• Aboriginals in North America
  • Beast Literature
  • Canadiana.1
  • Dances & Music
  • Europe
  • Fables and Fairy Tales
  • Fables by Jean de La Fontaine
  • Feasts & Liturgy
  • Great Books Online
  • La Princesse de Clèves
  • Middle East
  • Molière
  • Nominations
  • Posts on Love Celebrated
  • Posts on the United States
  • The Art and Music of Russia
  • The French Revolution & Napoleon Bonaparte
  • Voyageurs Posts
  • Canadiana.2

Micheline's Blog

~ Art, music, books, history & current events

Micheline's Blog

Category Archives: Education

La Question des écoles / The Schools Question

24 Saturday Apr 2021

Posted by michelinewalker in Canadian History, Confederation, Education

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Gabrielle Roy, John Ralston Saul, Le Vent du Nord's Confédération, Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, Manitoba Official Language Act, Robert Baldwin, The Laurier-Greenway Agreement, The Official Language Act, The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, The Schools Question

Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine & Robert Baldwin (cover of John Ralston Saul‘s book)
Sir Wilfrid Laurier (Pinterest)
André Laurendeau & Davidson Dunton (The Canadian Encyclopedia)

—ooo—

The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (1963-1969)

At the time André Laurendeau and Davidson Dunton conducted their inquiry on bilingualism and biculturalism, my father was one of the leaders of British Columbia’s Francophone Community and its spokesman, which I have mentioned in earlier posts. He was interviewed frequently, and was also invited to talk shows. The talk show host would take telephone calls from citizens many of whom stated that in their community very few people spoke French. Most of these callers were the descendants of immigrants to Canada who could not understand that Canada’s founding nations, after the First Nations, were France and Great Britain. In their towns, villages, or rural districts, they were the majority. Why should instruction be in a language other than theirs? The schools question is a complex issue.

So, in order to get to the source, I read large sections of the reports submitted by The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (1963-1969). The children of several immigrants to Canada were educated in their parents’ tongue. These would be mostly immigrants to the Prairie provinces, Alberta and Saskatchewan, to be precise. However, results were not as expected. These immigrants and Manitoba Francophones, were not in a position to organize a school system. Moreover, they would be opposed by Ottawa or the premier of their province. So, I will state, once again, that the school question is a complex issue.

In Manitoba,[1] the schools question reached its apex five years after Métis leader Louis Riel was executed (1885). Louis Riel assumed that in provinces that entered Confederation the language of instruction in public schools would be either French or English. This would be true of Quebec. But, as you know, John A. Macdonald was an Orangeman and he favoured uniform schools: English-language and Protestant schools. So, in 1889, Manitoba passed the Official Language Act, which

made English the sole language of Manitoba government records, minutes, and laws. Other laws abolishing French in all legislative and judicial spheres followed leading to the disappearance of Catholic (and hence French) schools.

Laurier-Greenway compromise, University of Ottawa

However, the Laurier-Greenway Compromise of 1897 would allow some latitude, concerning the language of instruction, but barely so.

If it were in my power, I would try the sunny way. I would approach this man Greenway with the sunny way of patriotism, asking him to be just and to be fair, asking him to be generous to the minority, in order that we may have peace among all the creeds and races which it has pleased God to bring upon this corner of our common country. Do you not believe that there is more to be gained by appealing to the heart and soul of men rather than to compel them to do a thing?

‒ Oscar Skelton, Life and Letters of Sir Wilfrid Laurier (1921)

In 1905, Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier negotiated the entry into Confederation of Saskatchewan and Alberta, but he could not give immigrants schools other than uniform schools. He respected the Laurier-Greenway Compromise, which had been his initiative. However, in Manitoba, the 1916 Thornton Act reiterated the Official Language Act of 1889. As noted above, immigrants and French-speaking Canadians often took in hand the matter of education in a language other than English, as did French-Canadians in Manitoba. These citizens would face a formidable obstacle: taxation.[2]

Gabrielle Roy (Gabrielle Roy en), the “grande dame” of French-Canadian literature, wrote very touching short stories about Ukrainian immigrants: Ces enfants de ma vie (The Children of my life), Un jardin au bout du monde (A Garden at the edge of the world). Gabrielle Roy had been a school teacher in Manitoba. In Un jardin au bout du monde, she wrote a truly moving short story about a Chinese immigrant: Où iras-tu Sam Lee Wong? (Where will you go, Sam Lee Wong?)

