants, and the area superintendent. This committee decided that it would be necessary to determine achievement trends in the basic skill subjects by administering tests over a period of several years. Questionnaires were also given to teachers, parents, and pupils. The assistance of researcher R. Stevens of the Scarborough Board of Education was obtained in the handling of data and the compilation of a report. Recipients of the questionnaires were asked to respond anonymously on the assumption that such an approach would yield data of maximum validity. Questionnaires were completed by 28 teachers, 529 parents (52.1 per cent of those to whom forms were sent), and 690 pupils. The general reaction of the teachers involved was overwhelmingly favourable: all of them preferred the ungraded system. Parents, although less enthusiastic, were inclined to be favourably disposed; 56.1 per cent rated the new organization as good and 12.3 per cent considered it excellent, while 25.1 per cent thought it fair and 6.5 per cent unsatisfactory. A majority of the teachers saw an improvement in the behaviour of individual pupils and in the school as a whole but, paradoxically, as many thought the behaviour of the class as a unit was poorer as thought it improved. Perhaps they were evaluating pupil behaviour in terms of purposeful activity and that of the class in terms of noise level or the appearance of order. Most parents saw no change in their children's behaviour, although the minority reporting an improvement was greater than that observing deterioration. About two thirds of the teachers thought achievement had improved, while 11.1 per cent saw no change and 22.2 per cent thought there was a decline. Parents' views on this issue appeared to be quite similar. Over 85 per cent of the pupils thought they had learned at least as much under the ungraded system as under that existing earlier, and over 70 per cent found it easier to learn in the new system. A considerable majority thought they had been helped by changing classes, but nearly hah* still preferred the familiarity and stability of a single classroom. Temporary abandonment of grade structure for a class project at North Bendale Junior School, Scarborough In June 1970 McLeod, Dilling, and Stevens reported on a two-week project in which pupils from grades 1 to 6 inclusive abandoned their regular class structure to work together.2 A major objective of the project was to develop pupil awareness of Japan and its culture. The planners defined six

Approaches to teaching 9

specific aims as a basis for working out the program and evaluating the results: 1 / to foster staff co-operation hi planning and teaching; 2 / to foster an appreciation of new approaches to teaching, 3 / to develop positive teacher attitudes with respect to (a) conditions of teaching and learning, (b) ability, interest, and sociability of pupils, and (c) innovations in schools; 4 / to involve pupils with others of different ages and with different teachers; 5 / to foster an appreciation of new approaches to learning; and 6 / to develop positive attitudes in pupils toward school, teachers, and school work. The acquisition of knowledge was not considered to be a major purpose. The area of study had five subdivisions: social studies, science, art, music, and physical education, each of which was further subdivided. Individual pupils at the junior level were paired with pupils at the primary level to study two of the subdivisions. Pupils were rotated from one classroom to another throughout the project. While kindergarten children remained hi their classrooms, they also studied Japan during the selected period. The regular timetable was abandoned in favour of periods of one and one-half hours in length. The first day was devoted to orientation, including specifically an introductory lesson on Japan and a talk and film presented by a member of the Japanese community. The next two days, which constituted a second phase, involved an introductory lesson in each of the five subdivisions, and the pupils made their choice of "électives" to be studied within those subdivisions. There was some restriction on the number of choices of a particular kind that could be made because of the need to make the best possible use of staff and physical facilities. During the third phase, lasting for the remaining seven days, pupils spent two of the three working periods of the day attending classes dealing with their preferred elective, and the remaining period dealing with their second choice. Teachers chose the area and elective they preferred to teach. Volunteer assistance was welcomed from parents and visitors were encouraged to wander about the school and offer suggestions. Six measuring devices were employed as part of the evaluation procedure: a teacher questionnaire, a pupil questionnaire (people), a pupil questionnaire (school work), a pupil questionnaire (about my school), diaries kept by the pupils, and visitors' comments. Questionnaires were completed only by pupils from grades 2 to 6; those in grade 1 would have required an inordinate amount of teacher assistance. The report on the project included a considerable number of findings and related observations, a few of the most interesting of which are summarized here. While the project definitely required an increase in staff co-operation, there was no way of deducing from the results whether the teachers had developed a more co-operative attitude. There was some increase in new teaching techniques and an ulerease in utilization of the resources centre. Primary teachers and those responsible for mixed groups

10 Significant developments in local school systems

felt that their pupils would benefit from a less rigid supervisory structure, while junior-level teachers were less convinced. There were increases in the numbers both of those who were very interested and those who had little interest in learning. A similar phenomenon was observed among those who worked very well and those who worked very poorly with others. Teachers thought work standards had improved, discipline had deteriorated slightly, and their own work standards had remained the same. Several facets of pupils' opinions were recorded, some favourable and some unfavourable. The response of parents was considered quite gratifying. On the whole, the project was considered a reasonable success. Individualized study programs in secondary schools The concept of individualized instruction was not carried as far in the secondary as in the elementary schools, and perhaps could not be expected to be, in view of the greater complexity of curriculum organization. Considerable progress was, however, made in breaking up subject content into units at different levels of difficulty, and in permitting the student to fashion a program from his own individual selection of units. For the most part, instruction continued to be provided for groups, and individual projects played a less important role than in the more advanced elementary schools. Nelson A. Boylen Secondary School, North York In the March 1969 issue of the Bulletin of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, H.W.B. Hyland and R.C. Brock described the independent study program as it operated at the Nelson A. Boylen Secondary School in North York during the school year 1968-9.3 The same two educators had examined other independent study programs in New York, Chicago, and Baltimore. The introduction of the program at then" school had involved two preliminary studies hi preparation for it. One of these, reported in June 1966, dealt with the effects of permissive attendance in grade 12 history in the final term on examination results, and the other, reported hi May 1968, involved a seven-week preparation course for graduating two-year students. Independent study was defined as "a programme which provides students who are academically competent and mature with facilities to study in breadth and depth hi an environment where they can conduct thenstudies with the maximum amount of self-direction." Included among the "learning resources" which the students might consult were the program co-ordinator, department heads, teachers, and the program academic adviser. The program was not a privilege reserved for the most able students, but was considered beneficial for those with lower academic abilities as well. During the first phase of the program, the department head consulted

Approaches to teaching 11

his teachers to determine what grades, courses, and sections of courses would be involved. The geography department, which was concentrating on outdoor education at the time, did not participate in 1968-9. The guidance department conducted a program entitled Search and Find to take advantage of student interest in a particular vocation. A student who demonstrated such an interest was encouraged to make an appointment to visit a business firm or a professional man in order to carry out an investigation into the nature of the work. He took with him a school portable tape recorder in order to record the conversation, which was later played back to the class and provided the basis for a discussion. All mathematics classes were given an introduction to computing, after which they could continue with an independent study program in which they used the IBM materials and booklets on algorithms. There was also a program of independent study in depth at the more advanced levels to supplement regular class work. Participating students kept a diary to show how their time was used. In the commercial secretarial program in grades 11 and 12, shorthand tapes and additional workbooks enabled students to work independently at vocabulary and speed-building programs at their own level of achievement. The channeling of tapes through steno laboratory equipment made it possible for some students to develop shorthand at their own level while others worked on vocabulary and improved their knowledge of theory, with each working independently of the others in the same classroom. Freed from the necessity of dictating, writing vocabulary on the board, and other such activities, the teacher could observe the progress of individual students and provide remedial assistance where it was required. In physics the existing laboratory investigation method was extended to enable students to do longer and more sophisticated experiments. The physical appearance of the laboratory was changed by the construction of more working surfaces, a workshop with tools, and a filing area for reports. The program was designed to equip the student with the specific skills he needed to work on his own. In chemistry students were allowed to conduct independent investigations into a few topics of interest, at the end of which they submitted reports. The biology department offered a core of material for all students and a list of additional investigations which they might undertake in accordance with their interests and abilities. At the conclusion of a unit of work the class met as a whole to discuss completed research. The independent study program in English involved both literature and composition. Plans were made for the provision of special materials such as anthologies for creative writing and articles, outlines, and reviews for literary research. The students had the responsibility for directing and staging dramatic productions. In each area, there was expected to be a definite end product. The program in French entailed the purchase of several sets of hard-cover French novels for use in a seminar reading pro-

12 Significant developments in local school systems

gram in grade 13. Students chose from a wide selection of novels and then discussed them in French with the teacher and with other students involved in the program. The second aspect of the program had to do with co-ordination, responsibility for which was placed in the hands of a dean of curriculum and independent studies, who was assisted by an academic adviser to the students. These two were expected to ensure the satisfactory participation of all departments involved, and to help identify students who might benefit from independent study in one or more of their subject areas. The dean was to maintain a master calendar of all the programs being conducted in the school, and at the end was to collect reports from teachers, department heads, and the academic adviser. Each report was to outline some of the techniques used, the reaction of the students, the extent of coverage of the subject areas, the impressions of the participating staff, suggestions for improvements, and ideas for continuing and extending the plan the following year. Other duties of the dean were to conduct seminars for participating teachers, to maintain a data file, to investigate the possibility of enabling students to write examinations for credit at times other than scheduled examination periods, and to make an annual report to the principal outlining the strengths and weaknesses of the project. The students engaged in the program might, if they chose, attend the classes to which they were regularly assigned or, with the approval of the teacher concerned and the academic adviser, study independently in the library or in another assigned area, or do limited research in a lab if facilities could be made available. They were to consult with the teacher of the subject concerned and the academic adviser on the basic course content and on the depth and breadth of their proposed study. They were held fully responsible for assignments, tests, and examinations, and were thus expected to realize that they were accountable for their time in school. The student's obligations were outlined quite specifically: 1 / to obtain the permission of the subject area teacher whose classes were involved; 2 / to maintain satisfactory achievement in the subject; 3 / to present to the screening committee either a written or an oral report indicating how he planned to spend his released lime; 4 / to file an application for entrance into the program, which would go through his guidance counsellor to the dean of curriculum; 5 / to face a screening committee consisting of the head of guidance, the guidance counsellor, selected department heads, and the principal; 6 / to consult the academic adviser at intervals to be determined; 7 / to attend any meetings or seminars called by the subject teacher, the academic adviser, or both. It was quite clear that those who developed the program were determined to ensure that it did not constitute an easy alternative to the formal and structured schedule of activities to which most students were assigned. To the observer, one of the chief dangers appeared to be that the organ-

Approaches to teaching 13

izational superstructure might be excessively burdensome for teachers and administrators. Jane Street Junior High School, North York Certain aspects of the organization and administration of Jane Street Junior High School were described by Margaret Gayfer hi School Progress in April, 1969.* The school opened in the fall of 1969 with an enrolment of 750 under the principalship of Ed Hay. Teamwork involving staff and students was intended as a means of creating a relatively informal atmosphere that would be conducive to individual development. Overall planning was carried out by the principal, the vice principal, and the program co-ordinator. The latter position, a new one in the system, involved assisting the chairman of the fifteen teaching teams to evolve and co-ordinate programs, to plan timetables, and to perform other such tasks. The use of a highly-paid staff member in this way was considered more productive than to reduce the student-teacher ratio by adding another regular classroom teacher. The fifteen team chairmen formed an advisory cabinet which met with the principal and the program co-ordinator a week before the monthly staff meeting to consider the agenda. An interdisciplinary staff seminar was held each week, attended by about one-quarter of the teachers from each area, to discuss aims and progress. All the teachers worked together to develop general guidelines on such matters as how to retrieve information and use equipment so that the students, faced with the difficult task of learning the meaning of independent study, would not conflicting impressions from different teachers. As a means of promoting the involvement of students, the school was organized into seven "star cluster" houses, each with a zodiac name. A star master, assigned to eighteen students, acted as an adviser-tutor to each student all the time he was at school. Whether or not this star master taught the student, he established communication with the parents. Oakville-Traf algar High School As one of the original six schools involved in the experimental program sponsored by the Department of Education, Oakville-Trafalgar High School encountered a series of typical problems, which the principal, M.E.C. Clarke, outlined in an article in Dimensions in April 1968.5 He declared that, in order to alleviate the many administrative problems, a computer was an absolute necessity. He envisioned each non-graded school having a terminal linked to a central computer to deal with such matters as keeping track of students, giving out selected information, correcting timetables and class lists, checking attendance and maintaining registers, keeping records, and reporting to parents. Another burdensome aspect of the program was the very great amount

14 Significant developments in local school systems

of counselling that was needed. The new approach required a one-to-one relationship, since there were no formal guidance classes. Because of the large number of électives, option sheets had to be carefully scanned to make sure that students were making wise choices. The universities created extra work by their frequent revision of curricula and entrance requirements, and the schools were expected to do the initial processing of applicants. The teachers faced a challenge in transforming themselves from "the source of all light and the fountain of all wisdom" to resource people who could admit what they did not know and seek answers in partnership with the student. Some were having difficulty in accepting the transition from silent classrooms to those where the benefits of conversation on the subject at hand were fully recognized. Teachers were not being prepared professionally for the type of teaching being done in non-graded schools. The Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute, Scarborough According to plans for the program to be followed in the Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute opened in Scarborough hi 1969, directed independent study would be introduced gradually, and would be restricted to capable and committed students. In consultation with staff members, they would choose a topic which they would study in depth in the resource centre instead of attending classes. While the more normal project would require from three to six weeks of work, it would be possible in extreme cases for a student to gain complete credit in a subject by independent study. It was hoped that the program would be expanded so that ultimately a significant proportion of the students would be engaged in such study. A four-subject semester system was introduced at the same school hi the fall of 1970 with the primary purpose of giving students an opportunity to tackle a limited number of subjects in depth. Four subjects were studied for approximately seventy-five minutes a day hi each of two twenty-week semesters a year. Among the expected advantages were that students would have to meet the demands of fewer teachers at a particular tune and would have to prepare for fewer tests, examinations, and project deadlines occurring almost simultaneously. It was also thought desirable to accommodate changes of interest and to facilitate the correction of errors hi subject selection by enabling the student to embark on new programs more often than once a year. Among the anticipated difficulties was that there might be excessive forgetting between sessions for cumulative subjects such as languages, mathematics, shorthand, and typing. In some subjects this problem was in fact found to be inconsequential while hi others it was judged to be more serious. The latter instances could sometimes be dealt with by offering a subject hi the second semester hi grade 9 and hi the first semester hi grade 10. Certain educational advantages were seen in having students resume

Approaches to teaching 15

study of a subject after an extended period away from it. Among the most serious problems arising from the scheme was the difficulty students might have in transferring to other schools. Appraisal of individualized programs in secondary schools Criticism of certain aspects of the shift to ungraded programs in secondary schools was made by Robert Hunter, who studied the situation as head of a committee of the Ontario Secondary Education Commission, and reported in early 1969. He accused some schools of modifying their curriculum to suit the limitations of the computer rather than the needs of the student. An example was the reduction of the number of English classes from eight to five a week because the computer programs permitted a maximum of only five. Hunter felt that school officials should insist that the computer representatives redesign their programs - a feat that was quite within their capacity. Hunter was also critical of the speed with which ungraded programs were being introduced. Some teachers felt that they were not being given sufficient time to prepare for the change. The pressure for ungrading was said to be coming from school boards rather than from within individual schools. According to reports, a certain board had ordered one school to introduce the new program, and then, without waiting for any evaluation, had decided that all its schools would follow suit the next year.8 It was extremely difficult to determine the extent to which appraisals of a particular school or group of schools could be applied to the province as a whole. The changes being advocated and to a considerable degree being brought about were so fundamental that it would have been astonishing if there were not many cases of outright failure, and still more of a kind of superficial veneer over the old realities. Reforms often have to be accepted almost universally on a verbal level before there are corresponding behavioural changes. At the time of writing, the experimental and exploratory stage was far from over, even though the new program had been officially installed throughout the Ontario system. THE OPEN CLASSROOM

The term "open classroom" obviously refers to physical facilities. It implies, if not the complete removal of walls separating classes, at least a degree of flexibility that permits barriers to be conveniently moved and rearranged so that varying numbers of children can be grouped and regrouped according to the nature of the activity in which they are engaged. While in view of the increasing use of carpets and other sound-deadening materials the open classroom does not prevent a teacher from holding the centre of the stage and talking to pupils, it tends to promote individual or group-centred activity on the part of children, with the teacher acting as a guide. Further, while it does not keep a teacher from acting as an indepen.-

16 Significant developments in local school systems

dent agent in the performance of at least part of his duties, it tends to call for teamwork in planning and class management. It encourages freedom of movement and spontaneity among pupils, and demands an unobtrusive form of control that differs radically from the kind that is typical of the traditional classroom. St Clare Catholic School, Toronto At the Ninth Annual Conference of the OERC in 1967, Michael Breaugh told of the problems and difficulties, as well as the rewards, of introducing a group of older separate school boys to an open classroom type of organization.7 The teachers concerned were unhappy about the rotary system and decided that radical changes might be fruitful. They found that most of the literature applied to earlier school levels where the pupils were presumably more adaptable, and were thus largely responsible for working out their own approach. They felt reasonably secure, however, in that their pupils had attained a satisfactory level of achievement, and would not be likely to suffer unduly even if the experiment ended hi failure. Further, the six teachers and two administrators were willing to accept the challenge and the inspector gave his approval. The fact that the classes involved in the proposed experiment were all located on the third floor of the building made it possible to utilize the whole area without disturbing others. The plan was to change the concept of this floor from four classrooms, a lunchroom, and a hall to six work areas. The doors were removed to allow free movement from one area to another. Library and reference books were brought together in a single language resource area. Other rooms were transformed hito areas for the study of mathematics, science, history, and geography. The lunchroom became a seminar room for speeches, debates, and other relatively noisy activities. The hall was equipped with a long work table and part of it was designated for television and discussion. Corrugated cardboard was placed over blackboards and wall spaces to provide for displays. Doors were removed from cupboards to encourage the students to use books and materials. In some of the rooms, the desks were easily moved to facilitate group work; for others, suitable equipment had to be borrowed until more satisfactory permanent arrangements could be made. It was recognized that little could be done to prepare the staff academically for the change. They would have to gain experience by putting their ideas into practice. The greatest problem was considered to be in the attitudes of the boys, who might be expected to show an entrenched prejudice against a major adjustment in curriculum and procedures. The fact that they came from a regimented Italian culture was not regarded as a hopeful sign. The most promising approach seemed to lie in involving them as much as possible in planning the change. Accordingly, the first week of the program was spent in "discussions, seminars, projects and debates about the school, education in general, all things, in short, that dealt

Approaches to teaching 17

concretely with the student's Ufe past, present, and future." The purpose was to make the students aware of thek own need for growth and of the way in which this need might be met through thek school experience. A single week was not considered entkely adequate to produce the desked attitudes, but at least each boy knew what was expected of him under the new scheme. Mainly for practical reasons the operation began with groups of eight or nine boys. Although there was some feeling that this treatment fell short of genuine non-grading, the teachers thought there was a better prospect of managing sixteen groups than of dealing with 143 students entkely as" individuals. The appropriateness of the "ungraded" label would depend on "evaluating each boy as an individual working out of a group situation then returning to it to share experience and gain added knowledge from others at his own level." Assignment to the original groups depended on such factors as mental ability, academic achievement, and physical development. Homogeneity of interests and abilities was considered as a means of producing harmony. If a student turned out to be poorly placed, he could easily be transferred to another group. No names or levels were attached to the groups so that invidious distinctions could not readily be made among them. The initial period produced a considerable amount of strain on the teachers. Some found it difficult to accept the fact that they no longer had strict control over many aspects of the students' lives. They had to get used to the high noise level produced by so many activities being conducted simultaneously in the same area. As Breaugh put it, "It is a shattering experience to stand in the midst of such activity and see many of your traditional techniques and values be abandoned at such an astounding rate." The teachers found it necessary to reconsider thek ideas about almost everything from minor procedures to their basic role in relation to the student's work. As a remedy for their uneasiness, they met frequently to reassure themselves about the validity of thek goals and to support one another. They were able to derive comfort from thek underlying confidence that they were doing something that was really worthwhile. The boys showed the widest range of attitudes, ranging from "total disgust to complete acceptance" of the new program. Some of the more mature among them utilized their independence and exercised thek skills to good effect ahnost immediately. They demonstrated an ability to plan thek week's work, to make good use of the facilities, to discuss thek efforts sensibly, and to learn from thek mistakes. As for the hard-core discipline problems, thek behaviour was far more obvious, although it no longer disrupted everyone's work. The teachers began to realize the extent to which these boys needed specialized help. Certain of thek efforts gave slight grounds for hope, but were not successfully maintained. The best the teachers could do was to try to accept thek limitations. Generally speaking, most students seemed to be adapting reasonably well to the changes

18 Significant developments in local school systems

by the end of the third week, and the teachers began to feel that there were reasonable prospects of success. The most relevant prior experience the students had had was in the history-geography area, where they had worked on projects. The topics were already formulated, suitable texts were available, and the goal was clearly defined and easy to achieve. However the boys had apparently not understood or accepted the spirit of the project approach, since they tended to copy material, with minor changes, straight from the sources. With persistent guidance and evaluation, they began to use sources as they were intended, and to produce genuinely independent work. Developments in science followed a similar pattern, but more slowly. In mathematics most of the work continued to be done from textbooks except for work sheets for those at a more elementary stage. The boys lost their reverence for the textbook, which they began to regard as a source of information to be used critically. Many began to move beyond the work scheduled and to develop skills on their own under the teacher's guidance. Language proved to be the area in which interest was most difficult to arouse. Many of the boys had a pre-conditioned dislike for the subject, which featured a tongue that was alien to their own home environment. The program involved the use of varied anthologies, magazines, novels, and even comic books as devices for the development of reading skills. There were also films, movies, and trips to live theatre presentations. In the absence of formal lessons in grammar and spelling, the classes turned to debates and discussions. There was evidently a considerable feeling of satisfaction in the success attained, although the level of achievement may not have been considered outstanding. The abandonment of their authoritarian position forced the teachers to examine their traditional method of handling specific issues. For example, since gum-chewing did not hamper the students' work, and in some cases even seemed to help, they abandoned their campaign against it. When certain ideas were broached, they considered it better to allow them to be tried out, even if the prospects of success were poor, than to issue a prohibition at the outset. One group, in the process of organizing work breaks, decided to serve coffee. Within a week, having realized the work, expense, and difficulties of such an undertaking, they dropped the idea. The exercise of patience in situations of this kind did not prove to be altogether easy for the teachers, but they agreed that the results would be much more real and effective for the student. We are beginning to feel that no one, teacher or student, really does what he is told to do. He may go through the motions to satisfy an outside source but he really only makes a worthwhile effort from his own personal impetus. One particular passage in Breaugh's presentation demonstrates the

Approaches to teaching 19

almost accidental way in which unpromising situations developed into real learning experiences. One group of boys, having difficulty in establishing themselves in the new situation, pounced upon our best tape recorder early one morning. This is an expensive piece of equipment which we had just recently acquired. They did not know how to operate it. They had no purpose in mind when they began. They were boisterous and we could see little profit in their using such valuable equipment for no apparent reason. We simply gritted our teeth and tried to withstand the onslaught. Gradually, they began, with guidance from a teacher to manipulate the machine. Slowly, they moved from simple play to something hi relation to a recent effort in History concerning Confederation. By the end of the day, they had produced two original dialogues, of about twenty minutes each, about life during the Confederation era based upon what they had learned previously. The dialogues were original complete with sound effects and the result of a full day's work that had grown from play to a worthwhile effort. Because of the stereotyped concept of learning which they had acquired previously, the boys had considerable difficulty in recognizing the significance of what they had done. The boys were not aware of when or how this transition had occurred nor were all of them convinced that it had happened at all. Their comments ranged from, "We have never worked so hard, for so long, at school yet," to "We wasted the whole day." We found that this situation was repeated frequently. Often the boys were not aware that they had actually developed skills or gained knowledge until a teacher pointed it out to them. In the early stages, some boys were continually complaining that they were wasting their time and that the teachers were not doing their job. While attributing this situation largely to misunderstanding, Breaugh was prepared to concede that there was sometimes truth in the accusations, since the teachers often found themselves confronted with situations they had not foreseen. On the whole, they were satisfied that the boys were not yet capable of evaluating all their actions in terms of what was and what was not a waste of tune. The emergence of the desired qualities in the students became evident as time went on. They planned then: work better, chose more original subject matter, depended less on the teacher, and exercised more initiative. As they began to accomplish things at their own level of ability and preparation, self-confidence and gratification replaced constant frustration. In the absence of tests, examinations, marks, and grades, the emphasis was placed on daily progress at each student's individual rate. Much more

20 Significant developments in local school systems

satisfactory results were observed from constructive evaluation by teachers and fellow-students than from sporadic examinations following a period of pressure. Breaugh concluded with a few sobering thoughts tempering an essentially encouraging method. The responsibilities of freedom entailed in such a program, were not easily accepted by the students. They are not qualities which can be taught but must be learned through personal experience. There is a need for careful guidance from more experienced people hi this regard. It is impossible to tell boys of this age that they are free to control their academic Ufe and expect them to measure up at once. We found that it was necessary to give them an opportunity to exercise this freedom, to persist in outlining the responsibilities entailed, and to encourage those who succeeded while being patient with those who were not yet ready for it. Our concept of discipline, therefore, reversed itself completely. The only worthwhile form of discipline comes from the person himself and a belief hi this carries far ranging effects for both teacher and pupil. In short, we stopped all forms of discipline and the pupils began to control themselves rather than looking at an outside source for this control. It is to be hoped that no one ever considers this type of school organization as a final solution for all of our problems nor God forbid, an easy way out. It is a trying emotional, physical, and mental situation for both teacher and pupil. It involves discarding the comfortable routines by which many have survived in this profession. In practical application, it is difficult to withstand the pressures of uncertainty and inadequate conditions. You are forced to become deeply involved hi everything that goes on. It is a sometimes chaotic situation. Teachers often feel that there is too much going on around them. Everyone involved feels the pangs of inexperience that surrounds everything that they attempt. The key here is simply that these are all of the signs that anyone sees in an unfamiliar situation. In short, it is a learning situation for all of us. Si Ann's Junior Separate School, Hamilton St Ann's Junior Separate School was the first in Hamilton to adopt a completely non-graded organization. In June 1968 eleven classes consisting of somewhat more than three hundred pupils moved hito an open area in a new building, with partitions consisting only of movable blackboards, book shelves, and painting easels. The teachers had no desks of their own, but moved about among the pupils looking after a variety of needs. According to a report in the Hamilton Spectator, one teacher commented that this arrangement made it much easier to get close to the children and to talk to them as a friend.8 At the time of the reporter's visit, one teacher was sitting on the floor, another was at a child's desk, and a third was sitting on an art counter. There were small enclosed study areas for private work or for a child to retreat by himself when he wanted to be alone. At

Approaches to teaching 21

the centre of the room was a resource area equipped with books, maps, pictures, and all types of audio-visual aids under the supervision of a fulltime librarian. The acoustics were so designed that only a mumbling could be heard. For noisy activities such as singing and gymnastics, the children moved to the music room and all-purpose area. The system of individual progress at St Ann's involved the abolition of grade levels and formal marking schemes. Class groupings, shifting for various purposes, were by age. A child who needed special remedial help might receive instruction from a teacher with the requisite skills along with other pupils demonstrating similar needs. At other times he might move around and engage in those activities that aroused his interest. The teachers reported that the children were very relaxed and never seemed to need to let off steam. They enjoyed the provision for close association with one another in their new surroundings. The inevitable noise, despite the carefully planned acoustics, did not seem to bother them. Teachers and administrators also appeared to be enthusiastic. The supervising principal felt that the new program would excite inquiring minds, and the junior school principal said that it would prove that resourcefulness and curiosity were more important than facts. St Leonard's School, Toronto In September 1969 an experiment at St Leonard's School hi Toronto involved moving a kindergarten class from its self-contained room into the open area of the school. Paul Cartan, principal of the school, recounted the experience in the OECTA Review.* According to him, the idea was not to make the kindergarten children into "ones" (a substitute had to be used for the word "grade," which had apparently become anathema), but to enable the two groups to share certain experiences. It was considered particularly likely that the former would benefit from art, music, and readiness programs. It also seemed possible that some of them might participate in the primary language experience activities. The task involved moving seventeen kindergarten children who attended in the morning and fifteen who attended in the afternoon into a primary pod containing thirtythree primary one pupils, thirty primary two pupils, and thirty-two primary three pupils. The first cautious step was to introduce four kindergarten children at a time into the open area during the language experience period for the primary ones so that they could listen to the stories on the tape recorder, use filmstrips, and paint. The move seemed to be quite successful, not only from the point of view of the kindergarten children but also from that of the slower "ones," who felt reassured at having companions closer to their level. On the following day, the entire kindergarten groups were moved into the open area for readiness work. Again, there were considerable advantages for the slower "ones," who could join the kindergarten children unobtrusively to work at the appropriate level rather than being humiliated by

22 Significant developments in local school systems

being sent downstairs into the kindergarten room. In early October the kindergarten classes moved into the open area for all activities, although the move was regarded for the time being as tentative. Mainly for physical reasons, the experiment was ultimately judged not to be very successful. There was not enough room to accommodate the kindergarten children hi the open area. Their teacher was particularly unhappy about the lack of sufficient bulletin board space to display their work. "Confusion" resulted when the kindergarten children, lacking room for storage, free play, and painting, moved some of their activities hito the teachers' washroom. Because of enforced proximity, the free play activities of the kindergarten tended to disturb the work of the children around them. There was also some difficulty in involving the kindergarten with certain primary activities because of the use of the block timetable at this level in the morning. The Saint Thomas More Separate School, Scarborough The Saint Thomas More Separate School in Scarborough, built by the Metropolitan Toronto Separate School Board, had an entire upper floor teaching area without interior walls. In 1968-9 it accommodated 120 pupils between grades 3 and 8 and under the supervision of four teachers. The pupils were divided loosely into two groups of about sixty each, with grades 3, 4, and 5 at one end and grades 6, 7, and 8 at the other. Around the open teaching area were several seminar rooms with chairs and tables for small-group work. A large office with windows opening into the teaching area enabled the teachers to work at then- desks and files while keeping the pupils under supervision. During a visit to the school in early 1969 Pauline Ashton observed the children working quietly at tables, moving around getting books from the library-resource area which occupied the centre of the open space, or using equipment such as tape recorders or slide projectors.10 One boy was tracing a map on a large piece of cardboard. Another was sitting in front of a case full of Canadian history reference books making notes from several propped up in front of him. Others were engaged in animated conversation with the French teacher who had just completed a lesson. Partly because of the sound-deadening effect of the broadloom, there was no undue noise. Teachers made themselves heard without raising then" voices. The smoothness of the operation seemed at first glance to belie the great demands made on the teachers to plan and carry out the program. There were quite definite limits on the freedom of each chüd. At the beginning of the week he was given a work assignment that he must finish by Friday. He had the responsibility of organizing his time as he saw fit in order to complete the work. Teachers gave direction to those who found difficulty in doing what was expected of them. The pupils were supposed to demonstrate good manners at all times. The principal reported that class disturbers tended to be ostracized by the others who wanted to get on

Approaches to teaching 23

with their work. The most difficult cases were dealt with by sending the children home with instructions to bring their parents back to discuss the matter. Almaguin Highlands Secondary School, East Parry Sound The open classroom concept means something quite different in the secondary school as compared with the elementary school. Plans for a new building for Almaguin Highlands Secondary School in East Parry Sound included an open area approximately the size of four classrooms, with three adjoining seminar rooms. This area was to be used in 1970-1 for instruction in history, geography, English, and group guidance. It was intended that the large groups of students involved would be split up into sections on the basis of decisions made by the teachers assigned to them. The success of the scheme would depend on how well the teachers planned each day's activities. While there would be experimentation with groups of different sizes, the use of the room would be limited to one discipline at a time. The geography and English departments planned to bring together students hi the junior grades. Adjacent to the open area was a large group instruction area about the size of two ordinary classrooms. It differed from the open area in that its acoustics were designed to carry sound rather than to deaden it. It was built in the form of a small amphitheatre with audio-visual equipment and sound projectors. There were also plans for a large commercial open area about the size of three commercial rooms, where the atmosphere would suggest that of the real business world. TEAM TEACHING

Secondary schools North Toronto and Riverdale Collegiate Institutes The concept of team teaching became much more sophisticated between the beginning and the end of the decade of the 1960s. In 1960 the Toronto Board of Education approved what was regarded as an innovation in authorizing the use of the lecture method for the instruction of large groups of history students in North Toronto and Riverdale Collegiate Institutes. At the third annual conference of the OERC hi 1961, H.O. Barrett reported an evaluation of this cautious venture as it worked out in the former of the two schools.11 What was involved was a single lecture a week given to all the grade 12 students. The chairman of the history department indicated that each lecture involved between ten and fifteen hours of preparation. For the remaining four periods a week, the students met hi their regular classrooms. Barrett was able to devise a basis for comparison by finding three

24 Significant developments in local school systems

classes from among the five not involved in the large lectures which compared reasonably well with the participating classes. In both cases, there was one above average, one average, and one below average class. The average IQS of the experimental and control groups proved to be almost identical. On the basis of their Christmas examinations hi all subjects, the control classes were slightly better. The teacher factor was somewhat complicated, since each teacher involved taught one experimental and one control class, but not at the same ability level. The teacher who taught the top class hi the control group also taught the bottom class in the experimental group, the teacher who taught the middle class in the control group taught the top class in the experimental group, and the teacher who taught the bottom class in the control group taught the middle class in the experimental group. No further information about the teachers was given hi the report. There were two available criteria for comparing the achievement of the two groups at the end of the year: the final examination set by the school and the objective test in history administered by the Department of Education to all grade 12 students in the province. On the first of these, the control group did slightly better, although the difference was not significant. On the second, the difference was in favour of the experimental group, and was just below the 5 per cent level of significance. Barrett found some grounds for gratification hi the conclusion that the lectures at least did no harm. Georgian Bay Secondary School A team teaching project was introduced hi three grade 9 history classes of the five-year Arts and Science program at Georgian Bay Secondary School in the fall of 1967. The following year the scheme was extended to include all five-year Arts and Science students in grades 9 and 10. The introduction of the new approach was preceded by a year of study and planning, including observation of several team teaching projects hi Ontario. During the preparatory period, staff were selected and course material was discussed. The only teachers involved were those who demonstrated a genuine interest in the project. Planning included a systematic outline of the objectives that the student was expected to attain through the study of history. These were listed under three headings: skills, content, and attitudes. The skills consisted of recognition of bias; organizing and presenting oral and written material; drawing conclusions from historical evidence hi the form of photographs and art, relics, written records, and statistics; developing and testing historical hypotheses; and utilizing library and other resource materials. The content included knowledge of selected historical terms, some historical conventions such as the footnote, and selected areas of British history. Desirable attitudes would be reflected in responsibility for the performance of tasks under unsupervised conditions, the realization

Approaches to teaching 25

that effective group effort requires the involvement of all members, and a willingness to work beyond the minimum performance levels. Implementation of the project was undertaken under considerable physical difficulty, since flexible classrooms were not available. The organizers nevertheless did the best they could with three classrooms and the cafeteria to accommodate the ninety participants. After the scheme had been in operation for some time, they concluded in fact that it was costly and often unnecessary to separate all groups physically. For the most part, several groups could operate independently hi a normal classroom provided that it was equipped with movable furniture. Hall corners and store rooms could provide space for work that required isolation. The timetable for the first year provided for four teachers to handle the ninety students at the same time each day. The teachers also had two additional periods during each six-day cycle to discuss progress and to make detailed plans fortibienext week's work. Despite the relatively large allotment of teaching power, the teachers did not find their work load reduced. They felt it desirable to attend all large group presentations, if possible. Organizing and working with smaller groups kept them extremely active. The effect of the project on participating teachers was considered quite beneficial. In working together to achieve common goals, they were reported to have become willing to face their weaknesses and to seek help from their colleagues in an unprecedented manner. Experience with different teaching methods enabled them to evaluate and improve their own techniques. Staff members outside the team were reported to have commented on the increased interest in teaching history. There was no conclusive evidence to show whether the students achieved more under team teaching than they would have had they been taught under normal classroom conditions. It was noted, however, that the first year's participants were able to work more effectively in groups when they reached grade 10 than had comparable classes in previous years. The cautious conclusion of the staff was that they were at least no worse for their experience, and probably better. Without the use of controls and standardized tests, it was impossible to be sure. In response to a questionnaire the students evaluated team teaching as an improved method of instruction, despite the fact that they found the work heavier than that in grade 8. They nearly all claimed to have learned much in small groups but little in individual projects. Bathurst Heights Secondary School, North York An organization for grade 11 physics involving teamwork among the teachers of ten regular classes and a strong emphasis on individual work and responsibility was developed at Bathurst Heights Secondary School in 1968-9. The students were divided into three groups of 90 to 120 each. The facilities used in the program included three laboratories, a lecture

26 Significant developments in local school systems

theatre available three times a week, a regular classroom occupied twice a week, and a library-resource centre. Each laboratory was the scene of a several activities at any one time. The lecture theatre was used for largegroup presentations on special topics, for discussion of activities, and for completing reports. Remedial instruction took place in regular classrooms. The library-resource centre was used for studies in depth and for remedial work. The content of the course was largely that prescribed by the Department of Education. The essential core consisted of a selection of important concepts from the curriculum guide which had to be completed on certain predetermined dates so that there would be time for independent study of additional related topics and optional activities to satisfy particular interests. Students worked independently or in small groups on experiments, research projects, and other assignments. The onus was on the student to seek the assistance of a teacher when he needed it. Evaluation was based on the assessment of his industry and proficiency by the four or five teachers who worked with him, written reports on his activities, term tests, practical laboratory tests, and a final examination at the end of the year. The scheme was reported to have produced an enthusiastic co-operative spirit among students and between students and teachers. One evidence of this development was the formation of a student-teacher committee for the discussion of common concerns. Individual students were also said to be assuming responsibility for their own success. Elementary schools Carleton Public School, St Catharines Of somewhat restricted scope was a venture into team teaching undertaken at Carleton Public School at St Catharines in September 1965. The principal, H.J. Howald, reported the results at the Ninth Annual Conference at the OERC hi December 1967.12 The program was initiated in the search for answers to two questions: 1 / Could team teaching produce pupils with better skills, better understanding, and better work and study habits? 2 / Could team teaching be programmed to provide for either the gifted or the slow learners? Grade 5 was chosen for the experiment because the complexity of the work at this level suggested that there might be substantial benefits from grouping, because the grade was not extensively involved in a rotary schedule, and because the pupils seemed to have reached a level of maturity that was conducive to experimentation. One reason why the new approach was applied in social studies was that the master lessons in that subject could readily be organized to include many effective teaching aids. Carleton Public School, which had twenty rooms and all classes from kindergarten to grade 8, did not have the most promising physical faculties

Approaches to teaching 27

for the project. There was no all-purpose room, library, gymnatorium, or auditorium. The only provision for a large group assembly was a double classroom with a sliding partition. Space for small groups and individual study was provided in one kindergarten classroom that was vacant in the mornings, in the staff room, and in the front lobby. A virtue was made out of these handicaps in that it became an objective of the project to try to find out whether team teaching could be conducted successfully even though the building lacked many desirable structural features. The team consisted of two teachers, who were selected in May of the year before the project was undertaken. One was completing two years of teaching, and had taught grade 5 during his second year. The other, who had had no experience with grade 5, had taught combined grade 2 and 3 classes and a grade 6 class during her three previous years. Both were regarded as innovative, and showed a keen interest in discovering the best methods of meeting the needs of the individual child. They accepted the opportunity to participate in the experiment with enthusiasm. They were given given an opportunity to observe a team teaching program in mathematics in another city school, and took further advantage of the advance notice to read available literature on team teaching. The pupils were divided into below average, average, and above average groups on the basis of the previous year's grading in social studies, their performance and grasp of the subject during the current school year, and, to a lesser extent, on their IQ. A determined effort was made to keep the upper and lower groups no larger than fifteen pupils. The below average pupils received considerable assistance, much of it consisting of individual guidance in making notes, which were brief, and supplemented by maps, diagrams, and charts. They were also taught how to read effectively from the textbook. A large part of their class time was spent in reviewing what were regarded as important facts from the master lesson. Pupils in the middle or average group were handled like a normal class except that they were included with the other pupils in each master lesson. In group study, they were assisted in making notes and in learning how to obtain information from texts and reference books. They also had opportunities to work on individual or group assignments. Because they ranged in number from thirty to thirty-eight, they could not be given an adequate opportunity to question, comment, and discuss the content of each lesson. The top group, numbering eleven to fifteen, received an enriched program consisting of 1 / comparative study of historical and contemporary periods, 2 / more intensive geographic study, 3 / tracing of historical facts from authoritative sources, 4 / comparative study of reports from two or more textbooks, and 5 / the preparation and completion of projects growing out of topics being studied. These pupils were permitted to make independent use of the school's teaching aids, including the filmstrip projector, the delineascope, the 16 mm projector, and the tape recorder, as these applied to their assignments.

28 Significant developments in local school systems

Pupils were moved from one group to another during the year as their needs dictated. Marks obtained by some on group tests showed that they were suited to the next higher group, while those who found that the work of the group in which they were initially placed was more than they could cope with were moved downward. The majority proved to have been placed correctly at the beginning. The teachers on the team, of whom the principal counted himself as one, engaged in discussions and shared ideas and opinions before each lesson. Each member of the team was given additional time to prepare the master lessons by having a principal's relief teacher take over his classroom responsibilities for an hour and a half every six teaching days. The members of the team used this extra time to good advantage. No individual was given the permanent role of master teacher; the responsibility was rotated among the three concerned. No teacher aides were employed. The teachers themselves made all the arrangements for the materials and equipment needed for the master lessons and small group study. They did, however, have the services of the school secretary in duplicating lesson outlines and maps, preparing transparencies and overlays for the overhead projector, and scoring tests. It was suggested that at least one teacher aide might have been used effectively to operate the audio-visual accessories and to guide and direct half of the middle group so that there could have been more discussion and more individual assistance. There were no serious problems in timetabling for the project. It was necessary only to schedule a forty-five minute block of time for social studies. These daily class periods were devoted to master lessons or small group study. The attitudes of the pupils were surveyed at the end of the year. 1 / Ninety-eight per cent enjoyed the master lessons to some extent and half were extremely impressed by them. 2 / Eighty per cent enjoyed being hi small groups. The greatest amount of dissatisfaction was felt in the middle group which did not, of course, participate in a small group at all. 3 / All the pupils felt that they had obtained much information from the master lessons, and 49 per cent claimed that they had received a great amount of information hi this way. 4 / Eighty-two per cent thought that team teaching had helped improve their study habits in social studies. 5 / Ninetytwo per cent felt that their study habits in other subjects had improved. It is rather difficult to assess the usefulness of some of these findings because it is impossible to tell what comparisons the pupils had in mind. Adelaide Hoodless School, Hamilton An attempt to apply team teaching to instruction in integers in a grade 8 class hi "new" mathematics was described at the Eighth Annual Conference of the OERC by A.H. Cranbury of Adelaide Hoodless School in Hamilton. The essence of the program was the customary provision for group planning and for large-group and small-group instruction. There

Approaches to teaching 29

were some recognized limitations in the project: 1 / the teachers involved were all dealing with the new mathematics for the first time; 2 / the school was a senior public school with a partial rotary schedule; 3 / the facilities, which were not originally intended for team teaching, were rather inflexible; and 4 / the division of material and the selection of tie testing device were in the hands of the teachers involved, and did not constitute the only possible alternatives. 5 / The project was of approximately four weeks' duration. For four weeks before the instructional period began, the teachers involved held weekly meetings with the principal of the school and the mathematics supervisor to divide the subject matter into individual lessons and to determine what was to be done by the pupils working hi small groups. Between one and three days were to be devoted to small group work after each master lesson. Arrangements were also made to divide the pupils into three groups on the basis of proved ability in class work and tests throughout the year, general mathematics ability as determined by the subjective judgment of the teachers, and chronological age. The five master lessons presented to the entire group of students in the school gymnasium dealt successively with the introduction of directed integers, addition of and properties of integers, subtraction of integers, multiplication of integers, and the division of two negatives. Use was made of an overhead projector and two chalkboards. Printed cardboard numberlines were supplied to each classroom for the small group work. After the last small group session, a review of the material on integers was conducted, followed by a test. Results were compared with those of other grade 8 students in Hamilton who had been taught hi the more traditional manner. This comparison did not indicate that either method was superior in producing academic results. The researchers involved concluded, however, that regardless of the effect on the pupils, the teachers themselves had derived certain benefits from the experience, including a deeper insight into the subject matter and the development of a greater spirit of co-operation. A questionnaire administered to the pupils at the conclusion of the unit revealed that the team approach was popular, and was considered a better stimulus for learning than was the traditional method. There were some negative comments, which seemed to stem largely from aspects of the organization of the program that were subject to improvement. An excess of subject matter covered in the master lesson was said to account for a lack of adequate questioning time, while the makeshift facilities explained the inability of some pupils to hear the teacher and one another. Prince of Wales School, Hamilton At the same conference, another team teaching project of very limited duration was reported by Malcolm Curtis and Frank Farley of Prince of Wales School in Hamilton.13 The inspiration for the enterprise arose in part from a visit made by a number of the staff to a school in the same area

30 Significant developments in local school systems

where they observed team teaching in operation under ideal conditions. Interest was also created by a report on the subject from the OERC conference held the previous year. The teachers involved began their preparations by holding several staff meetings to decide on a working definition of team teaching and to enlarge their understanding of the process. They consulted a number of sources and took advantage of the experience of a new staff member who had served as part of a team. In an effort to give the project the maximum likelihood of success, they sought a topic of high interest for which there was an abundance of reading material and possibilities of field work, visual education, and pupil participation. A unit on conservation of Canada's freshwater resources was considered to meet these criteria. A filtration plant where co-operation was assured was located conveniently for the field trip. The senior staff of the school were supplemented by the principal, the vice-principal, the teacher of a limited vision class, and the librarian; thus there were eight teachers for four classes of grade 8 pupils. Further assistance was provided by the librarians at the public library and one of the employees at the filtration plant, who gave a lecture. During the six days over which the project extended, the participating teachers took turns assuming responsibility for the day's activities. The role of master teacher involved the preparation of discussion topics, directive questions, and testing procedures. The school secretary facilitated operations by writing letters to arrange the field trip, booking special films, mimeographing materials, scheduling various parts of the school plant for different group projects, and other such activities. On Monday, the first day of the program, one of the teachers gave a lecture introducing the topic, indicating the scope of the series of lessons, and referring to such matters as the economic value of the water supply, the manifold uses of water, the escalating problems of sewage disposal, and the problems of filtration of drinking water. A brief test was administered at the end of the presentation. On Tuesday two teachers used a film strip, The St Lawrence Seaway, and a movie film, The Wonder of Water, followed by a short exercise for pupil notes. On Wednesday the classes spent a half day at the filtration plant where the pupils asked directive questions based on a booklet provided by the manager. On Thursday the pupils moved from room to room, where various reference materials were available, to seek information on assigned questions. This activity took most of the afternoon. On Friday the four classes were divided into eight groups, which met for discussion in different parts of the school. The enrichment pupils were scattered among the groups so that full advantage could be taken of their experience in discussing topics under the leadership of a group chairman. Each group had a teacher consultant who helped to stimulate discussion when necessary and assisted the pupil recorder in summarizing the proceedings. On the second Monday, all the

Approaches to teaching 31

participants met in the assembly hall where an appointee from each group presented a report of the discussion. Pupils who wished to were encouraged to make booklets of project materials with additional diagrams, news items, and pictures. A gratifying number volunteered to engage in this activity, and produced work of high quality. The project ended with an evaluation session where the pupils completed anonymous questionnaires comparing team teaching with more traditional methods. Most of the responses were reported to be earnest and thoughtful. Sixty-nine per cent of the respondents preferred team teaching, 16 per cent had no preference, and 15 per cent liked the self-contained classroom better. The distribution of those who found that studying with pupils from other classes was more pleasant, about the same, and less pleasant was quite similar. Among the different activities, 51 per cent preferred the group discussion and 29 per cent the movies, while very minor percentages chose the opening talk, the library and research, reporting back, and every part equally. When asked which activity they found the most unpleasant, surely a question of doubtful value, 60 per cent referred to the library and research. While most free comments were favourable, some pupils were dissatisfiied because there was too much to do in the available time or because there was a shortage of certain reference materials on library day. In their appraisal of the method, the teachers expressed the feeling that it had great possibilities as a means of conserving their time and effort. This view seems at variance with the verdict reached in other places, where it has been observed that the benefits of the approach are produced at the cost of greater demands on teaching resources. It would appear that the teachers involved in this particular project found that their individual burdens were lighter, but were not taking into account the full extent of the required teaching power. Pleasant Avenue School, North York At the Ninth Annual Conference of the Ontario Educational Research Council in 1967, a paper by K.D. Johnson told of experiences with team teaching at Pleasant Avenue School in North York.14 Beginning in November 1962 the grade 1 classes at that school had been organized on a team teaching basis. The program included classes at the grades 1, 2, 3, and 5-6 levels during the year previous to the conference. The teachers of the grade 4 classes had chosen to operate self-contained classes, but were planning to work as a team the following year because they felt that their pupils had missed the variety of experiences that the other pupils had had. It was felt that teachers must retain the right to decide whether or not to participate on a team because the success of the scheme depended on full commitment. The grade 1 team had been operating with its initial complement of three teachers intact since 1962. An additional member was added from

32 Significant developments in local school systems

another team in the same school hi 1964-5. The 120 grade 1 pupils were taught in a variety of groups including an occasional large group session when all assembled to listen, watch, or read. Small groups were considered necessary to develop a skill or to encourage ultimate inter-pupil discussion. During the current year, a block of tune had been included for the language-experience approach to reading, which supplemented the team reading technique utilizing the graded Copp dark readers and related filmstrips. The large group lessons had included such activities as field trips, stories, and movies. Children were given opportunities for creative writing, free reading, and painting. Initial mathematics concepts, such as the numeral 4, were introduced in large group sessions and then reinforced in various achievement groupings. Subjects such as creative writing, science, social studies, language arts, and music were integrated and developed on a theme basis. Of the three teachers on the grade 2 team, two were in their first year of teaching. Because of their lack of experience, only exploratory activities hi team teaching were attempted to familiarize them with the concept and to prepare the way for more ambitious efforts the following year. The language arts program was organized by groupings based on achievement, and had considerable success. A certain amount of team planning was conducted to demonstrate its value hi organizing a unit theme. The grade 3 team consisted of three experienced teachers, only one of whom had participated hi a team teaching program. There was more emphasis on team planning than on actual team sequence of lessons. Some team lessons were, however, conducted hi social studies and science, permitting the teachers to work with small groups for the purposes of tutoring, enrichment, or reinforcement. A cross-grade block organization for language arts facilitated the handling of the wide range of ability hi this grade. The team planned to extend its organization the following year. The team for grades 5 and 6 consisted, with one exception, of teachers who had had previous classroom experience but none with team teaching. They, like the others, used a cross-grade organization for language arts. This development grew out of a realization from an earlier effort to employ the team approach hi reading that it was unwise to try to differentiate between reading and the remainder of the language arts. After admitting that his conclusions contained a large measure of subjectivity, Johnson asserted that he had no doubt that a team of three or four teachers could develop a more challenging program than if they were teaching separately hi self-contained classrooms. The real benefit, he found, was hi the planning, where each member contributed his ideas for the best development of a theme or unit. The success of the team depended on the members' dynamism, enthusiasm, and willingness to share thenideas. Besides serving the needs of children, the technique satisfied certain basic needs of the teachers such as the need for recognition and respect

Approaches to teaching 33

from their peers and the need for membership in a group with clearly defined objectives. There were certain conditions that had to be met before team teaching could be expected to function effectively. There had to be a social climate that encouraged candid discussion and evaluation. The members of the team had to be allowed to make a mistake from which they might derive useful conclusions. While the principal did not need to abdicate his role as leader, he had to have a relatively non-directive and supportive style of leadership. He had to realize that his main function had to be to provide service to enable others to realize their full potential. It was found that large group lessons resulted in a more efficient use of the teacher's time provided that the objectives of the learning experience had been clearly defined. The purpose of the lesson would dictate the size of the group to be instructed. In the self-contained classroom, this kind of distinction was seldom made, and all the pupils usually participated in every lesson. The particular occasions when large group instruction was considered appropriate were when the purpose was to teach a new concept or introduce a new unit of study. The small group setting was much better for reinforcing skills already learned. In actual practice, only about 10 per cent of the teaching time had been expended in large group instruction. Johnson observed that, if the school was moving toward a more childcentred, individualized approach to learning, the large group lesson was out of place. It tended to foster the master teacher type of situation, with the teacher rather than the pupil at the centre of the learning process. Much the gerater value was attributed to the small group organization. One implication of this observation was that the pupil-teacher ratio needed to be reduced at all grade levels. One of the hypotheses to which Johnson gave consideration was that the pupil remained secure even though he constituted part of a group that was constantly changing and was unable to identify with the same teacher for all instruction. The only relevant information came from the school doctor, who examined the grade 1 children in the fall of 1964, and expressed the opinion that they were tenser than other children examined. There was nothing to indicate definitely whether the tension was caused by the team teaching type of organization or the teachers themselves, or whether it existed when the children began school. Johnson seemed sceptical that there was any basis for the feeling that children became insecure if offered the opportunity to move about freely and seek stimulation from varied groups. He felt, however, that there were a few children of the insecure type with severe emotional problems who were better in a small group where they could identify with one teacher. Such children would probably constitute no more than 3 to 5 per cent of the total. Children demonstrating insecurity of a less serious type had overcome their feelings of tension and had responded well to team organization.

34 Significant developments in local school systems

Many of them had had a comfortable relationship with their parents, but had not related well to a variety of adult figures. Experience in the group tended to produce more mature behaviour, which sometimes drew favourable comment from parents. Johnson observed that once a working model of the new scheme was established there was always the danger that it might become an inviolate stereotype. It was a human characteristic to try, after a period of stress, to consolidate and stratify a position. There had to be an effort to counteract this tendency by retaining a measure of flexibility in the organization. One desirable manifestation of this flexibility was to keep certain children out of the team lessons, at least until it was evident that they were ready for them. It had to be kept in mind, furthermore, that the organization was not necessarily suited to all teachers. Cliques might be expected to establish themselves within a staff. This development was to be encouraged as long as it furthered the co-operative activity of the team. The danger point was reached, however, when the team began to place its own distinctive objectives above those of the school. Part of the principal's leadership task was to make sure that there was a balance between the freedom of each team to evolve in its own way and the general pursuit of common objectives. If the large amount of effort required to make the team organization run smoothly and effectively became misdirected, it would be better to return to self-contained classes. The mature type of teacher which the team had to acquire or soon develop was the kind who would succeed either in a self-contained classroom or on a team. In team activity the teacher who acquired status was the one who had well developed human skills and presented his ideas with due respect for those of others. The dominant, directive personality would prove ineffective and would tend to be isolated. If the team consisted of people who were more conscious of their own needs than of those of the pupils, they would exploit the team organization for their own ends. They might, for example, use the large group lesson as a time-filler. The introduction of the program of team teaching in Pleasant Avenue School had received the solid support of the parents. Information on the new organizational scheme was first provided at a Home and School meeting in October 1964, when the inspector, the principal, and the grade 1 teachers explained its purposes, procedures, and advantages. The enthusiasm with which the announcement was received was attributed to the parents' feeling that the school was making a serious effort to find new and better ways of educating their children. A favourable impression was created by the children's enthusiasm for going to school. Up to the time Johnson's paper was prepared, no parent had blamed the teaching program for his child's lack of success. Parents were more willing to accept evaluations made by teams of teachers than those of a single teacher in a self-contained classroom. There had been a rather uncertain evaluation of the experiment

Approaches to teaching 35

through the administration of the Primary Edition of the Metropolitan Achievement Tests, which were given to all the grade 1 pupils involved in the team teaching program in June of each year from 1963 on. As interpreted from the norms accompanying the tests, the median scores were above the normal grade expectancy for grade 2 pupils at the same time of the year. No other school had, however, provided a control group with which results might have been compared. Since the median IQ of those in the experiment was 110, as compared with the North York median of 105, results were expected to be somewhat better than average. It was assumed from the evidence that the pupils had achieved at least as well as they would have if they had remained hi a self-contained classroom. MEDIA The general role of various types of educational media, particularly the newer ones, is discussed in volume m, chapter 8 of ONTARIO'S EDUCATIVE SOCIETY. The provision of certain services, particularly educational television broadcasts, by the central authority is reviewed in volume V, chapter 19. It is possible in the present chapter to make only a limited number of references to local initiatives, with no attempt at coverage of all types of media. The most significant undertakings have undoubtedly been in the field of educational television. Television Ottawa school systems Although Canadian schools, including those in Ontario, can hardly be said to have responded with alacrity to the possibilities of educational television, some local systems entered the field considerably sooner than did the Department of Education. Station CJOH-TV co-operated with the Ottawa Public School Board to present a regular series of comprehensive in-school telecasts beginning in the 1961-2 school year. The station met the costs of production and one broadcast of the series, and made its production facilities fully available. The school board provided the teachers and made the choice of subject and grade level. Each teacher prepared his own script and visual aids and sent out material for classroom teachers to use in the lesson preparatory to the viewing, as well as suggestions for fruitful follow-up activities. In 1963 twenty-one programs were broadcast, each based on the regular course of study. Each program was shown three times. There were two lessons in physical education for grade 2, three programs on "A Hot Dry Country: Jordan" and a three-part series in oral French for grade 3, three lessons on "Life on an Island: Hong Kong" and two in music for grade 4, three lessons in physical education and three in oral French for grade 5, and two in music for grade 6. While surveys uncovered some negative

36 Significant developments in local school systems

reactions, the majority of teachers were reported to have found the programs of definite practical assistance, particularly in the presentation of pictures, maps, and specimens that they might have found difficult to locate and introduce into the classroom. Enthusiasm on the part of teachers, officials, and trustees led to the appointment of an inspector to head the board's Television Department, and two specialist teachers were added to the staff. Between 1964 and 1965 the number of programs produced increased from twenty-one to sixty-seven, and coverage was extended from the winter term to the three terms of the school year. More intensive efforts were made to ascertain teachers' opinions through a tabulation of the contents of evaluation cards accompanying the supplementary material distributed before each broadcast. There was particular interest in programs in specialized subjects such as French and music, with art, science, and social studies ranking next in succession. Plans for the following year were made in the light of these findings. Of particular interest among the year's offerings was a series of fourteen lessons on the new mathematics designed to provide grade 8 pupils with the background needed for work in high school. Successive annual reports of the superintendent of public schools suggested that educational television was ceasing to be regarded as a novelty, and that the medium was winning an integral place in Ottawa classrooms. In co-operation with the Ottawa Separate School Board, plans were made in 1966 to broadcast the entire grade 2 French course, consisting of thirty-six lessons, the following year. Each week the child watched the program and received five additional classroom lessons given by the teacher and the French specialist. Grade 2 teachers were reported to be enthusiastic about the provision of models for their own lessons. By 1966-7 there were seven teachers working full time in the Television Department to prepare school broadcasts. Station CJOH was recognized more than once by the award for Educational Television made by the Ontario Teachers' Federation for outstanding public service in the field. In 1967 the Ottawa Public School Board and the Ottawa Collegiate Institute Board combined their resources to purchase a mobile television unit containing the equipment needed to produce school television broadcasts, including cameras, a control centre, and accessories. This development facilitated the production of custom-made programs to meet the particular needs of students in the Ottawa area. A television studio was also built in the Public School Board's headquarters. It required a fulltime technician to maintain the collection of technical equipment. The Ottawa Separate School Board followed the Public School Board in establishing its own Educational Television Department in 1966. A committee, formed to organize the programs, conducted research at the National Museum, the Municipal Library, the National Archives, and the National Film Board. It also made a forecast analysis to determine what

Approaches to teaching 37

programs should be produced in the subsequent period. The co-operation of station CJOH was made available, as it was to the Public School Board. Meetings were held with representatives of the other school boards and with Carleton University and the University of Ottawa to ensure co-ordination of effort. The Collegiate Institute Board was also notably enterprising in the educational television field. A progress report made in 1969 indicated that five secondary schools had video tape recorders, and five others intended to install similar equipment in the immediate future. Sir John A. Macdonald High School had a complete instant retrieval system for video tape and film as part of a two-year experiment involving the co-operation of the Public School Board, OISE, and Bell Canada. Sir Wilfrid Laurier High School had complete facilities for making a one-inch video tape. The studio enabled teachers and students to view programs, provided experience in production, and gave teachers from other schools and subject councils an opportunity to hold workshops and discussion groups. Production of programs was being carried out both at the studio maintained in co-operation with the Public School Board and at CJOH headquarters. The co-operative project involving Bell Canada and the OISE, along with the Ottawa boards, was of particular significance. Called the Information Retrieval Television (IRTV) system, its physical facilities and equipment included a library of films and video tapes, a distribution centre, and a coaxial cable trunk television system linked to four schools which among them had 140 teaching areas ranging from kindergarten to grade 13. Each of these had a TV monitor connected to the library, enabling a teacher to make a direct request for films or video tape. While teachers might make advance bookings, early experience showed that requests for immediate transmission could usually be accommodated within two minutes. Besides giving teachers access to the central library, the system enabled them to receive local television programs and regular educational television broadcasts. Recognizing the importance of giving teachers ready access to information about the materials available to them, the Department of Computer Applications at OISE produced an appropriate catalogue.15 A computer was used to organize the content and to print the sheets. Efficient access to information was facilitated through five cross-referenced indexes. In discussing the system at the Eleventh Annual Conference of the OERC, M.W. Wahlstrom indicated some of the possible ways in which the system might be extended to meet further educational needs. An expansion of the facilities used at the beginning would enable individual students to order and view programs of their own choice. Members of the staff of the Department of Computer Applications at OISE were working on the use of computers to give teachers and students instant access to materials stored hi a variety of forms. A more limited objective was to automate the booking procedures for IRTV.

38 Significant developments in local school systems

London school system The London Board of Education showed a very early interest in using television for educational purposes. In 1958 experimental lessons were presented at various levels from kindergarten to grade 13. These lessons were intended primarily as a means of demonstrating to the public what went on in the classrooms of the city. They were also considered to be a useful contribution to in-service training for the whole area covered by CFPL-TV in that teachers, in watching master teachers present master lessons, had an opportunity to see classroom instruction at its best. Studies of television techniques began in 1962 hi the more advanced classes hi electricity at H.B. Beal Secondary School. During 1965 a closedcircuit system with a small studio was installed, and programs from the CBC network were relayed at times most favourable to classroom teachers. In May 1968 the Department of Transport granted a licence to the Board of Education to operate station XJF-301 on four channels of 2500 megahertz. With the subsequent approval of a vocational grant for an enlarged television studio, the station began to relay educational programs on call to four secondary schools. By the end of June 1969 the average number of calls for playbacks was 114 per week. During the academic year that followed, the station was developing its own educational programs as well as broadcasting playbacks and giving instruction in television skills to students studying electronics. Port Arthur school system In 1966-7 the Port Arthur Board of Education established the first Canadian secondary school course in the maintenance and use of television production equipment. Grants from the federal and provincial governments made it possible to set up a studio-shop at Hammarskjôld High School. The course was open to grade 11 and 12 students in the four-year and five-year programs. The technical aspects dealt with the operation and maintenance of studio and control equipment used hi closed-circuit systems and in commercial broadcasting studios. Students in the Arts and Science branch could study radio and television arts, techniques of production, design, writing, and performance. In addition to training courses, the facilities made it possible to produce and transmit educational programs. Another major service was the video tape recording of ETV programs for transmission to the schools. Mathematics instruction at Lambton Central Collegiate and Vocational Institute, Petrolia At the Eleventh Annual Conference of the OERC, Marion McKinley told of an experiment at Lambton Central Collegiate and Vocational Institute in the use of television as a means of improving instruction in mathematics.16 The assumption on which the approach was based was that the student learned most effectively when he could see the solution and hear the

Approaches to teaching 39

explanation simultaneously. As a means of testing the usefulness of television for providing optimum learning conditions, the teachers produced tapes for the use of students in grades 9 to 13, provided them with a resource library of tapes, and supplied them with the equipment and the means of viewing the programs. As a means of explaining the mathematics ideas and concepts as clearly as possible, the teacher producing the script concentrated on giving examples rather than on proving a great number of theorems. Explanations were similar to those which might be given to a class or to an individual student. Preparations for recording material involved hand printing of the lines, no more than six of which were visible at any one time. A pointer indicated the part being discussed. At times models were shown for the sake of clarity or to arouse interest. The commentator was rarely seen. The video tapes were produced within the school by the audio-visual technician and subsequently catalogued and stored. Since it took about forty hours of preparation for each hour of tape, the process of building up the collection was rather a slow one. School facilities enabled the students to use the tapes according to their individual needs. There were three television monitors with earphones connected directly to three playback machines in the audio-visual office. The room in which the monitors were located was directly connected to the office. A student wanting to view a certain program located its number in a book and ordered it by that number through the intercom. He could, if he wished, have it repeated. Even when three students were watching different programs, the use of earphones prevented them from interfering with one another. The "Mini-Math" collection was said to have several major uses, actual or potential. 1 / The tapes were primarily intended for use in a resource centre where a student could take advantage of them for general review, for remedial work, or to catch up on work missed because of absence. 2 / Since the usual classroom teaching could be dispensed with, a bright student in an ungraded or partially ungraded school system could learn mathematics at his own speed. 3 / In places where mathematics teachers were scarce, the tapes might be used in lieu of a teacher. 4 / A television lesson might be resorted to where a teacher felt apprehensive about his own ability to handle the topic. A number of experiments were conducted to assess the value of the tapes. Various teachers taught two classes a series of ten lessons, one by means of the tapes and the other by conventional methods. Testing at the end of the period revealed in every case that results in the two groups were approximately the same. As a rule, however, the students indicated a preference for the personal presence of a teacher. Thus it was not considered justifiable to advocate a deliberate policy of replacing teachers by tapes. Individual students who used the approach for review or for advancing on their own reported it to be very helpful.

40 Significant developments in local school systems

Programmed instruction The McKeown study in grade 4 arithmetic The most elaborate controlled study of programmed instruction carried out in Ontario schools was one undertaken in September 1962 by E.N. McKeown, who was awarded an Ed D degree by the University of Toronto in part on the basis of the results. McKeown gave an abbreviated report of the study at the Eighth Annual Conference of the OERC hi 1966." When his plans had been initiated six years earlier, the idea of programmed instruction had still been relatively new and educators had needed experimental evidence of its value. With co-operation available from the Toronto system in particular, he had set out to compare achievement in arithmetic by similar groups of urban grade 4 children taught by 1 / teaching machine, 2 / programmed booklet, and 3 / traditional methods. The study was also designed to assess the relevance of such variables as location, sex, IQ, knowledge of participation in the experiment, and reading ability. Information was gathered on changes in attitude toward arithmetic and on differences in completion, error, and omission rates between the two groups using programmed materials. McKeown presented his audience with some sobering information on the cost and other problems involved in an experiment in programmed instruction. 1 / A good item writer produced an average of ten usable frames per working day. 2 / A program covering a year's work in arithmetic might require something like fifteen thousand frames. 3 / His study necessitated the use of six thousand frames of experimental material prepared by a special group. 4 / Teaching machines valued at $7,000 were borrowed and binders costing $500 were purchased for the study. 5 / Additional supplies used included 750,000 sheets of paper collated into sets, 1,800 stencils, and 20,000 envelopes. 6 / The approximate total cost of the materials was $8,000. 7 / Thousands of hours of writing and analysis time were required. These were some of the reasons why most experiments in programmed instruction involved the use of only a few hundred frames and lasted no longer than a few days. The participants hi the experiment were 926 grade 4 children attending the same urban public schools in Ontario between the first school day hi September and December 11, 1962. A stratified random sample was chosen by grouping all urban centres in the province in six categories of approximately equal size, from each of which a single centre was chosen, and then by selecting two schools at random from each centre, one of which was randomly designated the experimental school and the other the control school. The only criterion the school had to meet was that it had to have enough grade 4 pupils to permit the organization of three classes. After matching on sex and IQS obtained from a group test, the pupils were assigned at random to the three classes. Teachers and treatments were also assigned at random to the classes. In view of the

Approaches to teaching 41

usual difficulties in carrying out well controlled experimentation under real conditions, the fact that such a plan could be adhered to represented a remarkable research achievement. Pupils in the classes using teaching machines and programmed booklets worked for twenty-seven minutes a day, the length of time suggested by the program of studies for Ontario schools, between 9:00 and 10:00 AM. The teacher was supposed to act only as a supervisor, but to give the pupils no help with their work. Homework, textbooks, and additional work in arithmetic were prohibited. The teachers in the traditional classrooms were asked to organize their teaching to cover exactly the same content as that contained in the programmed materials, which adhered closely to the Ontario grade 4 course. Again, there were the same time restrictions; there was to be no homework, and extra remedial work was to be avoided, if possible. Equivalent forms of the Dominion Survey Test of Arithmetic Fundamentals, Grades 3 to 5 were used to obtain pre-test and post-test scores in order to determine the amount of improvement in arithmetic. Additional information was collected on reading ability and attitude toward arithmetic. The completed programmed materials were also analysed to calculate completion, error, and omission rates. The statistical analysis of the results showed that the pupils taught by traditional methods made somewhat greater gains than those taught by teaching machine or those taught by programmed booklet. There was no significant difference in achievement gains between the last two groups. Although completion rates varied with treatments and among IQ categories, the averages of the two groups were almost identical. The error and omission rates were more than twice as high in the machine group as in the booklet group. McKeown attributed the higher omission rate to mechanical difficulties with the teaching machines and the higher error rate to the pupils' inability to look ahead and find the correct answers. The analysis failed to show any significant relationship between mean improvement in arithmetic on the one hand and any of the variables of location, sex, IQ, reading ability, or knowledge of participation in the experiment on the other. Nor did the teaching method have any perceptible effect on the pupils' attitude toward arithmetic. McKeown declared that the fact that the group taught by traditional methods learned significantly more arithmetic during the experiment than the groups taught by programmed instruction did not mean that one method worked and the other did not. Despite the reported weaknesses in the experimental programmed materials, and allowing for the complete absence of help from the teacher in the two programmed treatments, the pupils did learn. From the reports of pupil boredom, it was obvious that the artificial controls imposed as part of the study should not be used as guidelines for the employment of programmed materials in regular classroom settings.

