This new collection is an ideal sourcebook for courses in the history of education, social history courses and for the general reader interested in the history of education in Canada. It focuses on the social contexts of education, the curriculum as an instrument of social, economic and political policy, the role and status of teachers, and above all, what actually went on in schools and classrooms.

Each topic begins with an editor introduction, followed by a key secondary interpretative article and concludes with a wealth of primary and secondary source material including diaries and other personal testimony, government reports, statistical surveys, and curriculum documents. All the material in the book was used as the basis for a dynamic course for history and education students.