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Clinton News Record, 2015-09-02, Page 1818 News Record • Wednesday, September 2, 2015 A 'moving' educational experience in Ontario: School on Wheels Gord Sly Special to the News Record In the early twentieth century schools were difficult to find in the rural northern parts of the province. The sparse isolated population centres were not economically or politically con- ducive to establishing formal education until the 1920s. The main economic base consisted of mining, lumber camps, saw- mills, trapping, railroad work, hunting and fishing. Why the sudden interest in the 1920s? Assistant Professor Theodore Christou of Queen's University's Faculty of Educa- tion might have offered a possi- ble answer to this question. In an article entitled 'The Railway School Cars and Ontario's Isolated Peoples' published in the Country School journal Vol 2 (2014) he suggested that there was a general "progressivist spirit" in Ontario in the 1920s, a spirit that extended to educa- tion. The Great War and the decade of the "roaring" 20s sig- nified a major societal transi- tion from the 19th to the 20th centuries. Technology, indus- try, and transportation devel- oped by leaps and bounds, accompaniedbya shiftin social values and attitudes. To some, education had to keep up with the times. The successful Rus- sian Revolution of 1917-1921 gave rise to a "Red Scare" in North America. Widespread labour unrest was often attrib- uted to "Soviet or Bolshevik" influences. The Winnipeg HIGHLAND DANCING Boys and Girls (Ages 3 & Up) ` Monday Nights starting Sept 14th Memorial Arena, Goderich For info call Christine Hladki 519-828-3261 or email laingschool@hotmail.com Huron Superior Memorials • MONUMENTS • FLAT MARKERS • INSCRIPTIONS Appointments in the privacy of your own home anytime MICHAEL 5. FALCONER - MANAGER RES 482-3664 • CELL 525-2281 If you had the urge to PUNCH DALE IN THE FACE Please respond with Your reason(s) to: Clinton News Record Attn Dale, Box 39 Clinton ON NOM 1L0 General Strike of 1919 and other labour unrest in Canada forced governments to aggres- sively focus on democratic val- ues while debunking socialist influences. It became increas- ingly important to provide edu- cational services coated with democratic patriotic Anglicized values. Perhaps it was in this context that the Ontario Gov- emmentjumped into action. By 1921, the Ontario Department of Education started to examine ways to introduce formal education into the rural north. After all, the north provided the rest of the province, other areas of Canada and even foreign countries with its rich natural resources. Some considered it a scandal that these areas of Ontario were deprived of ser- vices enjoyed by those who lived in the southern regions. Also, the Ontario Common Schools Acts of the 1870s legalized compulsory educa- tion and attendance for all students in Ontario from ages six to 14, later 16. Two people in particular, DR. J. B. Mac- Dougall, school inspector and Premier G. Howard Ferguson who was also the Minister of Education, took the lead. They began to look at alternative approaches to the challenge. One proposal, which was rejected outright, called for itinerate or circuit teachers. Correspondence courses were implemented with lim- ited success as most of the families to be served were immigrants who often spoke little or no English and/or were illiterate; therefore of lit- tle help to their children. It was recognized that most of the target small isolated communities along railway lines. In 1926, a trial experi- ment that lasted 41 years, was launched when the first two 1.9-vr kik ft. ft -Amber -Leigh Durand Registered Massage T'herayist Accepting New Clients Amber -Leigh is a therapeutic/rehabilitation therapist who focuses on conditions such as: • Acute sport, Occupational and Motor Vehicle Injuries • Chronic pain • Tendonitis • Pregnancy Related Symptoms • Headaches/Migraines www.amberleighdurandrmt.com P ease contact The Clinton Chiropractic & Wellness Centre at: 519-482-3481 The Clinton Family Health Team is offering an eight-week course on Mindfulness Meditation This course will take place at the Clinton Health Centre Wednesdays at 2:30 pm and begins Wednesday September 16th. You will learn skills to help alleviate symptoms of stress and distress! To register or for more information contact Julie Talbot MSW, RSW at 519-482-3000 "schools on wheels" were placed on display at the Cana- dian National Exhibition in Toronto. The department decided to set up classrooms with living quarters for the teachers and their families in railway cars, which would rotate regularly between selected communities. The Department of Education supplied equipment, supplies and teachers. The Railways (initially the CNR and CPR and later the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario (TNO) agreed to provide the railway cars, refurbished into class- rooms and living quarters and as well to maintain and relo- cate the cars when required. The school car would sit on a rail siding or spur sometimes near a station with the 12 -foot flagpole at the end of the car flying the Union Jack signify- ing that school was in session. Children from the area would come to class for about five days and then depart, with a few weeks of homework and then return a month later to repeat the process. Some chil- dren came fair distances, sometimes up to twenty miles, by canoe, horseback, boat and on foot. In warm weather, some even built makeshift shanties or lean-tos in which to live while attending school nearby. On occasion, a child of an immigrant rail worker came to school by rail on a one or two-man hand - pumped rail car. During win- ter months, snowshoes, skis, and dog sleds (northern school buses) were common modes of transportation. A majority of labourers and their families in the north immigrated from European countries such as the Ukraine, Poland, Spain, Scandinavia, Germany, and Italy. Some aboriginal children came to the 'mobile' schools from 'res- idential' schools, which were often far away from homes and families Part two will be in next week's issue. Gord Sly is a volunteer and board member of the Fron- tenac County Schools Museum in Kingston. 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