Canadian Schoolwear: Activities


Figure 1.-- Here we see a rural Ontario school during the 1920s. Pictured are the championship school fair boys with grain. The boys seem to be standing in front of their school, which may have been painted red. These rural schools do not seem to have had many windows. Source: Ministry of Education. Reference Code: RG 2-71 CNN-7 Archives of Ontario, I0004051.

We note Canadian boys involved in a range of school activities. These activity photographs are very valuable in understanding educational trends. We see the children coming and going to school. Of course in Canada during the winter, the children are bundled up. We note a range of classrom activities as well as other school activities like gym. And there are a range of extra-curricular activities like sports, band, science fairs, and farm fairs. These views tells us a lot more about the educational program than the static school portaits which are primarly useful about assessing fashion trends over time. The academic program and the extra-curricular activities was affected by the size of the school.

Coming and Going to School

These activity photographs are very valuable in understanding educational trends. We see the children coming and going to school. There are many similarities between America and Canada. MKost primary school children walk to school. This was even common in rural areas when one room schools were common, but school consolidation has meant that many rural children now ride busses. This same process has occurred in America. Thus many of the images of school children going to school are quite similar. We do see some images that look duifferent. And of course in Canada during the winter, the children are bundled up. Of course there are areas of Canada (especially southeastern Ontario) are at similar latitudes to states like Michigan and New York. The images often look similar to American children in the northern tier of states. Here there are economic, cultural, geopgraphic, and climatic similarities. We believe school busses and personal cars were very common in Canada, mlike America.

Classrooms

We note a range of classrom activities and setups.

Specialized Classes

We note a range of specialized classes requiring their own facilities like art, science, and gym.

Field Trips

The field trip was also a popular ativity in Canada. The nature of the fiekd trip as in other countries depended on the class level and the location of the school. As far as we can tell, the chool field trip was essentially the same in Vanadian schools as in American schools. Schools in rural areas had limited options as many points of interest like museums or art galleries involved too long a trip. Schools in urban ares had access to a much wider rnge of potential points of interest to visit. And sites and activities that rural kids would not have much opportunity to visit except for school field trips. Interestingly as so much of the Canadian populatin is located in the south close to the U.S. border and important urban areas, it is not uncommon for schools to plan cross border field trips.

Extra-curicular Activities

There are a range of extra-curricular activities like sports, band, science fairs, and farm fairs. We note farm fairs which were popular in rural areas during the early 20th century. There were country and provincial fairs, but the children did not have much of a chance and winning at these events. At the school fairs the children had a much better job of being recognized.








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Created: 6:21 PM 6/1/2007
Last updated: 2:40 AM 8/21/2017