42 Significant developments in local school systems

One obvious implication of the finding that there was no significant difference in achievement gains between those using teaching machines and those using booklets was that, in view of the cost differential, favourable consideration should be given to presenting the material in booklet form. While the study had not shown that a programmed booklet would necessarily always do as well as a teaching machine, it did appear that, where a choice was possible, the text format was adequate, provided that no major changes had taken place in teaching machine hardware and that the program was essentially of the linear type. Other considerations might be important where the program was of the branching or scrambled textbook type. McKeown suggested that by far the largest groups for which the study had implications consisted of those educators who were aware of the emergence of programmed instruction as a new teaching method, but who had been waiting for the results of field trials conducted under familiar conditions. He felt that his results should encourage such people to become involved with informal field tests and, if they were classroom teachers, to try programmed materials with a few of their pupils. He had provided them with some information that would help to improve their approach. For example, there had been tremendous variations in the speed with which some of his experimental pupils had worked; the fastest had done nearly four times as much work as the slowest. It had been shown, further, that pupils with relatively low IQS and poor reading ability were not unduly handicapped in working with such material. Since this type of pupil most often needed extra help, it appeared that programmed materials might well offer one of the answers to the problem of providing sufficient sound remedial instruction. There were implications from the study for teachers who were "distrustful of new techniques because they represent a challenge to their professional competence, arouse feelings of inadequacy and spawn the nightmare of personal obsolescence - schools without teachers!" For members of this group, McKeown suggested that his study offered both a comfort and a challenge. They might feel comforted because the pupils restricted to the programmed materials had obviously missed their customary teacher-pupil and pupil-pupil interchanges, because the teachers involved in the experiment had seen nothing to fear in the machines and booklets, and because the findings had confirmed the idea that the material, presented either for introductory or remedial purposes, might help teachers make more efficient and economical use of their time and energy. The challenge lay in the fact that programmed instruction could no longer be regarded as simply a fad. There was now sufficient evidence to justify taking it seriously and participating in its further development. An implication inherent in the nature of programmed instruction was that it represented a major step forward in the individualization of instruction. The greatly differing rates at which the pupils worked through

Approaches to teaching 43 the materials suggested the urgency of modifying the arbitrary grade structure. The non-graded elementary school then beginning to make its appearance would find programmed materials of great assistance in attaining its planned objectives. The comments with which McKeown opened his address to the OERC were perhaps more appropriate as an epilogue than as a prologue. On Sunday morning at ten o'clock, exactly four years will have passed since the last teaching machine knob was turned, the last programmed booklet slider was moved and the last pencil mark made in the study I am reporting this morning. Many changes have occurred in the world during that time but few of these changes have been in the field of programmed instruction. Were the study to be conducted today, its strengths, weaknesses and value would be virtually the same, but studies of this type are infrequent today. Infrequent because it is maintained that because the quality of teachers and materials varies so greatly, one cannot compare the efficacy of programmed instruction and so-called traditional methods; infrequent because the cost and volume of work involved dissuade an individual from attempting a study of this scope; infrequent because programmed instruction is no longer a "hot" topic and thus the necessary co-operation, material and money are very difficult to obtain.18 Experiment in grade 9 mathematics at Geraldton Composite High School In September 1962 an investigation into the use of programmed instruction materials in grade 9 algebra was undertaken in Geraldton Composite High School by a mathematics teacher, L.W. Robinson. The program selected for the study was Temac First Year Algebra. Six objectives were defined: 1 / to determine the suitability of the content of the program for the Ontario course of study; 2 / to determine the efficiency of programmed material for the acquisition of required skills; 3 / to determine the acceptability of the approach to students accustomed to traditional methods; 4 / to compare the relationship between IQ and achievement with programmed instruction and the corresponding relationship with traditional instruction; 5 / to investigate in a general way the role programmed material might play throughout the high school; 6 / to attempt to ascertain the best method of using programmed material with a view to further experimentation. Experimental and control groups in the five-year program were set up on the basis of information available from the elementary schools from which the students graduated, and from option sheets completed by the students before they finished grade 8. The variables taken Into account were sex, chronological age, and IQ. Because the IQ scores reported were from several different tests, the Intermediate form of the Dominion Group Test of Learning Capacity was administered in October for purposes of verification. Students were paired according to the matching

44 Significant developments in local school systems

variables and the groups were assigned to methods at random. The process of matching originally produced twenty-four pairs, but student transfers and drop-outs in September reduced the total to eighteen. As finally organized, the experiment provided for two types of comparisons, one between the groups consisting of the eighteen matched pairs and one between two groups consisting of twenty-three and twenty-four students respectively for which the average values of the matching variables were closely equated and for which it was assumed that the effects of unmatched variables had been approximately equalized by randomization. Despite the care with which the experiment was set up, there was a feeling among staff members that the experimental class was intellectually strongei than the control class. Six tests were selected for criteria and control measures: 1 / a test in algebra fundamentals constructed by the Australian Council for Educational Research, 2 / problem-solving tests in arithmetic and algebra, 3 / the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, 4 / the BrownHoltzman Survey of Study Habits and Attitudes, 5 / a teacher-made test of attitude toward mathematics, and, as mentioned, 6 / the intermediate form of the Dominion Group Test of Learning Capacity. The teacher's examination in algebra was also used as a criterion measure. The parallel forms of the first five tests in the list provided pre-experiment and post-experiment scores. Both classes selected the same obligatory and optional subjects, and both had the same teacher for each subject, including mathematics. When the experiment began hi late October, the work covering experimental geometry had been completed and sufficient time was assumed to have lapsed for the students to become adjusted to the high school and to establish rapport with the mathematics teacher. The programmed material was introduced in a low-key manner, with the teacher explaining the fundamental rules for its use and the students as a group completing the first few questions. One-period tests designed by the teacher were administered after approximately every five hundred frames. While students took these tests at different times, and the slower ones thus would appear to have been subject to the temptation to ascertain their content from the others, there was little incentive for doing so, since it was made clear that the results had no bearing on grades assigned for the year's work. Those who needed it, as indicated by the results of the tests, were provided with a remedial program, while those who completed all questions correctly proceeded with the Temac program. The remedial work consisted of verbal explanations, redoing certain frames, and working on questions from the standard textbook. The testing revealed that some difficulties were not being uncovered in sufficient time to make remedial work feasible. The students were also having problems with the form in which answers were required. They were accordingly given more written work, and at frame 2099 and

Approaches to teaching 45

at specified points thereafter they were required to answer certain questions from thek standard text at the board. The correction of this work was accompanied by discussion of various points. Further, since many students found it difficult to work at their programs for thirty-five minutes at a sitting, some of these periods were broken up and other types of work introduced. The experimental procedure thus came to consist of work on the program, related board work, testing, remedial work, and discussion. Other aspects of the experiment were also handled in such a way as to make the procedure difficult or impossible to replicate in any exact sense. Students were allowed, although not urged, to take thek programs home. At various stages, they were told approximately how many frames they should have finished if they were to have a reasonable chance of completing the program by the end of the school year. A certain amount of pressure was put on the slower students to show more industry. In a partial attempt to control the time variable, the control students were not at first given any homework, although questions were assigned for review and additional practice. When this procedure appeared to be having a detrimental effect on attitude, homework was re-introduced. This step may have had something to do with the fact that the control group completed the course at the same time as the fastest experimental student, and the slowest experimental student a little less than two weeks later. When the i-test was applied to the means of the eighteen matched pairs in the experimental and control groups, no significant differences were found on any of the measured variables except critical thinking or reasoning. The Watson-Glaser test showed the scores of the experimental group to be significantly higher at the .01 level in October. By June, however, the difference was not significant at the .05 level. Of more interest was the fact that, although the absolute levels of achievement on the Australian test were not significantly different, there was a significant gain in performance in the experimental group. The attitude survey, administered in January and again hi June, showed a definite overall change in favour of traditional instruction. Fourteen of the students felt that using the programs was a boring way to learn, although one noted on his questionnaire that some teachers could be boring too. It appeared to be the better students who tended to reject the procedure. One reason appeared to be that they were compelled to complete more frames than they felt was necessary to learn a particular point, and another that they were required to be mentally active throughout an entke period while in a regular classroom they might spend some of the time on their private thoughts while slower students were being taught basic work. Despite adverse reactions, ten of the twenty-four students who had used the programs indicated an interest in learning other subjects by the same method. Among his comments as a result of the experiment, Robinson suggested that programs of a unit design would have been more economical

46 Significant developments in local school systems

and flexible than the one used. A program involving perhaps two weeks' work would enable an instructor to use it for introduction, presentation, or review, whichever best suited his needs. It would also tend to eliminate the practice among certain students of looking at the answers before they attempted the questions. This problem became serious only after they were well advanced in the program and found themselves at substantially different points. Those who discovered that they were behind and wished to catch up were inclined to take shortcuts by copying down the answers without doing the work. On balance, the programmed instruction approach seemed incapable of handling the whole teaching task. The teacher had to assume the responsibility for motivation and for giving remedial help and direction. Programs might perform a particularly useful function hi remedial work. On several occasions while the experiment was under way, a grade 9 student in one of the other classes had been given a program to help him overcome a difficulty in a particular area. Without exception, the reaction had been enthusiastic. Such students had frequently asked permission to take a program home for review purposes. For the gifted student a program might be the means of exploring a new topic while slower students were engaged in the review work which he did not need. While the program should in theory have resulted in time saving, it did not do so hi the Geraldton experiment. None of the students regarded its use as an opportunity to progress more quickly and proceed to the next grade. They seemed conditioned, in Robinson's view, to do only enough work to stay out of trouble and obtain reasonably good marks, but not to make themselves conspicuous by getting too far ahead. Robinson thought that the pressure of the external examination might have produced a stronger effort had the experiment been conducted in grade 13. He felt, further, that more mature students would have shown a greater sense of responsibility for their own progress and been less inclined to let the teacher bear the burden of getting them through the course. Films and filmstrips The use of films and filmstrips in the classroom is of course a practice of long standing. It has often been observed, however, that the average teacher, without guidance or assistance, does not usually exploit their full potentialities. The field remains open for the exercise of imagination and for experimentation with new applications. The continuous improvement of equipment constantly challenges the ingenuity of users. Three Valleys Public School, North York At the Eighth Annual Conference of the OERC, B. Griffiths of Three Valleys Public School in North York recounted an attempt by the Educational Studies Committee in District 24 of the Ontario Public School Men Teachers' Federation in 1965-6 to evaluate the role of the 8

Approaches to teaching 47

mm concept movie or loop film in the elementary schools.19 At the time the project was undertaken, a teacher could obtain a selection of loops from commercial sources and use them in the same way as he might use a filmstrip or a 16 mm film to serve as a supplementary source of information. The committee felt that the idea of using the concept movie as the point around which a series of creative experiences could be evolved had not been fully explored. Six members of the federation in North York were invited to participate in the project by completing two or three 8 mm movies of approximately three minutes' duration each on topics selected by the pupils dealing with any aspect of their classroom activities. The teachers' role would be to give only general guidance in the selection of the topic, the writing of the script, the making of props and costumes, and the filming. The classes were to produce films that would reflect their own ideas and interests. The participants were provided only with a camera, film, and a minimum of instruction. Griffiths remarked on the substantial increase in sophistication and appeal of the second loop produced by one participating class in comparison with their first. The improvement occurred despite the fact that the pupils had shown tremendous pride and satisfaction in the first loop when they had seen it for the first time and had proved unable to identify many areas where improvements could be made. They evidently lost some of their subjectivity hi view of the improvement they were able to make within a few months. At a meeting of the participating teachers to evaluate the project, the conclusions reached were uniformly favourable. 1. Pupil interest was at a maximum. The fact that they were able to participate in the activity themselves, provided a tremendous stimulation for them. 2. The project was ideally suited to extensive correlation with other subjects. For example, films were produced on health, physical education, social studies, and language. It is almost unnecessary to say that the 8 mm concept movie can be used in any subject area. The ingenuity of the pupils would appear to be the only limiting factor. 3. The movies were used in a variety of meaningful ways. Some were used as motivational material for language arts activities in other classes. One was used as part of a school's safety program. Various phases of the physical education program were illustrated by means of a pupil-centred 8 mm concept movie. 4. The teachers involved were quite excited about the possibilities of the pupil-directed, and pupil-produced films. They signified a genuine interest to use this technique in the future. The versatility of the technique was demonstrated by one class, which chose to produce a long adventure movie. A soundtrack was recorded on

48 Significant developments in local school systems

a tape and a tape recorder was played in synchronization with the silent film. Operation Experience in Etobicoke Operation Experience, as carried out in the Etobicoke school system in the 1965-6 school year, was an extension of Project Discovery in the United States. The program was sponsored jointly by the Etobicoke Board of Education, Encyclopaedia Britannica of Canada Ltd, and Bell & Howell Canada Ltd.20 The purpose was to determine the extent to which audiovisual materials and devices would be used if they were supplied to classrooms in abundance, and the effect their use would have on learning. It was expected that the findings would throw light on the question of how much should be invested in these materials and devices by school boards with average financial resources. The project was of a relatively uncontrolled action research type with provision only for subjective forms of evaluation. In the four elementary schools in which the project was conducted, each class received a projection screen and a film projector. Every group of four classes got a 16 mm sound projector, five hundred sound films, and about 1,100 filmstrips. The participating commercial firms supplied an adequate number of projection tables. An important part of the program was the opportunity it provided for children to operate the equipment. If they learned to handle the sound projector, the filmstrip projector, and the hand viewer successfully, they were issued a green card authorizing them to exercise their skills at school or to take the equipment and films home for additional study. This arrangement was said to have had a great deal to do with the interest the pupils displayed in the whole procedure. Mastery of the necessary skill to use each machine was said to have required only fifteen minutes of instruction and practice. While the experiment was hi progress, a very large number of films were ordered by teachers in the four schools. From November 1965 to June 1966, circulation amounted to 21,597 film-days. At one school with an enrolment of approximately 1,200, about eighty sound films and one hundred filmstrips were being ordered from the central source each week. Observation indicated that one sound projector for four classrooms was sufficient to keep it in fairly constant use. There was more idle time on the filmstrip projector when one was supplied for each class, but the extra convenience paid considerable dividends. A group of students often used it for special purposes while the rest of the class was taught something else. The project was reported to have aroused a great deal of interest among the pupils. The school librarians noted a greatly increased demand for all kinds of materials on an expanded range of topics. There was a greater number of class excursions to various parts of Metropolitan

Approaches to teaching 49

Toronto in search of information on topics introduced by the media. The principal of one of the participating schools commented on the improvement in pupils' note-making and record-keeping. Some teachers made impressive claims about the increase in the number of concepts the pupils were able to learn. In view of the gratifying results, the cost of providing equipment and supplies on the same scale to schools in general did not appear to be prohibitive. An official of the Etobicoke Board of Education was said to have estimated that a system starting from scratch would have to be prepared to spend one cent a day per child over an eight-year period. This type of pronouncement has an air of unreality about it in view of the obvious fact that materials and equipment change rapidly, and that a successful scheme would have to allow for continuous updating. Audio-visual aids centres Interest in providing a full range of audio-visual supplies and equipment and in promoting their use gave rise to the establishment of audio-visual aids departments or centres in some of the larger systems. These centres attempted to meet teachers' requests for various items and also, in some cases, maintained facilities to enable teachers to produce their own materials. In a broad sense, they made a contribution to in-service teacher education. The report of the superintendent of public schools for 1966 indicated that the Audio-Visual Aids Department of the Ottawa Public School Board was the largest in Ontario outside Metropolitan Toronto. Thirteen different categories of auditory and visual aids were being lent to schools. During the year, 11,212 requests out of a total of 16,000 were successfully met. The centre was equipped with a workroom where teachers could copy and duplicate materials, make 35 mm slides, and produce transparencies for overhead projectors both in black and white and in colour. Despite the extent of its operations, the centre was not able to meet all the demands on its resources, and local centres were set up in three schools to serve the needs of the schools in the surrounding areas. EVALUATION

One of the most important developments in Ontario education during the late 1960s was the abolition of formal externally conducted examinations at the end of grade 13. This change was accompanied by a general reaction against anything that resembled such examinations, even those set and marked by the teachers within the school at the end of the year. There was widespread acceptance of the claim that the threat of an examination was a poor way to motivate young people to do their best, and that what it produced was actually only the semblance of a real education. Teachers sought alternative methods of assessing student progress that would be less likely to become ends in themselves.

SO Significant developments in local school systems

Kingston school system The annual report of the director of education for Kingston noted the very marked change that had occurred throughout the system in 1967-8 in the policy relating to examinations at both the elementary and secondary school levels. Particularly in the primary and junior divisions, the number of formal examinations had been sharply reduced, and short tests, often of an informal nature, had replaced them. Four schools had gone to the limit of abolishing examinations completely. The tests being given tended to be increasingly of the diagnostic type, followed by remedial teaching. Stress was being placed on the continuous assessment of pupils' progress from day to day. At Queen Elizabeth Collegiate and Vocational Institute, formal midterm examinations had been abandoned for grades 9 and 10 in favour of brief one-period tests given at the end of each unit of work. In grades 11 and 12 such examinations had been shortened to test-length so that the whole set could be given in three days instead of the former six. A number of benefits had been observed from the changes in evaluating progress: 1 / economy in time available for learning; 2 / more thoughtful observation and assessment of the student's achievement from day to day; 3 / an incentive for the student to maintain a consistent effort from day to day rather than to coast along and then cram at the end; 4 / an increasing emphasis on the process of learning rather than on memorizing a set of facts; 5 / increased interest and improved learning; and 6 / more freedom from anxiety and tension, which needed to be kept at a reasonable minimum. Reports for 1966-7 and 1967-8 from the same official indicated a fairly rapid change hi methods of reporting to parents. During the first of these two years, a committee of principals conducted a thorough investigation hito the purpose, usefulness, and form of report cards. As a result of a number of proposals and modifications, it was agreed that each school would take its choice among the anecdotal, semi-anecdotal, and traditional forms in the primary grades and semi-anecdotal and traditional forms in the junior grades. The decision to permit the use of the anecdotal card hi the primary grades was based on its favourable reception hi an experiment conducted hi one school. Parent-teacher interviews were to continue to be regarded as an important means of communication. By the next year, all the schools were using the anecdotal form for kindergarten. Five schools were using the same form for primary classes and the remainder the semi-anecdotal form. For grades 7 and 8 the form devised by the committee of principals had been universally adopted. The report noted that the changes that had been made appeared to be in harmony with the recommendations of the Hall-Dennis Committee. London school system In 1969 the secondary schools in London abolished final examinations

Approaches to teaching 51

completely. Previously the students' performance had been assessed on six units of achievement: three sets of examinations and daily work during the three terms. After the change, the final mark was derived from five units. A spokesman for the system indicated that more emphasis was to be placed on classroom work throughout the year. He warned parents and students that the change did not signify a lowering of standards. More tests and assignments were being given during each term to provide assessment for the classroom rating. North Park Collegiate and Vocational School In the December 1969 issue of the Bulletin of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, Michael J. Keefe told of the experience of the classics department at North Park Collegiate and Vocational School in Brantford, where the decision was made hi the fall of 1968 to eliminate all formal examinations. At the same time, there was an attempt to minimize homework assignments and "to utilize classroom time to its greatest potential." Eight procedures were considered for use in appraising student progress: 1. Daily or semi-daily tests on minor units, such as declension of nouns or a vocabulary. 2. Weekly tests to examine the students' proficiency in a week's work, plus cumulative residual knowledge of past work. 3. Tests at greater intervals, to examine a total natural unit of work, such as all types of conditional sentences. 4. Examinations of a comprehensive nature at ends of terms and/or end of year. [One wonders in what important respect these differed from the kind of examinations that were abolished.] 5. Outside research assignments. 6. Daily homework assignments to be marked. 7. Subjective appraisal of day-to-day work, especially class participation. 8. The teacher's professional appraisal of student achievement.21

Classes differed in terms of the particular selection of methods used. For beginning students, the results were found to be, on the whole, anything but satisfactory. Even approaches that appeared to be effective in meeting limited objectives failed to change this general verdict. The first procedure on the list, daily or semi-daily tests, worked well in firstyear Latin. But tests to measure a week's retention, plus cumulative residual knowledge of past work, showed a steady decrease in quality as the year progressed. Daily homework assignments collected and marked at irregular intervals followed the same trend, as did subjective appraisals of day-to-day work. Although the students under consideration were supposed to be mentally superior, and quite capable of succeeding in the study of Latin,

52 Significant developments in local school systems

the teacher felt that they had not learned enough by the end of the year to continue with the subject at a higher level. They seemed to be unable and unwilling to retain material learned earlier, but rather to have a psychological drive to discard it in favour of what was being presented currently. The attempt to teach the ablative absolute illustrated the problem particularly well. Any adult who at one time completed the high school Latin programme, will remember that this very important point in grammar requires the remembering of vocabulary, especially the principal parts of verbs, basic knowledge of the perfect participle passive and confident knowledge of the endings of the ablative case. In addition, students must know and understand such terms as independent clause, subordinate clause, coordinating conjunctions, subordinating conjunctions, and several others previously taught. This group of students had earlier done well on each of these items in isolation. The attempt to apply them here, however, proved hopeless.22 The teacher involved concluded that students at the relatively low level of maturity of the group described could not grasp the importance of retaining material taught from day to day. Their enthusiasm for new topics lasted only until they realized these were based on material they were supposed to have learned earlier. When they understood this fact, they tended to become discouraged and to cease putting forth an efíort. The teacher was inclined to believe that an examination on which a large part of the year's mark was based was an essential motivating device. Conclusions were quite different with respect to students at a higher level. A group assessed largely on the same basis as those in grade 9, with the addition of outside research work, performed "spectacularly well." Results were increasingly satisfactory through the second, third, and fourth years of study. By the latter year considerable stress was placed on private research, and the students were said to be producing genuinely scholarly work. At the beginning of the academic year each student received a copy of the course of study, and all students kept up with their work. Many of them analysed their own weaknesses and made reasonable efforts on their own initiative to take appropriate remedial action. The writer of the article concluded that the three basic factors which had to be memorized in language study - vocabulary, morphology, and grammar rules - should be tested immediately after being taught and again at the end of the term. At the more advanced levels, testing of skill aspects became less important, and more emphasis might be placed on classroom performance and on outside, related, independent work. "Students who have proved their ability to organize themselves, on the basis of examinations in elementary work, may earn the privilege of not being compelled to submit to examination at advanced levels."23 Before accepting this verdict, the sceptic would wish to be satisfied

Approaches to teaching 53

on one or two questions. For example, could the threat of end-of-term examinations constitute the sole or primary influence that transformed students who seemed determined to forget what they learned as quickly as possible into self-motivated scholars, or might the quality of the teaching have had something to do with it? To what extent was there a real transformation after the first year, and to what extent a screening out of those most characterized by unproductive attitudes? It would appear that the students who had a psychological drive to discard material already learned could hardly have had any real desire to master Latin. They must therefore have been subjected to some kind of pressure to enrol in the course, rather than doing so as a matter of interest. If so, why not compelí all students to take Latin for the benefits that they will presumably perceive after they have been forced through the initial stages?

TWO

Curricular experimentation, research, and innovation

The area of curriculum experimentation, research, and innovation is a particularly difficult one to deal with in a volume such as the present one because of the difficulty in selecting illustrations of the greatest interest and significance among the large number of projects being undertaken in various parts of the province. It is not always safe to assume that those which represent the most radical departure from traditional practice are worthy of the most attention. Nor is the scale on which they were carried out necessarily a good criterion of importance. In some cases, the potential value of an innovation has been at least partially lost because the care and thoroughness with which it was conducted were not matched by effective reporting. In others, the thoughtful, sophisticated observations of those involved have given significance to an enterprise that might otherwise have seemed rather trivial. The examples offered hi the following pages, arranged for convenience in alphabetical order of subject or curricular area, were chosen with due attention to these and other factors. It was nevertheless impossible to avoid a certain degree of arbitrariness in the process of selection. A L C O H O L AND DRUGS - LONDON SCHOOL SYSTEM

In 1969-70 the London Board of Education responded to the increasing threat posed by the abuse of alcohol and drugs by appointing a "multiinterest task force" under the direction of B.C. McTavish, former principal of H.B. Beal Secondary School, to develop a program to inform London students about such matters. This proposed program was to extend from kindergarten to grade 12, and was expected to become a part of the broader Health and Family Living course. The task force was also to help those students who had problems with alcohol or drugs and wished to help themselves. Within the educational system the task force was to integrate the efforts of Health, Medical, Psychological, Guidance, and Curriculum Departments. Within the community it planned to co-operate closely with all other agencies involved in the same cause. McTavish emphasized the view that the abuse of mood modifiers and the emotional instability they produced were problems of society as a whole, and not just those

Cumcular innovation 55

of the educational system. The problems were not restricted to youth, as some of the publicity seemed to indicate, but concerned all age levels. A R I T H M E T I C - C U I S E N A I R E METHOD IN KITCHENER SEPARATE SCHOOLS

An experiment in the use of the Cuisenaire method of teaching arithmetic was undertaken in the Kitchener separate school system in the early 1960s under unusually strict control. J.R. Sweeney, then inspector for the Kitchener Separate School Board, later submitted an account and an evaluation of this experiment as a thesis for the Master of Education degree at the University of Toronto. The use of the method was begun in St Anne's School in 1960-1 in a combined grade 1 and 2 class. It was extended the following year to include all the grade 1 and grade 2 classes and a grade 4 class, and the year after that to all classes in grades 1 to 4 inclusive. St Anne's School was omitted from the experiment on the assumption that the earlier introduction of the method there would produce an undesirable bias. Use was made of the other ten schools in the system, where only "traditional" procedures had been followed. The approximately five hundred grade 1 pupils in these schools were paired. Primary achievement or learning capacity tests were used to divide them into two ability groups. The manipulations produced sixteen classes, eight serving as experimental classes for the Cuisenaire method and eight as control classes. The objectives of the program were derived in part from success already achieved during the previous three years with the Cuisenaire approach. It was known that grade 1 pupils of all ability levels could at least learn all the number facts, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions and factoring, up to the number 10. Achievement of this order was therefore defined as the minimum to be expected of both groups. In recognition of the capacity of the better pupils to go further, several optional topics were included, among them the number facts up to 15. It was originally intended that a single program would be developed for both groups, but because of the different ways of introducing the respective methods and the different terminology, this approach was abandoned in favour of separate programs, each containing the same basic material. All the grade 1 teachers were gathered together at the outset and given full information about the proposed program. They were then given a choice of the method they preferred to use. When the groups thus produced did not turn out to be exactly equal, three or four teachers had to be persuaded to accept their second choice. As a means of ensuring that the two groups had the same chance of exploiting their respective methods to the full, each was given a leader. The task of guiding the Cuisenaire

56 Significant developments in local school systems

group was given to Miss V. Stumpf, the teacher who had pioneered the method in the Kitchener separate school system, and the corresponding responsibility for the traditional group to Sister Rosalie. Both had the opportunity of visiting the classrooms involved, observing the teachers at work, answering questions, and assisting with the program. At the beginning of the experiment, the two groups of teachers met with their respective leaders one afternoon a week to assess the progress they had made during the previous week, to plan the procedures for the next week, and to commiserate if things were not going well. After a tune it was considered sufficient to hold a meeting every two weeks, and later once a month. The procedures followed in the control classes were developed under the sole restriction that Cuisenaire rods might not be used. The teachers accordingly agreed on an approach that could hardly have been described as traditional in any real sense. In fact, there would be good grounds for suggesting that it changed the nature of the experiment in a manner that differed greatly from what was originally intended. According to Sister Rosalie's description, "Each child was provided with a box containing twenty or more tile squares, 1M inches square and M inch in thickness. Flannel cutouts, including the numerals, were added to the primary concrete material which generally accumulates in a Grade 1 classroom, such as popsicle sticks to form bunches of ten and number beads in frames."1 The comparison involved two different methods of teaching introductory arithmetic through different sets of concrete materials. A strict time limit of half an hour a day was placed on the amount of time each teacher could spend in teaching arithmetic. It seemed selfevident that the weaknesses in an inferior method could be obscured if a teacher compensated for them by a more extended effort. The teachers were permitted to make use of ten or fifteen additional minutes in which the children did seat work as long as there was no overt teaching. Tests were designed and constructed specially for the program, and administered successively in February, April, and June. They were based on the objectives defined at the beginning of the course and, as far as possible, were intended to be fair to both groups. The extra optional material covered was intended to be more than any of the pupils, even the best ones, could master. Yet if the teachers of either group felt that they could go further than the planners had anticipated, they were free to try. Despite the claims made for the special efficacy of the Cuisenaire method, and the expectation of many of those involved in the experiment that its superiority would be conclusively demonstrated, the results of the tests did not decisively favour it over the methods which the other teachers employed. There were no grounds for any overall conclusion except perhaps that groups of teachers placed in a competitive position could produce excellent results with whatever tools were at their disposal. There was no question that many ot the children, under the stimulus of the

Curricula! innovation 57 experiment, achieved far more than their teachers would ordinarily have expected of them. That Sister Rosalie's group of teachers considered themselves ni a highly stimulating situation was evident from some of her own observations. During the past week, I visited several classrooms using the traditional materials with the new course, and in every one I found this stimulating interest and enthusiasm. In one A & B class the children were working on equations such as five minus two plus three equals N. One plus four, minus two, equals 2V. When I asked the teacher if the children knew all about six, she said she was willing to have them show what they could do. The pupils dictated all the plus patterns of six as rapidly as the teacher could record them on the blackboard and when asked for minus patterns the children in turn volunteered the following: Nine minus three equals six; eleven minus five equals six; twentyone minus fifteen equals six; ten minus four equals six; twenty-three minus seventeen equals six. This was not what I had anticipated, nor the teacher when she asked for minus patterns of six, yet it did prove to us that the children have developed a power and sense of numbers beyond our expections.2 This visit was made around December 1 of the year in which the children had entered grade 1 ! At the same stage hi the experiment, Miss Stumpf told of the feelings of the group of teachers using the Cuisenaire method. This past week, we asked our teachers to fill out a questionnaire, telling how they felt about the experiment. When asked to rate the Cuisenaire approach in comparison with their former courses - all but one rated Cuisenaire far superior - not to what our other group is doing (we didn't ask them that) but to our old traditional method. They felt the children were much more interested and have a better understanding of the relationship of numbers. They said that the brighter children are constantly being challenged. On the other hand, the weaker pupils, although they progress much more slowly, still get a feeling of accomplishment because they can always find the answer by themselves. They need not be told.8 BIOLOGY Teaching biology with the assistance of the computer at T.L. Kennedy Secondary School, Mississauga The purchase of a computer for instructional purposes and the development of suitable programs will undoubtedly remain financially prohibitive for the average school board for some time to come. Where computer facilities are maintained for other purposes, however, it has sometimes been possible to experiment with the medium as an aid to learning. A limited

58 Significant developments in local school systems-

initiative of this kind was reported at the twelfth annual conference of the Ontario Educational Research Council in 1970 by H.T. Mullins and H. Fried* The experimental program, consisting of fifty frames on the chemical digestion of food, was presented as part of a biology course at T.L. Kennedy Secondary School in Mississauga in early 1970. What was called the experimental group consisted of twelve grade 13 students, with two subgroups of seven and five students respectively. Those in the first group spent a class period on the computer, while those in the second, in addition to having a similar opportunity, were instructed to make use of their text and of the library as well. Those in the control group of thirteen had no chance to use the computer program, but were asked simply to study for a test on the chemical digestion of food. Each frame of the program presented some information and a question with four possible answers, among which the student was to choose the correct one. If he chose correctly, he was so informed and proceeded to the next question; if not, he was instructed to try again. A record of the questions he tried and the number of attempts he made on each question was printed for the teacher. At the end of the experimental period the students were given a teacher-constructed test covering the same material presented in a somewhat different manner. Students' attitudes were also assessed by means of a questionnaire. Results on the test were similar between the two subdivisions of the experimental group. They were, however, substantially better for the experimental than for the control group. In the absence of data on the method by which individuals were originally assigned to the groups, or on extraneous factors that might have influenced the final performance of the students, it was impossible to say how meaningful the results were. Taken along with the enthusiasm expressed by those who had an opportunity to use the computer, however, they suggested that the approach was promising. Some loss might of course be expected when the halo effect wore off. C O M P U T E R SCIENCE

North York school system The North York educational system won recognition in the late 1960s for offering computer courses as comprehensive and effective as those of any other system in the world. There were said to be two ultimate objectives: 1 / to give almost all students some exposure to computing, leading to an appreciation of the role, the potentialities, and the limitations of computers in modern society and 2 / to provide a smaller number, including potential specialists, with the basis for an understanding of computer science. An essential factor in the success of the program was the installation in the board's administrative offices of an IBM System / 30 Model 30

Curricular innovation 59

computer in 1966. Of major importance also was the recruiting of a highly qualified group of people to work with the teaching and supervisory staff. Conspicuous contributions were made by John Del Grande, Co-ordinator of Mathematics, and Norman E. Williams, Superintendent of Computer Services. In the spring of 1966 the first computer installed in a secondary school in Canada for instructional purposes only, an IBM model 1130, began operations at Northview Heights Secondary School. The new data centre was designed to serve all schools hi the North York system. One of the most important instructional uses of the central data-processing equipment acquired by the board was the construction of objective tests which could be machine-scored. Not only was marking time saved, but the results were also available while the material was still fresh in the students' minds. In 1965-6, the program included keypunch instruction at twelve secondary schools, a summer course for graduates of grade 11, and a special tenweek course for secondary school teachers and psychological services staff to outline the use of FORTRAN. Computing was first introduced as part of the mathematics program, which seemed a natural starting point. In 1968-9 a four-week course was initiated in grades 10 and 11 with a very gratifying response, with fifteen schools and more than 4,500 students participating. Its objectives were 1 / to introduce the student to computer concepts, 2 / to arouse his interest sufficiently to induce him to investigate the subject further, 3 / to enable him to relate the subject to the world outside the school environment, and 4 / to involve him in writing his own programs, which would be processed through the computer. There were plans to extend the course to the junior high schools, to reach three or four hundred additional students. By 1969-70 three main groups of courses were offered in grades 7 through 13: 1 / commercial data processing courses in grades 10, 11, and 12,2 / computer science options in grades 11 and 12, and 3 / mathematics courses and computer clubs in grades 7 to 13. Since it was not feasible to have a computer in every school, marksense cards were prepared in the classroom or at home for processing through the board's computer. Each school had a specially designed card box which was filled with students' cards. These were picked up and transported by what was called the pony express to the administrative offices every afternoon. They were run through the computer during the night shift, and the print-out was delivered to the schools the next morning hi time for the first class. If the program was wrong and could not be run, the student had an opportunity to check the cards against the print-out. There was a considerable amount of dissatisfaction over the lack of equipment in the schools. It was hoped that it would be possible at some time in the future to have a medium-speed card reader print-out terminal in each classroom linked by a telephone line to the computer so that a student could feed his cards into the system and receive an immediate print-out.

60 Significant developments in local school systems

Ottawa secondary school system The annual report of the Collegiate Institute Board of Ottawa in 1966 indicated that the theory and practical applications of data processing were being offered hi new courses at the High School of Commerce and at Champlain, Rideau, and Sir Wilfrid Laurier schools. At Ottawa Technical High School, students specializing in economics were using a small computer to learn programming and computer maintenance procedures, while students in printing and machine-shop courses were taking basic programming and the application of the computer to their trades. In the same school, there was a Computer Mathematics Club, the members of which used the computer to test some of their theories. An experimental program in computer mathematics was introduced at Sir Wilfrid Laurier and Woodroffe schools for students in grades 11 and 12 of the five-year program. The aim of this course was to enable students to solve mathematical or scientific problems by programming them for the computer. In the early stages, the Faculty of Engineering at Carleton University provided assistance by allowing students to test their programs on its computer pending the Collegiate Institute Board's acquisition of its own equipment. These developments were accompanied by rapid advances in the use of electronic data processing to facilitate administrative operations such as the preparation of report cards, attendance records, and timetables. Six schools entered this field by 1965-6, and in the fall of the latter year the remainder of the eighteen in the system had followed suit. For a brief period, a senior mathematics teacher was given a half-time schedule so that he could devote time to the co-ordination of data processing activities in the schools and service bureaus. In October 1966 the board appointed a full-time data processing co-ordinator with the responsibility of developing and supervising services for the entire secondary school system. By 1969, the Data Processing Department was involved in ten major areas: 1 / a student accounting system, including grade reporting, developed for the ungraded credit course school, 2 / grade reporting, 3 / attendance, 4 / management and statistical reports to the board and the schools, 5 / the medical file, 6 / the file on psychological testing, 7 / the file for the research department, 8 / an item analysis system for teacher-made tests, 9 / the psychological testing system, and 10 / the computer mathematics program in which students wrote programs hi FORTRAN and COBOL. Toronto school system In the Toronto system in 1968-9 there were IBM 2740 keyboard terminals in fifteen schools linked to an IBM 360/30 computer at the Education Centre. At certain hours, students had access to the terminals and keypunch units, and could test their programs. There were four 1050 systems, with card readers and 1052 printers, at schools where data processing for business was a popular option.

Curricula! innovation 61

Students began with the Student Program Language (SPL), a compilerlanguage suitable for both data processing and computer science courses. They could learn it in about an hour and a half, and used it until they advanced to FORTRAN. According to School Progress, Victor Bissonnette, manager of technical programming for the system, was planning to rewrite SPL to expand its capability to eliminate the necessary switchover.6 Because of limitations on the capacity of the computer, students' programs were run only during periods of three and a half hours during the daytime and one hour at night. Programs were allowed to accumulate and then processed in batches, so that the turn-around tune varied between two minutes and two hours. Cards were delivered to the centre by trucks. Students could visit the computer centre during the weekdays and on Saturday, where they could run their own programs through the computer. Renfrew and District Collegiate Institute An article in the April 1970 issue of School Progress told how an "Understanding Computers" program produced by Bell Canada was being used in a commercial class of grade 11 and 12 students in Renfrew and District Collegiate Institute.6 The program featured a small, do-it-yourself cardboard computer called CARDIAC, which stood for CARDboard Illustrative Aid to Computation. The device had movable parts equivalent to those found in digital computers, such as an accumulator, an instruction register, memory cells, and an input-output system. With a repertoire of ten instructions, it could solve some suprisingly difficult problems. It could be assembled within minutes, and was operated completely by hand. The program enabled the students to learn the way the computer multiplied by repeated addition, the way it counted, the use of loops to make possible the writing of more efficient programs, the use of subroutines, and the writing of programs. In addition to the model computer, the program included a manual to relate the model to faster and larger computers, an introductory book on computers, a fifteen minute film, a "vu-graph," and five film loops illustrating different aspects of the subject. Although one or two members of the class were thinking in terms of careers in the computer field, the use of the program was not intended for the purpose of turning out computer programmers. It was simply a means of giving students an idea of what was involved so that they might pursue the subject further if they wished. The reactions of the students were reported to be favourable, and the teachers were enthusiastic. Bell Canada pushed its product strongly by giving fifty-nine lecture-demonstrations in fifty-two locations in Ontario during the fall of 1969. These were attended by 2,250 teachers. DRIVER AND SAFETY EDUCATION - LONDON SCHOOL SYSTEM

Teaching young people to drive competently and safely has become an increasingly appealing cause as the automobile has moved into a position

62 Significant developments in local school systems

of central importance in modern society and as the consequences of poor driving have become more serious. It was natural that an appeal would be made to the schools to assume a part in producing safe drivers. Educators have had some difficulty in deciding on an appropriate response. For the most part, they have tended to agree that the development of an awareness of the uses, abuses, values, and dangers of the automobile is part of the process of coming to terms with present-day reality which should be part of every child's education. What is called for in order to achieve this objective is not the addition of a new school subject, but the adaptation of existing content by the introduction of suitable topics and themes. The actual teaching of driving skills as part of the regular curriculum is a different matter. However valuable such skills may be, educators have feared precedents might lead quickly to the filling up of the school program with courses designed to meet very specific practical needs, leaving no room for treatment of broader principles and generalizations designed to give students the ability to handle problems as they arise. Where driver training has been introduced, it has customarily been relegated to a tune outside regular school hours. The London Board of Education approved the introduction of a program of safe driving education beginning in November 1951. A local automobile agency assisted by providing a specially fitted dual-control car. Instruction was given free of charge during school hours to a total of 273 students, of whom 232 qualified for an operator's or chauffeur's licence. The program aroused objections in certain quarters over the use of school time for such a purpose. The next year, a new policy required all students to take twelve lecture periods of driving instruction on their own time before they were permitted to drive. They had to pay, although at a rate below that prevailing commercially, to help defray the cost of employing personnel from a local driving school who provided the instruction. In 1959 a program was adopted to teach driver education through television. The co-operation of television station CFPL-TV was secured to provide ten lessons emphasizing the rules for safe driving. These lessons were presented outside regular school hours by members of the staffs of local secondary schools. The reaction was very favourable, and the series was said to have conferred substantial benefits, not only on the students who participated formally and wrote the examinations, but also on many adults who watched the programs. The students who were successful in the examinations received, as part of a summer school program, a number of hours of practical experience under properly qualified secondary school teacher-instructors. The local Council of Women gave the television station an award for an outstanding contribution to traffic safety. Increasing traffic on city streets induced the board to approve the preparation of a curriculum of safety instruction by a committee of administrators and teachers working in co-operation with the administration and staff of the local separate schools. The course included a series of monthly

Curricular innovation 63

programs with appropriate topics for discussion and suggested activities for all grades of elementary school covering all aspects of safety. A staff member in each school, usually a vice-principal, was designated as a liaison teacher and given the responsibility of keeping the importance of safety constantly before the pupils and staff. A definite decrease in the number of children involved in accidents on the streets was attributed to the program. As of 1969 Thames and Sir George Ross secondary schools offered regular courses for registered students and optional classes for those at other secondary schools.7 Two areas were covered: theoretical instruction and practical training at the steering wheel. The twenty-five hours of classroom instruction involved the use of the latest automobile simulators and audio-visual equipment. In his six hours of practical experience, each student drove the latest model cars around a specially designed course at one of the schools. The training vehicles were provided free by the Automobile Dealers' Association of London. Those who completed the course successfully received a special Department of Transport certificate which automobile insurance companies recognized by giving them a reduced insurance rate, usually 10 or 15 per cent lower than that for others in a similar category. This arrangement was supported by statistics indicating that graduates of secondary school driver courses had 50 per cent fewer accidents and 80 per cent fewer encounters with the police. The policies of the insurance companies would obviously be justified either because the courses actually helped to prevent accidents or because the kind of young people who took such courses were also the kind who avoided accidents. The Courier article which reported the situation in London expressed regret that only between 5 and 10 per cent of the Ontario high school students took driver education. ENGLISH Merritton High School, St Catharines John M. Bassett, Co-ordinator of English for the St Catharines Board of Education, described an experiment in the teaching of English to students in the four-year program at Merritton High School in the April 1968 issue of Dimensions.8 Bassett admitted modestly that the group involved probably did nothing that had not been done by wise and imaginative teachers all over Ontario. To accept this confession at face value would certainly be to exaggerate the extent to which a passion for innovation has seized the provincial school system. In some respects Merritton High School had important advantages for the conduct of an experiment. It was the smallest secondary school in the system, with only a five-year Arts and Science and a four-year Business and Commerce stream. The small number of students made it possible to

64 Significant developments in local school systems

try the new approach in all grades from 9 to 12. The five teachers involved were able to engage in regular and constant discussion and to make the changes they considered desirable. The principal "allowed the timetable to be bent and fractured at will." In considering the objectives of the course, the teachers decided that there was no basic difference between the four-year and five-year streams. They wanted their students to acquire an ability to communicate with clarity and some emphasis and to listen and read with understanding and discrimination. They had to take into account, however, that the fouryear students were not for the most part university bound. But these students were all going to live in a world where the varied messages and forms of communication suggested a more appropriate preparation than the old course of study consisting of a Shakespearean play, a novel, twenty poems, and a grammar text. The new approach, despite the retention of the old objectives of expression and understanding, involved the rejection of textbooks, examinations, and the study of formal grammar. Even the conventional name of the course was dropped in favour of "communications." The only textbooks used in any of tibe four years were an anthology of poetry, with no notes, and a collection of plays for the different media. In an attempt to interest the new grade 9 students as quickly as possible, the teachers got them involved in a study of radio. Programs of various types were taped, played back in class, and discussed. Then the students attempted to produce their own radio programs. A small group might be responsible for a news broadcast, a disc jockey session, or a short play adapted from something being read at the time. The program might be taped and later played back for criticism, with opportunities for written and oral expression. In the later and more formal part of the course, the class was divided hito two parts, each of which read a different novel for later discussion. Small groups then read a novel for presentation. A good supply of paperbacks made possible a wide range of individual choice. In a historical approach to the language, the class read a little Old English and a little Middle English, with selections from more recent periods leading to Charlie Brown and certain adolescent heroes of the performing arts. The students worked on a dictionary of contemporary and idiomatic expressions. It was suggested that the teacher concerned may have learned more from this activity than any of the students. The study of poetry in grade 10 involved a variety of different approaches. The article mentioned, without elaboration, that a thematic approach was quite successful. When the students were asked to select their own poems from any source, some interesting poems were produced along with some "dreadful clichés." Poetic techniques were identified in modern recordings, which were compared with classical poems. In the next stage, the students composed their own poems, which were accepted without too much criticism. The class prepared a volume of poetry, with illustrations, for which they cut their own stencils. The creation of new

Canicular innovation 65

magazines in different classes was described as something of an epidemic. These were said to allow the students to write for a purpose, which was the key to all creative writing hi schools. The same teacher had both grade 11 and grade 12, and handled them in some respects in similar fashion. The first phase o£ the course involved an intensive study of the magazine as a form of publication. Samples from thirty to fifty years earlier were examined for reflections of current customs and mores. The students then identified, brought in samples of, and defended their favourite magazines. After an arbitrary exchange, a boy might examine true romances and a girl might study a hot rod magazine. The next stage involved a study of Time, the Reader's Digest, and Good Housekeeping, in which comments were made on assignment sheets about various aspects of the magazine as a basis for discussion and criticism. The students then proceeded to produce their own "Mini-Reader's Digest," with one student acting as editor and others writing advertisements, articles, and humorous sections. The study of film, like that of magazines, involved the problem of propaganda. Each student was asked to obtain a film from a foreign embassy for presentation and to defend it and its country of origin while the other members acted as critics. Feature films of various types were shown. The shorter ones were used for the study of technique, camera angles, and the use of colour and sound. These activities were followed by an attempt at the actual production of films. Study of poetry in grade 13 at Walkerville Collegiate Institute, Windsor At Walkerville Collegiate Institute in Windsor, Mrs Lois R. Thurgood undertook an experiment in the teaching of poetry in grade 13. The salient characteristics of the project were choice of poets and poems by the students, library research, and group presentations. Although the results were in some respects gratifying, the approach was not entirely satisfactory. The students were initially divided into two groups, each of which chose two poets for study. On the students' request, a number of periods were scheduled for library research. The teacher played a relatively passive role, advising on resource materials and treatment only on request. After the completion of the preparatory work, a presentation was given to the whole class in the form of a seminar, readings or recordings by students, a study of poems from duplicated copies, a musical presentation, or a choral reading. Among the most enthusiastic of the students were boys who claimed that they had begun to enjoy poetry for the first time, and had been stimulated to engage in further study of the same type. The best students for the most part found interest and value in the studies they themselves conducted. There were criticisms, however, of the dullness and super-

66 Significant developments in local school systems

ficiality of some class presentations. Some students found these more trying than even the worst teacher performances to which they had been exposed. The teacher made three main suggestions on the basis of the experience. 1 / She felt that more teacher guidance was desirable in the interpretation and presentation. Some students, having chosen poets whose work was beyond them, were clearly mouthing ideas that they did not understand. 2 / It appeared to be a mistake to assign one or two of the strongest students to each group, since it was unlikely that the same poets would appeal both to them and to the weaker students. 3 / Every group should not be required to make an oral presentation. Some students were incapable of making themselves heard and others were extremely monotonous. Television script-writing at Sir Wilfrid Laurier Secondary School, London In the August 1969 issue of School Progress, Bruce Ashdown, head of the English department at Sir Wilfrid Laurier Secondary School in London, explained how the gap between the printed word and the television image might be bridged.9 By writing television scripts, the students might develop an increased interest in English and a sharper critical insight. The technique was applicable to a wide range of grades. The only equipment needed was a single portable television set. As Ashdown described it, the script was based on part of a novel, play, or short story being studied by the class. The procedure was outlined in several steps. 1 / The teacher turned the television set on without the sound and had the students watch the action for a minute or two. After turning the set off, he asked them what they had seen. It was expected that at first they would comment on the content but fail to mention changes in the picture. 2 / During the second brief viewing, they were asked to observe the different camera shots. Their attention was called to the fact that no picture was left on the screen for very long. 3 / Standard terms were defined, along with their abbreviations, to enable the students to describe what was happening on the screen in terms of the camera shot. 4 / The set was turned on, again without the sound, and the students used the newly acquired terminology to explain what was happening on the screen. At the same time, the purpose of certain shots were discussed. 5 / A partial script was shown to the class, preferably by means of an overhead projector. The teacher pointed out that this script showed exactly what should be seen on the screen, and that a video and an audio column were set up so that what the viewer saw was immediately opposite what was said. The students copied the partial script or were given copies. 6 / The assignment was given in one of two forms : the students either wrote a script for a scene from a novel, play, or short story using the dialogue in the text or they wrote one for a scene that was not in the story but must obviously

Curricular innovation 67

have occurred. The second alternative, which was the more challenging, might follow the first, or the students might be given a choice. Ashdown listed three objectives which he felt the technique fulfilled. 1 / It brought the material alive by making the student visualize events and people. 2 / It required him to interpret works of literature by ensuring that he indicated what was to be emphasized. 3 / It made him more aware of the art behind television programs and fihns, and thus enabled him to become a more discerning critic. Ashdown suggested that the scripts might be evaluated for logical presentation, continuity, imagination, restraint (too many "zoom" shots pointing up everything were undesirable), and interpretation. The logical extension of the technique, Ashdown observed, was to have the script turned into an actual drama and film it. Presumably only one or two of the best efforts could be handled in this way. Such treatment would be feasible in very few schools. FILM STUDY

Confederation High School, Caneton The study of film as an art form has been taught informally in a number of secondary schools hi the province in recent years. The introduction of the topic in grade 13 could only have occurred after the program for that level was freed from the shackles imposed by the departmental examinations after 1967. C.M. Worsnop, Head of the English Department in Confederation High School, explained in the Carleton Education Bulletin how a course called "Film as an Art Form" would be taught in grade 13 English beginning in March 1970.10 At the end of their grade 12 year, students in Confederation High School were consulted by then" English teachers to determine which of seven suggested courses they would prefer in grade 13. The one on film proved to be universally popular and plans to introduce it were made accordingly. The teachers felt that film should be studied for itself and not as it related to other subject areas. Since there was no immediate prospect that it would be given its own place on the timetable, it remained part of the English program. The course was expected to cover many areas of film study such as film history, film technique, film making, and film criticism. There would be regular screenings for large groups of students, lectures, discussions, seminars, and workshops. The teachers would run some sessions, guest speakers would appear at others, and the students would organize and conduct still others. The program would overflow the regular sixty-minute period into the lunch hour, the period after school, and certain evenings to make tune for extra screenings. Some student projects would be scripts, some would be essays or collections of short writings about film, and some would involve the actual production of film. The course, lasting for twelve weeks, was to proceed through sue-

68 Significant developments in local school systems

cessive stages. During the first two weeks criteria would be established, projects would be initiated, and the nature and function of the film would be studied. The next week would be devoted to a review of the productions of Don Owen, a modern Canadian feature film maker. In the fourth week, eleven short films would be studied from a number of points of view, and a guest speaker would explore the topic "What is happening to TV?" The fifth week would be devoted to project work and the intensive study of two short films from a definite point of view, as well as two seminars on films screened during previous weeks by the school film society. The sixth and seventh weeks would deal respectively with the documentary film and the western. The eighth would include a variety of activities such as a study of the silent film, discussions, seminars, and a lecture by a guest speaker on Citizen Kane. The latter part of the course would involve a study of five of the six feature films made up to this time by the American film maker Arthur Penn. A major effort would be made to keep the whole program varied, lively, and stimulating. North York school system Through their efforts in 1965-6 students in several North York schools received high praise and official awards in national competitions for film makers. The screen education program was said to have been based on two concepts: firstly, that film is recognized as a legitimate form of communication with a language and literature all its own and that students acquire a knowledge about the medium by working with it; secondly, that screen education is a catalyst in bringing change to the whole educational process by breaking down the barriers between the student's daily and vital world (much of which is conditioned by film), and his school life (much of which is centred around the slower medium of print). The screen education program recognizes that the student lives in an electronic age.11 During the year several one-day workshops were held to enable three students and one teacher from each of the four participating schools to receive instruction in camera work and film editing. The instructors were considered to be experts in their field. The students' productions were shown at a four-hour non-competitive film festival at Northview Heights Secondary School. Several of these films were used hi the special summer courses at the College of Education, University of Toronto, and Althouse College of Education. Some were also entered hi a National Film Board contest, where first, second, and third prizes in their respective categories were won by three films. The procedures used varied greatly from one school to another. At Emery Junior High School, an entire class was involved in filming, editing, and revision during class periods. Other schools had extra-curricular clubs

Curricular innovation 69

for the same purpose. The films varied hi structure and technique from 16 mm black and white productions to 8 mm colour stop-action animation. Many of them employed sound tracks. Students demonstrated their interest by putting in extraordinary amounts of tune and effort on their respective projects. Progress during the following year was notable in several areas. An entry in the film festival from one of the public schools meant that all three levels of the system were represented. A vocational school also participated for the first tune. Major advances were made hi creating original sound tracks involving the composition of music and its synchronization to a tolerance of one-sixth of a second. There was exceptional improvement hi the realm of animation. Particular sophistication was evident in a production which examined Expo 67 using the technique of multiple screen projection. Of particular interest was an achievement by grade 6 pupils in Lillian Street Public School, who wrote, produced, edited, directed, and acted hi an eight-minute documentary 8 mm film entitled The Pill. The theme, based on the idea of substituting pills for food, came from Stephen Leacock's writings. When the pupils demonstrated an interest in the project, their parents provided a camera, film, tripods, lights, and editing equipment. Three discussion groups were formed to develop the theme and to determine the number of scenes and the organizational procedures. Twelve pupils were chosen to act while others painted scenery and built sets. The scenes were filmed in the school library, a classroom, and the adjacent shopping centre. The entire project was completed within three weeks of the time approval was given, and the film was shown at the annual meeting of the Home and School Association. FRENCH The extension of French instruction through the elementary school grades was one of the major curriculum changes of the 1960s. Apart from the bilingual schools, the subject was not generally taught at that level in previous decades, although the Ottawa Public School Board had introduced it in the 1930s. In some systems, there was an attempt to test some of the claims made for the values of the earlier introduction of the subject. Since the findings tended not to be very conclusive, however, the venture could hardly be considered other than an act of faith. For the most part there were serious efforts to teach for oral competence at the elementary level. In some places only specialists were allowed to handle the subject, while in others reliance was placed on special training for regular classroom teachers. The oral emphasis in elementary courses, along with other factors, tended to influence the secondary school program in the same direction. Although secondary teachers had long been exhorted to give full attention to oral fluency, the pursuit of other objectives had tended to predominate hi many schools.

70 Significant developments in local school systems

Ottawa public school system The status of Ottawa as the capital of a bicultural nation, its geographical location, and the composition of its population gave the Ottawa Public School Board a particular impetus for the introduction of French into the school program at the elementary level. In 1930 the board secured permission from the Minister of Education to begin French instruction in grade 7. The following year the program was extended to grade 8 and in 1938 and 1940, to grades 6 and 5 respectively. Until 1957 the subject was handled exclusively by specialists, who visited each classroom concerned for four twenty-minute periods per week. The required staff increased from two at the beginning to nineteen.12 The course was primarily conversational, with little written work or formal grammar. Pupils in the senior grades learned to keep notebooks. There was experimentation with tape recorders, films, and filmstrips, with varying degrees of success. According to M.R. Van Loon, who served as an inspector in the system, the value of the program suffered because the subject was taught by a special teacher with insufficient time to do justice to it and because there was little attempt to relate the work to what was taught in the secondary schools.13 Some major changes were introduced in 1957 when a decision was made to begin instruction in grade 2. It was assumed that the earlier the start, the more effective the results would be. A pilot course was set up in two schools in order to test content and to evaluate the performance of teachers untrained for the task. From the results, it was decided that instruction in the junior grades could be handled by the regular grade teachers under the guidance of French specialists and a supervisor of French, appointed in 1958. There was no real alternative to this arrangement, since there was no possibility of securing the services of enough bilingual teachers to put the program hito effect. Pilot studies continued to be conducted before the extension of the new program into each successive grade. Thus in 1958 and 1959 the grade 3 and 4 courses were subjected to advance testing. Since the earlier beginning made the former course in grades 5 to 8 obsolete, it was necessary to make substantial changes at this level. Efforts were made to overcome the lack of experience of most of the teachers by structuring the course and by providing for regular assistance. The content was accordingly organized hi weekly units, and arrangements were made for regular meetings with the supervisor, at first monthly and later bi-monthly. One of the French specialists made a practice of visiting each class one period a week to introduce the week's work and to provide other forms of assistance. The new grade 2 course was entirely oral. Since the French words were never written, it was assumed that the pupils would not be confused in their efforts to learn English spelling. Each week's quota consisted of between four and ten new words and expressions, all of which concerned

Curricular innovation 71

the child, the classroom, the home, or other matters of immediate interest. The cumulative effect over a period of several years was expected to be considerable. The objective was to give the great majority of pupils a usable vocabulary of over 2,500 French words by the time they left public school. Among the audio-visual aids used was a series of large pictures originating in France, which were supposed to help give the classroom a genuinely French atmosphere. At the reading stage, simple story books were introduced. The 1960s witnessed the extension of the program to the kindergartenprimary level. A pilot project involved two schools in 1966-7, fourteen schools in 1967-8, and forty schools, in 1968-9. In each school, the course was carried into grade 1 the following year. The full implementation of the plan meant that French would be taught from kindergarten to grade 8 in all Ottawa public schools by the fall of 1970. The kindergartenprimary and grade 1 classes, like those from grade 5 up, were taught by French specialists rather than by regular classroom teachers. Ottawa separate school system The Ottawa Separate School Board also showed commendable initiative in providing for the teaching of French in those of its schools where English was the language of instruction. Paralleling the Public School Board, it offered conversational French in grades 2 through 8 until the mid-1960s. In 1965-6 twenty-two itinerant teachers gave each class three periods of instruction a week. The length of these periods varied from fifteen minutes in grade 2 to half an hour in grade 8. Written work was introduced in grades 7 and 8, and grammar, phonetics, and pronunciation were constantly stressed. The use of filmstrips was considered particularly successful. At a certain stage, pupils were expected to be able to speak about a picture they had just seen flashed on a screen. The frequent singing of French songs was thought to be a good way of improving pronunciation and extending vocabulary. As in the public schools, the decision was made to begin French at the earliest possible stage. In September 1966 instruction was introduced in grade 1, and the following year in kindergatren. The course used was prepared, with outside co-operation, by teachers working in the system. Kindergarten children were given four ten-minute periods a week. Itinerant teachers conducted classes at this level as in the more advanced grades. Toronto school system In 1960 the Toronto Board of Education authorized an experiment in the teaching of French to grade 7 public school classes. The purposes of the study were to examine the phenomena of learning to comprehend and speak French as they occurred under two direct methods of instruction, to compare the results of the two methods of instruction by means of

72 Significant developments in local school systems

achievement tests, and to examine the effects of the introduction of another subject on the regular school curriculum.14 The nine participating classes were selected in such a way as to produce three approximately equivalent groups on the basis of information on the Ontario School Record cards. The factors taken into account were the number of pupils in the class, the sex ratio, the achievement ratings of pupils and teachers, the mean IQ, the number of children in the school already speaking another language, and the proximity of schools. The groups were designated as the teacher group, the film group, and the control group. The experiment extended over a four-month period from the beginning of February to the end of May. During that time each experimental class was given fifty-eight lessons in French divided into four thirty-minute periods a week. Timetabling arrangements ensured that each group was assigned the same number of morning and afternoon periods. The schedule for the teacher group consisted of three periods of instruction per week followed by a period for reviewing all the work taken previously. The same teacher, moving from one class to another, did all the teaching. The film group was instructed through the film series French through Pictures. Three thirty-minute films per week were followed by a fourth period devoted to oral review and dramatization of film lessons. Written French was introducted concurrently with the spoken language through a textbook which accompanied the film. Each film lesson followed five general steps. 1 / After a few preliminary instructions in English, the pupils listened to a native French speaker, whose voice accompanied the picture. 2 / Pictures were shown again with an accompanying voice followed by a short pause for the pupils to repeat the sentence pattern. 3 / Pictures were shown with the accompanying voice while captions appeared beneath the pictures. 4 / Actors dramatized what had been said. 5 / The results of the lesson were tested. The success of the two experimental groups was compared by means of two comprehension tests and an oral test of proficiency in spoken French. Comprehension Test i consisted of thirty-six items requiring the pupils to listen to statements in French and to circle the appropriate pictures on a mimeographed sheet. This test was given during the seventh week of the experiment. Comprehension Test n, which consisted of items of a similar type, was administered in June and again in September. The purpose of the second administration was to determine how well the earlier learning was retained after the summer vacation. The oral test of proficiency, consisting of sixty-nine items, required the pupils to compose an answer in French. Administered in June, it involved only a random sample of the pupils involved because there was not sufficient time to test the entire group. Comprehension Test n was used further to make a comparison between the experimental groups and a sample of grade 9 students who had taken French for the entire school year. The comparison between

Curricular innovation 73

the pupils taking French and the control group involved 1 / a statistical and clinical examination of teachers' daily records to determine the amount of time devoted to subjects and the topics covered and 2 / a test on proficiency in verbal reasoning administered at the beginning and at the end of the experiment. Statistical comparisons were also made to determine transfer effects through learning a second language. A final aspect of the evaluation of the experiment consisted of an assessment of factors affecting the learning of a second language. It consisted of a statistical and clinical examination of the day-to-day records of pupils' successess and errors in learning French and the calculation of correlation coefficients between verbal reasoning test scores and scores on oral and comprehension tests to determine the relationship between learning ability and proficiency in learning French. According to informal observation, the pupils maintained a high level of interest throughout the experiment. On the comprehension test the grade 9 pupils who had taken French throughout the year not surprisingly obtained the highest median score, followed by the teacher group, and the film group in that order. The teacher group also had significantly higher scores on the oral test than did the film group. A number of further findings emerged, varying considerably hi their degree of importance to the main objectives of the study. 1 / During the course of the experiment, errors increased markedly at those points where meanings were not clear, and where too many new points were presented in too short a period of time. 2 / Errors were reduced most effectively when an immediate comparison could be made between the structural form of French causing the difficulty and the correct model in French. 3 / The pupils in the film group appeared to be less self-conscious in imitating speech patterns. Hearing other children say the forms correctly prompted self-correction. 4 / In the same group, hesitation tended to increase when the material to be learned was presented too rapidly. Since insufficient time was allowed for the correction of errors, difficulties occurred during the next step, and errors were cumulative. 5 / The concentration span of the pupils in both the teacher and film groups was between fifteen and twenty minutes. This factor was particularly important as an explanation for errors in the film group where the film presentation was obviously too long. 6 / The correlation between verbal reasoning ability test scores and scores hi French comprehension and oral French was relatively low. 7 / There was a fairly high correlation between the comprehension and oral test scores, indicating that many of the same abilities were being measured by the two tests. In reporting the results of the study, A.R. MacKinnon, Director of Research for the Toronto board, offered a number of interpretational comments. 1 / He suggested that, on the basis of their ability to compose answers in French on a forced-choice test, the pupils had demonstrated that they could make a significant degree of progress toward becoming

74 Significant developments in local school systems

bilingual even after only fifty-eight thirty-minute lessons. Such differences as were registered between the grade 7 and grade 9 pupils were chiefly attributable to different lengths of instructional time. 2 / The analysis of the day-to-day records of the pupils' progress had revealed the full complexity both of learning a second language and of planning a sound instructional program. The kinds of problems the children had encountered emphasized the desirability of taking account of principles of learning established through psychological research during the previous twenty-five years. A list of these was offered. (a) The language selected for presentation to the pupils must be clearly related at every step to meanings which the pupils can readily comprehend. (b) The steps should be small enough for the learner to understand increasingly how the language can be used to point and name objects and persons, to describe objects and persons and to locate the objects and persons in space and time. At each step the pupil should be able to confirm what he has already learned and the arrangement of the steps should prepare him for what is to follow. (c) The language placed before the learner should be simplified semantically, phonemically, and structurally in such a way that errors are reduced to a minimum. (d) The learning steps must be arranged for comparing to take place. While a new aspect of the language is being introduced, the familiar and understood patterns should remain constant. (e) The results of the study support a number of psychological studies on motivation ... which emphasize the supreme importance of intrinsic rewards. Thus the pupils should gain their greatest interest and motivation through a feeling of mastery of a new language.16 3 / The films used hi the experiment were considered to hold considerable promise for later instructional programs. Their design was said to incorporate many of the principles of learning already referred to. The presentation of the material in a semi-darkened room was seen as an aid to concentration. The pacing of the films and the normal speed of the conversation had a beneficial effect on the pupils' pronunciation. The chief weaknesses in the films were then" length, the one-way flow of communication, and the excessively rapid presentation of new aspects of the language. There was hope that, with these defects corrected, they would provide a valuable supplement to instruction by a well qualified teacher. 4 / The general superiority of the teacher group had not shown up until the end of the experiment; on Comprehension Test i, there had been no significant difference. The later divergence between the groups seemed to have been the result of an accumulation of errors not corrected in the film presentation. The fact that the film group devoted an "inordinate"

Curricula! innovation 75

amount of tune to extra-curricular activities was seen as a possibly adverse influence on then- progress in French as well as in other subjects. 5 / Although it was apparent that no other subject had suffered unduly as a result of the experiment, MacKinnon suggested that the period of time devoted to instruction hi French should be less than 120 minutes a week. He recommended a limit of three twenty-minute periods for future programs. One of these periods might be reserved for a film or other teaching aid and the other two for direct oral instruction from a qualified teacher. On this point, he differed from many experts who do not consider it possible to make satisfactory progress with this small an investment of time. If the attention span of the children is only twenty minutes, there is obviously no use prolonging the lesson. But the school week allows for four or five lessons a week. The Department of Education later encouraged school boards introducing the subject to place it on a four-period basis. The Toronto Board followed a rather cautious policy in introducing French into the elementary grades. After four years of experimentation, the language was taught for the first time in all grade 8 classes in 1963 and extended a year at a time thereafter as far as grade 5. The policy was to give a minimum amount of attention to traditional methods of writing French, reading from a text, and learning grammatical rules. The main emphasis was on the development of competence in conversational French and on the singing of French songs and the recitation of French verses. The program in grades 5 to 8 followed a pre-determined pattern. In grade 5 instruction was exclusively oral with emphasis on ear training, the understanding of question and answer patterns, and simple dialogue reflecting real-life experiences. Reading material consisting of language already mastered orally was introduced in grade 6. There was some provision for structural and completion-type drills. The same activities were continued in grade 7, along with the introduction of sentence writing. By grade 8, pupils were expected to be able to read fluently; they also engaged in some analytical treatment of the language. When the program was launched in 1963-4, most of teachers were French specialists engaged exclusively in teaching French. Some were itinerant while others were completely occupied in the same school. The policy of the board was to accept the necessity of a reduction in the number of specialists as more pupils hi more grades became involved. Upgrading was encouraged through intensive in-service courses such as the one conducted by the Ontario Curriculum Institute hi the summer of 1964. Peterborough school system Under the direction of E.P. Ray, Director of Education, and D. J. Hynes, Superintendent of Instruction, the Peterborough public schools were involved in one of the earliest programs for teaching French hi the lower

76 Significant developments in local school systems

elementary grades. The course, initiated in 1964 for grade 4 pupils, was worked out by Raymond Duplantie. Conversation took complete priority, with the introduction of reading delayed to grade 6. Instruction was given at first by four teachers who covered all the grade 4s in the city, and gave each class a twenty-minute lesson per day. By 1969-70 the number of pupils involved had quadrupled to four thousand and the staff had increased to twenty. The only two teachers whose mother tongue was not French were fluently bilingual. New teachers had to attend summer sessions at the University of Ottawa for training hi methods. The program was introduced through the use of the method J'écoute Je parle, which is supposed to approximate the process of learning experienced by the small child just beginning to express himself. When the pupils reached grade 7, they proceeded according to the method Le Francois International, following the same principles on a higher level of complexity and sophistication. This procedure was also extended into the secondary schools, where the teaching period was lengthened to forty minutes a day. Special efforts were made to ensure close co-operation between the teachers at the elementary and secondary school levels so that the pupils who began the program hi 1964, and thus arrived in grade 9 in 1969 with five years of conversational French behind them, would be adequately handled. Appraisals from within the system hi 1969-70 indicated that the objectives of the program, which were hi Une with those outlined by the Department of Education, were definitely being met. The pupils were acquiring language skills when they were physiologically and psychologically receptive and, as a result, were developing favourable attitudes toward language learning at higher levels. They were becoming competent hi hearing, understanding, speaking, reading, and writing French as a means of communicating directly with native speakers. This did not mean, however, that they were becoming completely bilingual, an objective that was recognized as unrealistic for the school system. London school system The London Board of Education decided to initiate an oral French program in grade 7 at the beginning of the 1967-8 school year. About 2,800 pupils were involved hi sixty-five public schools. Instruction was given by fourteen teachers from Ontario, Quebec, France, Switzerland, and Belgium. In September 1968 the program was extended to grade 8. During the summer of 1967 and again in 1968, teachers worked on the development of an appropriate course. Plans were made at an early stage to evaluate the success of the program. Some of the results were presented by Gilles Dumas at the Eleventh Annual Conference of the Ontario Educational Research Council hi 1969.16 He and H. Feenstra, Research Director for the London system, investigated the level of comprehension attained by 2,930 grade 7 pupils

Canicular innovation 77

in the spring of 1969. They used a multiple choice test in objective format which was recorded on tape and given by the regular teachers of the subject. The items were statements recorded in French, each followed by three possible responses, only one of which was correct. Answers were indicated on mark-sense cards and scored by machine. A somewhat different test was devised and used for grade 8 pupils. A question might be asked in English to test their comprehension of some element of a statement given hi French. Again, they chose among three possible responses. In his paper, Dumas gave a detailed report on the percentage of pupils who responded correctly to items from each "test area." This information did not in itself give any clear indication of the general level of achievement of the pupils, since there were no norms with which scores might be compared. Dumas declared, however, that he was quite satisfied with the results. Although he conceded that the tests gave only a "vague picture," he felt that this was better than a mere assumption. Of considerable interest to the teachers was a computer analysis that provided a basis for the diagnosis of problems and weaknesses. With further developmental work, it was expected that the tests could be standardized and would prove valid and reliable for both survey and diagnostic purposes. The London program had as its major objective to develop in English speaking students a favourable attitude toward the French language and the people who spoke it. At the time the tests were given the pupils were presented with this item: "You have been studying French for the past year. Which statement best describes your interest in this programme?" The results indicated that 40 per cent of the pupils were very interested, 45 per cent were interested, and 11 per cent were not at all interested. For technical reasons, the responses of the remaining 4 per cent were not indicated. The large percentage in the first two categories gave the testers grounds for concluding that the attitudes of the pupils were largely positive. The implications of bilingual instruction in elementary schools In what were called, until comparatively recently, "bilingual schools," pupils whose mother tongue is French may be taught exclusively in that language up to the end of grade 2. English is introduced as a subject of study in grade 3, but French remains the language of instruction. When this program is followed in a social milieu that is overwhelmingly Englishspeaking, doubts inevitably arise about its values. Some are sceptical that the quality of the pupils' French can remain high without constant nurture from a powerful and pervasive culture. There are also those who wonder if the pupils will not find themselves with a decisive handicap when they finish school and face the necessity of making their way in an Englishspeaking environment.

78 Significant developments in local school systems

Welland French schools At the Tenth Annual Conference of the OERC, M.-Y. Giroux told of the results of an investigation designed to answer questions of this kind, at least for one particular community.17 The study was undertaken in the French schools of Welland, where an effort of long standing was being made to preserve the language and culture of a French-speaking minority which had become established about the time of the Fkst World War. The great majority of the citizens of Welland spoke only English, and the monolingual environment was powerfully reinforced by television, radio, motion pictures, newspapers, and magazines. The use of French was almost completely confined to the home and the school. With the co-operation of the Office of Development of the Ontario Institute for Studies hi Education, the Welland Board of Education undertook a survey of achievement among grade 6 pupils in each of the six public schools serving French-speaking families. Each pupil was given three tests during the autumn of 1968: a test of general intelligence, a test of French comprehension, and a test of English comprehension. The intelligence test, standardized in the province of Quebec, was designed to ascertain whether or not the pupils could be considered typical of those in Ontario as a whole. In the areas of French vocabulary and comprehension, it was hypothesized at the outset that the pupils would be less competent than their Quebec counterparts. This expectation was, however, shown to be unfounded when their performance proved up to the Quebec grade and age norms. There was support for the hypothesis that they would do less well on the test of English comprehension than Ontario pupils taught entirely in English, but the difference was surprisingly small. There was a positive but rather low correlation between achievement in French and that ta English. On the whole, the investigation seemed to give powerful support to the concept of bilingual education. GEOGRAPHY AT SIR ADAM BECK SECONDARY SCHOOL, LONDON

The Geography Department of Sir Adam Beck Secondary School ta London initiated a program in 1968-9 designed to encourage individual responsibility and to promote the development of research methods among senior students. In this program, the enture class met for two or three regular periods for an overview of a particular area of study, usually presented in the form of a lecture with appropriate visual materials. The class then separated tato six pre-arranged groups to work on a study outline. They might be asked to examine current material, to draw conclusions from relevant statistics, or to seek different points of view. The library facilities had been built up to a reasonable level to support this type of program, and lists of available resources had been distributed among the students. The latter also had access to the geography classroom with its resource books, topographical maps, and other materials.

