With Edmonton children back to school this past September, and
everyone preparing for the long winter ahead, we wanted to
introduce you to some early Edmontonian siblings. Meet John and
Jo-Anna Smithe - John, born August 1896, came into this world at a
time marked with notable world events - the first modern Olympics
were held in Athens, and Henry Ford just had made his first
automobile. His sister Jo-Anna, was born almost two and a half
years later in December 1898, at a time when those Klondiker's who
chose to come through Edmonton were starting to giveup. This is a
time where computers, calculators and ball point pens were decades
away from even being invented, and teacher's tools for instruction
included chalk, a blackboard and corporal punishment.
First Day of School
At the age of 7, John made his way to his first day of class at
Queen's Avenue School, which was built that very same year on what
is now 99th street. At this time, the educational system came under
the jurisdiction of the provinces themselves - meaning that there
were very few national educational standards at the time. John's
classes focused mostly on the Three Rs - reading, writing and
arithmetic. By the time John's sister joined him in school in 1906,
the Department of Education issued a directive regarding the
classroom. All schools were forced to be equipped with a certain
size of blackboard, to display the Union Jack, a wall map, and a
picture of the reigning monarch (King Edward VII). Desks needed to
be of the factory made variety, and schools themselves required
windows on the left-side of each classroom so that right-handed
students has adequate light to write by. Left-handedness was
strongly discouraged.
Class Life
Classes, generally speaking, were held from 9am to 4pm with a
1.5 hour break for lunch, and two 15-minute breaks during the day.
When it came to summer vacation, John and Jo-Anna enjoyed the same
schedule that many students enjoy today. For rural schools however,
many students were kept at home to help with the harvest and
planting, and made up this school time during the summer
months.
By the age of 10, John was now taking part in other classes
including physical education, nature study, manual training, health
and even music. His sister on the other hand would have attended
classes in domestic science instead of manual training.
By the age of 13, John's classes were becoming increasingly
gender divided, and also included such classes as advanced
mathematics, which was a requirement for university entrance
(perhaps at the University of Alberta, which first held classes a
year earlier in 1908). At this age however, he was longer required
to attend school.
In the War Era
By the time John's kids started to go to school, he was likely
off to war, and school standards were starting to change. In 1921,
Edmonton had an attendance officer, George Donnolly, who would seek
out children working illegally and return them to school. 93% of
youth aged 7-14 were at school full time and at this same time 13%
of 15-19 year old youths in Edmonton neither worked nor attended
school. Teenaged youth in the work force were made up of 8% male
and 26 % female at this time. These low numbers were likely helped
by the lack of jobs available for teenagers in the poor economy.
By 1931, 99% of 7-14 year old attended school full time, and
teenaged workers dropped to 6% for male and 20% female
respectively.1
Wow, how things have changed. Nowadays, Edmonton offers training
and education on nearly any topic one wishes to study… they allow
personal computers, smartphones, calculators and most importantly
left-handedness! So, if you find your kids (or better yet you
are one) grumbling about being back to school, just be thankful you
are attending at a time when nearly everything is at your
fingertips.
Sources:
1Quoted from Rebecca Coulter's "The
Working Young of Edmonton, 1921-1931" found in Childhood and
Family in Canadian History published in 1982.
Image
- http://www.epl.ca/sites/default/files/images/EdmontonACityCalledHome/images/edmonton_history/COE/ea-10-2500.jpg