The Golden Age Of Teaching

Education Transformed

Ontario’s 1968 evaluation of the education system, known as the Hall-Dennis Report, changed the way students were treated within schools. Among its many recommendations it advocated the introduction of special education classes. It soundly condemned corporal punishment and the practice of failing students. Strapping, the controversial, barbaric practice of slapping children on the palm of their hands with a leather strap, had been an ingrained part of the system ever since Ontario’s public education began. The Report recommended that this practice be banned. The strap gradually fell into disuse in Ontario in the early 1970s, but was not abolished in Canadian schools until the 1990s.

This same Report recommended replacing student failure practices with “continuous learning”, more simply stated, allowing children to progress at their own rate. This controversial idea gradually caught on, and outright failure became frowned upon in favour of children moving to the next level along with their own age group. It was a progressive move because it was well known among educators that the practice requiring struggling students to repeat their year had little academic merit and had very negative and emotional consequences for children.

When I started my first teaching job in 1955, I had no idea that I was on the threshold of so many exciting changes or personal opportunities. During my 34-year career, education was transformed. The standard regulation strap was banned and the practice of “failing” students was replaced by continuous learning. Schools became more inclusive for all sorts of students vastly more diverse than my group from fairly advantaged homes with stay-at-home mothers. My own program of continuous learning eventually resulted in earning a doctorate, specializing in how teachers allocate their time. And I had no inkling that my meagre starting salary of $2,400 would increase to 30 times that amount. Teaching proved to be personally satisfying, and financially rewarding.