Curricular innovation 79

The teacher spent one period in each six-day cycle with each group engaging in a discussion of the topic and assessing each student's effort and progress. An attempt was made to establish an atmosphere of freedom and spontaneity during these exchanges. Each group was encouraged to co-operate hi organizing its program in preparation for meeting the teacher. During the unit of study, which might last through anywhere from three to eight cycles of six periods each, the whole class met from time to time for testing purposes. The elimination of this step was foreseen when more satisfactory methods of evaluation had been worked out. The conclusion of the unit involved two or three periods in which the entire class assembled for discussion and follow-up. There might be other full-class sessions for oral presentations, guest speakers, films, or debates. The scheme was introduced with the intention of switching teachers and classes from time to time. The students would thus be exposed to new and varied interests and backgrounds and there would be more assurance of objectivity in the assessment of student progress. The exchange of teachers would have similar benefits at some other grade levels as well. The success of the scheme was obviously dependent on the level of maturity and self-disciph'ne and the study habits of the students. At the early experimental stage, the evidence seemed to indicate that the approach was sound, but that individuals differed substantially in the amount of benefit they derived from it. Continuous modifications were planned in the light of what had been learned. HISTORY

St Rose of Lima Separate School, Scarborough, and St Anselm's Separate School, East York A paper presented by Paul R. Wharton at the Ninth Annual Conference of the OERC in December 1967 told of a pilot project dealing with the history of Huronia which was carried out in St Rose of Lima Separate School in Scarborough and St Anselm's Separate School in East York. The project constituted an exploration of the possibility of having pupils apply discovery methods in the social studies. The teachers involved felt that pupils should have first hand, personal experiences rather than trying to assimilate meaningless facts taken from a single textbook. Huronia was considered to be especially suitable for study because it offered a wide range of historical periods, provided direct opportunities for dealing with primary sources, had facilities for a special type of field trip, and was within reach of Metropolitan Toronto so that large groups could reach it by chartered bus and small groups by car. The first step consisted of two sessions involving each of the grade 6 and grade 7 groups to prepare them for a visit to Huronia. The field trip was designed to create interest in the region and to provide the pupils with a frame of reference for the program the following year. The fullest pos,-

80 Significant developments in local school systems

sible use was made of the work of early cartographers. The assistance of source people on the scene was enlisted to ensure that the trip would not be just another day's outing. A selection was made of a limited number of historic places to visit in order to give pupils time to look, question, examine, and absorb. In September sessions were held with each class in which provocative questions were raised about the region and new disciplines, particularly archaeology, were introduced. Emphasis was placed on discovery learning in the selected follow-up activities which formed a part of each session. Visitors to the classroom included amateur psychologists and professional historians. It was found that several of the pupils, inspired by their field trip in June, had encouraged then" parents to visit the area. Many appeared eager to continue their historical and geographical studies. At this stage, the teachers had certain difficulties in fitting the experimental program into school schedules, in finding space to accommodate group work, and in locating enough accessible materials for study. An attempt to solve some of the problems produced a strategy called "depth study through block time," which was introduced the following year. A highlight of the activities in October was a weekend field trip to Huronia for pupils selected on the basis of merit. The focal point of the visit was the scene of an archaeological excavation near Perkinsville. By the end of the month it was clear from spontaneous comments of the pupils and from other evidence that one of the main objectives of the program was being achieved, that is, it was stimulating a desire to learn. Pupils were appearing at school before nine o'clock and remaining after four to work on their projects. Requests for materials strained public library facilities, and overflowed to the Central Reference Library and to government archives. Small groups of pupils, accompanied by their teachers, spent weekends making use of resources in libraries, archives, the Royal Ontario Museum, Huronia Museum at Midland, Ste-MarieAmong-The-Hurons, and St Ignace n. Pupils in other classes showed an interest in the program, and other teachers offered to assist in a variety of ways. In November and December the pupils' interest in the original inhabitants of Huronia offered an opportunity to introduce them to the field of anthropology. Arrangements were made for two members of the contemporary Indian community to visit the classrooms and to answer questions on the past and present role of the Six Nations. These events not only gave the pupils an opportunity to acquire information, but also helped the teachers to gain experience in utilizing community resources. At this period, members of the Curriculum Branch of the Department of Education visited the classes, and appeared to be favourably impressed by the attitudes of the pupils. Among the most encouraging developments was the more favourable feeling the pupils were developing toward their

Curricular innovation 81

teachers. The quality of the teaching appeared to improve as the teachers joined in the process of learning. The period between January and March was devoted to consolidation and evaluation, to determining the objectives for the spring months, and to a number of other activities. 1 / A successful effort was made to relate the social studies program to other aspects of the curriculum. The English-history combination produced particularly gratifying results through poetry and creative writing. 2 / Pupils were encouraged to become competent interpreters for others visiting Ste-Marie-Among-The-Hurons. 3 / Assistance was provided to the CBC for sections of its local history series, "A Question of Yesterdays." Pupils were featured primarily in a program showing the archaeological dig near Perkinsville, children's individual project work, children learning to make Indian pottery, and teachers using the discovery approach in the classroom and library. An effort was made in April to prepare teachers to participate more effectively hi discovery-oriented programs. Arrangements were made for experienced teachers from the Metropolitan Separate School Board and selected students from Toronto Teachers' College to take part in a series of in-service sessions as "resource persons." The program was designed to produce a realization that the successful application of discovery methods required an understanding of the word "discovery," experience in using basic and special techniques, content competence, and sound planning. For some of those attending, the culmination of the program was an archaeological dig. Wharton reported that the archaeologist in attendance found that the children exercised greater care and demonstrated more professionalism than did the adults. During May and June pupils returned to Huronia to complete specific assignments. Some of them acted as guides and interpreters for other pupils from the separate and public school systems. As a means of evaluating their year's work, pupils were asked to answer the question, "What did the Huronia research project mean to you?" Teachers, principals, and inspectors also evaluated the program from their respective points of view. Their conclusions, as might be guessed from information already supplied, were overwhelmingly favourable. One of the recommendations was that children and teachers should be brought together "for periods of time" at study centres located in various areas of historical interest throughout the province in the same way that natural science schools were utilized. It was also suggested that there be exchanges of pupils with schools located hi these areas of historical interest. Use offilmstrips at Winston Churchill Collegiate Institute, Scarborough In the April 1968 issue of the Canadian Journal of History, Keith Hubbard wrote of an attempt to enhance the effectiveness of the use of film-

82 Significant developments in local school systems

strips hi history classes.18 The approach involved an attempt to improve over a procedure described in this way. The use of slides or a film strip in the history class room all too frequently falls into the pattern of a discursive monologue by the teacher following a line of development selected by the editors of the material, often culminating in a less than satisfactory involvement by the students. The darkened room, the scholarly exegesis, provide perfect opportunities for the student to "tune out." The main objective of the experiment was to test the effectiveness of group work under circumstances where the students had the maximum opportunity for initiative. Groups of students were given packages of 35 mm slides on a topic that would normally have been covered in a more conventional fashion. They were asked to identify these slides, to research their background, to edit and organize them into a cohesive unit, and to write a script to accompany their presentation to the class. It was pointed out that, while the overall approach was teacher-structured, the internal emphasis, denouement, and conclusions were those of the students. The class participating hi the experiment consisted of above-average grade 10 students in the five-year program of the Arts and Science branch. The First World War was chosen as an area of study because the school had an excellent collection of slides relating to it and because of the good supply of relevant material in the school and public libraries. The class had earlier engaged in group work by acting as a commission on war guilt to investigate and evaluate the causes of the First World War. As preparation for the experiment, the students viewed two films dealing with the war, one Canadian and the other American. They were then given their topics and allowed to select the group, ranging from two to four students, in which they wished to work. Bibliographies were supplied indicating the books on the war which were available hi the school and public libraries, along with packages of from fifteen to forty slides and some general suggestions on ways of approaching the topic. The groups spent five periods identifying the slides from a catalogue, exploring background information, organizing and viewing the slides on hand viewers and projectors, and discussing the best way of presenting the topic. The teacher acted in a resource capacity, identifying puzzling objects on the slides, suggesting books that might be of assistance in solving particular problems, occasionally proposing modifications in approach, and generally encouraging the students to apply their ingenuity and imagination. The groups worked on eight different topics: 1 / strategy and tactics: the Western Front, 1914-18, 2 / the war at sea, 3 / the war in the air, 4 / trench warfare, 5 / artillery, 6 / tanks, 7 / the soldier and war, and 8 / civilians at war. Because of the number of slides at their disposal, it was possible to have a good deal of flexibility in terms of the form and content of the finished product. The contents of the slides included photo-

Canicular innovation 83

graphs of all aspects of the war, such as political cartoons, maps, diagrams, paintings, and newspaper headlines from the archives of nearly all the participating nations. The students found many of them unsuitable for their purposes, and discarded between one-third and one-half. The finished slide-tape units averaged about ten minutes in length. For the most part, the students concentrated on using the slides in a logical sequence, managing fairly successfully to develop some theme. They used a wide variety of sources in their scripts, such as biographies, propaganda, poetry, letters, and historical narratives. They exploited sound effects with varying degrees of success to build and reinforce the desired mood. Student reaction, assessed at the end by means of anonymous evaluation forms, was highly favourable with reference both to the method itself and to group work. A minor amount of apprehension was expressed that marks might suffer because the topic had not been covered in the same way as in other classes. Some "dismay" was also evident over the length of tune required to produce the report. Certain students, while conceding that they knew their own topic very well, seemed uncomfortable over their superficial knowledge of other areas. It was suggested that this deficiency might be remedied by having each group prepare copies of its report for general circulation. In the judgement of the writer of the article, the work done in the experiment, supplemented by readings from the text, gave the class an acceptable knowledge of the events of the war. He found their appreciation of the concepts to be derived from the war more than satisfactory. The writer of the article was hesitant to generalize too freely from the performance of a single above-average class. He wrote, however, that the results of the experiment were sufficiently encouraging that the approach would be used on a wider scale in the future. A modified version would be applied to the four-year stream. As some of the students observed, one drawback to the application of the method was the amount of time involved. The setting up of the unit had required the co-ordinated efforts of at least three members of the department in taking the slides, cataloguing them, compiling the bibliographies, and organizing the slides according to topics with selected methods of approach. As a means of reducing this part of the operation, it was suggested that topics might be assigned well in advance of presentation to allow students to select the pictures they wished to use. The school's audio-visual technician might then photograph them. Such a procedure would have the added advantage of giving the students greater flexibility in then: approach to the topic. The amount of class time spent on the unit, including the introduction and concluding discussion, was about ten class periods, comparing favourably with the time required by more conventional methods of instruction. It was assumed that the students spent considerably more outof-class time on background reading to supplement other topics than did

84 Significant developments in local school systems

those in other classes. There was also some difficulty in getting the groups together out of class, a problem that would be much greater if more than one group were attempting to use the same slides. In the experiment, students who had jobs or other obligations missed some facets of the project. As a partial solution, it was suggested that the topics might be assigned further in advance. There were some problems relating to evaluation. The necessity of covering a prescribed area could be eliminated for five-year students, as had already been done for four-year students, through the abolition of all examinations. As a compromise solution, it was possible to provide optional questions aimed at the results of the reports. No satisfactory answer had been found to the problem of marking group work because there seemed to be no equitable way of evaluating the contribution of each member of the group to the finished project. Apart from the merits of the reports, the main benefit from the experiment was the extent to which it improved motivation, as reflected in the students' willingness to spend hours out of school in collecting information and in preparing the report. There was evidence of pride of accomplishment and of competition to excell. The more lethargic members of the class felt pressure from their peers to perform at an acceptable level. Hubbard speculated on whether this influence would be sustained if the method were repeated, and whether it could operate in a less academically oriented class. A second benefit was the development of research skills. There was said to have been little evidence of the "wide-scale lethargy and plagiarism" that often characterized the writing of research papers in history. The size and quality of the bibliographies assembled indicated that the students rapidly became aware of the limitations of standard reference works. A third benefit, evident in the work of all but one of the groups, was the sound knowledge the students gained of the basic problems within then" area of discussion. Hubbard found that the question of the morality of war was more thoroughly explored than in any grade 10 class with which he had previously dealt. Seminar approach at Thornlea Secondary School Various features of the seminar approach, which characterized the history program at Thornlea Secondary School, were outlined in the Canadian Journal oj History in March 1969 by D.C. Bogle, Chairman of the Department of History at that school.19 The first week or two of each term was devoted to an explanation of the nature of the course, the performance expected at seminars, the assignment of seminar topics, and introductory lectures or standard class coverage of background material. Individuals were counselled while the rest of the class engaged in research in the resource centre, the excellence of which was regarded as essential to effective use of the seminar approach. At this stage, the class was divided into seminar groups, with twelve regarded as the ideal number for

Canicular innovation 85

each group. Seminars were conducted simultaneously in rooms created by accordion-type partitions or staggered, with one group exploring its topic in the resource centre while another was presenting its material. A seminar was defined as an organized discussion among a small group of students, led by one or more of these students, in order to exchange ideas and opinions about a specific topic of study. According to the article, the seminar was considered to have six purposes: 1 / to give the student an opportunity to learn the art of research through the preparation of leadership for a seminar; 2 / to allow him to develop the ability to speak to groups of students, to direct their discussion, and to answer their questions; 3 / to permit the examination of specific topics in depth; 4 / to encourage the student to formulate and present his own ideas; 5 / to encourage creative thinking rather than mere memorization or régurgitation of meaningless facts; 6 / to break away from the standard classroom approach to learning, where the teacher tends to dominate the class. The student was given a series of suggestions for preparation for a seminar, varying according to whether or not he was to assume the leadership role. The designated leader for a particular topic was first to read the standard texts for some general knowledge about his topic, and then to examine other sources for specific information. Use of material provided by the teacher for the whole group was particularly recommended, since the best discussion was said to be likely to result when everyone had researched approximately the same material. The student was urged to use the selected bibliography and the card catalogue in the library to help find specialized information. In a particular volume, he would find the table of contents and index helpful. He was warned not to rely on encyclopedias, but to use them only for background reading. In making notes from his sources, he was to try to determine the differing views on the same topic, the author's emphasis, and the author's interpretation of an event, idea, theory, or person, and in other ways to apply his powers of critical thinking. He was to express his ideas in good English style, although avoiding a long and detailed essay. He was expected to prepare a dittoed summary, not more than two pages in length, containing his main headings and ideas, along with his chief sources and pages from the class text. This summary was to be handed in to the teacher at least two days before the seminar. The student who was to participate in rather than to lead the seminar was to make preparations that were similar but less elaborate. He was to make notes from sources indicated by the teacher and seminar leader, such as textbooks, documents, and seminar dittos, and to organize his notes into arguments and interpretations. He was to try to arrive at the most satisfactory interpretation, but to remaní receptive to new ideas and material that might be presented hi the seminar. Two or three seminar leaders were ordinarily responsible for the same topic in each group. Among their preliminary preparations, they were expected to organize the presentation and agree on how they would share

86 Significant developments in local school systems

it. They were to meet with the teacher at least a week before the seminar to present a rough outline of their plans, and to seek guidance at any time if they needed it. In his presentation, a leader was advised to avoid reading a long paper, which was likely to prove boring and monotonous, but instead to try to involve the group in the development of his ideas. The use of the dittoed summary would be helpful in that it would obviate any necessity for the class to engage in a frantic scribbling of notes during the presentation. It would also enable the class to see the direction in which the presentation was moving. Other useful aids might consist of diagrams, maps, pictures, the blackboard, filmstrips, tapes, records, or anything else that might promote understanding and create interest. The leader was to stop from time to time to ask a question or to make sure that everyone was following his argument. While encouraging discussion on key points, he was to be sure to keep on the topic. The length of the presentation would depend largely on the nature of the topic. The student's success in the course was judged to a large extent by his performance in seminars. The criteria for evaluation for leaders were content, ideas, research, organization, presentation, aids, and the value of the dittoed summary. Those who were not leaders were evaluated on such matters as their willingness to participate in a responsible and mature manner, their degree of preparedness, and the quality of the ideas and arguments they presented. After the leaders had made their presentation, full participation was expected from members of the group. They were to ask questions and answer those raised by other students and to argue the relative merits of various ideas and interpretations which emerged from the presentation. The success or failure of the discussion was considered to be the responsibility of the leaders, since their specialized research was supposed to stimulate the group. They were also expected to formulate a consensus if one had been reached during the discussion, and to offer a concluding summary. HORTICULTURE OPTION IN JUNIOR VOCATIONAL PROGRAM AT HIGHLAND PARK HIGH SCHOOL, OTTAWA

Provisions for the horticulture option in Highland Park High School, an institution of the junior vocational type opened in Ottawa in 1967, were discussed in an article in School Progress in February 1970.20 The horticulture department had a large classroom and a ninety-foot-long greenhouse containing everything one would expect to find hi an up-to-date nursery. The greenhouse had automatic watering, heat control, and ventilating systems, and grew exotic plants such as bananas, hibiscus, and an orange tree. Students in their first year took a ten-week course designed to make them effective home gardeners. They studied such topics as winter storage of dahlias and gladioli, how to make corsages and centre-

Curricular innovation 87

pieces, how to make cuttings, how to prune evergreens, how to layer carnations, and how identify conifers. Grade 10 students went more deeply into various aspects of the subject. Potential greenkeepers for golf courses could study the growth, identification, and care of six common varieties of grass. There were opportunities to learn how to force bulbs such as tulips, hyacinths, and daffodils to meet the seasonal markets, how to hold back plants for out-of-season requirements, how to plan landscapes, and how to design floral displays. The school began with a two-year program, but later added a year to take students up to grade 11. From there they were eligible to enter certain courses at Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology. According to the pattern in schools of that type, students spent a certain amount of time in on-the-job training, during which they received useful experience and identified possible openings for later employment. INDIAN STUDIES AT THORNLEA SECONDARY SCHOOL

Thornlea Secondary School gained attention in 1969-70 over its Indian studies program, which was set up after the opinion of history students was sought on the courses they would like to see offered. The course won more votes than those proposed on such topics as the French-Canadian Question, Economics for Canadians, Introduction to Law, Military History, Dictators in World History, and Russia since 1900. Only the Negro in America was in greater demand. Interest in Indians was attributed hi part to students' self-confessed lack of knowledge of these people. One student was reported as saying: "We had heard about all those battles, but nothing about the Indians as they are now." Another thought that the study would deal with things that affected the students' own lives. There was a strong feeling that existing courses placed too much stress on massacres and killings.21 The students were eager to create an atmosphere of reality by having present-day Indian leaders visit their school to counteract the impression, as described by William Johnson of the Globe and Mail, of "the feathered, moccasined, pelt-garbed, tomahawk-waving, teepee-dwelling Indian they had encountered in history books since public school days." They issued invitations to Howard Adams, Saskatchewan Métis leader and red power advocate, Kahn-Tineta Horn, Mohawk militant from the Caughnawaga Reserve near Montreal, and Walter Currie, Metro school principal who was president of the Ontario Union of Indians. They planned expeditions to certain Indian reserves, where they proposed to learn at first hand about the problems of the present-day Indians. MARKETING AT EASTVIEW SECONDARY SCHOOL, BARRIE The students in the grade 11 marketing course at Eastview Secondary School in Barrie got an unusual opportunity in 1968-9 to learn marketing, business organization, and retail sales in a realistic setting. Under the

88 Significant developments in local school systems

inspiration of Russell Stuparyk, who had retired from a successful business career and turned to teaching, the students set up an incorporated store under the name of Eastview Enterprises, and appointed an eighteenmember board of directors to operate it under a charter. They canvassed the eight hundred students attending the school to find out what they planned to buy for Christmas gifts, and purchased stock accordingly. A representative of Dominion Smallware Ltd, wholesale gift suppliers, helped supply the needed items and worked with the students in setting up displays and establishing retail prices. By December the store had more than four thousand items in a fifteen-thousand-square-foot area which the students rented from the school board at 95 cents a square foot, and for which they paid the taxes and insurance. The stock included records, transistor radios, games, items of clothing, model kits, and many other articles. Sales were on the basis of a 25 per cent mark-up, although care was taken not to undercut local retail outlets. One of the students acted as president, with overall responsibility for the operation. Each day the students prepared a profit and loss statement, determined cash balances, made sales reports, and conducted an inventory check. The class was divided into groups which took turns producing a balance sheet. The principal of the school, R.G. Mitchell, expressed the view that the operation was in accord with the recommendations of the Hall-Dennis Committee in that it gave the students an opportunity for realistic educational experiences.22 MATHEMATICS Orde Street Public School, Toronto In 1969 a Toronto Daily Star reporter described some of the activities the pupils of Orde Street Public School were engaged in as part of a mathematics program devised by W. Bates, Director of Mathematics for the Toronto Board of Education.23 In one classroom, children might be seen cheering enthusiastically for their favourites in a race involving a turtle, a land tortoise, a gerbil, and a snake. The graph constructed to depict each creature's performance constituted the mathematics experience. In another classroom, the teacher and pupils sat on the floor playing a game called "place your bets," which was designed to teach the identification of equivalent fractions. Other games devised by the same teacher included "math drag," "mathopoly," and "scramath," which was used to f amiliarize children with mathematical words and expressions. For three days a week the children, working hi groups, followed a developmental program based on a textbook. The program consisted of units, each of which included a "logic," a "geometrical," an "arithmetical," and a game activity. Logic was regarded as a means of providing a balance between understanding a concept and performing a skill. Mathe-

Cumcular innovation 89

matical experiences were even carried into such school activities as making Christmas decorations. West Hill Secondary School, Owen Sound A plan for the teaching of mathematics, introduced at West Hill Secondary School in Owen Sound after Christmas in 1966, involved the grade 13 class consisting of the students taking both Math A and Math B. The objectives revolved around the general theme of making the students more problem-centred. More specifically, the program was designed, among other things, to stimulate thinking, particularly critical thinking, and to enhance the student's ability to teach himself and to be more receptive to opportunities for learning. Because of the large measure of success attributed to the scheme in the early stages, the approach was extended to other grade 13 classes and to grade 12 classes in the Arts and Science branch. As described by V.M. Mathewson, Head of the Mathematics Department, a participating class of twenty-eight was organized in pairs, each consisting of one relatively good student and one poor one. Each day one of these pairs led a discussion of the previous night's assignment. In preparing for the session, both members were expected to work on all the problems of the assignment, attempting to obtain model solutions and alternatives and to visualize probable trouble spots. They compared notes with one another, seeking to improve their preparation and allotting responsibilities for the presentation. During the class period, they discussed questions causing difficulty, solicited suggestions for attacking and working out each problem, attempted to clarify possible sources of difficulty, and explored alternative solutions. They were urged to go beyond the mere provision of a solution, and to have one of their classmates put his work on the board if they suspected that he was having unadmitted difficulties. The student participants were advised to persist in their search for a satisfactory solution until everything was clear. The discussion leaders were responsible for filing all solutions hi a binder made available for the purpose. Each student rated the performance of each leader on a scale of 0 to 5 on a signed sheet. The teacher summarized the ratings on a tally sheet omitting the names of the raters, and showed it to the leader. Each grade 13 student was expected to turn in a fifteen-hundred-word essay by November 15 on a topic from a supplied list or on some acceptable alternative. Not more than two students were, however, permitted to write on the same topic. An example of one of the better essays was written on "The Mathematics of Pole Vaulting." The marks awarded counted for 25 per cent of the total for the fall term. Some of the essays were reproduced and circulated with the writers' names removed to give grade 12 and 13 students an opportunity to practise evaluating them. Grade 13 students had to do a second essay and conduct a seminar, on one

90 Significant developments in local school systems

of which they were evaluated by their fellow students for their winter report and on the other for their final report. Seminar periods consisted of a twenty-minute presentation and twenty minutes of discussion. In class periods, tests of five to ten minutes' duration were frequently administered. These were often composed by a student and marked according to a student-devised marking scheme. In the Math B class, a full-period test, made up by students in turn, was administered each week, and marked according to a scheme devised by the teacher. Students in the Math B class volunteered to mark many of the short tests given in grade 12. The teacher assumed the obligation of marking most full-period tests and examinations. Some students were said to have expressed their disapproval in the early stages because they were not spoon-fed, but to have agreed later that they were better off with the new approach. Those who had formerly been lazy, inattentive, or trouble-makers were participating, enjoying themselves, and learning. In place of the tendency to refuse to attempt problems that appeared to be difficult, students now seemed to be prepared to tackle anything. The teacher, seldom performing in the traditional manner, found himself busier than ever in the role of mentor, standing ready to interject to clarify a point, to indicate bad form, to suggest a smoother approach, or to guide students back to the right track. MUSIC AT HERRÓN VALLEY JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL During 1969-70 there was some experimentation with a multi-media music box developed by the Centre for Arts Research and Education of the Ontario Arts Council. William Littler of the Toronto Daily Star described the use of the device as he observed it in Herrón Valley Junior High School.24 Pupils were pulling out a great variety of sound-makers, including Indian rattles, Peruvian wood blocks, a Chinese gamba, tapes of electronic music and environmental sounds, a forgotten hit parade disc of the 1920s, and a 1939 ratchet intended to warn English civilians of gas attacks. There were scores written in novel notation and cards bearing slogans and challenges such as that of describing, with noises or instruments, a fog settling over a city. The contents of the box were designed to enable the pupils to discover the sounds of different cultures and of different tunes, and to experiment with the possibility of mixing these sounds in new and unusual ways. Their imaginations were to be stimulated, and they were to begin to think of music as something pervasive rather than merely a set of notes to be played on the piano. The teacher who was using the box was taking a non-prescriptive approach. He reported that, like many innovations, the students' reactions to it were mixed. Some members of his grade 9 class were beginning to get involved in film-making, electronic music, and experimental score reading. A few were recording noises and varying tape

Curricular innovation 91

speeds to produce different sounds. Another group showed an interest in composition, writing music with graphic notation. Efforts were being made to find additional items for the box and to improve the preliminary collection. Suggestions were expected from the five Metro schools currently engaged in the experiment. Later the specifications would be the basis for production and distribution in quantity. The anticipated price of $200 would be small in comparison with that of the musical instruments commonly provided for school use. OUTDOOR EDUCATION AND FIELD TRIPS

Canada has been very slow, in comparison with a number of other countries, to recognize the values of outdoor education. Before 1950 the United States, England and Wales, Scotland, and many continental European countries were operating schools for terms varying between a week and a year to enable students to become acquainted with forests and farms, with mountains, rivers, and the sea. According to School Progress, there were more than forty school systems in the United States in 1950 providing outdoor education at all levels from elementary to university. In Michigan alone, 357 schools were participating in such programs.28 The Island Outdoor Natural Science School, Toronto The Toronto Board of Education had to break new legal ground in order to establish the Island School at the beginning of the 1960s. Before that time, it lacked the authority to provide room and board for school pupils. Appeals had been made to W.J. Dunlop, Minister of Education until 1959, to initiate the necessary legislation, but without result. His successor, Robarts, however, saw fit to take the appropriate action immediately. What became the Island Outdoor Natural Science School resulted from the renovation of an ordinary day school which had accommodated seventeen classes. The school was ideally located for the purpose, with a quiet lagoon on one side and a sandy beach on the edge of the open lake on the other. A natural park of about one hundred acres adjoined the building. There were many kinds of trees and shrubs growing naturally, and many others planted by the pupils as part of conservation education. Numerous birds, mammals, turtles, and fresh water invertebrates inhabited the pond and marsh areas in the vicinity; a variety of rock specimens could be found along the beach, and a model barnyard was operated nearby by the Metropolitan Parks Department. As operated at the end of the 1960s, the school received seventy-two grade 6 pupils each Monday morning throughout the school year, half boys and half girls. It was thus possible to accommodate about eighty of the approximately two hundred grade 6 classes in Toronto schools during the course of the year. On arrival, the pupils were broken up into groups

92 Significant developments in local school systems

of twelve, each consisting of six boys and six girls. Each group was supervised by a student teacher from a teachers' college, whose responsibility it was to accompany the children from one teaching area to another, taking notes on what happened. There were regular teachers stationed hi the teaching areas. The permanent staff included a secretary, a matron, a nurse, four science teachers, and an assistant director, in addition to the director. According to a description in a brochure issued by the Toronto board, field trips involved a considerable variety of activities: pupils learned how soil was formed from scraps and leaves in a compost heap; they planted and maintained a special nursery of young trees; they maintained and observed feeding stations for waterfowl and other wintering birds; they learned map-reading and the use of a compass; they collected and classified rocks and minerals; they operated a weather station where they made records of barometric pressure, wind velocity, temperature, and precipitation; and, in general, they observed seeds, flowers, tree rings, insects, birds, animal tracks, sky changes, stars, and the rhythms of natural Ufe. In late afternoon sessions, these outdoor experiences were related to regular school work. The children discussed the day's activities, giving oral reports or illustrating them in other ways. Sometimes they composed poems about the things they had seen or the emotions they had felt. They gamed an understanding of scientific classification through rock and flower collections. The main objective of the program was actually social development rather than an improved understanding of nature or science. It was the first opportunity many of the children had had to be away from home. The recreational program in the evening enabled them to enjoy group stories and games and to read, watch films and filmstrips, and engage in informal discussions. Many of them had then: first experience of writing home. Some demonstrated a remarkable improvement in language skill within the brief period of one school week. One male and one female teacher accompanied the classes from their regular schools and occupied rooms adjoining the dormitories. Each pupil was assigned a locker and a bunk bed. In the dining room the pupils alternated in serving meals prepared by an expert staff, an experience which helped to develop their sense of responsibility. Food preferences and prejudices tended to be completely forgotten in the cheerful and sociable atmosphere. Many a child found himself avidly eating wholesome vegetables that he would never have tolerated previously at home. Much of the success of the school was attributed to its pioneer director, Robin Dennis, who demonstrated a passionate and persistent devotion to the cause of outdoor education. While he was generally backed by a sympathetic school board, he had to struggle hard to overcome many of the obstacles that might have prevented the establishment of the school

Canicular innovation 93

had it had a less determined advocate. His services were employed in the development of a school with similar pupose in Albion Hills. In 1963, near the end of his period of service as Director of Education for the city of Toronto, Z.S. Phirnister gave his appraisal of the school and indicated the significance he saw In it for education. ... no development on the part of the Board in recent years has attracted so much favourable attention as the Natural Science School at the Island. Here the Board has developed an opportunity for a child to experience some contact with living creatures and with living plants; some opportunity to experience the weight in a bushel of oats or a bushel of wheat, to walk around the perimeter of an acre, to look at the stars at night, to understand the principles behind the equipment that measures the weather data and to have an experience of living with one's fellows for a week. This experience for Grade Six pupils has resulted in considerable acclaim from pupils and parents and from the Board members who have been connected with this development. Where experience can be substituted for talking about experience, learning proceeds much faster. A picture is said to be better than words and certainly experience is much to be desired to pictures. How far this principle can be developed in the primary school remains to be seen but there is a need for vigorous and imaginative people to find more means of giving youngsters experience which will increase their knowledge, improve their skills and hasten their understanding of the world.26

The Albion Hills Conservation School The Albion Hills Conservation School, built by the Metropolitan Toronto and Region Conservation Authority in 1963, was intended to give students in grades 7 to 10 an opportunity to gain a broader understanding of conservation and the outdoors. The idea is said to have grown out of a three-day camp school organized by York Memorial Collegiate Institute for a grade 9 class and its teacher, Miss Blanche Snell.27 This project continued each year until Miss Snell's retirement. Since school boards were prevented from purchasing land more than five miles from the area in which they had jurisdiction, the initiative for the establishment of the school could not be taken by any of the boards in the Metropolitan Toronto area. While the Conservation Authority owned the land, it was not legally entitled to spend the money for schools. The solution adopted was to establish the Metropolitan Toronto and Region Conservation Authority Foundation, which raised the required funds from voluntary sources. Accommodation in the new school was made available to the interested boards. The site was characterized by rolling hills, tracts of reforested land, a farm in full operation, nature trails, and a variety of plant and animal life in their natural habitat. The school, constructed of wood and stone,

94 Significant developments in local school systems

had two dormitories with adjacent accommodation for staff members, a spacious lounge with a corner fireplace, a combined laboratory-audiovisual room, a library for individual study and reference purposes, an infirmary, and a kitchen-dining room area. Additional facilities included an arboretum and a weather station. As reported in School Progress, the school had three main aims: To widen the concept and broaden the understanding of a wise and intelligent use of our natural resources through observation, practical participation and intensive instruction in the component parts of the Albion Hills landscape: soil, water, forests and wildlife; To create a greater awareness of the interdependence between urban and rural life; To provide an intensive experience in democratic living where teacher and student can learn realistically and dynamically how to live, work, and play together.28 When the school began operations, each visiting class was accompanied by one or two of its own teachers, who played a key part in the teaching program. Staff members of the Metropolitan Toronto and Region Conservation Authority instructed in specialized fields. Four studentteachers from various teachers' colleges served for a week at a time, assisting the regular teacher with the indoor work sessions conducted in the evenings. Regular staff included a cook-housekeeper, an assistant cook, and a farm manager. The school could accommodate only one class of between thirty and thirty-five at a time. Although the pupils might be from any grade from 7 to 10, priority was given to those in the higher grades. Each class was divided into four groups for the week during which they attended. Students were responsible for making their own beds, setting the table, serving meals, and doing the dishes. The program began with an orientation day involving the showing of a film which gave an overview of the topics to be studied, followed by a four-mile hike through the conservation area. Other activities during the week included plant and tree identification, an introduction to forest management, a visit to a farm and a fish hatchery, a study of the factors which influenced the area's settlement and development, a fish management course, an analysis of soils, and a wildlife survey hi nearby marshes, woodlots, fields, and reforested areas. The evenings were devoted to notetaking and discussions of the day's experiences and to the viewing of films related to the program. Ottawa public school system The Ottawa Public School Board responded hi 1965-6 to the change in The Schools Administration Act authorizing large urban boards to pur-

Curricula! innovation 95

chase sites for natural science schools by acquiring two hundred acres of land east of the city near the village of Rockland. The site was considered particularly suitable because of its accessibility and because of the variety of habitats it offered. The marsh along the bank of the river contained an abundance of aquatic and terrestrial life. The area was on one of the major routes for migratory birds, and there was talk of creating a sanctuary and a bird-banding station. A small aviary, operated by school pupils, would be related to ornithology studies, and pheasants and other upland game birds would be reared for release. Other natural phenomena could be observed in the meadows, woods, ravines, streams, and fencerows. The annual report of the superintendent of public schools for 1966 contained a somewhat lyrical outburst in consideration of the possibilities. It is in these wide open spaces where earth and sky predominate that our children can develop an easy relationship with nature. It is here that our children could realize at first hand that they are surrounded by and are a part of the eternal processes of life. Here it is hoped that they will realize that the mystery of life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced and preserved.29 Appropriately, the new school was named, in honour of the superintendent, the MacSkimming Natural Science School. As indicated in School Progress in April 1969 by the director of the school, David Coburn, the staff consisted of three full-time resource teachers, two field technicians, four student teachers from the Ottawa Teachers' College, and one part-time lunchroom attendant.30 Coburn claimed that, in the relatively casual atmosphere that existed, relationships between teachers and pupils were much closer and more direct than in an ordinary school. As principal, he relied for his authority on successful personal associations with pupils and colleagues. Among the facih'ties were a building in the woods which contained a lunch room, an office, a storage space, and a laboratory; a pioneer log house in another area which had been converted to provide a lab, museum, and workshop with cooking facilities in a turn-of-the-century kitchen; a log cabin on the river bank serving as a river laboratory and a storage place for equipment; a converted machine shop used as a poultry house, sheep corral, and storage area; and a hay barn with pens for farm animals as well as space for hay and feed. Classroom teachers could take the initiative in arranging visits to the school. A visit usually provided the inspiration for weeks of related activities in the regular class. It gave the teachers added skill in handling classes in a free environment, and enabled them to organize more successful field trips. The resource teachers spent a day with classes that were planning to visit the school. Wearing field-dress, they discussed the program with the classroom teacher and helped the pupils prepare suitable

96 Significant developments in local school systems

clothing and equipment. They also suggested a variety of preparatory activities to make the visit as meaningful as possible. A visiting class was organized in small groups which either worked as a team following parallel procedures or engaged in independent activities. The projected bird-banding station had materialized; a section of the woods was used for forest management studies; twenty-five acres of the land was devoted to the study of crops, seedlings, and soils. The poultry laboratory housed a flock of hens producing eggs for an incubating program in city schools. It also had a grading station with candlers, egg graders, egg-marketing equipment, and weighing devices for food intake studies. Other livestock included a small flock of sheep, a pair of guinea fowl, a pair of African geese, a goat, eight bantam hens, and a rabbit. The game bird rearing station, with its ring-necked pheasants, gave the children an opportunity to study habitat improvement. An apiary enabled them to study such phenomena as insect flight and colour perception, as well as such practical matters as the production of honey for sale. In then" studies, pupils were encouraged to collect, control, and interpret data in a methodical manner. They used sampling techniques in handling organisms and vegetation. Traps were used to obtain specimens of small animals, which were released unharmed after a short period of observation. It was not the customary practice to take living organisms back to school. There were considered to be substantial social benefits for the children who had the opportunity of visiting the school. They were confronted with new responsibilities and new kinds of relationships with adults and peers. In the isolated setting of the school, they could obtain new insights into the interdependence of individuals within the community and between the community and the rest of the world. A further social value of the enterprise was the increase in co-operation between the school system and the community. Kingston school systems In 1967 the Kingston Board of Education, the Roman Catholic Separate School Board, and the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority set up a joint advisory board to examine the feasibility of establishing and operating a conservation school. This committee produced a plan for the Osprey Ridge School of Conservation and Natural Science which would, it was hoped, provide conservation education for all school children in the region as an integral part of the curriculum. According to intentions, each pupil would spend a one-week period at the school during his elementary education, and some would spend a second period there while attending high school. It was anticipated that the Frontenac County Board of Education and the Frontenac, Lennox, and Addington Separate School Board would between them have approximately fifteen thousand elementary school

Curricular innovation 97

children. Thus if pupils at the grade 6 level were considered best able to profit by a week at the school, approximately two thousand would have to be accommodated there each year. It was estimated further that about one thousand of the seven thousand students in the secondary schools of the area would be in programs where a week in the outdoors would be of great value. By accommodating .two classes at a tune of up to forty students each, the school would be able to handle a maximum of 3,200 during the forty weeks of the school year. Classes would be accompanied by their regular teacher, and additional assistance would be provided by student teachers from McArthur College of Education and the teachers' colleges at Ottawa and Peterborough. The children were expected to work on projects involving the study of such topics as trees, frogs, birds, rocks and minerals, snakes, and conservation. They would also use their experiences at Osprey Ridge School to add interest to their work in mathematics, art, literature, spelling, and creative composition. Even before the construction of the school began, classes made use of the site for field trips and engaged in many of the activities that would be possible on a more satisfactory scale later. North York school system In the late 1960s the North York Board of Education made a practice of leasing Forest Valley Day Camp between September and July and running it as Forest Valley Outdoor Education Centre. Forest Valley was a natural wooded site in a ravine offering pupils the opportunity to engage in mapping, stream study, and nature hikes. Classes from kindergarten to grade 13 could study English, art, physical education, science, or language arts in the open in all seasons. Particularly encouraged to use the facilities were pupils from underprivileged areas who had little opportunity for contact with nature. In 1967-8 the school served as a pilot project for four schools, and in the following year was open to pupils from sixty schools. There were as many as five hundred pupils on the grounds at one time. The school had a manager and two qualified teachers, assisted by three university students and two housewives. These staff members performed such services as taking pupils into the woods to learn survival by building signal fires and lean-tos, or in the winter, to learn to recognize animal tracks and to cook outdoors. For the most part, visiting teachers planned and carried out then* own programs. Besides the obvious advantages of acquiring an appreciation of the environment and learning how to take care of it, the children were said to gain confidence along with a feeling of freedom. There was more social interaction outdoors than in the classroom. It was considered desirable to reserve about 20 per cent of the time for each outing to recreation, for which such facilities as tree houses, swings, and a miniature golf course were provided.

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As reported in early 1969, the North York outdoor education program for the previous years included several days of residence at the Albion Hills Conservation School for about six hundred students; one or two days at the Cedar Glen Conference Centre at Bolton for 1,957 students; and participation in the crafts program at Bolton for 10,959 students.81 Schools had, in addition, conducted their own outdoor science programs in several conservation areas. The chairman announced that the board was planning to seek the co-operation of the Metropolitan Toronto Parks Department in establishing outdoor education day centres on conservation lands administered within the Borough of North York. The board was also contemplating the acquisition of land adjacent to the Boyd Conservation Area for development as an overnight centre. Board officials were co-operating with (bringing pressure to bear on?) those responsible for teacher education in the Toronto area with a view to including outdoor education in the pre-service program. London school system The W.E. Saunders School of Natural Science was opened in 1967 at Pond Mills, where it occupied a small building. Pupils visiting it had access to the Sifton Bog near Byron, the bird preserve at Fanshawe, and fields near Komoka and Kilworth, as well as to the marshes around Pond Mills. For its first year, the school accommodated only pupils from grades 6 and 9. A visit might include a day with a naturalist-teacher who was employed to develop the concept. The April 1968 issue of the Courier described some of the activities that were possible in the school.32 Even during the coldest days, the pupils were out of doors identifying trees, observing animal tracks, collecting seeds, naming winter birds, and observing climatic conditions. After a lecture on the compass, they put their knowledge into practice, sometimes taking readings on the frozen surface of the pond. At designated points they might chop through the ice to measure its thickness and check the temperature of the water, both at the surface and hi the depths. It was pointed out that the area had historical treasures, including the foundation of an old grist mill with grinding stones and gear frames nearby. Bolton Camp The facilities of Bolton Camp, operated by the Family Service Association of Metropolitan Toronto to provide vacations for mothers and children from low-income families, were opened for the first time during the school year in 1969-70 for outdoor educational purposes. The arrangement was made possible by an agreement involving the boards of education in East York, Etobicoke, and York, and the United Appeal which, along with the Star Fresh Air Fund, subsidized the summer program. It was intended that about seventy-two different grade 6 children each week would live at the camp and study out of doors. There would also be

Curricular innovation 99

opportunities for secondary school students to use the facilities for studying geography, art, and physical education. Weekend programs for various groups would enable the camp to meet the widest possible spectrum of community needs, and would also help to defray operating expenses. Outward Bound Program at Loyalist Collegiate Institute, Kingston The purpose of the Outward Bound program is to develop character by challenging the student to cope with the wilderness environment. As explained by DJ. Knapp in the Bulletin of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, If you are resourceful, imaginative, courageous, physically fit, adaptable, capable of team cooperation and possess a fund of basic training and experience you can meet this challenge. You can be comfortable. You will find the environment to be friendly. If you lack resourcefulness, courage, physical fitness, etc., you will not be comfortable and the out-of-doors will be an unfriendly place.33

Knapp described the program as it was conducted at Loyalist Collegiate Institute in Kingston during its first year. In June 1968 there was an overnight camping trip to Gould Lake to identify a group of students who might participate the following year. In September a beginning was made in compass work, map reading, and "orienteering" - activities which were to continue at irregular intervals throughout the year as required by expeditions. The topic "survival in the wilderness" was dealt with in October with the aid of films and a guest speaker from the RCAF. At the end of the month, there was an overnight visit to Gould Lake, involving a twelve-mile hike through some extremely rough terrain. Training in search and rescue technique was stressed in November, again with the assistance of the RCAF, and concluding in early December with a mock search for two lost staff members. In January and February the group concentrated on first aid, and every member obtained an elementary St John Ambulance first aid certificate. March was devoted to emergency swimming training and "drownproofing" in the local YMCA pool. In April and May there were four canoe-training sessions on a protected marshy creek, followed by three more on Lake Ontario. This training led up to an overnight canoe trip of forty-one miles. The final phase was an eight-day canoe trip at the end of June, including a "solo" for each student. This experience involved two days of isolation in the wilderness with supplies limited to a fishing line, insect repellent, a fishhook, matches, a billy pot, a plastic sheet, a whistle, a sleeping bag, salt, and a hunting knife. The student was not allowed to contact others except in an emergency. The challenges of hunger and loneliness were mitigated by the knowledge that help was not far away if it was needed.

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About thirty-five student participants began the program in September, most of them from grades 9 to 11, but with a few from grades 12 and 13. By the end of May conflicts with other activities, jobs, and failure to maintain interest had reduced the number to twenty-five. Since five of these students had prior commitments to summer jobs, there were twenty left to participate in the canoe trip in Algonquin Park. During the year, ten different teachers had some part in the program, with two serving consistently through all phases. Three senior students also shared the staff role by attending staff meetings, planning agenda, instructing, and the like. The only property owned by the group consisted of ten compasses and ten whistles. The remaining equipment was supplied by the participants or was lent by helpful individuals and organizations. The Board of Education had, however, recognized the value of the experience for those involved, and had promised financial support for the following year. The responsibility of ensuring that the risk of injury was held to a minimum was taken very seriously by the organizers of the program. Both students and staff were required to wear life preservers during canoe training. When this activity was moved to Lake Ontario, the canoes remained in convoy not more than six canoe lengths apart, and were accompanied by a large power boat. Only those students who had passed the drownproofing test were allowed to travel in Algonquin Park without wearing life jackets, and then only where the water was not considered to be excessively rough or dangerous. The group carried a first-aid kit on all expeditions. During the solo, the staff checked on each student three times a day by means of whistle signals. Outward Bound Program in Port Arthur secondary schools At the Ninth Annual Conference of the OERC, J.E.P. Smithers of Hammarskjôld High School in Port Arthur presented a paper on programs based on the Outward Bound concept.34 The board, principal, and staff of the Atikokan High School had embarked on such a program during the 1965-6 school year, and had finished with a climactic twelve-day canoe trip. The success of this group encouraged an attempt to apply their approach in a larger and more complex educational environment. A grant had been obtained under the terms of the federal Fitness and Amateur Sports Act to initiate a program in the Port Arthur secondary schools hi September 1967. At the same tune, the Atikokan program was continuing to expand, and during that year included almost all grade 11 students, whose activities encompassed three five-week training sessions throughout the year. The objectives of the program included the development of physical fitness, leadership, and initiative; the acquisition of skills in camping, wilderness survival, first aid, all aspects of water safety, search and rescue operations, and navigation; and opportunities for service to others, the

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study of the natural environment and of local history, and expeditions including hiking in the fall, snowshoeing in the winter, and canoeing in the spring. Fundamental to the whole program was the continuing development of an appreciation of the Canadian wilderness domain. Since most of the activities did not require a high level of skill, the average student could excel through perseverance and gain self-satisfaction and recognition through effort. The essential elements of each unit of the program were pre-planning and organization, skill training, the use of the skill, leadership, initiative situations, an unexpected emergency, rugged condiditioning, an educational objective such as science field study project, and group evaluation and debriefing. The role of the staff was to provide facilities and challenges, but not solutions. In the field, they were expected to follow and ensure safety. Only in extreme emergencies were they to assume direct leadership control. While in the background they regulated, guided, and directed the program, they attempted to give maximum opportunity for the development of student leadership potential. The fall program for the Port Arthur secondary schools was initiated with a low key presentation to the senior students at Hammarskjôld High School. Any student at this level could join if he had a clear promotion into his current grade and maintained passing marks while in the program. No special incentives were offered, such as school time off for activities or exemption from June examinations. There were forty-one volunteers, later joined by five others, consisting in total of twenty-two boys and twentyfour girls, mostly from among the best students hi the five-year program. By the end of the fall, eighteen boys and five girls remained. The high drop-out rate among the girls was said to be in marked contrast to that in the earlier Atikokan program, where girls from the four-year stream had been the heart of the organization. Smithers outlined in some detail the activities included in a major operation. On Tuesday afternoon there was a meeting in the brigade room for pre-planning and organization. At the same tune on Wednesday and Thursday there were preparatory activities involving equipment, food, and packing. On Friday afternoon, the participants were assembled, loaded up, and driven to the drop-off point. Between 5:00 and 9:00 PM they engaged in a "ten-mile bush navigation exercise" to reach a pre-determined camp site. After an hour spent in setting up camp and eating a prepackaged meal, they carried out an exercise in celestial navigation and star identification. Upon rising at six hi the morning, they had a six-mile cross-country hike to a cliff area where they scaled a cliff using ropes and conducted an emergency rescue operation on the cuff face. After lunch they hiked to another location where they constructed a raft to ferry themselves and their equipment across a lake. On the far shore, they conducted an emergency water rescue operation. After covering another four miles along a ridge, they reached a convenient shoreline camp site. In the eve-

102 Significant developments in local school systems

ning four-man teams were sent out to explore the shoreline hi order to compile a report on the geology, flora, and fauna of the area. On Sunday they rose again at 6:00, packed, and took part in an eight-mile shore hike under emergency conditions before breakfast. Later in the morning they continued the hike and prepared an emergency shore line rescue post complete with shelter, aircraft signals, and rescue procedures. In the afternoon, they proceeded through the bush to a pre-arranged pick-up pohit and returned to school. There they stored their equipment and underwent a debriefing before going home. The fall activities began with an introductory four-mile hike in the bush with the brigades roped together. At intervals of one to five days after that there were initiative tests in the school, a long hike hi the bush to find four pre-determined objectives, initiative tests behind the school, a compass skill and practice session in the bush, conditioning, a first aid session involving the use of stretchers in the bush, a first aid skill and practice session in the bush, an all-day hike involving the collection of plants, first aid, and bush navigation, a maps and navigation exercise, a skill session in school followed by a field exercise, a trip to Atikokan where the participants hiked to Caland iron ore pit and borrowed the Atikokan High School Outers' canoes to paddle on Nym Lake for four or five hours, a search and rescue operation, four initiative tests hi first aid and other matters, an overnight camping exercise with no gear, navigation exercises in groups of two covering about five miles, a scavenger hunt hi which groups of two sought thirty items from the bush, a semi-final event at which the fall program was evaluated, plans for the winter were discussed, a short field exercise was conducted, and a party was held. On the last Saturday in October, the participants engaged in a Miles for Millions hike. Plans for the winter program, which would begin after the OERC paper was deh'vered, would involve about 125 students from the five schools in the city - between twenty and thirty from each school. The participants would have one weekly after-school session in their own school, an individual training program, and an all-day activity every weekend operated from a central location. Interested staff members in each school would run a separate program under the general guidance and supervision of the staff at Hammarskjôld High School. The main activity of the winter program was to be snowshoeing, leading up to an overnight snowshoe trip along part of the old voyageur highway. During the spring, the long canoe trip would involve a far greater challenge in terms of work, leadership, and organization than any other part of the year's effort. Field trips For rapidly increasing numbers of pupils, the characteristic isolation of the school has been broken down in some degree by field trips. These are by no means universally popular with teachers, officials, or even with pupils. For the teachers, there must be careful prior preparation and planning

Curricular innovation 103

if an excursion is to be successful. On the trip itself, the problems of organization and control on public transportation, in public institutions, or in industrial establishments may be forbidding even with a class of reasonably docile and co-operative children. One can imagine the wear and tear on the teacher from a certain inner-city school, who lost part of a class for shoplifting during a tour of a downtown department store. Among the general public, and even among those whose role as hosts calls for the exercise of particular patience, the trials of dealing with a mass of ebullient young people can be considerable. Society at large is far from accepting a fundamental responsibility of sharing the educative functions of the school. There is always a possibility that an initially gracious reception may turn chilly if too many groups make a claim on a particular agency's hospitality. As far as the pupils themselves are concerned, it is common at certain ages to find a number in any class who adopt a supercilious air because they are already familiar with the location to which the proposed visit is to be made. It may be difficult to persuade them that there is anything more to be learned from the trip. Despite the problems of handling field trips, it is evident that they will have to be arranged in increasing numbers as the challenge faced by the future citizen in coming to terms with his world grows rapidly more complex. Even the media, which help in very important ways, create their own particular kinds of distortions and illusions, which can be effectively counteracted only by a direct confrontation with reality. The physical presence of learners of all ages will be a phenomenon which institutions and agencies of all types must be prepared to accept, not as a favour, but as one of their most basic obligations. Ottawa public school system The city of Ottawa provides an unusual range of resources within easy reach of school children. Among those visited in 1964, as reported in the annual report of the Superintendent of Public Schools, were Upper Canada Village, the Canadian War Museum, the Royal Canadian Mint, the Experimental Farm, the Parliament Buildings, the Rockcliffe Barracks of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Ottawa Public Library, Gatineau Park, and various industries, fire stations, sugar bushes, and other locations. There was a weekly schedule of visits to the National Art Gallery for grade 6 pupils and one to the National Museum for grade 7 pupils. A survey showed that there were 947 class visits during 1967-8 involving 16,165 public school pupils, or nearly two-thirds of the total enrolment. The number of visits per class varied between one and eight. One of the most popular places was the local fire station, which had fortyseven visits. A number of federal buildings and institutions received more than fifty groups, topped by the National Museum, with 160, followed by the new Museum of Science and Technology. The public library with its

104 Significant developments in local school systems

numerous branches was first on the list of municipal institutions, illustrating its close ties with the school system. The Ottawa Public School News observed with disfavour that only nine class visits were made to the City Hall, or less than 1 per cent of the total.35 Schools were urged to arrange for more of such visits, and city officials to try to make them more meaningful. Equally deplored was the fact that not a single class had visited the headquarters of the public school board. It was suggested that visits of this kind would help young people to understand the workings of democracy at the local level. Teachers were reported to be recognizing the importance of commerce and industry by organizing tours of television stations, newspaper offices, dairies, bakeries, and shopping centres. One of the most noteworthy of such expeditions was a visit to a shopping centre by a senior class for the deaf. The Public School Board found it more economical to purchase buses to transport crippled children and those with a long distance to travel than to hire public transportation. These buses, rather than standing idle for most of the school day, could be used to transport children on field trips. Thus in a sense it was possible to provide the service at little extra cost. Tecumseh Senior Public School, West Hill Some publicity was given to a three-day excursion organized in 1969 by four teachers of Tecumseh Senior Public School in West Hill. The grade 7 pupils who participated were chosen for their creative ability and their interest in art, music, and dancing. They spent the time at Cedar Glen near Bolton, where they painted, danced, made music, tobogganed, rode horses, skated, or passed the tune hi casual pursuits. Some wandered through the two hundred acres with movie and still cameras, tape recorders, and sketch pads. One pupil composed a poem which was co-ordinated with a movie made by his fellows. Sketches produced on the terrain were translated into paintings under the guidance of an art teacher. Girls worked out dances under the inspiration of recordings, while pupils with musical inclinations practised on percussion instruments under the supervision of a music teacher. If the excursion sounded more than anything else like a vacation, the sponsors would probably have said that it was important to devise ways of bridging the gap between learning and recreation in a world where man had to learn to live with an abundance of leisure. Camping The Midland School Board took advantage of the special features of the area hi 1966-7 by providing an opportunity for each of 162 ten-year-olds to participate hi one of three five-day camping trips at Beausoleil Island

Canicular innovation 105 in Georgian Bay.88 A similar number of nine-year-olds had a comparable experience the following year. A highlight of each expedition was the opportunity to observe an archaeologist at work, and even for a few pupils to take part in some of the digging. A number of visitors came to the camp, including an Indian Chief, a history specialist from Fort Ste Marie, the Warden of Beausoleil Island, several people from the Department of Lands and Forests, and some geography teachers from the Midland secondary schools. The choice of grade 4 pupils was influenced by the fact that they had completed a swimming program offered by the Midland board. After the approval of the board and of the Department of Education had been secured, planning included securing permission from parents, obtaining medical certificates, holding a parents' night, and the preparation of a written outline for parents. The children were accompanied by their own teachers and by sixteen senior high school students. The staff also included the directors, a nurse, and a cook. The cost, covered by the board, was somewhat less than the estimated sum of $15 per week. It included board and lodging, transportation, teaching and administrative supplies, and camp overhead. Teachers reported that the children had shown marked enthusiasm for natural science during the year following then: camping experience. They were also said to be unusually self-sufficient and able to work in groups. The prospect of taking their turn was a source of eager anticipation for later grade 4 pupils. PHYSICAL AND HEALTH EDUCATION

Team and specialized teaching at Westdale Secondary School, Hamilton At the Tenth Annual Conference of the OERC, D.G. Ferguson told about methods of grouping students and utilizing teacher resources at Westdale Secondary School in Hamilton.37 According to the scheme, students were assigned to physical education in groups of as many as a hundred. On their first day, these students were placed hi seven homogeneous groups on the basis of their scores on a motor ability test. The groups rotated weekly among four teaching areas consisting of a large gym, a small gym, a renovated rifle range, and a health room, in each of which a different activity was carried on. The physical education program for the year consisted of five sevenweek units. In each unit, staff members were assigned activities and grade levels that best suited their particular strengths. Each teacher was responsible for a minimum number of different lessons, and could thus prepare each one with great care and thoroughness. He might, for example, find it worthwhile to prepare transparencies or other visual aids. Beginning teachers profited from the fact that the whole department was

106 Significant developments in local school systems

responsible for discipline and control, and there was less chance that they would be handicapped by early mistakes. One of the main features of the scheme was that the student-teacher ratio could be varied according to the activity. Thus a badminton session might be conducted with fifteen students. Small groups made it possible to introduce such specialized activities as pole vaulting, discus and javelin throwing, and football instruction with equipment. The flexibility of the arrangement facilitated the optimum utilization of space. A large body of students could be accommodated in a single gymnasium and utility rooms of varying sizes. The purchase of duplicate equipment was unnecessary because the activity was always carried on in the same area. At the end of the year in which the program was conducted on an experimental basis, the opinions of the students were solicited by means of an unsigned questionnaire. On the question of ability grouping, 86 per cent were in favour, 5.6 per cent were opposed, and 8.4 per cent had no opinion. To 53.5 per cent, the situation was better for the acquisition of learning skills, to 9.5 per cent it was not as good, and to 37 per cent, about the same. Sixty-seven per cent preferred having many teachers, 20.5 per cent preferred only one, and 12.5 per cent had no opinion. The grouping of health education periods in blocks was favoured by 72 per cent, while 15 per cent preferred having it once a week according to the traditional pattern and 13 per cent had no definite preference. An overall appraisal showed 71 per cent finding the new scheme better than the old, 11 per cent finding it worse, and 18 per cent considering it about the same. The applicability of the program to other schools was said to depend on facilities, equipment, the competencies of individual staff members, and the organization of the school. Water safety A major increase hi the number of school children with the ability to swim resulted from the rapidly developing practice of providing swimming pools in the 1960s. Despite the substantial cost of such facilities, those who were inclined to protest at the extravagance of school boards could always be countered with the persuasive argument that swimming skills contributed effectively to the saving of lives. Competence in the water was increasingly needed in view of trends in the recreational habits of a large number of Canadians, particularly those living within reach of Ontario's lakeland playgrounds. There was, of course, more to water safety programs than the provision of opportunities to learn to swim. In the spring of 1956 the North York Board of Education conducted an experimental water safety program with selected grade 5 classes. In the absence of the necessary facilities of its own, the board secured the cooperation of the YMCA and the Royal Canadian Air Force, which made two swimming pools available free of charge. During the first year, about seven hundred pupils were given eight lessons in water safety. In view of

Curricular innovation 107

the evident success of the program, similar provision was made for almost twice that number in 1957. As pools were constructed in North York secondary schools, lessons in water safety and swimming were offered for all grade 5 pupils. The program was designed to ensure that the pupils became conscious of water safety, and would thus contribute to a reduction in the number of water accidents. The emphasis was on safety skills for swimmers and nonswimmers, avoidance of dangerous situations in, on, or near the water, and enjoyment of experiences involving water with confidence and safety. During the program, a pupil might qualify as a tadpole, a minnow, or a shark, depending on the level of skill he attained. If he made no progress, he was given a participation card. Supervision of the program was provided by the classroom teacher, two qualified Red Cross instructors, and other assistants. Contributions of various kinds were made by the North York Parks and Recreation Department, the Royal Canadian Air Force, the YMCA, and the North York Branch of the Red Cross. READING

Study of achievement in reading in the Etobicoke school system A fairly comprehensive study of the action research type was undertaken in certain schools in Etobicoke in 1961 to identify areas of child development which were closely related to success in reading. It was intended that a more thorough examination might later be conducted into the factors that demonstrated a significant relationship so that the instructional program as conducted in the schools could be appropriately modified. The decision to carry out the study arose from an awareness among educators in the system that reading achievement was not only important in itself, but also constituted a significant determinant of learning in other areas. It was thought that poor achievement in this area might be reflected in an unduly low score in a test of mental ability, since group tests of intelligence used in the schools tended to be of the verbal type. Research and experience gave strong support to the view that most reading deficiencies could be remedied if they were identified early and properly treated. A draft report of the study, written anonymously, gave evidence of an awareness of the abundance of relevant material on the subject, and of planning in the light of information supplied from other studies. The level of achievement in reading was said to be determined largely by six factors: 1 / the learner's abilities and their development, 2 / the nature of the learning environment, 3 / the nature and quality of the reading materials, 4 / the competence of the teacher, 5 / the teaching method used, and 6 / the appropriateness and adequacy of the tests used in assessing the level of achievement. In the Etobicoke study, attention was to be directed only to the learner. Correlates of reading achievement were to be sought in the pupil's physical, mental, social, and emotional development. Ac-

108 Significant developments in local school systems

cording to leading researchers, the basic components of the complex skill of reading were said to be the ability to perceive word forms, the ability to vocalize these forms, comprehension or the interpretation of meaning, and perceptual and assimilative speed. It was recognized that each of these components could be broken down into a number of distinct factors. The researchers felt that it was not practical to isolate such factors and to study them minutely; they therefore decided to treat reading ability as a general function. The project was identified as "a pilot study and not a closely structured experiment," implying rather questionably that the two were necessarily opposite or mutually exclusive. It was carried out within the regular school organization, although the teachers of the classes selected for study were given help in developing instructional programs and in administering some of the tests. The first participants, consisting of twelve kindergarten classes in Rivercrest, Rexdale, and West Humber schools, were designated Group A. The pupils in this group were followed to the end of grade 3. While they were in kindergarten, various observations were made and readiness tests were administered. Elaborate records of observations and test scores were kept while they were in grade 1. In grade 3, they were given the Metropolitan Achievement Tests-Primary n Battery, which included a test in reading. Twelve classes chosen from the same schools the year after observation of Group A began constituted Group B. The pupils were given substantially the same treatment while they were in kindergarten and grade 1. In grade 2, they took the same tests as those in Group A, who were by this time hi grade 3. For the kindergarten stage of the study, programs were developed around certain themes selected from the regular course of study, and evaluation centred around three themes. The regular courses were followed hi grade 1 although the teachers involved attempted to achieve some degree of uniformity by co-operating hi organizing common approaches within the general framework. Assessment was carried out in the areas of mental ability, physical development, social development, emotional development, general characteristics, and academic qualities. Standardized tests were used to measure various aspects of mental ability and academic achievement. While some of the physical tests were based on standard procedures, the remainder of the evaluation in this area, as well as in social and emotional development and in general and academic qualities, was carried out through systematic teacher observation. For then- evaluations, teachers used a short scale which, at the time of the analysis, was reduced to two categories - average combined with above average and below average. Records of observations on the kindergartens consisted of personal data about the child and his family, scores on the Primary Mental Abilities Test, scores on readiness and reading tests, physical tests and observations on laterality, hearing, sight, speech, co-ordination, and health

Curricular innovation 109

characteristics, social maturity, emotional maturity, and general mental characteristics and academic qualities. As a result of difficulties in making valid and systematic observations in kindergarten, and because of the novelty of the project, many of the kindergarten records were incomplete. Some of the intended analysis could not, therefore, be conducted. The number of pupils was considerably reduced by attrition. Group A had 412 pupils in thirteen classes hi 1962-3, but lost 126 by the tune the Metropolitan test battery was given hi grade 3. Among the 404 pupils in Group B in 1963-4, only 324 were available the following year to take the same battery. When the final analysis was carried out, Group A had 281 pupils and Group B, 290. The first approach to analysis was to make and examine frequency distributions of the variables under study hi terms of quartiles. Where there was no apparent difference between the upper and lower quartiles, and where the observations contained few non-normal entries, no further investigation was carried out. All test scores obtained by pupils in both groups were intercorrelated. For those observations where the data were dichotomized hito an average and above average group and a below average group, point biserial coefficients of correlation were calculated with reading scores. The analysis showed that most of the variables included hi the study were significantly related to reading achievement. Those that showed the highest correlation fell into two broad groups: auditory perception and visual perception. The first group consisted of sounds - likenesses and differences; letter sounds - likenesses and differences; matching sounds; matching letter sounds; rhyming words; and initial consonants. In the second group were matching - numbers; matching - letters; matching words; matching - sentences; likenesses and differences - numbers; likenesses and differences - letters; likenesses and differences - words; likenesses and differences - sentences; and knowledge of sight words. It would in fact be reasonable to suggest that some of these variables were highly correlated with reading achievement because they were actual components of reading skills. Those variables that were not significantly related to reading achievement were as follows: Gates Reading Readiness Test - rhyming; the Primary Mental Abilities Test - the motor subtest and the perceptual speed test in Group B; the Draw-A-Man Test; age; the Etobicoke Reading Inventories - word skills and pre-primer; sex; energy; thumb sucking; co-ordination - gross, fine, balance, and printing (evidence inconsistent between the two groups) ; and emotional maturity - shyness in Group B. The correlation between intelligence and scores hi reading readiness was relatively low. It appeared that the nature of reading called for progressively higher levels of intelligence as a child proceeded through school. The implication was said to be that the practice of grouping children for the purpose of reading in kindergarten and grades 1 and 2 might

110 Significant developments in local school systems

result in the classification of bright or average children as below average when they were merely slow in acquiring certain reading skills. Selection of candidates for acceleration or enrichment programs on the basis of reading in grade 2 or 3 might not hold up as they moved through grades 4, 5, and 6. The researchers were rather surprised to discover that the quantitative intelligence score on the Primary Mental Abilities Test showed higher correlation with reading achievement than did the verbal score in both the groups. In Group A, the perceptual speed factor had just as low a correlation as the verbal factor. The fact that subtest and total scores on the Gates Reading Readiness Test were not highly correlated with reading achievement seemed to confirm the suspicion that reading readiness exercises were of little value for their intended purpose. This finding had important implications for the school system. On the other hand, the correlation of approximately 0.5 between DurrelPs Letter Knowledge Tests and the Dominion Reading Tests reinf orced the claim that letter knowledge was important in building the ability to read. In the Metropolitan battery, there was, as expected, a high degree of correlation among such aspects of language as reading, word knowledge, word discrimination, and spelling. But the disconcerting fact that arithmetic achievement was just about equally related to that in reading made it difficult to draw any conclusions. Language experience approach in Kingston schools The language experience approach to reading is based on the realization that vocabulary recognition and oral reading from textbooks do not necessarily represent real understanding, nor do they always provide the skills needed for independent reading. The ability to read well can arise only from a grasp of the ideas and concepts which the words represent. Thus before and during their introduction to the actual process of reading, children are given an opportunity to participate in and discuss the widest possible variety of activities, preferably including many which they have helped to plan. As oral vocabulary is developed, it is immediately associated with the printed word. The adoption of the language experience approach to the teaching of reading in a number of schools in Kingston in the mid-sixties resulted from a recognition of certain weaknesses in the existing program. Over a period of fifteen years, the schools had evolved a method of instruction using basal reading textbooks. The work of each grade was divided into three units, and the children progressed from one to another according to the amount covered in the readers. They had developed better-than-average reading ability as measured by standardized tests. Discerning teachers had realized, however, that although they had enough skills to cope easily with reading in textbooks and related seatwork exercises, they had inadequate ability to use the same skills to obtain pertinent information for social studies and science. Further, many slow-learning children had difficulty in

Curricularinnovation 111

retaining the vocabulary of the text, and showed little interest in outside reading. With the introduction of the language experience approach, the children's oral vocabularly was developed through participation in activities which were planned co-operatively by the children and the teacher. Individuals and the group wrote compositions about these activities so that the new vocabulary was read immediately. Members of the class gathered further information from other sources such as books, pictures, and films according to their individual interests and abilities. A large part of the follow-up work consisted of creative work in writing, art, and drama. The new program produced gains that were immediately perceptible. Children showed an improvement in conversational ability, an interest in wider reading, and a willingness to try to get information from books far beyond their reading level. There was an increased interest in class participation and a new sense of responsibility. The evident success of the approach led to its extension into grade 2. Language exposure program in kindergarten at Fairview School, Brantford An article hi Curriculum Bulletin 9 of the Ontario Department of Education explained the way in which the language exposure program at Fairview School, then in its third year, was being conducted.38 Such a program was defined as the "complete integration of all subjects of the curriculum with language as the central sea into which all tributaries flow." At Fairview the day began with the selection of a topic of interest. A child might, for example, bring in a newspaper clipping about space travel and the children might undertake a study of the moon. In the early stages, it might be necessary for the teacher to suggest a topic to get the process started. After a preliminary discussion, the children divided themselves into groups according to their areas of interest. Settling down to work, they formulated sets of questions relating to the topic and then collected reference material from every available source. Each day the class held an evaluation period and heard progress reports from the groups. Emphasis was naturally on oral communication in the early stages, later shifting to written reports. The latter might be supplemented by graphs, charts, diagrams, or pictures. Some activities might lead to the production of a booklet, a mural, or a table-top display, to the composition of poems or stories, or to the organization of a puppet play. The children were never required to follow a uniform, prescribed course of action. During the second year in which the program was in operation, a typewriter with primary-sized print was purchased for use in the kindergarten. With varying amounts of help from the teacher, the children could reproduce their own words in a relatively permanent record, and could use them as a supplement to other reading material. Some of the daily reports were picked up by a tape recorder. As indicated in the depart-

112 Significant developments in local school systems

mental bulletin, "The important part of the process is for each child understand that the use of exact and expressive language is necessary make any of his discoveries available to the rest of the class. Sooner later he will also need the skills of writing, reading, and mathematics, order to complete a project dear to his heart."

to to or in

Peterborough school system Beginning in 1965, schools in Peterborough began implementing an experience reading program based on procedures worked out at the Ontario Curriculum Institute during the previous two years.39 These procedures involved an attempt to capitalize on the natural curiosity of the child and to draw on his store of experiences. From his first day in school he was encouraged to share his ideas with others through the use of words and pictures. The teacher helped by recording the story on the pictures, and then had him read it to his classmates. As he repeated the process, he acquired a printing vocabulary, which soon expanded to the point where he could print his own stories. Through the use of other reading materials from many sources, he became aware of the similarity between his own mode of written expression and that of others. He was introduced to phonics, word-attack skills, spelling, punctuation, and other aspects of written language when he recognized a need for them. Books were used to enrich his background, as a source of ideas, and as a means of identifying correct spelling. Readers were used when he was prepared for them - that is, after he had developed substantial word-recognition skills. Most classes in Peterborough instituted an "involvement program" in which science and social studies experiences were integrated hito a language experience reading program. Any subject might be brought in if it suited the theme being discussed. This program was used for half of the day while the basal readers were used during the other half. Some schools used a series of readers designed to reflect and extend experiences and to encourage inquiry, discussion, and additional reading. Emphasis was placed on listening and interpretation. One school tried a complete experience approach in which the children first read their own stories and then exchanged them with others. Language Study Centre, Toronto The Toronto Board of Education set up a Language Study Centre in the fall of 1963 with objectives that were to be achieved to a considerable extent through in-service teacher education. As described in the annual report for 1963-4, its purpose was to "establish and maintain an over-all programme in language instruction consistent with changing techniques and requirements; co-ordinate and integrate various services related to language instruction; plan and operate appropriate in-service training programmes."40 It soon acquired six professionally trained staff members, including three diagnosticians associated with the Reading Clinic.

