by Philip J. Warren
The 1970s – The Equality and Efficiency Agenda
The major changes of the 1960s were followed by more moderate ones in what might be called the “sagging” 1970s. The 1970s were a period of declining birthrates, declining school enrolments, and declining expectations. School enrolments, which had peaked at 163,000 in 1972 (more than double the figure in 1949), declined dramatically. To deal with these declines, the Moore's Government appointed the Crocker/Riggs Task Force, which reported in 1979. That Report made important recommendations, including ones for managing decline instead of managing growth.
The equality issue continued to be an important one throughout the 1970s, influenced by the human rights movement in Canada and the civil rights movement in the United States. In fact, the period saw a change in the meaning of “equal opportunity,” from the “equal-access” version of providing students with the same chance to be educated, to the “affirmative action” version, whereby students would be given unequal help to compensate for differences in their background, their abilities, and even where they lived in the Province.
Another important development during the 1970s was the acquisition of collective bargaining rights by teachers. Collective bargaining granted teachers and their Association more presence and power, not only in matters of teacher welfare, but also in education generally.
The 1980s -- The Quality/Excellence and Accountability Agenda
During what I would label the “sobering” 1980s, increased attention was focused on improving quality and excellence in education. We saw a return to the more traditional philosophy of education, with emphasis on improving instruction in the basics, particularly the areas of language, mathematics and science. The importance of measuring progress through testing and examinations was also stressed.
In Canada as a whole, there were demands for testing at the provincial level to determine how well provinces were doing and how they and the Country ranked internationally. This led to the school indicators project initiated by the Canadian Council of Ministers of Education.
At the high school level in the Province, the curriculum was extended and Grade Twelve added in the early 1980s. One of the criticisms of the extended program was that, while it increased school retention, it did not result in higher academic standards, particularly in challenging the more able students, and better preparing graduates for post-secondary education. It was argued that the new program increased retention at the expense of providing a rigorous and solid academic education.
The breadth of the high school program placed real strain on smaller high schools in particular. Consequently, an Advisory Panel, chaired by Professor Frank Riggs, was appointed to make recommendations to improve the quality of teaching and learning in these schools. In early 1988, a Task Force (the Crocker Task Force) was appointed to examine the teaching of math and science in the Province generally. Its recommendations were important in helping to address some of the problems in these subject areas.
The equality agenda was promoted not only with the expansion of the high school curriculum, but also the introduction in 1987 of a new approach to special education, with student placements and level of service determined by a program planning team which took into account the educational needs of the student and the services available in the school. Under this policy, students would receive some or all of their instruction in a regular class or in a segregated unit, depending on the severity of the students' needs and disabilities. This was the beginning of the ISSP/Pathways program.
There's no doubt that the Premier of the day, Brian Peckford was anxious to modernize education, but, like Mr. Smallwood, he wanted to do it within the existing denominational structure. He was a reformer with a nationalistic bent, advocating more industrialization and greater provincial control of our natural resources, but he refused to challenge the denominational system. In 1982, he enthusiastically supported the efforts of the churches to have Section 29 included in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, protecting denominational rights against a challenge under the Charter. He spoke strongly in favour of the system when, in 1987, the Pentecostal Assemblies received full recognition by way of an amendment to the Constitution Act.
One of Mr. Peckford's Education Ministers, however, was much more open to reform. Lynn Verge strongly supported all aspects of the equality agenda, particularly equality for women. She believed in the importance of involving all stakeholders in educational decision-making. She was the Minister when the Province increased the proportion of elected school board members from one-third to two-thirds, with elections scheduled to coincide with municipal elections so as to increase public interest and participation. I'm sure she wanted 100 per cent elected, but had to compromise with the churches.
Part 3
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