GENDER PRIVILEGE AND THE CULTURE OF THE ONTARIO SCHOOL SYSTEM - A MID-TO LATE TWENTIETH-CENTURY CASE STUDY OF A MALE PUBLIC SCHOOL PROFESSIONAL

Oct 15, 2026

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GENDER PRIVILEGE AND THE CULTURE OF THE ONTARIO SCHOOL SYSTEM examines, through an adapted public history local case study, interviews with a former Ontario teacher and principal to explain how gender shaped professional experience in Ontario public schooling from the 1950s to the 1980s. Drawing on education history literature and documents, it analyzes structural trends and beliefs related to credentialism, local school board organization, and gendered expectations. The study focuses on Barry Jackson’s career to show how his experiences both align with and diverge from accounts of “typical” public school professionals.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction and research approach

Public history methodology and case-study focus

Policy and organizational context (Ontario, pre-1950s to 1960s)

Provincial legislation and teacher working conditions

School board organization and centralization trends

Gender and professional experience

Credentialism and gender imbalances in teaching

Comparing a rural male teacher’s experience with Toronto cases

Case background and early career

Family background and social setting

Early influences and entry into teaching

GENDER PRIVILEGE AND THE CULTURE OF THE ONTARIO SCHOOL SYSTEM: A MID-TO LATE TWENTIETH-CENTURY CASE STUDY OF A MALE PUBLIC SCHOOL PROFESSIONAL Beth Wilcox, School District 57, British Columbia This study uses an adapted public history methodology of a local case study to analyze interviews conducted with a former Ontario teacher and principal. It draws on literature and historical documents regarding teaching between the 1950s–1980s to examine the typical experience of public school professionals in that time and discuss structural trends and beliefs regarding credentialism, local school board organization, and gender in the Ontario education system. Since a publicly financed education system was established throughout Canada in the nineteenth century, the educational policies and regulations governing teachers, students, and curriculum have been the jurisdiction of the provinces. As many researchers, such as Cavanagh (2003), have noted, within the province of Ontario, the working conditions of individual teachers varied widely until the 1960s. This was primarily the result of vague provincial legislation which allowed regional school boards and communities to determine the specific responsibilities of teachers, negotiate salaries, and fund schools. Across Ontario, the organization of school boards varied before the 1950s. Schools were grouped into city or county districts or inspectorates. Within the inspectorate divisions, there was little consistency in the organizational structure. Generally, each inspectorate was composed of numerous school boards. The guidelines governing school board boundaries were hazy, but each school board usually had at least one open school (Ontario Department of Education [ODE], 1953) . In his book, The Schools of Ontario, 1876–1976, Stamp (1982) described how the Department of Education pushed towards increased centralization in the late 1950s and early 1960s. School boards were amalgamated into township-sized boards and larger central schools were constructed. Only a few years later, these boards were again amalgamated into countywide boards. The historical “independence of local school boards,” the “provincial constitutional autonomy in education,” and “the relative paucity of research in educational history,” contribute to Harrigan’s (1986) conclusion that “it is within . . . local case studies that we find some of the most informative research”(p. 81). As a result, I have chosen to explore the experience of public school professionals by focusing on one subject, my maternal grandfather Barry Jackson. In this analysis, I adapt the public history methodological style to explore Barry’s career using two recorded interviews conducted with Barry in March 2010, and drawing from historical accounts and studies on the teaching profession, including research by Reynolds (1990,1995) . To date, Reynolds has conducted one of the most comprehensive analyses of teachers who became principals in Ontario between the 1940s and 1980s. Reynolds interviewed male and female principals in the Toronto school board (approximately 220 km away from Barry’s home town) . While attempts have been made not to over-generalize the typicality of the Toronto teachers, comparisons between Barry’s experiences and those of Reynolds’ interviewees do allows for hypotheses to be constructed regarding the typicality of Barry’s experiences. I focus on the start of his career in the 1950s, his decision to pursue professional qualifications, and his promotion to principalship as I explore how his experiences both confirm and reject the “typical” experience of public school professionals from the 1950s to the 1980s. Barry’s career in education highlights the culture of Ontario’s rural school system at the mid-twentieth century. Barry’s account of how he was hired as a teacher, his decision to make teaching his career, and why he became a principal also highlight the pervasive gender imbalances within the pro

FAQs

What research method does the study use to analyze Ontario education and gender privilege?

It uses an adapted public history methodology based on a local case study, drawing on interviews with a former Ontario teacher and principal and on historical literature and documents.

Which aspects of the Ontario education system does the study examine?

It examines trends and beliefs involving credentialism, local school board organization, and gender in the Ontario education system across the 1950s–1980s.

Why is Barry Jackson’s career central to the study?

The analysis focuses on Barry Jackson to explore how his experiences confirm and reject the “typical” experience of public school professionals from the 1950s to the 1980s, especially regarding gender imbalances.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Muffet