Curricular innovation 113

During the early stages of the operation of the centre, the staff undertook a comprehensive program of activities. 1 / They offered a course for teachers of grades 7 and 8 on the theory and application of a developmental reading program. 2 / They organized a course for primary teachers entitled "What is a Developmental Reading Programme?" 3 / They worked with the staffs of various schools to set up developmental reading programs, choose suitable reading material, and improve reading techniques. 4 / They organized an experimental reading program, involving selected students from fifteen feeder schools, to be introduced in September 1964 at Eastern High School of Commerce. Special features of the course were the use of unusual literature selections, grouping for instruction, close liaison with the school library, and the assessment of results by standardized tests. 5 / They planned and scheduled an in-service training course in drama to be held in thirteen secondary schools, with a professional actor-director visiting each school six times to deal with acting techniques and principles of stage production. 6 / They organized an inservice training course in modern poetry for the English teachers hi fourteen secondary schools, to be given by university faculties of English. The course covered developments in modern poetry in England, the United States, and Canada after the 1920s. 7 / A "modest" beginning was made in relating the English courses in grades 8 and 9 to ease the transition from one level to the other. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN THE NORTH YORK SCHOOL SYSTEM

The development of provisions for religious education in the public schools and the rising tide of sentiment against the practice were recorded in volume ill, chapter 6. The North York Board of Education was in the forefront of those recognizing changes in the public attitude on this issue, and in making appropriate arrangements to meet the wishes of parents. One of the relevant sections of The Public Schools Act stated that, subject to the regulations, pupils were to be allowed to receive such religious instruction as their parents or guardians desired. If a parent wished his child to be excused from instruction in the subject, he had merely to inform the principal, preferably in writing, without the necessity of giving a reason. The regulations also stated that the minister might grant to a board exemption from the teaching of religious education in any classroom or school provided the board requested such exemption in writing and submitted reasons for the request. By the end of the 1950s the large number of requests for exemption in certain schools led the board to consider a change in policy. In December 1959 the following policy statement was approved. When, in the judgement of the Director of Education, instruction in Religious Education may be disrupting the operation of a public school in North York,

114 Significant developments in local school systems the Board forward a questionnaire to the parents or guardians of the pupils enrolled asking if they desire their children to receive religious instruction so that provision may be made, if desired, under The Public Schools Act, section 7, sub-section 2.*1 By 1961 this policy had been implemented in five public schools. On the basis of a questionnaire sent to each parent and discussions held with representative parents, it was agreed that religious instruction would be scheduled from 3:30 to 4:00 PM. Children who were exempted might be dismissed at the earlier hour if their day's work had been completed satisfactorily, or detained for remedial work or other reasons. As additional pupils enrolled during the year, their parents were asked to complete the form indicating their wishes in the matter. The statistical results of the application of the new policy were startling. Of the total enrolment in the five schools, 2,513 children were excused from instruction and 488 continued to receive it at their parents' request. In the other seventy schools in North York where the onus remained on the parents to request exemption, 122 pupils were excused while 27,743 received instruction. As a result, the new policy was extended in 1961 to include all public schools in the system. SCIENCE Contributions of the Ontario Curriculum Institute In the middle 1960s the Ontario Curriculum Institute initiated a developmental program in elementary school science which involved the participation of a considerable number of schools in various systems scattered throughout the province. A pilot course consisted of seven units of study with content derived from several of the physical and natural science disciplines. It was tried out with groups of pupils ranging between grades 5 and 8 in order to determine the most appropriate level at which to introduce certain concepts. A keynote of the course was the attempt to involve the pupil in the process of experimental inquiry rather than having him accept uncritically the information presented by a teacher or a textbook. A considerable amount of scientific equipment, designed by the Science Committee of the Ontario Curriculum Institute, was required to do justice to the program. In the early stages, the cost of such equipment, although not great in comparison with the expenditure for many other educational purposes, constituted a barrier to the immediate and widespread adoption of the new approach. Experimental program in elementary science at Victoria Village Public School, North York At the Tenth Annual Conference of the OERC R.W. Pletsch told of a program in elementary science which he, as vice-principal, and Kelvin

Curricula! innovation 115

Fox, a teacher, had been particularly responsible for devising for use in Victoria Village Public School in North York.42 They based their work on a series of assumptions. 1 / Curriculum planners should capitalize on the curiosity and inner drive to learn which characterize the elementary school pupil. 2 / For effective learning to take place, each pupil must be involved both intellectually and physically. 3 / While the pupil should not have complete freedom to decide what he should learn, there is no body of knowledge that every pupil should master. 4 / Each pupil should have a large measure of choice of specific content areas in which to involve himself. 5 / Pupils should be given sufficient direction to ensure that what they learn is clearly related to what they already know. 6 / A prerequisite to a successful program is an effective testing instrument to help determine the pupil's conceptual framework. 7 / Pupils may not immediately see how the things they learn are related to what they previously knew. 8 / As a consequence, each pupil needs the help of the teacher or fellow pupils or both to evaluate what he has done. 9 / Each pupil has a unique learning pattern. Therefore a pre-planned program should be not only sound in its conceptual framework but also highly flexible in method and design. In the individualized program devised for the school, the teachers made up activity cards, each of which posed a problem or a series of problems. The process of solving these was expected to give the pupil some understanding of a particular concept. It was hoped that the pupus would work on the problems independently or in small groups with a minimum of teacher direction. They selected the cards with which they wished to work and chose among several possible approaches. The equipment and materials they needed were available in the science area of the school where they worked. Teachers were constantly at hand to provide help as needed. When a pupil finished work on a particular card, he was asked to record whatever he felt he had learned as a result of his work. Evaluation of his reports was supplemented by daily observation of his efforts and by the use of evaluation cards. The program involved the use of three separate sets of cards. The first set listed the concepts, one per card, that were to be covered in each unit of work. The cards were identified to facilitate filing and locating. The second set was made up of activity cards, one for each concept in the first set. The third set consisted of cards to be used by the teachers for evaluating the pupil's understanding of the concepts in a unit of work. In making up the cards, the teachers adapted the work of Paul F. Brandwein, who used six basic scientific concepts: 1 / When energy changes from one form to another, the total amount of energy remanís unchanged. 2 / When matter changes from one form to another, the total amount of matter remains unchanged. 3 / Living things are interdependent with one another and with their environment. 4 / A living thing is the product of its heredity and environment. 5 / Living things are in constant change. 6 / The universe is in constant change. Under each concept were

116 Significant developments in local school systems

sub-concepts arranged in order so that an understanding of one provided the foundation for dealing with the next. The fourth level seemed appropriate for the average pupil hi grade 5. Individuals might, however, pursue a particular theme to much higher levels of complexity. Pletsch was able to report a number of gratifying results from the program. 1 / The pupils were clearly enjoying their studies. 2 / Pupils of both sexes were enthusiastically involved with ideas, materials, and equipment. 3 / The pupils were acquiring a greater depth of understanding of the concepts being learned than the teachers expected. 4 / Many pupils were pursuing tangential questions they encountered in their work with the cards. 5 / The team-teaching aspects of the program were giving the teachers new insights into their teaching and new understanding of their pupils. 6 / Pupils were accepting an increased responsibility for the care of equipment. 7 / Discipline problems were practically non-existent. There were some problems yet to be solved. The program demanded more staff time than traditional approaches, especially when participating students were weak in reading skills. Efforts had to be devoted to the construction of a pre-testing instrument to help pupils decide on the best level to tackle a particular theme. There was a need to speed up the mechanical process of selecting cards and returning them to the files. The children would benefit from a more effective way of recording their findings. On the whole, these difficulties seemed rather minor hi comparison with the advantages of the program. WORK-STUDY PROGRAM

After the introduction of the Reorganized Program or Robarts Plan, it became customary for students in the Occupational Program to spend brief periods gaining actual work experience. Where it was possible to arrange for such employment, the students usually served without remuneration. Firms that made provision for them ordinarily did so with public service in mind, since individual students were usually involved for such a short time that the inconvenience in accommodating them more than outweighed any benefits received. North York school system In 1962 the North York Board of Education initiated what became a more ambitious and comprehensive program than that ordinarily provided for Occupational students. Beginning with a few Technical and Commercial Course students, this program eventually involved not only senior students in special vocational schools, but also second-year junior nidustrial students, grade 11 and 12 technical students, grade 12 arts and science students, second-year junior business and commerce students, and grade 12 business and commerce students in secondary schools. In a brochure distributed in 1968, the Director of Education, F.W. Minkler, described the values of the program.

Curricular innovation 117 It offers our students opportunities to test their skills under business and industrial conditions, to learn the wide variety of positions available, to become acquainted with the routines and etiquette involved in business situations, and to check the spécule application of the general knowledge learned in the school curriculum. At graduation, they are thus better equipped to select employment suited to their individual needs and interests and to adjust more readily into the world of work.43 As the program was operated in 1968, participating students spent two weeks in industrial, commercial, and social service organizations that normally employed people qualified in the specific trade or specialty for which they were preparing. They worked the regular hours of the organization which employed them up to forty hours a week. The fact that they were not paid was thought to enhance the value of their experience. The employer accepted the responsibility of assessing their progress, capabilities, and attitudes. More broadly, he worked with the Technical Director of Work Study in arranging work-study and co-operative programs and in recommending desirable changes in courses and equipment. He might also visit schools to observe educational facilities and problems. R.H. King Collegiate Institute, Scarborough An article in School Progress in July 1969 explained certain aspects of the work-experience program hi four-year business and commerce hi R.H. King Collegiate Institute hi Scarborough.44 There were fifty-four students enrolled in this branch and program in 1968-9. Most of the girls spent some time working in offices to gain clerical experience, while some of the boys worked hi accounting departments. Most of the article was devoted to the contributions of Ralph Roger, president of Apsco Products (Canada) Ltd, manufacturer and distributor of ornee and stationery products. Each year the company gave a number of boys a realistic introduction to the business world. For two days they opened and read mail, and then followed it through various departments. They recorded cheques, filled orders, studied invoices from suppliers, and commented on requests for donations. During the latter part of the week, they accompanied salesmen on their visits to customers, and had the opportunity of selling certain items for which they had previously been given sales training. Finally they made out sales reports which the president discussed with them, and were given a case history type of sales course developed by the company for regular salesmen. During the year, the company met the expenses of two boys to enable them to visit Winnipeg and Montreal, where they accompanied salesmen on business calls. This type of contribution was particularly appreciated at a tune when students from the colleges of applied arts and technology were competing strongly for the limited opportunities for work experience.

THREE

Buildings and facilities

General trends in building and in the provision of school faculties are dealt with in volume m, chapter 11 of Ontario's Educative Society. References are made to certain specific projects as illustrations of the most interesting of recent innovations. The present chapter presents more of these illustrations, with particular emphasis on the kind of flexible arrangements that facilitate team teaching, small-group and individualized instruction, and more relaxed relations between teachers and pupils. STRUCTURAL INNOVATIONS

Some of the school buildings constructed in the late 1960s began to blossom forth with so many new design features that the innovations of the earlier period tended to look in retrospect rather stodgy and unimaginative. When classrooms gave way to learning areas with no permanent form, size, or appearance, a departure from the standard shape appeared to have been a rather minor innovation. Yet some of the small changes that were made in the earlier period probably had a considerable part in firing imaginations among trustees, school officials, and architects and in producing a movement that gave many structures quite a novel appearance. Elementary schools Hexagonal classrooms at Cardinal Heights Senior Public School, Hamilton An account of the circumstances that led to the construction of hexagonal classrooms at Cardinal Heights Senior Public School in Hamilton was given in School Progress in January 1964.1 Board officials and architects began by examining the functions and needs of teachers and pupils. They concluded that the standard rectangular classroom was inconvenient in that the location of the chalkboards on one side wall as well as at the front made it difficult for some pupils to see clearly. Advantages were seen in the hexagonal shape which permitted chalkboard running continuously along forty-four feet of wall. The sixtydegree angle of the boards at the front improved visibility from every desk location.

Buildings and facilities 119

Among other architectural advantages of the design was the fact that the number of lineal feet required to enclose a given space could be significantly reduced. The two walls with windows provided the same amount of window space as did the classroom of the conventional shape. The grouping of the hexagonal rooms in pods of six made it possible to reduce corridor length by fully one-third for every three rooms. The teachers in the school were reported to have welcomed the new arrangement with enthusiasm. No matter where the desk was placed, or where a teacher stood, there was a feeling of involvement with the pupils. Rearrangement of the pupils' desks was facilitated: they could, for example, be placed around an open space for "theatre-in-the-round" productions with all seats equidistant from the centre. Eastview Public School, Scarborough Eastview Public School was built as a test project for the Study of Educational Facilities conducted by the Metropolitan Toronto School Board in a search for ways of building better schools at minimum cost. All the parts were interchangeable; even the outside walls could be re-arranged. The building contained one large open space the size of three ordinary classrooms and a small seminar room at the centre of this open area. Emphasis was placed on brightness and the provision of a large amount of wall space. The chalkboards were white to reduce glare, and called for the use of coloured chalk. Air conditioning and carpeting added to comfort; the former was intended to facilitate the use of the building all year round. Bids to participate in the construction of the school were received from thirty-six Canadian companies, and contracts were made with ten of them. Each had to ensure that the components for which it was responsible fitted the others. The experiment was regarded as highly successful in supporting the claims of Roderick Robbie, director of the SEF project, that the new procedure would make it possible to build schools that were one-third more efficient in two-thirds the time, and at a cost 30 per cent below that of conventional schools. Georges Vanier Separate School, Belleville The Georges Vanier Separate School, opened in the fall of 1969 under the jurisdiction of the Hastings and Prince Edward County Separate School Board, was constructed to facilitate the implementation of advanced concepts of individualized instruction and continuous progress. The central focus of the building was a cultural centre, which consisted of a library, a religious guidance office, a music room, an art room, a foreign languages department, and health education facilities. The provision of "dry" study carrels in the library was considered an innovation for elementary schools. The central resource area was surrounded by "environmental centres," each consisting of two or three learning areas

120 Significant developments in local school systems

the size of ordinary classrooms. Folding walls made it possible to restructure the environmental centre for particular purposes. There was an administrative centre containing the principal's office, the health unit, maintenance quarters, and a lunch room. As a means of providing for community use, there was a centre with an auditorium and stage, a meeting room, a ticket office, and kitchen facilities, all of which could be isolated from the rest of the school. Each teaching area was designed to be occupied by a particular group of children between the ages of five and twelve. It was intended that all "artificial segregation" would be eliminated so that each pupil would have the maximum opportunity for social acceptance. Teachers were expected to use their imagination in devising experimental programs. There was to be a special education aide to assist with activities which would encourage the development of exceptional and slow learners in "an integrated program of health and welfare." This aide was to be a graduate of a recognized nursing school and to have had experience with children under twelve years of age. Unsuccessful plan for an apartment-school complex in Mississauga In 1970, the Peel County Board of Education was giving active consideration to the possibility of establishing Canada's first joint-use apartment-school complex in Mississauga. The fact that land costs were up to $60,000 an acre made it seem particularly desirable to find an alternative to the standard seven-acre public school site. According to the plan, a five-hundred-pupil public school would form the base of one of seven units in a development intended for about four thousand apartment dwellers. The board of education would be relieved of the cost of purchasing a site. As indicated in School Progress,2 the board would be involved, along with other owners, in a condominium management system. The heating and air conditioning facilities would be common to both the school and the apartments. The school library and gymnasium would be at the disposal of the apartment dwellers, while the apartment swimming pool and tennis court would be available to the pupils. A daycare centre planned as part of the complex might also encourage after-hours use of school facilities. The school would occupy only two stories in a split-level arrangement at the bottom of the apartment tower. A spokesman for the board declared that, although the developer's architects were being used, it was felt that the school as designed met the normal requirements of the Department of Education. While the 4.1-acre site for a maximum enrolment of five hundred provided slightly less room for playground facilities than the seven acres normally supplied for a school for eight hundred pupils, there would be an asphalt play yard, a soccer pitch, and a softball diamond. On school activity nights, the play yard would serve for

Buildings and facilities 121

public parking. During the day, the staff would park underground in the apartment parking area. Arrangements were made so that the children from the tower in which the school was located, numbering between ninety and one hundred, would have to go outside to get to school. They would thus be prevented from taking the elevator to school, a practice which would enable them to avoid the necessity of ever seeing the light of day. There were some serious obstacles obstructing the implementation of the plan. Because there had never been anything comparable, the Department of Education would have to explore the implications very thoroughly. One question was how shared janitorial and heating costs would be handled. It would be a radical departure from existing practice to approve a school on a site which the board did not own. In view of the fact that the developer seemed to consider the arrangement a potentially profitable one, there was a suspicion that the profits might be made at the taxpayers' expense. It seemed possible, however, that the gains from the more complete and efficient use of the site would benefit both the major parties involved. Unfortunately the problems proved to be insoluble, and the plan was abandoned in 1971. Secondary schools Parkway Vocational School, Toronto Parkway Vocational School, opened in Toronto in 1963, was unusual because of the high-rise feature of the main section of the building. This block consisted of six storeys housing the library, the administrative complex, fifteen classrooms, and sixteen shops. There was also a singlestorey section on one side containing more shops and a unit on the other side where the gymnasium, swimming pool, and cafetorium were located. These two units were reached from the main section by covered walkways. The decision to build upward was dictated by the size and nature of the site, which consisted of six and one-half acres bounded on three sides by major streets and on the other by the Don Valley. The construction of the building made possible remarkable efficiency of operation. In addition to a freight elevator, there were three banks of high speed elevators serving the centre section, each of which could hold an entire class. These could be used only when students had to go up or down four or more storeys to their next class or when their physical condition demanded special consideration. They were ordinarily kept locked, and could be operated only by the teacher who accompanied the class. It was said to be possible to go from any part of the building to any other within two minutes. In a surprise fire drill conducted on the first day of school, the building was vacated within two and a half minutes. After practice, this period of time was reduced to two minutes. It was possible to provide only a small asphalt covered area for rec-

122 Significant developments in local school systems

reational purposes on the site itself. A pedestrian bridge, however, led to athletic and recreational facilities operated by the Toronto Parks Department, which the students could use during school hours. There were apparently no indications of serious inconvenience in this arrangement either to the students or to the general public. In addition to its rather unusual use of space, the school was noted for the abundance of its facilities and equipment. The centre and the north wing contained both standard classrooms and special rooms for such purposes as business machines, health, remedial work, programs for the hard-of-hearing, programs for those with limited vision, food processing, guidance, warehousing, and music. There were also shops for trowel trades, sheet metal and heating, gardening and horticulture, electrical trades, upholstery and crafts, barbering, shoe repair and leatherwork, drafting, vocational art, printing, tailoring, motor maintenance, body repair, motor mechanics, machine shop, carpentry, and painting and decorating. Scott Park Secondary School, Hamilton Space limitations similarly dictated the construction of a multi-storey building for the Scott Park Secondary School in Hamilton opened in 1967. The available site, bounded by a civic park, a skating rink, a swimming pool building, and a main street, covered only 1.4 acres.3 The solution adopted for moving students, at least as far as the third floor, was to use an escalator, which was considered to be more efficient and less expensive than a bank of elevators. This arrangement was said to be the first of its kind in any Canadian school. The auditorium, the gymnasiums, and most of the shops were located on the first two floors, and the administration area, the library, the cafeteria, the staff room, and some occupational shops on the third. The escalator led from the first-floor lobby to the third floor. Four conventional stairways were used to get to the academic classrooms on the fourth and fifth floors. The escalator was reversible to accommodate major needs at particular times during the day. It went up at 9:00 AM and 1:30 PM, for example, and down at noon and at 4:00 PM. Supplementing the escalator and the stairways was a five-floor service elevator, which was also used by staff. SCHOOL-COMMUNITY CO-OPERATION North York school system In reporting on its expansion and progress between 1954 and 1959 the North York Board of Education reported that its high school buildings were no longer closed shortly after school hours, but that their facilities and equipment were used almost every night of the year and all day Saturday.* The board itself had an extensive adult education program,

Buildings and facilities 123

and the North York Recreation Commission sponsored many activities. Other agencies involved were the YMCA, Scouts, Guides, Brownies, Cubs, churches, and little theatres. Five of the six existing schools had been furnished with swimming pools through the co-operation of the North York Council, which had provided $150,000 for the construction of each pool. According to the agreement for sharing their use, they were operated until 6:00 PM each school day by the Board of Education for the instruction of elementary and secondary school students. During evenings, weekends, and holidays, they were used by the public under the supervision of the Recreation Commission. An issue of North York School News in 1961 reviewed some of the effects on school design and costs of the increasing community use of the buildings as community centres.5 Since they were classed as public buildings, the fire marshall's requirements were more demanding. Offstreet lighted and paved parking facilities had to be provided far in excess of school staff requirements. Certain areas of the buildings were grouped with night use in mind. In elementary schools, the staff room, kitchen, and auditorium formed an accessible unit near the parking lot. In junior high schools, the gymnasium and auditorium, which were most used for evening programs, were located near parking facilities and main entrances. Secondary schools had an even more completely integrated design to allow simultaneously for night school classes in the academic wing, health clubs and YMCA groups in the gymnasium, square dancing in the cafetorium, and swimming classes in the pool. McNabb Park Public School, Ottawa The significance of the construction of a new building for Percy Street School in Ottawa, for which planning began in 1966, was that it represented a thoroughgoing co-operative effort on the part of the Public School Board and the City Council to provide a combined school and community centre.6 The downtown area in which the old bunding was located showed some of the typical signs of deterioration characteristic of a city's core. Large and comfortable houses built as single-family residences had been converted for multiple-family occupancy. Recreational facilities had completely failed to keep pace with the increasing population density. It had become an obvious civic responsibility to take appropriate remedial action. The project for the construction of the new school involved the use of the site of the earlier building, a city playground called McNabb Park, and an adjacent city block, which had to be expropriated by the city and the buildings located on it demolished. The school board purchased the land on which the school stood, as well as a small additional area which might be needed for future expansion. The council and the board made joint arrangements for the employment of the same architectural firm that had designed a skating and hockey arena on part of the same site.

124 Significant developments in local school systems

The school building was attached to the arena to form a complex in the shape of the letter H, one side of which constituted the arena, and the other the school. The cross-bar contained accommodation for common purposes, including a large gymnasium with showers, a multi-purpose room with a stage, a room equipped for teaching woodwork, two community rooms of different sizes, and a small apartment for a resident caretaker. The cost of the project was shared by the council and the school board, with the former paying 25 and the latter 75 per cent of the total contract price for building the school and the joint-use facilities. The two agencies also worked out an agreement for the use, operation, and maintenance of the complex. The school had the exclusive use of all the facilities except the arena on school days until 6:30 PM. The Department of Recreation and Parks had the use of everything but the school in the evenings and on days when the school was not in session. The Stephen Leacock Educational Complex, Scarborough The Stephen Leacock Educational Complex, opened in Scarborough in 1969, was a significant development in terms of school design and an attempt to relate school and other community facilities. It encompassed three schools: Pauline Johnson Junior Public School for kindergarten to grade 6, John Buchan Senior Public School for grades 7 and 8, and Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute. School Progress described the complex as "the first Canadian attempt to provide a comprehensive educational environment to satisfy demands for flexibility in the educational kindergarten-grade 13 continuum."7 The site for the complex consisted of thirty-five acres of land. The junior school occupied a separate building while the senior public school and the collegiate institute shared the same building and used common facilities such as the auditorium/lecture theatre, library, and cafeteria and the facilities and equipment for athletics, health, guidance, and audiovisual services. The junior school shared the common mechanical, electrical, and service facilities, as well as the outdoor spaces. In the design of the buildings, close attention was given to the services that might be provided to the community as a whole. The buildings were designed to provide maximum flexibility for the school programs.8 Considerable use was made of demountable walls so that almost any learning area could readily be adapted hi size to meet whatever need arose. The auditorium/lecture theatre, designed to accommodate one thousand students, could be subdivided into four spaces, two with 150 seats each and the others with three and four hundred respectively. Lecture spaces were surrounded by seminar rooms. A portable thrust stage could be moved to provide additional seating or orchestra space. The library was designed to accommodate a variety of different activities, with its major stack and reading areas, reference

Buildings and facilities 125

area, individual study carrels, audio-visual centre, and audio-visual study rooms. The cafeteria, bunt to handle eight hundred students, consisted of two areas which could provide a stage level and secondary drama area or could be used as a study or examination room. The complex was said to have made possible certain economies of scale so that, although the total cost of approximately $8 million did not represent a noticeable absolute saving, some of the facilities that were provided would have been out of reach if the three schools had been built separately. Co-operation with the Parks and Recreation Department also helped to extend the range of facilities. Those for athletic and recreational use both by the schools and by the community included a swimming pool, a football field, a track, two soccer fields which could be divided into six smaller fields, a hard-surface play area, a tennis and ice surface, and a baseball diamond. It was intended that strong emphasis would be placed throughout the whole complex on the concept of education as a continuous process. The physical surroundings were expected to facilitate inter-disciplinary and inter-level co-operation. The Director of Education for the borough, Anson Taylor, was quoted as expressing the view that the effect of having teachers from all three schools sharing cafeteria, study, and research areas would be to give them a better insight into education and a greater sharing of ideas. He hoped that they would begin to move more freely through the system rather than confining their service exclusively to a single level. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN PLANNING SCHOOLSNIAGARA FALLS DISTRICT BOARD OF EDUCATION

Because the concept of the special vocational school was relatively new, and because it was particularly important that its graduates fit hito the occupational Ufe of the area, the Niagara Falls District Board of Education decided in 1965 that the proper approach to planning such a school was to involve members of the community from the beginning. The first essential step, as recounted in School Progress,9 was to appoint a principal and a shop consultant two years before the school was to be opened. Twelve sub-committees, consisting of knowledgeable members of the community, were set up to operate under the direction of the Advisory Vocational Committee. These sub-committees operated in the following areas: commercial, auto-body, auto-servicing, metal fabrication, trowel trades, building construction, horticulture, small engines and appliances, marketing and merchandising, food and restaurant services, dry cleaning, and commercial sewing. At the preliminary meetings, the members were given information on the reasons why the school was needed, what type of student would attend, and what objectives would be pursued. They then dealt with a series of questions. 1 / What employment opportunities exist in your

126 Significant developments in local school systems

field? 2 / What should we teach these students in this field to fit them for satisfying employment? 3 / How would you plan a room of a given area to teach this particular skill? 4 / What equipment would you recommend that we use? 5 / What attitudes do you, as an employer, look for in young people? Members of the sub-committees had no difficulty in answering the first and last of these questions. The educators found the criticisms of young people seeking employment very revealing. The other three questions called for considerably more thought. Between meetings, however, the members produced a wealth of ideas and suggestions leading to the formulation of a course of study that was related to local needs but yet remained within the broad outlines of the general curriculum. On the basis of this course of study, they were able to plan what seemed to be the best possible arrangement of faculties and equipment for the teaching of a particular skill. In some cases, the courses and plans for implementation were said to be far removed from the usual. SCHOOL LIBRARIES AND RESOURCE CENTRES

Few parts of the traditional school underwent a greater transformation during the 1960s than the library. This facility increased rapidly in importance, particularly as students were encouraged to undertake independent study. In new buildings, its change in status was indicated by the care taken in giving it a central location and by the increased amount of space allotted to it. The contrast with an earlier period was particularly notable in elementary schools, where it had been common to find nothing more than a small case of books in the corner of the classroom. In both elementary and secondary schools, not only did the range and quantity of printed material increase greatly, but so also did the holdings of other devices for information storage and communication such as films, filmstrips, tapes, records, pictures, maps, and other such items. To some, the term "library" seemed less and less appropriate, and other expressions such as "resource centre" came into increasing use. As well as providing much larger and better libraries and resource centres, many schools and school systems ensured that students were given more assistance in learning how to use them. Along with better facilities and equipment in schools, there was a strong tendency to improve central services so that the more expensive and less common types of equipment could be made available to teachers throughout the system when needed. There was also a substantial ulerease in consultative services to help teachers understand the uses of different items of equipment. In some cases, assistance was given in the form of short, in-service courses, and in others largely on an informal basis. Toronto school system In January 1961 the Toronto Board of Education approved a five-year plan to provide central libraries in all its public schools. The annual

Buildings and facilities 127

report for 1961-2 stated that library programs were designed to promote constructive library habits and attitudes, to foster a love of reading, to encourage the use of reference and research materials, and to develop the habit of public library use. The library periods which constituted part of the school curriculum consisted of book talks, story hours, opportunities for browsing and free reading, and the teaching of library skills. Research and reporting techniques were added in the higher grades. The time allotment depended on the number of classes in the school. On the average, pupils in grades 7 and 8 had one or two forty-minute periods and the other grades one or two thirty-minute periods a week. Pupils were able to use the library for independent study even when a class session was being held there. All the libraries were open after school hours, and some also before school in the morning and during the noon break. The program for library expansion involved the provision hi each library of a basic collection of two thousand titles within the first two years. During the first year, the additions consisted of three encyclopedias and about a thousand titles of a reference and general nature. Teacherlibrarians were recruited from the classrooms and given an in-service training course of forty sessions conducted after hours with the co-operation of the Toronto Public Library. These courses included topics such as a survey of children's literature, criteria for book selection, school library administration, simple library techniques, the school library program, and the role of the library in the total school program. Education Resource Centre, Windsor Among ad hoc committees established by the director of education in Windsor in 1967 was an Education Resource Centre Committee consisting of the vice-chairman of the board, four officials, and six teachers. This committee made plans for a centre containing a complete range of reference books, an audio-visual section, and facilities for teachers to produce a great variety of teaching aids. Accommodation was provided by renovating a vacant building formerly used to store school supplies and maintenance equipment. When it came into operation hi the fall of 1967, the centre acquired a staff consisting of a professional librarian, an audio-visual supervisor, two audio-visual consultants, an audio-visual technician, and clerical assistants. It extended service during its first year to forty-one public schools and twelve secondary schools with a total enrolment of 31,500. A major responsibility of the staff was to inform teachers of the most up-todate materials available and to demonstrate how these materials could be used effectively to improve classroom instruction. A large area was provided in the centre to serve as a teachers' workroom, where a variety of equipment and supplies could be used. 1 / There were tools and materials for making felt boards, magnetic boards, and acetate boards. 2 / There was an opaque projector in a room which

128 Significant developments in local school systems

could be darkened to facilitate its use. One wall was covered with cork board to which large sheets of bristol board could be pinned for the tracing of maps, diagrams, and pictures from the projected image. 3 / A slide-copying camera was available to make possible the duplication of slides which teachers could exchange and use to build up their own classroom collections. 4 / Slides could be produced by photocopying coloured pictures on paper. 5 / There were several kinds of devices for making transparencies for use in the overhead projector. 6 / A dry-mounting press enabled teachers to mount pictures or to laminate in plastic such frequently-handled documents as seating plans and timetables. 7 / Professional-looking signs could be produced by the use of a small printing press with type of several sizes or by stencils with felt pens in different sizes and colours. 8 / Taping equipment could be used in a sound-proof studio to record small choral groups, choral speaking, interviews, and other such performances. 9 / There were previewing rooms where teachers could screen films and filmstrips.

FOUR

Distinctive schools

It seems reasonable to deal with certain schools in terms of a single interesting feature such as an experiment in curriculum or methodology or a novel architectural plan. Others, because of the number of aspects that seem worthy of attention, are not readily assigned to any particular category. Those referred to in this chapter are called "distinctive schools" simply because it seems inappropriate to treat them as illustrative of a single innovation. THORNLEA SECONDARY SCHOOL Contributions of the Thornlea Study Committee Establishment of the committee The Thornlea Secondary School, falling under the administrative control of the York Central District High School Board before the reorganization of January 1, 1969, established a reputation for innovation in a number of different areas. Much of its program reflected the work of the Thornlea Study Committee, which met in all-day sessions for six weeks in the summer of 1967. The fact that this committee prepared a detailed report for the board offers an unusual opportunity to review the background of the school's innovative program in more detail than is usually possible. The material which follows constitutes a condensed version of those of the contents of the report that seem to be of the greatest general interest. In many respects the program worked out for Thornlea Secondary School foreshadowed developments in other schools during the following years. The study committee consisted of eight members, including a number of heads of departments, an associate head, a librarian, and a teacherconsultant. Its investigation of educational innovations was based largely on a study of relevant literature and on reports of workshops organized by the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. There was no opportunity for the members to visit schools to observe innovations first hand. The innovations examined had to do for the most part with changes in instructional techniques, classroom organization, and curriculum. Since very few had been fully tested, or even developed, the committee offered its recommendations with an air of tentativeness.

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General recommendations In outlining its basic position, the committee acknowledged that, in the absolute sense, there was no best type of organization, teaching method, school, or teacher. It believed, however, that the best solution for educational problems could be found in a relative sense, and that such a solution was dynamic and ever-changing hi its nature. Its own support was thrown behind a plan for non-grading and continuous progress. It warned, however, that the non-graded organizational system would not solve problems hi curriculum and teaching, but merely allowed a student to enter and leave an instructional unit hi accordance with his achievement and his educational requirements. Continuous progress, which was to be linked to a non-graded structure, meant that students should not fail, not because they were not required to produce, but because they were not asked to do things that were beyond their ability. The committee found it necessary to warn that, in advocating freedom in individualization, it was not recommending the abandonment of responsibility. Both staff and students would have an increased obligation to develop self-discipline. It was said that freedom existed for the extension of human co-operation. Three sets of recommendations dealt respectively with general objectives, behavioural objectives, and operational procedures. The committee hoped that a balance would be achieved between the cognitive and affective domains in the objectives pursued in particular subject areas. Of special interest were the operational procedures, which were designed 1 / to provide for continuous progress in a non-graded structure; 2 / to provide for complete horizontal mobility among the options; 3 / to organize a library-centred curriculum and encourage the development of competence in independent study; 4 / to provide a common fund of knowledge to be learned on the level of individual readiness; 5 / to individualize instructional and curricular materials; 6 / to allow for increased interrelationships among the subject disciplines; 7 / to provide sufficient facilities and time for each student to pursue his extracurricular interests; and 8 / to encourage "dialogue" with the community. Organization of credit system with phase levels The student would be eligible for the Ontario Secondary School Graduation Diploma at the end of the customary four-year period, and for the Ontario Secondary School Honour Graduation Diploma after a fifth year. A credit system would provide the flexibility required by placement according to individual achievement. A credit would represent one period of formal study a day in one course for one trimester, and a minimum of seventy credits would be required for the four-year diploma. Requirements designed to ensure a common fund of knowledge for all students consisted of a minimum of twelve credits in English, nine credits in physical and health education, six credits in history, three credits in social

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sciences, six credits in mathematics, and three credits in science. The remaining thirty-one credits might be selected according to individual preference. A minimum of ninety credits would be requked for the Ontario Secondary School Honour Graduation Diploma, with an increase in required subjects. The committee noted that the system recommended for Thornlea would be adjusted if the Department of Education, which had not yet acted in this area, adopted a credit scheme for the award of diplomas. The department, as it turned out, soon moved in the indicated direction. The phase level scheme proposed was basically the one that was widely adopted in the provincial system a short time later. According to the definition offered in the report, phase level indicated the learning or ability level of the materials, presentations, work, and assignments of a course. A student would choose a phase level for a particular subject according to his achievement, background, knowledge, and skills. While the levels corresponded closely to the existing five-year, four-year, and two-year programs, the proposed structure would allow mobility on an individual subject basis and permit students to choose subjects at different phase levels. As envisioned by the committee, phase 1 courses would consist of remedial work in a subject, phase 2 courses would be designed for students who needed emphasis on the basic skills, phase 3 courses would be for students with an average background of achievement, phase 4 courses would be for students desiring subject matter in depth and prepared to show extra initiative and do additional work, and phase 5 courses would be for students who were willing and able to assume considerable responsibility for their own learning. Student assessment The adoption of a scheme for continuous progress involving phase levels was said to imply continuous assessment, which would be conducted by different combinations of approaches from one subject area to another. Types of measurement devices mentioned were true-false (possibly not excluding other and more appropriate forms of objective tests), oral, and essay tests or examinations. These would require half a period, a period, or a double period, and might be held at the end of a unit, in mid-trimester, or at the end of a trimester. Results would be collated at the office, and reports made to the students at the end of each trimester. Grouping of students Five possible methods of grouping home units were considered: alphabetical, geographical, according to the class taken in the first period, by random selection based on the year of admission, and according to a house system. Some such scheme was needed for administrative purposes and to give the students a sense of belonging. The committee did not see fit to indicate which it considered the most satisfactory.

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Proposed courses It was found necessary to propose a reorganization of subject areas and courses in order to provide for the necessary mobility. A list of courses, with the suggested phase numbers, was provided for each department. English department Explorations in Languages -1,2,3,4 Contemporary English -1,2, 3,4,5 Language Patterns and Themes - 2,3,4,5 Theatre Arts - 3, 4 Screen Education -3,4 Communications -3,4 Physical and Health Education PE i, PE u, PE m, each for three trimesters - non-phased History and Social Science Themes from Western Civilization - 2,3,4 Twentieth Century History - 2, 3, 4 Modern Europe - 4, 5 Economics - 3 Canadian History - 2, 3,4 American History - 4 Man in Society - 3 World Politics - 3 Geography of Local Region - 2,3,4,5 Geography of Land Forms — 2,3,4 Economic Geography - 2, 3,4 Geography of Settlement — 2,3,4 Canada - 2, 3,4,5 United States - 2,3,4,5 Latin America - 3,4,5 Africa-3,4, 5 Mediterranean Region - 3,4, 5 North-West Europe- 3, 4, 5 Central Europe and the Soviet Union - 3,4,5 Monsoon Asia and Oceania - 3,4,5 Mathematics Basic Mathematics i and n -1,2 Mathematics i and n - 3,4,5 Mathematics ra and iv — 4,5 Practical Mathematics i and n - 2, 3 Computer Science I and n - 4,5 Introduction to Analysis - 4,5 Algebra-4, 5

Distinctive schools 133 Science General Science i and n - 2, 3 Earth Science - 2, 3, 4 Physical Science — 3,4 Life Science -3,4 Biology — 4, 5 Chemistry i and n - 3,4,5 Physics - 4, 5 Language French i and n - 3,4 French in, TV, and v - 4,5 German i - 4 German n and in - 4,5 Latin i and n - 4 Latin in and rv - 4,5 Arts and Technology Auto Mechanics - 2, 3 Drafting-2, 3 Electricity - 2, 3 Machine Shop - 2, 3 Automotive Technology - 3,4,5 Electrical Technology - 3,4, 5 Mechanical Technology - 3, 4, 5 Home Economics i, n, in, and rv Art i, ii, in, and rv Music i, u, ni, and rv Business Typing i and n - 2, 3 Bookkeeping I and n - 2, 3 Business Organization and Management - 3 Shorthand i and n - 4 Office Practice - 3 Accounting — 4 Marketing i and n — 3 Secretarial Practice - 4 Business Law — 3 Merchandising - 2 Salesmanship - 2 Business Machines - 3 Computer Concepts - 3 Business Data Processing - 4

134 Significant developments in local school systems

Library facilities and operations As a means of ensuring the success of a library-centred curriculum, the Thornlea library was organized two years before the proposed opening of the school. The committee felt that independent study, properly carried out, enabled the student to use the full range of learning methods. The amount of freedom granted would be based on his ability to handle his responsibilities. The physical facilities of the library had been designed to support a non-graded structure and independent study. There were specialized study areas including seminar rooms, listening and viewing areas, and study carrels. The committee saw a need, as the enrolment of the school increased and as greater emphasis was placed on independent study, for an enlarged carrel area, for greater facilities for audio-visual material, and for laboratories and other special resource areas as adjuncts to the existing library so that the various study areas could accommodate at least 25 per cent of the student body at one time. It was suggested that the library program of selecting, organizing, and distributing materials to meet student and staff needs might be implemented in relation to planning the curriculum, planning services to students and teachers, providing reference and bibliographic services, teaching library and study skills, and providing guidance in listening, reading, and viewing. The library would be placed on an open timetable to permit the teacher to send an individual, a group, or an entire class to the library when the need arose, and to ensure that the student had a place for independent study. Such an arrangement would demand that each teacher plan with the librarian the assignments and projects that required library materials. With the strong support of the library staff, teachers would in time assume major responsibility for instruction in library skills integrated with study skills and subject disciplines, optimum utilization of library resources in large group, small group, and individual learning, and the development of the student's competence in reference and research skills. The importance which the committee assigned to the library was indicated by the size of the staff recommended to operate it. To supplement the efforts of a full-tune librarian, there would be a full-time assistant or library technician, a full-time clerical assistant and, if possible, a technician for the maintenance and repair of audio-visual materials and machines. It was also recommended that lay assistants be hired to help with circulation, shelving, and the general business of the library. It was thought desirable to have the library open from 8:15 AM to 5 PM and, if feasible, between 7:00 and 9:30 PM. Co-ordination of subject areas If the student was to develop a balanced approach to his studies, he was to learn "not as a specialized student of chemistry, French or electronics but as a human being sensitive to the harmony of Ufe." As a means of

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facilitating the achievement of this objective, the staff were to engage in continuous consultation about their respective subject disciplines. They might recognize parallels in other subject areas and make use of them, arrange for seminars sponsored by several departments to discuss common themes, encourage inter-departmental contributions and meetings, and hold staff study sessions. Relationship between school and community According to the report, the ideal relationship between the school and the community would exist when the latter fully accepted the school "as an internal part of itself." The community was said to have both physical and human resources to benefit the school program. In what sounded very much like a disavowal by teachers of special expertise, it was suggested that "Interested citizens could assist in evaluating the contribution of the curriculum to the learning process." Specialists from outside the school might add invaluable authority to the presentation of particular course units. For its part, the school should make available any faculty that would contribute to the education and recreation of local citizens. Further, it might participate with municipal and provincial authorities in diagnosing and assessing the needs of the community. School administration A fundamental reorganization of school administration was proposed. The committee felt that the principal, who was responsible for everything connected with the school, might concentrate on the selection and development of teaching staff and on working with the community. He might delegate student placement and guidance to a dean of students and a large, well-trained guidance staff, the improvement of programs to a curriculum assistant and selected staff members, and the management of the school to an administrative assistant. All three of these assistants would be given the title of vice-principal. The committee thought it desirable for administrators to continue to teach, at least to a limited extent. Student placement The proposed scheme would involve a substantial amount of work to ensure that students were properly placed, that is, that they were studying at the appropriate phase level in each subject area. Complete information on the program would have to be available to the students and their parents some time before school opened. Approximately three full days would be needed during the first school week in September for the exploration of credit requirements, prerequisites, and other factors related to course selection. Individual counselling would be needed to enable each student to make a reasonable choice. The process of assessment, with the student participating, would be continuous. Horizontal transfers would be made, where desirable, without course completion.

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Independent study Individual and group assignments designed for independent study would replace the traditional type of class assignment to be completed at home. The committee considered two arrangements to enable students to work at self-selected projects: 1 / scheduling instructional periods in the morning, leaving sufficient time for this type of activity in the afternoon and 2 / scattering instructional periods through a longer school day, with enough unassigned blocks of time at intervals for each student to work on his own. Since both approaches seemed to have advantages and drawbacks, it was suggested that the principal should sound out community opinion before making a spécule recommendation. The committee saw independent study as a means by which the student would assume responsibility for his own learning and enjoy the thrill of discovery. Independent study is a way of learning in which the student focuses his attention on a specific organizing idea or body of knowledge and masters it at his own rate of understanding. The object of independent study is to produce students who are self-sufficient, resourceful, productive, and capable of self-evaluation. In the course of independent study, the student learns to select his research topics carefully, to compare sources of information, to correlate and question, to integrate information from different subject areas and to summarize his findings. The student comes to initiate contact with his teachers, to enjoy the interchange of ideas in a more personal way and to pace himself to the conclusion of his work, constantly striving for improvement. Above all he learns through group sessions how to test and clarify the ideas which he formulated while working independently, thereby enabling him to evaluate his own personal experience, knowledge and attitudes. Proposals for English Courses of study in English were for the most part to be comprehensive rather than specialized options. The program would begin with three general courses plus a theatre arts option and, as the enrolment of the school increased, would be augmented by more general courses and possibly by specialized options in such areas as communications, screen education, and creative writing. The committee emphasized that its suggestions for courses were entirely tentative. The course Explorations in Language, offered in four phases, would "enable the student to identify and classify the conventional genres of literature, the acceptable patterns of language in terms of established forms of writing and current usage." He would be expected to acquire the tools of criticism in literature. The content of the course was given under ten headings: 1 / a collection of short stories or prose selections, 2 / a

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collection of shorter poems and one longer poem, 3 / one Shakespearean play to be studied in phase three, four, or five, 4 / novels, one act plays, and other prose works such as biographies, 5 / oral English, 6 / narration, description, and exposition, 7 / patterns of sentence structure - a linguistic approach, 8 / a consolidation of grammar and usage - a functional approach, 9 / imaginative writing, and 10 / an introduction to the study of media. The course entitled Contemporary English, in five phases, would "permit the student to relate conventional genres and patterns of language to current writings." The following topics were suggested: 1 / comparison of a modern play with a Shakespearean play, 2 / a combination of classical and modern poetry, 3 / a study of modern prose selections, including writings from newspapers and magazines, 4 / a study of several novels based on a thematic approach, such as the juvenile's view of the adult world hi Great Expectations, Huckleberry Finn, and The Catcher in the Rye, 5 / a study of the growth and development of the newspaper and the magazine, 6 / the planning and writing of essays - patterns of paragraph structure, 7 / diction and syntax - a linguistic approach, 8 / patterns of sentence structure with emphasis on style and function, 9 / oral English, with consideration of the development of speech patterns, and 10 / group discussion, in which the student would recognize various roles within the conversation of an informal group. Themes and Language Patterns, a course offered in phases 2 to 5, would involve an extensive study of the history of the language, including Canadian, American, and English literary traditions, with special emphasis on the development of modern communications. The content would consist of the comparison of a modern North American play with a Shakespearean play, a study of representative prose selections, a study of representative poetry selections, a study of the development of communications media, a study of language patterns indicating similarities hi grammar and usage and in vocabulary, a variety of oral work on an individual basis, and techniques of writing in practical and creative forms. Two courses hi theatre arts would be offered hi phases three and four. The committee recommended that the first of these be a prerequisite for the second. No specific content was suggested for either course. Proposals for history and social sciences In the transitional period between the graded and non-graded structures, it was recommended that the existing history curriculum be used. Attention was called, however, to the fact that courses were undergoing considerable change. The committee declared that the history curriculum, perhaps more than any other, should "reflect to a very high degree the individuals who constitute the history staff at Thornlea." The task of defining the program would fall on this group, and the committee proposed only to show that the courses could be adapted to a non-graded structure.

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The recommended trimester system would be advantageous in that it would make possible the offering of a greater variety of courses. Examples of those that might be dealt with in a single trimester were the Russian Revolution or Russia after 1945, French-English relations in Canada at certain periods, international relations at certain periods, Communist philosophy, developing nations, and the population explosion. Some of the most significant recommendations with respect to history were as follows: 1 / that Themes from Western Civilization be given on an experimental basis in alternate trimesters beside geography during years 1 and 2, and that the experiment be evaluated at the end of two years; 2 / that Themes from Western Civilization be an absolute prerequisite to any other history course; 3 / that a committee of interested persons from York Central and outside, including the new history staff of the school, meet a minimum of once a month under the direction of the chairman of the history department to plan the history curriculum in every detail; 4 / that the history curriculum group, through its chairman, keep in close contact regarding the proposed program with the history inspector (by that time almost an obsolete species) and the Curriculum Branch of the Department of Education; 5 / that, in considering the aims, methods, and materials of the various courses, the members read The New Social Studies by E. Fenton, Preparing Instructional Objectives by R.F. Mager, and The American High School Today by J.B. Conant; 6 / that a careful study be made of an effective and ideal history classroom; and 7 / that a list of supplies be made with the assistance of the librarian. It was suggested that the phase 2 course in Themes from Western Civilization might draw a few major topics from very early times, such as early civilizations and major religions, and that the second and third trimester courses might deal with such twentieth century themes as biographies of outstanding leaders; a detailed study of the Second World War; and major events since the Second World War, e.g., those in China and post-war Europe. The course would be designed for students who required special assistance in reading and elementary comprehension. Material would be limited, examined carefully, and studied slowly. Interest and "relevance" (it might have been useful to have a definition of the term as applied in this context) would dictate the selection of topics. In phase 3, the course might begin with the same themes from very early times as in phase 2. Those dealt with in the second and third trimesters would be from the period between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries, possibly including such items as industrialization and parliamentary democracy. Each theme would be studied in moderate detail, with emphasis on its contemporary aspects. Phase 4 of the same course would consist of the study of six major themes from western civilization, such as, for example, the impact of major religions on western society. Emphasis would be on historical development rather than on contemporary implications. Stu-

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dents would be introduced to the analytical process and the method of independent study. Twentieth Century History, as offered in phase 2, would deal with topics such as the world wars, depression, conflict between democracy and Communism, modern China, modern Russia, the United States in world affairs, and the role of the United Nations. As in phase 2 of Themes from Western Civilization, students would be given special assistance in reading and elementary comprehension. Phase 3 of the course, with a similar selection of topics, would offer opportunities for an introduction to independent study. In phase 4, about 30 per cent of the student's time would be spent in the pursuit of his own studies. It was suggested that much of the material needed could be found in paperbacks. The student would be expected to engage hi a critical examination of contemporary problems. The course on Modern Europe, offered in phase 4, would cover the period from the French Revolution to the present. Students' time would be divided equally between class work and private study. In order to provide for the maximum of individual attention from the teacher, no more than twenty students would be registered in any one group. The study of Canadian history, pursued in phase 2, would involve an examination of some of the important personalities in the pre-Confederation period, such as William Lyon Mackenzie and Joseph Howe, a study of the lives of some of Canada's prime ministers, and such themes as Canada's role hi the Second World War and Canada's role in the United Nations, with stress on current events. The appropriate adaptations for the calibre of the students would be made in phase 3 of the same course. Phase 4 courses hi American and Canadian history would each require the student to spend 60 per cent of his time in private study preparing for class and seminar activities, which would take up the remaining 40 per cent of the time. Examples of themes from American history were industrialization in nineteenth century America, constitutional conflict, sectional conflicts, the depression, personalities, and foreign policy since 1945. Economics, Man and Society, and World Politics would be offered on a rotation basis, each one being given every third year. The first would involve a study of the basics of economics, and would be designed to give students a practical rather than a theoretical knowledge of the subject. Man and Society would consist of a study of the major problems faced by various societies throughout the world. World Politics would have to do with the origins, development, success, and interrelationships of the major political ideologies. All three would be offered hi phase 3 only. Proposals for geography The committee commented with satisfaction on the extent to which geography as a discipline had matured in Ontario schools during the previous decade. The change was attributed hi large part to the rapid

140 Significant developments in local school systems

increase in the number of specialists entering the field. It was pointed out, however, that the subject had not benefited, as had several others, from curriculum revision initiated and evaluated in the United States. "Geography, profiting from neither seniority nor knowledgeable training in infancy, has ... been underemphasized in curriculum planning." Special features of the Ontario program were pointed out. The existing Ontario geography curriculum is unique in North America in its attempt to present a balanced approach that is not dominated by one of physical, economic or social considerations. It has presented a balanced approach in interpreting its role to be that of fostering an analysis of the complex interrelationships that exist between Man and his Environment. In this way, physical, economic and social geography concepts all play their appropriate role, but within a balanced framework. The committee was unhappy about the existing arrangement of courses, which it summarized briefly: grade 9-regional study of Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, Africa, and the British Isles; grade 10regional study of Eurasia; grade 11 - topical study of physical, economic, and social geography; grade 12-selected regional studies; grade 13regional study of Canada. The ill-assorted group of regions at the grade 9 level reflected the importance attached to a full survey of all the continents. The three topical courses, all offered in phases 2, 3, and 4, would be Geography of Landf orms, Economic Geography, and Geography of Settlement. The nine regional courses, the first three offered in phases 2, 3, 4, and 5, and the last six in phases 3, 4, and 5, would be Local Region, Canada, United States, Latin America, Africa (south of Sahara), Monsoon Asia and Oceania, Mediterranean Region, North-west Europe, and Central Europe and Soviet Union. It was suggested that the student be encouraged to study the topical courses in his first two years and the regional courses during his last three. This approach was justified by 1 / the existing tendency to present a region by topics at the grade 9 and 10 levels, 2 / the junior secondary school student's inexperience in regional analysis, 3 / the removal of much of the material that in the past left no alternative to a topical course at the grade 11 level, and 4 / the conviction that concepts could be presented more thoroughly by using the topical approach to build a logical framework of geographical analysis. The units of these topical courses will attempt to present, hi their totality, the full range of interrelationships from societies dominated strongly by the physical environment to those in which Man has succeeded in utilizing many resources of his environment in the development of a technological society.

Distinctive schools 141 Thus, a basic theme of such an approach would be an attempt to project the dynamic nature of the relationship between Man and his environment.

The student in his first or second year of study would nevertheless be allowed to select any regional course offered at the appropriate phase level, with a warning that his lack of exposure to topical courses left him with a handicap. If he nevertheless selected regional courses at this stage, they would normally be at the phase 2 or 3 level. The course in Geography of Landforms or geomorphology would consist of an analysis of the form, distribution, evolution, and influence on man of dynamic landforms shaped by environmental forces. Economic Geography would involve an analysis of the degree to which the potential resources of the environment are being developed for the improvement of man's well-being through agriculture, industry, commerce, and recreation. Geography of Settlement would provide for an analysis of the impact of the physical and societal environments on dynamic settlement and communication patterns. The course on the local region would involve an analysis of the interrelationships of physical, economic, and social geography in a regional setting and give the student the maximum opportunity to develop the skills of observation, recording, and interpretation. This would be the only regional course that students would be encouraged to take during their first two years. It would offer an unparalleled array of resource material and a unique opportunity to understand the complex interrelationships between man and his environment. The other region courses in combination would cover all global land surfaces. Each would represent an area corresponding to the concept of a region based on the homogeneity of certain physical, economic, or social characteristics or on "the 'organic' concept of the region with its complex interrelationships of physical, economic and social phenomena, each of which becomes an integral part of the total dynamics of the area." Because of the exigencies of the timetable, there had to be certain compromises on the geographical definition of a region as the sole criterion for determining course content. Thus monsoon Asia had to be combined with Oceania and Central Europe with the Soviet Union. Familiarity and the large volume of resource material were offered as the reasons why Canada and the United States were divided. There was considered to be no place for phase 1 courses in the study of geography. Phase 2 was thought to be suitable for those students with "a limited global view and capacity for abstraction." The topical courses could all be given in such a way as to emphasize the geographical relationships that had an immediate bearing on the students' lives. The three regional courses to be offered at the same phase level could also be fairly readily tied in with immediate experience.

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All regional courses outside continental Anglo-America were to be one trimester in length. This uniformity of time allotment was a concession to timetabling rigidities rather than being considered altogether desirable in principle, since the economic and social patterns of some regions were much more complex than those of others. The second criterion for the length of time allowed would be the importance of the region hi the student's Ufe. On the basis of this factor, Canada and the United States would each be assigned two trimesters of study. Three factors were taken into account in determining the frequency with which particular courses were offered. I/ Each topical course would be offered more frequently than each regional course. 2/ The History and Social Science Department would be allotted one period of forty-five minutes a day, which geography would have to share with the others. In each trimester, a maximum of five courses would be offered within the History and Social Science Department if the school provided the normal five-year period of study. 3/ If a student of average ability could be expected to complete credit accumulation equivalent to four years of study, four years might be considered an appropriate time period for a cycle in which all geography courses would be offered at least once. According to the scheme proposed, Local Region would be offered four times per cycle; Geography of Landforms and Economic Geography, each three times per cycle; Geography of Settlement and the regional courses on Canada and the United States, each twice per cycle; and the courses on other regions, each once per cycle. Proposals for mathematics Basic Mathematics i and n in phases 1 and 2 would be offered for students with a history of weakness and lack of achievement in elementary school mathematics. The amis of these courses would be to develop a fundamental knowledge of numbers and the use made of them in everyday life, in the home, and in vocations, to produce the manipulative skills needed to solve the problems the student might meet, and to provide a knowledge of methods by which he might discover principles for himself. Basic Mathematics I, in both phases, would consist of six units dealing respectively with the set of whole numbers, operations with whole numbers, basic introductory algebra, common fractions, decimal fractions, and percentage. Basic Mathematics n would consist of three sections, one offered in each trimester, on measurement, geometry, and practical applications to everyday life. The fact that Basic Mathematics would be a terminal course in the subject for most students gave special importance to the last of these sections. In Mathematics I and n, offered in phases 3, 4, and 5, and Mathematics in and rv, offered in phases 4 and 5, the objectives were to develop the manipulative skills necessary for problem solving, to develop the ability to solve problems inductively (or learn by discovery), and to

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give the student a knowledge of "the structure of mathematics, of its concepts and their relationships, as a consistent, unified discipline." The course in Mathematics I for phase 3 would consist of units on whole numbers; integers; rational numbers; square roots; equations, formulas, and problems; polynomial expressions; and mensuration, geometry, and graphing. In phases 4 and 5, the units corresponding to title first six of these would deal with whole numbers and integers, real numbers, first degree number sentences, exponents, polynomial and rational expressions, and geometry. In the last three units, the differences between phases 4 and 5 on the one hand and phase 3 on the other would be in terms of the grouping of students, the teacher's approach, the depth of coverage of the material, the availability of enrichment topics for phase 5, and the provision of perhaps two periods for individual study in every five for phases 4 and 5. Mathematics n in phase 3 would offer units in computation, irrational numbers and square roots, relations and functions, purchasing personal property, ratio and proportion, and three additional units from a textbook list. The units for phases 4 and 5 would be on real numbers, relations and functions, geometry, history of mathematics, mechanical aids, and further optional topics. The units for Mathematics ni, offered in phases 4 and 5, would be number systems, congruence and parallelism, areas and Pythagorean relation, ratio and proportion, trigonometry, linear equations and inequalities, and analytic geometry. Those in Mathematics rv would be relations and functions, exponential and logarithmic functions, quadratic functions and quadratic equations, the circle, trigonometric functions, and sequences and series. Two classes a week were suggested as sufficient for phase 5 in Mathematics m and rv. Proposals for science The committee observed that the effort to produce a new kind of science curriculum designed to close the gap between current scientific knowledge and what was being taught hi school was about ten years old. It foresaw continuous changes in the curriculum. There was a recent trend toward an integrated course to give young people a better opportunity to learn about the whole of science. General Science I and n would provide a base for students preparing for later study of specialties such as biology, chemistry, and physics who wanted to begin with a more general approach and general knowledge for those who lacked the need, desire, or ability to study the subject more intensively and in greater depth. The objectives of these courses would be to ensure that students would be able 1 / to give proof of their knowledge and understanding of the impact of science on people's living habits, comfort, and h'velihood, 2 / to act as intelligent citizens in deciding on issues requiring the use of scientific information and principles, such as prevention of pollution, control of food and drugs, and

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conservation of natural resources, 3 / to fulfill the requirements of certain careers calling for some basic training in science and scientific methods, and 4 / to plan and decide on further study in science. Physical Science would be a course integrating certain elements of physics and chemistry into one discipline. It would be designed for students seeking additional knowledge and credits in science either without concentrating or before concentrating in depth in separate physics and chemistry courses. Life Science, offered in phases 3 and 4, would integrate certain elements of biology, earth science, organic chemistry, and biochemistry and would, similarly, be designed for those not wishing to concentrate in a narrower field or for those planning to concentrate later in the separate components of the course. Earth Science, offered in phases 2, 3, and 4, would be designed to strengthen the scientific knowledge of students not taking one or both of physics and chemistry. Specialized courses in physics, chemistry, and biology would be offered in phases 4 and 5. Proposals for arts and technology A section of the report entitled Arts and Technology dealt with the content of auto mechanics, drafting, electricity, and machine shop, all offered in phases 2 and 3. Technology courses included Automotive Technology i and n, offered in phases 3 and 4, and Electrical Technology i and n and Mechanical Technology i and n, both offered in phases 3, 4, and 5. There was nothing to indicate that the new approach to school organization would have any major effect on the way in which these subjects were handled. Proposals for business The courses in business would be designed to give all students some acquaintance with the terms, forms, rules, advantages, and pitfalls of business and to offer some degree of vocational competence to students who expressed a desire to take intensive work. It was intended that course topics would be varied according to the particular needs of the students and the qualifications, interests, and experience of the staff. Phase 2 courses would be intended to provide some usable skills in real life. Most of the courses would be offered in phase 3, where reasonable vocational competence might be achieved. Courses in phase 4 would require a higher level of dedication and diligence. Concluding observations It has been possible to report the planning for Thornlea Secondary School in more detail than is usual under similar circumstances because of the unusually complete record of its work which the Study Committee compiled. The information presented offers an excellent example of thoughtful treatment of organizational and curricular issues in secondary

Distinctive schools 145

education at the beginning of the reform movement that got under way in the latter part of the 1960s. Assessment of the program as implemented An assessment of the history program by D.C. Bogle in the Canadian Journal oj History in March 19691 constituted in certain respects an appraisal of the entire Thornlea program as it had worked out at that time. Eight of the points offered appear to have implications beyond the history department. 1. Students have responded very favourably to seminars. Most students feel that the seminars create a better learning atmosphere, as well as being more enjoyable. The chance for fuller discussions, smaller numbers, and student rather than teacher-dominated classes ranked high with students. Very few want a return to the more conventional approach. 2. Elimination of examinations has been welcomed by teachers and students. With emphasis placed on daily performance, exams would appear to have little value. Time that was formerly used in review, the exam week, and the chaotic week-after-exams-marking (as many as nine out of thirtysix weeks) are now used more meaningfully, we feel, with learning new material rather than the trauma of examinations. 3. One merit of Thornlea's system is the individual course selection. It is gratifying to have students in your class because they want to be there, not because they have to be there. This freedom of selection creates a much better atmosphere for learning. 4. Phasing appears to be working well. Students can up or down phase according to needs and/or ability in individual subjects rather than be locked into a stream that must conform in all subjects to one level of difficulty. (One false premise or assumption with the "Robarts Plan" is the notion that a five-year student is achieving at a five-year level in all subjects.) 5. The length of a course, thirteen weeks, seems to be favoured. If a student becomes disenchanted with a course, he can change at the end of the term rather than be forced to take the subject for a whole year. Moreover, students who have done poorly in the first term can start with a clean slate in the second term. 6. The variety and nature of the course offerings have been received enthusiastically by students and teachers alike. Topical courses such as World Religions and the Negro in America are especially appealing. 7. Staffing a school like Thornlea is a problem as it is difficult to predict very accurately which courses students will select. As a result, one term a department might be overloaded and the next it might have a light teaching schedule. The same problem applies to availability of texts, class sets, etc. 8. Generally, teachers at Thornlea have found that their workload, preparation time, etc., are heavier than in a more conventional school. The main reasons for this would seem to be the added time needed to prepare

146 Significant developments in local school systems

entirely new courses and adaptation to the ungraded system. However, the enthusiasm of both staff and students tends to compensate for the extra work. Some observations on the way the program was working out were provided by Barrie Zwicker in the Toronto Daily Star on February 15, 1969. Zwicker quoted Charles McCaffray, an Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum hi the Department of Education, as saying that the school was definitely the most advanced high school in Ontario. He expected to see large numbers of other schools develop in similar directions. The system demanded a high level of maturity from the students, most of whom were living up to expectations. There was an intense feeling of pride in the school. Many of those who had transferred from other schools intimated that going back to them would be like returning to prison. They commented on the friendly attitude of the teachers and the interest they took in the individual. It would be only realistic, of course, to point out that an unusual school with a unique reputation can ordinarily take its pick from among some of the best available teachers. When the pattern is copied widely, the advantage tends to be lost. There was more activity at Thornlea than hi most schools. One teacher referred to a "creative explosion," exemplified by drawings and paintings hanging thickly on the walls, various kinds of music - including folk, classical, rock, blues, and electronic - filling the air, and panels and seminars being held hi abundance. The previous weekend, a group of teachers and students had gone snowshoeing on the Bruce Trail. A few weeks earlier, some students had spent part of a weekend hi a monastery on a field trip hi connection with the course in world religions. The school was hi the process of uncrating its own educational television equipment, including a video tape recorder and a TV camera which the students would operate and for which they would have the major responsibility. There was every prospect that they would utilize these items for the full expression of their talents. One of the special architectural features of the school was a sunken student lounge area of brick, carpets, padded benches, and large plants which the students referred to as "the jungle." At any tune of the day, students might be seen there studying, playing cards or guitars, or chatting. The school program had been so arranged that each student could select one forty-five minute period a day to do what he wanted - even go home if he chose. The cafeteria was open all day, and students could have lunch according to their individual schedules. One of the most difficult aspects of the set-up for visitors to understand and accept was the presence of students wandering around without supervision hi halls, cafeteria, and jungle. The high degree of freedom did, of course, cause certain problems including the tendency of some students to skip too many classes. One teacher commented that there was a danger of neglecting the rest of

Distinctive schools 147

the class if one spent too much time trying to track down and talk to these individuals. There was some teacher feeling that the transition from an authoritarian to a highly permissive organization had been too rapid, and that standards were falling. In contrast, a science teacher asserted that the results in her classes were much better than those in the traditional school in which she had taught the previous year. LORD ELGIN HIGH SCHOOL, HALTON COUNTY

The planning of Lord Elgin High School in Halton County involved a number of innovative features which were given rather comprehensive treatment in School Progress in December 1969.2 The building was designed to fit an educational program which was worked out as a first step. The whole project was undertaken by a decision-making team representing a wide variety of interests. The process of blending different suggestions and ideas at the planning stage was considered to be valuable as a means of establishing a co-operative and harmonious atmosphere for the operation of the school. The Halton County Board of Education had established an Innovations Council consisting of elementary and secondary teachers, principals, and administrators to evaluate school programs and to recommend changes. This council set up a sub-committee called the Lord Elgin Design Committee, which included two vice-principals, a department head, and an assistant chairman. Its instructions were to design the school without administrative intervention, subject to the restrictions that space in the building would not exceed 105 square feet per student place and that it would cost no more than $21 per square foot. Working closely with the architects, the Design Committee sought suggestions from teachers throughout the system. These suggestions were submitted through program councils, which dealt with curricula and special projects. The Design Committee was enabled by a grant of about $14,000 to visit a few innovating schools in Canada and the United States. This aspect of the project would appear to be highly advantageous in view of the danger that the limited experience of many teachers might make their ideas unduly pedestrian. The results of the approach used were said to be a building characterized by complete flexibility in terms of rearrangement of space. Rather than wide open, unstructured areas, there were rooms that could be made larger and smaller as the occasion demanded. Openness was evident in the shop area, where 50 per cent of the walls that might have separated three of the shops were eliminated. Archways replaced doors to classrooms. An interdisciplinary approach was evident in the grouping of subject complexes: the art section was close to the shop so that student sculptors could use the welding equipment; the music and drama facilities flowed into each other; the faculties for communications arts were closely associated; the triple gymnasium had a folding wall; all four of the rooms in the commercial area were inter-connected through their corners. The

148 Significant developments in local school systems

four science laboratories, all suitable for physics, chemistry, and biology, surrounded one preparation area. They had a number of pedestals supplying gas and water, with provision for lab tables to be wheeled in between so that a variety of arrangements was possible. The resource centre, which occupied a pivotal position, was designed to serve all other areas. Although it was intended to include microfilm, film loop projectors, slide viewers, records, and video tape, its main emphasis was to be on printed material, reflecting the restrained view that print remained the most effective medium. This judgment was supported by some experience with students who had shown very poor comprehension when using headphones and tape. The principal, Wayne Burns, hoped that the centre would have some material to meet the needs of adults, and that it would be open for their use during the evening. Initial apprehension about the cost-consciousness of teachers had not proved to be justified. The plans included savings through the reduction of doors and windows, the use of scattered supporting pillars instead of bearing concrete walls, the substitution of movable partitions for permanent walls, and the concentration of all lockers in two forty-foot-wide hallways. The cost of $20.71 per square foot was within the guidelines established by the board. An experimental program was worked out for the operation of the school during a five-year period. The principal was supposed to concentrate on the improvement of instruction, while the vice-principal of program had the prime responsibility for administering and co-ordinating the curriculum. Instead of department heads, assistant heads, and minor heads, there would be seven subject group chairmen and three associate group chairmen. The chairmen, by the principal's description, were to be generalists and the associate chairmen more specialized. The seven chairmen were to serve on a co-ordinating council under the chairmanship of the vice-principal of program, to deal with curricular matters. The chief responsibility of the vice-principal of instruction was to supervise the staff and control the daily routine of the school. He would direct the activities of teaching assistants, who might be paraprofessionals, teachers' aides, or volunteers. The principal hoped that these assistants would have a salutary effect by increasing the students' opportunities for contacts with adults. A committee system was designed to give students, staff, and community a major voice in running the school. A students' council committee would make recommendations directly to the co-ordinating council with respect to curriculum changes. An evaluation committee, with equal representation from students, parents, and teachers, would assess the progress of the school toward its goals. There would also be a parent committee and a staff committee. An academic program was drawn up by a committee of teachers, principals, and board officials for presentation to the full board of educa-

Distinctive schools 149

tion. Its main features were an emphasis on programmed learning, the introduction of two five-month semesters and a credit-granting summer school, a non-graded credit system, and a large amount of time for independent study. By taking maximum advantage of his opportunities, a student might complete a four-year program in three years. It would be possible to employ a wide variety of teaching techniques, including small and large-group instruction and team teaching. The building was designed to facilitate these, but not to require the use of any particular one. The principal foresaw that the biggest problem for teachers and students would be to get used to the freedoms the new building offered. The students would be the first of the generation produced in open concept elementary schools, and more willing to assert themselves than graduates of traditional schools. The increased amount of noise and movement would be hard on some teachers' nerves. The principal was willing, however, to place his faith in the good will and co-operation of all concerned. ZION HEIGHTS JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL, NORTH YORK

The building for Zion Heights Junior High School was constructed to match an educational approach emphasizing some of the concepts that have surged in popularity in recent years.3 Each student was to have his own individual timetable worked out by computer, and was to proceed at his own rate of speed. Learning through discovery was to be strongly emphasized. There were to be no grades or marks, and reporting was to be in the anecdotal form, with heavy reliance on teacher-parent meetings. A team of teachers had the responsibility of planning the course in each subject, and of determining the basic minimum that each student had to master before proceeding to the next unit, as well as the areas that might be studied in depth by those who had better-than-average ability. The schedule also gave the teachers time to meet every day to discuss the development of the course and the progress of individual students. The amount of time students spent in independent study increased as they moved through the school program. Both students who were faster and those who were slower than the average academically might engage in more of such study than the remainder of the student body. A student who proceeded relatively slowly might find in June that he had not completed the course in a particular subject. Rather than repeating the course, he would continue in September at the point where he had left off. There would always be an opportunity for him to work at his own level since the ninety-member class to which he belonged would be subdivided into a number of groups with teachers at hand to give help when needed. If he found during his fourth year at the school that he had ground yet to cover in one or more subjects while he had completed the minimum work in others, he might fill hi his program with independent study in depth or with extra options, just as the gifted child might do in his third year. The obligatory subjects were kept to a minimum; only Eng-

ISO Significant developments in local school systems

lish, French, mathematics, and physical and health education were required in each trimester of each year. In geography, history, and science, a student had to complete six trimesters before graduation, or two trimesters a year. Of the électives, consisting of art, music, home economics, industrial arts, and typing, he had to take two each trimester for the first two years and one a term in his final year. All students had to take at least one trimester of typing, which was considered to be a useful adjunct to successful study. Since there were no classes or grades in the usual sense, students were assigned to houses, each with twenty-five members. The student checked in with the teacher adviser of his house unit before proceeding to his first class. The system was supposed to give him a sense of belonging when he arrived at the school at the age of twelve and, since he remained hi the same house as long as he attended the school, it gave his teacher-adviser a chance to know him well. According to reports in 1970, a major defect hi the house system was that the more senior students tended to make the newcomers uncomfortable, and there seemed good reason to revert in 1970-1 to something like the traditional form of organization. As the school was constructed, there were planning areas of 450 square feet where the teams of teachers held their meetings. The teaching areas, most of which were four times as large as the conventional classroom, surrounded the planning area. Each class of ninety to ninety-five students assembled there with three teachers. The floors were carpeted with soundproof, heavy-duty nylon, and equipped with rectangular tables that could easily be moved to form any desired pattern. Blackboards in movable frames could be placed to meet the convenience of any group. An amplifying system was a necessity, since without a microphone a teacher could not make himself heard to a group of students more than fifteen feet away. Sound-deadening features were particularly appreciated because the minimum of hall space was used to reduce costs. Students thus often had to walk through one study area on their way to another. Classes never changed all at once because of the timetabling arrangements which involved different time allotments according to the needs of a particular subject. A single twenty-five minute "module," for example, was considered sufficient for oral French, while four of such modules were scheduled for art. Individual timetabling and the choice of optional subjects three tunes a year contributed to the special importance of guidance. The department was given a central position continuous with the main foyer, and was furnished attractively to produce a relaxed atmosphere. The office space, including the principal's desk, was also designed in accordance with the open plan, and adjoined the foyer. Parents were prepared for the relatively radical features of the new school by a public relations campaign organized before the construction of the new building. During the first year of operations, each of the houses provided an opportunity for parents to spend a school day going through

Distinctive schools 151

classes with their children. The heavy response was considered to have resulted in development of a favourable attitude. Objections that the anecdotal system of reporting gave too little information were met by an invitation to parents to come in for an interview. They were usually strongly impressed to discover that several teachers were well informed and able to talk at considerable length about their child's progress. The relative affluence of the community was said to have been accompanied by liberal attitudes and a high degree of tolerance of experimentation and change. There were evidences during the first year that too much was expected of students, and too many independent projects encouraged. When they reached senior high school, the performance of the graduates in at least one of the basic subjects was distinctly inferior to that of students taught by more traditional methods. As a result of some revisions, the performance of the second year's graduates was reported to be up to par. The development of other junior and senior high schools with a similar educational approach helped to eliminate the early problems of transition from one type of institution to another. BERTIE SENIOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, RIDGEWAY

Bertie Senior Elementary School in Ridgeway is said to have exemplified the spirit of the Hall-Dennis report with a program initiated a year and a half before that report was published. The progressive features of the school's approach were manifested in particular in the treatment of subjects, grades, examinations, and pupils' interests. As described in 1969, the program consisted of four "organizational modes": opening period, regular curriculum, électives, and activities. The opening period, which took thirty minutes each day, allowed ten minutes for opening exercises. On two days of the week, twenty minutes were allotted to home-room discussions on matters such as current events. On the remaining three days, including Fridays, there were classes in basic oral French. The regular program was based on the idea that the study of disciplines as traditionally defined was inappropriate. It was felt that six to nine subjects did not come near to representing the active disciplines that could profitably contribute to the early adolescent's understanding of his world. Nor was the pupil considered to be ready for a formal study of the procedures of any discipline. The usual subjects were therefore replaced by three areas of study: language arts, arts - performing arts, and mathematics - science. The group of teachers working in each of these areas defined the appropriate content. The approach adopted in language arts, for example, was often to select a problem of human concern and use it to develop communication of all kinds using history and literature as substantive elements. The elective program took eighty minutes and included current events, English usage, basic geometry, aviation basics, physical geography, science

152 Significant developments in local school systems

fiction novel, body building, basketball, the geography of Anglo-America, sheet metal, leathercraft, shop mathematics, physical education, Canadian history, botany, nature study, judo, cooking, acting, special education mathematics and reading, motors, friendly news club, recorder in, grammar, advanced knitting and needlecraft, zoology in, "for girls only," stage management, and government and law. Each pupil was required to take four électives per year. Teachers, who decided on the course methods and content, offered between two and four topics per term, and community resource people offered one topic per term. In some cases the topics were offered by students who demonstrated specialized skills and leadership abilities. An article hi the Welland-Port Colborne Tribune in June 1969, told of the contribution that citizens were making to the électives. One lady gave a history of Bertie Township, bringing old-timers and former public officials into the classroom; several clergymen dealt with religious and social topics; a representative of a local industry gave courses in electronics; a member of St John Ambulance gave a course in first aid; an officer of the Ontario Provincial Police and one from the local force cooperated in discussing the role of the police in society; a former high school teacher led the pupils figuratively on a tour across Canada; a lady dealt with banking techniques; another lady conducted a class in creative, ballroom, and modern jazz dancing; four grade 13 students were involved in the oral French program. The activities period, extending beyond the regular five-hour instructional day, was a kind of compulsory extra-curricular period. The pupils were expected to decide what activities they wanted, to obtain a teachersponsor, and to organize. The teachers supervised the library and study rooms, helped put on assemblies, and conducted counselling sessions. A L L A N D A L E HEIGHTS SCHOOL, BARRIE

Allandale Heights Elementary School, opened in March 1968, demonstrated a number of progressive features, including a building constructed according to the most up-to-date design, a program providing for continuous progress, pupil participation in selecting topics for study, and cooperative teaching methods. Some of these were considered to be characteristics of the Barrie school system in general. The building was planned to facilitate the operation of an existing program. Its core was a domed general-purpose room equipped with a carpeted stage that could be enclosed by a movable wall to serve as a music room. Surrounding the general-purpose room were service areas consisting of washrooms, a health room, a supply room, and a guidance room. Outside these was a circular corridor leading to five triangular learning pods, each consisting of three learning areas accommodating about seventy-five pupils in three grades and a team of three teachers. The program was designed to make maximum use of the discovery

Distinctive schools 153

approach and to capitalize as much as possible on the pupils' interests. The teachers found it necessary to spend a great deal of time in planning. There were weekly consultations with pupils to decide what topics would be studied. While it was possible for a pupil to study nothing but mathematics for days on end, the teacher would try to counteract an extreme lack of balance by building up his motivation to tackle something else. A class might be divided up into groups of four or five, each studying a different subject or topic. Grouping might be based on interest, friendship, ability, or the need for extra help in some particular area of weakness. The teacher went from one group to another offering suggestions or making comments. Various groups might be brought together to meet some need they all had in common. Strong emphasis was placed on field trips, which were used to generate all kinds of projects. Assessment was based on continuous testing of an informal type, with parent-teacher interviews replacing report cards. WILMINGTON AVENUE PUBLIC SCHOOL, NORTH YORK

North York planned to experiment with the implementation of major aspects of the recommendations of the Hall-Dennis Committee by setting up a "free" school in three classrooms at Wilmington Avenue Public School hi Downsview in 1970-1. The distinguishing features of this school were to be learning activities tailored to the interests and abilities of individual children, the widest possible choice of activities for each child, a müümum of rules prescribed by adults, and an absence of grades and examinations. The ninety-seven pupils admitted would cover the normal grade range from kindergarten to grade 6. Plans for the school were made in response to requests from parents who were dissatisfied with traditional approaches and saw promise in the Hall-Dennis prescriptions. When the experiment was announced, the director of education declared that applications from interested parents would be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. There seemed to be no question that all places would soon be filled. Placing attendance on a voluntary basis no doubt considerably enhanced the prospect that the school would be a success. Continued parental support seemed likely to be assured by the arrangement for parents to serve as volunteer teacher aides.

