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m. 21 Dec 1881
Facts and Events
Toronto Normal School - Today
FOR six years the shadow of the Second Great War lay on the Toronto Normal School. First came the tragic loss of Thornton Mustard. Then came the enlistment of graduates in the armed forces, with tidings from time to time and from distant lands of former students who had made the supreme sacrifice. One of these, F/L Malcolm McIver, a F. C., was valedictorian of the year 1940-41, and son of Murdoch McIver of the School's Soldier Year, 1919-20. In the summer of 1941, the influence of the conflict was felt by the School in another way. A call came from the Department of National Defence for quarters in Toronto for Initial Training School No. 6, in connection with the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. The Government of Ontario promptly offered the buildings of the Normal and Model Schools and arrangements were quickly completed for the transfer of the teacher-training institution to the building known as the Earl Kitchener Public School. This three-storey building of seventeen rooms, located at 870 Pape Avenue in the Township of East York, was made available through the co-operation of the Toronto Board of Education. Though lacking an adequate auditorium, and having no gymnasium, the building provided reasonably satisfactory temporary quarters for the Normal School. H. E. Elborn, General Editor of Text-books in the Ontario Department of Education, had been appointed principal of the School in October, 1939. It fell to his lot to supervise the move to the new building, and to adjust the life and routine of the institution to its new surroundings. The Model School, sister institution of the Normal School for ninety-three years, was disbanded at the time of the transfer to Pape Avenue. Its pupils were absorbed in the public, separate, or private schools of the city, and its teachers were either transferred to the staff of Toronto Public Schools, or were assigned new duties under the Department of Education. The Model School had played a valuable role in the history of teacher-training in Ontario. Organized at a time when the common schools of the community were not of high standard, it had provided, as its name implied, a model for student-teachers to copy later in schools of their own. By the twentieth century, the publicly supported schools of the Province were well organized, well-housed, well-equipped, and well-staffed, and consequently were in a position to provide facilities for teacher-training purposes. For that reason, special Model Schools were not attached to the Normal Schools instituted in London, Hamilton, North Bay, Peterborough, and Stratford. But the Model Schools in Ottawa and Toronto continued to operate. They stood a little apart from the city school systems; they had their own traditions and commanded their own loyalties. When their buildings were taken over during the war, families whose children had been educated in the "Model" for several generations mourned the passing of what had become beloved institutions. The place that the Toronto Normal Model School held in the hearts of its "old boys and girls" had been shown in February, 1934, when a reunion was held of its graduates of fifty or more years before. Sir John Aird, Sir Henry Pellatt, and Col. A. E. Gooderham were among former students who attended this party organized by Headmaster F. M. McCordic in connection with Toronto's Centennial Year. "One by one the old students appeared," reads a report in the Mail and Empire of February 22, 1934, "looked quickly around the gathering and then, with 'Hello Bill' or 'Well, well, Charlie,' began to renew the acquaintances of more than half a century ago. There were those who brought old prize books, others with old photographs and autograph albums, and others with old reports. In one corner of the room were the old registers. Grey heads bent over these yellowing volumes, picking out who stood first in his class or laughing because they discovered they stood last." Headmasters of the Model School after the turn of the century were: Angus McIntosh (1887-1912); R. W. Murray (1913-15); Milton A. Sorsoleil (1915-21); Thornton Mustard (1921-23); F. M. McCordic (1923-40); and Adam McLeod (1940-41). Of these, M. A. Sorsoleil later became Deputy Minister of Welfare for Ontario, Thornton Mustard became eighth principal of the Toronto Normal School, and Mr. McLeod became Supervisor of Correspondence Courses in the Department of Education. Two staff members often recalled by graduates of the school arc Thomas Porter and Charters Sharpe. Mr. Sharpe is now on the staff of University of Toronto Schools, and keeps in close touch with the "old boys" of the Model by post-card, circular letter, and informal reunion. Former members of the staff who are now enjoying retirement in Toronto are: Misses May K. Caulfield, Alice Harding, Lilian Harding, A. F. Laven, and Mary E. Maclntyre; Messrs. F. M. McCordic, C. D. Bouck, and E. H. Price. The staff of the Model School during its final year,1940-41, was composed of: A. McLeod, C. T. Sharpe, R. G. Kendall, C. E. McMullen, Jessie I. Cross, Doris R. Soden, Jessie McKay, Rose Lynch, Mrs. K. Crawford, Marion Evans, Jean Greig, Mrs. C. S. Burke, Elizabeth Mitchell, M. Maude Watterworth, A. Elsie Sherin, and Mrs. Vera S. Fuller. The following members of the Normal School staff were associated with the Model School: G. S. Apperley, D. W. Burns, E. Grace Conover, Joicey M. Horne, Mrs. Vera E. Russell. St. James