The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism could not propose that children be educated in French in communities where there were a mere handful of families were French-speaking families. The callers who spoke to my father had a point. There were very few French-Canadian families in their area. There could not be under the terms of Confederation. Numbers count. There had to be a demand. However, had there been a demand and a school instituted, the language of instruction would have been French or English. French and English were recognized as Canada’s official languages by virtue of the Official Languages Act of 1969. If the language of instruction in certain schools was other than French or English, such schools would be private schools as were denominational schools. Immigrants also asked for denominational schools.

Confederation created a uniform Canada. Yet, today’s Canada reflects the Baldwin-La Fontaine‘s great ministry, or the province of Canada when it obtained its responsible government in 1848. Today’s Canada is also in the image of Louis Riel‘s Red River. Canada was not officially bilingual and bicultural until the passage of the Official Languages Act of 1969, the culmination of The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, an in-depth inquiry. André Laurendeau died in 1968. He and Davidson Dunton remind me of Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine. They were a team, compatible, and they understood.

Traditionally, French-speaking Canadians have been Catholics and many could not accept that a French-language school should be other than Catholic. So, if my father expressed the view that the combination of language and faith hampered the creation of publicly funded French-language schools, he was criticized, if not crucified.

Le Vent du Nord

In Le Vent du Nord‘s “Confédération,” the ex-patriote who saved les Français d’Amérique would be George-Étienne Cartier, the Prime Minister of the Province of Canada East and a father of Confederation. George-Étienne Cartier was involved in the Rebellions of 1837-1838. Rebels were called patriot(e)s in both Upper Canada and Lower Canada.[3] George-Étienne Cartier was happy that his people had their Québec: their schools, their religion, their Code Civil. But Wilfrid Laurier quickly ran for office in Ottawa (1874).

In 1969, Canada reflected the Great Ministry of Baldwin and La Fontaine. In 1848, under Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine, the Province of Canada was granted its responsible government and it was bilingual and bicultural Canada. (See also Baldwin and La Fontaine, Canadian Encyclopedia.) But given the terms of Confederation, Quebec was the only province that retained Baldwin and La Fontaine’s dual system of education. Louis Riel‘s Manitoba did not.

Confederation is rooted in the Act of Union, and the period extending from 1867 to 1969 seems… a pause (un pays qui fut fondé trois fois).

RELATED ARTICLES

  • Maps of Canada (15 October 2020) 🚗
  • Le Vent du Nord’s Confédération (21 April, 2021)
  • About Confederation, cont’d (6 October 2020)
  • About Confederation (15 September 2020)
  • Sir Wilfrid Laurier: the Conciliator (15 July 2020)
  • Canadiana.1 (page)

Sources and Resources

  • Laurier-Greenway Compromise
  • LaFontaine and Baldwin: 169 Years of Responsible Government | Institute for Canadian Citizenship | Institut pour la citoyenneté canadienne (inclusion.ca)
  • The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, Wikipedia
  • The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, The Canadian Encyclopedia
  • The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, CBC Archives
  • The Royal Commision on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, lnternet Archive
  • The Royal Commision on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, Gutenberg
  • etc

Love to everyone 💕
______________________

[1] I am excluding schools located in British Columbia. I attended St. Ann’s Academy, in Victoria, British Columbia. It was built before Confederation and was never a Residential School. The Sisters of St. Anne had travelled from Quebec to Victoria.

[2] Comeault, G.-L. (1979). La question des écoles du Manitoba — Un nouvel éclairage. Revue d’histoire de l’Amérique française, 33(1), 3–23.
https://doi.org/10.7202/303748ar

[3] Confédération also contains a reference to the Château Clique, whose membership, rich merchants, included John Molson and James McGill. They paved the way to the Act of Union (1840).