FIVE

Extended use of school facilities

As investment in school buildings and facilities has increased, there has been a growing chorus of proposals that they be used more efficiently. Many people have considered it a scandal that schools are locked and empty during a large proportion of the twenty-four hours hi any given day and for the entire day during a substantial part of the calendar year. Some have proposed that the shift system be adopted, not just as an emergency measure, but as a regular aspect of scheduling classes. There have also been suggestions that some type of trimester system would enable the students to stagger vacations while the schools were kept in operation all year round. In view of the obvious impossibility that the growing hordes of secondary school, community college, and university students can all find summer jobs, there have been suggestions that a fuU-year program of studies, with appropriate short breaks, would keep them occupied and out of mischief and prepare them for the responsibilities of adult life a year or two earlier. However logical some of these schemes may be, there is a great deal of resistance to any modification of the traditional attendance patterns. In 1968-9 the Department of Education almost found itself faced with a rebellion in some schools when an attempt was made to restore the actual end of the term for grade 13 to approximately the same date that had been adhered to before the departmental examinations were discontinued. No matter how weary of rising education levies the taxpaying public may proclaim itself to be, it is doubtful that any government would care to face the outcry that would be certain to accompany any sudden or drastic change in the organization of the school day or year. In fact, however, there has been a considerable increase in the use of school buildings for specific purposes. Saturday classes, summer programs, and courses for adults are discussed in the present chapter. The extension of these activities has been welcomed and applauded by those for whom they are designed. It might be said that the common element in them that has ensured approval is the absence of compulsion to participate. Whether the student who is given a choice between making up his deficiencies through summer school attendance and repeating his year regards the summer program as entirely voluntary is of course somewhat doubtful.

Extended use of school facilities 155

SATURDAY MORNING CLASSES IN THE TORONTO SCHOOL SYSTEM

The Toronto Board of Education began to offer Saturday morning classes for grade 12 and 13 students with a better-than-average record of achievement on an experimental basis in 1960-1. So successful was the program that it was continued in a gradually evolving form in subsequent years. The original intention was to give a preview of university subjects so that students might have maximum information for the selection of their university courses. The first offerings were in archaeology, art, international relations, oral French, electronics and related mathematics, psychology, and personal typing. The last of these courses was taken by a number of students who expected it to help them with their notes and essays. In 1961-2, courses in philosophy and engineering drawing were added to those given the previous year. There were ten Saturday morning sessions between January and March, at which secondary school teachers and professors provided instruction. A highlight of the program in 1963-4 was the introduction of a class in the use of electronic computers for grade 12 students. This class was organized by the mathematics consultant for the board and conducted by an experienced computer research man. The success of the response helped to influence the board to install a computer in the Mathematics Department of the Education Centre for use by students and teachers interested in computer programming. In 1969-70, the classes involved two hundred pupils selected from among approximately five hundred who were recommended by their teachers. The criteria on which eligibility was based were range of interest and curiosity, ability to communicate, initiative, insight and ability to tackle problems, ability to make generalizations from facts, originality of thought, and IQ. The teachers who made the selection rated the pupils as high, medium, or low on the first six of these criteria, and explained why they should benefit from the program. While most of them had an IQ of at least 140, some from inner city schools were accepted with a score as low as 130. In an article in the Globe and Mail, John Kelsey told of a visit to the classes as they were being conducted at Castle Frank High School.1 In one room, a fourth-year industrial engineering student was giving a section of a Man and Technology course dealing with weapons technology. He had drawn a model of a uranium atom on the blackboard, and was explaining how it could blow up if the nucleus was bombarded with neutrons. His presentation included all the basic concepts of nuclear physics. In another class, pupils were learning how the Metro government worked, and in still another they were hearing about the theory of how clouds of gas became stars. A computer science class was writing programs to solve equations that an ordinary class did not deal with until it reached grade 12. The

156 Significant developments in local school systems

material was later run through the computer maintained by the Board of Education. After a certain teacher had asked a pupil to program the computer to average and graph the year's marks for the class, other pupils had begun to perform the same service for their teachers. As the program operated at this time, the pupils themselves decided what to study. Teachers who were selected for the special qualities needed to handle the classes decided what they would like to teach, and drew up course outlines. On the first Saturday, the pupils spent fifteen minutes with each teacher, and then made their choice. If a proposed course failed to elicit sufficient interest, it was dropped. Among those approved for 1969-70 were courses in biology, science discovery, vocal music, theatre, film, and current events. The pupils had turned thumbs down on environmental mathematics and news communications. Particular interest, and some controversy, had been aroused by a visit to the current events class by the chairman of the Canadian Communist party, who had conducted discussions. The pupils expressed a good deal of enthusiasm for the courses. They were pleased to have something interesting and constructive to do on Saturday mornings, and to have an opportunity to learn things that were not offered in the regular school program. Some expressed dissatisfaction that ordinary classes could not be run in the same way. One boy observed that those who were chosen for the program were the ones who curried favour with their teachers. He thought there were many others who could benefit from participation. SUMMER SCHOOL-KINDERGARTEN TO GRADE 12

London school system The London Board of Education began operating a summer school program for secondary school students in 1959. It immediately offered what became the three common types of courses: 1 / enrichment for students who wished to go beyond standard requirements, 2 / improvement courses for those who had been successful in their regular year's work, but wished to improve their standing, and 3/ make-up courses for students who had failed in no more than two subjects with marks of at least 40. Classes were held five mornings a week from 8:00 AM to 12:00 noon between July 6 and August 7. The students were charged a fee of $15 a subject and teachers were paid at an hourly rate equivalent to that for night school classes. Continuation of the program was assured by what was regarded as the outstanding success of the first session, when 567 students enrolled and 78.3 per cent of the examinations were written successfully. By 1967 summer school enrolment had climbed to more than 1,200. While the great majority came from the area in and around London, 126 were from other centres in western Ontario. The Courier claimed that,

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since approximately 750 London students had gained promotion, and the cost of educating them at the secondary level averaged about $775, the total savings were around $580,000.2 These calculations were obviously based on the unjustified assumption that the reduction of total enrolment by a single student reduced the total expenditures by the entire per-student cost. It was also apparently taken for granted that the student retained his gains throughout the rest of his school career, a proposition that research in London and elsewhere failed to support. A similar claim was made the following year, when 1,346 of the total of 1,575 were students from the London system. At an average cost of $837, the one thousand or so who turned a failure into a pass ostensibly saved the system $837,000. The subjects that attracted the highest enrolment were mathematics, with 297, French, with 242, and science, with 136. Enrichment classes were offered for the first time in Russian and theatre arts. Ottawa secondary school system Summer courses were offered from 1961 on by the Ottawa Collegiate Institute Board to enable students from grades 9 to 12 to make up academic deficiencies. To be eligible, they had to have the recommendation of the principal of the school, to have obtained at least 40 per cent in the subject they wished to take, and to have had no more than three failures if they were in grade 9 or 10 or two if they were in grade 11 or 12. By 1966 there were about 1,900 students enrolled in the program, over hah! of whom were taking two subjects. In the same year, five-week courses were offered in grade 9 French, mathematics, science, and beginner typewriting and in grade 10 French, mathematics, science bookkeeping, and shorthand. Six-week courses were offered in grade 11 French, geography, history, physics, mathematics, and shorthand and hi grade 12 French, English, Latin, geography, history, chemistry, and mathematics. Classes were held between 8:30 AM and 12:30 PM between Monday and Friday. By this time, the program had been enlarged to include ungraded enrichment courses in art and computer programming. North York school system The North York Board offered its first academic summer school in 1962 for students in grades 11 and 12 who had an average between 50 and 59 per cent on all subjects and who had failed in not more than two with a mark of at least 40. The program was also open to students who had failed one or two subjects but had been promoted on their average, and to those who had not failed in any subject, but wished to upgrade their standing in one or two areas of weakness. In the initial stages, courses were offered in English, history, mathematics, science, French, and Latin.

158 Significant developments in local school systems

Classes were held between 8:30 AM and 12:30 PM from Monday to Friday for six weeks. Following the example of other systems, the board attempted to defray some of the expenses of the program by charging a nominal fee of $30 for one or two courses. This fee included bus transportation for those who lived in remote parts of the township. The first session was pronounced a definite success in that a large majority of the 303 students who attended managed to upgrade themselves. Half of them were reported to have won full promotion to the next grade, and thus to have saved themselves an entire year. Others were allowed to take additional grade 13 subjects. The North York School News pointed out that the beneficial results meant considerable savings to parents and taxpayers. The North York Summer Music School was begun in 1961 to provide enriching experiences in music for interested students during a period of approximately two weeks in August. Instruction was given, not only by members of the regular staff of the system, but also by members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Symphony, who coached small groups of students in specialized aspects of their particular instrument. The program was designed to create a new learning environment with incentives and stimulation provided by direct association with professional musicians. The school was managed by an organizing committee consisting of members of music departments of various schools and of consultative and supervisory officials concerned with music teaching. A fee, amounting initially to $20 per student, was sufficient to make the program self-sustaining. As the school operated in 1962 there were intermediate and senior divisions, to one of which each student was assigned on the basis of an audition given the previous June. Such an organization was considered to be conducive to maximum progress in each group. A new feature for the year was a vocal program involving the study of singing techniques and an introduction to the use of Carl Orff instruments. The daily schedule of the school began with a short assembly each morning, followed by a subdivision of the two basic divisions into all-brass, all-woodwind, and allstring groups. Periodic assemblies were held to enable guest artists to give performances, to demonstrate special instruments, and to discuss music as a vocation and an avocation.3 The closing concert held in Northern Heights Collegiate Institute attracted an audience of approximately six hundred. By 1965 the program offered opportunities for study from kindergarten to the end of high school. Subjects offered for academic upgrading for students hi grades 11 and 12 were English, French, geography, history, Latin, mathematics, and science. A six-week enrichment course in typewriting for beginners was available to students from grade 9 to grade 13. A four-week course in the elements of data processing covered the wiring and operation of accounting and data processing machines and the appli-

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cation of such machines to problems encountered in business. During the latter part of the course the students wrote and tested programs on the computer. The course was open to students who had completed grade 11, 12, or 13. A three-week course consisted of sixty hours of instruction to enable a student enrolled in grade 10 of any five-year program to do remedial work hi English, French, or mathematics. Two courses of two weeks' duration were offered in art, one for beginners and one for advanced students. Enrolment was limited to thirty students between grade 7 and grade 13. The activities emphasized outdoor sketching, ufe drawing, and oil painting. A one-week course in geographical field studies was open to students enrolled hi geography classes in grades 10, 11, and 12. The course involved a study of commercial and other land use along Yonge Street between Highway 401 and Steeles Avenue, a study of agricultural land use in the Holland Marsh area, an urban study of the town of Bradford, a study of the various industries of Bradford, and the preparation of maps and text materials embodying the results of these studies and the preparation of booklets containing the material. For children in kindergarten and grades 1 and 2, the objectives were as follows: 1 / to assist the child who needed to develop greater skill in language as a basis for learning to read; 2 / to stimulate an interest in reading through experiences which the child could continue to enjoy by talking and reading about them; 3 / to conserve knowledge and skills which might be partially lost during the ten-week interval of the summer vacation; 4 / to motivate children who had experienced learning difficulties to make a fresh start; and 5 / to improve the attitude of children who had shown little or no interest in school. The procedures designed to meet these objectives included the provision of stimulating experiences, building on the children's existing interests, stressing language and thinking in all phases of the program, and having small numbers of children in each group to permit maximum individual attention. The regular fee for the program was $15, but inability to pay was not treated as a reason for excluding a child. By 1967 the enrichment courses for secondary school students had been extended to include separate courses hi the elements of data processing and an introduction to computer programming, as well as courses entitled Ontario Motor League Driver Training, Speed-Reading and Reading Comprehension, Honours Mathematics and Science Scholarship, and Centennial Physical Education Leadership. The three-week experimental Honours Mathematics and Science Scholarship course was open to twentysix grade 11 students nominated by their secondary schools and selected by a Special Admissions Committee. They were given an opportunity to think creatively and critically about the inter-relationship of mathematics and science in the fields of astronomy, biology, physics, and chemistry. Procedures employed included lectures, experimentation, computer research, and field trips. The Physical Education Leadership course was

160 Significant developments in local school systems

designed to prepare students with leadership potential and athletic skills to assist with the school curricular and co-curricular physical education and athletic programs. There were two courses for adults; one in speed reading and reading comprehension and the other in typing and office practice. The 1968 program for elementary school children was offered in twenty-five centres scattered throughout the borough. Five-week courses were conducted in small classes by carefully selected teachers to overcome children's weaknesses in certain areas of their development. Those at any level having difficulty with English as a second language were given an opportunity to develop their language facility. Three-week enrichment sessions were offered for children with creative interests and special abilities in music, dance, poetry, drama, and mass media. In the study of mass media, pupils of ten and eleven years of age learned to distinguish between fact and opinion, and studied methods of presentation used in newspapers, magazines, radio, and television. A two-week session enabled two groups of pupils to solve problems involving mathematical and scientific concepts. At the junior and senior high school levels, the range of offerings had been expanded to include English for New Canadians, a twoweek course in student executive training and a four-week course for young film-makers. The adult program consisted of refresher courses in typing and office practice, introduction to computer programming, and speed-reading and reading comprehension. Hamilton school system Summer skill schools were first provided by the Hamilton Board of Education for pupils in grades 7, 8, and 9 in 1967. The following year they were restricted to pupils from grades 7 and 8. They were intended specifically for those who were too old to be attracted to the playgrounds, too young to obtain summer employment, and whose parents were not in an economic position to send them to summer camp or to take them out of the city on vacation. The stated objectives of the program were to keep the pupils out of trouble by keeping them occupied, to enable them to acquire a skill which would add to their development and contribute to a fuller Ufe in the future, and to improve their attitude toward regular school Ufe and thus affect their ultimate school achievement. The program was designed to consist as far as possible of skill and interest courses different from those offered in the regular school program and from those offered by the Department of Recreation. As offered in 1968 the program consisted of two parts, Section A for non-physical and Section B for physical courses. Each pupil selected a course from each section. The courses in Section A were Adventures in Space, Rapid Reading, Sketching & Painting, Writer's Workshop, Theatre Arts, Instrumental Music, Guitar Instruction, and Leathercraft. Section B

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consisted of Gymnastics, Strength Training, Folk Dancing, and Judo, with separate classes for boys and girls. The courses were offered between 9:00 and 12:00 daily from Monday to Friday. A fee of $15 was charged for each pupil and $5 for each additional applicant from the same family. Since the total cost was $26 per pupil, the board subsidized the program by $11 per pupil. It was observed that the student fee seemed to have excluded the pupils for whom the program was particularly designed, since it was attended by very few from the inner city. Toronto school system In the summer of 1968, the so-called SEED (Summer of Experience, Exploration and Discovery) program was launched in Toronto. The idea was that students would plan their own studies and gather the information they needed from people involved in the line of endeavour in which they were interested. It was intended that they would leave behind the sheltered environment of the school and immerse themselves in surroundings that would show them how people lived. As an example, it was suggested that those who wanted to try to understand the city might hold one session in Nathan Phillips Square and another in Cabbagetown. One idea was to have each group hold its first meeting in a park. Credit for initiating the program was given to university students, teachers, and younger officials of the Board of Education. An aspect that particularly appealed to the board was that none of those who assisted with the organization of the project was to be paid. The program was under the direction of L. Birmingham and Murray Shukyn. Other organizers were M. LaFountaine, Director of Documentation, E.N. Wright, Director of Research, N. Schachar, Vice-Président of the University of Toronto Students' Council, and K. Stone, Vice-Président of the Ontario Union of Students. The chairman of the Board of Education, Ying Hope, wrote to several dozen people in special fields asking them to serve as "resource persons." The program attracted over six hundred students during the summer of 1968. Such was its success that it was repeated with a larger number of participants and a greater variety of educational experiences the following summer. By this time there was increasing interest in the idea of continuing the same type of unstructured learning activities on a regular basis during the school year. Students were carrying on with the program outside school hours with the assistance of volunteer instructors who were termed "catalysts." A brief was prepared by students, catalysts, and other interested people in the winter of 1970 requesting that the Toronto Board of Education establish the program as an experimental alternative to more traditional forms of secondary school education. The board responded favourably to the request, and the scheme, now called Shared Experience, Exploration, and Discovery, was instituted in

162 Significant developments in local school systems

the fall of 1970 with Shukyn as co-ordinator. One hundred students were enrolled, and four core teachers were assigned to give instruction in English, a foreign language, science, and mathematics. While a variety of sites were utilized, the main headquarters of the operation came to be located in a YM-YWHA building in the central part of Toronto, where classroom space and athletic facilities were rented. The basic subjects of the regular secondary school program were taught to ensure that the students could qualify for secondary school graduation diplomas and for admission to institutions of post-secondary education. They would also be able to fit back hito the regular school program if for any reason they dropped out of the experiment. Even in the basic subjects, however, there was room for new methods of presentation. Beyond these subjects, the students were encouraged to engage in a wide range of learning experiences. They might pursue their interests in almost any area where they could find someone to teach them. By March 1971 there were reported to be over sixty non-credit catalyst-taught courses.4 The essence of the program was summarized by Douglas Yip of the Research Department of the Toronto Board. Besides the concepts of an educational programme built by students for students, that all learning is to be self-motivated and student-initiated, another concept of the SEED programme is to utilize the resources of the city community. SEED is to be a community school, interacting and cooperating with those in the City. Many SEED students feel that they can acquire for themselves, an excellent education which would meet their interests yet involve a minimal cost to the Board. This is accomplished by searching out and using volunteer catalysts. By being forced to go out and find the resource person who will volunteer his time and efforts, the students obtain an education in their area of interest without additional education expenditure. Many of their catalysts are professors at the University of Toronto and York University, while others are professionals working hi their own fields such as medical research, advertising, journalism, broadcasting, painting and sculpturing, psychiatry, etc. By way of reciprocating, some SEED students have shared their own expertise with their fellow students and with the community as well. Several students who have attended schools in Europe, are teaching their fellow students conversational French; another is showing some of his friends how to develop films. Two students are devoting their Sunday mornings to teaching speed reading to several university professors, SEED catalysts and other interested parties. This is a skill which the students had been taught a year earlier at SEED. Other SEED students have participated in welfare and public service projects hi then- community. Several students offered their assistance in taking care of a busload of elementary school students who were forced by a snow storm to stay in the City overnight.6

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The high degree of responsibility placed on each student for his own success and the lack of formal structure elicited a favourable response from most students. A few, however, did not appreciate this type of environment, and sought greater security by returning to regular classes. In some cases fellow students brought pressure to bear on those who did not seem interested enough to attend classes and meetings, and encouraged them to drop out. The board decided that, although at least another year's experience would be needed to assess the SEED program adequately, the project should be continued in 1971-2. Enrolment was again limited to one hundred students. Many of those enrolled were participants from the previous year who wished to continue in the program. Additional candidates were selected by lot from among those who were eligible. The board agreed to study the possibility of expanding the scheme in 1972-3, with due attention to budgetary considerations. While it was considering future possibilities at this stage, the board received a report that indicated that only a small proportion of the students participating in 1970-1 had obtained the regular credits qualifying them to proceed to higher levels in the standard programs and to gain university admission. In view of the improbability that individually devised programs would be adequately recognized in other parts of the educational system, there seemed to be a danger that many of the students were jeopardizing their future. Some further restrictions on admission were therefore proposed and greater efforts were made to ensure that those admited maintained their standard of work in the core program. The board, however, rejected the idea of making at least three courses compulsory and of requiring attendance. In the summer of 1970 the Toronto Board of Education joined the Metropolitan Separate School Board and the North York Board of Education in offering summer school courses for credit at the secondary school level below grade 13, enabling students to speed up their program. Eligible candidates were approximately two hundred students completing grade 10 of the five-year program in June. The courses, offered at North Toronto Collegiate Institute, included English, history, geography, mathematics, physics, and French. Each course ran for three hours a day for six weeks, and counted as one of the twenty-seven credits required for an Ontario Secondary School Graduation Diploma. S U M M E R SCHOOL FOR GRADE 13 IN THE TORONTO SCHOOL SYSTEM

Up to the end of the 1966-7 school year there had been no particular incentive for offering summer school courses to enable students to make up for one or more failures in grade 13, since there were no supplemental examinations, and thus no opportunity to try again to secure credit until

164 Significant developments in local school systems

June of the following year. The abolition of the Departmental examination system immediately created a demand for a less tune-consuming and wasteful means of dealing with academic deficiencies. A number of the larger high school boards responded promptly. The Toronto Board of Education set up an experimental summer school for students in this category at Jarvis Collegiate Institute hi the summer of 1968. A principal was appointed to employ teachers and make other necessary arrangements. Students who could qualify for admission were not charged fees. They were restricted to courses they had taken during the year, either at day or night school, and must have obtained at least 35 per cent of the possible marks hi then" original attempt. Although students from independent schools were admitted along with those from the public secondary system, all had to be residents of Toronto. By the end of June, 257 applicants had registered for the one or two subjects required to complete an Ontario Secondary School Honour Graduation Diploma.6 Of this number, only ten failed to begin the courses, and four withdrew during the summer. The major grade 13 courses were offered, the most popular of which was Mathematics A, taken by eightysix students. There were two instructional periods each day, the first from 9:00 to 10:50 and the second from 11:10 to 1:00 PM, with short breaks at 10:00 and 12:00. In some subjects, classes were offered hi both periods and in others only one, depending on the numbers and needs of the students. Progress was evaluated by daily work, class tests, and examinations given during the final week. Of the 321 examinations written, 89.4 per cent were passed, and of the 243 students who remained until the end of the program, 81.9 successfully met then- objectives. Seventy-nine students who took two subjects obtained credit hi both. In the opinion of the teachers who participated, the students worked very hard. One of the latter commented on the features that were conducive to good work such as the small classes and the absence of distractions. The students who took the course included one Ontario Scholar who had not been able to handle French, although he passed the course hi summer school. Most were not considered to be university bound, although some hoped to gain admission. Some sought entry to teachers' colleges or other post-secondary institutions. The majority were simply attempting to qualify for better jobs. Even at this stage, there was little support among educators for the idea of giving secondary school students an opportunity to obtain credit during the summer for subjects they had not taken in a regular whiter session. It was as if some special virtue were seen in ensuring that everyone took the standard period of five years to complete what was defined as a five-year program. Help was available only to prevent the prolongation of the course into a sixth (or perhaps hi some cases a seventh) year.

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In some places, however, this attitude showed signs of changing with remarkable speed. SUMMER PROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN WITH LEARNING DIFFICULTIES

Ottawa public school system An attempt was made in Ottawa in the summer of 1963 to counteract the tendency among public school pupils with learning difficulties combined with some degree of emotional disturbance to suffer severe academic regression during the summer. The Protestant Children's Village operated a summer day camp for such pupils from the beginning of July until the end of August. The program was designed to provide a stimulating and pleasurable day camp experience in a therapeutic setting along with individual assistance with school work. The group of six children accommodated in the program fell far short of the number whose parents would have liked to have them participate. The Ottawa Branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association contributed to the program by arranging for transportation. Most of the children who attended the camp returned to a special class operated by the Ottawa Public School Board. The teacher's observation at the end of the first month was that the children had had far less difficulty than usual in making an academic and social adjustment to school after the summer vacation. Tollgate School Morris A. Carter, Supervising Principal in East Zorra-Blandford, presented a paper at the Tenth Annual Conference of the OERC in which he told of a special summer school held at Tollgate School north of Woodstock.7 The participants were thirty-two pupils from primary classes who had experienced difficulty with their work during the previous school year. The program ran for five weeks with classes between 8:30 AM and 12:30 PM each week day and on two Saturdays. The main objectives were to restore the confidence of those pupils, constituting the large majority, who lacked it, and to convince them that learning could be a pleasurable experience. A large element in the program consisted of vigorous and intensive physical education activities which took up approximately an hour and a half of each day. During the first week the pupils' capacities and skills were evaluated by means of a comprehensive test battery. The exercise program was based on Kephart's work with ladders, balance boards, and beams, the Doman-Delacato mobility program of crawling, creeping, and cross-pattern walking, and some of Frank Hayden's specific drills. Games, relays, and Individual assistance were employed to make these activities

166 Significant developments in local school systems

enjoyable. It was hoped that they would increase eye-hand co-ordination, improve the handling of spatial relations, and enhance self-confidence and assurance. In preparation for more academic activities, the pupils were given a vocabularly test based on the reading series used in the schools. The results were combined with the classroom teacher's evaluation to identify each pupil's approximate grade level. Further information about his facility with oral language was obtained from an interview recorded on tape. The program itself involved measures to stimulate oral expression and discussion. For example, each staff member supplied an object at the lunch break each day to discuss with a small group. Among the items that aroused particular interest were sharks' teeth, ski goggles, a can of mango juice, and a Persian water pipe. Painting and modelling offered opportunities for the children to explain their creative efforts. So also did construction periods, which involved using cardboard boxes, buttons, straws, and other common objects; cutting and pasting from magazines and construction paper; dramatization and puppet making; building with hammer and nails; making bows and arrows; plaiting twine for climbing ropes and ladders; weaving and sewing; and using slides and microscopes. There was at least one excursion each week to an industrial plant, a public institution, or some other place of special interest. A major aspect of the program was an effort to sharpen the senses. Tapes and records, both in daüy use, contained nursery rhymes, poetry, and stories as well as various sounds such as those of the sea and of a roller coaster. Sixty eleven-minute films on various topics and a number of filmstrips were used to provide visual stimulation as well as topics for discussion. Tactile experiences were provided through work with many three-dimensional objects, textural materials, weights, and objects of graduated size. Pupils were given individual assistance to overcome specific problems. Tutorial help was provided in mathematics, speech, vocabulary building, and eye-hand co-ordination. There were both startling successes and cases where learning problems remained unidentified and unsolved. The latter seemed to demand more highly specialized evaluation and treatment than the staff could give. The effectiveness of the program was subject to continuous evaluation by the staff, and the attitudes of the pupils were ascertained at the end of each week. In the final week, the parents completed a questionnaire reflecting the reactions they were observing on the part of their children. The results were extremely encouraging, revealing that the primary objectives had been attained with almost every child. Tests administered near the end of the program indicated a definite improvement in physical ability. There were plans for a close study of the progress of the children in their regular classrooms. Early reports suggested that the majority of

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them were doing better in their work and enjoying school more than they had the previous year. E V A L U A T I O N OF S U M M E R C O U R S E S

South Peel school system The former South Peel Board of Education offered summer school courses for the first time in July and August 1961. J.A. Richardson of Lome Park Secondary School thought it an ideal time to evaluate the effect of the program on the progress of the participating students during the following year.8 His investigation covered students who attended any of the four secondary schools operated by the board - Port Credit, T.L. Kennedy, Gordon Graydon, and Lome Park - both before and after taking the summer school course. Not included were students coming from outside the system or from junior high schools within the system, the former because there was not sufficient information on them and the latter because the adjustment they had to make to the new environment might have confused the results. Since the study involved the question of whether or not there was carry-over in the same subject from the summer school experience, a further group who were not involved in the study were grade 11 geometry students entering grade 12 algebra courses and grade 11 physics students entering grade 12 chemistry courses. All the students investigated had failed one or two courses with marks of at least 40. What was called the experimental group was compared with a control group consisting of individuals who had been recommended for summer school but did not go and, in a few cases, of individuals in earlier years whose school records indicated that they would have been recommended had summer school been offered at that time. To form each group, students were paired on the basis of IQ, the June mark on the subject taken in summer school, and the final June average. The procedure used for pairing was apparently rather loose. Since both members of each pair came from the same school, it was claimed that any differentiating effects of school environment were eliminated. Richardson recognized, however, that there were uncontrolled teacher effects and variations in standards of achievement from one class to another. The implementation of the matching procedure produced 103 pairs from the 126 students who took summer courses. It proved impossible to pair the remaining twenty-three because they changed schools, changed courses, did not take the subject in the next grade, or had no suitable counterpart among those available for controls. The criteria used for comparing the two groups were the marks obtained at Christmas, at Easter, and in June of 1961-2, the year following summer school. The June final mark, a composite of marks obtained throughout the year, was used in preference to the June examination mark, since it was considered to be a

168 Significant developments in local school systems

better measure of overall effort, and was also the determinant of success or failure. The results did nothing to justify the summer school program. While 55 per cent of the experimental group passed the Christmas examinations in the subjects in which they had previously failed, as compared with 43 per cent of the control group, the respective percentages of passes hi June were 49 and 52. The temporary advantage of the experimental group, which had disappeared by the end of the year, was thought to have been attributable to the shortness of the gap between the end of the school and the beginning of the next year's work, which left the participants only three weeks to forget what they had learned, as compared with ten weeks for the control students. The marks obtained at Christmas were partly based on a review of the previous year's work. The summer courses did not appear to give the students any additional capacity to handle the new work they encountered during the latter part of the year. London school system Another of a number of evaluative studies of the effects of summer school on subsequent performance was reported by R.G. Van Home at the Seventh Annual Meeting of the Ontario Educational Research Council in 1965.9 The investigation consisted of a follow-up of 130 students hi London high schools who had taken one or two make-up courses to redeem failures. The basic aim was to obtain information that might be useful for counselling students and parents on the possible advantages of summer school attendance. Unlike the South Peel study, there was no control group with which to make comparisons. The investigator had developed a hypothesis that summer school was a valuable means of preventing failures and drop-outs. Without such an opportunity to complete the year they had failed, a number of students would not return the next year. The study offered strong support for this hypothesis. On the other hand, almost half of the group who passed hi their summer courses had difficulty with the subject the following year. There appeared to be grounds for encouraging the student to change subjects, where possible, after he had achieved the short-term objective of completing his year. At the Tenth Annual Conference of the OERC, H.J. Feenstra and R.G. Stennett reported a more elaborate attempt to evaluate the impact of summer school on the subsequent academic achievement of students in London schools.10 The investigation was undertaken against a background of several questions considered to lack satisfactory answers: 1 / Do summer schools encourage students to be less serious about their regular daily work because they have, hi effect, a second chance? 2 / Are the beneficial effects of summer school short-term or long-term? 3 / To what extent is attendance at summer school a substitute for a wiser decision to switch to a program more hi keeping with the student's abilities, interests,

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and work habits? 4 / Are there economic advantages of summer school programs over grade repetition? The authors of the paper referred to a number of studies carried out in Ontario and elsewhere that suggested that most of the benefits of summer school attendance were short-term. They apparently felt, however, that these findings were sufficiently tentative that further study was justified. The investigation involved the compilation of a vocational history of the students in London schools who were involved in the Carnegie Study of Identification and Utilization of Talent in High School and College that is, those who entered grade 9 in September 1959 - and who attended one or more summer school sessions during their high school careers. At the time the study was completed, they had all graduated from or left high school. It was thus possible to determine both immediate and long-term factors associated with summer school attendance. Data were obtained by trained clerks from Ontario School Record cards. The background information on each student included sex, number of years in elementary school, number of different elementary schools attended, a measure of socio-economic status, IQ as measured by the intermediate form of the Dominion Group Test of Learning Capacity, and the average mark in each of grades 4 through 9. A comparison between those students who did and those who did not attend summer school led to a series of conclusions. 1 / Those who attended had slightly lower intelligence scores and came from lower socioeconomic groups. 2 / From grade 7 to the end of grade 13, those who did not attend had higher average marks than those who did. The difference between the two groups increased with grade level. 3 / Those who attended summer school persisted longer and reached a higher grade level. This difference in achievement was evident in all three of the courses: general, commercial, and technical. Of these three conclusions, only the third might be considered to have had any element of the unexpected. There were indications that a considerable number of students eventually graduated from grades 12 and 13 with the aid of summer school attendance. The percentage of these was highest among students who attended at the higher grade levels. A higher percentage attained ultimate success among those in the general course than among those in the commercial and technical courses. Those who attended summer school for more than one summer attained a higher rate of success than those who attended only once. In general, it was concluded that summer school attendance had a short-term beneficial effect in helping students at all grade levels in all courses to attain a passing mark. Long-term effects varied according to course and grade. Kingston school system Summer school classes were operated in conjunction with the special

170 Significant developments in local school systems

summer courses for the preparation of secondary school teachers at McArthur College of Education. In 1968 there was an enrolment of approximately 1,200 students in grades 9 to 13 who had failed one or two subjects in June from schools in an area bounded by Prescott, Trenton, and Smiths Falls. Faced with the prospect that the college would terminate the program after that summer, the Director of Education for Kingston, A.C. Ritter, noted that the board would have to assume the full financial burden if it wished to continue the service. He expressed some doubt that such a course of action was advisable. With changing methods of evaluation of students' progress and of determining promotion, schools should probably no longer have to lean on Summer School which sometimes has almost a primitive aspect for the student who was assigned 43 say rather than 50 marks in a subject. There should be summer school programmes of course, but these should be purely optional, should not determine September promotion, should not be a hurried deadening rehash of the past year's work. Well devised summer courses at all levels, should include Remedial Reading aimed at improving skills, interest, comprehension and depth, and similar courses in Mathematics. Particularly should there be programmes where pupils may pursue special interests and take advanced work in areas that have special appeal to them. Keen interest and not punishment should be the reason for taking a summer course.11 COURSES FOR ADULTS IN THE TORONTO SCHOOL SYSTEM

Records indicate that evening classes were conducted in Toronto public schools in the middle of the nineteenth century. In 1859-60 such classes met in two schools on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday between 7:00 and 9:00 PM. The fee of 50^ per student per month apparently had a good deal to do with reducing the registration from nearly one hundred in the fall of 1859 to fourteen in 1861, a development which led to the closing of the evening schools. The program was renewed in 1880 with an enrolment of almost 1,300. This figure was sustained for a number of years, but in 1900 was reportedly down to 320. As conducted in 1963-4, the evening program consisted of courses in three main groups. 1 / All of the courses available in two of the collegiate institutes were offered in the same schools and carried credit toward the grade 12 and grade 13 diplomas. Instruction was provided at one of the elementary schools in subjects up to the grade 8 level. 2 / Noncredit technical and commercial courses were offered at four technical schools and two high schools of commerce. The sixty courses included such subjects as air conditioning, data processing, sewing, and welding. Beginning in 1964, courses were provided at Central Technical School to enable candidates to obtain the Ontario Secondary School Graduation

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Diploma in a technical field. 3 / Courses in English and citizenship for New Canadians, available in nine schools, ranged from basic oral English to English composition at approximately the grade 12 level. During the period between the Second World War and 1965-6, enrolment in academic, technical, and commercial evening courses increased from 11,782 to 23,682; then in a single year the figure shot up to 40,213, placing the operation on an entirely new scale. It was during this year that the nommai charge of $10 per person was abolished for all courses listed in Circular HS 1 of the Department of Education. Between 1951-2 and 1965-6, the number of students taking English and citizenship courses rose from 1,485 to 8,302. In the latter year, there were also 264 students in elementary school courses. Total enrolment in sixteen schools on October 2,1967 was 42,309. An effort was made in 1966 to determine the number of potential participants in a program of adult education. A survey conducted by the Research Department involved a sample of 1,700 people over sixteen years of age who were not in full-time attendance at school and who could be reached by telephone. As a result of interviews with 990 of these people, a number of useful statistics were compiled: 1 / 2 7 per cent were aware of and able to identify at least one agency providing adult education in some form; 2 / 1 4 per cent were participating in an adult education program; 3 / 4 0 per cent claimed that they would use a centre providing twenty-four-hour, seven-day, twelve-month service; 4 / 1 8 per cent expressed a willingness to spend five or more hours per week in class at an adult education centre; 5 / 1 7 per cent expressed a willingness to spend five or more hours per week in home study; 6 / 4.3 per cent claimed that they were prepared to spend $10 or more a week on such items as books, transportation, and babysitting to attend classes; 7 / 2 per cent had ended their formal schooling at grade 5 or earlier. These findings were used to justify an extension of adult education facilities. The Toronto board took some noteworthy initiatives in its handling of its responsibilities under the Ontario Manpower Retraining Program. It established and operated three adult education centres and an Adult Training Counselling Centre, the first of its kind in Canada. The latter provided an induction and orientation program for all those undertaking adult training in Toronto. They might be sent for skill courses to one of the board's adult education centres, to the Provincial Institute of Trades, the Provincial Institute of Automotive and Allied Trades, or the Provincial Institute of Trades and Occupations, or to courses offered by the Lakeshore Board of Education or the North York Board of Education. The main functions of the Adult Training Counselling Centre were to provide testing, appraisal, and counselling facilities in order to overcome the handicaps of many candidates for training in terms of inability to choose suitable courses, lack of motivation, and personal problems. More specifically, the program included the administration of achievement,

172 Significant developments in local school systems

mental ability, interest, and aptitude tests, counselling in group sessions to supply information on courses, employment selection, job interviews, individual interviews to deal with personal problems, and, where needed, psychiatric treatment. Trainees remained at the centre for periods up to one month while waiting until courses became available. In this interval they received instruction in English and mathematics at the appropriate grade level. Various health services were also provided as required. An unusual feature of the Toronto board's adult education program was the provision of instruction for the residents of Bellwoods Park House, which opened in February 1967. Built by the Adult Cerebral Palsy Institute of Metropolitan Toronto with major financial assistance from the Ontario government, it was said to be the only residence for disabled adults in North America. The Toronto board supplied two teachers who offered instruction in English, French, history, reading, and spelling. The educational background of the residents ranged from ahnost no formal instruction to a certain amount of university work. Teaching was done on both an individual and a group basis. There was no formal program the interests of the students and the background of the teacher were the sole determinants of what was studied. PROVISION FOR NIGHT SCHOOL COURSES

North York school system Reflecting the extremely rapid growth in the population of the municipality of North York, enrolment in night schools rose very quickly and the range of courses offered increased to satisfy a wide range of interests. During the 1950s the Recreation Commission of the township shared with the Board of Education the responsibility of providing a complete program for adults. The former offered courses dealing with hobbies and leisuretime activities while the latter's offerings related to the day-school program and to courses requiring special facilities. At the end of the 1950s, the board's program consisted of grade 12 and 13 academic subjects, English for New Canadians, ceramics, copper tooling, copper enamelling, oil painting, bookkeeping, business machines, stenography, typing, cooking, sewing, millinery, auto mechanics, drafting, electronics, machine shop, sheet metal work, woodworking, current events, drama, public speaking, music, and physical education. The North York system claimed credit for pioneering, in Ontario, if not in the whole of Canada, the introduction of distributive education courses, consisting of advertising, personnel management, office management, time study, small business management, retailing, and service station management. The December 1962 issue of North York School News reported that attendance hi the adult education programs was approaching that of the day schools, and in some cases was exceeding it. Total enrolment was al-

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most eleven thousand. The number of adults who had returned to complete grade 13 was 65 per cent higher than in the previous year. There were 315 students in the Advanced Technical Evening courses, which involved a program of electrical, electronic, mechanical, and production technology. Interest in business, management, and distributive education courses was such that enrolment hi some classes had to be limited. The further development of the adult education program was strengthened in 1962-3 by a report resulting from "A Study to Determine the Need for Technical Education in North York," which was presented to the Advisory Vocational Committee and the Board of Education. It indicated the extent of employment opportunities of various kinds in the township, presented information on students who dropped out of the schools, and recommended that every effort be made to keep individuals within the formal educational system until they were adequately prepared for suitable vocational opportunities. Where the continuation of full-time attendance was not possible, the evening program was considered as a promising alternative. In relation to the previous year, night school enrolment increased by 25 per cent. There were 881 additional students in eighteen new courses, including auto-body shop, small-engine maintenance and repair, stationary engineering, commercial art, interior decoration, a course for medical secretaries, basic law for the average citizen, conversational French, and the St John Ambulance course. In the post-secondary technological and business management areas, the new courses were Mathematics n, Electronics i, Technical Drawing i, Strength of Materials i, and production inventory control. Training for the unemployed involved clerical-typing and secretarial students and machine operators. The program for this group included assistance hi finding jobs, and about 80 per cent of those who completed their courses were reported to have been successfully placed. Between 1961 and 1964, according to the annual report of the board for 1964-5, enrolment increased by more than 50 per cent. The largest growth was registered in the academic, advanced technical, business management, supervisory training, and data processing programs, which together accounted for about one-third of the total enrolment. The number of students taking subjects required for university entrance more than doubled hi two years. The evidence indicated that the greatest need among evening courses was for those at the post-secondary level beyond the tradesman's level but below that of the engineer or scientist. The substantial proportion of students hi their thirties and forties demonstrated that those who had left school would come back for upgrading, regardless of age. Among the new offerings were courses in speed reading and reading comprehension. Since instructors for the latter were unobtainable, a teacher-training course was held for twenty-five candidates. There was some experimentation with English as a second language for New Cana-

174 Significant developments in local school systems

dians to determine the relative effectiveness of two-hour classes offered two nights a week for twenty weeks and classes of the same length offered four nights a week for ten weeks. Although the influence of the instructor was an uncontrolled factor, the verdict was rendered in favour of the more concentrated course. The year saw an expansion of counselling services, which were regarded as a particular success in the academic and Advanced Technical Evening courses, and among foreign-born students. There was a further rise of 22.6 per cent in enrolment in 1965-6. The courses ranged from the grade 7 level to three years beyond secondary school graduation. Of those who registered for grades 7 and 8 subjects, about 50 per cent obtained the qualifications to proceed to secondary school. In view of the large number of non-completers in most courses at this level, such a record was regarded as quite creditable. The neardoubling of the enrolment in advanced technical courses was also considered worthy of note in view of the fact that the same program was now available in five other centres in Metropolitan Toronto. It was possible to obtain certificates through these courses at three levels beyond secondary school graduation, meeting the academic requirements of the Association of Professional Engineers of the Province of Ontario for engineering technicians, senior engineering technicians, and engineering technologists. Plans had been made to introduce a new program in business administration and secretarial science paralleling the advanced technical courses. A substantial increase in interest in the advanced technical area was shown in 1966-7, when the numbers qualifying at the first, second, and third levels were respectively forty-nine, fifteen, and five. A gratifying proportion were granted Certificates of Merit, with averages between 65 and 74 per cent, and Certificates of Distinction, with averages of 75 per cent or higher. Those who attended came from 126 firms. The plans of the previous year for business administration courses at three levels beyond grade 12 were implemented. The data processing course attracted 249 students. In 1967-8 the impact of the colleges of applied arts and technology began to be felt. Seneca College in particular attracted students for some of the types of courses that had previously been offered only by the Board of Education. Board-sponsored courses continued, however, to cover a very wide range. In the arts and science area in 1968-9, there were twelve grade 13 subjects, twelve grade 11 and 12 subjects, six grade 9 and 10 subjects, and three basic grade 7 and 8 subjects. Numerous other courses were offered in the general areas of arts and crafts, business and commerce, science, technology and trades, conversational languages, general interest courses, and home economics. At Northview Heights Secondary School, sixteen courses were available in the Business Management and Supervisory Development Program. The Advanced Technical Evening program was offered at Bathurst Heights Secondary School.

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Ottawa secondary school system In 1966 the Ottawa Collegiate Institute Board had an Adult Education Division staffed by a director, an assistant director, and a liaison officer. A co-ordinator of training supervised the Ontario Manpower Retraining Program, which was soon to be placed under the control of Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology. Over two hundred different courses were being offered in several main groups: basic education, general academic and cultural courses, credit and non-credit technical courses, business and commerce, home and family life, practical arts, special courses, and programmed learning. Registration was open to any adult over sixteen years of age who was not attending regular classes in an elementary or secondary school. There were no residence qualifications. In the autumn of 1966 total registration was over twelve thousand. The annual report for 1966 mentioned experimentation with various new approaches. The traditional assumption that evening classes should run from October through March was being tested by the offering of courses of differing lengths beginning at various times throughout the year. Courses of ten or twelve weekly sessions had been found quite popular. For the first time, special courses had been organized on a contract basis for government departments, private business, and voluntary agencies. As an example of these, trades orientation courses were offered for immigration officers about to go abroad. These gave them an insight into technical trades and thus equipped them to classify the skills of potential immigrants. Greater emphasis was being placed on parent and family ufe education. Study-discussion groups were organized for parents of elementary school children, and plans were being made to do the same for parents of adolescents. Pre-school parent centres, which had been supported for the previous seven years, were a particular highlight of the program. Mothers brought their pre-school children to these centres where they observed them playing with others and engaged in discussions chaired by trained leaders. One evening meeting during the ten-week session included fathers as well as mothers. Sudbury school system The new Sudbury Board of Education, which took office in 1969, provides an example of board policies with respect to adult education. As stated in the manual issued for the year 1969-70, the aims of the program were to assist adults to upgrade their education in academic, technical, and commercial subjects, to generate a greater interest in the creative arts, to encourage adults to enjoy their leisure time, and, in a limited number of cases, to enable day-school students to take subjects that did not fit into their day-school programs. Fees and government grants were together expected to make the program as nearly as possible self-sustaining. The

176 Significant developments in local school systems

programs were to be conducted in such a way as to minimize conflict with the operation of the day school. The area superintendents were responsible for the organization and co-ordination of the programs in the schools under their jurisdiction. This meant assessing the needs of the area, hiring a coordinator, in consultation with the principal, for each school, recommending and scheduling courses, and assisting in promotion in each secondary school. The superintendent of services had the main responsibility, in co-operation with Cambrian College, Laurentian University, and the Ontario Manpower Retraining Program, for promoting and advertising adult education courses. The board declared its intention of co-operating with groups sponsoring other programs, and of making its facilities available to them provided that they did not charge a fee. The fee for courses in English for New Canadians was $10; that for three-month courses, depending on the number of hours per week, ranged from $9 to $17; and that for sk-month courses ranged from $17 to $35. A day-school student who was permitted to take an option at night school because of the overcrowding of regular classes was exempt from paying a fee. Courses in drama and public speaking were offered without the payment of fees. A refund was made on a pro-rata basis if a course was discontinued because of a lack of students. Teachers of regular day-school were restricted to a maximum of six hours of employment a week in any of the adult education programs operated by the board. A school co-ordinator was paid at the rate of $25 for each course multiplied by a number of nights a week on which it was offered. An unqualified teacher was paid at the rate of $8 per hour; a qualified teacher, defined as one with secondary school teaching qualifications or two years of successful experience teaching the subject for which he was being paid, received $9 per hour; and a teacher of courses above the grade 12 level received $10 per hour. Teachers assisting with registration were remunerated at the same rate as those teaching classes. SUMMER COURSES-ADULTS What was said to be the first summer school of its type was offered in 1970 at Northview Heights Collegiate Institute in North York. Two grade 11 and 12 courses, Man in Society and Consumer Education, were offered in the evening for parents and other adults in a form intended to suit their level of interest. The classes were held for ninety minutes three nights a week during an eleven-week period. While some of those attending sought credit with the idea of pursuing study at a more advanced level in order to improve their occupational status, others were interested in keeping pace with their own children of high school age.

SIX

Administration and operation of school systems and schools

ADMINISTRATION OF SCHOOL SYSTEMS

There were two chief factors operating in the late 1960s to bring about changes in the administrative structures that were considered necessary to keep the schools functioning effectively. One was the fresh impetus to treat school education as a continuum from kindergarten, or in some cases junior kindergarten, through grade 13. This development was given a strong push by the Hall-Dennis report, although substantial changes were already under way when that document appeared. The second factor, which did not directly affect structures in the largest cities, was the establishment of divisional boards in January 1969. London school system In the fall of 1966, the London Board of Education recognized the significance of the elimination of separate superintendencies of elementary and secondary education in the Department of Education at the beginning of the previous year by initiating plans to follow suit. The new organization was ready for introduction in phases by the fall of 1968. Previously there had been eleven officials reporting to the director of education: the superintendent of public schools, the assistant superintendent of public schools and superintendent of special education, the superintendent of architectural service, the attendance counsellor, the medical officer, the music director, the superintendent of secondary schools, the superintendent of business, the dental officer, the guidance director, and the director of psychological services. In the new scheme, there were four officials at the second level: the superintendent of instructional personnel and professional development, the superintendent of supervision and curriculum, the superintendent of student services, and the superintendent of business. The superintendent of instructional personnel and professional development was responsible for hiring new teachers and introducing them to the system, certification, salaries and benefits, records, supply teachers, training, and liaison with universities and teachers' colleges. The superintendent of supervision and curriculum was responsible for the assignment and evaluation of teachers, liaison with the Department of Education, enrolment, accommodation, instructional supplies, equipment and technique, the development of courses and curricula, audio-visual education,

178 Significant developments in local school systems

summer school, adult education, and long-range planning, design, and construction of new buildings and additions to existing schools. The superintendent of student services was responsibile for special education, guidance, medical, psychological, and dental service, music, attendance, and liaison with community and other educational agencies. The superintendent of business was responsible for finance, accounting, budgeting, purchasing, property and buildings, insurance, and electronic data processing. This position remained almost unchanged. The superintendents of instructional personnel and professional development and of supervision and curriculum each had associate superintendents with experience in elementary and secondary school administration. Each associate superintendent had responsibility for the schools in one of the five sectors into which the city was divided. The former inspectors became assistant superintendents. North York school system The introduction of junior high schools into the North York educational system in 1958 was seen as a contribution to the development of one continuous educational organization, helping to overcome the sharp break between the elementary and secondary levels. As of August 1, 1967 another decisive step was taken in the move toward an integrated system. Six superintendencies were created, with responsibility for the following areas: professional development, curriculum, supervision, academic personnel, student services, and general administration. Under the authority of the Director of Education, each superintendent oversaw the activities of his branch from kindergarten to grade 13. The superintendents of curriculum and professional development were expected to consider changes in terms of their effect on the total school program. The superintendent of supervision was responsible for teacher rating, promotions, and evaluation. The inspectors, all of whom were designated simply as inspectors of schools, were to continue to concentrate their efforts in the fields where they were most competent, but were expected to understand and appreciate what was going on in the entire system. The superintendent of academic personnel concerned himself with recruitment, certification, salaries, matters of discipline, fringe benefits, and leaves of absence. The superintendent of student services was responsible for matters such as guidance, attendance, special education, transportation, and field trips. The superintendent of general administration had charge of budget, school accommodation and equipment, staff allotment, and other matters relating to the operating program. For administrative purposes, the borough was divided into five geographic attendance areas. In charge of each was an area supervisor with the status of an assistant superintendent. The principals of all the schools in an area were answerable to him, and he was to provide liaison between the teaching staff and the six superintendents. He was to suggest policy,

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to see that it was explained to principals and teachers, and to ensure that it was implemented. He was also to defend the autonomy of the school principal and to support his use of his authority in the best interests of the students and teachers. In announcing the new arrangement, the Director of Education, F.W. Minkler, predicted that the greatest impact of the organization would be in the field of curriculum. In his annual report to the Board of Education for 1966-7, he said: "Corporate decision-making involving all the teachers who will deal with the child at varying stages of his development is the only kind of decision-making which can be accepted."1 York school system The York Board of Education commissioned reports in 1968 paving the way for a reorganization of the administrative structure that would be compatible with the principile of integration. After a scheme was approved hi January 1969, officials were appointed to new positions, and the changes were introduced in phases over the next few months, becoming completely effective on August 1. Provision was made for three chief officials answerhag to the director of education: the superintendent of program, the superintendent of instruction, and the superintendent of business. There were two assistant superintendents of program at the second level below that of the director. The first of these was responsible for the student program, learning resources, and special programs. Duties with respect to the student program had to do with curriculum, including the development of new courses and course revision, program implementation, evaluation, adult education, summer school, pupil promotion, driver education, and liaison with institutions of further education. Learning resources included instructional materials, the library resource centre, excursions and educational tours, outdoor education, texts, book rooms, inventories, and school accounting. Special programs dealt with water safety, public speaking, performing arts, enrichment, and English as a second language. The second assistant superintendent of program was responsible for an in-service education, subject co-ordination, research, and the co-ordinating program. In-service education covered induction of new and experienced teachers, courses and internship programs for professional and lay personnel, workshops, conferences, visits, and sabbaticals. Subject co-ordination involved all the major areas of study. Research was particularly concerned with testing and evaluation. The coordinating program consisted of meetings of superintendents, principals, co-ordinators, supervisors, consultants, and other staff groups. The first of three assistant superintendents of instruction was responsible for staff, liaison with teacher training institutions, and contacts with the Department of Education. Staff affairs included the recruitment of teachers and lay personnel, certification, salaries, promotions, evaluation, organization, federation matters, the administration of fringe benefits,

180 Significant developments in local school systems

supply teaching, and references to and from other boards. The practiceteaching program was included under liaison with teacher training institutions. The second assistant superintendent of instruction was concerned with accommodation, attendance, including records, surveys, and projections, transportation, budget, pupil transfers, admission of non-residents, liaison concerning assessment revision, liaison with architects and the Plant Department in connection with the planning of new buildings, initial equipment of new schools and additions, education advisory teams, liaison with the Plant Department concerning services, statistical reporting, service in school cafeterias, and emergency measures. The third assistant superintendent of instruction was responsible for special services, guidance, liaison with the Board of Health, liaison with the Social Planning Council, visitors, relations with parents and the public, data processing for academic purposes, liaison with respect to retarded children, liaison with the police, the courts, and crossing guards, suspensions and expulsions, home instruction, administration and supervision of special education programs, and appeals by charitable organizations. The first of two assistant superintendents of business looked after the Secretary's Department, purchasing, finance, personnel, general administration, permits, insurance, property, and board by-laws and regulations. The Secretary's Department was concerned with notices of meetings and minutes, with board correspondence, and with legal and legislative administration. Purchasing involved requisitions, purchase orders, inventory control, expediting, tenders and quotations, and the preparation of specifications. Finance covered budget preparation, budget control, payrolls, and data processing for business purposes. Personnel affairs included the recruitment of non-teaching staff, staff contracts, attendance, sick leave, the handling of negotiations with unions, labour-management relations, pensions, and group insurance. General administration covered mail, printing, telephone, liaison with the Metropolitan Toronto School Board and the Department of Education over financial and general matters, liaison with the Council of the Borough of York, and board functions. The second assistant superintendent of building was responsible for new buildings, maintenance and operation of plant, tenders and quotations with respect to buildings, the preparation of specifications, and drafting. He also had certain obligations in the areas of budget, property acquisition, union grievances, union negotiations, labour-management relations, and liaison with the Planning Department and the Works Department of the Borough of York. The principal of the school was regarded as a focal point of the organizational structure for communication and Une authority. He had access to the central administration by several routes depending on the nature of the matter requiring consultation. He was responsible as an educator and an administrator for the total operation of the school, including planning and control. Matters of concern within the school

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included the educational concepts to be initiated, implemented, and maintained, the methods of instruction, the financial operation of the school within an appropriation initially developed by the school, and the control of school personnel. Ottawa secondary school system Outward appearances at least would suggest that the recruitment of administrators and supervisors in local school systems has often been an unsystematic or even a haphazard process. In many cases, seniority has played an unduly important part. The tendency to promote within the system has overemphasized the importance of local experience and knowing the right people as opposed to originality and the impulse to innovate. School boards have been inclined to stick with the familiar figure who, if not likely to set the world on fire, at least gives promise of managing affairs with reasonable efficiency. Even among the available resources of proven, if modest, capacity, however, they have often failed to make the best choice because of lack of prior planning, despite the fact that they have had plenty of warning of approaching retirements or of the need for new appointments to handle expanding services. The Ottawa Collegiate Institute Board provided a conspicuous exception to the customary approach in its establishment in 1967 of an ad hoc committee to formulate and implement policies and procedures for the selective recruitment of supervisors and administrators for the secondary schools. The committee consisted of two trustees, an assistant superintendent, a vice-principal, three teachers, the chairman of personnel, and the superintendent. An educational consultant from the OISE provided advisory services. The committee was formed as a result of the realization that a rapidly growing system called for the identification and promotion of strong leaders. During the previous five-year period, the number of senior personnel had tripled, and more than forty principals and nearly three hundred supervisors and department heads had been appointed. There was, further, an obvious need to prepare for a number of crucial appointments hi the immediate future. It was recognized that government, business, and industry were competing vigorously from a limited manpower pool in the most promising age group, reflecting the low birth rate of the 1930s. The board would have to adopt appropriate measures in order to ensure that it obtained a reasonable proportion of the available talent. Between December 1967 and March 1968, the committee held six half-day meetings at which the members considered existing promotion practices, studied the validity of the principals' rank-ordering of fifteen selection factors in the light of research evidence, developed a set of selection criteria considered relevant to the Ottawa secondary schools, proposed methods and techniques for applying these criteria, and recommended procedures for the selective recruitment of supervisors and

182 Significant developments in local school systems

administrators. The members also spent a great deal of time hi subcommittees and in individual effort familiarizing themselves with relevant literature on selection, interviewing principals, trustees, and members of the OSSTF executive, talking to groups of teachers, administrators, and board members, and preparing reports and recommendations. Some of their ideas were tested in the interviewing and screening of twenty-four applicants for the Department of Education principals' course, which was treated as a pilot project. This experience gave the committee considerable confidence in its procedure. It was generally agreed that it was undesirable to appoint a candidate and then try to fit him into a position; the requirements of the position should first be analysed, and the person then found who would best satisfy them. The situation in Ottawa was considered to have enough characteristic features to justify the formulation of particular specifications. The recommended list of criteria was as follows: intelligence, good human relations, communication skills, good health, motivation to serve, creative and innovative behaviour, evidence of leadership hi the schools and in the community, a personal value system including integrity and a belief in the fundamental dignity and worth of the individual, above-average teaching ability, maturity and good judgment, qualifications required by the Department of Education, scholarship, and administrative and organizing ability. Factors which the committee felt should not necessarily be considered were age, marital status, extensive experience in administrative posts, and type or length of previous teaching experience. Flexibility was regarded as essential hi the application of the criteria. Special consideration was recommended for qualities of creativity and innovation. The committee recommended the use of a series of selection procedures and devices: 1 / a standardized culture-fair intelligence test selected and administered by the research officer or the chief psychologist to all candidates on their first application for promotion - the results to be kept confidential and reported in verbal terms rather than hi numerical scores; 2 / an assessment of teaching ability by inspectors, program consultants, supervisors, or principals; 3 / filing and assessment of Department of Education certificates and other qualifications; 4 / filing and expert evaluation of transcripts from undergraduate and postgraduate studies and teacher training; 5 / evaluation of performance by the critical incident technique; 6 / appraisal of administrative and organizational ability as chairman of teacher groups, adviser to student associations, department head, intern, or holder of other positions of responsibility; 7 / evidence of further education beyond the first degree or certificate; 8 / appraisal of communication skills, both written and oral, by analysis of case studies and by providing opportunities to speak to school assemblies, to groups of parents and teachers, and to community organizations; 9 / a medical examination by a physician appointed by the board and at board

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expense; 10 / filing of personal history forms or other biographical data, giving evidence of leadership in the schools and in the community; 11 / direct, confidential recommendations from previous and current associates and supervisors; 12 / appraisal of potential by well-planned interviews, preferably with skilled interviewers, prepared by an educational consultant; 13 / performance in seminars, simulation activities, or other inservice-training; 14 / continuous evaluation combined with personal interviews by principal and other supervisory officers during the course of the applicant's teaching and administrative experience. The Collegiate Institute Board adopted a policy whereby the personnel officer was to survey the secondary schools during the first three months of each year and, before the end of December, to make a forecast of the needs of the system for supervisors and administrators. The central office was also responsible for making five- and ten-year projections based on estimates of student enrolment, school building plans, and housing and census figures. These projections were to be revised each year in December. All openings were to be advertised as widely as possible to ensure that the best applicants were considered. Principals were given the special responsibility of encouraging teachers with supervisory or administrative potential to prepare themselves by appropriate training and to apply for advancement. Teachers, supervisors, and administrators were urged to suggest people with the qualities needed for advancement. Criteria recommended by the ad hoc committee were applied by a screening committee and by a selection committee, both appointed by the superintendent. The selection committee interviewed applicants nominated by the screening committee for positions at and above the level of vice-principal. An educational consultant might, subject to the approval of the board, assist hi the evaluation of transcripts, in the training of screening or selection committees, in the analysis of personal history forms, and in the selection of specific applicants. An applicant nominated by the screening committee but not selected for promotion was to be placed on an eligibility list for future openings of a similar nature, where his name remained for five years. After that time, he was expected to reapply. All appointments were supposed to be announced by March 1 of the year in which duties were to be assumed. Principals for new schools were ordinarily appointed a year before the building was opened so that they could work closely with architects, builders, suppliers, and Department of Education officials. Department heads were also to be named, although not appointed, well in advance so that they would have plenty of time to plan the curriculum for the new school. Upon evidence of sufficient demand, the board committed itself to conduct an in-service education program designed to assist those who hoped for advancement. Such programs consisted of workshops, simulation training, seminars in supervision and administration, job rotation,

184 Significant developments in local school systems

apprenticeship, and internship. An applicant for a supervisory or administrative position was expected to give evidence of a continued interest in these activities. Co-ordination of elementary and secondary school curriculum in Mississauga Before the school board reorganization of 1969, the Board of Education for Mississauga had undertaken to integrate the curriculum at the elementary and secondary school levels by setting up curriculum councils in English, mathematics, science, geography, and history.2 While the membership of these councils consisted mainly of practicing teachers from both levels, they also had the services of the superintendent of public schools and the assistant superintendent of secondary schools as advisers. Somewhat reminiscent of the curriculum committees established under the Porter Plan to deal with the intermediate division, they examined the whole program from kindergarten to grade 13, giving attention to methods, textbooks, and in-service training. They also considered aspects of special education having a bearing on their own subjects. Some of the early meetings were said to have been the occasion for surprise when secondary teachers discovered what their colleagues in the elementary schools were doing. Such discoveries made it possible to devise course revisions that would prevent duplication and ensure that later activities were built on those that had been engaged in earlier. THE INCREASING ROLE OF DATA PROCESSING IN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION

Some reference is made to the uses of data processing equipment, including computers, hi chapter 2. Since the same devices may serve both curricular and administrative ends, it is not easy to make a sharp distinction between the two functions. This problem is perhaps no serious cause for concern among those who rightly emphasize that the only reason for the existence of the administrative structure is to promote the effectiveness of the curriculum. North York school system The installation of an IBM model 360 in the central offices of-the Board of Education in 1966 was seen as a means of improving the efficiency and speed of accounting functions, permitting the extension of automated techniques in such areas as grade reporting, objective test marking, the maintenance of attendance records, and the analysis of students' progress. Among new data processing systems were payroll and personnel records, plant and equipment maintenance control, and an audio-visual crossreference film index which enabled teachers to locate the filmstrips and other audio-visual material available on a particular topic by looking up a word that described that topic. The addition of an optical mark scanner

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in 1968 was designed as a means of eliminating input problems and expanding the range of services. Innovations effected during the same year also included the conversion of the capital accounts program to data processing. The program for the use of a data file on 100,000 students was considered as an extension of educational research and computer assisted school rezoning requirements. A system was put into operation to relate teachers' qualifications to the payroll file by superannuation number. A new supply teacher and sick leave control system was also implemented. The progress made in the North York system attracted world-wide attention. It was reported that, during the 1966-7 school year, visits were made to the Education Data Processing Department and to Northview Heights Secondary School Computer Centre by 127 educators from Canada, the United States, Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Brazil, Sweden, and Hong Kong. Service was provided for Seneca College, York University, the Borough of North York, and the Boards of Education of Scarborough, Burlington, Vineland, Toronto Township, and York Central.3 Kingston school system The introduction of electronic data processing did not necessarily make an immediate contribution to efficiency. According to the annual report of the director of education to the Kingston Board of Education for 1967-8, procedures of this type were introduced hi one of the secondary schools for keeping attendance records, analysing examination marks, and preparing report cards. The experiment was said to have required a greater expenditure of teacher, clerical, and administrative time than the methods used previously. During the first seven months of the year, it had been necessary to maintain the regular attendance register as well as records hi the new form. It was especially hard to deal with semestered courses and weighted marks on the computer. There had been difficulties hi maintaming adequate communication with the Ottawa firm that provided the service. There was nevertheless optimism that electronic data processing would eventually prove advantageous. Provision was made for the construction of timetables by computer, as well as by the traditional method, for the following year. SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND M A N A G E M E N T

Expression of views on school management by Barry Lowes In a letter which the Toronto Daily Star published on February 25,1970, Barry Lowes expressed some of his ideas about the ways in which the organization and administration of schools might be improved. Pointing to the crucial position of the principal hi encouraging or frustrating change, he asserted that the role of this official must be studied and modified. Too much of the principal's tune was absorbed by routine administration.

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For too much of his time he was a highly paid clerk when he should be, and wanted to be, a leader in the school. Part of the change would result from a greater delegation of authority from higher levels in the administrative hierarchy. The principal would be given much more freedom to attract teachers who shared his philosophical outlook. He would share the most important decisions that would affect the kind of school he would direct. He would be encouraged to try new ways, and would not be given too difficult a time if he made mistakes. Lowes thought that if he did not make mistakes he was playing his role too safely. The principal, in his turn, would delegate increasing amounts of responsibility to the teacher. This change would appear to be a matter of necessity rather than of choice. We are placing greater demands on teachers today than ever before, and we are seeking to attract bright, young, creative, questioning adults into teaching. If we are successful in finding such people, we must be prepared to accept the by-product - namely, their greater involvement in decision making. It would be naive to expect them to be professionally all we hope for and not expect them to want a voice in the direction of their schools. The exercise of responsibility by teachers might be reflected in greater variations in staffing from one school to another. One school, for example, might wish to have a minimum of vice-principals and consultants, and correspondingly more classroom teachers. Another might choose to have a relatively large number of pupils per class, and to provide technicians to assist teachers with preparation. There might be variations in the number of secretaries employed. Different distributions of staff, reflecting types of programs, would all cost about the same. There would also be possibilities for spending budgetary allotments for equipment and materials in different ways. There might be differences in emphasis between books and non-print materials, or among sports equipment, musical instruments, and science equipment. A school might choose to finance a large number of field trips into the community instead of purchasing some expensive type of equipment. Lowes asserted that democratization could not stop at the teachers, but must involve the students. He believed that the students would learn the most from the way in which they were treated in school. While he did not think they should run the school, it was important that they be listened to, as they had not been hi the past. For too long, young people were not allowed to make any real decisions affecting their school life. They were harassed by dozens of petty rules, the reasons for which had long been forgotten. The guiding principle seemed to be to keep the students in line, to keep the lid on. So we sat upon 99.9 per cent of the students because we were afraid of the one tenth of 1 per cent who

Local administration 187 were the disturbers and the radicals. I think that this has demonstrated a shocking lack of faith and respect for young people, most of whom tend to be responsible. As Lowes saw their role, students should have a strong voice in establishing any rules governing them and their behaviour, and equal responsibility in ensuring that the student body abided by such rules once they had been agreed upon. His own experience had indicated that young people who were involved hi this way tended to be stricter with themselves than many adults would be. As a means of involving the whole community, an objective which he considered very desirable, Lowes advocated the establishment of an advisory council for every school consisting of students, teachers, parents, other adults, and trustees, to work closely with the principal. While such an arrangement would result in conflict, it would give the principal a better means of understanding the community. It would help overcome the existing feeling of alienation from the decision-making process, and enable people with points of view, complaints, and suggestions to make themselves heard. ... if we are to continue to improve the quality of education, and if we are going to make the wisest possible use of the enormous funds we are spending hi education, our first step must be to take school administration back into the community to the people. The house system at Newtonbrook Secondary School, North York Newtonbrook Secondary School was one of those chosen by the Department of Education in 1967 to participate in a pilot project featuring a system of promotion by individual subjects rather than by grades. A measure adopted in the same school to replace the traditional home form and to enable the students to develop a sense of security and loyalty was the house system. The six houses were named for pioneer Newtonbrook settlers: Cummer, Fisher, James, Montgomery, Playter, and Wilcott. Each house consisted of nine groups of students, totalling about 250, who had been in secondary school for approximately the same length of time. The subjects they were taking had nothing to do with their membership. There was a teacher in charge of each group who in effect was the equivalent to the old-style home-room teacher. For each house there was a housemaster who gave the students some general counselling and dealt with routine disciplinary matters. He also conducted interviews with parents when the need arose. He performed some of the functions of a vice-principal, which he was considered particularly capable of handling because of the opportunities his position gave him to get to know the students. Each house had a house captain, athletic captains, and a house committee, and sent two representatives to the Student Administrative

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Council. The prefect system was also an aspect of the organization. All reports and administrative records were based on the house or group. Exchange of elementary and secondary school teachers in Scarborough A step was taken in Scarborough hi 1969-70 to bridge the gap between elementary and secondary schools by arranging for an exchange of teachers. Neil Swann, a geography teacher, conducted a daily class at Bendale Park Public School while the Bendale vice-principal, G. Jannett, taught a grade 9 French class in David and Mary Thomson Collegiate Institute. It was thought that the arrangement would help to smooth the transition between grades 8 and 9 by giving grade 8 pupils a preview of the work expected in the high schools. Benefits were also envisaged for the secondary school students in being exposed to different methods. Jannett was reported to have introduced an approach to the teaching of oral French that was new to the collegiate. Involvement of students at Port Credit Secondary School Port Credit Secondary School undertook in 1969 to involve students in defining a set of aims that would guide the future development of the school program. A committee consisting of nine students, five teachers, and three businessmen met repeatedly under the chairmanship of the vice-principal to draw up a statement of principles for presentation to the entire student body. Another committee, with perhaps more assurance of concrete results, met under the chairmanship of the principal to study school rules. A third conducted an assessment of the history program. The first committee was assigned the task of studying the Hall-Dennis report to see which of its recommendations should be applied. The members' deliberations resulted in a strong stand in favour of subject promotion. Letter grading was also recommended as a replacement for the existing percentage system, which gave a spurious impression of precision. The committee judged the idea of completely replacing nightly homework with long-term assignments as too extreme, feeling that there was a role for both. Among the Hall-Dennis recommendations that found particular favour were more educational field trips; summer school programs to pursue special interests, to do advanced work, or for recreation; and visits to the school by musicians, painters, writers, actors, politicians, and people from different religious backgrounds. Among the goals the committee recommended for the school were these: to ensure the student's physical and mental health, to develop his communication skills, to make him feel secure and self-confident, to give him a positive attitude toward change, to help him acquire a purpose in Ufe, to enable him to develop interests and abilities that would give lasting satisfaction, and to help him develop his own code of ethics. There was strong support for

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free and frank discussion of current events and the fundamental issues of modern life. The school authorities were aware, from previous experience, of the danger that the commitees might sink into insignificance if their recommendations failed to exert a significant influence on practice. A vital factor was that the principal wanted changes made, and hoped they would have a greater chance of success if the ideas came from the students. Apparently there was no serious fear that the students would suggest anything too radical, although there was no commitment to accept all their proposals. Grade 13 school at Hamilton On the recommendation of the Director of Education, the Hamilton Board of Education decided that, beginning in 1966, all grade 13 students living below the mountain would attend the former High School of Commerce, which was renamed Hamilton Collegiate Institute. There were two main purposes in this arrangement: to give the students the best possible instruction and to introduce them to some of the freedoms they would experience in institutions of post-secondary education. In pursuit of the first objective, the best of laboratory and audiovisual equipment was purchased and many reference books were supplied. Classes were held to a maximum of thirty students. The school day was divided into seven periods, each fifty-five minutes hi length, with a five-minute break between periods. Regular teachers taught four periods each day and department heads three. Most had only a single subject, although a few had two related subjects. In unassigned periods they were available hi their own rooms or hi the science preparation room for individual assistance to students who needed it. According to the principal's report, the following program features characterized the first year's operations: team teaching in English; seminar programs hi history, geography, and biology; field trips hi biology and geography; advanced scientific experiments by individual students hi the science preparation room; and the use of audio-visual equipment to supplement teaching hi all subjects. Special provision was made for counselling; visits to the school by university admission and liaison officers, as well as trips to universities by the students, assumed particular importance. In pursuit of the second objective, a study and recreation area was set up consisting of an unsupervised study hall, a library and referencereading room, a cafeteria, a smoking lounge, and two gymnasiums. The students could spend then: free time as they wished in this area. Rules that prevailed hi the usual school accommodating students between grades 9 and 13 were said to have been abolished. Relaxation of regulations did not, however, go so far as to eliminate the keeping of attendance records. One of the peculiar characteristics of the school was that, because

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many of the students lived a considerable distance away, those whose fathers worked in nearby industrial plants arrived with them for the eight o'clock shift. As a result, the school was always half full by eight o'clock in the morning. Early arrivals made heavy use of the resources centre and gymnasium. By the beginning of the third year of the school's operations, there began to be reports on the success of its graduates in institutions of postsecondary education. According to the newly appointed principal, F.R. Smith, the verdict was highly favourable.4 The graduates were adjusting to the freedom and responsibility they encountered under the new conditions far more quickly than the average student. It was also felt that the anticipated raising of standards was being realized. The approximately nine hundred who attended in 1967-8 won more than fifty Ontario scholarships. The senior plan at Forest Hill Collegiate Institute An arrangement was made in the early 1950s between the staff and the students of grade 13 at Forest Hill Collegiate Institute whereby the latter would be given special privileges in return for the assumption of corresponding responsibilities. The staff felt that nearly all of the students at this level wanted to do well, and that they had achieved an inner motivation that made the usual school .routine, not merely superfluous, but even harmful, hi that it deprived them of the opportunity to accept responsibility for their own success and failure. It seemed unreasonable to operate the whole system to handle the few immature students who might cause problems no matter what procedures were used. The arrangement was seen as a preparation for the freedom and responsibility offered at the university, to which the overwhelming majority of the students ordinarily proceeded. The senior plan was worked out by an advisory council consisting of two students from each of the grade 13 classes, the home-room teacher, and the principal. After the initial arrangement was made, the council was responsible for administering it and for recommending improvements. For a time, the privileges involved applied only to students whose records were considered good enough to justify them. It was decided eventually, however, that the disadvantages of excluding approximately 10 per cent outweighed the advantages, and the plan was applied to aU grade 13 students. The list of privileges and responsibilities was drawn up and distributed among the students. The version that applied in 1963 was as follows. 1. It shall not be necessary for Grade 13 students to bring notes explaining absence for a half day or more. 2. Teachers will make a daily record of absentees and keep it on file.