Square, under the vigorous direction of the Commandant, Group Captain J. Hanschett-Taylor, rapidly became an efficient air-training centre. Auxiliary buildings sprang up around the permanent blocks, and a great drill hall dominated the eastern portion of the grounds. The old school-buildings were used as lecture rooms and dormitories. "It is not a new experience to sleep in the Normal and Model Schools," said a former student who found himself quartered in one of his old classrooms, "but it is a new experience to sleep there with a clear conscience!" Meanwhile two members of the Normal School staff were serving in the forces--Lt. Col. S. A. Watson and S/L G. S. Apperley—as were also two members of the Model School staff, W/C R. G. Kendall and S/L C. E. McMullen. Some changes were made in the training of teachers in the Province, following the appointment, in 1939, of Dr. H. E. Amoss as Director of Professional Training. The courses of study were revised, the number of final examination papers was reduced to ten, the number of weeks spent in continuous observation and practice teaching was increased to four, the policy of inter-changing normal school masters and school inspectors for periods of one or two years was introduced, and the Primary Specialist Course was begun. The Primary Specialist Course was established in 1939 to prepare teachers for work in junior and senior kindergartens, and Grades I and II. It is offered only at the Toronto Normal School, and applicants are required to hold either a first-class teaching certificate or a degree in arts. Proficiency in music, vocal and piano, is a further requirement for admission. The course is strongly practical in its organization, eight weeks of continuous teaching supplementing the usual schedule of practice lessons. Students taking the course not only receive instruction at the Normal School, but attend weekly lectures at the Institute of Child Study, University of Toronto. Model School teachers who were instructors on the first staff of the Primary Specialist Course were Mrs. Claire Senior Burke, and Misses M. Maude Watterworth and Elsie A. Sherin. Upon the transfer of the Normal School to Pape Avenue, these three teachers were employed in Wilkinson Public School where they continued to assist with the training of students in the Primary Specialist Course. Mrs. Burke in 1947 continues as instructress in Kindergarten Methods on the staff of the Normal School, and directress of the morning Kindergarten in Wilkinson School. Mrs. Emerson Robertson (nee M. Maude Watterworth) died in June, 1946, and Miss A. E. Sherin in November of the same year. Definite efforts have been made in recent years to keep the Normal School in close touch with the teaching field. One means used has been the interchange of masters and inspectors. A second method has been the holding of regular conferences between teachers in the Normal School and inspectors in surrounding counties and urban centres. Discussions at these meetings have done much to acquaint the two groups with the problems and viewpoints of those concerned with the pre-service arid in-service training of teachers. With the coming of peace, the Toronto Normal School has continued to occupy its temporary quarters on Pape Avenue, its former buildings now being used by the Toronto Training and Re-establishment Institute, where personnel discharged from the forces are equipped, through various courses, to earn a living in the commercial, industrial, or professional world. The Director of the Institute is Lt. Col. F. H. Wood, the Registrar is Major J. C. Boylen, and the Regional Director of Canadian Vocational Training for Ontario is H. H. Kerr. This book printed by the School of Graphic Arts, one branch of the Institute, is evidence not only of the practical instruction offered there, but of the cordial relations existing between the Normal School and the educational organization that occupies its former buildings. The Normal School has had its own responsibility in the education of men and women from the forces. Since 1945, thirty or forty students each year have attended the School under the rehabilitation plan. Unlike the class of 1919-20, none of these classes could be called the "Soldier Year," as Navy, Army, and Air Force—women as well as men—have been represented in the returned group. The high quality of the work of these students during their training year, gives promise of a valuable contribution to the schools of Ontario in the years ahead. Members of the staff of the Toronto Normal School during the 1946-47 year were: H. E. Elborn, Dr. W. E. M. Aitken, R. A. Johnston, E. A. Miller, C. A. Mustard, M. H. Park, A. M. Patterson, Miss F. F. Halliday, Miss M. C. Young, Miss J. L. Merchant, Miss J. M. Horne, Mrs. F. G. Russell, Mrs. E. H. McKone, W. L. Stricker, D. W. Burns, Mrs. C. S. Burke and Miss A. E. Sherin. Mr Miller died early in the autumn of 1946, and Mr. H. E. Ricker, former principal of North Bay Normal School acted as Science Master in his stead, from November, 1946, to June, 1947. Miss E. B. Rennie and Miss A. N. Dimytosh are the secretaries of the School. One hundred years is a long time in the history of public education in any land. In the century from 1847 to 1947 the pioneer Normal School of the Province has become one of a group of eight schools entrusted with the training of teachers for the elementary schools, the University of Ottawa Normal School having been opened in 1927. Two of these sister Normal Schools are now headed by former masters