Imagine a one-room school with students ranging in age from five to fourteen. Now imagine that there is only one teacher and she is just eighteen years old. How did she maintain order? How did she teach multiple grades?
The ambition of a solid education and a better life for their children inspired the citizens of North Middlesex to establish an educational system in the1850s. The government of the time established the sectional school system of education, and citizens built one-room log school buildings, once as much a part of rural landscape as rural churches. Later versions constructed of brick are still evident in Ontario, surviving as homes or community centers. The architecture was straightforward utilitarian, and to my eternal amusement featured separate entrances for boys and girls. Often very young teachers were responsible for discipline and education, dealing with the same range of issues that present day teachers face, but alone with only the annual visit of the School Inspector. Hired by the local Board of Trustees, sometimes living in the same home as their students, their work must have been lonely and frightening at times. How did they manage their duties, with the ever present expectation and judgement of the parents and Board members? What did the curriculum look like? Would you want to sit in the school desks used in rural schools? What did they have to learn and what kind of books did they use? Did they have any fun at all?
The school exhibit at the Ailsa Craig Museum attempts to take visitors back in time to the challenges of rural education, to display the evolution of the school system from one-room schools to central schools, and the challenge of providing secondary education. Step back in time and read about the antics of former students, their memories and their mischief.
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