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3. Most of the responsibility for doing and checking homework will be placed upon the student. If the student has failed to complete his assignment, he must notify the teacher if and as the teacher requires. Failure to comply with the teacher's policy may result in temporary exclusion from class. 4. If for any reason a student of Grade 13 is excluded from class by a teacher, it is the student's responsibility to see the teacher concerned and arrive at a satisfactory understanding before he is admitted to the next class with that teacher. Persistent failure to conform with the teacher's policy will result in permanent exclusion from that course. 5. Grade 13 students may or may not attend the regular supervised study form as they choose. If a Grade 13 student chooses to attend the regular study form, he must be in attendance at the start of the period and stay until the end. 6. Unless a student intends to miss periods one (1) or seven (7), he must be present for group period in the morning and at noon. If he misses periods one or seven and plans to attend A.M. or P.M. classes, he must sign in at the Office. 7. Grade 13 students will be allowed to eat food in the Cafeteria whenever they have a study, but no food will be on sale.6 Efforts were made to ensure that students continued to realize that they were being given privileges rather than rights. The scheme was therefore not put into force until after the first six weeks of the school term. This interval gave the staff and students sufficient time to work out the conditions under which they would operate for the remainder of the year. Experience indicated that problems were likely to arise if sufficient care was not taken at the preparatory stage. H.H. Mosey, principal of the school for many years, offered a cautious evaluation of the plan in 1966. And so a plan which began as an experiment has become the Plan which reflects a facet of our philosophy of education. It should never be introduced for administrative expediency, for it is not an easy plan to administer. It is always much easier to regiment than to deviate from a routine. Since it is equally difficult to assess the effectiveness of such a project, we can make no extravagant claims. To those who tend to measure a school's success by its scholarship record we would only say that our results over the years do not seem to have suffered. We would have no basis for claiming that they have improved because of the Plan. The only barometer is to be found in our graduates, many of whom have returned to tell us that they feel that they are much better prepared for life on campus than they would otherwise have been.6 At the time when it was introduced, the plan no doubt justified the term "radical." Students in schools throughout the province were used

192 Significant developments in local school systems

to being highly regimented right through high school. Although it occurred to a number of educators that eighteen- and nineteen-year-olds ought to be able to handle adult privileges if they were ever going to, such ideas had little evident influence on practice. Viewed from the vantage point of 1970, however, the Forest Hill senior plan looked quite cautious, or even timid. Such an observation in no way reduces the credit owing to those who had the imagination to break new ground. Certain events occurred at the school in the spring of 1969, the significance of which was difficult to determine at the time. It was certainly hard to believe that they were as important as the volume of newspaper publicity suggested. The short-term effect was undoubtedly to shatter any complacency there may have been about the unusually liberal attitudes that were reputed to prevail in the administration, or about the high academic standards for which the school had long been known. Undeniably, also, Principal Mosey, who was generally considered to be well liked, was given no reason to look back on the year with any great amount of pleasure. The seeds of conflict were sown early in the year when a small group of students, imbued with a sense of injustice over the wealth and privilege of most of the families in the neighbourhood, became attracted to certain Marxist ideas being propounded by adherents of the New Left. They were critical of the educational system in that they felt that young people in less prosperous neighbourhoods were denied equal opportunity because less was expected of them and they were in effect streamed into courses that prepared them only for working-class jobs. These students organized a Student Guard, and proposed to circulate their ideas by bringing in radical speakers and organizing seminars on Marxism. One of the leaders claimed that there were about thirty supporters in the school, although only seven were actual members. At first the Guard adhered to the school rules by obtaining a staff sponsor, as all student organizations were supposed to do. The teacher who agreed to assume this role was said to have done so because she felt that the students should be able to express their views, but not necessarily because she thought these views were valid. About the middle of the year, she withdrew - according to one student version, under administrative pressure. Whatever the reason, the Guard subsequently functioned against regulations, prevailing on certain teachers to sign for the use of rooms or the auditorium. The members of the group began circulating their views in a paper called the Guard, two issues of which they printed using facilities of the Ontario Union of Students. By spring Mosey, hi the presence of his vice-principals, ordered the seven active Guard members to disband then: organization, suggesting that they engage in something more socially useful. Evidently the students did not see fit to obey. During the latter part of the year, a second issue began to develop.

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In January the voluntary attendance plan and a scheme for optional examinations, hitherto applying to grade 13 students, was extended to grade 12. A rather large proportion of the students took advantage of their new freedom for no reason that seemed justifiable to their elders, and the principal, other staff members, and a good many of the students became concerned about what they saw as a loss of tone in the school and a decline in standards. It had seemed all very well in theory to place the onus on students to make their own choices and suffer the consequence of failure if they acted irresponsibly. It proved difficult, however, for the administration and staff to watch the process at work, and to resist the temptation to intervene when too many students seemed to be acting in a way that they might later regret. There was also an awareness that adverse community reactions might be expected if the permissive approach seemed to be getting out of hand. For a time the principal, the vice-principals, and staff members relied on persuasion to induce students to attend classes and to maintain certain standards of decorum. Mosey talked at school assemblies about the importance of good manners, involving the use of "please" and "thank you." He felt that students might reasonably be expected to address a male teacher, parent, or older person as "sir." He also thought that a student seated in the corridor with whom he stopped to speak owed him the courtesy of standing. When he found that this response was not always forthcoming, he decided that he could make his point most effectively by telling the student he owed him a dime rather than giving him a detention. By his own account, as related in the press, he collected only one dime, which went to a charitable cause. Unsympathetic versions of the practice had him levying fines for minor infractions of school rules, with resulting unfavourable publicity. By April a few of the teachers were reported to be threatening to leave teaching. Some senior students were demonstrating their displeasure over what they considered to be irresponsible behaviour and excessively casual dress by avoiding contact with those involved. Mosey decided that the extension of freedom to grade 12 students was a failure, and announced the end of the scheme. When he observed a strongly adverse student reaction, however, he declared that he would put the matter to a vote. By the time the vote was taken, he was reputed to have decided to rescind his decision. While he apparently intended to act in the spirit of democratic administration, however, he left himself open to charges of vacillation, and to the accusation that the student vote was simply a sham. Seeing an opportunity to further their cause, the members of the Guard printed the second issue of their publication and distributed copies "on public property." On the cover, this publication had a caricature of Mosey's head on a tiger's body, with the caption underneath "Mr. Mosey is a paper tiger." Inside was a "fairy tale" about a mean old king who

194 Significant developments in local school systems

gave his subjects in the forest kingdom all kinds of illusory privileges, which he chastised them for using. The story also showed how the king used the fact of his white colour to manipulate the forest people, most of whom were blue. Mosey reacted by having copies of the paper seized and by suspending a grade 13 girl who was involved in producing and distributing it. When she and a few other students responded by picketing the school, her suspension was extended from two weeks to an indefinite period, and a similar penalty was imposed on two others. The picketers had little sympathy from the great majority of the student body, especially when newspaper reporters hastened to publicize the issue. An attempt was made to drag the protesters out of the school by force. A large number of students signed a petition backing the principal in whatever action he chose to take. Rather than settling matters by decisive action, Mosey apparently chose to pursue the principles of democratic administration by turning the problem over to a studentteacher committee. The result was a bill of rights, which in effect gave the Guard group what they had been demanding. Students could speak and publish as they saw fit, provided that they avoided disruptions of classroom activities and personal attacks. Student groups could exist without staff sponsors and were free to choose outside speakers to visit the school. Any member of the school community who felt that his rights had been violated could have his complaints considered in a forum which included students, teachers, and administrators. This forum could appoint a committee composed of one of each of these groups to investigate a complaint. At one stage Mosey apparently decided that the student body would vote on whether or not to permit the suspended students to return to class, while the teachers would decide on their eligibility to write examinations. He rescinded this decision, however, feeling, according to one version, that the result of the vote would probably have been permanent expulsion. The suspension was quietly dropped, and the students returned to class, their feeling of victory no doubt considerably tempered by an awareness of the hostility their actions had aroused among the other students. To an outsider appraising the incident largely from newspaper reports and periodical articles, the incident reveals a considerable gulf between the points of view of the school administration and staff on one side and the radical students - whose insignificant number does not obliterate their importance - on the other. Whatever its validity, the Guard group must be given credit for a sincerely held belief in the worthiness of their cause. The fact that the school was considered to be a model of enlightened liberalism did not in their eyes mean that it could be absolved from a share of the responsibility for some of the serious failings of the social system. They had been taught by their parents to think for themselves, to challenge what they saw as wrong, and to act in accordance

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with their principles. During the crisis, this parental support for at least some of the dissenters was evident. According to some reports, the students had some grounds for personal irritation. Threats of punitive action were apparently made that were not intended to be carried out. Some of the persuasion that was used on them was delivered in a patronizing tone that even the most enlightened educators can find themselves using after long contact with immature students. Even the jocular tones that were adopted by various administrators seemed to ring hollow. From another point of view, the radical students were spoiled, stubborn, insensitive, and rude. Their mouthing of Marxist slogans about setting up a student-worker state that would cure rampant social ills sounded ludicrous. They seemed incapable of appreciating the positive values hi their society and their school. They confused inherent and inalienable rights with privileges to be earned by a demonstration of responsibility. However misguided these sentiments, educators who feel that public opinion, or even the support of the majority of students, gives them a mandate for a policy of suppression are clearly on treacherous ground. It is of little avail to deplore, as some people not directly involved in the Forest Hill events apparently did, the influence of outside agitators and the threat of some kind of Communist plot to undermine school order and discipline. There is inevitably cause for serious concern if students are suspended or expelled from school convinced, rightly or not, that they are martyrs to a principle. There seems no question that it would have been better for all concerned if the principal, the other administrators, and the remainder of the staff had been able to make arrangements at the very outset for the maximum exercise of student freedom, given the existing social climate and the legal restrictions that governed their actions, and had subsequently stood firm. It is seldom that the appearance of making grudging concessions in the face of defiant student actions paves the way for later harmony and good will. Gloucester High School, Ottawa In the 1966-7 school year the sixty grade 13 students of Gloucester High School were freed from compulsory attendance at classes and allowed to leave school for temporary periods without obtaining permission to do so.7 They were required only to report to their home rooms each day and to avoid gathering in the halls in groups large enough to impede traffic. They soon developed the practice of gathering for discussions in a little-used cloakroom area equipped with a soft-drink dispenser. Attendance in some classes dropped substantially. The arrangement resulted from the initiative of the ten department heads, with the sympathy and support of the principal, as a means of pre-

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paring students to make wise decisions when given a measure of adult responsibility. The department heads maintained a constant scrutiny of the scheme as it evolved during the year. Among the problems was the irritation felt by teachers who regarded absence from their classes as an adverse reflection on their teaching ability. Despite such difficulties, the scheme was regarded as a great success - partly, as the principal of the school acknowledged, because of the relatively small enrolment in grade 13. If there had been two or three hundred students involved, the physical and other problems would have been a great deal more serious. This attitude indicates that a substantial extension of freedom was regarded only as a special privilege for advanced students, and not the beginning of a development affecting the entire enrolment. London school system In October 1968 the Courier, a publication of the London Board of Education, summarized changes in classroom practice in the London system. The shift of emphasis from teaching to learning is occurring at all levels, but most rapidly in the senior grades. Students are being given more freedom to develop subjects or projects on their own, and with this freedom comes more responsibility. Assignments are designed to assess initiative as well as ability, and term ratings are based on day-to-day work as well as examinations.8

The article undertook to assemble some appraisals of the effects of this change. The superintendent of supervision and curriculum said that the students worked harder and did better in 1967-8 under the relaxed philosophy of individual motivation. As an illustration, he mentioned that 132 grade 13 students won Ontario scholarships as compared with seventyeight the year before, and that the percentages of passes for the two successive years were 90 and 95. The fact that a change of the same nature and dimensions occurred all across the province during the year after the abolition of the grade 13 departmental examinations made this evidence somewhat doubtful. Many of the schools that showed what appeared to be greatly improved results had made little attempt to change their traditional approach. On the other hand, the opponents of the external examination system had accused it of being inimical to real education, and it would perhaps be unfair to suggest that they were not shown in an immediate and spectacular fashion to be correct. For the previous two and one-half years, grade 13 students at the G.A. Wheable Secondary School had been given complete freedom to come and go as they wished. If a student preferred not to attend a class, he might take a spare in the library, the cafeteria, or any other designated study area, or he might leave the school altogether. If he planned

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to attend class, however, he had to be on time, and would not be admitted late. Along with his privileges, he had certain definite obligations: he must keep up to date in his work, be aware of and hand in term assignments on time, and be present for all term tests. The teacher also had certain responsibilities designed to ensure that the student who took advantage of his freedom would not be unfairly penalized. At regular intervals he had to inform the students of work to be covered, the dates of assignments, and projects and tests. He could not present the class with an unannounced test. On the other hand, he was under no obligation to reteach assigned material. The principal of the school was very happy about the way the scheme had worked out. It was popular with the students, who had accepted the challenge and the responsibility. The classroom attitude was more relaxed and, most important, academic standings had unproved, with more students obtaining honours and fewer failing. After studying the results of the experiment, most of the secondary schools in the area were relaxing the regulations for senior grades. STUDENT ACTIVITIES

Winston Churchill Collegiate Institute, Scarborough On January 13, 1970 the Toronto Telegram published a story dealing with the drug problem at Winston Churchill Collegiate Institute in Scarborough. In response to complaints that only the unfavourable aspects of the school's affairs had been publicized, the newspaper attempted to balance the account the following week by recounting some of the ways in which the students had been involved with the community and had been taking constructive action on social problems. To some extent, their expressions of concern had reached beyond the limits of their own country. At the beginning of the year they had been actively engaged in raising money for the United Appeal. Fund-raising events had included a walkathon, a 160-mile bikeathon, and a number of car washes and bake sales. By these means, they had raised a total of $4,600 which, for an enrolment of about 1,850, amounted to about $2.50 per student. As increasing publicity was given to the plight of the starving Biafrans, a committee was formed to suggest a suitable course of action. When a questionnaire revealed that the students knew comparatively little about the nature of the conflict, a series of teach-ins was held to which guest speakers from Canairelief and Interpax were invited. The climax was a thirty-six-hour "starvathon" in which about seventy students participated. Approximately $650 was raised for food and medicine for Biafra. An unsuccessful attempt was made to present a petition on the subject to the Duke of Edinburgh during his visit to the Ontario Science Centre.

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It had been the traditional school practice to distribute hampers to welfare families in the neighbourhood at Christmas. The students decided to leave this task to established social service agencies and to devote their efforts to helping the impoverished Indians at Moosonee. They accordingly collected more than eight tons of food, clothing, and toys for the purpose. They themselves donated most of the food, while home economics and woodworking classes made toys. Teachers, secretaries, and caretakers all offered contributions. As a result of the project, the students decided to continue aid to Indians on a year-round basis. They used a collection of Indian children's art work for calendars which they sold to raise money for blankets for families in the Moosonee area. Magazines were collected for Indians at Sioux Lookout. Realizing that the area was almost completely lacking in recreational facilities, and that the students had too little to occupy them once classes were out, a group of teachers took the initiative in organizing a drop-in centre at the school. Once the centre was operating smoothly, responsibility for maintaining it was turned over to the students who had participated in the initial planning. Facilities made available from the end of school hours until 10 o'clock each night included the cafeteria, the movie viewing room, and a classroom equipped with television. Those involved had coped successfully with a few problems involving vandalism and drugs, and the project was considered a great success. Associations between students and staff members responsible for supervision were judged to be very constructive. Several activities indicated an awareness of the needs of the immediate community. A number of students had volunteered to assist at a school for retarded children in the municipality. A commitment of this kind meant a full year's service, since the therapy used at the school called for an unbroken relationship with each child over a considerable period of time. A general interest in the problems of pollution had developed quickly. As students arrived in school each morning, they were confronted with a chart showing the sulphur dioxide reading for the day. The students who had originated this idea were planning other activities relating to the same problem. Junior Big Brothers, Baihurst Heights Secondary School, North York The Junior Big Brothers program at Bathurst Heights Secondary School was begun near the end of the 1969-70 school year on the initiative of Big Brothers of Metropolitan Toronto. It involved an exchange with Remington Road Public School, designed to enable secondary students to assist younger pupils in various ways. Part of the program involved arranging for groups from grades 4 and 5 to visit the high school where they sat in on classes for an hour in the afternoon. By observing various activities, they were expected to develop an interest in attending high school at the appropriate stage in their careers. Since only a few could

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be accommodated, the participants were chosen on the basis of their likelihood of benefiting from the program. The older students had an opportunity for individual work with the public school pupils. They took them on weekend outings, taught them games, and in general tried to exert a constructive influence on them. This kind of activity was considered as beneficial to the giver as to the receiver. A girl who had a particular reputation for toughness was said to have developed an entirely new outlook as a result of her work with younger children. The Twin Schools Project The Twin Schools Project, organized and supervised by the Department of Education, as indicated in volume 11, chapter 2, gave large numbers of Ontario pupils an opportunity to correspond with their counterparts in other lands, particularly in the West Indies, and to exchange gifts and mementos. By this means, a feeling of personal interest and understanding developed, and a significant contribution to international harmony was made. It would perhaps be churlish to wonder whether the sharp contrast between relative wealth and poverty thus pointed up produced any adverse effects to counteract the undoubted benefits. An unusually elaborate venture was undertaken in 1969, when twenty-eight grade 6 pupils from Jefferson Public School in Richmond Hill financed an expedition to Jamaica, where they visited the August Town Primary School and met the pupils with whom they had been corresponding. When the idea was first suggested about the middle of the year, the children did not have a cent of the approximately $6,000 which the week-long trip would cost. They began their campaign with a Caribbean dance, which yielded proceeds of about $800. During subsequent months, they raised additional sums by means of car washes, rummage sales, raffles, and movies, by delivering telephone books for the Richmond Hill Rotary Club, by organizing weekend snowmobile races, and by soliciting donations from parents, friends, and neighbours.9 By June, they had succeeded in meeting their objective, and were prepared to leave in the company of their teacher and the principal of the school, who acted as chaperones. The Jamaican authorities had prepared a special welcome for them from the time they landed at the Kingston airport. They were quartered at a guest lodge, where they enjoyed the amenities provide for tourists. Their visit to their twin school revealed a primitive building without partitions, which was apparently not recognizable as an example of the open classroom so rapidly gaining popularity in Ontario schools. The equipment was scanty and in poor condition, and the supply of school books was seriously inadequate. The parents of the sixty to eighty pupils who attended the school nevertheless managed to provide a feast for their guests at lunch time. Other aspects of the trip included visits to other

200 Significant developments in local school systems

schools, a tour of a sugar plantation, and a visit to a plastics factory. By the time they were ready to return home at the end of the week, the children had had an opportunity for some very broadening experiences. SYSTEM-WIDE ORGANIZATIONS BY STUDENTS Ottawa secondary school system In the mid-fifties, secondary school students in Ottawa formed a Central Students' Council, which claimed to be the first organization of its kind in Canada. There were three members from each secondary school: the "head boy," the "head girl," and one student elected by the students' council. The principal of each school appointed a teacher adviser. Meetings were held each month at a different school. The purposes of the organization were apparently largely social and philanthropic. In January of each year, the council held a Leadership Banquet to which the presidents of all major clubs and organizations were invited. In 1966, for example, the banquet was attended by about 250 students and the mayor of the city was guest speaker. During the same year, a "Slave Day" was designated on which students offered to work for householders at odd jobs such as spring cleaning, car-washing, window-polishing, gardening, and baby-sitting. By these means, the sum of $5,000 was raised to support benevolent activities at home and abroad, such as helping to purchase a tractor for a village co-operative in Latin America, paying for penicillin in the Student War Against Yaws, assisting a convalescent camp for children and young people in India, and supporting a leadership training program among Canadian Indians. North York school system The Inter Collegiate Student Council for North York was organized in 1967 to co-ordinate certain interests of secondary school students throughout the entire school system. It developed as a result of the exercise of student initiative with the co-operation of the Board of Education. In his inaugural address on January 13,1969, Chairman Bruce Bone noted its motto "Progress through Responsibility," and commented on the success it had achieved during its first year of existence in establishing itself as "a viable platform for student opinion." Its executives had secured the privilege of meeting with senior officials on educational matters of common concern. It had also promoted responsible involvement of students in decision-making at the school level. Bone observed that there had been many indications of student unrest in 1968, and predicted much more of it for 1969. He expressed the optimistic hope that the Inter Collegiate Council would continue to represent the responsible majority. Anyone who supposed that the organization would be a force for the preservation of student docility would have been seriously in error. There were signs of a concerted effort to

Local administration 201

enlarge the areas of student freedom, mainly at the expense of the powers of the principal, to whom provincial acts and regulations gave almost complete authority to run the school. The North York Board prided itself on the absence of local rules and regulations to supplement those of the Department of Education. Board members and officials urged principals to accommodate the students as far as possible in order to avoid destructive confrontation. Whether principals could meet such pressures and continue to discharge their legal obligations was a question that would not be easily settled. With the election of Fred Freedman as chairman for 1969-70, the council expressed its concern over certain fundamental issues. There was a tendency to oppose the whole authoritarian environment of the school, where students were under all kinds of restrictions based on adult prescriptions of what was good for them. Freedman was quoted as saying that students should have the basic freedoms available to all citizens in a democracy, including freedom of dress, of speech, and of assembly. The council decided that students should be able to publish and distribute newspapers without the principal's approval. Insistence that there be a staff adviser was not considered acceptable in that it would amount to continued censorship. The demand of student leaders for a bill of rights was reinforced by a brief from the North York Citizens for Education, a document which the Board of Education, at a meeting in June 1970, agreed to study. The brief commented unfavourably on the extent of powers exercised by the principal of the school, and proposed that these be curtailed. It also advocated that students be granted freedom of speech, assembly, and publication. A stand was taken against school records, which were not available to parents, although other elements in the community had access to them. Spokesmen for the Board of Education responded cautiously. While expressing approval of the idea of greater freedom for students, the Chairman, L. Trainor, suggested that principals might react adversely if efforts to reduce their power were pushed too fast. He was also said to have pointed out that some students were more concerned with student power than with student responsibility. In 1970-1 a committee of the board studied students' rights in relation to the students in the schools, the teaching staff, and parents. After considerable deliberation this committee recommended research by board staff on such aspects of community-school involvement as government, curriculum, involvement by students, teachers, and parents, and the use of facilities. As an alternative to a specific bill of rights it advocated that the staff and students of each secondary school attempt to devise a mechanism to protect the rights of students and to clarify their responsibilities. The board acted in accordance with the recommendations of the committee and encouraged the members to continue their work.

202 Significant developments in local school systems

In the meantime the prospect of strong pressure by student organizations was weakened by difficulties in the process of electing students to office in the Inter Collegiate Student Council for North York. As a result of a challenge to the tallying operation in the spring of 1971, the results of the election were declared void. Because the school year was drawing to a close there was too little time to organize a new election, and the council remained without an executive during the summer. Student leaders spent considerable tune in the subsequent period working out acceptable operational procedures.

SEVEN

Special services, classes, and schools

A large part of the improvement in services offered by local school systems in Ontario during the post-war period has been in the form of increased attention to the special needs of children suffering from physical or mental handicaps, from emotional difficulties, or from cultural or social disadvantages. Tangible evidences of concern have also been demonstrated for those with unusual intellectual or artistic gifts. Assistance to such groups has included the establishment of clinics or treatment centres with expert staff, the provision of specialized services for certain children within regular classrooms, the setting up of special classrooms, and the establishment of special schools. There have been shifts in emphasis from one form of service to another as knowledge has accumulated and as ideas about the relative values of various approaches have changed. PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES

The provision of psychological services by the boards in the larger Ontario systems during the period dealt with here represented an attempt to identify and arrange for suitable treatment for the more serious among the mental and emotional problems in the school population. A rather obvious feature that distinguished such services from others that dealt with various manifestations of unsatisfactory or abnormal behaviour was that their key staff were psychologists. The extent of their operations was affected to a considerable extent by the existence or absence of services designed to handle part of the problem spectrum and staffed by other types of specialists. Examples of these were the Educational Clinic at London and the Adjustment Services Department at Hamilton. In places having such agencies, highly trained psychologists were usually able to make optimum use of their special skills within a limited range of problems. Toronto school system The Toronto Board of Education broke new ground in August 1951, when it appointed C.G. Stogdill as its first psychiatrist to work full time among school children. The preceding period had been one of conflict with the city Department of Health, which was responsible for health

204 Significant developments in local school systems

work in the schools. For nearly two years after the death of E.P. Lewis in late 1949, the schools remained without the services of even a parttime psychiatrist. The board finally secured the approval of the Department of Education to make its own appointment. Stogdill, who had spent the previous five years as Chief of the Mental Hygiene Division of the federal Department of Health, had unusual qualifications for his new position. His professional career began with teaching service, which included two years at Jarvis School for Boys; he had then studied medicine, specializing in psychiatry. He spent ten years in the Toronto Department of Health, during which tune he was involved in work in the schools. While serving with the federal government, he acted as professor of psychiatry hi the University of Ottawa. The scale of operations grew rapidly over the next decade. The annual report of the Board of Education for 1961-2 told of a great variety and volume of activity in Child Adjustment Services. Children might be referred there by the principals of their schools if they were not making good progress in school work, manifested overt behaviour problems, or seemed to be developing unhealthy personality traits such as extreme shyness, timidity, or fears. During that year, the full staff complement was five psychiatrists, four full-time and one part-tune; twenty-seven psychologists, twenty-one full-time and six part-time; five full-time psychiatric social workers; and twelve clerical workers. A substantial program of studies was carried out by staff members. One of the activities reported in 1961-2 was an attempt involving psychiatric social workers to employ group therapy techniques to motivate failing and borderline grade 9 students in two technical schools. A psychologist co-operated with the Research Department hi a study of gifted underachievers in public schools. Another psychologist undertook to measure the reliability of a Canadian performance test of intelligence that would be especially useful with New Canadian children. There was intensive investigation into the nature of the difficulties experienced by children with very poor reading ability who were attending dyslexic classes. The Child Adjustment Services Department co-operated with the Social Planning Council in studying multi-problem families and juvenile delinquency in one section of Toronto, and in conducting a needs and resources study of social agencies. It participated, along with the provincial Department of Health and with various children's psychiatric clinics hi Metropolitan Toronto, in a survey to determine the incidence of mental retardation. It worked with the Hospital for Sick Children hi studying what happened to mentally disturbed children whom it had been impossible to keep in school. The investigation provided useful data for the Department of Citizenship and Immigration in a study of the adjustment of New Canadian children. Among the active services of the department was the planning and

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carrying out of a workshop on schizophrenic school children, which was attended by 150 principals and teachers, as well as by professional staff members from children's psychiatric clinics. The need for more expert assistance to teachers in dealing with these children was emphasized in the discussions. A large number of professional groups visited the department to learn about children's behavioural deviations and the services provided to correct them. These groups consisted of public school viceprincipals, secondary school guidance counsellors, post-graduate physicians from the Hospital for Sick Children and from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, teachers taking a mental health course at the University of Toronto, psychologists-in-training at the Institute of Child Study, and psychiatric social workers-in-training from the School of Social Work. A list of activities for 1961-2 gives an indication of the extent and scope of the program of the department at that time. Number of individual tests and interviews, 7,520; number of parent niterviews, 3,444; number of consultations with teachers, principals, nurses, etc., 18,458; number of case conferences, 1,257; reasons for referral: academic, 5,060, conduct, 749, social relations, 152, personality, 1,224; classification as to intelligence: gifted, 141, very superior, 190, superior, 388, normal, 1,753, dull normal, 976, borderline, 532, defective, 276, deferred, 70; recommendations: special classes, 2,203, not mentally ready for school, 44, not mentally suitable for school, 65, programme for gifted, 127, enrichment, 94, physical investigation, 121, psychiatric examination, 610; number of boys seen, 3,269; number of girls seen, 1,978. The annual report of the board for 1965 emphasized the increasingly important role of social workers in the school system. Eight of these had been appointed to bring the total attached to Child Adjustment Services to thirteen. Apart from the chief social worker, nine worked in the school districts, two in the Intensive Study Clinic, and one acted as a supervisor. The nine school districts varied greatly in size because it was recognized that the extent of need was not closely related to population. One district consisted of a single downtown school while another contained twenty schools with a total enrolment of approximately twelve thousand. Each social worker had an office in a school that was centrally located in his district and spent most of his time with parents and teachers in an effort to help them with the management of children referred to him. North York school system The North York Board of Education established a Department of Psychological Services in 1955. Its stated purposes were to provide the services of professional psychologists to elementary and secondary school teachers and parents so that they might better understand and deal with children's educational and adjustment difficulties, and to assist the excep-

206 Significant developments in local school systems

tional child to improve his educational, emotional, and social adjustment in school and in the community.1 In its early stages, the department had responsibilities in four major areas: case work, special class placement, group testing, and research. Cases of personality maladjustment, delinquency, mental retardation, educational retardation, and unusual talent were referred by parents, school principals, school nurses, or local social agencies. Before there were any appropriate facilities in North York, children with serious personality problems had to be referred to clinics in Toronto. The group testing program included the administration of group tests of learning capacity and achievement tests in reading and arithmetic for all elementary school children. In 1956-7 the department distributed approximately thirty thousand of these tests and analyzed the results. The research work which was under the supervision of the department was conducted through the efforts of inspectors, principals, supervisors, and teachers. The program in 1956-7 included 1 / an extensive study of reading designed to add to knowledge of the relationship between various reading skills and achievement on the one hand and a child's intelligence, personality, and ability in spelling and arithmetic on the other; 2 / a developmental study of gifted children to compare the effects of acceleration and enrichment; 3 / a study of the relative usefulness of left-arm versus right-arm desks for left-handed children; and 4 / two studies being conducted in co-operation with the public school chief librarian to determine the role played by intelligence in children's reading preferences and ways in which reading preferences and achievement changed with age. In 1965-6, the staff of psychologists, which had gradually grown to ten, was expanded to sixteen, and seven people were appointed to the newly created position of psychometrician to assist in giving routine tests. As a means of providing more local and continuous service, one psychologist was appointed to handle the needs of public, junior high, and secondary school students in each of fourteen geographic areas. The one assigned to an area with a high proportion of Italian-speaking students was fluent in Italian. During the year, over 2,900 pupils were referred to the department for individual psychological examinations. In accordance with the practice established in previous years, the department was responsible for organizing the group intelligence testing program for all pupils in grades 1, 3, and 5. London school system The London Board of Education introduced a program of psychological services in July 1963 with a long-term plan formulated on the basis of consultations among members of the board and the administration. Information was collected from all levels of the system on the kinds of services that might be provided by psychologists. This information helped

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to indicate desirable qualifications for the staff and to determine service priorities. The approach adopted was a broad-based one designed for a therapeutic impact on the maximum number of students and for preventive intervention in the early stages of a student's problems. The narrower medical treatment model was consciously rejected. By 1967 the staff of the Department of Psychological Services included nine psychologists, of whom six provided direct services within assigned schools, each with an office in the area for which he was responsible. There were variations in emphasis among these areas, particularly in terms of school levels served, primarily because of staff differences in interests, experience, and professional talents. Such an approach was thought likely to yield maximum productivity per man-hour of professional time. The most important service rendered by the psychologists was consultation with other educators. While such consultation concerned individual students or groups of students, it was designed to help teachers, principals, and guidance counsellors develop greater self-confidence and increased ability to deal with similar situations when they were confronted with them on later occasions. Under the heading "in-service training," psychologists working at the secondary school level co-operated with guidance staff members as co-participants and as supervisoryconsultants in group work with talented underachievers and students with behaviour problems. Associated with the same project was a course in creative problem solving conducted for secondary school guidance staff during evening sessions over an eight-week period. In addition, there were group discussions with teachers at both the elementary and secondary school levels dealing with cases of students of their acquaintance. More formal presentations to groups of teachers were supplemented by the distribution of printed material on specific problems known to be of concern to them. Under the heading of "community resource development," the staff served on local boards and committees which contributed to the provision of needed services and resources for the children and young people of London. They were particularly active in associations dedicated to the welfare of exceptional children. The Department of Psychological Services co-operated with the Canadian Mental Health Association, Middlesex Branch, in keeping up to date a directory of mental health services in the London area. A program of applied research was developed by staff members of the same department. The research staff concentrated on giving assistance and instruction to those within the system who were working on projects. Administrators were reported to have become much more involved in articulating significant problem areas and in establishing research priorities. They were also said to have taken a greater part in interpreting research results and to have made more use of them in

208 Significant developments in local school systems

making decisions. One study dealt with the measurement and evaluation needs of the system. In 1968 a new Department of Student Services was established under a single superintendent. It combined guidance, medical, dental, and psychological services, attendance and counselling services, and special education. This administrative arrangement was expected to provide better co-ordination for the whole range of activities, many of which were rather closely interrelated. Kingston school system A chief psychologist was appointed in 1967 to set up a Department of Psychological Services for the Kingston Board of Education. The purposes of the department were to offer specialized assistance hi diagnosing certain cases of learning disability or behavioural disorder, to identify children with exceptional handicaps, to interpret test results, to follow problem cases until they were resolved, and to provide a consultative service for staff and parents.2 Information on research findings on learning, mental health, and human relations was conveyed to teachers through committee work, staff conferences, and in-service professional development meetings. The chief psychologist played a leading part on the board which assigned severely handicapped pupils to special classes. Those requiring psychiatric examination and treatment were referred to a mental health clinic. During the early winter of the first year in which the department functioned, an extensive testing program was conducted to determine how kindergarten children's readiness to learn was related to their age. The following June, a massive testing program was organized for children entering kindergarten in September, and carried out with the assistance of the staff of the Medical Officer of Health and that of the mental health clinics and one or two other agencies. These experiences suggested that very large psychological testing programs should not be undertaken because they cut too deeply into the department's time. There appeared, nevertheless, to be convincing evidence that a larger staff was needed, and a second psychologist was accordingly hired. Ottawa separate school system As constituted in the mid-sixties, the Referral Services Division of the Ottawa Separate School Board administered group tests and provided psychological evaluation in more than ninety-three schools. A group testing program ensured that each child was given aptitude and achievement tests at least three times during his elementary school career. Applications for individual testing were ordinarily handled in the order in which they were received, although urgent cases were given precedence. These referrals were made by principals, doctors, or other responsible

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persons or agencies because of problems arising from mental retardation, intellectual superiority, or personal adjustment. In dealing with a case, the psychologist initiated a discussion with the person making the referral. He then studied the existing records, administered the necessary tests, and ordinarily interviewed the parents or guardians. His diagnosis and written report led to a plan of action which could usually be put into effect in the school which the child attended. He might assist in obtaining therapeutic aid from various community agencies if the problem seemed to warrant such a step. Specific treatment procedures might include a modified school program, medical assistance, tutoring services, counselling for parents, counselling for the child, psychiatric help for the child, family services, attendance at a special school, attention from a reading consultant, or some other form of special education. OTHER SERVICES TO FACILITATE P U P I L A D J U S T M E N T

Educational Clinic, London The Educational Clinic, approved by the London Board of Education, began operations in 1951. It was designed to assist principals and teachers in dealing with very difficult cases of maladjustment that interfered with pupils' progress in school. Experts in various fields combined their efforts in diagnosing and treating the difficulties that caused the maladjustment. The principal of the school was responsible for making all requests for referrals. With each request, he submitted pertinent information regarding the child's progress and conduct in school. If the staff of the clinic agreed to attempt to deal with the case, they followed a series of carefully designed steps. 1 / One or both parents were interviewed and a developmental history was secured. 2 / The child was interviewed and given one or more individual intelligence tests, achievement tests in various subjects, and diagnostic tests in reading, spelling, arithmetic, and other subjects. 3 / Telebinocular tests were administered to find out if there were significant eye weaknesses. 4 / Audiometer tests were given to ascertain if there were hearing disabilities. 5 / Speech tests were given if speech difficulties were apparent. When all the results had been collated, the staff of the clinic, the principal, and the teacher met to make a diagnosis and to plan treatment. As a result of this procedure, the members of the clinic staff might be prepared to offer advice immediately. If they felt that further information was needed, they might send the child to the Mental Health Clinic for a report from the psychiatrist. Where an additional diagnosis of eye difficulties was needed, they might seek expert advice from an ophthalmologist. In some cases, the medical officer of health might be asked for a full report on the child's physical health. A very small number of children were sent for further study to a neurological clinic. After

210 Significant developments in local school systems

appropriate information had been obtained from such sources, corrective action might be planned and undertaken. In a related development in 1952, the board appointed two teachers with training in mental health and human relations as mental health counsellors to conduct a remedial program among children whose progress in school appeared to be impaired because of emotional maladjustment. The work of these teachers was both analytical and clinical. They gathered information on the developmental history of the child from his home, his teachers, his church, and any other person or agency connected with hun. Thek efforts were co-ordinated with those of other local agencies such as the Family Service Bureau, the Provincial Mental Health Clinic, and the Children's Aid Society. During their first year of service, they were able to provide some form of assistance to approximately 1 per cent of the elementary school population. Pupil adjustment services at Hamilton As of the beginning of the 1968-9 school year the Adjustment Services Department in Hamilton operated from the central administration offices as part of the Special Services Branch. At that tune, it had a complement of fifteen adjustment counsellors and a supervisor. The function of these counsellors was to work with pupils whose progress at school was hindered or blocked by emotional, social, or environmental conditions which could not be dealt with in the schools. They combined some of the characteristics and qualifications of teachers, psychologists, and social workers. After being carefully selected from the Hamilton system on the basis of experience, skill, and personal qualities, they were required to obtain a master's degree in psychology, guidance, or social work. Each was assigned to a unit consisting of a secondary school and the group of elementary schools that fed pupils into it so that cases could, if necessary, be followed from one level to another. The adjustment counsellors dealt directly with pupils and parents in the schools and homes. The fact that they operated from the central office gave them a strong position as intermediaries in cases of disagreement between pupil and school or between home and school. The Adjustment Services Department provided liaison between the schools and other community resources such as social agencies, juvenile and family courts, and mental health clinics, handling all referrals from the schools to these agencies. Most cases were dealt with in the systemif necessary with consultative assistance from the Psychological Services Department. By serving as front-line workers, the adjustment counsellors enabled the psychologists to utilize their specialized skills with the greatest effectiveness by concentrating on the most complex cases. In a booklet issued in 1968-9 by the Board of Education,8 five distinct functions of the Pupil Adjustment Services were listed: 1 / a

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school and home visiting service, 2 / a consultation service, 3 / a coordinating service between school and other community resources, 4 / home permits and employment certificates, and 5 / miscellaneous services, which included assistance in cases of suspension from school, liaison between training schools and the Hamilton school system, and fostering school-community relationships. The first of these services was regarded as the most vital offered in the interest of children who were exhibiting difficulties adjusting to the normal demands of school. The child and his problems were studied in relation to his school, his home, and his community. As stated in the booklet, "The general aim is to search for the reasons behind the child's difficulties and to bring about significant changes in attitudes and environment together with a closer working relationship between the home, the school, and any community resources that might be helpful to the child."4 Requests for this service were usually made by the principal or vice-principal and might be based on unsatisfactory behaviour, achievement, attitude, or attendance - all looked upon as symptoms of underlying problems. The second, or consultation service represented an acknowledgment that all problems could not be dealt with by a deeply involved casework procedure. It was a short-term, supportive service, involving sessions with principals, teachers, nurses, and guidance personnel, and occasional interviews with pupils and parents. The third service, referrals to other agencies, was resorted to when pupils' problems appeared to be beyond the capacity of the board's employees to deal with satisfactorily. The fourth item on the list, the evaluation of applications for home permits and employment certificates, was nullified when the Ontario government eliminated exemption from compulsory school attendance for such reasons. The first of the miscellaneous services, assistance in cases of suspension from school, was in Une with the concept of suspension as a planned, positive action to make the pupil face the seriousness of his misdemeanours and to confront his parents with the gravity of the situation. The second miscellaneous service represented an attempt to help boys and girls readjust to normal life after a period of institutional retraining. Finally the Adjustment Services Department tried to promote public understanding of all the services offered by the Hamilton Board of Education and to appeal for maximum co-operation to make them effective. READINESS PROGRAMS AT THE K I N D E R G A R T E N LEVEL

The majority of children make a successful transition from kindergarten to grade 1. Their physical, social, and emotional development is reasonably satisfactory, they have adequate language skills, their background experiences provide a good basis for further learning, and they are full of curiosity and interest. There are always exceptions, however, which have been a matter of concern to progressive school systems. These

212 Significant developments in local school systems

children may be extremely shy or immature, with handicaps such as poor listening habits, inadequate language skills, short attention and memory spans, and poor co-ordination. Ottawa public school system The Ottawa Public School Board recognized the desirability of providing for the special needs of such children in 1964-5 by establishing socalled "readiness grades" where they could acquire the skills needed for success in grade 1. They were given many opportunities to develop their understanding, increase their vocabulary, and improve their listening and reading abilities. These objectives were pursued through the use of stories, pictures, books, puzzles, pets, toys, films, television programs, tape recorders, and opaque projectors.5 Physical exercises were designed to improve motor control and co-ordination. The classrooms contained acitivity stations to which each child could go to examine books, paint, model, build with blocks and tinker-toys, work puzzles, play with toys, or sort, group, match, and count concrete objects. Every effort was made to keep the atmosphere free of tension and pressure and to reinforce each child's sense of security. Some of the children reached a point where they could handle grade 1 reading and mathematics before the end of the year. Peterborough school system The Peterborough system introduced a program to give the same type of children as much help as possible before their difficulties overwhelmed them.6 Kindergarten teachers received training and assistance in identifying early signs of trouble. The children were selected with the help of the psychologist and placed in special classes where the program emphasized language, number, and motor, auditory, and visual skills. Materials and equipment used included balance beams, teeter boards, and jump boards to strengthen motor control and co-ordination and record players and tape recorders to develop auditory skills. Reading was introduced through the language experience approach supplemented by the Dr Stott programmed reading materials. Educational toys and puzzles were used to stimulate thinking and reasoning. Classes were kept below twenty to ensure adequate attention to each individual child. V O L U N T E E R GUIDANCE In the early 1960s the Ottawa public school system benefitted from the assistance of the local University Women's Club, some members of which agreed to work with school children who seemed likely to benefit from association with an adult who took a particular interest in their welfare. Some had failed to adjust to school Ufe, some were in continuous conflict with their peers, and some, despairing of success, had ceased to make an effort. The volunteer workers spent a number of periods with the

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children in school each week, making friends with them and gaining their confidence. Sometimes they helped them with their work. They held frequent consultations with the school psychologist and the child's teacher and principal. Although the work was on a small scale, the benefits to certain children were considered to be very great. REMEDIAL READING PROGRAMS

Where a child has difficulty with an ordinary school program because of limited learning capacity, the appropriate special treatment has been considered to be assignment to an auxiliary class. In quite a different category is the child of average or even superior ability as measured by an intelligence test who fails to learn because of some specific disability. This type of child has often been mistakenly thought to be lazy. He has been in particular difficulty if his problem has involved a failure to learn to read, since this skill is a fundamental prerequisite for success in a major part of the school program. He often reaches the stage where anxiety, frustration, and discouragement produce emotional problems which may be manifested in misbehaviour or in less overt symptoms. It may take a teacher with unusual personal characteristics as well as technical qualifications to reverse the destructive process which becomes established after a few years of failure in school. The reading clinic maintained by the Ottawa Public School Board provides an example of attempts to deal with this type of problem during the 1960s.7 The clinic undertook to discover the origin of the child's difficulty by a series of four steps. 1 / A psychologist made a qualitative and quantitative mental assessment and a visual-motor and personality appraisal. 2 / The medical department conducted an examination in such areas as vision, hearing, and neurology. 3 / A remedial specialist carried out diagnostic learning testing and dominance assessment. 4 / A nurse constructed a developmental history. When the medical department decided that it was advisable to have a more specialized physical or neurological examination, it recommended further diagnosis. Most of the handicaps that had not been previously diagnosed fell into one of the following categories: a hearing disability, an unusual vision problem, a neurological impairment, an emotional disorder, a directional problem such as strephosymbolia or dyslexia or a disorder of an uncommon type, possibly involving the glands. The clinic had the responsibility of interpreting the findings, whatever their nature, to the child's principal and teacher. A group of remedial teachers working with individual children in the schools co-operated closely with the clinic. They dealt with cases of such extreme disability that it was considered impossible for the classroom teacher to give the necessary help. Those who had fallen behind in the reading program but did not appear to have a special handicap were dealt with through the school they attended.

214 Significant developments in local school systems

THE PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED

The deaf Metropolitan Toronto Partly as a response to the reluctance of parents to have their children attend distant residential schools, the Toronto Board of Education set up the first class for the deaf at Clinton Street Public School in 1924. Twenty-three years later, when this single class had grown to four, the first pre-school class was opened at King Edward Public School. In 1953 six classes for the deaf were placed in the new Sunny View School. When the Metropolitan School Board assumed the responsibility for all special education, a period of rapid expansion began, and resources were strained to the limit. A Metropolitan School for the Deaf was eventually opened in 1962 in association with Davisville Junior Public School. The school catered to the needs of children who were profoundly deaf or so hard of hearing that they had not developed natural speech. They might be admitted on the recommendation of 1 / an otologist appointed jointly by the Toronto Board of Education and the Department of Public Health and 2 / the child adjustment services of the Toronto Board. There was no direct charge for the children of parents or guardians who resided in Metropolitan Toronto and whose taxes contributed to the support of public schools in any of the municipalities of Metropolitan Toronto. Parents were urged to apply for admission before the child reached his third birthday so that the necessary tests could be given as soon as possible. Before he was actually admitted, the services of the school were available to his parents so that they could observe classroom activities and participate in parent-teacher lectures and in the Parents' Association. Besides pursuing the same general aims of education held out in the rest of the system, the school attempted to give the child the means of adjusting to the needs of a hearing-talking world which had little understanding of his problem, and to teach him to compensate for his handicap. Before he could learn any school subject, he had to acquire the means of communication. He was taught speech-reading, the process of understanding speech by watching lip movement, facial expressions, and situational clues. Reading was begun earlier than with the average hearing child because the permanence of print was easier to deal with than the transience of lip movements. Yet many aspects of everyday language that could not be understood by visual clues required years of training. The child who was born deaf or lost his hearing before the development of natural speech found intelligible oral speech one of the most difficult skills to acquire. The school's approach involved an attempt to make words meaning-

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ful through use in situations that corresponded with the child's own level of experience. He might learn measurement by using it in baking cookies for his mother or a birthday cake for a classmate. He might study maps and charts in order to learn to travel to school on his own. The relationship between each school subject and speech and language was brought out. Small classes of eight or ten pupils facilitated the provision of the widest possible variety of real experiences with which different aspects of language were associated. Graduates of the school ordinarily went to one of the classes at Northern Secondary School where they did their core language work in special classes taught by specially qualified teachers and took the rest of their subjects with students of normal hearing. Those considered particularly fitted for a vocational program might be placed in a special vocational school class for the deaf. London school system Special classes for the hard of hearing were opened in London in 1943. The audio-induction loop system of hearing aids was first introduced there to transmit sounds, including the teacher's voice, over a wire around the perimeter of the room. Children with hearing aids designed to meet their particular needs could pick up the amplified sounds. Such a device was, of course, ineffective for the totally deaf. In the late sixties the London system provided classes for children three and a half years of age. When they gave signs of being ready to learn to read, they were placed in the junior oral class, where language skills and oral expression were emphasized. Speech and lip reading were taught in the same lesson. The regular curriculum was covered, although emphasis remained on language, oral expression, and the correction of individual speech habits. As was true of all those requiring special assistance, children with hearing problems were integrated into the regular school program as quickly as possible. Orthopaedic classes in the London school system The London Board of Education established an orthopaedic class in 1949 which, like others in the same category, provided for children who were unable to attend regular classes but could benefit from academic instruction. As it functioned in 1968-9, the class was like a one-room school within a public school: that is, pupils could advance through all the elementary grades. As a means of improving their morale, they were included whenever possible in regular classrooms. They did seatwork, made notes, and wrote examinations in their own classroom where there were typewriters for their use. Those who needed occupational, physical, or speech therapy were taken to the London and District Crippled Children's Centre. Once a week they had an opportunity to swim in the local

216 Significant developments in local school systems

YMCA pool. Twice a week they had craft instruction from a specially qualified teacher. Transportation to and from school was provided by a limousine service maintained by the board. Speech correction London school system A speech correction program, later renamed speech education, was begun by the London Board of Education in 1948. It was recognized that 5 per cent of elementary school children had some form of defective speech. Although the majority of the problems were articulatory, and could be fairly easily remedied, more intensive efforts were needed to deal with stuttering, cleft palate, voice, and hearing problems. In 1968-9, the system maintained ten speech consultants who worked with more than 1,200 children. In addition to individual remedial work, lessons on speech improvement were taught in regular classrooms. Every grade 1 child in the public schools was checked for abnormal speech, and the parents of those considered in need of assistance were interviewed before treatment was begun. Those with fairly serious problems were given individual or small group lessons once a week for periods of fifteen to thirty minutes. In some cases, the child had to master new sounds through auditory training. If his language development was late, he might need to build up his basic vocabulary. If he stuttered, both he and his parents might need counselling to reduce frustrations and build confidence. Kingston school system Experience at Kingston indicated the extent of the difficulty encountered by well-intentioned boards and officials in many centres. The annual report of the Director of Education for 1967-8 referred to the services of a single speech therapist in the department of the Medical Officer of Health which were available to children in the public, separate, and secondary schools. This therapist was, however, able to deal only with the most extreme cases; many pupils were left unattended, and remediable defects were likely to be carried through Ufe. On three occasions the Kingston Board of Education had appointed a qualified therapist, only to have her leave after a single year. The scarcity of people with the necessary training was such that Kingston had been unable to compete with larger centres. The system was said to need two speech therapists who would work with children in the schools rather than in a central office, and who would enlist the help of teachers in the prescribed therapy. HOSPITAL SCHOOL, TORONTO GENERAL HOSPITAL The Toronto General Hospital School, the first one of its kind in any general hospital in Ontario, opened in October 1950. The initiative

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came from doctors and social workers who were concerned about their school-age patients missing long periods from their studies through hospitalization. Part of the value they saw in "intellectual therapy" was that it might alleviate the depression experienced by serious students who worried about getting behind in their work. The hospital applied to the Department of Education for permission to establish the school. A school board was duly appointed and part-time teachers were employed. During the first year, there were twenty-seven pupils enrolled for periods ranging from five days to seven months. Jean Shaw, staff writer for the Globe and Mail described the school as it was operating in December 1951.8 At that time there were fifteen pupils on the roll and a staff of three teachers. Instruction was completely individualized, with each pupil necessarily setting his own pace because of the factor of illness in varying degrees added to all the other human variables that affect the rate of learning. Some of the pupils, initially, at least, were by no means enthusiastic at the idea of having their school work pursue them into the hospital. One boy expressed a preference for reading comic books. An alert teacher presented him with a comic book version of Treasure Island, which pleased him so much that he was soon involved in a full-fledged English course. An older student from Western Technical School was delighted at the opportunity to keep up with the course in electronics that his grade 13 class was studying. HEALTH SERVICES

London school system The London Board of Education was in the unusual position of providing its own medical and dental services under subsection 13 of section 35 of The Schools Administration Act, which permitted such services to be continued if they were inaugurated before July 31, 1924 in elementary schools or before December 31, 1941 in secondary schools. There was pressure from time to time to induce the board to turn over its responsibilities in these areas to the London Board of Health, but the latter was unable to offer assurances that it could maintain adequate services. Although the cost to the Board of Education was considerable, it was considered less than the parents would have spent privately had the service not existed. The incentive for the establishment of a health service in London schools in 1910 is said to have been a realization on the part of school trustees and principals that some pupils were unable to learn because of poor eyesight.9 A nurse, appointed to investigate, found that many pupils needed glasses but, because of poverty or for other reasons, did not have them. The trustees responded by arranging for the purchase of glasses for those who could not afford them. Further action to deal with visual

218 Significant developments in local school systems

problems was taken in 1924 when a sight-saving class was organized for children whose vision was less than 30 per cent of normal, but not sufficiently defective to justify sending them to the Provincial School for the Blind. A dental service began in 1917 with the establishment of a half-day clinic. In a survey of all public school pupils, it was found that 97 per cent had teeth requiring attention. Despite the limitations on the service that could be provided in the clinic, this percentage was reduced each year until it reached 59 per cent by 1927. Further extensions of health services during this period included the appointment of a teacher for children undergoing treatment at the War Memorial Children's Hospital and the establishment of a class for children with defective hearing and one for those with physical handicaps. By 1925 all children entering kindergarten were given free medical examinations. The first medical officer, appointed in the mid-thirties, expanded medical and dental services and extended them into the secondary schools. As they had developed by the end of 1960s, the educational health services were responsible for dealing with students' health problems which hindered normal learning. These might range from the simplest to the most serious and complex. Except for first aid, treatment was only advised, and cases were referred to the individual's family doctor or to a community service agency. A major aspect of the health program was the preventive function, which included such services as inoculations and health education. Examinations were conducted to make sure that students could safely cope with the stress of spontaneous and organized sport. Attention was also given to the conditions under which athletes trained and played and the equipment they used. The first steps were taken to build up a medical file for the child before he entered kindergarten. A school nurse attempted to meet him in his home before the beginning of the fall term and, after explaining to his parents the services the Medical Department provided, elicited information about possible problems at birth, childhood diseases contracted, and hereditary defects among other members of the family. Particular attention was given to the child's emotional development. The nurse might suggest that the parents bring the child to the public school for a physical examination and health appraisal. If they preferred to have their own family doctor take full responsibility for their child's health, they were encouraged to do so. When unsuspected health problems were uncovered in the school examination, they were advised to obtain further medical advice. Delayed admission to school might be recommended for children who demonstrated marked physical or emotional immaturity. After his first complete examination on admission to school, the child was given periodic attention, and more concentrated service if he had health problems. His height and weight, his auditory and visual

Special services, classes, and schools 219

acuity, and the condition of his teeth were checked each year. A second complete medical examination was given to all students entering grade 9. At suitable times, children received immunization shots, provided free of charge by the Ontario government, against polio, tetanus, measles, diphtheria, and smallpox, and were tested for tuberculosis and anaemia. The Medical Department's most important long-term contribution to health was considered to be in the field of education. School nurses, sometimes assisted by doctors, conducted a program in grades 5 to 8 to explain growth and maturation processes in the human body. They also dealt with habits judged to be detrimental to health, such as smoking and drugs. Nurses made a contribution to mental health education by the understanding relationships they were sometimes able to establish with pupils, which enabled them to influence the latter in desirable ways. Ottawa public school system The Ottawa Public School Board was in a position similar to that of the London Board of Education. It maintained one of the most comprehensive health services in the province. The Public School Health Service began in 1913, with a staff of four nurses. The next year a parttime dentist was added, and in 1931 a pediatrician. By the mid-sixties, the staff consisted of twenty-one nurses, one full-time dentist, and one full-time and one part-time pediatrician to meet the needs of over 25,000 pupils in over fifty schools. According to the report of the Superintendent of Public Schools in 1964, support for the service was based on the premise that instruction would be more effective and learning more assured if as much as possible were done to recognize and remove the barriers of ill health. The objective was to be achieved through close co-operation between principals, teaching staff, psychologists, and inspectors on the one hand and doctors and nurses on the other. Through their combined efforts, they might discover remediable defects that retarded children's progress in school. Staff from the Health Service co-operated closely with psychologists in placing pupils with non-remediable defects in special classes. Emphasis was placed on protection and prevention through teacher and parent education, classroom surveys, a physical examination of each child at least three times during his school life, and a thoroughgoing immunization program. As in London, the service was not intended for treatment. No medical treatment was offered or prescribed except in emergencies where first aid was called for or where minor illnesses occurred in school. Precautions were taken to avoid infringing on the role of private physicians and public clinics. The influence of the Health Services was often felt before the child's first appearance at school. His mother might call on the school nurse during the spring of the year in which he entered kindergarten in order

220 Significant developments in local school systems

to get to know her and to discuss any special problems. Each pupil had a careful physical examination every year and a test of vision and hearing every second year. There were special inspections after vacations and during epidemics. Each inspection was followed by a conference with the child's teacher, a report to parents on any defects found, and referral, if necessary, to a medical officer. Continual studies were made of aspects of the school environment such as lighting, heating, ventilation, and furniture which related to health. AU members of the teaching staff and other employees were tested for tuberculosis every two years. Ottawa secondary school system Services provided from 1940 on by the Ottawa Collegiate Institute Board were regarded as an extension of those offered in the public schools, with appropriate adaptations to meet the needs of teen-age students. As the system operated in 1966, a public health nurse was on duty in each secondary school on every school day, and the medical officer visited the schools on specified days each week. Teachers were encouraged to watch for signs that individual students were feeling unwell or missing too much school. The school nurse might find it desirable to contact the parents of such students, and possibly to suggest visiting the family doctor. If financial or other circumstances prevented a student from making such a visit, the medical officer might conduct an examination.10 The school nurse was prepared to see a student who felt ill at any time during the school day and, in case of an accident, rendered first aid. As many as sixty students were said to have reported to some nurses in a single day. There was always a nurse in attendance at football games, concerts, exhibitions, and other school events. Nurses also spent a considerable amount of time counselling students on the application of good health habits in such matters as diet, the care of the complexion, and good grooming. The Collegiate Institute Board maintained a dental clinic in the Ottawa Technical High School which in 1966 had two dental chairs in constant use on school days throughout the year. One dentist was employed full tune and six others part time. Students in straitened financial circumstances received ordinary services free of charge, although at least some contribution was usually expected for such items as dentures. All students who visited the dental clinic received instruction hi oral hygiene. Each autumn a dentist and a dental health nurse conducted an oral examination of all students between grades 9 and 12. Parents of those who needed treatment were notified, and treatment was provided either by the family dentist or by the staff of the clinic. An immunization program protected the student against diphtheria, tetanus, and poliomyelitis. Each year a tuberculin test was given to all students, teachers, cafeteria workers, and other staff members, and those

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who reacted positively were x-rayed. Some students who were demonstrated to have active tuberculosis were able to continue attendance at school while receiving medication. The system was particularly well equipped to conduct research into aspects of school health. For example, a grant from the Department of National Health and Welfare was used to determine how many students suffered from a thyroid deficiency serious enough to account for a feeling of listlessness and fatigue. PROGRAMS FOR THE GIFTED

As noted in volume in, chapter 10 of the present series, the 1950s were characterized by a great deal of interest in the gifted, and, in the larger systems at least, by the introduction of special programs to provide for the needs of this group. At a time when many saw what they were still confident was a superior way of Ufe threatened by hostile armed forces and subersive foreign ideologies, it seemed important to mobilize all available human resources in the cause of the survival of the nation, or perhaps of western civilization. A good deal was said about developing special talents for leadership as well as potential technological and scientific expertise. The list of objectives for programs for the gifted did not, of course, fail to mention that it was a gratifying and rewarding experience to cultivate one's capacities to the maximum, and that education owed each individual an opportunity to do so. In a sense, the provision of special programs for groups of varying abilities may be regarded as a step away from the relative uniformity of treatment typical of earlier years, and as a move toward genuinely individualized learning. North York school system In the June 1957 issue of North York School News, educators employed in the North York system were reported to have given much thought to programs for the gifted.11 Parents and members of community services other than the school which dealt with the child were asked for their close co-operation in providing needed data for the extensive records that had to be kept. Many principals had prepared reports in addition to the Ontario School Record cards to give a fuller account of the child's achievements. On the basis of such information, a conference was held to plan the program that was best suited to the child. It was claimed that the majority of classes in North York offered opportunities for the gifted to work on problems by a technique that gave them the challenge of discovering information for themselves. They could work in groups where they planned their approach, organized the material, judged the conclusions, and formulated generalizations. The occasions for the exercise of leadership which this approach entailed were considered desirable both for the leader and for those whom he assisted. In all classes, it was said that special abilities in music, art, language arts, and physical skills could be expressed through participa-

222 Significant developments in local school systems

tion in school choirs, school displays, spring festivals, operettas, oral speaking contests, Junior Red Cross activities, science clubs, hobby clubs, house leagues, play days, track and field exhibitions, and interschool sports. The academically gifted might be placed in an acceleration program, but only after careful examination of all the relevant records and with the approval of the parents. Such a program enabled a child to cover the basic work of three grades in two years. If there was any sign of undue nervous tension, restlessness, or failure to achieve in the academic skills, he might revert to the normal pattern. An experimental accelerated course was introduced at Northview Heights Collegiate Institute in 1958-9 to give a group of thirty-five students an opportunity to cover the work of grades 10, 11, and 12 in two years instead of the usual three. A second class was given the same treatment in 1959-60. At that time, acceleration in Ontario secondary schools was almost completely restricted to individuals under exceptional conditions. D.A. Bristow reported some of the results of the experiment in the Bulletin of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation.12 The experiment was undertaken to find out how gifted students and their parents would respond to a program 1 / that promised to shorten the lengthy period of formal education leading to university that characterized Ontario, 2 / that held out the prospect of financial savings, particularly for students contemplating one of the longer university courses such as medicine, 3 / that provided stimulating competion from other keen and critical minds, and 4 / that offered to alleviate the undesirable effects of the boredom experienced by gifted students in average classes. The possible benefits to the taxpayer were given some consideration. In organizing the special class, Northview Heights had the advantage of a large number of candidates from which to choose. At the end of 1957-8 there were ten regular academic grade 9 classes; these were already selected to some extent, since there were seven other classes for commercial and vocational classes, three of which were for slow learners hi terminal courses. Selection for the accelerated class involved six interrelated steps. 1 / Candidates required a high IQ and a good record of prior achievement. A sliding scale was used so that an exceptionally high IQ compensated for somewhat lower achievement. 2 / In occupations class, each grade 9 student, without being aware of its purpose, completed a questionnaire designed to discover his own idea of his work load and to provide information about his extra-curricular activities, his educational goals, and his emotional state. 3 / Each of the teachers of a student under consideration for the course completed a questionnaire indicating his impressions of the student's intellectual curiosity, maturity of judgment, work habits, health, emotional stability, and social adjustment. 4 / Teachers were given an opportunity to suggest students who had not hitherto been listed for possible inclusion in the course. 5 /

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When a tentative group of students had been chosen, the members attended a meeting during school hours and their parents attended another in the evening to hear an explanation of the proposed course. 6 / Each student and his parents signed a commitment that they were reasonably sure of continuing to reside in the school district during the next two years, that they agreed to participation in the course, that the student planned to attend university, that his parents were encouraging him in such plans, and that he was prepared to curtail his other activities, if necessary, to complete the accelerated course. The Guidance Department carried out the first two steps, ranking the fifty most promising candidates in order of merit. The minimum IQ that qualified a student for consideration was 110. Those who obtained first class honours in grade 9 with a lower intelligence score were found by means of the questionnaire to be doing far more homework than the average, and were rejected on the grounds that they would not be able to keep up with the demands of the accelerated course. On the other hand, students with an average as low as 66 were included if they had an IQ above 120, especially if there was reason to believe that boredom was a partial explanation for modest achievement. The third step was handled by a committee consisting of the principal, the vice-principal, the head of the Guidance Department, and the designated home room teacher of the accelerated class. This committee ranked the candidates' prospects on the basis of information provided by the subject teachers, and then compared the results with the ranking previously worked out by the Guidance Department, making a particular effort to reconcile discrepancies. A class of thirty-five was chosen in the hope that wastage because of unexpected changes of residence or failure to cope with the course would not reduce the total below thirty. A control group was also selected for the purposes of observation and comparison consisting of a group of gifted grade 11 students who would reach grade 13 at the same time as the accelerated class. The criteria for selection of members of this group were the same, as far as possible, as those used for the participants in the accelerated class. They were kept unaware of the fact that they were under special observation. Several different procedures were used to modify the regular program for the accelerated class. In English, Latin, history, and French, the time factor was adjusted by dividing the two-year period into six terms, and having the work of each of grades 10 to 12 covered in two terms. In mathematics and science, the content of the courses was modified and shifted around to some extent. The regular grade 10 course in geography, ordinarily compulsory, was omitted, and the grade 11 course, normally elective, was made compulsory and covered at an accelerated pace. The grade 12 course, which remained optional, could be taken in the second year of the accelerated program. Physical education, and such options as German, instrumental music, art, typing, and industrial arts, of which

224 Significant developments in local school systems

each student took one, were covered at the normal rate, and the student completed the work of grades 10 and 11 during the two-year period. The achievement of the students in the course was excellent. At the end of each of the three terms of the first year, the lowest average was 60, and an insignificant number of papers were failed. During the winter term, six of the students showed that they had previously been working far below capacity by obtaining better averages than they had in grade 9 the year before. At the end of the year, it was thought desirable to transfer only three of the participants to regular grade 11 classes, with the privilege of taking some extra work in grade 12. Near the end of the first year, the students were asked to indicate whether they would enter the course again if they were confronted with the same choice, and whether they would recommend the course for other students. Assuming that the basis of selection was superior academic attainment, nineteen students expressed unqualified or almost unqualified approval of the course both for themselves and for others, eight expressed qualified approval of the course for themselves and for some others, seven disapproved of the course for themselves, but thought it might be suitable for some others, and one student, while recognizing certain desirable features of acceleration, did not recommend it either for himself or for others. There was a good deal of difference of opinion on what the advantages were. Some found the burden of homework so heavy that they had little time for extracurricular activities or recreation. A much larger number found such activities curtailed little or not at all. Acceleration was in general thought to be undesirable for a student, even with a high average, who had a weakness in one particular subject. There was some suggestion that educational values were lost when topics had to be covered so quickly that there was no time to explore side issues. Most expressed approval of the challenge, the mental stimulation, and the beneficial effects of hard work offered by the class. The quality of the teaching and the special efforts of the teachers elicited a good deal of favourable comment. The remainder of the experiment justified the earlier promise. The accelerated students continued to achieve at a high level, and compared favourably with the control students who took a year longer to cover the same ground. In view of these results, it seems difficult to explain why the idea of acceleration at the secondary level was not more widely accepted and applied during the years immediately following. Major work program in St Thomas public schools At the Tenth Annual Conference of the OERC, Paul W. Moyer told how a program for academically talented children was instituted in the public schools of St Thomas hi 1961.13 He himself, as a classroom teacher and as a principal, had conducted the initial experiments. The desire of senior pupils to go beyond the minimum program had resulted

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in informal after-hours sessions, which in turn had led to voluntary Saturday classes of a workshop type. In these the pupils had engaged in research projects in science and history, had discussed literature selections, had expressed themselves in prose and poetry, and had outlined and executed projects in art and mathematics. The success of this program led to the provision of similar opportunities for a larger number of children throughout the school system. Preliminary planning involved a study of programs for the gifted in about thirty Canadian centres and in over 140 cities in the United States and Europe. The special education co-ordinator then made a survey of the academically talented pupils enrolled in the St Thomas system. After further study, plans were submitted to the school board. A board member whose own child would be affected by the program undertook to gather information on parental opinion. An early step in the implementation of the proposal involved the establishment of a central class of a maximum of twenty-four pupils in grades 6, 7, and 8. The headquarters of this class were intended as an enrichment centre for a selected group of gifted pupils and as a demonstration area and resource centre for teachers. There was an associated library of books and other materials relating to enrichment and gifted children. An itinerant teacher was also appointed to help identify academically talented pupils who were not enrolled in the class and assist them in the conduct of individual research projects. In the selection of children for special treatment, the educators who were responsible for the program felt that it was undesirable to rely too heavily on the IQ alone. They therefore employed a check-list, with acknowledgments to Samuel S. Laycock, of qualities that academically talented children seemed to possess. From kindergarten on, all pupils who did particularly well on the group tests administered throughout the system were observed carefully by principals and teachers, and their names were entered on lists which were distributed periodically. Those identified as promising were given an individual intelligence test by the special education co-ordinator. Other tests designed to measure such factors as creativity were administered by the classroom teacher. Pupils who seemed to have the necessary qualities and appeared likely to benefit from the program were considered by a committee and, if approved, recommended to the superintendent of public schools. Before a child was assigned to the special class, his parents were invited to discuss the program with the consultants and staff members involved. Each candidate had an opportunity to spend a day in the classroom and work with those already enrolled. A general orientation meeting was later held for all parents being introduced for the first time to the enrichment program. There they were able to meet staff members who would be working with their children, along with itinerant teachers who handled French, drama, library science, mathematics, music, and

226 Significant developments in local school systems

physical education. They also viewed a filmstrip which had been produced to explain the program. After the initial period the practice of enrolling pupils at the grade 6 level was discontinued, and the program was confined to those who were ready for grade 7. While they were expected to remain for two years, provision was made for the withdrawal of those who did not seem to be benefiting as intended. It was not necessary to remove more than three or four children over a period of several years. The keynote of the program in the special class was enrichment. The pupils engaged in short projects lasting two or three weeks, prepared term research papers over a period of two or three months, gave morning talks, organized current events programs for classroom and school presentation, did advanced work hi art and music, conducted individualized science research projects, wrote a good deal of prose and poetry, and participated hi specially adapted programs in physical education, home economics, and industrial arts. Anticipating the approaches widely advocated for all pupils a few years later, they were encouraged to make independent choices, to search for needed information, and to work effectively as individuáis or as members of small groups. In order to attain these objectives, it was found necessary to adopt a flexible timetable with allowance for large blocks of time for certain activities. It was considered important to integrate the program with the activities of the rest of the school. One device used to prevent the class from becoming a closed shop was the adoption of a "semi-rotary" system by which other staff members contributed their special expertise and point of view. The pupils in the special class were encouraged to participate hi student assemblies and in student government bodies, and to engage in extra-curricular sports activities. North York school system According to the annual report of the Board of Education for 1964-5, three types of programs were offered for superior pupils: full-time enrichment classes, the withdrawal of groups of pupils from regular classes for hah0 a day a week to be taught by special itinerant teachers, and enrichment in the regular classroom. In that particular year, six itinerant and four full-time class teachers provided enrichment for 705 pupils in grades 5 and 6. Candidates for the enrichment program were selected by means of achievement tests combined with other information about learning capacity and recommendations by principals and teachers. Candidates for full-time classes were given individual learning capacity tests. By the following year, the program had been expanded to seven full-tune classes for pupils in grades 5 and 6, while seven itinerant teachers served eighty-two schools. There were top-stream classes in the junior high schools. At this level, teachers' seminars were held on