of the Toronto Normal School—Dr. C. E. Mark, appointed principal in London in 1932. and W. K. F. Kendrick, appointed principal of the Ottawa Normal School in 1946. But the Toronto Normal School has meant much more in the educational history of Ontario than an institution for the training of teachers. As the home of the Education Office for many years it was, as Lord Elgin termed it, the seed-plot of the school system. In it, diverse educational projects were nurtured until they became sturdy enough for independent growth. Thus the collection of curios in the corridors of the Normal School is but a memory, dwarfed by the Royal Ontario Museum; the School of Art and Design has become the Ontario College of Art; the copies of old masters and the plaster reproductions of famous statuary, once the pride of the Normal School, are forgotten now that original masterpieces are on view in the Art Gallery of Toronto; experiments in cereal production, once a feature of the School's grounds, are now the province of the Ontario Agricultural College; the training of high school teachers, begun in the School in 1858, is now the function of the Ontario College of Education; books once assembled in the building in St. James Square now form the nucleus of the educational section of the Legislative Library. And so the catalogue could go on. The Toronto Normal School was long not only the seed-bed, but, as Ryerson described it, the main-spring of the system of public instruction. Those days are gone by, but the chief task of the school—that of teaching those who will teach our children—remains one of first importance. In this history we have read much of staff members and buildings—of masters and masonry, if you will,—but a school is more than bricks and stone, more than its teachers; it is the sum of its staff. students, and graduates. Just as those groups have won for the Toronto Normal School, during the past century, the place it holds in the educational life of the Province, so those groups to-day must uphold and strive to improve the quality of the school's work in the years to come. To men and women teaching or studying in its classrooms, or leaving its halls for classrooms of their own, might be addressed the lines from Newbolt's Clifton Chapel: And what You are the race shall be." Toronto Normal School - Turn Of The Century (originally published around 1947) WE MAY, THEREFORE, as the Alumni of this institution [Toronto Normal School] ... rejoice to-night that its influence has been felt in every corner of Ontario, and possibly of the Dominion, and as loyalty to the country was always an essential part of our instruction, I now propose that we begin the proceedings of this evening by drinking to the health of Her Gracious Majesty, Queen Victoria. I give "The Queen. God bless Her." As the speaker, the Hon. George W Ross, Minister of Education raised his glass, a hundred schoolmen of the Province rose in their places in the banquet room of the Rossin House, Toronto, to honour their sovereign. The orchestra struck up the National Anthem, and the fiftieth birthday party of the Toronto Normal School was well under way. It was the night of November 2, 1897, and the Jubilee Banquet was the concluding event of an anniversary programme that had extended over three clays. Distinguished graduates were out in force. The Minister of Education who graced the chair was a student of '69; John Millar, Deputy Minister of Education, had attended in '62; vice-chairmen of the banquet—Principal Archibald MacMurchy of Jarvis Collegiate and Professor J. G. Hume of the University of Toronto—were representing respectively the students attending before and after 1875. The Jubilee celebration clearly demonstrated the affection of former students for their Normal School. Opening with a service in the Metropolitan Church, at which the Rev. Dr. E. H. Dewart---a student of the first session—was preacher, the programme also included two afternoons of reminiscent addresses, and a musical evening. Careful record was kept of all events, and an account of the celebration published in book form provides a mine of fact regarding the School's early years. Thomas Kirkland was principal at this time. An Irishman by birth, he had graduated from the Dublin Normal School before coming to Canada in 1854. After teaching in public and grammar schools, and securing his M. A. from the University of Toronto, he became science master of the Normal School in 1871. Upon the resignation of Dr. Davies in December, 1884, Mr. Kirkland became principal; at the same time, Dr. James Carlyle, head master of the Boys' Model School, became his assistant. "As now constituted," reads the Minister's Report of 1885, "these two teachers do the work formerly done by three without any deterioration as to efficiency or management." What was memorable about Mr. Kirkland? Records remind us of his industry, of his text-books, of his knowledge of botany and chemistry, but the unanimous reply of former students is: "His kindness!" Former members of his staff say simply, "He was our friend." The school itself was not at a high point in its history. The shift of emphasis from academic work to professional study had thinned the intellectual fare. New subjects in the elementary curriculum—subjects such as nature study, manual training, household science, and hygiene—found little or no place in the Normal School programme. The practice of lecturing to a hundred or more students ranged on tiered seats in a large gallery classroom militated against inspirational