Le Vent du Nord’s Confédération
Louis Riel (The Canadian Encyclopedia)

© Micheline Walker
24 April 2021
WordPress

Micheline's Blog

  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

The Faerie Queene, an Epic Poem

10 Wednesday May 2017

Posted by michelinewalker in Angels, Education, Vignette

≈ 21 Comments

Tags

Allegory, Cardinal Virtues, Edmund Spenser, Epic Poem, GB Tiepolo, quadrivium, The Faerie Queene, Theological Virtues, trivium, Walter Crane

320px-The_Immaculate_Conception,_by_Giovanni_Battista_Tiepolo,_from_Prado_in_Google_Earth

The Immaculate Conception by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, painted between 1767 and 1768 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

An Epic Poem

  • an allegory
  • the fantastical (faeries)
  • chilvalry

The Faerie Queene is an incomplete epic poem written by Edmund Spenser (1552/1553 – 13 January 1599), and first published in 1590. Spencer was born in London, but he was acquainted with Irish Faerie mythology. Faeries are legendary and mostly composite figures. In Beast Literature, these figures are referred to as les hybrides or zoomorphic. The image above, by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (5 March 1696 – 27 March  1770), features a zoomorphic serpent and putti (little angels), composite figures.

Due to its length, The Faerie Queene is an epic poem, but it is not a mock epic. Reynard the Fox is a mock epic as well as anthropomorphic. Its dramatis personae consists of talking animals. As for the The Faerie Queene, it is allegorical. Its Knights each represent a virtue, virtues taught in the Trivium and the Quadrivium. The Faerie Queene is also fantastical (le fantastique). Here the French may use the word “le merveilleux”, and, in the case of the Faerie Queene, “le merveilleux chrétien.” We may also refer to chivalry. The Faerie Queene features Knights who are allegorical figures. Beneath are illustrations by Walter Crane.

Holiness defeats Error, Walter Crane, 1895-97 (Wiki)
Holiness defeats Error, Walter Crane, 1895-97 (Wiki)

 

The Middle Ages: Allegories, Hagiographies, Education

  • the importance of miracles: faith and hope
  • the seven virtues and education
  • the Liberal Arts (the Trivium and the Quadrivium)

During the Middle Ages, readers loved books about the lives of saints and particularly martyrs: hagiographies and martyrologies. The early and Orthodox Church had catalogues instead of hagiographies. These were: the menaion, the synaxarion and paterikon. As for the Western Church, its most successful hagiography was Jacques de Voragine’s Golden Legend. The faithful enjoyed stories of miracles just as children love fairy tales. A belief in magic and miracles can save one from despair. The same is true of Faith and Hope, two of the theological virtues.

The theological virtues are: Faith, Hope, and Charity. As of the Carolingian Middle Ages, the three theological virtues were associated with the Trivium, the years when students learned grammar, logic, and rhetoric. The four Cardinal virtues, prudence, justice, temperance, and courage, were associated with the Quadrivium when arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy were taught. The subjects taught in the Trivium and the Quadrivium are the original Liberal Arts. Three (Trivium) and four (Quadrivium) are seven (7). There were/are seven virtues and seven deadly sins.

Virtue: Antiquity and the Church or Great Fathers

The currently neglected notion of virtue is a product of Greco-Roman antiquity Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Marcus Aurelius and the Bible, but it was adopted by the Church Fathers of the Western Church and the Great Fathers of the Eastern Orthodox Church. (See Church Fathers, Wikipedia, scroll down to Great Fathers.)

The Faerie Queene (see Wikipedia) consists of six (6) Books:

  • Book One: the virtue of Holiness as embodied with Red Cross knight;
  • Book Two: on the virtue of Temperance as embodied in Sir Guyon;
  • Book Three: the virtue of Chastity as embodied in Britomart, a lady knight;
  • Book Four: a continuation of book four. A three-day tournament is held. When Britomart lifts her mask, Artegal falls in love with her;
  • Book Five: the virtue of Justice, as embodied in Sir Artegal;
  • Book Six: the virtue of Courtesy as embodied in Sir Calidore.

Comment

Would that current world leaders were familiar with the virtues, temperance, in particular. The Faerie Queene is about the virtues. Each Knight represents a virtue. Under a current leader, we need Faith, Hope, and Charity because he does not exercise the Cardinal virtues. To a certain extent, The Faerie Queene is rooted in Cortegiano’s The Book of the Courtier (1508-1528).