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the needs of superior students, and suitable materials were provided for use in integrated studies of English, history, mathematics, and science. Continuing research into acceleration, in association with the Public School Principals' Association, involved the distribution of a questionnaire to determine parents' opinions of acceleration at different stages. The itinerant teachers assumed an expanded role in working in close co-operation with classroom teachers to extend enrichment activity into the general program. One member of the enrichment staff was assigned to study curriculum development. Consideration was given to the possibility of enlarging educational experiences beyond the regular classroom as well as broadening programs of integrated school experiences. For the first time, several groups of grade 6 pupils conducted weekend studies at the Albion Hills Conservation School. London school system Two classes for the intellectually gifted were established in London in 1928. By 1968-9, there were twelve of these, covering grades 5 to 8, in three public schools. It was theorized that, if pupils who were intellectually and emotionally ready for advanced study and had the desire and basic skills to benefit were removed from regular classes and put in contact with others with similar abilities and motivation, they would develop a more serious and independent attitude toward themselves and education. In the special classes there were two additions to the regular school program: four years of oral French taught by a native speaker of the language and a year of typing. Other differences had to do with style and atmosphere. The children were encouraged to search for knowledge relating to their personal interests and to share the results with their classmates. They learned how to marshall evidence, to explore a topic in depth, and to generalize their conclusions. In short, they were given opportunities that educators eventually began to realize ought to be offered to the average child to the full extent that he was capable of utilizing them. Kingston school system In its annual report for 1967-8, the Kingston Board of Education demonstrated a trend that was evident in a number of systems in the late sixties with the announcement that its classes for the gifted would be phased out by June 1969. Of the two classes hitherto operated in Rideau Public School, one for grade 5 and one for grade 6, only the latter would continue up to that date. Reasons given for the abandonment of the program were the introduction into all Junior Division classes of "small group and individual instruction, an inquiry and research approach to learning, conversational French, better library faculties and other instructional equipment, and an introduction to the novel."14

228 Significant developments in local school systems

INNER CITY SCHOOLS

Duke of York Public School, Toronto Duke of York Public School became the scene of a pilot project in 1965 for the development of the Toronto board's program for inner city schools. It was located in a particularly depressing part of the city demonstrating many symptoms of social disintegration. In a report presented to the Senate Committee on Poverty by the staff of the school in March 1970, a significant proportion of the population of the area, although by no means all, were said to be characterized by one or more of the following: 1 / distrust of institutions; 2 / a general resentment of authority; 3 / ignorance, crime, delinquency, illness, disease, malnutrition, apathy, a sense of hopelessness, withdrawal, isolation, and a dayto-day or short-term view of life; 4 / low educational attainment, particularly a lack of communication skills; 5 / physical and mental handicaps; 6 / transience; 7 / rejection by society; and 8 / lack of knowledge and skills relating to child development. Many of the children came to school poorly equipped to benefit from a standard educational program. They tended to distrust adults, to fear new experiences, to reject academic learning, and to settle differences by physical rather than verbal means. They were not adequately fed or rested; they were explosive and difficult to control; they were retarded in language and intellectual development; they had had only a narrow range of experiences. In school, they were easily defeated, especially as they advanced to higher levels. Both the influence of the system itself and pressure from peers made it increasingly difficult for them to cope with the challenges confronting them. The experimental project at the school involved the investment of extra teaching and other personnel resources, including a social-work attendance counsellor, a student counsellor, a language arts teacher, a compensatory teacher, a librarian, a New Canadian teacher, and a physical education teacher. As the program developed, use was made of fulltime or part-time lay assistants and of volunteer aides. As described in the brief to the Senate Committee, the program involved an attempt to minimize undue pressure on the pupils by programs characterized by acceptance, support, and encouragement of each child's development. Punitive measures were avoided in an effort to make the school a happy and satisfying place in which the children could spend their time. While social, physical, and academic development were regarded as inseparable, priority often had to be given to meeting psychological and social needs. Children were placed in classrooms by age rather than achievement, and were encouraged to work at the level suited to their capacities. Despite differences in procedure from one classroom to another, there were certain basic similarities. Each teacher developed a routine with the

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co-operation and participation of the children. The latter were organized into various groups where they worked at particular tasks. At certain times the whole class worked together and at others the children worked individually. Certain areas of the room were designated for particular activities. Children often lacked a desk of their own, but simply had a place to store their work. They moved from centre to centre for various activities with a theme such as science, language, reading, mathematics, social studies, music, and art. From the beginning of the project there was an unusual amount of inter-staff consultation. The staff were organized in groups and committees, the former based on grade level and the latter on specific matters such as communicating with parents. Each of the three groups operating in 1970 included a number of grade teachers, a special education teacher, and a number of resource people. Each group elected two teachers as representatives on an advisory committee, which also included one resource person, the principal, and the vice-principal. The groups were responsible for the co-operative development of the program, discussion of common concerns about school, in-service courses, and other topics of interest. The advisory committee brought together the opinions, ideas, and concerns of the groups, and formulated school policy. Representatives serving on this committee reported policy decisions to their groups so that ways of implementing them might be discussed. The committee was authorized to set up ad hoc committees to deal with specific issues. A referral system began with the school psychologist and involved the vice-principal, guidance counsellor-social worker, and public health nurse as well. Problems relating to attendance, health, extreme behaviour, and specific learning disabilities were dealt with in consultation with particular teachers. The outcome might be a test administered by the psychologist, a home visit by the social worker or nurse, repeated visits with the guidance counsellor, or referral to another agency outside the school. The resource teacher co-ordinated the volunteer program, assisted teachers to choose suitable materials and books for particular groups of children, studied and tried out new materials from publishers to judge their suitability for the school, demonstrated techniques in classrooms, helped to solve classroom problems, and occasionally worked with small groups of children outside their classroom. The special English teacher operated a program for children, mainly of Chinese origin, who were learning English as a second language. Regular consultation with classroom teachers helped to avoid duplication of effort. At the early stage of the project, there was a good deal of confusion and misunderstanding among parents. The difficulties were later attributed to an unrealistic reliance on a formal meeting at which the program was explained. More success was attained when formal report cards

230 Significant developments in local school systems

were abolished and parent-teacher conferences were substituted. In the first year of these conferences, over 90 per cent of the parents were reached for at least one interview. A Reporting to Parents Committee was set up to discuss such matters as methods of assessing children's progress, factors for assessment other than academic, invitations to parents, ways of getting to the hard-to-reach parent, and techniques of interviewing. In-service meetings were held to improve reporting methods and a manual was prepared for the same purpose. By 1970 each parent was asked to visit the school at least twice a yaer, and was offered the option of receiving a written summary of the interview. This record constituted a kind of replacement for the familiar report card. There were some parents who did not approve of new methods of teaching. Their apprehensions were aroused to the extent that their children gave evidence of enjoying their school experiences. They doubted that education could be pleasant and effective at the same time. While some were won over by visits to the classroom while it was in operation, it was occasionally found necessary to make adjustments in an individual child's program to make it conform more closely to parental expectations. A parent-teacher group organized hi the second year of the project attracted a substantial number to its meetings, but soon proved to be of diminishing interest. The conclusion was reached that the children had to participate in some way if parents were to be successfully involved. One response was to hold a number of open-house days, and another to have parents participate in excursions. Local residents were showing an increasing interest in using the school for evening activities involving both children and parents. Some extraordinary community services were provided. A parent who had graduated from the school years before was able to improve her deficient reading skills and to make use of the school library. On one occasion, an expectant mother found that, when the time came to go to the hospital, she had only 50^ and two pre-school children with no one to look after them. A secretary at the school managed to find time to take care of them for the rest of the day. A visitor to the school hi 1970 found that the unusual features of the school were a sense of excitement, informality, a willingness to try anything once, a genuine concern for the surrounding community, and a strong affection for the pupils in attendance. While the principal, Walter Sinclair, was engaging in an interview, a nine-year-old gurí with a severe speech handicap entered his office and climbed into his lap. When she became bored with the conversation, she returned to her classroom. Another problem pupil appeared and was given a pencil and paper with which to doodle until he was ready to re-establish contact with his teacher. Every effort was made to find ways of reaching problem children. One boy seemed uninterested in anything and impossible to control until

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a teacher discovered that he had a passion for cooking. After that he improved his reading skills by reading recipes, his mathematics skills by measuring ingredients, and his mechanical skills in baking. Another boy had such a hatred for books that it made him feel ill to enter a library. Again the solution was through the discovery and exploitation of a particular area of interest that could be developed through reading. While the project was receiving considerable publicity, the school was particularly attractive for certain types of teachers. Although many of these were enticed by the particular quality of the program, others saw the opportunity to serve there as an unusual opportunity to further their own careers. The kind of warm, humane person who fitted into the atmosphere of the school was never excessively abundant, and was certain to become more difficult to obtain as the approach developed at Duke of York School was expanded into areas of the city with similar needs. The after-school program at Rose Avenue Junior School, Toronto A certain type of urban development in St James Town in Toronto gave rise to some particularly difficult problems and to an imaginative attempt to alleviate them. The situation was described by D.W. Dobson, Principal of Rose Avenue Junior School, in Curriculum Bulletin 10 of the Ontario Department of Education in 1969.15 The St James Town development consisted of a large apartment complex with all kinds of amenities designed to make living pleasant and relaxing: a shopping plaza, recreation rooms, gymnasiums, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, putting greens, squash courts, tennis courts, an ice rink, facilities for shuffleboard, and saunas. All these attractions, however, were intended strictly for adults. For children, the main significance of the development was the disappearance of quiet streets, grassy lawns, secluded verandas, and back yards. Parking lots had replaced the places where children normally play. The school yard, about the only place still available, was often monopolized by older boys. Children attending Rose Avenue Junior School were mostly from low-income families. Over a hundred of them lived in two old low-rental buildings directly across from the school, and the others came from outside the periphery of the apartments. Those from at least fifty families were without parental supervision from early morning until five or six o'clock in the evening because both parents worked. Left on their own, they hung around stores and engaged in fighting and other anti-social behaviour. Concerned about the situation, Dobson initiated a movement among neighbourhood agencies and groups to try to devise remedies. A sponsoring committee was established with members from the educational system, Central Neighbourhood House, the Christian Resource Centre, the Neighbourhood Services Unit, St Simon's Church, and the YMCA. This committee decided that what was needed was an after-school program

232 Significant developments in local school systems

that continued later in the day than the extracurricular activities offered by the school. Specifically, it was to cover the period between three-thirty and five-thirty. The objectives agreed upon were to provide healthy outlets for creative expression for the children and to encourage the neighbourhood to help itself through the united action of its own residents and organizations. Financial assistance was obtained from the Atkinson Charitable Foundation while the Board of Education approved the free use of the basement of the school. Volunteer helpers included members of the sponsoring committee, students from the School of Social Work, the College of Education, the Divinity School of Trinity College, and other parts of the University of Toronto, a member of the Company of Young Canadians, and housewives. As time went on, additional participants were recruited from various sources. The director of the program and the volunteer assistants were given a substantial amount of freedom to devise appropriate activities within a general framework. As the leaders developed friendly relationships with the children, groups planned their own programs. These included volleyball, floor hockey, ice hockey, baseball, and skipping, which provided opportunities for learning sportsmanship and teamwork. Excursions were arranged to centres of interest inside and outside the city. As time went on, an increasing number of activities moved outside the school building. One of the chief problems was that there were not enough volunteers to handle all the children who wanted to participate. Since only ninety could be handled three days a week, the program had to be restricted to children in grades 3 to 6. Where the volunteers' tune permitted, however, extra meetings were held on other week days and on Saturdays and Sundays. In some cases, younger brothers and sisters of the participants were admitted. At least two groups were reported to be continuing to meet after school closed for the summer. Community interest ensured that the project would continue and, if the means could be found, that it would expand. Brant Street School and Niagara Street School, Toronto Inner-city schools face particular problems in establishing productive contacts with parents. One of the chief of these centres around the language barrier. In some areas in downtown Toronto, almost half the parents are unable to communicate effectively in English. A telephone call from the school intended as a friendly or helpful gesture may simply produce a panicky reaction because the parent assumes that the child is in some kind of trouble. Another effect of the language problem is that, as the children gain proficiency in English, their parents begin to resent them. It is a source of bitterness to have to look up to their offspring for communication, particularly when they have been steeped in traditions of strong parental authority. A further problem is that many parents in the inner city are persuaded that learning is a serious business conducted

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at a desk under constant, stern supervision. Protests against field trips are not infrequently received by school authorities. In the fall of 1969 the Junior League sponsored a project in Brant Street School and in Niagara Street School in Toronto to bring parents, teachers, and pupils together in activities that would help to foster a community spirit. An advisory council was set up by a Board of Education supervisor. One aspect of the project involved a babysitting service for pre-school children, conducted with the assistance of girls from grades 5 and 6, who were encouraged to think of their efforts as part of the regular school curriculum. An early part of the project involved making articles for a bazaar, for which mothers sewed, baked, and made various articles and fathers were persuaded to produce handcrafted items in their spare time. One of the objectives of the teachers was to meet as many parents as possible in their homes. St Paul's Separate School Drop-in Club, Toronto Another example of an attempt to counteract some of the disadvantages of downtown city life and to improve the attitude of pupils toward school was provided by the Drop-in Club at St Paul's Separate School in Toronto. Organized formally in January 1968, the club brought together pupils from grades 7 and 8 and a group of adults including staff members, parents, students from Centennial College, and others who were willing to donate their time for a couple of evenings a week. Pupils were given the opportunity to draw up their own programs, which consisted of craft work, dramatics, music, games, cooking in the home economics room, and other activities. Monica Young, Inspector of Separate Schools, described the benefits of the program thus. These students are becoming more content with their school life. No longer is punishment, failure, and restriction their lot in a rigid nine-o'clock-to-fouro'clock routine. Now they make the rules, plan the work, and experience success in some areas of endeavour. Teachers are not viewed now as adults who watch for faults, assign exercises, mark tests, and count errors. Now teachers listen to the students, play games with them, and laugh with them. Teachers look for opportunities to take all or part of the class for educational trips and enjoyable experiences. Even on week-ends, a small group may spend a day at Niagara Falls, or stay overnight on Manitoulin Island. To the students, adults at school seem more interested in their thoughts and ambitions. These adults are happy, contented people. They show the benefits of an education, happy home, and worthwhile pastimes; it is good to be with them. Somehow, the children can get along better with their classmates as well.

The ENOC program in Hamilton The Hamilton Board of Education began in September 1965 to operate

234 Significant developments in local school systems

a program for inner city children under the name "Educational Needs of the Older City" or ENOC. This program was considered a natural complement to the Education for Employment program which was designed to provide meaningful learning experiences for potential early leavers. The idea was that it was advisable to begin as early as possible to counteract the lack of motivation and the influences of poor background which tended to produce drop-outs. Before the ENOC program was begun, a comparison was made between pupils in grades 4 to 6 in a junior elementary school in a middle class district and those in two schools in a slum area. The startling differences between the two groups persuaded the authorities that to offer the same program in all the schools was to condemn many of the pupils to failure. Real equality of opportunity meant offering different programs in different areas. Gordon E. Price, Director of Education, described the special features of the program at the 1968 CEA short course at Banff in terms of six main features. 1 / The children were admitted to school a year earlier than the normal age requirement. The program of activities was, however, neither that of a nursery school nor of a regular kindergarten. It was designed to bring the children to a stage of school readiness over a two-year period. The opening of classes was delayed until two weeks after the school started so that the pre-kindergarten teachers could visit each child's home and become acquainted with him and his parents. 2 / The special program for the rest of the school placed strong emphasis on the langauge arts to counteract the weakness in this area demonstrated by many of the pupils. Special attention was given to reading development, vocabulary building, speech, and writing skills. A large supply of paperback books was provided to encourage home reading. Special booklets were prepared in the primary grades and sent home. "Read-to-me" (parents reading to their children) and "Let-me-read-toyou" (children reading to their parents) programs were promoted. 3 / An extended school day made room for a wide variety of extra-curricular activities. Study rooms were kept open until 5:00 PM. 4 / There was provision for frequent field trips and excursions. 5 / A major effort was made to involve parents in order to enhance the likelihood that the program would have lasting benefits. They were encouraged to visit the school on almost any pretext: to see the results of their children's work, to attend assembly programs, to watch films with their children, to assist with supervision during field trips, to help repair books and assemble reading materials, to make materials for flannel graphs, and other activities. A nursery was provided with supervision by volunteers, to make it possible for mothers to attend during the afternoon. 6 / Volunteers assisted the regular staff in a number of ways. As described in Curriculum Bulletin 10 of the Ontario Department of Education in 1969,16 the program cost $5,000 or $6,000 to start in a school, and a lesser amount to maintain. The first step was to renovate

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the old building that was usually being used in the area, and sometimes to add portables. The program called for additional kindergarten rooms, space for a library, and smaller rooms for story telling, remedial reading classes, and counselling sessions. Extra supplies required included manipulative material, overhead projectors, listening centres, primary typewriters, wheel toys and climbing equipment for the junior kindergartens, film and slide projectors, films, slides, tapes, and other audio-visual aids, and educational puzzles and games. The teachers in the ENOC schools were all there by choice; those who did not wish to serve were given the opportunity of being placed elsewhere. Four training sessions were offered by the board throughout the year to provide the special preparation needed. Initially, teachers' aides were available only for the kindergartens, but were later added for other grades. Most of them were women who had already raised their own families and who were interested in supervising pupils, keeping records, and operating audio-visual equipment. The volunteers, of whom there were about seventy-five in 1968-9, came from such organizations as the National Council of Jewish Women, the Junior League, and the Anglican Church Women. Those who had teaching certificates might supervise a class for short periods while the regular teacher was counselling an individual pupil. Others helped with after-school activities or, more frequently, told stories to small groups of children or listened while individual children read stories. It was not expected that startling improvements would be immediately evident from the ENOC program. There was, nevertheless, considerable evidence of enthusiasm in the classrooms and among the teachers. Records showed better attendance and fewer pupils arriving late. Some of the children who moved away from the inner city area were said to be very eager to return, having found the bright new suburban schools much less attractive than those they had left. Learning Assist program in London The London Board of Education recognized in 1967 that the central core area of the city had some of the characteristics which the Department of Education identified as calling for special effort. Some of the schools were old and limited hi the facilities needed to provide the kind of experiences that would be of particular help to the socially and culturally deprived. Learning Assist programs were devised for several public schools, including Governor Simcoe, Baling, Aberdeen, Lome Avenue, Trafalgar, Chesley, and Alexander. These programs had three main features. 1 / A helping teacher freed each teacher for one hour a week for planning, preparation, and consultation. 2 / A special budget made it possible to purchase extra material and equipment and to take the children on excursions. 3 / Special approaches were employed to meet the needs of disadvantaged learners.

236 Significant developments in local school systems

Part of the program involved an Operation Head Start by which selected children who were considered likely to have difficulty adjusting to kindergarten gathered at the school in the mornings during the summer before they began regular attendance. They met and became acquainted with their teacher and played with their future classmates. When some of them cried, a teacher commented: "That's crying they won't have to do when school starts." A number of mothers came and improved their understanding of the school and its purposes. New experiences for almost all of the children included a bus ride to a picnic spot out of town and a return by trahi. Head Start program in Windsor A Head Start program similar to that initiated in London the following year was begun in Windsor in 1967. It involved four inner-city schools hi the areas of greatest cultural deprivation. Selection of children to participate followed the kindergarten registration which took place in March and April, and was based on the judgment of the teacher along with any extant knowledge of the child's family background. There was speculation that some testing might be attempted but, in the opinion of Gordon F. Mann, Superintendent of Public Schools, it seemed unlikely that such measures would result in more valid selection.17 The program was conducted largely by members of the regular kindergarten staff assisted by teacher aides, who included senior high school students and an inexperienced teacher. Administrative responsibility was in the hands of the principal of the summer school program. Parents who registered their children accepted an obligation to ensure that they attended regularly, an undertaking that was not always carried out. The program was based on an experience-activity approach with emphasis on the development of language and social skills. Classroom sessions were taken up with painting, games, and story-telling. The children drove nails into scrap lumber, crawled through large packing boxes, and sailed boats in plastic wading pools. Standard playroom equipment such as trucks, dolls, games, puzzles, and paints were used as a springboard for verbal expression. Excursions ranged from short expeditions on foot to more extended bus trips. Each class enjoyed two bus trips each week during the summer of 1968, when the program was extended to seven centres. It was found that the best results were obtained from short trips followed by discussion, experience sharing, and related classroom activities. Some effort was made to asses the value of the 1967 program by having the regular teachers rate the children on achievement and social adjustment during the following spring. While there were considerably more high than low ratings on each criterion, the approach was not of the type to yield conclusive results. The general impression, however,

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was that the children had benefited from their experience. Those involved appeared to have no doubt that the program was well worth continuing. North York school system Although in a sense the term "inner city" hardly seems appropriate for municipal entities such as North York, the borough has had the problem of dealing with large immigrant populations and with low-income families in concentrations of public housing. A special attempt has been made to prepare children from these areas to cope successfully with the demands of formal schooling. In 1968-9, more than five hundred fouryear-olds attended twenty experimental junior kindergartens. This program received substantial assistance from voluntary agencies. The North York Kindergarten Association was expanded into a Four-Eight Association to promote the interests of children between four and eight years of age. One of its main concerns was to conduct research into the needs of early childhood education. The Toronto Section of the National Council of Jewish Women also devoted considerable attention to the junior kindergarten program. It carried out research, arranged classes for preschool children and their mothers, and provided voluntary assistants to work with children in the schools. Assistance was also received from students in early childhood education classes at Seneca College, who acted as student-observer-teachers. The junior kindergarten program emphasized language among children, between children and the teacher, and between children and other adults who were hi any way involved. Language-learning experiences were created through games and visits to service stations, supermarkets, fire halls, and other local agencies and institutions. An effort was made to break through the reticence of many of the children. There appeared to be little doubt about the beneficial effects of the program, not only for "disadvantaged" children, but also for the others who were entitled to attend once a class had been established in a particular school. Financial restraints, however, prevented the expansion of the program to the extent that many thought desirable. Appraisal of inner city programs It is customary to look for substantial benefits from an inner city program only over a considerable period of tune. However, in a "Brief in Support of a Request for Financial Assistance to Provide Necessary Facilities for Toronto's School System" presented by Ying L.K. Hope, Chairman of the Board, in August 1968, the Toronto program was said to be showing far-reaching results after only two years of operation. The following observations were attributed to William I. Smith, a teacher in the Detention and Observation Home of the Juvenile and Family Court of Metropolitan Toronto.

238 Significant developments in local school systems It was noted by the Detention Home teachers that there seemed to be a decided drop in the number of children reaching the courts from the innercity school group. A count was made of the cases in 1967 and compared to the count for 1966. The chart reveals that there has indeed been a reduction in the number of cases; more than fifty per cent. Contact was made with several of the principals of these schools to try to find some reason. The main consensus of opinion seems to be that the three-fold programme developing in the school area is having a good effect upon the mental health of the pupils. They say, the increase in guidance and counselling staff, the implementation of the continuous progress system and the lowering of pupil-teacher ratio have seemed to improve the general atmosphere around the school and that they are getting more immediate help with their more difficult cases. A child who is happy in school is not out on the street getting into trouble.18

Not all appraisals are highly enthusiastic. A number of programs have been faulted for beginning at the normal kindergarten age of five, when children's attitudes and outlook have become rather firmly established and difficult to change. Even where junior kindergartens have been provided, and large boards have commendably given culturally deprived areas priority in the establishment of such facilities, the doubts remain. Some authorities feel that the age of three is late enough to begin a special program. D.L. Stein, an editorial writer for the Toronto Daily Star, delivered a particularly pessimistic verdict following a visit to an inner city school in early 1969.19 At first glance, conditions seemed to be ideal. The kindergarten room was as large as a dance floor and lavishly equipped with a doll's house containing a wooden stove and refrigerator, metal cars, plastic animals, puzzles, construction sets, brightly painted blocks, two fat guinea pigs, and a good supply of expensive, hard-bound children's books. The teacher, especially chosen for her task, was working industriously and sympathetically to persuade the children to participate. One small boy, playing by himself as he preferred to do, was making a private zoo with plastic giraffes, lions, and bears. When he wanted something, he tugged at the teacher's skirt and dragged her to it rather than communicating verbally. The sounds he made were confined to grunts. Another boy proceeded rapidly from the doll's house to the guinea pigs and then to a table covered with model cars. He lingered at any particular place no longer than a couple of minutes, the limit of his attention span. While he talked continuously, his words were so badly slurred that it was Impossible to tell what he was saying. His tendency to stumble over things suggested a perceptual disorder, for which he would be tested in due course. A little girl stood aloof, too fearful yet to take part in the activities going on around her. When the teacher played the

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piano and attempted to get the children to sing along with her, she had very little success. At this early stage in the school year, the children were trying to make up their minds whether or not to trust the teacher. They had learned from their parents, most of whom had had little schooling, to suspect teachers as they did caseworkers, representatives of welfare agencies, and the police. The teacher was said to feel that, no matter what she did, there were some whose confidence she could never hope to win. The principal considered that most of the children had passed the age when they might have been stimulated to learn effectively. Stem's verdict was that, although the teacher might be able to work a small miracle or two, for the majority of the children the struggle for a better Ufe through education had already been lost.

EIGHT

Education for employment

Provision for advisory vocational committees has long been supposed to ensure that the vocational programs offered at the secondary level constitute a satisfactory provision for later employment. Informed opinion has regarded these committees as generally ineffectual. There have, however, been some conspicuous exceptions. NORTH YORK SCHOOL SYSTEM In the early 1960s the Advisory Vocational Committee authorized the Director of Education hi North York to arrange for a study with the following terms of reference. I. To make a survey of commerce, industry and related associations involving interested persons in the formulation of tentative conclusions regarding the training needs of the community at large and the type of facilities and courses required to meet those needs. n. To continue the survey of school graduates and drop-outs for the current year 1961-62; to ascertain their destination on leaving school; and to determine the possible number of those who could have continued education through the means being considered under this study. m. To consider the advisability and practicability of establishing in existing secondary schools a course similar to the common First Year Course at the Institutes of Technology or other types of post-secondary and adult education. rv. To consider the advisability of the alternative plan of establishing central training facilities for post-secondary courses and the size and location of a site for such a training centre.1 The board was fortunate enough to secure the services of L.S. Beattie, former Superintendent of Secondary Education for the Department of Education, who acted as consultant and edited the final report, which was presented hi 1963. The general purpose of the study was to assess the effectiveness with which existing secondary and adult education programs were meeting the needs of business and industry, and the extent to which they needed to be adjusted or supplemented in accordance with changing conditions.

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Specific information was sought on the sources of skilled and highly trained workers, the number of such workers required currently and in the subsequent period in each area of employment, the pre-employment education and training necessary for the various areas of employment, the kinds of additional technological, business, and administrative training programs desired, and the most suitable and effective place and methods for providing these additional programs. In May 1962 the co-ordinator of adult education conducted interviews, using a six-page questionnaire, with representatives of ten firms selected at random. At the next stage the director of education sent letters to a large sample of firms indicating the purpose of the survey and requesting co-operation. Those that expressed a willingness to participate were asked to complete a summary of the number of employees they had in specified categories. Arrangements were then made for interviews conducted by two teams from the guidance departments of secondary schools under the supervision of the co-ordinator of adult education. The length of these interviews varied from half an hour to half a day, depending on the nature of the firm, the number of years in operation, and the extent of available information. Seventy-two business enterprises of varying sizes were surveyed in this way, nearly all of them located in North York. Lack of space forbids any detailed report of the findings, which are of lesser importance in the present context in any case than the evidence of the North York board's initiative in trying to link the schools with the surrounding community. An immediate result of the survey was said to be a strengthening of the relationship between the schools and industry. Many of those interviewed were previously unfamiliar with the various school programs, and educators learned a good deal about the operations and requirements of the firms in the sample. Nearly all of those interviewed expressed appreciation for the opportunity to discuss the educational needs of the community, and wished to maintain closer contact with the schools. Among specific manifestations of a willingness to cooperate were offers to supply instructors for classes, to assist in planning courses, to pay the fees of employees attending class, to conduct teachers and groups of students supervised by teachers on plant and office tours, to participate in work-study programs, and to counsel students on career opportunities. Evidence was found of a need for closer co-ordination between the school guidance staff and the personnel staff of firms employing school graduates. The onus was apparently on the schools to initiate and maintain such co-operation. While some employers recognized a responsibility for general education on the part of industry, others acknowledged only an obligation to train their own employees. They generally held different levels of government, including school boards, responsible for carrying the financial burden. Most of their voluntary financial support consisted of the payment of student fees and the award of prizes, scholarships, and bursaries.

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Employers stressed the importance of general education hi all secondary school courses. They expected a reasonable level of academic proficiency and basic skills upon which occupational competence might be built. Skills most often mentioned were in the fields of drafting and the interpretation of blueprints, electricity and electronics, sheet metal and machine shop practice, bookkeeping, stenographic subjects, and business machines. It was recognized that schools could not be expected to provide equipment comparable to that used in the modern plant or office, and it was considered undesirable for them to try to teach skills that were learned more successfully on the job. HAMILTON SCHOOL SYSTEM The Hamilton educational system launched a program hi 1965 to ensure that those who left high school for employment, at whatever stage in their progress, were prepared as effectively as possible for employment hi the community. An investigation showed that from 1960 to 1965 fewer than 28 per cent of graduates and school leavers went on to higher education, while over 72 per cent sought employment or went hito other activities. While technological changes and personnel policies tended to establish graduation from grade 12, or even grade 13, as the minimum requirement for employment, over 63 per cent of the leavers were below this level. It was felt that, if such conditions existed at a time of vigorous economic activity, the situation would be extremely serious during a period of recession. In the light of the facts, the Board of Education set up a committee to study automation and its effects on education for employment hi the Hamilton community. After some preliminary deliberations, this committee was persuaded that a study of automation could not be an end in itself, but that the real challenge was to determine the most effective means by which education, especially in the vocational field, could adjust continuously to meet the ever-changing needs of society. A minimum goal would be the creation of a mechanism to determine on a continuing basis the job opportunities and occupational trends characteristic of Hamilton, along with their educational and vocational requirements, and to relate these to the industrial and vocational programs offered in the schools. In order to reduce the task to manageable proportions, the committee recommended the establishment of subject advisory committees, involving leading members of the community, to operate under the supervision of a co-ordinator. These committees differed from the advisory committees that had long existed hi Hamilton and elsewhere mainly with respect to the extra measures taken to ensure a superior quality of membership. The first step involved the establishment of a community advisory council consisting of thirty-five leading citizens who played an active part hi the Ufe of the city. These members made personal contact

Education for employment 243

with the presidents of the major firms in Hamilton to inform them of the project and to invite their co-operation. The fact that most of them agreed to help was considered to be the key to the success of the program. Members of each advisory subject committee were chosen very carefully from both industry and education. The co-ordinator first surveyed the field to decide on the types of persons wanted, and in some cases to identify actual candidates. He then approached the director of education and the presidents of the companies involved to secure the appointment of the desired members. The result was that these members were generally of high calibre. Most of the subject advisory committees consisted of not more than ten members, the number varying from one subject to another. The chairman was ordinarily selected from among the industrial representatives. The secretary, usually the supervisor of the subject for the city, was always an educator, and was thus considered to be in a good position to ensure effective communication with the administration and to facilitate rapid implementation of the recommendations of the committee. Each committee received its own individual terms of reference. Typically these were 1 / to assess the need for the subject in the curriculum, the job opportunities associated with it, and the relevance of the course content; 2 / to determine the equipment requirements; 3 / to indicate the physical facilities needed; 4 / to determine the academic requirements related to the vocational requirements; 5 / to examine the opportunities for inservice training of educational personnel in industry; 6 / to examine student work-assistance programs; and 7 / to study the need for continuing education. A related development was the formation of a curriculum co-ordinating committee to bring together the public educational system, Mohawk College of Applied Arts and Technology, and McMaster University in order to ensure effective co-ordination of all programs and to avoid duplication. The advisory subject committees made their services available wherever applicable. Provision was also made for cross-representation between levels on committees of common interest.

NINE

Research

TORONTO SCHOOL SYSTEM

The first school board research department in Ontario was established by the Toronto Board of Education. The initial step was taken by the appointment of a director of research in 1959. An organizational plan was approved in 1961 and implemented by gradual stages hi subsequent years. The director was assisted by two fully professional research associates, a normal complement of four temporary research assistants, a number of part-time research assistants varying according to the number of projects undertaken, and several clerks. The original establishment of the department owed a good deal more to the initiative of certain enthusiastic board members than it did to the senior administrative officers of the system. When the idea was first broached, some consideration was even given to the possibility of having the director of research report to the board rather than to the director of education. Such an arrangement would presumably have given the new department the maximum of freedom to evaluate the system and to perform a kind of watchdog function. It was realized, however, that there would be too much occasion for conflict and too little incentive for the kind of co-operation that would be needed to facilitate the conduct of research. Another current of thought that was strong in the planning stages was that the proposed department should be hi a position to devote a substantial amount of time to basic research rather than becoming too immersed in meeting the immediate and often ephemeral needs of the administration. The board members who held this idea were guilty of lack of realism on two counts: they had an exaggerated impression of the benefits to the system that would result from basic research and they were much too optimistic about the possibility of resisting pressures for the conduct of studies that would produce immediately useful results. Yet the fact that they propounded their views so strongly at the beginning helped to shape the research organization in a unique way. According to a brief description of its activities issued after ah1 positions in the organization had been filled, the first responsibility of the Toronto Research Department was the organization, interpretation, and reporting of research from all available sources. This service was carried

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out in close co-operation with the Education Centre Library. On the basis of current concerns and issues, the department selected topics for which the literature was to be synthesized. The importance attributed to this part of the program demonstrated a commendable realization that research literature was accumulating throughout the world at a very rapid rate, and that there was often more value in tracing the implications of what had already been done than in trying to contribute something new. The Education Centre Library was a unique resource for the performance of the necessary function. The second function listed was the conduct of in-service discussions of research methods and results. There were said to be many new ideas and pilot projects in the schools, the continued growth of which could be assisted by the Research Department. The latter was seen as a source of information on strategies for examining problems, techniques for testing ideas, and ways of asking questions. The actual conduct of research was mentioned as the third major function. The annual report of the Board of Education for 1961-2 indicated that since 1959 over thirty thousand children and fifteen hundred teachers had participated in research projects. Such a wide involvement of school personnel was thought to augur well for the implementation of the findings. One of the studies discussed briefly in that report was a second language survey in which more than 11,200 public school pupils were found to be learning English as a second language. These pupils were located and their particular difficulties in school were studied. Programs were initiated to explore instruction in their first language as well as in English. Another project in the second language area was a follow-up study of pupils who took French in public schools. Those who started French in grade 7 in 1959 were traced into grade 9, where their achievement was compared with that of pupils who undertook the study of the language for the first time in the latter grade. Special oral programs and language laboratories were used to facilitate increased oral proficiency in French. A third project had to do with teaching French through closed circuit television. It undertook to determine 1 / the effectiveness of films tested in the 1959-61 experiment in French instruction when presented on television to a large number of pupils; 2 / the comparative merits of concentrated thirty-minute presentations as contrasted with spaced fifteen-minute presentations; 3 / the influence of various factors such as grade level and choice of secondary school program on the learning of French; 4 / the appropriate methods of large-group as contrasted with small-group presentation. In the actual conduct of the experiment, four senior public schools received French instruction on closed-circuit television between 3:30 and 4:00 PM; of these schools, two received two half-hour lessons and the other two received four quarter-hour lessons a week. Four other matched senior public schools received no television

246 Significant developments in local school systems

instruction, but followed parallel courses using textbooks, work books, filmstrips, and records. In all eight schools, the pupils received one hour of instruction a week by a qualified teacher. The basis for evaluation was provided by a weekly test record of the pupils' growth in the language, by the use of objective tests administered at the end of the experiment, and by a questionnaire administered to determine pupils' interests and attitudes as factors influencing learning. The report suggested optimistically that the study would set the pattern for a co-ordinated program in French at the elementary and secondary levels. In fact it did not provide the clearcut justification for specific courses of action that some people hoped it would. A study in a somewhat different area was concerned with the learning of grammar and usage through programmed material as contrasted with traditional methods of grammar instruction. The subjects were matched grade 8 pupils from two senior public schools. Before and after instruction, they were given achievement tests on the mechanics and effectiveness of expression. Both groups also wrote compositions at the beginning and end of the experiment. It was found that, while the use of the programmed text did promote learning, it was not demonstrably more effective than the methods with which it was compared. The rating of the compositions revealed no significant difference in the number of grammatical errors per word from the beginning of the program to the end. The researchers were thus left with the question of why grammar should be taught in the first place. A study involving all supervisory personnel in the system, including inspectors, principals, consultants, supervisors, and senior teachers, was designed to throw light on supervisory practices and to suggest improvements. Data were gathered for the month of March 1960, when anyone who visited a classroom to perform supervisory functions completed a form giving the reason for the visit, its length, the topics discussed, the teacher's response, and the nature of the assistance given. The teacher also completed a form describing the strengths and weaknesses of the supervisor's performance, with particular reference to whatever benefits he himself had received. The anonymity of both supervisor and teacher was carefully maintained. One of the findings of the study was that procedures for giving assistance operated more effectively in combination than in isolation. The most effective visits were reported to be those that included a conference involving a genuine exchange of ideas, a demonstration lesson, and a further conference. In a project beginning with the entire junior kindergarten population in 1960-1, the pupils were followed into senior kindergarten the next year to assess the effects of the junior kindergarten experience on their growth. Besides obtaining data on "practical questions," the study was concerned with an examination of the pupils' perceptions of time, space, persons, and things as a basis for curriculum planning. It was intended

Research 247

that all pupils would be studied in successive years after senior kindergarten. The board's annual report for 1962-3 indicated that the Research Department was involved in twenty-three studies during that year. Reference was made to a study of accelerated and non-accelerated students in Toronto secondary schools as well as to a number of the projects that were under way during the previous year. Each study was said to have begun after extensive discussion and the granting of approval by the appropriate superintendents and by the director of education. The primary function of the Research Department was to assist in experimental design and in data processing. A fourth function of the Research Department, according to the outline mentioned earlier, was to ensure that the results of its own and other studies were made available in usable form. These included projects conducted by teachers and research carried out in universities and in other school systems. An annotated bibliography of completed studies was regularly prepared and distributed to teachers within the Toronto system. According to the annual report of the board for 1963^4, three thousand requests for reports were received from teachers during that year as a result of the distribution of the bibliography. Twenty-six reports were listed in the version of the annotated bibliography printed in January 1965. The titles of the first ten will perhaps be sufficient to indicate their nature: 1 / Study of Slow Learners; 2 / Study of Television as an Educational Medium, Study No. 1 ; 3 / Experimental Study of Learning French in the Public Schools, Report No. 1, 1959-60; 4 / Study of Achievement, Toronto, Stage 1: A Profile of Junior Kindergarten Pupils; 5 / A Survey of Supervisory Practices of Persons in Personal Communication with Classroom Teachers, Stage 1; 6 / A Pilot Study of Pupils' Learning of Grammar and Usage through a Programmed Textbook; 7 / Grade 12 Standardized Departmental Tests: A Comparison of Norms of Students in the City of Toronto Secondary Schools and Ontario Secondary Schools; 8 / Explorations into Team Teaching: A report on Projects Currently in Progress at Lexington, Massachusetts; 9 / Information regarding Teaching Machines and Programmed Learning; 10 / A Preliminary Study of Teaching Load in Six Subject Areas in the Toronto Secondary Schools. The kind of information supplied about the studies may be illustrated with reference to study no 13 entitled "A Comparative Study of Four Types of Treatment in Improving Adjustment and School Achievement of Gifted Underachievers." An extensive search was required to discover students with intelligence scores of 120 or higher who also displayed a distinct indication of underachievement. The students were divided into the four groups, equated with respect to age, intelligence, sex, and grade, viz. : Human Relations group

248 Significant developments in local school systems work, Academic (science) group work, Individual Counselling, and Controls (no treatment). The California Test of Personality and the Metropolitan Achievement Test were administered and teachers' ratings obtained, before and after treatment. There was some slight support for the hypotheses that personal and social adjustment would show greatest improvement in group rather than individual sessions and that group work in Human Relations would be more productive than group work concentrating on a subject area (science). There was no support for a concomitant differential increase in achievement.1 A note of comparable length was provided for study no. 25, "Group Work with Adolescent Female Students: A Pilot Project." This project was an attempt to help female students of a vocational school who were identified by their teachers as "behaviour problems." The subjects were randomly assigned to two groups, i.e., "experimental" and "control" (no treatment). The former participated in group discussions, viewed mental health films and were individually counselled. The subjects of both groups were rated by the teachers before and after the special programme on fourteen dimensions of overt behaviour. No significant differences were found between the two groups before or after the treatment. Both groups, however, were rated significantly lower the second time on level of aspiration, independence and originality. There are some severe limitations in the rating form used which limit the value of the findings.2 An example from the fourth supplement to the annotated biliography, issued in January 1968, reflected an interest in cultural deprivation. Its title was "Patterns of Parental Mobility in an Inner-City Toronto School." A main objective of this study was to discover a satisfactory predictor of whether a given family would move within a school year. The findings should enable school personnel to meet some of the problems created by the relatively heavy pupil turnover rate in schools of inner-city areas, and reduce its effect on student achievement, staff morale, and attempts to evaluate the school programme. The sample was comprised of 358 families drawn from the files of pupils at one elementary school. Data were collected through responses to a questionnaire and personal interviews. Information was also collected on some factors related indirectly to mobility, such as parents' attitudes toward schooling, their hopes and expectations regarding how far their children would go in school, and what sorts of jobs they would get. No single factor, such as parent's occupation, type of dwelling, religion, language, birthplace, etc., was a sufficiently accurate predictor. The most

Research 249 significant predictive factors found were prior mobility of the family and the type of housing accommodation - apartment, own home, etc. A simple, brief procedure is given for school administrators who wish to determine which children enrolled at the beginning of a school year will still be living at the same address one year later.3 NORTH YORK SCHOOL SYSTEM

The first type of research activity sponsored by the North York Board of Education represented a response to the need for long-range planning in preparation for the acquisition of suitably located school sites and for the construction of buildings for the rapidly expanding school population of the township. A Department of Population Research was accordingly established. The staff consulted and employed data on population, housing, existing land use, the official plan and zoning by-laws of the township, proposed and registered plans for subdivision, transportation plans, major street patterns, and maps and aerial photographs. Information from such sources enabled them to trace the possible development of the municipality and to establish its educational requirements. Close contact was maintained with municipal, metropolitan, and provincial planning authorities, as well as with subdividers, planning consultants, builders, real estate firms, and such agencies as the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation. The second type of research development was associated with psychological services. An educational research assistant with training at the professional level had particular responsibility for a variety of research and research-related activities. The main tasks of the staff, as indicated by the annual report of the Board of Education for 1964-5 were to conduct educational research, to supervise research in the schools, to communicate results and recommendations through publications, to discuss methods and results with other staff members, to organize, interpret, and report new ideas, and to evaluate educational material. According to the same report, seventeen research projects were begun or were in progress during the year, while a few had been completed and the results published. In-service discussion of problems and methodology required a significant amount of attention. A substantial proportion of the relatively large number of teachers engaged in research activity lacked adequate training and sufficient time to complete the work. They thus needed supervision and other forms of assistance. According to the annual report for 1966-7, over two hundred research projects were in progress in sixty North York schools during that year. Presumably the term research was very loosely defined. One of the mahi projects was an in-service seminar at which fifteen representatives from elementary, junior high, and senior secondary schools considered and evaluated educational research under seven headings: conceptual framework of educational research, general research method-

250 Significant developments in local school systems

ology, change processes in education, human dynamics in a municipal school system as it pertains to educational innovations, application of statistics in research design, teacher role in educational research, and the interpretation of research literature. What was also labeled a major project was an in-service discussion on the development of basic guidelines for kindergarten education. Among continuing projects was one entitled "The Relationships between Improved Reading Skills and Achievement in Secondary Schools" and another entitled "The Organization of Teaching and Learning in Classes of Twenty-five and Thirtyfive Pupils in Elementary Schools." Published reports resulting from completed studies included Manual for Arithmetic Concepts Test, Grade iv, Research Organizations in Municipal School Systems in Canada, Educational Use of Computers-An Annotated Bibliography, and Educational Use of Computers - Kaleidoscopic View. HAMILTON SCHOOL SYSTEM

The Research Department established by the Hamilton Board of Education came into full operation in 1965-6. In that year, it conducted approximately twenty projects which the director of education considered to be major on such topics as dropouts, orientation of new teachers, summer school, enrolment, accelerated students, failure rates, pupil retirements from secondary schools, personality ratings, enrichment classes, junior vocational school placement in employment, retention rates in the secondary schools, grade 13 examination results, and opportunities for graduates from the four-year Arts and Science branch. In the field of measurement, the department calculated city-wide norms according to grade level. Among its other services were to determine the selection of students for enrichment classes in grade 7 and the "new horizons" seminars in grade 12 and to compile summaries of statistical reports on enrolment and attendance. In its consultative role, the department made a substantial contribution to the work of the Committee on Education for Employment. Assistance was given to principals and teachers in designing studies. A compendium of research projects carried out in the schools was compiled in the form of a directory which was distributed for information and reference purposes. LONDON SCHOOL SYSTEM

An educational research assistant with full professional qualifications has been employed by the London Board of Education to perform functions similar to those in other large systems. An indication of the kind of study conducted was given in the Courier, a board publication, in November 1968.4 An analysis of examination results had shown that many students with a good record in public school and in other subjects in grade 9 had considerable difficulty with French. The percentage of those who got 60

Research 251

per cent or less in the five basic subjects ranged from 51 in French to 35 in science. In an effort to identify the reason, the research consultant tested 124 students who were taking French for the first timé, that is, who had not studied the subject in grades 7 and 8. Among the variables considered were general intelligence, language aptitude, ability in English, attitude toward the French language, people, and culture, and general study habits. Marks obtained in elementary school and in grade 9 were obtained and studied. An attempt was made to determine whether the students were taking French because it was a curriculum requirement or because they really wanted to learn the language. A questionnaire sought the parents' attitude toward the French language and culture and toward education in general. It was perhaps hardly surprising that parents with a positive attitude toward French tended to encourage their children to learn the language, while those with a negative attitude tended to exert the opposite influence. The study also showed that ability to learn written French was directly related to the student's mastery of English. This finding was thought to demonstrate that there was transfer of certain skills from one language to another. A further predictable conclusion was that the ability to learn written French was related to general learning ability. OTTAWA Ottawa public school system The Ottawa Public School Board had a joint arrangement with Carleton University to conduct research in psychology and education. This partnership gave the activities undertaken a theoretical orientation not found in other large systems. An illustration was provided in the annual report of the board in 1966. The investigation was designed to test the effectiveness of the multi-sensory-motor method of teaching reading in grade 1. The background against which the method was developed was the claim that between 15 and 20 per cent of children entering grade 1 had a mild degree of learning disability which prevented them from benefiting from the usual types of reading programs. It was hoped that the multisensory-motor approach would meet not only their needs but also those of normal pupils. The investigation involved a comparison of the achievement of children in three experimental classes with that of children of similar age and ability in traditional programs. The IQ ranges of the classes were 85-109, 110-124, and 125-149. The criteria of performance were reading and spelling achievement on tests administered by the educational clinic in June. The differences in both skill areas were found to be significantly in favour of the multi-sensory-motor approach in all three parts of the IQ range. Further research was undertaken to identify the

252 Significant developments in local school systems

basic components of learning which had been incorporated into the development of the new method. Ottawa secondary school system A Research Office established by the Collegiate Institute Board hi the autumn of 1967, was defined as a place where problems could be discussed and cast in the form of questions which might be answered through research. An interested person could approach the office with a proposal which would be evaluated for its research possibilities. If it was judged amenable to research, the staff of the office attempted to work out a suitable design. Clerical assistance was also provided, where necessary. Tests were lent or administered by the office if they were required as an integral part of a study. During its first year of operations, the office undertook a variety of projects at the request of teachers or other employees of the board. One of these involved the question of whether the Ottawa Mathematical Aptitude Test developed in 1961 was a useful predictor of student grades hi mathematics. A comparison of scores obtained at the beginning of the grade 9 year with results at the end showed that it had some value for this purpose. Someone with no evident spark of originality wanted to know whether the average IQ differed significantly among schools. An analysis of scores on the Henmon-Nelson test administered to all grade 9 students in five different high schools indicated that there were significant variations. The strange conclusion was reached that each school should use a table of IQ norms most appropriate for its own students. Some of the projects in which the board was interested had attracted support from outside sources. A grant of $18,000 was provided jointly by the Department of Education and the federal Department of Manpower and Immigration for study to help students in the two-year program identify the occupations that were potentially the most rewarding for them. The same federal department provided $5,800 to assist with a study of computer-assisted counselling. The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education contributed a small sum toward the cost of a study on the grading of student essays in order to investigate reliable ways of measuring writing ability. Ottawa separate school system In 1966 the Ottawa Separate School Board and the University of Ottawa, through the Faculty of Psychology and Education, established an Educational Research and Training Centre. Such a step represented a continuation and extension of the co-operation which had previously involved the conduct of research by students of the faculty in the separate schools. The centre was placed under the direction of a jouit committee and two subcommittees, one English and one French.

Research 253

Initial operations involved the study of teaching problems and a public relations program. A special effort was made to induce teachers to question their own teaching practices. One early experiment hi "group teaching" was said to have brought a new concept to teaching based on the co-operation and active participation of children in their own education, and to have "developed in each child a will to learn everything well and to be satisfied only when his entire group has mastered the knowledge presented by the teacher."6 A second study, the results of which were awaited eagerly by psychologists throughout North America, was designed to validate a biological measure of intelligence which would give in a few seconds an evaluation of a pupil's intellectual capacity regardless of language, culture, or sensory defects. Other studies included an attempt to determine the relationship between intelligence, as measured by regularly used tests, and creative ability; an investigation of factors influencing the non-promotion of grade 5 pupils; a study of the effects of eye dominance on pupil achievement; a study of delinquency and cruelty in children; and a study of the duties and responsibilities of board supervisors of special services. The conduct of research hi French-language schools was difficult in some respects because of the lack of basic tools for evaluation. The centre accordingly undertook to develop standardized tests, including vocabulary tests, entitled Ottawa-A and Ottawa-B. A further stage hi the program involved preparation of achievement tests in reading and arithmetic. THE YORK COUNTY EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL The establishment of the York County Educational Research Council early in 1965 was closely associated with efforts to establish facilities in the Newmarket area for the treatment of certain types of learning disabilities among school children. The initiative was largely provided by an optometrist, W.A. Hurst, who resided in Newmarket. Hurst's interest hi research into visual problems had been well known to educators hi certain circles for many years. In association with Hugh Grant, Hurst worked out proposals for an educational research centre for the Newmarket High School area. At further planning meetings, officers were selected for the council, with Hurst as president and Grant as vice-president. The council, or committee, as it was at first called, was supported by the Newmarket Public School Board and the Newmarket District High School Board, with representatives from the York County Council and the Newmarket Town Council. Little tune was lost in drawing up proposals for the establishment of a special education centre in the Newmarket High School District. This centre would concentrate on the diagnosis and treatment of pupils with learning disabilities while at the same tune providing incidental oppor-

254 Significant developments in local school systems

tunities for research. The Educational Committee of the Newmarket District High School Board offered cautious support in a motion favouring continuing investigation of the project. The board itself approved the resolution a short time later, while the Newmarket Public School Board passed a similarly worded motion. At that stage there was some uncertainty about the exact number and qualifications of staff that would be required apart from the director, who would be an educational psychologist. In addition to financial resources, the determining factor would be the unes along which the program would develop. The activities associated with the centre would consist mainly of work by specialists in the schools, visits by teachers to the centre to obtain information, and actual treatment of pupils at the centre. Questions that remained to be settled had to do with the organization, construction, maintenance, and administration of the centre. The responsibility might be assumed by one of the existing school boards, by a committee of school boards, or by a special committee. Since it became obvious at an early stage that advice and financial support from the central authority would be needed, an appropriate brief was drawn up and submitted to the Department of Education. The response of the department to the original brief and to later approaches in one form or another was restrained. In a letter to Hurst on March 1, 1967, the deputy minister indicated a series of steps that might be taken to implement the proposals. He suggested that the Newmarket District High School Board might be the establishing board, and that the elementary school boards within the district - the Newmarket Public School Board, the East Gwillimbury Township School Area Board, and the Whitchurch Township School Area Board - might share the cost of the services on a pre-determined basis. The establishing board would hire the necessary staff and receive grants the following year in accordance with the general legislative grant regulations. The initial staff complement might consist of one full-time psychologist and two or more teacher diagnosticians, or of one full-time psychologist, one fulltime supervisor of special education, and one or more teacher diagnosticians. Then- initial work would be to identify pupils with learning disabilities, to assess the specific needs of such children, to identify the needs of classroom teachers, and to determine the best organizational arrangements for moving ahead with the program. Those who sponsored the proposals for the centre were not altogether happy about this letter. They had hoped that the department would find some means of going beyond the usual grants for special education services. From the department's point of view, of course, there was no legal way of providing special treatment for one area. It was nevertheless found possible to begin operations by the employment of an experienced educational psychologist.

Research 255

In addition to its efforts to have the centre established, the York County Educational Research Council sponsored visits by special education personnel to centres inside and outside the province. Particular interest was shown in work being done at the Douglas and Children's hospitals in Montreal. A number of speakers were brought into the Newmarket area to address audiences on various aspects of research and special education. It was not found possible, however, to sponsor actual research activities. The establishment of the new county board of education at the beginning of January 1969 meant the cessation of the activities of the Research Council, the functions of which were merged into those of the larger board. The provisions for special services were extended throughout the whole area by spreading the efforts of two psychologists over Newmarket, East Gwillimbury, and North Gwillimbury township. A P P R A I S A L OF R E S E A R C H ACTIVITIES IN LOCAL SYSTEMS STUDY BY C.J. W I L K I N S

Consideration of titles of studies, summaries of findings, and research reports indicate that research organizations in local systems tend to stick quite closely to activities that are of direct and immediate interest to some individual or group. When these activities are undertaken to answer a specific question to which a straightforward answer can be found - and does not already exist - they may perform a very valuable service. It is encouraging to hear local officials say with increasing frequency, "We wondered whether it would help if we ... So we did a study." This kind of approach should do much to ensure a continuous improvement in any system. It is evident, however, that there is a great deal of wasted effort in local research. Some of it stems from the failure to realize how many answers are already contained in research literature. While there are many instances in which local applications should be carefully and actively studied, there are others in which such activity makes no more sense than to test the same light bulb in identical sockets hi different parts of the country. But many of those who like to think of themselves as full-fledged researchers have a greater propensity for doing studies than for engaging in a patient search through educational journals to see whether new research is actually needed. While matters of real concern are identified by teachers and other practitioners, and a researcher who wants to make a worthwhile contribution will obtain many of his ideas from such sources, there are dangers in leaving too much initiative with those who lack research training. It takes a good deal of knowledge and skill to cull out the problems that are too vague and general, too complex, or too trivial to justify an investment of human and financial resources in the search for a

256 Significant developments in local school systems

solution. There must be a balance between teacher enthusiasm on the one hand and specialized expertise on the other if the best results are to be obtained. Origin and purposes of study In May 1965 CJ. Wilkins completed a study commissioned by the Ontario Educational Research Council at the time when the present writer was president of that organization. The results were reported in a mimeographed document entitled "Research Departments Established by Boards of Education in Ontario."6 In his introduction Wilkins explained that the study was intended as a guide to school boards that were considering the establishment of their own research departments. These boards might have an opportunity to explore areas of potential difficulty as they were revealed in the operations of departments already functioning. From the reactions of administrators, teachers, and research workers, they might gain some evidence on the possible contributions of a research department to the solution of educational problems. Apparently reluctant to promise too much, however, Wilkins warned that there was a unique aspect to each board's administrative, instructional, and curricular problems. Scope and procedures of study The study dealt mainly with three school board research departments that were already functioning and with two additional "research groups" that had not yet acquired the formal status of departments. The procedure used by Wilkins was to interview the heads of the existing departments and the leading administrators of all five boards, and, by means of interviews and questionnaires, to survey the opinions of teachers about research activities. Wilkins chose not to identify specific findings with individual research departments, unorganized research groups, or school boards. The ideas and opinions of those interviewed during the study were also presented anonymously. The nature of the information included in the report suggests that this policy may have been one of undue caution. Objectives of research organizations The objectives defined by the heads of the three research departments were assembled in the form of a single list: 1 / (short term) to develop a system of data collection and flow; 2 / (long term) to improve measurement of educational progress; 3 / (longer term) to evaluate present and proposed programs; 4 / to co-operate with learning theory experts in the collection and analysis of data for their purposes; 5 / to persist in the hope that research will answer some questions; 6 / to find more questions than answers; 7 / to examine issues and problems; 8 / to

Research 257

collect and understand evidence; and 9/ to refine theories. There appears to be a certain amount of overlap in the list: e.g., between items 1 and 8 and between items 4 and 9. Item 5 might be considered more than anything else an expression of attitude. Item 6 was not designed to win the approval of those who felt that enough unanswered questions already existed. Related to the objectives defined by the researchers were the values seen by the administrators in their established or emerging research departments. Five of these were listed: A To provide evidence to make better judgements and to deal with the implications of research findings: B To question current administrative practices in relation to objectives set by the administration, to make recommendations, and to establish a research library available to administrators and teachers; c To contribute to the up-grading of the teaching-learning program in the classroom, and to bring objective evidence to bear upon administrative problems and decisions; D To establish new programs; E To quicken the spirit of the staff in trying new things; To provide some leads in methodology, as in language instruction, and to prevent us from moving in the wrong direction, as in mathematics and language laboratories - a stop-and-go-function.7 Functions of research organizations Wilkins found a high degree of flexibility in the functions of the existing departments. These functions varied both because of changing needs and emphases and because of the evolution of the departments within their own educational systems. In its early stages, a department was likely to be most concerned with assisting the administration; later it tended to pay increasing attention to the needs of the instructional staff and of the community. Each of five administrators gave a definition of the functions of the existing research department or group in his system. The first mentioned the provision of advisory services to the system, the dissemination of information, the initiation of proposals for study of such aspects of the system as administration, supervision, and instruction, and the development of materials, tests, and informal inventories. The second administrator referred to the provision of a consultative service to the administration, the compilation of data for interpretation by the administration, the compilation of the latest research findings and their communication to the staff and the community, the provision of leadership in teaching techniques, the conduct of scientific projects and the interpretation of their findings, and the preparation and maintenance of a current directory of all research activities in the schools in the system. The third

258 Significant developments in local school systems

administrator thought his department should encourage teachers, principals, and inspectors to engage in research which was meaningful to them and advise them on the organization and design of their research. The fourth mentioned testing the effectiveness of new approaches in curricula. The fifth was interested in the improvement of instruction rather than hi studies of school populations or buildings. His list included keeping educational procedures on the frontier, keeping the board informed of new departures and evaluating their relevance to local conditions, evaluating existing educational and administrative procedures, and structuring, guiding, and evaluating local experiments. In general, the administrators saw the functions of the departments much more closely associated with administrative needs than did the researchers. Wilkins observed, however, that the actual difference was not nearly as great as it appeared to be. He apparently meant that the view of the administrators tended to prevail, since he went on: In his normally supportive role, the research director must be able to find satisfaction in being the shadow of the administration .... He must be able to think as an executive .... To avoid waste motions, it is essential that the communication between the administrative staff and the research department be established and maintained as an open circuit.8 Desirable qualities in research staff The status of the research departments in relation to the administration suggested certain qualities and capacities that would be desirable in the research staff. They must be accurately and well informed in all aspects of educational investigations, habitually questioning practices and ideas, and high in organizational skill and the ability to make their interpretation of research findings available and intelligible to others. They must be objective in discussion as well as in reports, perceptive and practical in dealing with problems, imaginative and flexible in trying new methods, and co-operative in dealing with all groups of the system and community. They must have an enthusiasm for research and the discovering of better approaches to learning.9 The first topic the report dealt with under the heading of "problems of the organization period" was that of finding a suitable research director and staff. It had proved very difficult to recruit people with general and specialized research training, the ability to co-operate with a variety of associates, and the necessary skills hi communication. Three of the boards involved in the study had delayed making appointments for a considerable period of time hi the absence of candidates with the desired

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qualifications. Wilkins warned that this kind of difficulty was to be expected. Forms of organization Wilkins looked at five different school systems and found five different types of organization. The first system relied on the advice of an outside consultant and had projects carried out by regular employees of the board. Since research was mainly concerned with the evaluation of instructional procedures, it was easier to collect information than to process it. A second system had an organization structured like an administrative department with quite clearly defined functions and prescribed channels of communication. This arrangement appeared to be fairly satisfactory for the fact-finding and routine evaluation which constituted the main part of the research program. The third structure, a more flexible one, involved a shared responsibility for evaluation and some other functions. It appeared to be a resource for the chief administrative officer with more emphasis on the advisory and interpretive functions than the other two types. The set-up gave the director extra administrative responsibilities. In Wilkins's view, there were possible advantages in preventing overlapping of activities and in ensuring an effective utilization of resources. On the other hand, the research department seemed to be placed in a secondary role. The fourth arrangement was characterized by a flexible structure and freedom of action. While the department operated as an adjunct to the chief administrative officer, the head decided on the activities to be undertaken in response to the needs of the system. The main emphasis was on consultation with the instructional and administrative staffs. The fifth type of organization was relatively autonomous and unstructured. The senior research officers shared the direction of research activities, and seemed to be activated by a sensitivity to the needs of the school system. There had been particular emphasis on the dissemination and discussion of educational information. The administrators in systems where there was not yet an organized department were very much aware of the deficiencies attributable to the lack of an adequate organization. They felt that the quality of their research work suffered because the direction was diffused, there was less than adequate assurance of co-operation, and the scope of investigations was excessively restricted by the lack of assistance. The greatest deficiencies were in the inadequate preparation of projects before they were launched, in the absence of continuous discussion and evaluation during their development, and in the failure to interpret the findings to the administration. Difficulties in the organizational period There were often serious difficulties in persuading trustees that organized research was needed on the local level. Even among those who favoured

260 Significant developments in local school systems

such activity, there were few who realized the degree to which the validity of findings was restricted to local conditions. Most boards had members who tended to see any extension of the administrative establishment as a financial extravagance. Wilkins saw beneficial effects from opposition hi that it would ensure a strong enunciation of the need for research in the system, and a clear statement of the functions of the proposed department. Two major attitudinal obstacles to the acceptance of a research department were cited. One was the stereotype of the expert as the person who told others what to do. Obviously teachers who attributed a modest degree of competence to themselves in their own field were not eager to be put in the position implied by such a relationship. It was said to be difficult to persuade teachers and administrators that a research staff would work with them to discover more effective approaches to the performance of their functions. The second obstacle was the tendency for people to interpret the researcher's questioning and criticism in personal terms. Adequate communication was offered as the means of overcoming both obstacles. Wilkins thought that a slow and cautious organizational beginning was desirable so that development might occur in one of a number of different directions. He saw the variety of structures and functions in the systems under study as responses to different types of needs rather than as arrangements of varying degrees of effectiveness. A number of the approaches he observed were contradictory. For example, two systems had taken opposite stands on the question of whether or not the research department should undertake statistical computations for the prediction of school populations and the provision of accommodation. One system had developed research in association with psychological services while another had kept the two separate. Heads of research services had such varied titles as co-ordinator of psychological services and research, research consultant, director of research, and supervisor of research. Communication was seen as a function requiring substantial time and skill. There was a danger that the wants and needs of people in the schools might call for a much larger operation than anticipated, even to the extent of throttling other planned activities of the research staff. Yet communciation could not be neglected. It was made more difficult and demanding by the "increasing tendency toward fragmentation of the teaching staff by grade levels and subjects," which prohibited effective overall communication. A suggestion that appears of somewhat doubtful value in keeping the operation within bounds was that teachers be encouraged to take the initiative in consulting the research staff. Obviously the proportion of staff members hi a large system who could be handled in this way would be infinitesimal. It was proposed that communication with members of the school board, a matter considered of prime importance, be maintained through an accessible, up-to-date research library.

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Communication with the community might be established and maintained through Home and School associations and other parent groups. The meagreness of suggestions in this area somewhat belied the emphasis on the importance of the cause. Current problems A section of the report dealt with current problems as identified by administrators and by the heads of the research departments, where these existed. In one system the administrator mentioned designing procedures for communication and interpreting the function of research to the system at large, while the research head referred to problems of defining the research function, setting up an organization to carry out this function, and establishing a proper library service. In a second system the administrator pointed to the necessity of making haste slowly and of avoiding over-expansion, while the research head was concerned with balancing the time required for communication and research. In a third system, the administrator had a series of observations and implied criticisms: "To make the research department part of the team - not working in a vacuum; implementing research findings; liaison of research with operating people; failure of the research department to make positive recommendations; research leads to research - the main need is to get the application of research." 10 The head of the research department in this system had a rather cryptic observation: "Maintaining an atmosphere of ambiguity to prevent self-sterilization and rigidity." In the other two systems, where there were only administrators to make parallel comments, one said that the chief problem was that of completing the research organization while the other mentioned dealing with small problems and personal research. Wilkins commented particularly on the differences in points of view between the administrator and the head of the research department in the third system. The former was eager for definite and explicit recommendations while the research staff carefully avoided giving them where, as often happened, the procedures and findings were open to question. In such cases further research might be undertaken to check the validity of the findings. The expression of a desire to see the researchers working as part of the team reflected the fact that the research department was less subject to administrative restraints and controls than were other departments. The existence of a research organization almost inevitably causes certain difficulties for the administrator who likes to "run a tight ship." Research activities Fewer research projects were undertaken in the departments under investigation than was generally supposed. An obvious limiting factor was that none of the research heads or associates could spend more than half

262 Significant developments in local school systems

his time in the actual conduct of research, and the average was probably much less. There was also evidence of a realization that a sound project required very careful preparation and development, and that too many scattered initiatives inevitably meant superficial work. Many of the projects in the research departments' lists of activities were not properly defined as research. Others were of a somewhat uncertain nature. In reporting the number and titles of the projects being conducted hi 1963-4, which he grouped under eleven headings, Wilkins emphasized that the numbers had relatively little meaning in themselves. It may be observed also that the titles of some studies are not very revealing. Despite these limitations, the titles are offered here for what they are worth: 1 / Achievement Higher Horizons Seminar Group (Grade 13, 1962) Grade 8 reading levels Reading achievement levels before and after summer vacation Age-grade studies Study of achievement, Toronto 2 / Administration School leavers Enrichment group Summer school success Educational objectives manual Grouping for reading instruction Drop-out study Follow-up study of four types of treatment for gifted under-achievers 3 / Communication Research directory Research library Study of transmission of information within the educational system Study of one-way communication, authority-to-teachers Report of theories of Jean Piaget and J.S. Bruner in elementary mathematics 4 / Curriculum Spelling Critical comparison of structure of conventional and modern mathematics curriculum Evaluation of Grade 9 modern mathematics Observational studies of language learning

Research 263 5 / Data processing Use of data processing to handle report cards Use of machine processing in establishing a system of data collection and now 6 / Educational Progress Kindergarten - Grade 1 study Longitudinal study of achievement from Junior Kindergarten through elementary grades 7 / Materials of Instruction a / Evaluation Filmstrip materials used with slow, average and superior Grade 1 pupils Evaluation of mathematics materials, Grade 1, 2, 3 Use of SRA Reading Laboratory with mobile elementary pupils Impact of extra reading material, Grade 1 Appraisal of SRA Mathematics program in primary grades Use of SRA Reading Laboratory for corrective reading, Grade 6 Relative effectiveness of 3 kinds of reading materials in Primary grades b / Preparation 8 mm Concept films Development of primary reading materials from pupil experience 8 / Program Advancement class follow-up study, Grade 13, 1962 Accelerated students (follow-up from September, 1961) Study of creativity of gifted pupils in segregated and regular classes Group work with adolescent female students 9 / Pupils Experience as a determinant of vocabulary learning hi Grade 1 Effects of school admission age on achievement and adjustment in Primary grades Sex differences Health interests 10 / Techniques of Instruction Programmed instruction in language arts Study of team teaching in Grade 1 and in Grades 5 and 6 Programmed vs. traditional instruction in the use of the slide-rule Observational study of reading instruction with the initial teaching alphabet

264 Significant developments in local school systems

11 / Tests and Measurements a / Construction Grade 3 language tests Grade 3 arithmetic tests Grades 1, 2, and 3, reading inventories Grades 1 and 2 arithmetic inventories Grades 2, 3, and 4 arithmetic concept tests b / Evaluation A comparison of wise and OSA in assessing intelligence of immigrant non-English children Grade 8 history Watson Reading Readiness Test as predictor of success in Grade 1 Comparison of examination standards and content - Grades 8 and 12 Examinations, marks, grades, and scales c / Norms Learning capacity, Grades 1, 4,7, 9, 12 Achievement, Grade 8 history, reading, literature Junior High School, boys' physical fitness Origin of projects In the two systems that lacked organized research departments, projects usually originated with the administration. One of these systems had a rather elaborate set of standing committees, which might propose projects or pass them on from other sources in the administration. A group of principals decided whether or not a study would be undertaken, while a consultant appeared to give research its main dkection. The second system in the same category seemed to concentrate its research largely on administrative problems. Even projects dealing with curriculum or test evaluation were mainly intended for the use of the administration. In systems where there were organized departments, research proposals came from a wider variety of sources. Six of these were listed in one case: committees of principals and teachers, principals, inspectors, subject supervisors of music and physical education, the director of education, and other individuals. Additional sources listed for a second system were the Ontario Mathematics Commission and the research consultant. The spokesman for the third system was apparently reluctant to identify proposals with specifically defined sources. Reporting of results In the first system without a department, research results were reported to the superintendent of elementary schools and to an Implications Committee. The procedure was said to be designed to prevent delay in the

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implementation of research findings. In the second system of the same type, reports went to the co-ordinator of special services, to the administrator concerned, and to the schools involved in the project. One of the research departments reported to the director of education, who relayed the information to the administrators concerned. Another dealt directly with the people at the level where action was indicated as a result of the findings, with a memorandum to the director of education. In the third system with a department, the formal draft of the report and its implications were discussed with the appropriate senior officials, and a decision was made on the extent and timing of its distribution. Each report was mimeographed and annotated for inclusion in a research bibliography to which all members of the teaching staff had access. In some cases findings were published in the appropriate journals. Attitudes toward research Wilkins found that the administrators varied a good deal in the degree of enthusiasm they expressed for research. The view in one system was that a certain segment of the community wanted the Une held against innovations of ail kinds while another maintained pressure for changes. The administration had a difficult task keeping the two forces hi balance, and research could add to the problem. One administrator had what was described as a very favourable attitude toward research, and attempted to base decisions on the findings. Wilkins seemed rather concerned that all findings were not necessarily acted upon. In view of the indefinite nature of many research conclusions and their limited and uncertain implications, it is hard to see how a case could be made against an administrator who acted in this way. To do otherwise would be to put the researcher in the position of "the one who tells us what to do," which, as Wilkins had observed earlier, was hardly tolerable. The single most favourable comment from an administrator, in WilMns's view, was that research activities were basic to the system. A cautious statement from one official, which may or may not have implied a certain lack of enthusiasm, was reported thus: "The reaction of the administration has been in direct proportion to the way in which projects have improved educational procedures." A comment from a senior official whose impressions were rather unfavourable was that the research dkector should make firmer recommendations and follow them up to see that they were implemented to the fullest possible extent. At this point, Wilkins noted the danger in extending an advisory role into the administrative sphere. One researcher felt completely satisfied with the research activities in which he had been involved. Others expressed a certain amount of dissatisfaction, and gave evidence of a realization that there was a great deal more to be done and better approaches to be discovered. There was some recognition of the danger in attempting to do too much with limited

266 Significant developments in local school systems

resources. A more elaborate program in one area, at least, would await the recruitment of a larger staff and the building up of a research library. The questionnaires through which teachers' views were solicited were distributed through the three main professional organizations: the Federation of Women Teachers' Associations of Ontario, the Ontario Public School Men Teachers' Federation, and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation. The attitudes identified in this way were generally weak or negative. Among the most revealing of the comments that Wilkins saw fit to report were the following. Teachers are unaware of any research projects except the ones the teachers have organized and carried through. Research carried on by the Board does not appear to use the classroom teacher hi the work. The Co-ordinator of Special Services sends out a bulletin to teachers, but I have seen no results of any research printed hi them. Interest on the part of those directly involved. Concern about the extra time needed for recording, and the suggestion that clerical help is needed in some cases. Interest in the results. Teachers are glad to help, but would appreciate closer contact with the problem. They sometimes feel they have not enough information or direction. No results - no reaction. Unless involved, not much interested. (Sufficient unto themselves.) Some teachers do request visitations to see the research classes and this sometimes causes a spread of ideas. They apparently have been quite interested when they have been involved in a project. I do not know of any provision for "original" research in our township. Those who have been aware of local research projects are quite enthused about them. However, since formal research has been in effect such a short time and is limited, the teachers are not yet in a position to react or evaluate. The few department heads and teachers involved are very much hi favour of some of the projects being undertaken. Any research projects, which may be called such, have meant impositions on a teacher's time and energy. Last year in ... a two-examination year was attempted, but such a thorough testing program was instituted that teachers were unable to tolerate the extra demands on marking time. There may be a questioned reflection that Board research projects hi the name of efficiency may impose heavier burdens on teachers. I honestly cannot recall having heard any reaction. Again I fear this is lack of knowledge about projects that has led to this situation. I do not feel that most teachers (especially in secondary school) are aware of the activity of the research department at all. When its operations are drawn to their attention, they consider that most of its activity is concerned with

Research 267 the elementary schools and the elementary pupils, and rightly or wrongly, consider that it concerns them very little. I would definitely stress the necessity for more information about what the department is undertaking, and what its findings have been.10 From an exploration of the question of how teachers thought research in general affected their work, Wilkins derived a list of typical responses. Research was said to help 1 / by providing worshops and inservice training, 2 / through summer courses resulting from research, 3 / by providing for study groups to upgrade teaching, 4 / by improving teacher efficiency and teacher education, 5 / by keeping teachers up to date, 6 / by fitting teaching to the needs of the times, 7 / by research findings - when they were published, and 8 / by training in compiling statistical data. The value of this collection was not enhanced by the inclusion of such vague generalities as item 6. Researchers might have reason to wonder from the first three items whether teachers distinguished between research and implementation. About the least surprising result of Wilkins's inquiry was that teachers thought they should be kept better informed of the purposes and findings of research. He reported some significant comments on the reasons why communication was relatively ineffective, and referred to some suggestions for its improvement. Research departments have made special efforts to establish communication with teachers, and they have succeeded to an appreciable extent. But the success of their efforts appears to have been limited and localized by the lack of communication among the teachers themselves. Teachers in a school are often unaware of what others in the same school are doing and, presumably, less aware of what teachers in other schools are doing in educational matters. In each Board Area the principals have been busy planning and discussing research activities in committee and group meetings, but teachers' responses to the questionnaire indicate that they have not been aware of the research in which the principals have been involved. In the secondary schools the lack of communication is remarkable. The objectives of different departments in one school sometimes seem to be competitive rather than complementary. It was suggested that, if staff meetings in schools were not preoccupied with administrative details, they might serve for the dissemination of educational ideas and acquainting teachers with current thinking and trends in their profession..., under such circumstances, communication between instructional staffs and the research department would be increased and improved.11 Responsiveness of research departments to the needs of the system Information supplied earlier suggested that most administrators found

268 Significant developments in local school systems

their research departments responsive to the needs of the system. Wilkins explored the question of how they thought this responsiveness could be maintained. Some referred to the recognized responsibility for performing a service function and to the co-ordination of research efforts in a "team approach." Accessibility of the research staff to all groups in the system was considered to be highly desirable, and would presumably be maintained unless the burden became too heavy. A suggestion of doubtful validity was that the channeling of all research communication through a single co-ordinator would help to keep the research department responsive to the needs of the system. A statement with even more questionable implications, although of a different kind, was that the head of the research department had to assume full responsibility for the efficient functioning of the school system - and for its improvement. It would be interesting to know how the originator of this remark would have defined the responsibility of the administrator. Heads of research departments also felt that the responsiveness of their organizations was closely related to their acceptance of responsibility for the service function. They worked in close association with the administrators in planning, reporting, and advising. In carrying out their activities, they established personal and professional contacts throughout the system. They were often in the schools to consult and offer advice, and groups of teachers approached them on their own initiative. One department head nevertheless thought that the responsiveness of his organization still left a good deal to be desked, and that there should be further efforts to improve it. There was apparently no indication that any researcher felt that his department or group was so closely tied to the system that it was incapable of looking at the whole operation from the perspective that emerges only from the distant view. Response of school systems to research The heads of research departments suggested six ways in which the school system might be made more responsive to research findings. 1. Close co-operation in experimental projects, supplying materials and equipment; 2. The provision of research grants for school personnel - dependent on a written report to the supervisor; 3. Communication through contacts with the instructional staffs, and offering to sponsor and advise in teacher research projects; 4. Dealing and planning with one head of a department in a school, and working with a specially interested group in the development and discussion of the findings of research projects. 5. In-service discussion of research results and research methods; 6. In-service activities and principals' projects.12

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The administrator offered a corresponding list. 1. By involving teachers; asking them to try new methods or materials in order to inform the administration of their value; 2. By means of the usual kinds of distribution of significant findings; 3. By having research done in areas that are urgent; 4. By prompt response to requests, and giving definite recommendations for action; 5. By having research and top administrative officials go over research findings and decide what is to be done; 6. By keeping the involved people informed, and having them share in the decisions.13

TEN

In-service teacher education

NORTH YORK SCHOOL SYSTEM

The chairman of the North York Board of Education claimed in 1966 that his system had the most extensive program of in-service professional growth hi the province. North York also had the distinction of setting up the first Department of Professional Development. Up to 1956 the chief in-service training activities in the system consisted of workshops conducted by supervisors of special subjects, group meetings, and studies by committees. Short evening courses were offered for the first time in 1956-7, when over two hundred teachers enrolled to study techniques in the basic subjects. By the end of the decade, the system also offered longer courses consisting of twenty-five sessions of two and one-half hours each. By that time approximately a thousand teachers were participating hi about twenty-five courses and workshops offered each year. The Board of Education established and maintained a library of professional books for its teaching, supervisory, and administrative staffs. Located in the administrative offices of one of the public schools, it was open every week day during the school year. In an effort to keep the stock of materials up to date, recommendations for purchases were sought from officials and members of the teaching staffs in elementary, junior high, and senior high schools. By 1962 the contents included 1,700 book titles and more than fifty periodicals. Individuals or groups of teachers undertaking studies were given assistance in finding source material, and bibliographies were supplied on request. The introduction of new procedures and ideas into the schools of North York was typically accompanied by specially arranged courses, some of fairly extended duration. An example of these, lasting for seven months hi the school year 1961-2, prepared teachers for the Orff approach to teaching music. Some of the participants continued with a two-week summer course at the Conservatory of Music. During the following year seventy-eight teachers enrolled in an in-service course on language experience in kindergarten and grade 1 sponsored by the North York International Reading Association and the North York Kindergarten Association hi co-operation with the Advisory Committee for Curriculum Revision of English.