teaching. Dr. J. H. Putman, late Chief Inspector of Schools, Ottawa, who attended in 1887, describes the course in his memoirs as flat and uninteresting. E. E. Gibbs, former principal of Chesley Avenue School, London, and a student in the autumn of 1890, has more favourable memories: "I found that I was a much better teacher after my term at Toronto Normal, and shall never forget the help and inspiration I received while there. I liked the friendly talks about how to manage a school, and the casual remark, 'Do what we tell you, here, and when you get a school of your own, do as you please.' I have always followed that advice! One day when Dr. Carlyle was taking up School Management with us he asked Ward, the humorist of the class, a question. Ward hesitated a long time, and the Doctor remarked, 'If you do not answer, Mr. Ward, the class will think you do not know.' Ward replied, 'Dr. Carlyle, if I do answer, they will know that I do not know.' " The Model School was in its heyday in the 'nineties. Dr. J. A. McLellan, in a departmental report, states that the practice school "is, I believe, the best we have had in the history of the Normal School." Dr. Putman has this to say: "Angus McIntosh, the headmaster, and Miss Scott, the headmistress, were shining examples of what elementary school teachers could and should be. Their poise, their naturalness of manner, the ease with which they controlled, their skill in questioning, the way they used the pupils' answers, the little use they made of text-books made young teachers feel that, after all, there was much to be learned about the art of teaching."* In 1885, the training of kindergarten teachers became a feature of the Normal School programme. The first kindergarten in Toronto had been established in 1882 under the enthusiastic leadership of Dr. J. L. Hughes, Chief Inspector of the City's public schools. Miss Bessie Hallman was the first Kindergarten Directress in the Normal School, 1885-86; Miss C. M. C. Hart was the second, 1886-92; and Miss Mary E. Macintyre was the third, 1892-1932. Requirements for entrance to Normal School remained substantially unchanged for thirty years after 1877, and included an academic second class certificate, a session at a County Model School, and one year's successful teaching experience. From 1875 to 1890, it was possible to qualify for a first class certificate by attending two sessions at Normal School. After 1890, the Provincial School of Pedagogy, which was organized to give professional training to teachers of secondary schools, took over the granting of first class certificates; this institution admitted students with Senior Leaving certificates or university degrees. The School of Pedagogy met in the theatre of the Toronto Normal School, and used its Model School, until the training of teachers for secondary schools passed to the Ontario Normal College, Hamilton, in 1897. The history of the Toronto Normal School continued to be written in brick and mortar. In 1882, changes were made in the east end of the front building (partly vacant since the Depository had been discontinued) for the accommodation of the Ontario School of Art and Design, which had occupied rooms on King Street West since its beginning in 1876. In 1888, a second storey was added to the centre building which housed the Model Schools. At the same time the old play sheds were removed—a great improvement from "an ornamental and sanitary point of view." In 1892, the contract was let for the construction of the iron fence around the grounds. The greatest change in the buildings took place, however, in 1896, when a third storey was added to the south block. This addition, involving the loss of the old cupola and the substitution of the present tower, provided spacious halls connected by archways on the third floor, for use as art and picture galleries. Another alteration occurred in 1902, when the north building, then housing the Normal School proper, was enlarged by wings on both east and west sides, each two storeys in height. The length of this building now ran cast and west, instead of north and south. Thomas Kirkland died at the close of 1898, just as he was preparing an address of welcome for the incoming class of the new year. He was succeeded by William Scott, B. A., a graduate of the School in 1868, and its vice-principal since 1894. Born in Scotland, the new principal had come to Canada as a boy, had begun teaching at the age of sixteen, and had later served on the staff of the Boys' Model School, first as teacher and then as headmaster. Graduating from the University of Toronto, he taught in the Ottawa Normal School for twelve years before his transfer to Toronto on the retirement of Dr. Carlyle. William Scott was a man of dignified and kindly manner. He was a careful organizer and possessed a strong and orderly mind. By act and precept he implanted in his students the principle, "A well-taught school is a well-disciplined school." The discipline which he advocated was to be secured through the teacher's personality and through the stimulus of good teaching. "When minds are busy there is no time for noisy mischief." In his opinion, character was based upon integrity, and integrity gave power to meet all situations without fear. "To keep an engagement punctually is not a small matter," he said, "for it gives me confidence that I can do what I will do." Mr. Scott's methods of teaching were particularly effective. He based the study of botany and geography on well-planned field excursions, which his students recall with special pleasure. He was an authority on the identification of Canadian plants, and an enthusiastic collector of specimens of Canadian flora. His approach to elementary arithmetic was a revelation to young teachers who had floundered and failed in the use of older methods. "Make an end to juggling with rules and symbols; base your methods in teaching number on the child's natural delight in concrete things," was one of his favourite admonitions. Though strict in discipline, Mr. Scott took a sympathetic interest in the welfare of his students. From one teacher comes a memory of help graciously given with a difficult lesson assignment; from another, treasured words of kind but sturdy counsel from Mr. Scott upon the occasion of her father's death. Remembered, too, is the hospitality of the Principal and his wife, when they entertained the students to tea each year at their pleasant home. Manual Training and Household Science were attracting the attention of educationists at the turn of the century. In Principal Scott's report in 1901, we read: "Rooms are required for Manual Training and Domestic Science. No attempt is now made to make the students acquainted with the rudiments of Manual Training. The ladies receive training in Household Science; but the room they use, which is at a distance from the school is quite inadequate to accommodate so large a number with comfort." A year later, Inspector Leake reported that manual training "is now in progress at each of the three Normal Schools—Toronto, Ottawa, and London." (The London Normal School had been opened in 1900.) Miss Nina Ewing and Mrs. Emma MacBeth were early instructors in Household Science and Needlework. James H. Wilkinson was the first instructor in Manual Training. In 1903, the long-standing practice of holding two sessions of the Normal School each year came to an end, and one session extending from September to June became the rule. The Minister's Report for 1904 points out that the lengthened session was designed to provide opportunity not only for more practice teaching, but for review of academic work as well. In 1908, Dr. F. W. Merchant was appointed Inspector of Normal Schools, and, under his leadership the next eight years brought a complete re-organization of teacher-training for the elementary schools of Ontario. In the first place, most of the Model Schools, which had prepared teachers for third-class certificates, were abolished. Three new Normal Schools were opened in 1908—at Hamilton, Peterborough, and Stratford—and a fourth, at North Bay, in 1909. The staff of the Toronto Normal School provided two principals for the Stratford School, in the persons of W. H. Elliott and Dr. S. Silcox; A. C. Casselman, also of Toronto, became principal in North Bay. The Normal Schools were now training some students without previous experience in teaching, and a more extended course in observation and practice teaching became necessary. For some years classes were divided into two sections, one for those students with experience, and the other for those who had not previously been teachers. The Model School no longer provided all the practice required in Toronto, and arrangements were made for the use of selected rooms in the city system. Rural classrooms were also added to the practice schedule. At first the rural schools were used only for a short time in the spring, but later they were affiliated with the Normal School for the whole session. Methods of instruction in the Normal School also changed. The lecturing of large classes came to an end; the School was divided into forms, and additional masters were appointed. "The theory now is," wrote Dr. Merchant in the Minister's Report of 1915, "that every Normal School master's lesson should be a model of method in presentation as well as a type of the proper selection of subject matter." Less encouragement was given to laying down definite and detailed lines of procedure, and more emphasis was placed upon the discussion of principles and their application to concrete educational problems. The publication of a series of manuals, in the various subject fields, for the guidance of teachers and teachers-in-training, was begun around 1910. These manuals were ably written, and had an immediate effect that was favourable in the Normal Schools. Over the years, however, despite revision, they tended to limit professional reading, and to narrow the outlook of the students, if not of the staff itself. In 1914 a new department for training Kindergarten-Primary teachers was established in the Toronto Normal School. Its purpose was to bring into closer relationship, the Kindergarten and the other grades of the public school, Miss Mary E. Macintyre was senior instructor in Kindergarten Principles in this course, and associated with her as assistant instructors were Misses Ellen Cody, Lilian B. Harding, Elizabeth E. Cringan, M. Maude Watterworth, and Mabel E. Hodgins. Following Miss Macintyre's retirement in 1932, Miss Hodgins became fourth Kindergarten Directress of the Model School and instructor of the Kindergarten-Primary course. The years of the First Great War brought their changes in the halls of the Normal School. The honour rolls of both Normal and Model Schools lengthened as the months passed by. Towards the close of the war, Principal Scott's health failed, and in September, 1918, Dr. S. J. Radcliffe, Principal of London Normal School, came to Toronto as Acting Principal. Toronto Normal School:
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