McIntosh, Robert. “The Boys in the Nova Scotian Coal Mines: 1873-1923,” in Sara Burke and Patrice Milewski (Eds.), Schooling in Transition: Readings in the Canadian History of Education, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2012: 126-139.

This article was written to examine the concept of the “boys” that worked in the coal mines in Nova Scotia in the late 1900s. The author uses a number of scholarly articles to piece together the reasons why boys were utilized in the mines, as well as to examine the path that lead colliery boys away from the mine and into school. Primary sources, primarily news articles from the late 1900s, were also used to provide details about the general attitude towards boys working in mines at the time.

The thought of children under the age of ten working in a dangerous place like a mine is such a contract to today’s belief that children are to be protected and nurtured until they are grown. It is is indicative of a different way of thinking – parents would have loved their children just like they do today, but it was just part of life to have to send your young son to work. This article discusses the idea that boys in the coal mines would at least learn the trade, and graduate to higher-paying positions as they matured. This is unlike the “news boys” that were discussed in Bullen’s “Hidden Workers” article. Boys in the mine seemed almost like a very primitive apprenticeship program. Our current day apprenticeship programs for trades allows teenagers to gain trade experience, while continuing their secondary school education, which seems similar to “practical mining” education the boys were receiving in the mines.

Clubine, Christopher. “Motherhood and Public Schooling in Victorian Toronto,” in Sara Burke and Patrice Milewski (Eds.), Schooling in Transition: Readings in the Canadian History of Education, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2012: 115-126.

Clubine’s article focuses on the “work diary” of W.C. Wilkinson, Ontario’s first truancy officer. It analyzes the journal, and focuses on three major points: the day-to-day tasks of Wilkinson, the relationship between the family economy and the parents’ desire to send their children to school, and the impact compulsory schooling had on stay-at-home mothers. This article, compared to others read in class so far, focuses much more on a primary source. The tone of the author seems to suggest that the author feels Wilkinson was very judgmental towards the children and parents he visited.

The idea that parents felt they had the power to make decisions about whether or not the children attended school is prominent in this article. My thought is that since compulsory school was a relatively new concept, they did not necessarily understand the importance. In many cases, the parents would not have attended formal school themselves as children. However, it seems like it most cases it was a matter of economic necessity keeping the children away from school. Compulsory schooling seemed to create more work for the matriarch of the home; the tasks she once relied on her older children to complete were added to her daily tasks. The idea that mothers were judged based on their children’s appearance at school reminded me of the way mothers are judged today based on their parenting style.

Overall, this article corroborates the ideas put forth in the other articles we have read so far. In both Hidden Workers and The Boys in the Nova Scotian Coal Mines, it appears that parents did want to send their children to school, but it was at times impossible to do so and remain living above the poverty line. The most notable idea in all three articles is the amount of responsibility young children had during this time. This is very much juxtaposed with the lack of responsibility most children are given today.

Slater, Joyce. “Is cooking dead? The state of Home Economics Food and Nutrition education in a Canadian province.” International Journal of Consumer Studies 37, no. 6 (2013): 617-24. doi:10.1111/ijcs.12042.

This article examines the role of nutritional education provided in Canadian schools during the beginning of the 21st century, and how this relates to increased obesity rates. It relates to my research topic of gendered studies in Canada from the 1950s to today. The main point of interest will be how public schooling focused on teaching boy and girls differently, and if that is still happening today. This particular article is based on the early 2000s, which is when I was in high school.

The overall tone of this article is much more scientific than the other articles we have read this week. It determines through a number of surveys that high school students receive less nutritional education today than in previous years, and that the female to male ration in these classes still favours females. This relates back to the Hidden Workers article, which mentioned that females were often expected to help with domestic duties, whereas males were expected to help outside the home. This article shows that even today, females are trained to be more helpful in the home. It appears that in today’s society, neither girls nor boys are learning enough about nutrition. It would have been better to teach both sexes about nutrition, but it seems like instead they chose to teach neither sex about it.