In-service teacher education 271

Professional development days attained a high level of importance in the North York system. On February 21, 1964, for example, over nine hundred secondary school teachers assembled in a downtown Toronto hotel to hear addresses and panel discussions and to participate in various group sessions. Five panels dealt respectively with the following topics: 1 / "Changes are necessary in our present educational system to prepare our students better for further needs"; 2 / "Team Teaching"; 3 / "The Future of Junior High Schools"; 4 / "Inspection for What?"; and 5 / "Promotions, Standards, and Marks." On the same day, over sixteen hundred elementary school teachers from North York and Weston attended their third annual Professional Development Day. The theme was "Today's Child hi Tomorrow's World," and the keynote address, prepared by the Director of Education, F.W. Minkler, was entitled "What Does the Child Need from Education Today?" A number of leading political figures and prominent educators took part hi the panel discussion which followed. Arrangement for the secondary and elementary school programs were respectively in the hands of District 18 of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation and of the Women Teachers' Association of North York and District 24 of the Ontario Public School Men Teachers' Federation. By 1969 Professional Development Day for North York secondary school teachers involved two separate meetings for different administrative divisions. The Central Co-ordinating Committee for Professional Development arranged for a comprehensive program of visits both inside and outside the system. Groups of teachers went to York, Waterloo, and Guelph Universities, and to Seneca College, Centennial College, the Toronto Montessori Schools, the Metropolitan Toronto and Region Conservation areas, the O'Keefe Centre, the Art Gallery, CFRB, the steel mills in Hamilton, the Continental Can Company, the General Electric Company, the Ford plant, and the IBM plant. The English Department of Victoria Park Secondary School held a subject-oriented workshop and several groups held discussions on the Hall-Dennis report. In accordance with a policy of extreme decentralization, each teacher planned his own professional activity, either individually or in co-operation with other teachers with similar interests. The co-chairman for each area attempted to bring teachers with the same plans into contact with one another. Among the most significant developments in the in-service training field hi 1964-5 was the offering of an elementary guidance course carrying Department of Education credit equivalent to that for the departmental summer course in the same field. The Elementary Guidance Certificate was granted to 135 participants, and plans were made to offer both the elementary and the intermediate courses during the following school year. A less formal thirty-hour seminar was held at York University for heads of guidance departments on the topic "Counselling Theory and Practice,"

272 Significant developments in local school systems

In the spring of 1965 twenty-five public school teachers, principals, and vice-principals attended a three-day workshop in outdoor education at Albion Hills Conservation School. The objective of the session was to encourage teachers to develop an active program hi conservation and outdoor education in their classes and schools. Among the workshop activities were film screenings, star-gazing with astronomical charts, visits to facilities of the school such as the farm, the fish hatchery, and a pioneer cottage, hikes, and talks on the geology of the area and on aspects of outdoor education. During the following autumn and spring, approximately sixty teachers attended weekend workshops at the same school for similar purposes. Two in-service courses were held in the fall of 1965 to acquaint teachers with current developments in modern mathematics. The first, which emphasized practical methodology, attracted an enrolment of eighty, and the second, which dealt with more abstract ideas, an enrolment of thirty. Workshops were organized within schools hi conjunction with demonstration lessons and included discussion of aims, content, and method. TORONTO SCHOOL SYSTEM

The Toronto Board developed a comprehensive induction program, extending over a period of two weeks in the spring, designed for all new teachers scheduled to assume regular responsibilities the following September. It gave them an opportunity to learn about their duties, pupils, associates, and working environment. Supervised classroom practice was intended to enable them to face their classes with confidence and success. They met district inspectors and consultants, attended workshops in art, music, and physical education, learned how to take advantage of the Teaching Aids Department, and observed demonstration classes in various parts of the city. The annual report of the board for 1961-2 quoted a page from a handbook for new teachers provided in the induction program. The exhortations to be prepared for hard work and problems do not seem hi any sense inappropriate in the 1970s. A first class makes extraordinary demands. Here are these children for whose learning I am responsible for a school year. How will they fare? Will they have learned what they can and need to learn by next June? What is the goal I should strive for in the ten months they are in my care? How do I judge how well I am conducting the learning process from day to day and from month to month? Sensitivity to rates of progress comes with experience, just as a driver learns to judge the speed at which he is travelling without looking at the speedometer. Cold comfort this is, for the beginner and the class, but there

In-service teacher education 273 are a number of observations you may now make in your induction term which will, in general, create for you a speedometer and a mileage indicator of learning. First, observe carefully in the class or classes of the grade below that in which you are to begin in September. Study the pupils' June attainments in the various subjects. This will give you a general idea of where you may start the learning process in September. Secondly, observe carefully in a class or classes of the grade in which you are to teach. Study these pupils' June attainments in the various subjects. The difference should give you a bird's-eye view of the terrain you expect to cover in your first year of experience. Your second guide is to observe in these two grades, how the teacher keeps the programme balanced in two ways. First, the teachers' weekly plan shows how each subject is given its share of time in relation to the needs of that particular class. See also how the teacher provides for the wide range of individual differences without holding back the fast learners nor taking the slower learners beyond their depth. Some other observations will afford you comfort next February. Every experienced teacher knows "that February feeling" - half the year gone, and on some dull days the class seems to have progressed so little toward that June goal. Discuss the weekly plan book with experienced teachers. None that I have ever known has ever achieved exactly what was planned in any week. Our occupational hazard as teachers is failing to consolidate gains. "How", we say, "can anything be so ephemeral as that which I thought I taught so well last week, last month, or even yesterday?" The effective teacher is forever picking up loose ends of learning, in this subject and that, with this child or this group, and "darning" them into the fabric of learning. Time it takes, and patience. It is not done by lecturing the class or scolding the few. It means finding time to sit down with the one or the group, and re-teaching or reviewing, in a new way if possible, so that the portion served is not a warmed-up left-over which stimulates no appetite for learning. Please remember as you do this that children most need affection when they are least lovable. This is hard work - no fooling! But the rewards are great, for they shine in the eyes of children! There are other rewards, too. If you follow this chart successfully till next June your programme will not be unbalanced. And neither will you!1 As described in the annual report for 1962-3, in-service programs were of two types : those offered by the directors and consultants of special subjects and those organized by about twenty-five voluntary professional groups of teachers. The facilities of the Education Centre were in constant use for lectures, seminars, discussions, and workshops. Many other such activities were held in classrooms and school auditoriums. The report

274 Significant developments in local school systems

listed fourteen different meetings held during a single week in March 1962 as an illustration of the extensiveness of in-service efforts. A highlight of the in-service program was a vice-principals' liaison course held during a four-month period between November and March. Fifteen vice-principals were given leave from their regular duties for one school day every two weeks to attend special lectures and seminars and to make specially-arranged visits. They supplemented each of these full-day sessions with a two-hour group discussion period in the evening. They were given a clearer idea of the mental health approach in the guidance and placement of children, and a closer acquaintance with the special services offered by the board. The course was offered on a regular annual basis by the Public School Department. The introduction of new courses in different subject fields was accompanied by summer institutes to give teachers appropriate preparation for handling them. One of these was held in 1964 just before the adoption of the Physical Sciences Study Committee course in three collegiate institutes on an experimental basis. The purpose of the institute was to familiarize teachers with the philosophy, subject matter, and laboratory equipment of the course. A similar institute was held in the summer of 1965 when the Department of Education introduced a course based on PSSC work. A winter institute met the needs of those who could not attend during the summer because of teaching or marking duties. Similar preparations were made for the handling of the revised grade 13 course in biology in 1965-6, and for new courses in other subjects in subsequent years. KINGSTON SCHOOL SYSTEM

As listed in the annual report of the director of education for 1965-6, the Kingston educational system provided such in-service professional development activities as attendance at conferences, visits to schools in other systems, night school courses, workshops, local conventions, and exchanges of visits within the system. Among the specific offerings were a thirty-week course in guidance; extended workshops hi modern mathematics, primary reading, and Cuisenaire arithmetic; half-day workshops hi music, art, and physical and health education; and one professional development day for the elementary schools and two for the secondary schools. About thirty teachers visited schools hi other systems, while a number attended conferences of organizations such as the Ontario Association for Curriculum Development, the Council for Exceptional Children, and the Ontario Educational Association. Meetings were held twice during 1966-7 by each of the four divisions: kindergarten, primary, junior, and intermediate. A group of elementary school teachers and principals made an intensive study of the ungraded school. Plans were drawn up for a course of twelve lectures and workshops for principals and vice-principals dealing with "the philosophy of educa-

In-service teacher education 275

tion, its objectives and its goals in both theory and practice, and with modern developments in education." Among other activities were workshops in reading, mathematics, music, art, and other subjects; a night school course in primary reading; integration meetings for teachers of grades 7 to 10; meetings for teachers of special classes; and joint meetings of all department heads. Most of the activities of previous years were repeated hi some form in 1967-8, and new ones were added. The dkector felt that four series of programs were particularly worthy of mention: two divisional meetings for each of the primary, junior, and intermediate divisions along the Unes of those held during the previous year; a workshop for vocal music and one for instrumental; a series of five meetings for principals and viceprincipals, with plans for the same number in 1968-9; and meetings of teachers of the Technical and Industrial Arts departments. Among those with particular responsibility for organizing in-service activities were the primary consultant, the junior and intermediate consultant, the music co-ordinator and consultants, the technical co-ordinator, the divisional executives and committees of teachers, and a committee of principals. The local chapter of the Council for Exceptional Children was particularly busy planning for the 1969 Conference of Ontario chapters, which was to be held at Kingston. INDUCTION OF NEW TEACHERS Ottawa public school system Among many other of the common provisions for in-service teacher education, the Ottawa Public School Board concentrated particular attention on inexperienced teachers hi then: first year of service in the system. During the month of June before they began teaching, most of them spent a week in courses and orientation activities. There were further introductory activities for two days just before school opened in September. In 1964 two hundred new teachers attended obligatory weekly meetings conducted by supervisory staff of the system. York school system A similar induction program for teachers' college graduates entering the system was conducted in the Borough of York. During the first part of a ten-day period in June, the supervisory and administrative staff introduced the newcomers to various aspects of methodology, techniques, and school procedures. The second part of the period was devoted to visits to representative schools and classrooms including those to which the teachers would be assigned during then: first year. A special program was also organized in September for teachers employed for the first time in York schools after teaching elsewhere.

276 Significant developments in local school systems

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAY IN THE LONDON SCHOOL SYSTEM

The London system provides an example of the range and variety of educational activities characterizing the professional development days which have become an established feature of in-service teacher education. In February 1968 meetings and workshops were held in a number of public schools scattered throughout the city. At one school, where the theme was new patterns of teaching and learning, the participants discussed libraries as educational aids, new teaching techniques, modern school architecture to accommodate these techniques, and team teaching. At a second school a presentation on community programs in the schools of Flint, Michigan, preceded discussion on the possibility of following similar practices in London. Other topics dealt with included guidance, visual aids, kindergarten, and the role of the non-professional helper for teachers. At a third school the topics were pupil assessment, examinations, marking methods, and evaluation in subjects characterized by relatively intangible achievement such as art, music, and physical education. Workshops at a fourth school dealt with new ways to teach mathematics, while science was similarly treated at a fifth. The main topics at a sixth were research in education, learning habits, and student abilities and aptitudes. Those at a seventh were reading, oral and written English, spelling, grammar, and remedial reading. At an eighth, the group undertook to evaluate instruction for children with mental or physical abnormalities. Among the topics for discussion on the Annual Elementary School Professional Development Day in 1969, some were repeated from the previous year and others were new. The program included art education, research findings for the teacher, mental health in the classroom, the discovery approach to science, new patterns of teaching and learning, motivation for learning, compensatory programs for the disadvantaged, improvement of instruction, resources for an effective program in social studies, correlation with the curriculum, and the new mathematics program. PETERBOROUGH OPERATION: INDIVIDUALIZING STUDENT EDUCATION ( P O I S E )

The POISE operation is difficult to classify in that it attempted to cover a very wide area of educational concern. It was defined as a project to motivate changes hi the elementary schools of the Peterborough system. The impulse was said to have come from a group of elementary school principals who approached the Director of Education, E.P. Ray, hi the spring of 1968. Steps were accordingly taken to set up a steering committee consisting of six of the principals, supported by resource people from the central administration, to develop a plan of action. A successful appeal was also made to secure the assistance of the Ontario Institute for Studies hi Education. An initial one-year plan to cover the period between

In-service teacher education 277

September 1968 and September 1969 was worked out and approved by officials of the Peterborough Board of Education and of the OISE. The project was to focus on ways of revising the educational program so that pupils' individual needs would be better served. In its first year, it would be concerned with the grades 4 to 6 level in six city schools and one from each of the Peterborough Separate and Peterborough County school systems. Teachers from the appropriate grades and schools were invited, but not compelled, to participate in the project. After the withdrawal of the principal and teachers who had accepted the invitation and then backed out, the project was left with seven schools and forty-seven teachers. As reported by W.G. Roberts, OISE consultant in the project, to the Tenth Annual Conference of the OERC in 1968, the program was based on three assumptions. 1 / The professionals in the schools can design and implement functional alternatives which will better serve the unique needs of the individual students provided that they are given an opportunity to acquire certain required skills, time for planning activities, and atypical resources. 2 / There are substantial unused resources in the total community that can be mustered to facilitate and support the development of meaningful innovations. 3 / The utilization of the untapped community resources requires the development of an effective liaison system involving representatives of the educational, industrial, and cultural sectors of the community. The specific aims of the project were defined as follows: 1. Identify and develop some of the capabilities required by school personnel undertaking substantial revisions to the educational program. 2. Assess the nature and degree of atypical resources required by teachers in planning major program changes. 3. Assess the extent to which the resources of a given community can effectively be utilized to support professionals attempting program changes. 4. Develop functional schemes for planning, managing, and evaluating locally sponsored developmental projects. 5. Determine the communication and liaison requirements of such a project and to develop a communication network to satisfy these requirements.2 For the success of the project it was considered essential that all participating teachers be freed for a two-hour planning session each week. Two ways of dealing with this problem were adopted: in some cases supply teachers were provided as they were when teachers were absent for the usual reasons; in other cases, community volunteers supplied their services. These solutions could not, however, be applied to enable the participants to absent themselves from classes for the nine days of workshop activity required during the year. An appeal was therefore made to Peterborough Teachers' College to permit student teachers to take over classes

278 Significant developments in local school systems

as needed. This appeal elicited the full co-operation of the principal, the staff, and the students. A Core Committee was formed, consisting of the principals of the participating schools, to co-ordinate the program and to provide necessary services. It held weekly meetings to keep the project under constant review. One of the principals was appointed field co-ordinator to facilitate liaison among the participating schools, administrators, and OISE staff members, to document developments, and to assist in various other ways. He was freed from his regular responsibilities for 50 per cent of the time so that he could give the project the necessary attention. As a means of making this relief effective, he was given an office and the necessary secretarial service in another school. The Core Committee decided that it was essential for the success of the project that a deadline be established for the introduction of some program innovation in each of the schools. It would also be necessary to work out a set of priorities for the steps that would lead to the attainment of the objectives. The plan that was developed had a target date of September 1969 for its implementation. The activities for the most part centred around breaking down traditional thinking about the function and functioning of the school. It was considered to be a task of major proportions to persuade teachers to shift from the subject-centred or contentcentred curriculum to one with objectives defined in terms of individual behaviour. An initial task was to identify and develop teachers' ability to further the process of innovation. Activities were designed to enable them to acquire expertise in group planning and decision-making, defining and assessing existing programs, identifying students' potentialities, needs, and performances, setting attainable educational objectives, identifying and evaluating program alternatives, available resources, and the limitations on possible action, and planning, managing, and evaluating curriculum revision projects cutting across schools and systems. Two of the activities that were expected to further the attainment of these objectives were the holding of workshops where teachers engaged in a critical examination of existing practice and wrote objectives in terms of student behaviour and the sponsoring of visits to schools outside Peterborough where particularly interesting innovations might be observed. OAKVILLE CHILD STUDY PROGRAM

J.K. Graham, Inspector of Schools for the Oakville Board of Education, explained a child study program for Oakville teachers at the Eighth Annual Conference of the OERC in 1966.3 The program was designed to make the participants more clinical, more objective, and more analytic in their work. It involved the organization of groups of eight to twelve teachers with a trained leader to study individual children in their own classrooms and to try to gain deeper insights into the factors underlying

In-service teacher education 279

children's behaviour and development. In a three-year sequence of studies they selected a child for study each year and built a case record of objective data on him. At bi-weekly meetings they shared and analyzed information from the case records of all children being studied by members of the group. The three-year program followed a systematic plan. During the first year, the participating teachers learned to observe children's behaviour, to gather data from many sources, and to write a full case record. This period was characterized by attitudinal changes and changes in approach. The second year was regarded as the content year, when teachers were helped to gain a better understanding of physical, affectional, socialization, peer-group, self-developmental, and self-adjustive processes. During the third year the focus was on the child's concept of himself, his concepts of the world, and the world's concept of the child. It was considered highly desirable for a teacher to persevere through all three years of the program. The results appeared to be much more effective than efforts to contribute to his professional development through the circulation of factual information and explanatory principles. Graham summarized the benefits that were generally considered to accrue to teachers who participated in child study programs. 1. Teachers improve from year to year in their ability to write objective records and to interpret them. 2. Gains in scientific knowledge about child development and behaviour are noted. 3. Teachers' attitudes change. They become warmer toward children, more accepting of them, more tolerant in working with all children, more objective in seeking causes of behaviour, more ethical in handling confidential material about children, and more approving of democratic classroom practices. 4. The behaviour of teachers in then- classrooms changes. Negative ways of handling children are used less frequently while positive ways such as praising and encouraging ulerease. 5. The classroomfs]... become more democratic and less autocratic in their organization. 6. Study and group procedures bring about more basic alteration and growth in the total personality of teachers making possible the above changes. At the same conference Ann Robbins, a teacher at Brookdale Public School in Oakville, provided further information of a more personal type about the Oakville child study program.4 The first meeting she attended consisted of about twelve people, including teachers from nursery school to grade 8 as well as two principals. The atmosphere at that meeting, as well as at those that succeeded it, was one of informality and good fellow-

280 Significant developments in local school systems

ship. The leader explained the purpose of the program and outlined the procedures for the meetings. A code of ethics was to be followed because of the highly confidential information that would be used. This code consisted of such items as the following. 1 / A pseudonym would be used to preserve each child's anonymity. 2 / No child would be discussed in the presence of non-participants. 3 / The record books would be kept under lock and key and destroyed at the end of the course. 4 / The code of ethics would be read at every meeting to keep it fresh in the minds of the partipants. This code was intended primarily as a protection for the child and his parents, but also served to protect the teacher and the school system. Each participant chose one of the children from his own classroom who interested him. He was advised to avoid those who had already been referred to a psychologist or had severe adjustment problems, as well as those who were likely to move away during the year. As a preliminary step he observed the pupils in his classroom and identified two or three who might be interesting to study. At the second meeting he presented sketches of these possible subjects and a selection was made. Miss Robbins herself chose a boy aged four years and eleven months who had already informed her that he was in the habit of sneaking down to the basement at home to drink paint. He was the youngest of three children, had older parents, and was physically attractive. On his first day at school he had found a plastic knife in the doll centre with which he had proceeded to stab the other children. A teacher of an enrichment class decided to study a boy who was extremely shy and uncommunicative. A grade 3 teacher chose one who showed an abnormal desire for attention. The nursery school teacher decided on one of a pair of twins who communicated only with one another and in a language of their own. The two principals tried to participate by having other teachers write anecdotes for them, but they found it impossible to conduct a proper study without personal contact with the child, and withdrew during the first year. The participants began to accumulate their anecdotal records by observing the child in the classroom and on the playground, interacting with his peers and teachers, and going through his routines. They recorded his words and actions, other people's reactions to him, and the times and dates of events considered worthy of recording. Information was also gathered from school and health records and from interested people such as the doctor and the Sunday school teacher, with appropriate precautions to ensure that the interests of the child were protected. Most of the meetings until Christmas were taken up with the reading of anecdotes. The participants found that it took a good deal of practice to learn to write these well. Next came the part of the program that Miss Robbins felt gave meaning to all the information gathered. The participants chose a specific incident and made a number of tentative hypotheses about it, attempting to find as many reasons as possible why the child acted as he did. For

In-service teacher education 281

example, they tried to explain why a certain child who was physically unco-ordinated kept looking at the teacher and followed instructions only when the teacher was looking at him. Some of the many possible explanations offered were plausible and others not. Among them were that 1 / he looked to the teacher for reassurance, 2 / he thought he should look at the teacher often, 3 / he wanted the teacher's attention, and 4 / he thought the teacher looked queer. After a time, members of the group began to feel that they were learning to make hypotheses effectively and to consider more than a first quick explanation. Attempts were made to determine which hypothesis could be sustained by going back through the records for supporting statements or anecdotes. More than one cause was invariably found for a particular behavioural phenomenon. A statement was made summarizing the hypotheses that were supported. Usually there was a lively discussion of ways in which the teacher could help the child whose behaviour was under consideration. Members of the group found that the same incidents tended to be repeated in the anecdotal records. The next step was to recognize and list these recurring situations and patterns of behaviour. A participant would read his record of anecdotes from the beginning while a recorder made a list on the board for the others to see. If successive manifestations of the same behaviour were mentioned, a general statement was made, with a list of the dates on which it occurred. By using the technique of formulating many hypotheses, the teacher concerned could write a concluding paragraph. During the last two or three meetings of the year the participants attempted to describe what the year had been like for each child and to assess him as an individual. For this purpose several questions were asked. 1 / What was the child working on this year? What were his main developmental tasks? 2 / What problems was he up against? What were his liabilities? 3 / What assets did he have? 4 / What did the school do to help him? 5 / What more could the school do to help him? It would appear that the process of study was almost certain to ensure that the child received extra help.

ELEVEN

Centennial celebrations

Efforts of the federal and provincial governments to make 1967 a memorable year in commemoration of the events one hundred years earlier that established the nucleus of modern Canada found an enthusiastic response in many local communities. School systems took the opportunity to organize special activities that not only stimulated children's interest in their country's history, but also proved to be valuable educational experiences from other points of view. In some cases, what were originally considered to be unique celebrations proved to be the beginning of more or less regular and continuing programs. KINGSTON SCHOOL SYSTEM

Preparations began in Kingston hi November 1965 with the establishment of a Planning and Steering Committee, which included teachers and principals from the public and secondary schools, inspectors, and board members. This committee declared the week of January 9-13 "Macdonald Week" at Macdonald Public School, and, on the 152nd birthday of Sir John A. Macdonald, turned the school into a kind of museum. It featured a fashion display, a typical sitting-room of the 1800s, an exhibit of antique Canadian household articles, a collection of books, pictures, and documents portraying the history of Kingston, and an audio-visual room with coloured slides showing Kingston's historical sites.1 The pupils of the public and secondary schools participated in three mass music festivals: in January the students from Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute and the public schools in the surrounding area presented a musical tribute to Sir John A. Macdonald; the following month, the schools in the west end of the city held a festival on the theme "Canada's Heritage"; in March the schools in the vicinity of Queen Elizabeth Collegiate and Vocational Institute staged a musical review on "Canada's First Hundred Years." The Centennial Committee sponsored a speaking contest in each school, as well as meetings of the finaüsts from the elementary and secondary schools at which the winners received plaques, bursaries, and diplomas. For two weeks in March pupils from the public and separate schools presented an art exhibition in the City Hall. The initiation of a scheme for matching schools gave pupils an opportunity to correspond with Indian, Eskimo, and French-Canadian school

Centennial celebrations 283

children. Centennial booklets were prepared to include the history of each school, contributions by individual pupils, and records of activities during the year. A television program, "A Tribute to Sir John A. Macdonald," commemorated the death of the first prime minister on June 6. A historical drama, "The Dream," was presented through the combined efforts of the students of three secondary schools in December. In addition to this list of projects initiated by the Centennial Committee of the Board of Education, individual schools organized many special activities of their own. For example, hundreds of pupils visited Expo and Ottawa; assemblies were held on the Centennial theme; there was competition for the Centennial Athletic Awards; tours were made of historic sites in Kingston; trees and shrubs were planted in local parks and schoolyards; school days of 1867 were re-enacted; a Centennial fair was held at one school; and others organized old time weeks and Centennial hobby shows. NORTH YORK SCHOOL SYSTEM

According to the annual report for 1966-7, the North York Centennial program engendered a great deal of enthusiasm for Canada, the community, and the school. The list of projects included the construction of large murals done hi both paints and mosaic, tree-planting, trips to Expo, student exchanges, and the production of plays and musicals on Centennial themes. Using the theme "Know Canada Better," one public school put on graphic displays of Canada's heritage hi the corridors, classrooms, and auditorium, and on the school grounds. The exhibition portrayed pioneer life and customs, cultural achievements, the development of natural resources, commercial and industrial progress, improvements in transportation and communication, and modern conservation methods. There were paintings related to Canada's history and to Expo. Exhibits depicted a pioneer school and pioneer utensils, pioneer travel and a pioneer village, Indians and travel, Canadian sports, the Canadian economy, a school of the future, a pioneer general store, and a conservation display complete with areas, streams, animals, fish, birds, and soil samples. A Canadian display included three complete rooms of pioneer furniture and utensils, Eskimo carvings, a pioneer life sketch collection, and a demonstration of Canadian folk dancing. At another school pupils worked on a log cabin Centennial project which involved the transportation of a log cabin, built about 1820, from its original location near Kirkfield, and its reassembly on the school grounds. This building acted as a stimulus for the children to attempt to recreate the life of the early settlers. They made patchwork quilts, ropespring beds, tables, curtains, hooked rugs, and pottery, planted in a school garden a variety of crops known to the pioneers, and learned such skills as soap and candle-making, butter churning, pickling, and preserving.

284 Significant developments in local school systems

At a third school the Centennial program began as a scheme to improve artistic work in the school. In a Centennial Exhibition portraying man's adaptation to his environment, displays showed his way of life, his efforts to exploit nature, and his achievements in improving his living conditions. A pioneer homestead in the gymnasium demonstrated soap and butter making, rug hooking and weaving, candle making, quilting, carving, the use of agricultural implements, and the use of available resources for the production of basic comforts. A "Tomorrow Room" presented a sharp contrast in terms of psychedelic music, flashing lights, and Go-Go dancers. According to Education in North York Schools: "It gave the impression of total personal involvement by present and future generations in the creative arts according to the climate of the times. It showed man to be a participant rather than an observer and linked him into one aesthetic whole rather than a separate entity in his environment."2 The two aspects of the program presented a history of change in Canadian culture. OTTAWA PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM

Centennial activities were expected to involve every child in the Ottawa public schools. Projects devised within individual schools were of two kinds: special events open to the public and activities conducted over a period of time entirely for the benefit of the pupils. Most of them were covered by the following list. 1 / Pupils were transported by bus to such sites of historical interest as the parliament buildings, the Rideau Canal locks, various museums, and Upper Canada Village. 2 / Frequent school assemblies commemorated significant events in the development of the Canadian nation, with the participation of prominent and knowledgeable guest speakers. 3 / School newspapers and scrap books traced the growth of the school area, Ottawa, and Canada. 4 / Flower beds, trees, and shrubs were planted on school grounds. 5 / There were reunions of school graduates, past teachers, and principals. 6 / Pupil exchanges were arranged with nearby rural and urban centres. 7 / Letters, flags, and booklets were exchanged with pupils from other Canadian provinces, Commonwealth countries, and other nations. 8 / One school arranged to have an abandoned one-room schoolhouse set up on the grounds and classes spent oneday sessions in it using pioneer texts and facilities. 9 / School songs or poems were composed to accompany school flags. 10 / Maps of Canada were drawn on asphalt playgrounds showing the natural and man-made features of the country. 11 / School libraries arranged for the display of Canadian books and made special efforts to persuade pupils to read them. 12 / A Centennial supplement to the social studies course was introduced in all grades to familiarize pupils with great Canadian men and women and their contributions to the welfare of the country. 13 / Over two thousand pupils participated in a national "Help A Child" program, promising to adopt and assist more than sixty under-privileged children in Canada and other countries.

Centennial celebrations 285

JOINT CELEBRATIONS AT OTTAWA

The Public, Separate, and Collegiate Institute Boards at Ottawa combined their efforts to produce Education '67, an ambitious educational exhibition lasting for a week in May 1967. The project was described as the largest of its kind ever held in Canada. The activities were designed to give the public a view of education from 1867 to a point well in the future. Exhibits, which involved all school subjects and services from kindergarten to grade 13, were shown in five buildings hi Lansdowne Park and in two schools. The following features particularly impressed a School Progress staff writer: 1 / a modern school library with a dial-a-story telephone, audio-visual study carrels, an information retrieval system, and equipment for computer-assisted instruction; 2 / a nightly uve television show demonstrating steps involved in producing an educational television program; 3 / a history display in the form of a puppet show which took visitors from the time of the Fathers of Confederation to the current scene; 4 / a futuristic home economics exhibit with girls in plastic minidresses working in a space-age kitchen with an electronic oven, closedcircuit television, and a mock-up dial-a-menu computer; 5 / a commercial exhibit in which a computer demonstrated its role in mathematics, science, and commercial subjects; 6 / a seventy-two foot wheel of progress divided into eight pie-shaped sections serving as classrooms where students demonstrated aspects of technical education; 7 / performance by students of sophisticated experiments in physics, chemistry, and biology on such themes as energy levels, wave interference, and nuclear physics.3

Notes

CHAPTER 1

1 A.H. Waters and R.S. Stevens, "Evaluation of an Ungraded Organization," in Ontario Educational Research Council, Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual Conference, Toronto, December 1970, p. 14. 2 H.G. McLeod, H.J. Billing, and R.S. Stevens, "Summarized Report on Project '70. A Total Involvement Experiment in Teaching and Learning at North Bendale Junior School," June 1970. 3 H.W.B. Hyland and R.C. Brock, "An Independent Study Programme, 1968-69," Bulletin, XLK, 2, March 1969, pp. 70-3. 4 Margaret Gayfer, "A School Where Team Involvement Plays Its Role At Every Level," School Progress, xxxvn, 2, April 1969, pp. 50-2. 5 Melvin B.C. Clarke, "The NonGraded High School," Dimensions, n, 4 April 1968, p. 8. 6 John Burns, "Claims Curriculum Changes Suit Computer, Not Student," Globe and Mail, Toronto, 1 February 1969. 7 Ontario Educational Research Council, Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Conference, Toronto, December 1967, pp.

106-112. 8 Ann Moon, "No Grade, Marks, Walls in First 'Big-room' School," Hamilton Spectator, 27 June 1968. 9 Paul Cartan, "An Integrated Kindergarten," OECTA Review, XXDC, 3, March 1970, pp. 42-4. 10 Pauline Ashton, "Where Children Learn How to Learn," Mirror, Scarborough, ^February 1969. 11 Ontario Educational Research Council, Proceedings of the Third Annual Meeting, Toronto, December 1961, pp. 29-32. 12 Ontario Educational Research Council, Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Conference, Toronto, December 1967, pp. 130-6. 13 Ontario Educational Research Council, Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Conference, Toronto, December 1966, pp. 105-9. 14 Ontario Educational Research Council, Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Conference, Toronto, December 1967, pp. 117-29. 15 M.W. Wahlstrom, "Information Retrieval Via Television," paper presented at the Eleventh Annual Conference of the

Notes to pages 38-78 287 Ontario Educational Research Council, Toronto, December 1969. 16 Marion McKinley, "Mini-Math — Television as a Modern Method of Mastering Mathematics," paper presented at the Eleventh Annual Conference of the Ontario Educational Research Council, Toronto, December 1969. 17 Ontario Educational Research Council, Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Conference, Toronto, December 1966, pp. 19-23. 18 Ibid., p. 19. 19 Ibid., pp. 15-16. 20 "Operation Experience Triggers Explosion of Student Knowledge," School Progress, xxxv, 12, December 1966, p. 60. 21 Michael J. Keefe, "Observations on a No-Examination Policy in the Classics Department at North Park Collegiate, 19681969," Bulletin, XLK, 6, December 1969, p. 490. 22 Ibid. 23 Ibid., p. 491.

CHAPTER 2

1 Ontario Educational Research Council, Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Meeting, Toronto, December 1963, p. 47. ( Mimeographed. ) 2 Ibid., p. 48. 3 Ibid., p. 49. 4 Harold Fried and Harold Mullins, "Computer-AssistedBiology," for Ontario Educational Research Council, 196970.

5 "Terminal Network Introduces Computer to Toronto Students," School Progress, XXXVHI, 6, June 1969, p. 42. 6 "Getting to Know the Computer," School Progress, xxxix, 4, April 1970, pp. 48-9. 7 "Smart Drivers Take Course," Courier, 13, London, Ontario, March 1969, p. 1. 8 John M. Bassett, "Experimental English," Dimensions, n, 4, April 1968, pp. 4-5. 9 Bruce Ashdown, "Now Class, Write a TV Script," School Progress, xxxvm, 8, August 1969, p. 38. 10 C.M. Worsnop, Carleton Education Bulletin, i, 2, December 1969, pp. 3-4. 11 Education in North York Schools, xxxiv, October 1967. 12 M.R. VanLoon, "French in the Public Schools of Ottawa," Study Pamphlets in Canadian Education, 22 (Toronto: Copp Clark, n.d.). 13 Ibid., p. 5. 14 Ontario Educational Research Council, Proceedings of the Second Annual Meeting, Toronto, December 1960, pp. 4-11. (Mimeographed.) 15 Ibid., p. 9. 16 Gules Dumas, "Evaluation Report of the Grades 7 and 8 Oral French Programme in the London, Ontario, Public Schools," paper presented at the Eleventh Annual Conference of the Ontario Educational Research Council, Toronto, December 1969. 17 Marc-Yvain Giroux and Dormer Ellis, "Apprenticeship in Bilin-

288 Notes to pages 82-112

18

19

20

21

22 23

24

25

26

27

28

gualism in Welland Public Schools," paper presented at the Tenth Annual Conference of the Ontario Educational Research Council, Toronto, December 1968. Keith Hubbard, "Pupil Made 'Filmstrips': A Novel Approach to Group Work," Canadian Journal of History, m, 4, 1968, p. 45. Don Bogle, "Ungraded History at Thornlea Secondary School," Canadian Journal of History, rv, 3,1969, pp. 23-30. "Flower Power Students," School Progress, xxxrx, 2, February 1970, p. 41. William Johnson, "Students to Meet Real Indians in Thornlea Study Course," Globe and Mail, Toronto, 14 October 1969. "Learning Sales Through Sales," Globe and Mail, Toronto, 18 December 1968. "New Math Puzzles Parents But It's Just Fun and Games," Toronto Daily Star, 10 February 1969. William Littler, "A Basketful of Music for Young," Toronto Daily Star, 21 February 1970. "Unique School for Outdoor Education Opened in Ontario," School Progress, xxxm, 2, February 1964, p. 32. Z.S. Phimister, "The Changing Scene in Toronto Schools," Toronto Education Quarterly, in, 1, Autumn 1963, p. 11. "Unique School for Outdoor Education Opened in Ontario," School Progress, xxxm, 2, February 1964, p. 32. Ibid., p. 30.

29 City of Ottawa Public Schools, Superintendent of Public Schools, Annual Report, 1966. 30 David Coburn, "Taking the Roof Off," School Progress, xxxvn, 4, April 1969, pp. 19-21. 31 Bruce C. Bone, address of the Chairman of the Board of Education for the Borough of North York at the sixteenth inaugural meeting, 13 January 1969, p. 3. (Mimeographed.) 32 "Pupils Enjoy Winter Treks with Natural Science School," Courier, London Board of Education, 6, April 1968, p. 2. 33 D.J. Knapp, "Outward Bound!" Bulletin, L, 1, February 1970, p. 33. 34 Ontario Educational Research Council, Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Conference, Toronto, December 1967, pp. 271-7. 35 "Ottawa Public School News," April 1968. 36 Ontario, Department of Education, Curriculum Bulletin 9, i, 9, September 1968, p. 11. 37 Donald G. Ferguson, "Team and Specialized Teaching in Physical and Health Education," paper presented at the Tenth Annual Meeting of the Ontario Educational Research Council, Toronto, December 1968. 38 Ontario, Department of Education, Curriculum Bulletin 9, i, 9, September 1968, p. 7. 39 Information on this topic was supplied by Cora E. Bailey, Primary and Kindergarten Consultant for the Peterborough County Board of Education.

Notes to pages 112-64 289 40 Board of Education for the City of Toronto, Annual Report, School Year 1963-64, p. 17. 41 North York School News, 8, April 1961. 42 R.W. Pletsch, "An Individualized Approach to Elementary Science," paper presented at the Tenth Annual Meeting of the Ontario Educational Research Council, Toronto, December 1968. 43 North York Board of Education, Work Study Programme, 1968. 44 "Closing the Gap between School and Work," School Progress, xxxvin, 7, July 1969, p. 32. CHAPTER 3

1 "Hexagonal Classrooms in Hamilton School," School Progress, xxxin, 1, January 1964, pp. 50-1. 2 "Plan Apartment-School Complex," School Progress, xxxre, 3, March 1970, p. 57. 3 James Nuttall, "High-rise Hamilton School To Be First with Escalators," School Progress, xxxvi, 2, February 1966, p. 14. 4 Board of Education for the Township of North York, Expansion and Progress 1954— 1959, 1960, p. 14. 5 North York School News, 10, December 1961, p. 3. 6 Ontario, Department of Education, Curriculum Bulletin, 10, 1,10, January 1969, p. 11. 7 "How 3-School Campus Copes with Future Flexibility," School Progress, xxxvi, 5, May 1967, p. 43.

8 Pamela Mason, "K-13 Is Not a New Chemical Formula," New Dimensions in Education, TV, 3, June 1969, pp. 18-19. 9 "How Niagara Falls Got Everyone Involved in Planning a Community-Centred School," School Progress, xxxv, 3, March 1966, p. 62.

CHAPTER

4

1 Don C. Bogle, "Ungraded History at Thornlea Secondary School," Canadian Journal of History, rv, 3, 1969, p. 25. 2 "Here's a School That Teachers Built," School Progress, xxxvin, 12, December 1969, p. 33. 3 Ontario, Department of Education, Curriculum Bulletin 9, I, 9, September 1968, p. 4.

1

2

3 4

5 6

CHAPTER 5 John Kelsey, "Saturday Morning at Castle Frank," Globe and Mail, Toronto, 28 February 1969. "Summer Schools Save Time, Public Money," Courier, London Board of Education, October 1967. North York School News, December 1962, p. 4. Douglas Yip, Research Department, Board of Education for the City of Toronto, "SEED: A Preliminary Report," March 1971. Ibid., pp. 8-9. J.H. King, "Toronto's Grade xiii Summer School, 1968," Headmaster, Fall, 1968, pp. 24-5.

290 Notes to pages 165-217 7 Morris A. Carter, "Summer Programme Gives Confidence to Children with Learning Problems," paper presented at the Tenth Annual Conference of the Ontario Educational Research Council, Toronto, December 1968. (Mimeographed.) 8 Ontario Educational Research Council, Seventh Annual Meeting, 1965, Classroom Research Sessions, pp. 193-204. (Mimeographed.) 9 Ibid., p. 205. 10 H.J. Feenstra and R.G. Stennett, "Evaluation of the Impact of Summer School on the Subsequent Academic Achievement of London's Carnegie Students," paper presented at the Tenth Annual Conference of the Ontario Educational Research Council, Toronto, December 1968. (Mimeographed.) 11 A.C. Ritter, Annual Report to the Board of Education for the City of Kingston, School Year 1967-68, pp. 20-1.

CHAPTER 6

1 Board of Education for the Borough of North York, Annual Report 1966—67, Introduction. 2 "Town of Mississauga: Curriculum Co-ordinating Committees," Curriculum Bulletin 9, i, 9, September 1968, 11. 3 Education in North York Schools, xxxvi, February 1968. 4 "Hamilton: Grade 13 School," Curriculum Bulletin 9, i, 9, September 1968, p. 14.

5 "The Grade Thirteen Plan, Forest Hill Collegiate," Toronto, October 1963. (Mimeographed.) 6 H.H. Mosey, "A New Deal for Seniors," Bulletin, XLVI, 3, 31 May 1966, p. 156. 7 "On-Your-Own Experiment for Grade 8,13 Pupils," School Progress, xxxvn, 3, March 1967, p. 5. 8 "More Freedom in High Schools Improves Results," Courier, London Board of Education, 9, October 1968. 9 John Scott, "Six Months of Work Makes Dream True," Globe and Mail, Toronto, 5 June 1969.

CHAPTER 7

1 North York School News, 4, June 1957, pp. 3-4. 2 A.C. Ritter, Annual Report to the Board of Education for the City of Kingston, School Year 1966-67, pp. 18-19. 3 Board of Education for the City of Hamilton, Special Services Branch, 1968-69. 4 Ibid., p. 8. 5 City of Ottawa Public Schools, Superintendent of Public Schools Annual Report, 1967. 6 Information in this section was supplied by Cora E. Bailey, Primary and Kindergarten Consultant, Peterborough County Board of Education. 7 Ottawa Public School Board, Otttawa Public School News, November 1963. 8 Jean Shaw, "Patients Appreciate Aid of School," Globe and Mail, Toronto, 6 December 1951.

Notes to pages 217-73 291 9 "School Health Services Near 60th Anniversary," Courier, London, January 1969, p. 1. 10 Collegiate Institute Board of Ottawa, Annual Report 1966. 11 North York School News, 4, June 1957. 12 D.A. Bristow, "An Experiment in Acceleration," Bulletin, XXXK, 4,30 September 1959. 13 Paul W. Moyer, "Provisions Made for Gifted Pupils by a Small Community," paper presented at the Tenth Annual Conference of the Ontario Educational Research Council, Toronto, December 1968. 14 A.C. Ritter, Annual Report to the Board of Education for the City of Kingston, School Year 1967-68. 15 Ontario, Department of Education, Curriculum Bulletin, 10, i, 10, January 1969, pp. 13-14. 16 Ibid., p. 3. 17 Ibid., pp. 7-9. 18 Ying L.K. Hope, "Brief in Support of a Request for Financial Assistance to Provide Necessary Facilities for Toronto's School System," 27 August 1968. 19 David Lewis Stein, "Inner-City Schools: A Kindergarten Class Can Be Tragic," Toronto Daily Star, 13 September 1969.

CHAPTER 8

1 L.S. Beattie et al, eds., A Study To Determine the Need for Technical Education in North York Township, prepared for the Advisory Vocational Committee of the Board of Education

for the Township of North York, Willowdale, March 1963, pp.

CHAPTER 9

1 Board of Education for the City of Toronto, Research Department, "An Annotated Bibliography of Research Service Publications," complete to January 1965, p. 5. (Mimeographed.) 2 Ibid., pp. 11-12. 3 Board of Education for the City of Toronto, Research Department, fourth supplement to the annotated bibliography of research service publications, January 1968. 4 "Study Links Home, School," Courier, 10, London, November 1968. 5 Ottawa Separate School Board, Annual Report, 1967. 6 C.J. Wilkins, "Research Departments Established by Boards of Education in Ontario," study prepared for the Ontario Educational Research Council, Toronto, March 1966. (Mimeographed.) 7 Ibid., pp. 5-6. 8 Ibid., p. 8. 9 Ibid., pp. 8-9. 10 Ibid., pp. 29-31. These quotations have been subjected to minor modifications for editorial purposes. 11 Ibid., p. 36. 12 Ibid., p. 41. 13 Ibid., p. 42.

CHAPTER 10

1 Board of Education for the City

292 Notes to pages 277-85 of Toronto, Annual Report for the Academic Year 1961-2, Toronto, pp. 3-4. 2 W.G. Roberts, "A Strategy for Motivating Change (A Report on POISE - Peterborough Operation: Individualizing Student Education)," paper presented at the tenth annual conference of the Ontario Educational Research Council, Toronto, December 1%8. 3 Ontario Educational Research Council, Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Conference,

December 1966, Toronto, pp. 24-6. 4 Ibid., pp. 27-31.

CHAPTER 11

1 A.C. Ritter, Annual Report to the Board of Education for the City of Kingston, School Year 1966-7, pp. 29-31. 2 Education in North York Schools, xxxrv, October 1967,3. 3 "About Schools and School Boards," School Progress, xxxvi, 6, June 1967,13.

Contents of volumes in ONTARIO'S EDUCATIVE SOCIETY

I / T H E E X P A N S I O N OF THE E D U C A T I O N A L SYSTEM

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Introduction: Current issues in education Characteristics of the Ontario population Enrolment in schools and in courses sponsored by the Department of Education Educational institutions University enrolment and degrees awarded Enrolment and certificates awarded in other post-secondary educational institutions Status and characteristics of teachers The financing of education

H / T H E ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE

1 The evolution of the structure of the Department of Education 2 The role and functions of the department after 1965 3 Principles of local organization and administration 4 The development of local administrative units for public elementary and secondary schools before 1968 5 The consolidation of local administrative units in 1969 6 The development of the separate school system

7 The development of an educational system for Metropolitan Toronto 8 Provincial financial assistance to schools 9 Provincial and local revenues 10 Budgetary practices 11 Federal financial assistance for provincial non-university programs 12 University finance 13 Educational activities of provincial government departments other than Education and University Affairs 14 Interprovincial co-operation 15 Educational concerns of the federal government III/SCHOOLS, PUPILS, AND TEACHERS

1 Aims of education 2 The development of different types of schools 3 School organization and administration 4 The organization of the school program 5 The evolution of curriculum 6 Significant development in certain curricular areas 7 The role of measurement and evaluation 8 Educational media 9 Education for special groups

294 Contents of volumes in ONTARIO'S EDUCATIVE SOCIETY 10 Special education 11 School buildings, facilities, and equipment 12 The role and status of teachers 13 Teacher welfare 14 The Provincial Committee on Aims and Objectives of Education in the Schools of Ontario rV/POST-SECONDARY AND ADULT EDUCATION

1 The role of the university 2 Developing relationships between the universities and the provincial government and inter-university co-ordination 3 Highlights in the development of each Ontario university 4 University government 5 Observations on certain university programs 6 University teaching 7 Evaluation of student success 8 University research 9 Miscellaneous university functions and services 10 Student activities and attitudes 11 Student assistance 12 University faculty affairs 13 Institutes of technology 14 Other institutions for technological and trades training 15 Origin, nature, and purposes of the colleges of applied arts and technology 16 Organization and functioning of the colleges of applied arts and technology 17 The process of education in the colleges of applied arts and technology 18 The Ontario College of Art 19 Nursing education 20 Government programs for adult training and retraining

21 Training within business and industry V / S U P P O R T I N G INSTITUTIONS AND SERVICES

1 The development of facilities and certification requirements for the preparation of elementary school teachers 2 The development of the educational process in institutions for the preparation of elementary school teachers 3 Issues in teacher education with particular application to the elementary school level 4 The Report of the Minister's Committee on the Training of Elementary School Teachers 5 The development of the colleges of education 6 Requirements for admission to colleges of education and courses and certificates offered 7 The response of the colleges of education to the shortage of secondary school teachers 8 Ideas about the preparation of secondary school teachers 9 In-service teacher education 10 Research and development: definitions and issues 11 Structures for educational research and development before 1965 12 Contributions of various agencies to educational research in Ontario before 1965 13 The creation and development of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education 14 Activities in research, development, and graduate studies at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Contents of volumes in ONTARIO'S EDUCATIVE SOCIETY 295 15 The Ontario grade 13 departmental examination system 16 Departmental essay-type examinations in grade 12 17 Departmental objective testing in grade 12 18 Objective testing for university admission 19 Radio and television 20 The provincial library system 21 Miscellaneous educative institutions

4 5

6 7 8 9

V I / S I G N I F I C A N T DEVELOPM E N T S IN LOCAL SCHOOL

10

SYSTEMS

1 Approaches to teaching 2 Curricular experimentation, research, and innovation 3 Buildings and facilities 4 Distinctive schools 5 Extended use of school facilities 6 Administration and operation of school systems and schools 7 Special services, classes, and schools 8 Education for employment 9 Research 10 In-service teacher education 11 Centennial celebrations

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

V H / E D U C A T I O N A L CONTRIBUTIONS OF ASSOCIATIONS

1 Broadly based education associations 2 Federations of elementary and secondary school teachers 3 Other associations of educators

22

23 24

for professional and fraternal purposes Associations providing general support for education Associations for the promotion of specific causes relating to formal education Associations for the promotion of special education Organizations of school trustees Associations of school administrators Associations of administrators of miscellaneous agencies Associations of university officials Associations of university teachers and students Associations concerned with scholarship Professional associations Adult education Community cultural and recreational associations Youth groups Religious organizations Service clubs and associations Social welfare organizations Associations concerned with health Associations for the welfare of special groups Associations for the promotion of social, economic, and cultural causes Charitable foundations Associations concerned with international causes

General index

Adelaide Hoodless School, Hamilton, 28-9 Adjustment Services Department, Hamilton, 203 Administration, of schools and school systems, 135, 177-202 Adult education courses, 170—6 Adult Training Counselling Centre, Toronto, 171-2 Advanced Technical Evening courses, 173, 174 Albion Hills Conservation School, 93-4, 98, 272 Alcohol, education re abuse of, 54-5 Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology, 175 Allandale Heights School, Barrie, 152-3 Almaguin Highlands Secondary School, East Parry Sound, 23 Apartment-school complex, 120-1 Apsco Products (Canada) Ltd, 117 Arithmetic, experimentation in and use of Cuisenaire method, 55-7 Arts and technology, as fields of study, 144 Audio-visual aids centres, 49 Bathurst Heights Secondary School, North York, 25-6,174,198-9 Bell Canada, 37, 61 Bell & Howell Canada Ltd, 48 Bellwoods Park House, Toronto, 172

Bertie Senior Elementary School, Ridgeway, 151-2 Biology, experimentation in, 57-8 Bolton Camp, 98-9 Brant Street School, Toronto, 232-3 Brown-Holtzman Survey of Study Habits and Attitudes, 44 Buildings, school, 118-28 Bulletin of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, 99 Business education, 144 Camping, as an educational experience, 104-5 Canadian Journal of History, 81, 84, 145 Cardinal Heights Senior Public School, Hamilton, 118-28 Carleton Public School, St Catharines, 26-8 Carnegie Study of Identification and Utilization of Talent in High School and College, 169 Castle Frank High School, Toronto, 155 Cedar Glen Conference Centre, Bolton, 98 Centennial celebrations, 282-5 Centennial Public School, Kingston, 6

CFPL-TV, 38, 62 Child Adjustment Services, Toronto, 204-5 CJOH television station, 37 Community use of schools, 122-6

298 General index

Computer science, expérimentation in, 58-61 Confederation High School, Carleton, 67-8 Cuisenaire method in arithmetic, 55-7 Curriculum, experimentation in, 54-117 Dominion Group Test of Learning Capacity, 43-4, 169 Dominion Reading Tests, 110 Dominion Survey Test of Arithmetic Fundamentals, Grades 3 to 5,41 Draw-A-Man Test, 109 Driver and safety education, 61-3 Drugs, education re abuse of, 54-5 Duke of York Public School, Toronto, 228-31 Eastview Public School, Scarborough, 119 Eastview Secondary School, Barrie, 87-8 Economics, as a subject of study, 139 Education Resource Centre, Windsor, 127-8 Educational Clinic, London, 203 Educational Needs of the Older City (ENOC) program, Hamilton, 233-5 Elizabeth Simcoe Public School, Scarborough, 7 Emery Junior High School, North York, 68-9 Employment, education for, 240-3 Encyclopaedia Britannica of Canada Ltd, 48 English: experimentation in, 63-7; as a subject of study, 136-7 Etobicoke Board of Education, 48 Etobicoke Reading Inventories, 109 Etobicoke school system, 107-110

Evaluation of educational outcomes, 49-53 Fairview School, Brantford, 111-12 Field trips, 102-4 Film, educational use of, 46-9 Film study, 67-9 Filmstrips: educational use of, 46-9; use of in teaching of history, 81-4 Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, 190-5 Forest Valley Outdoor Education Centre, 97 Four-Eight Association, North York, 237 French, research and experimentation in, 69-78, 245-6, 250-1 Frontenac County Board of Education, 96 Frontenac, Lennox, and Addington Separate School Board, 96 G.A. Wheable Secondary School, London, 196-7 Gates Reading Readiness Test, 109, 110 Geography: experimentation in, 78-9; as a subject of study, 139-42 Georges Vanier Separate School, Belleville, 119-20 Georgian Bay Secondary School, 24-5 Geraldton Composite High School, 43-6 Gifted, programs for the, 221-7 Gloucester High School, Ottawa, 195-6 Grade 13 school, Hamilton, 189-90 Guidance courses for teachers, in North York, 271 Hall-Dennis Committee. See Provincial Committee on Aims

General index 299 and Objectives of Education in the Schools of Ontario Halton County Board of Education, 147 Hamilton Board of Education, 160, 233, 242 Hamilton Collegiate Institute, 18990 Hamilton school system, 2-4,1601 ; education for employment in, 242-3 ; pupil adjustment services in, 210-12; research in, 250 Hammarskjold High School, Port Arthur (Thunder Bay), 38,100, 101 Hastings and Prince Edward County Separate School Board, 119 H.B. Beal Secondary School, London, 38 Head Start program: in London, 236; in Windsor, 236-7 Health services, provision for, 21721 Herrón Valley Junior High School, 90-1 Highland Park High School, Ottawa, 86-7 History: experimentation in, 79-86; as a subject of study, 137-9 Horticulture, experimentation in teaching of, 86-7 Independent study, 136 Indian studies, 87 Individualized programs, 1-23 Information Retrieval Television (IRTV) system, 37 Inner city schools, 228-39 In-service teacher education, 27081 Inter Collegiate Student Council, North York, 200-1 Island Outdoor Natural Science School, Toronto, 91-3

Jane Street Junior High School, North York, 13 Jarvis Collegiate Institute, 164 Jefferson Public School, Richmond Hill, 199-200 John Buchan Senior Public School, Scarborough, 124 Junior Big Brothers program, 198-9 Junior kindergartens, research on, 246-7 Kingston Board of Education, 208, 216 Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute, 282 Kingston school system, 5-6, 50, 96-7, 110-11, 169-70, 185: Centennial celebrations in, 282-3 ; Department of Psychological Services in, 208; in-service teacher education hi, 274—5; provision for the gifted in, 227 provision for psychological services in, 208; speech correction hi, 216 Kitchener separate school system, 55-7 Lambton Central Collegiate and Vocational Institute, Petrolia, 38-9 Language Study Centre, Toronto, 112-13 Letter Knowledge Test (Durrell), 110 Libraries, school, 126-8, 134 Lillian Street Pubh'c School, North York, 69 London Board of Education, 38, 54-5,156,177-8,206,209,215, 216, 217,250 London school system, 50-1, 61-3, 76-7, 98,156-7,168-9,177-8, 196—7: Department of Psychological Services in, 207-8; De-

300 General index partaient of Student Services in, 208; Educational Clinic in, 20910; Learning Assist program in, 235-6; Operation Head Start in, 236; orthopaedic classes in, 21516; professional development days in, 276; provision for deaf in, 216; provision for dental service in, 218 ; provision for the gifted in, 277; provision for health services in, 217—19; provision for psychological services in, 206-8; provision for pupils with poor eyesight in, 217-18; provision for speech correction in, 216; research in, 250-1 Lord Elgin High School, Halton County, 147-9 Macdonald Public School, Kingston, 6,282 McNabb Park Public School, Ottawa, 123^ Marketing, as a subject of study, 87-8 Mathematics: experimentation in, 88-90; as a subject of study, 142-3 Media, educational, 35-49 Merritton High School, St Catharines, 63-5 Methods of teaching, 1-53 Metropolitan Achievement Tests, 108, 109, 110 Metropolitan School for the Deaf, 214 Metropolitan Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, 93,94 Metropolitan Toronto and Region Conservation Authority Foundation, 93 Metropolitan Toronto School Board, 119 Metropolitan Toronto school

system, provision for the deaf in, 214-15 Metropolitan Toronto Separate School Board, 22,163 Midland School Board, 104-5 Mississauga Board of Education, 184 Mississauga school system, 184 Music, experimentation hi education in, 90-1 National Council of Jewish Women, Toronto Section, 237 Nelson A. Boylen Secondary School, North York, 10-13 Newmarket District High School Board, 253 Newmarket Public School Board, 253, 254 Newtonbrook Secondary School, North York, 187 Niagara Falls District Board of Education, 125-6 Niagara Street School, Toronto, 232-3 Night school courses, 172-6 North Bendale Junior School, Scarborough, 8-10 North Park Collegiate and Vocational School, Brantford, 51-3 North Toronto Collegiate Institute, 23-4, 163 North York Board of Education, 106-7, 163, 172-4, 184, 200, 201, 205,226, 249 North York Citizens for Education, 201 North York school system, 5, 58-9,68-9,97-8,113-14,11617,122-3, 157-60,172-4,1789, 184-5, 200-2: Centennial celebrations in, 283-4; education for employment in, 240-2; inservice teacher education in, 270-

General index 301 2; programs for the disadvantaged in, 237; provision for the gifted in, 221-4,226-7; provision for psychological services in, 205-6; research in, 249-50 North York Summer Music School, 158 Northern Secondary School, Toronto, 215 Northview Heights Secondary School, North York, 59,68,174 Oakville Child Study Program, 278-81 Oakville-Trafalgar High School, 13-14 OERC. See Ontario Educational Research Council OISE. See Ontario Institute for Studies in Education Ontario Curriculum Institute, 75, 112, 114 Ontario Educational Research Council (OERC), 7,16,23,26, 28,30,31,37,38,40,46,76,78, 79,105,114,165,168-9,224, 256, 277, 278 Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), 4, 37,78,129, 276-7 Ontario Manpower Retraining Program, 171,175 Ontario Public School Men Teachers' Federation, 46-7 Ontario Secondary Education Commission, 15 Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, 51: Bulletin of, 99 Open classroom, 15—23 Operation Experience, Etobicoke, 48-9 Osprey Ridge School of Conservation and Natural Science, 96-7

Ottawa Collegiate Institute Board, 36, 37, 60,157, 175, 181-4,220, 252 Ottawa Mathematical Aptitude Test, 252 Ottawa Public School Board, 35-7, 49,70-1,94-6,165,219,251 Ottawa public school system, 103-4, 165: Centennial celebrations in, 284-5; induction of new teachers into, 275; provision for health services in, 219-20, readiness programs in, 212; reading clinic in, 213; research in, 251-2; volunteer guidance in, 212-13 Ottawa school system, 4—5 Ottawa secondary school system, 157,175,181-4,200: Centennial celebrations in, 285; provision for health services in, 220-21 ; research in, 252 Ottawa Separate School Board, 36, 37,71 : Referral Services Division of, 208 Ottawa separate school system, 208-9: Centennial celebrations in, 285; Educational Research and Training Centre of, 252; provision for psychological services in, 208-9; research in, 252-3 Ottawa Technical High School, 60 Outdoor education, 91-105 Outward Bound Program: Loyalist Collegiate Institute, Kingston, 99-100; Port Arthur secondary schools, 100-2 Parkway Vocational School, Toronto, 121-2 Pauline Johnson Junior Public School, Scarborough, 124 Peel County Board of Education, 120

302 General index Peterborough Board of Education, 277 Peterborough County School system, 277 Peterborough Operation: Individualizing Student Education (POISE), 276-8 Peterborough school system, 75-6, 112: readiness programs in, 212 Peterborough separate school system, 277 Physical and health education, experimentation in, 105-7 Physical Sciences Study Committee course, 274 Physically handicapped, provision for treatment of, 214-16 Placement of students, 135 Pleasant Avenue School, North York, 31-5 Politics, as a subject of study, 139 Port Arthur Board of Education, 38 Port Credit Secondary School, 188-9 Primary Mental Abilities Test, 108, 109, 110 Prince of Wales School, Hamilton, 29-31 Principal, role of, 135 Professional development days, 271, 276 Program, individualized, 1-23 Programmed learning, 40-6, 246 Protestant Children's Village, Ottawa, 165 Provincial Committee on Aims and Objectives of Education in the Schools of Ontario (Hall-Dennis Committee), 4,50,177,188-9 Psychological services, provision for, 203-9 Public Schools Act, The, 113,114 Queen Elizabeth Collegiate and

Vocational Institute, 50,282 Queen's Journal, 6 Readiness programs, 211-12 Reading, 107-13: remedial programs in, 213; research in, 251-2 Religious education, 113-14 Renfrew and District Collegiate Institute, 61 Reorganized Program (Robarts Plan), 116 Research Department, Toronto Board of Education, 204 "Research Departments Established by Boards of Education in Ontario" by CJ. Wilkins, 256-69 Research in education, 244-69 Resource centres, 126-8 Rexdale School, Etobicoke, 108 R.H. King Collegiate Institute, Scarborough, 117 Rivercrest School, Etobicoke, 108 Riverdale Collegiate Institute, Toronto, 23-4 Rose Avenue Junior School, Toronto, 231-2 Safety education, 61—3 St Ann's Junior Separate School, Hamilton, 20-1 St Anne's School, Kitchener, 55-7 St Anselm's Separate School, East York, 79-81 St Catharines Board of Education, 63 St Clare Catholic School, Toronto 16-20 St Leonard's School, Toronto, 21-2 St Paul's Separate School Drop-in Club, Toronto, 233 St Rose of Lima Separate School, Scarborough, 79-81 Saint Thomas More Separate School, Scarborough, 22-3

General index 303 St Thomas school system, major work program in, 224-6 Saturday morning classes, 155-6 Scarborough school system, 188 School-community relations, 135 School organization, unit system of, 2-5 School Progress, 13, 61,94,95, 117,118,120,124,147 Science: experimentation in, 11416; as a subject of study, 143-4 Scott Park Secondary School, Hamilton, 122 SEP. See Study of Educational Facilities Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology, 174 Senior plan, Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, 190-5 Sir Adam Beck Secondary School, London, 78-9 Sir George Ross Secondary School, London, 63 Sir John A. Macdonald High School, Ottawa, 37 Sir Wilfrid Laurier High School, Ottawa, 37 Sir Wilfrid Laurier Secondary School, London, 66-7 South Peel Board of Education, 167 South Peel school system, 167-8 Speech correction, 216 Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute, Scarborough, 14,124 Stephen Leacock Educational Complex, Scarborough, 124-5 Student activities, 197-200 Study of Educational Facilities (SEF), 119 Sudbury Board of Education, 175-6 Sudbury school system, 175-6 Summer courses, for adults, 176 Summer of Experience, Exploration, and Discovery (SEED), 161

Summer school, 156-70 Sunny View School, 214 Supervisory practices, research in, 246 Teaching methods, 1-53 Team teaching, 23-35 Tecumseh Senior Public School, West Hill, 104 Television: educational, 35-9; script-writing for, 66-7 Temac First Year Algebra Program, 43,44 Thames Secondary School, London, 63 Thornlea Secondary School, Thornhill, 84-6,87,129-47 Thornlea Study Committee, 129-45 Three Valleys Public School, North York, 46-8 T.L. Kennedy Secondary School, Mississauga, 57-8 Tollgate School, 165-7 Toronto Board of Education, 112, 155,161-5,203,170-2,228,272 Toronto General Hospital School, 216-17 Toronto school system, 60-1, 71-5, 126-7, 155-6,161-5, 170-2: in-service teacher education in, 272—4; provision for deaf in, 214-15; provision for psychological services in, 203-5; research in, 244—9 Twin Schools Project, 199-200 Unit system of school organization, 2-5 Victoria Village Public School, North York, 114-16 Walkerville Collegiate Institute, Windsor, 65-6

304 General index Water safety education, 106-7 Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, 44, 45 W.E. Saunders School of Natural Science, London, 98 Welland school system, 78 West Hill Secondary School, Owen Sound, 89-90 West Humber School, Etobicoke, 108 Westdale Secondary School, Hamilton, 105-6 Wilmington Avenue Public School, North York, 153 Windsor school system, Head Start program in, 236-7 Winston Churchill Collegiate

Institute, Scarborough, 81-4, 197-8 Work-study program, 116-17 York Board of Education, 179-80 York Central District High School Board, 129 York County Board of Education, 255 York County Educational Research Council, 253-5 York Memorial Collegiate Institute, York, 93 York school system, 179-81: induction of new teachers in, 275 Zion Heights Junior High School, North York, 149-51

Index of persons

Ashdown, Bruce, 66-7 Ashton, Pauline, 22 Barrett, H.O., 23-4 Bassett, John M., 63 Bates, W., 88 Beattie, L.S., 240 Birmingham, L., 161 Bissonnette, Victor, 61 Bogle, D.C., 84-6, 145 Bone, Bruce, 200 Brandwein, Paul F., 115 Breaugh, Michael, 16-20 Bristow, D.A., 222 Brock, R.C., 10 Burns, Wayne, 148 Carian, Paul, 21-2 Carter, Morris A., 165 Clarke, M.E.C., 13 Coburn, David, 95-6 Cranbury, A.H., 28-9 Curtis, Malcolm, 29-31 Del Grande, John, 59 Dennis, Lloyd, 4 Dennis, Robin, 92-3 Dilling, H.J., 8 Dobson, D.W., 231 Dumas, Gilles, 76-7 Dunlop,W.J.,91 Duplantie, Raymond, 76 Farley, Frank, 29-31 Feenstra, H., 76-7,168-9

Ferguson, D.G., 105 Fox, Kelvin, 114-15 Freedman, Fred, 201 Gayfer, Margaret, 13 Giroux, M.-Y., 78 Graham, J.K., 278, 279 Grant, Hugh, 253 Griffiths, B., 46, 47

Hay, E., 13 Hope, Ying, 161, 237 Howald, H.J., 26 Hubbard, Keith, 81-4 Hunter, Robert, 15 Hurst, W.A., 253, 254 Hyland, H.W.B., 10 Hynes, D.J., 75 Jannett, G., 188 Johnson, K.D., 31-5 Johnson, William, 87 Keefe, Michael J., 51 Kelsey, John, 155 Knapp, D.J., 99 LaFountaine, M., 161 Lewis, E.P., 204 Littler, William, 90 Lowes, Barry, 185-7 McCaffray, Charles, 146 McKeown, E.N., 40-3 McKinley, Marion, 38

306 Index of persons MacKinnon, A.R., 73-5 McLeod, H.G., 8 McTavish, B.C., 54 Mann, Gordon F., 236 Mathewson, V.M., 89 Minkler, F.W., 116,179,271 Mitchell, R.G., 88 Mosey, H.H., 191,192,193,194 Moyer, Paul W., 224 Phimister, Z.S., 93 Pletsch, R.W., 114-16 Price, Gordon E., 234

Ray, E.P., 75, 276 Richardson, J.A., 167 Ritter, A.C., 170 Robarts, J.P., 91 Robbie, Roderick, 119 Robbins, Ann, 279-81 Roberts, W.G., 277 Robinson, L.W., 43-6 Roger, Ralph, 117 Rosalie, Sister, 56, 57 Schachar, N., 161 Shaw, Jean, 217 Shukyn, Murray, 161,162 Sinclair, Walter, 230 Smith, F.R., 190 Smith, William I., 237

Smithers, J.E.P., 100-1 Snell, Blanche, 93 Stein, D.L., 238, 239 Stennett, R.G., 168-9 Stevens, R., 7 Stevenson, H.W., 7 Stogdill, C.G., 203, 204 Stone, K., 161 Stumpf, V., 56,57 Stuparyk, Russell, 88 Swann, Neil, 188 Sweeney, J.R., 55 Taylor, Anson, 125 Thurgood, Lois R., 65-6 Trainer, L., 201 Van Home, R.G., 168 Van Loon, M.R., 70 Wahlstrom, M.W., 37 Waters, A.H., 7 Wharton, Paul R., 79 Wilkins, C.J., 255-69 Williams, Norman E., 59 Worsnop, C.M., 67-8 Wright, E.N., 161 Young, Monica, 233 Zwicker, Barrie, 146