Chapter 4: Categorizing the Data -- Post-war documents -- Review of some of the 1960s group -- 1958 Nova Scotia

4.2e

Categorizing the Data -- Post-war documents -- Review of some of the 1960s group -- 1958 Nova Scotia

   The 1954 Pottier commission was followed by a specific royal commission on school construction. One of the reasons for the report was that, “in 1956, through implementation of the Pottier Report, school building became the responsibility of the municipality, assisted by provincial government contributions towards all types of buildings, both elementary and high school, the amount of support being based on the so-called ability to pay on the part of the municipality.” So the report of 1958 sets out some guidelines concerning quality, process and economy. The report refers to other jurisdictions including England, Denmark and several states of the U.S.A. as well as other provinces. The document also provides an interesting extract from post-war school building in England. Technical advances in adjusting materials and costs to numbers of children and increasing classroom space while reducing other types of space is discussed. England had to replace damaged schools from the Second World War as well as respond to increasing birth rates. Nova Scotia growth rate is cited in this commission report: “The total enrolment in the schools rose from 116,000 in 1945 to 160,000 in 1957. The increase in these twelve years was more than twelve times the increase of the preceding fifteen years and almost three times the total increase of the preceding 45 years.” England raised the school leaving age from 14 to 15 years in 1947 and so their expertise and learning in terms of school construction under pressure was a benefit to a commission responding to demand for new schools. In Nova Scotia attendance had increased dramatically: “In 1900 the percentage of attendance for the year was 55%, in 1945 it was 80% and in 1957 it reached an all-time high of 90.3%. This means that nowadays the number of ‘pupil places’ available to assure adequate accommodation must be substantially larger in proportion to the total enrolment than at the beginning of the century.” The 1958 Nova Scotia document also references American standardization in school building codes and architecture.

   The 1958 Nova Scotia commission summarizes a condition that I believe we can consider “Canadian” rather than merely provincial in its theme. This is the transition from the “little red schoolhouse” to the consolidated school, the ‘new’ school of the second half of the 20^th century. This document although completed as late as 1958 is somewhat of a bridging document. We see this “little red schoolhouse” theme remarked upon as early as 1925 in British Columbia’s Putman Weir Report and also in Ontario’s 1950 Hope Commission. Consolidation was also covered in the Lamothe Report as late as 1966 in Alberta. The transition in Canada from the little red schoolhouse to the consolidated schools appears to concern the first half of the 20^th century mainly, with B.C.’s 1925 Putman Weir as the prime example. Even so, there is overlap into the 1960s and Nova Scotia’s 1958 commission is an example. This can be considered a consequence of how young Canada is as a country and underlines focus on the 20^th century developments in public education policy in Canada as a nation, foundation necessary for 21^st century changes in Canadian public education policy infrastructure. It likely tells us a lot of other things as well, but these would be matters for discussion in the final chapter reviewing the data set against the theory. The Nova Scotia document of 1958 is specific in identifying consolidation as a theme that will be fully pursued in the years to follow. It says:

   The “horse and buggy” served its purpose well for over a hundred years in the life of this country, and played a very valuable and useful part in our progress and economy. The same is true of the “little red schoolhouse.” They both have had their day and are not practically relics of the past. Among older people there is a nostalgic sentiment in regarding the old one-roomed school and the wonderful men and women it turned out. Perhaps this greatness came in spite of such schools rather than because of them! … New, large, centrally-located schools are the order of the day. Various attempts at consolidation have been made in the past, but because of existing methods of conveyance and conditions of the highways the scheme generally did not prove feasible. Today with modern buses and improved highways, consolidation is much more practical and seems to be here to stay…. In all planning for consolidation serious thought should be given to highway facilities throughout the area, and there should be early and close cooperation between the school authorities and the Department of Highways. It is evident that the school should be located as centrally as possible in the consolidated area.

   The arguments in favour of school consolidation are summarised as:

1. In some cases it reduces the number of teachers required. When a considerable number of small schools, each with a few pupils and one teacher, are incorporated in one unit where each class has approximately thirty-five pupils, the need for fewer teachers is evident.
2. It should result in better teachers. Many of the best teachers are not content with in small one-room schools and feel they can do better work in large modern schools with their special facilities and better environment.
3. It permits specialization of and better quality of teaching. This is unquestionably true. Any teacher can do much better work with only one grade or subject than in the old-time miscellaneous school with all grades.
4. Equal opportunities for all children are provided. The rural pupil is no longer handicapped with respect to school facilities. This principle is based on the assumption that equally good teachers are available in rural and urban areas.
5. Even in the few years of operating consolidation schemes, records show that a much larger percentage of pupils is completing high school.

Arguments against are also summarised:

1. One argument against the system is that it costs so much for transportation. This is offset in part by the advantages of the better school and opportunities for children.
2. Road conditions at certain times of the year present considerable difficulty, but as more paving is being done all the time this problem will tend to decrease. 
3. Many people object to the children, especially the younger ones, being away from home so long. This applies particularly to large units of consolidation. Smaller units tend to remove this objection.
4. Some of the consolidated areas become so large and enrolments so great that pupils tend to become numbers instead of people and the personal contact between teacher and pupil, which is so valuable, tends to disappear. This is a serious matter in the light of the best concept of education. Areas very greatly in size. The maximum hauling distance in Nova Scotia is about thirty-five miles. It is the firm opinion of many people that this is too far.