Love to everyone ♥

Alfred Deller sings Purcell‘s Plaint from The Faerie Queene

Tiepolo,_Giovanni_Battista_-_Fresken_Treppenhaus_des_Würzburger_Residenzschlosses,_Szenen_zur_Apotheose_des_Fürstbischofs,_Detail_Giovanni_Ba

Tiepolo (Wikipedia)

© Micheline Walker
10 May 2017
WordPress

Micheline's Blog

  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Johann Amos Comenius: Word and Art

07 Saturday Nov 2015

Posted by michelinewalker in Art, Education

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Comenius, Illustrated Textbooks, teaching, word and art

Relief Komensky in Dolany, Czech Republic

Relief Komensky in Dolany, Czech Republic (Photo credit: Michal Manas)

I reread the post I published yesterday and it seems complete. It simply leads to related subjects.

Johann Amos Comenius

However, I added titles to the post and mentioned a related article. The related post is about Czech educator John Amos Comenius (28 March 1592 – 15 November 1670) who advocated combining text and a relevant illustration in textbooks. He was the first to do so. In textbooks, the combination of word and art is essential.

Comenius lived after the invention of the printing-press, in the mid 1400s. He could therefore have the books he wrote printed quickly and then add illustrations.

Educator John Comenius might be our best example of persons who realized that the invention of the printing-press could have an immense influence on literacy, which the inclusion of illustrations could enhance.

Adding illustrations was difficult, and they were white and black.

Comenius’ books may now be read online.

I added pictures and a video to invigorate my old post. Here is our link:

Comenius: Orbis Sensualium Pictus (13 November 2011)

Music: Carmina Burana, Carl Orff

Johann Comenius
Johann Comenius

© Micheline Walker
7 November 2015
WordPress

45.403816
-71.938314

Micheline's Blog

  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Comenius: Orbis Sensualium Pictus

13 Sunday Nov 2011

Posted by michelinewalker in Art, Education

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Bestiaries, Books of Hours, children discovered, Comenius, education, effectiveness, illuminations, illustrations, simplicity, the senses

Johann Amos Comenius

Johann Amos Comenius (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Johann Amos Comenius

One of the key moments in the history of education is the publication, in 1658, of Johann Comenius’s (28 March 1592 – 4 November 1670) Orbis Sensualium Pictus. 

Johann Amos Comenius (Latin for John Ámos Komenský) was born in what is now the Czech Republic.  He is often referred to as the “father” of education.  It could also be argued that he “discovered” the child.  However, his fames rests mainly in the publication of the first illustrated textbook, the above-mentioned Orbis Pictus. Comenius knew that  

[a] picture is worth a thousand words.

There is so much truth to this old adage that, since the publication of the Orbis Sensualium Pictus, writers and publishers of textbooks, fables, fairy tales, and various other books have made a point of inserting pictures.

Touching the senses: music and pictures

The concept underlying the importance of illustrations resembles the notion of   Affektenlehre (doctrine of the affections) in music, a doctrine of which Johann Mattheson was the chief proponent.  In compliance with this doctrine, composers attempted to touch the Affeckte or senses, claiming that music would thereby be morally uplifting.  For instance, Haydn used contrast to touch the Affeckte.

Here, the operative word is senses.  Note that the very title of Comenius’s epochal book, Orbis Sensualium Pictus, indicates that the senses play a role in teaching and learning.  However, unlike Johann Mattheson, Comenius’s advocacy of the use of illustrations was not an explicit attempt to make the subject matter morally uplifting.  Comenius’s goal was simply to make the subject matter more accessible and the subject matter was mainly Latin.  As the title indicates, his Janua Linguarum Reserata (The Gate of Tongues Unlocked, 1632) was a textbook used to teach Latin in a simplified and more effective manner.  Comenius wanted to teach “about things and not about grammar.”  He described “useful facts” in both Latin and Czech, side by side.[i]

The Great Didactic

Comenius’s Janua Linguarum Reserata was an extremely popular textbook.  However, Comenius’s first concern was the reform of the educational system, which he described in his Didactica Magna (The Great Didactic).  He also advocated universal education.

