ASSIGNMENT 2 EDU 302

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ATHABASCA UNIVERSITY ASSIGNMENT 2 COURSE CODE: EDUC 301 COURSE TITLE: EDUC. ISSUES & SOCIAL CHANGE 1 1. Compare the “hidden curriculum” identified by S. Contenta with the underlying norms and values of “Indian education” highlighted in the DVD Childhood Lost’ and the readings by Titley, Levaque, Gresko, and Wilson.

Education is designed to serve a variety of purposes in today's youth culture. For instance, the way education is structured teaches young people how to be better people and well-prepared for life. There is a standard curriculum that is taught by teachers using textbooks, and there is also a hidden curriculum. The “hidden curriculum” is a sociological concept developed by Philip Jackson in his 1968 book Life in classrooms . Jackson uses the term to describe the unofficial “3Rs”— rules, routines, and regulations—that pupils must learn to survive comfortably in most classrooms(Athabasca). The concept of the "hidden curriculum" is used by theorists to argue that, in addition to academic subjects and explicitly taught curricula, teachers also implicitly convey to students a set of norms, attitudes, and values or principles. The hidden curriculum encourages social control in society as well as in schools. When attempting to conceptualize how the "hidden curriculum" is implemented in the classroom, the use of the word "hidden" can present challenges. Roland Meighan (1981, p. 54) asks whether it is hidden intentionally to manipulate or persuade, because nobody notices or recognizes it, or because it has been forgotten or neglected. “Hidden curriculum” is therefore a contentious term and can be viewed from a variety of sociological perspectives. Most of the time, there is a big difference between the formal curriculum and the hidden curriculum. Lessons, learning events or activities, knowledge, or skills that teachers influence their students are all part of the modern curriculum. On the other hand, the unspoken cultural, academic, or social messages that students learn about through a variety of events are part of the hidden curriculum. The issue of the hidden curriculum in Canadian residential schools in the 19th century was the subject of numerous authors' discussions. S. Contenta (1993), pointed out that residential schools employed a factory approach that placed students on a production line and instilled them with religion, culture, and knowledge. As a result, graduates go on to play important roles in society.

In the movie, Childhood Lost the effects of the hidden curriculum in residential schools are shown through actual evidence. The idea that these institutions provided more than just education is supported by several authors as well. Through comparison with S. Contenta's definition of the true meaning of the hidden curriculum, some residential schools destroyed students' sense of self and identity. Contenta claims that, despite the system's good intentions, teachers abused it due to their powerful responsibilities of discipline and moral behavior (Contenta, 1993). By emphasizing strict moral observance, teachers were required to maintain school order and conduct. According to Levaque's reading, among other requirements on the list, Indian parents wanted teachers to teach their children discipline (Levaque, 1990). As a result, parents had high expectations for their children's behavior and learning from their teachers. The obligation to follow up with superiors gave teachers authority, which led some students to follow unacceptable rules. As a result, educators accepted irresponsible behavior, which was communicated through the curriculum. Examining how Indian education reinforced the hidden curriculum; Positive values were not sown as a result. As watched in the film Childhood Lost, a few educators mishandled understudies, physically, genuinely, and sincerely and this made a horrible encounter for the children (Filmwest, B.C,1998). Titley (1992), in a reading, agrees with Contenta that the Indian education system of the time did not accomplish its intended goals. Relationships were hindered by the negative hidden curriculum that was prevalent in many schools. The majority of students lost their cultural identity, their generational education, and the formal skills they had learned in school. Contrasting what Contenta says regarding the hidden curriculum that it ought to communicate quality standards, mentalities, and ways of behaving through a powerful coordinated effort, this was not the situation with Indian schooling. Understudies' involvement with private schools under white instructors affected their perspective on life and mental self-view. Students did not

