Professional Legitimation for Education in Canadian Universities: The Canadian Journal of Education, 1976-1997

Oct 15, 2026

Professional legitimitation for education in Canadian universities is analyzed through the development of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE) and its scholarly boundary work. The discussion links state intervention, Keynesian welfare legislation, and human capital theory to education’s shift from practice toward research and professionalization. Evidence includes CSSE’s founding in 1972, its Learned Society recognition, constitutional objectives, and the rapid expansion of universities, graduate study, and education faculty between 1960 and the mid-1970s.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages23

Reading Time58 min

AccessFree to download

CSSE and state-led professionalization

Education as a scholarly discipline and boundary work

Growth of universities and graduate education

CSSE creation, membership recognition, and constitutional aims

Professional Legitimation for Education in Canadian Universities: The Canadian Journal of Education, 1976–1997 Donald Fisher University of British Columbia The history of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE) has been profoundly influenced by changes in the role of the Canadian State. The introduction of social welfare legislation based on Keynesian economics was paralleled in the social sciences as the state adopted first a supportive role, then an active, interventionist role with regard to funding social science research. The inclusion of education in the social science field is set within the broader structural trends in society toward professionalization and utilitarianism. The dominance of human capital theory and the strategic component ofthe developing national science policy during the 1960s typify the latter trend. As in other industrialized societies, the aristocratic ideal of civility has been overtaken by the professional ideal, which according to Perkin (1989) is “based on trained expertise and selection by merit...[emphasizing] human capital rather than passive or active property, highly skilled and differentiated labour rather than the simple labour theory of value, and selection by merit defined as trained and certified expertise”(p. 4) . The predominance of Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l’éducation 40:2 (2017)©2017 Canadian Society for the Study of Education/ Société canadienne pour l’étude de l’éducation [www.cje-rce.ca](www.cje-rce.ca) this ideal in modern society is clearly linked to the emergence of the interventionist state and its emphasis on the public good. The immediate and most important contributing factor in the emergence ofCSSE was the boundary work (Fisher, 1988, 1990, 1993) done by educationalists through institutions, research, and publication to create a distinct territory, education. The objective throughout the post-war period was to fashion education into a scholarly discipline. The ideology of science was dominant, and emphasis shifted from practice to research: instead of creating new territory for a study of education as a distinct discipline, educational researchers opted to follow the accepted route toward the achievement of social scientific disciplinary status. The pressure to increase research activity since the late 1930s, the creation of various professional associations representing the burgeoning number of university faculty, and gradual inclusion in the Learned Societies and the funding categories ofthe Canada Council and then Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) were all part of this struggle. These activities came to fruition within the phenomenal expansion of education during the 1960s and 1970s. The 1960s and 1970s were a time of tremendous optimism and excitement in Canadian universities: the expansion of the system and of graduate study changed the nature of university education in Canada (Healy & Dion, 1978, p. 44) . Between 1960 and 1975, 16 new universities were established and the number of universities offering graduate programs rose from 28 to 47. This period saw a dramatic expansion both in the number of graduate students and the scope of offerings. Over the same 15-year period, the number of administrative units and the number of full-time faculty in education in anglophone universities rose from 25 to 120, and 290 to 1,869, respectively (Fisher & Edwards, 1999, p. 15, Table 3). Against the background of this phenomenal expansion, CSSE was created in 1972 as the first national organization claiming to represent all Canadian university researchers. In 1973, CSSE became a member of the Social Science Research Council of Canada (SSRCC) and thereby formally recognized as a Learned Society. CSSE was created to integrate and coordinate the efforts of the national scholarly education organizations. The aim was to increase the amount of educational theory and research in the universit

FAQs

How did changes in the Canadian state influence education’s professional legitimization?

The text explains that Keynesian-based social welfare legislation led the state from supportive to interventionist roles in funding social science research, shaping education’s position within broader professionalization and utilitarian trends.

What role did CSSE’s boundary work play in forming a distinct territory for education?

The document states that educationalists conducted boundary work through institutions, research, and publication to create a distinct territory: education, aiming to fashion it into a scholarly discipline.

Why were the 1960s and 1970s pivotal for CSSE’s development?

It describes tremendous optimism and expansion in Canadian universities, including growth in graduate study, new universities, education administrative units, and full-time faculty, which supported CSSE’s creation and activity.

Oct 15, 2026

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