By and large, the reforms he introduced have endured.  The path is mostly unchanged. Children still begin their schooling by attending a kindergarten.  Pupils then attend elementary and secondary school and, upon successful completion of secondary school, young adults may enter college or a university.  Moreover, the path starts with the education of infants.  Comenius wrote a book for mothers entitled The School of Infancy.  It is because of his books that I have stated that Comenius discovered children or childhood.

Illustrations

However, what I want to praise above all is his introduction of illustrations in textbooks and other books.  Comenius realized that explaining a subject using words only was ineffective.  He therefore stressed the importance of illustrations, or pictures.  For instance, in the case of an illustrated fable, it is easier to remember the morality because it is exemplified in two ways:  by a text, called exemplum, and by a picture.

Simplicity and the picture “worth a thousand words”

Other than his Great Didactic, i.e. the system, Comenius’s contribution to education is therefore twofold.

  • With respect to the teaching of a second language, he advocated simplicity and usefulness.  He realized that one taught a language by teaching the language and not about the language.
  • As for teaching in general, he advocated the support of illustrations.

Drawings, paintings, prints and photographs can be an end in themselves.  But illustrations are both an end in themselves and a means to an end.  Most of us will gladly accept an unwrapped present, but there is so much pleasure in the traditional unwrapping of a gift.

The same is true of illustrations.  Just imagine learning about Cupid and Psyche without seeing at least one of the beautiful illustrations inspired by that lovely story.

800px-Comenius-Schule

Latin class from Orbis Pictus

Illustrations existed long before the publication of Orbis Pictus.  In fact, they existed long before the invention of the printing-press (c. 1440).  They were the illuminations of illuminated manuscripts and very expensive.  However, even after the invention of the printing-press, publishing an illustrated book was a long and costly process.  Distribution was limited.  Only the few had access to books.

Before the invention of printing, books were copied by hand and then decorated with illuminations. Illuminations were just what the word says:  illuminations.  They enlightened the text.

Comenius’s books could not possibly be as beautiful as an illustrated Bestiary or Book of Hours, but many copies could be made and they could be made quickly, which means that universal education was a realistic goal.

So let us praise Comenius, the senses, and our illustrators.

Sources and Resources

  • Didactica Magna (Internet Archive)
  • Janua Linguarum Reserata (Internet Archive)
  • Orbis Pictus (Gutenberg [EBook #28299])
  • School of Infancy, The (Internet Archive)

[i] “John Amos Comenius.”  Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2011. Web. 12 Nov. 2011.             <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/127493/John-Amos-Comenius>

Music: Carmina Burana by Carl Orff

Johann Comenius

Johann Comenius

© Micheline Walker
12 November 2011
WordPress

45.403816
-71.938314

Micheline's Blog

  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Europa

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 2,476 other followers

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Categories

Recent Posts

  • Language Laws in Quebec: Bill 96
  • From the Rurik Dynasty to the first Romanov
  • Uvalde: Analysis Paralysis
  • The Second Amendment to the American Constitution: a Misunderstanding
  • The Rurikid Princes & the Tsardom of Russia
  • The Decline of Kievan Rus’
  • Ilya Repin, Ivan IV and his son Ivan on 16 November 1581, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
  • Ukraine’s Varangian Princes, its Primary Chronicle, the Russkaya Pravda …
  • Bohdan Khmelnytsky, a Cossack Hetman
  • Ruthenia vs Ukraine

Archives

Calendar

June 2022
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
27282930  
« May    

Social

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • WordPress.org

micheline.walker@videotron.ca

Micheline Walker

Micheline Walker

Social

Social

  • View belaud44’s profile on Facebook
  • View Follow @mouchette_02’s profile on Twitter
  • View Micheline Walker’s profile on LinkedIn
  • View belaud44’s profile on YouTube
  • View Miicheline Walker’s profile on Google+
  • View michelinewalker’s profile on WordPress.org

Micheline Walker

Micheline Walker
Follow Micheline's Blog on WordPress.com

A WordPress.com Website.

  • Follow Following
    • Micheline's Blog
    • Join 2,476 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Micheline's Blog
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: