Teachers Of The Foothills Province

In 1967 the Alberta Teachers' Association published, in honour of Canada's Centennial, a history of the public school system in Alberta entitled Schools of the Foothills Province. This informative book published for the Association by University of Toronto Press is now followed by a companion volume written by the same author, which tells the story of the Association itself, and its long and sturdy efforts to improve the position of teachers and the quality of education in the province. After providing the background to the formation of the ATA (which officially began on July 24, 1918) the author goes on to describe the growth of the organization from its beginnings as a spare-time activity for teachers to a strong influential union. From its earliest years it was affiliated with the labour movements of the Twenties, and fought with increasing strength for the rights of Alberta teachers. Throughout this study, the ATA's concern is evident not only for the economic aspects of teaching for higher salaries and pension schemes, but also for other features: departmental examinations and curricula, preparation and certification of teachers, and educational research. The ATA's mercurial relations with the provincial government are related, its struggle through the depression years and its blossoming in the first decade after 1935 under a Social Credit Government. Leading personalities move through this story against the turbulent background of a growing young province, contributing an air of vigorous controversy and achievement to the story of the ATA.

This selection of essays focuses on schools - their tasks, processes and context by examining the aims of schooling as a primary educational institution, the means, particularly teaching-learning processes in the classrooms, and the environment, classroom, school and societal affecting schooling.

Stuart Ramsay Tompkins belonged to the generation of scholars that came of age in Canada after the turn of the century and was tempered by the First World War. His letters to his wife, Edna, from 1912 to 1919, provide an eloquent record of his courtship and marriage; sharp observations of government and politics, both military and civil; an articulate participant's view of war in the trenches; and discerning and sensitive reactions to Siberia and China in 1919. The letters recount pivotal experiences that shaped the future professor who would become one of North America's pioneer specialists in Russian history. Edited by Doris H. Pieroth.

Walter H. Johns, president of the University of Alberta during the most hectic years of growth, 1959 to 1969, tells a story of great human interest as well as documenting for posterity the academic and administrative functions of this Canadian university and the covering provincial legislation.