The Impact of Cold War Events on Curriculum and Policies, and the Protection of Children in Postwar Ontario Education, 1948-1963
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THE IMPACT OF COLD WAR EVENTS ON CURRICULUM AND POLICIES, AND THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN IN POSTWAR ONTARIO EDUCATION, 1948-1963 FRANK K. CLARKE A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN HISTORY YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO July 2020 © Frank K. Clarke, 2020 ii Abstract Between 1948 and 1963 Ontario educators and policy makers, at the school boards and within the Department of Education, confronted the challenge of how to educate students for a divided and dangerous Cold War world. That the Cold War was not a distant or esoteric phenomenon became apparent when the Soviet Union detonated its first atomic bomb in 1949. In addition, local Communist Party members, particularly within Toronto, actively sought to recruit students to their ranks. As a result, the protection of children, both physically and ideologically, became a paramount concern: physically through civil defence drills within schools to protect against nuclear attack and ideologically against anti-capitalist and atheist Communism through citizenship education that reinforced a conservative form of democratic citizenship, including the nuclear family, civic rights and responsibilities, Protestant Christianity, a consumer capitalist society, and acceptance of the anti-Communist Cold War consensus under the auspices of the United Nations and NATO. The Cold War paradigm, however, began to shift starting with the implosion of the Labour Progressive (Communist) Party in 1956 following the revelations of Stalin’s crimes. Thereafter, the Communist threat shifted from domestic Communists to fear of a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union. Moreover, in the 1950s and especially by the early 1960s, a minority of students and teachers questioned the wisdom of the Cold War consensus and its contradictions such as the idea that nuclear deterrence and proliferation could prevent war. Dissention against nuclear arms, McCarthyism, religious education, and traditional approaches to curriculum and pedagogy, were evident throughout this study challenging the notion that the early Cold War era was one of conformity and consensus. iii Acronyms Organizations CCCND Canadian Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament CCCRH Canadian Committee for the Control of Radiation Hazards CCW Canadian Congress of Women CJC Canadian Jewish Congress CPC Canadian Peace Congress CTF Canadian Teachers’ Federation CUCND Combined Universities Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament EMO Emergency Measures Organization FCDA Federal Civil Defence Administration (United States) FWTAO Federation of Women Teachers’ Associations of Ontario ICCUN Inter-Collegiate Council for the United Nations LPP Labour Progressive Party NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization OPSMTF Ontario Public School Men Teachers’ Federation OSSTF Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation OST&RA Ontario School Trustees & Ratepayers’ Association OTF Ontario Teachers’ Federation UN United Nations UNA United Nations Association UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNICEF United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund VOW Voice of Women/La Voix des Femmes YCND Youth Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament Archives AO Archives of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario CTA Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections, York University, Toronto, Ontario DSBN District School Board of Niagara, St. Catharines, Ontario LAC Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario OISE Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto TDSB Toronto District School Board Archives, Toronto, Ontario WRDSB Waterloo Region District School Board, Kitchener, Ontario iv Acknowledgments This dissertation marks the culmination of my return to the Graduate Program in History at York University and the completion of my doctorate after a lengthy absence. I am grateful for the warm welcome and encouragement I received upon my return from a number of people in the program. I could not have asked for a better supervisor than Marcel Martel. His support, guidance and wise advice was a constant source of inspiration from our first meeting through to the completion of the dissertation. I am grateful to him for all that he has done. My committee members Carolyn Podruchny and Sean Kheraj were also very supportive throughout and their helpful and insightful comments greatly strengthened this work for which I am grateful. Karen Dancy, Graduate Program Assistant in the Department of History, helped guide me through the various administrative processes to smooth my return to the PhD program which, along with her always friendly demeanour, was deeply appreciated. The research and writing of this dissertation was made possible by the assistance of archivists across Ontario. Serge Paquet, Ben Caughran, Catherine Falls, and Charles Levi were instrumental in helping me navigate the various collections within and outside of the Department of Education records at the Archives of Ontario, as well as pointing me to other collections at other archives and libraries. Greg McKinnon, Archivist and Manager at the Toronto District School Board Archives and his Administrative Assistant Marie Passerino, were most generous with their assistance. Suzanne Dubeau, Archivist at the Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections at York University, was especially helpful in guiding me through the Federation of Women Teachers’ Associations of Ontario fonds. As of this writing, Suzanne has retired from her long career at York and I wish her the very best in her post-retirement journey. Laurie v Baines at the Waterloo Region District School Board and Trudi Wright at the District School Board of Niagara provided me with access to the school board minutes within their historical collections for the cities of Kitchener and St. Catharines respectively, and both kindly provided me with a work station in which to review the records. I am also grateful to the former students and retired teachers who agreed to be interviewed for this study and generously gave their time to share their recollections that greatly enriched my work. My thanks as well to the secondary school archivists and alumni associations that were instrumental in connecting me with a number of former students. In particular, I would like to thank Frank Marshall and David Seepersad of the Jarvis Collegiate Archives and George Homatidis of the Central Technical School Alumni Association for their assistance. It is inconceivable that this dissertation could have been completed without the support of my family. My son Colin, currently an undergraduate student in history at York – a source of pride for his father who studied in the same program many years ago – continuously inspired my passion for historical inquiry during our conversations about the topics he studied in his courses. The love and support of my wife Susan kept me going through the years of research and writing but she also deserves a research credit for finding some invaluable sources online, as well as for her help with editing and for her technical expertise. Other than myself, no one more than Susan knows what a long journey this was and my love for and gratitude to her is immeasurable. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ......................................................................................................... ii List of Acronyms ......................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ......................................................................................... vi List of Figures ............................................................................................. vii Introduction ................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One: Civil Defence in Schools ...................................................... 35 Chapter Two: Policies to Protect Children from Communism ................... 99 Chapter Three: Curriculum I: Promoting Citizenship and Democracy .... 143 Chapter Four: Curriculum II: Religious Education .................................. 196 Chapter Five: Education in the Age of Sputnik ........................................ 238 Chapter Six: Peace and International Understanding ............................... 311 Conclusion ................................................................................................ 357 Bibliography .............................................................................................. 374 vii List of Figures 1.1 School Civil Defence Drills, Kitchener ............................................. 61 2.1 Anti-Communist Campaign Literature, Toronto ............................. 102 2.2 Student Riot in Windsor .................................................................. 113 3.1 Cadet Cartoon, Lawrence Park Collegiate, Toronto ....................... 193 5.1 Curriculum of Russian Grade 7 and Canadian Grade 7 .................. 284 5.2 How Do We Compare with Russia? ................................................ 285 6.1 United Nations Club, Fort Frances High School ............................. 324 1 Introduction Should we require our high school students to take science and mathematics? Yes, if the Soviets do. Should we offer higher pay for teachers, to secure enough first-class ones for our schools? We must, or the Soviets will catch us.