Showing 5 results

Archival description
Only top-level descriptions British Columbia. Dept. of Education School management and organization--British Columbia
Print preview View:

1 results with digital objects Show results with digital objects

Elementary and technical education correspondence

  • GR-1446
  • Series
  • 1914-1929

This series contains correspondence inward and outward of the Director of Elementary Education and the organizer of Technical Education. Files include correspondence and reports regarding summer schools and night schools, manual training and domestic science, agricultural education and wartime Food Conservation Committee. The series also contains miscellaneous reports from school inspectors and correspondence regarding provincial university and college programmes. This collection may be used in conjunction with GR-0457 (Technical Education, 1915-1923) and GR-0458 (Elementary Agricultural Education, 1915-1929). This collection includes: correspondence (inward and outward) of J. W. Gibson, the Director of Elementary Agricultural Education Branch and John Kyle, the Organizer of Technical Education; the records of George H. Deane, the Supervisor of Technical Education; correspondence and reports pertaining to summer school and night school programs, manual training and domestic science, agriculture education and wartime food supply; miscellaneous reports from school inspectors; and correspondence concerning university and college courses. During this period, the Organizer of Technical Education (John Kyle) was responsible for night schools, domestic science courses, and manual training programs. The Director of the Elementary Agricultural Education Branch (J.W.Â\~Gibson) was responsible for rural science courses, schools gardening projects and acted as director of the Summer School for Teachers. Gibson was also the Provincial Organizer for the Wartime Food Conservation Committee. Both John Kyle and J.W. Gibson reported to George H. Deane, the Assistant Superintendent of Education as well as the Supervisor of Technical Education (19131917). Deane also acted as Inspector of Schools on Vancouver Island, and this collection includes correspondence relating to school inspection and to matters other than technical and agricultural education.

British Columbia. Dept. of Education

Private and independent school statistics

  • GR-4073
  • Series
  • 1964-1979

This series consists of statistical information related to private and independent school enrollment and curriculum for the years 1964-1979. Some statistics were collected for the Dominion Bureau of Statistics and Statistics Canada. Information relates to student demographics, teachers, length of instructional time, and subjects offered.

British Columbia. Dept. of Education

School inspectors' reports

  • GR-0122
  • Series
  • 1918-1957

The series consists of School Inspectors' reports created by the Dept. of Education between 1918 and 1957. The reports are arranged alphabetically, by name of school or community, for the years 1918-1938; thereafter, reports are filed alphabetically by name of teacher.

Evaluations of a number of private schools are included, as well as assessments of manual training and domestic science programmes in various schools. These reports contain evaluations of individual teachers and assessments of education programmes in all types of schools throughout the province.

The report forms varied over the years, but in most instances they contain information on teachers' qualifications, teaching methods and classroom discipline, pupils' progress, and the availability and condition of teaching equipment. Early reports on provincial elementary schools also contain information on the size and condition of the school buildings and grounds.

As a rule, the inspectors' reports were arranged alphabetically, by name of school inspected, and filed chronologically under various categories. During the years 1918-1937, the main categories were "Elementary Schools," "High Schools and Superior Schools," and "Manual Training and Domestic Science."

There were, however, frequent exceptions and alterations to this filing system. For example, during the years 1929-1931 Vancouver schools (i.e. those administered by the Vancouver School Board) were filed separately from other municipal schools; during the years 1934-1938 the Jericho Hill School for the Deaf and the Blind was accorded a separate file. Between 1928 and 1937 files pertaining to certain "private schools" were also kept separately. "Private schools" in this instance included some independent schools such as Crofton House, Vancouver, several religious colleges, and a number of Indian residential schools.

In addition, rural elementary schools were listed separately from other provincial elementary schools during the years 1928-1937. The "Rural Schools" reports were prepared by Miss Lottie Bowron, Rural Teachers' Welfare Officer (Women's). Her reports often contain detailed accounts of the conditions faced by teachers in small, isolated communities.

The Department of Education adopted a new filing system in 1938. From that year until 1957, when this series ends, all public school inspectors' reports, irrespective of school categories, were filed alphabetically under the names of individual teachers.

British Columbia. Dept. of Education

School Inspectors reports and records

  • GR-0456
  • Series
  • 1916, 1940-1946

This series consists of district and municipal school inspectors' reports. Records include correspondence inward and outward primarily between inspectorate No. 2, and the Assistant Superintendent of Education (1916); and reports on teachers filed by inspectors' names (1940-1946).

Reports for 1916 were prepared for the Superintendent of Education, Alexander Robinson; reports for the period 1940-1946 were submitted to the Chief Inspector of Schools, Dr. H.B. King. Also included are reports from the Inspector of High Schools, the Inspector of Technical Education, and the Director of the Home Economics branch for the years 1941-1946. The reports for the 1940s deal with schools throughout the province and so provide a detailed record of the state of public education at that time.

Generally, the reports contain evaluations of school buildings, equipment and grounds, along with assessments of the organization and management of individual classes within the schools. The reports also included evaluations of the teachers working in the various schools.

The reports were originally filed under the names of the school inspectors, an arrangement which has been maintained here. However, to facilitate research on particular schools and communities, an effort has been made to identify the boundaries of the different school inspectorates.

Prior to 1946 and the advent of well-defined school districts, boundaries of the various inspectorates were sometimes imprecise; the inspectorates varied in size and did not always coincide with municipal, rural, or even regional areas. The inspector of schools in Agassiz, for example, also reported on schools at Alert Bay; similarly, the inspector responsible for Port Moody also looked after schools in Saanich and Powell River. Researchers are, accordingly, advised to use this collection with GR-01492 (Directories of School Inspectorates, 1937 - 1946).

British Columbia. Dept. of Education

Superintendent of Education correspondence inward

  • GR-1445
  • Series
  • 1887-1894

Consists of correspondence inward to Superintendents John Jessop (1872-1878), C.C. McKenzie (1878-1884), and S.D. Pope (1884-1899). Types of records include petitions for school buildings, applications for teaching posts, minutes of local school boards, school trustees' reports, etc. This series may be used in conjunction with GR-0449 (Superintendent of Education, Indexes to Correspondence Inward, 1881-1915) and GR-0450 (Superintendent of Education, Correspondence Outward, 1872-1919).

Researchers should also be aware of the Correspondence Inward files of the Provincial Secretary, 1871-1892 (GR-0526). Since the Provincial Secretary was responsible for the Education Department, these files contain many records pertaining to teachers, schools, and education matters in general. Access to documents in GR-0526 is through GR-0524 (Provincial Secretary. Registers and indexes of letters inward, 1872-1924). Documents pertaining to education, etc. are indexed under the headings "SCHOOLS", and "EDUCATION, SUPERINTENDENT".

British Columbia. Superintendent of Education