Education: Ontario’s Preoccupation by W.G. Fleming (review)

REVIEWS 209 therefore,the desirability of maintaininga moreor lessunited NATO front in the negotiations. This positionwasnot held rigidly. It did not preventhim from exploringthe groundhimselfwith Russians or Poles.It did not prevent him from supporting initiativesby the non-aligned. He.doesnot seethe NATO group in the disarmament discussions in conflictwith the Sovietsidebut ratherasonepart of two tryingto seek out grounds for agreement. No oneat Genevawouldbe likelyto think of him asa docilesupporter of Americanpositions. SomeCanadians wouldbe disturbed by hisquietphilosophythat although we should do all we canto pushtheAmericans in certain directions, in the longrun we haveto takea position with thembecause our nationalsecurity is associated with theirs.He was,however,a representative of Canadiangovernments andthequestion hasto beasked whetheranyCanadian government in the sixtieselectedby the Canadianpeoplewould have wantedits representatives to take any otherposition. He makesclear,nevertheless , that the support of American positions wasattributable notto docility but to agreement. Therewe.re manyaspects of American policies and tactics whichhe disliked.Nevertheless, the Canadians basically sharedthe viewof the other Westernpowersthat disarmament hasto proceedby stages rather than by thedramaticabolition of armswithoutanyinspection asdemanded bythe Russians. JOHN w. HOLMES CanadianInstituteo[ InternationalAffairs,Toronto Education:Ontario'sPreoccupation. w.G. FLEMING. Toronto, Universityof TorontoPress, •972. PP.xviii, 33o. $•o.oo. This bookis a slightlyupdatedsynopsis of the author'sseven-volume Ontario's EducativeSociety,but it isa gooddealmorethan justthat. Separatechapters summarizethe historyand structureof the provincialeducationalsystem, its financialunderpinnings, thesteady andperhaps inevitable erosion of university autonomy, the contorted involvements of reli•on and language,and suchexoticaasthehistory of theOntarioInstitutefor Studies in Education.Suchspecific information, however, isgivenaddedvalueby the author'sabilityto relateit to thegeneralcontextof educationalissues. In sucha book,the author'sbiasis all-important.Refreshingly frank in his self-description as 'basically progressive,' Professor Flemingdescribes the alternative position as'essentialist,' andrightlychronicles the I96osasa timeof defeatfor the latter.Perhaps thebestfeatureof thischronicling is thedemonstrationthat the triumphof the progressives wasthe result,not of a spontaneousevolutionwithin the educational community, but of the sustained efforts of the ministerof educationand the groupwhom he.promotedto the upper echelons of hisdepartment. Indeed,the figureof thenowPremierDavispresides over the wholebook;it is no coincidence that, in the Index of Persons, heoccupies twenty-three lines,whilenooneelsereceives morethanthree. Professor Fleming generally approves whatonemightcalltheDavisEra,but 210 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW not uncritically. One greatvirtueof thebookisitsfrequently dryand realistic appraisal of manycontemporary changes. Thoughusuallyinclinedtowardthe progressive position, it triesto givea balancedand intelligenttreatmentof the consas well as the pros.Nevertheless, opinionsare opinions,and Professor Fieming's co.me throughmostunguardedly in hisexcessive enthusiasm for the free-choice curriculum,hisimpatience with Hilda Neatby's So Little For The Mind, hisscantregardfor the anti-progressive EducationMinisterDunlop of the z95os. The tension between the author'ssincere conviction andhisstriking fairnesshas somecuriousresults,as for examplein his tacit assumption that 'innovation' isa GoodThing,despite pointed admissions thatmanyinnovations do asmuchharmasrigid traditionalism. Evenmoresurprising ishisassertion thatprogressive and essentialist approaches cannotbe combined, that a choice mustbemade.Surelyeducational experience shows that theymustbecombined, and in practicealwaysare. The book'sown even-tempered and informative examination ofthetwoapproaches wouldseem tobearthisout. The excellence of thewholestudyissomewhat marredbyunsatisfactory indexinganda brieffinalchapter whichshould eitherhavebeengreatlybroadenedin scope or left out altogether. Comparedto the restof the book,it only trifleswith the subject. And onehasto add that a bettertitle wascalledfor. It is misleading, sincethe wholebookmakesclear that, until very recently, Ontariowasnot in theleastpreoccupied with education. These,however, are minorcriticisms whenplacedagainstthevirtuesof this lucidand knowledgeable work,a worksomuchbetterthanonemightexpect in the currenteducational atmosphere. Avoidinganytrace. of jargonor educationese , it is veryvaluableindeed,eitheras an introductionfor thosenew to thesubject, or asan analytical summary for those alreadyacquainted with this crisis-ridden educational system. JAMES DALY McMaster University GREAT BRITAIN Fi[teenth-Century England•399-•5o9. Editedby s.B.ClHRIMES, C.D.ROSS, and R.A.ORXFI*XTHS. Manchester,ManchesterUniversityPress,x972. Pp. vi, x92. œ2.76. The essays in thisuseful volume arejustified notonlybecause theyareunited abouta single theme,theusualapology for suchcollections, but because they introducethat theme,'studies in politicsand society' in fifteenth-century England ,in theonlywayin whichit canbedoneresponsibly at themoment. We arenotreadyfor a newsynthetic treatment of thelast'mediaeval' century in England, andwe are in debtto the organizers of the Cardiffcolloquium of •97o, Professors Ross andGriffiths, andto thewriters whohavesubsequently revised andexpanded theiroriginal papers, for a bookthatdeserves to beread ...