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receive better care when they were away from their parents, as depicted in the movie Childhood Lost. Instead, a teacher sexually abused them and physically assaulted them. Female educators harassed boys as well as girls aged 7, 8, and 9. A female student was forced to use her toothbrush to brush the stairs, which she would later use to clean her teeth with it. Native Americans were thus doomed by the hidden curriculum. The curriculum revealed that native people were less important to white people and made students less interested in sexuality. According to Gresko (1979), settlers in the Indian community viewed the natives' way of life— such as the hunting of buffalo—as primitive, which resulted in the prohibition of certain practices. Native Indians hoped to survive by assimilating into European society, according to a reading by Wilson (1986). According to Levaque (1990), residential schools were crucial in educating native people and introducing them to civilization. In addition, the author asserts that residential schools were a component of a political and social system that was segregated. As a result, it suggests that a hidden curriculum was used in school to communicate what the larger society had. A rebellion was started when the hidden curriculum was compared to Indian education's fundamental values or standards. People who experienced private schools accepted that learning foundations altogether wrecked them. Instances of strategies utilized by private schools included a judgment of locals' social exercises. From this perspective, there was a conflict between the native people's culture and the civilization brought about by formal education. According to Gresko (1979), residential schools strengthened a form of rebellion rather than awakening certain cultural practices like dancing. In conclusion, the teaching method employed in residential schools promoted a hidden curriculum that distorted moral standards and values. The structure and nature of educational institutions suggest a hidden curriculum. When students develop and demonstrate skills that are focused on a task or engage in personal interaction, the school's success can be significantly

improved. The goal of unlocking students' hidden curriculum is the ability to discover and demonstrate essential skills. When Contenta draws comparisons between Indian education and the idea of a hidden curriculum, educators did not instill positive attitudes or values in students. Instead, they portrayed a negative view of wrongdoing and advocated for identity and self-image loss. In the movie Childhood Lost, it is said that a hidden curriculum destroyed the lives of students, making it difficult for them to survive in a civilized society. 2. One of the proclaimed objectives of school reformers was that students would have access to common schools, regardless of religion, social class, sex, and skin color. To what extent was this ideal realized in 19th–century Canada? Did access to common schooling imply equal access for all?

During the 1890s, a lot of people hoped that free public education would make their kids' lives better and contribute to a Canada that was more just and fair. Within a single educational system, students were expected to receive a truly standardized education. It is worthwhile to investigate the educational histories of groups that are thought to be marginal and to lack obvious power because these histories demonstrate that ethnicity or race, class, gender, language, and culture all have an impact on how changes in the educational system are implemented. However, all these factors played a key role in not allowing equivalent access to the common schools. Schools were never intended to educate, in the broadest sense, the mass of the population. As Corrigan, Curtis, and Lanning note, “The mass of the schooled population was to be informed and transformed . Public schooling [displaced] well-established popular educational institutions” (1987, p. 23). Stressing the class nature of education, Alison Prentice (1977) concluded that in the nineteenth century, the middle classes benefited most from schools sustained by taxes. Schools implanted the work values and ethical discipline that reflected the values of middle-class Victorians (Athabasca). Finkel and his colleagues note that Bruce Curtis also emphasized the class dimension of the evolution of public schooling when he argued that: schools in the nineteenth century were repressive instruments of social control designed to protect middle-class society from the “dangerous” classes emerging in a rapidly industrializing Ontario. . . . “School knowledge,” he concluded, “became state knowledge, uniform and specified from the center.” (Conrad et al., 1993, p. 574)(Athabasca). The impact of sex was also obvious in providing equal access to the common schools like the social class. Although the evolution of public schooling did not prevent girls from attending schools, it did affect their access to the curricula that led to higher education. The most basic

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assumption about women in the nineteenth century was that they would marry. The design of education, therefore, was based on increasing their chances of marrying well, and their ability to perform their future roles well. Female students were not encouraged to enroll in male- dominated programs like science or political economy and were instead influenced toward music, literature, and modern languages because mixed classes prevented gender equality. Both Ryerson, and the grammar school inspector George Young, were against the admission of girls to the grammar schools and attending the Latin classes “claiming that this would affect the character and sensibility of the girls, but, more importantly, that girl would distract boys from their studies” (Sheehan, 1995). In 1865, a Council of Public Regulation said that girls could get into grammar schools if they passed the right test, but they could not take the classical course, which would have allowed them to go to college or work. In a similar vein, in 1866, regulations stipulated that girls enrolled in classics courses could qualify for the provincial grant as "half a boy." “In 1869, the Education Department had to admit defeat on both points, however, and acceded to the demand for admission of girls on equal terms” (Prentice, 1977, p. 111)(Athabasca) The creation of a united society in which each citizen could contribute a mutual combination of morals, attitudes, and institutions was one of the primary motivations for common schools. However, the Roman Catholic community was obligated to establish schools for its children by its church's directive, which contributed to English Protestants' deep anti-Catholicism (Purdy, 1995). In 1863, the Scott Act was enacted, allowing Roman Catholics to establish schools in any part of the province and receive a share of the provincial school grant and local property tax. The concerned philosophy of religion and authority, as well as the idea that religion could not be removed from education, were replicated through this cooperation. As John Strachan, the first Anglican Bishop of Toronto and an early school promoter stressed in 1840 “information without religion is a positive evil” (quoted in Purdy, 1995, p. 113)(Athabasca). During the 1870s, the

Mennonites, a religious and cultural minority from Russia, immigrated to Canada. The Mennonites transferred their agreement with the federal government regarding freedom and rights before moving to Manitoba. This agreement allowed the Mennonites to establish their schools without being restricted by the state. However, once the provincial government had established itself fully, it tended to integrate, and all of the agreements it had made were deemed invalid. Another factor that affected equal access to public education was skin color. Indian education was viewed as necessary because white children were required to attend school after the confederation. They accepted that Local kids could be ready for osmosis by being instructed away from their families and the local area. White attitudes were exemplified by the Reverend Edward Wilson, an Anglican clergyman: There is through Canada a kind feeling towards the Indian race, that it is only their dirty habits, their undisciplined behavior and their speaking another language, which prevents their intermingling with the white people. Also, there is in the Indian a perfect capability of adapting himself to the customs of white people. (Quoted in Wilson, 1986 b , p. 75) The majority of African Canadians lived in Canada West and Nova Scotia in the nineteenth century. Their educational experiences, like those of First Nations people, were influenced by social constructions of race in Canada. Black people in Canada West had established their schools as early as 1830 due to white prejudice. In 1846, before separate schooling was legalized, a white missionary in Amherstburg wrote to Egerton Ryerson The local school trustees [he said], declared that rather than send their children to School with niggers they will cut their children’s heads off and throw them into the road-side ditch” (quoted in Winks, 1971, p. 368). .”

In Ryerson’s defense, J. D. Wilson (1982) suggests that Ryerson and the provincial government intended the clause to be interpreted to mean that if twelve or more Black families wanted a separate school, they could elect their trustees, use their taxes, and apply for an equivalent provincial grant to establish such a school (see also Winks, 1971, p. 370). However, the clause also left open the option that this free education did not have to be provided in an integrated setting. Throughout the 1850s, prejudice against Black people grew, and this increase was reflected in the school system. Winks gives a vivid description of the inequities of separate schooling for Blacks: Where separate schools did not exist, Negro children were seated on separate benches. The Negro schools lacked competent teachers, and attendance was irregular….. Most had no library. In some districts school taxes were collected from Black residents to support the common school from which their children were debarred . . . while in other Negroes were omitted from the tax rolls, and in yet others, the taxes were collected and then returned. (1971, p. 371)(Athabasca) In conclusion, conflicts within the social fabric of Upper Canada in the 19th century spread the idea of common public schools. There were several fundamental social views and attitudes toward the social borderline groups(Athabasca). Social classes, religion, gender, and skin color all played a significant role in restricting equal rights for public schools. REFERENCES:

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Contenta, S.(1993). Egerton Ryerson and the hidden curriculum. Rules of failure: What schools teach. Pp, 1-24 Childhood Lost (video) Athabasca University Library & Scholarly Resources. http://drr2.lib.athabascau.ca/video/46888 Levaque, Y.(1990). The Oblates and Indian Residential schools: Western Oblate Studies. Pp 1- 12 Jacqueline Gresko. White rites and Indian rites: Indian education and Native responses in the west. (1870-1910). https://wcs.lms.athabascau.ca/file.php/112/readings/educ301-reading09.pdf Titley, E. (1992). Red Deer Indian industrial school: A case study in the history of Native Education. Pp 1-18 https://wcs.lms.athabascau.ca/file.php/112/readings/educ301-reading07.pdf Wilson, J.(1986). No Blankets to be worn in school: The education of Indians in 19 th century Ontario. Pp 1-24 https://wcs.lms.athabascau.ca/file.php/112/readings/educ301-reading04.pdf Unit 2 How Common Was the Common School? http://wcs.lms.athabascau.ca/mod/book/view.php Nancy Sheehan. Sexism in Education. Chapter 22 https://wcs.lms.athabascau.ca/file.php/112/readings/educ301-reading03.pdf W.L.Morton.(1890-1923). Manitoba Schools and Canadian Nationality https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/ram/1951-v30-n1-ram1459/290034ar.pdf

James W. Walker. The Colour line in religion and education. https://wcs.lms.athabascau.ca/file.php/112/readings/educ301-reading10.pdf

ASSIGNMENT 2 EDU 302

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