Eric Sager’s “Women Teachers in Canada, 1881-1901”[1] and David Wilson’s “I Am Here to Help If You Need Me,”[2] both speak of women in early education, but portray it in very different contexts. Sager has a research driven conquest to explore feminization; whereas Wilson relays the struggles of female teachers in rural communities by individual experience.
Eric Sager explores many angles to explain “feminization and the status of an occupation.”[3] This article was challenging to follow because he continued to question his conclusions, making it difficult to follow his argument. He stated that “the relationship between feminization and the size of the system, as measured by teacher–child ratio, is confirmed;”[4] yet continued questioning “what characteristics are associated with system size?”[5] This article brings truth to the notion that“ history and its research is… [a] never-ending process.”[6] Another aspect of his analysis was the use of qualitative and quantitative data which approached a method not often used: the egological method.[7] This form of analysis led him to multiple conclusions which are not ordinary such as “relatively large numbers of pupils did not lead directly or uniformly to more women teachers;”[8] but rather “where the labour force participation of adult men was high, the proportion of teachers who were women was also high.”[9] This is an interesting statement because at the end of the nineteenth century women were limited to work and often women did not work if they were married.[10] It also contradicts the notion that an influx of students created more working opportunities; therefore bringing women into the work force. Sager doesn’t just use primary sources that are purely individualistic information, he digs past the concept and explores the reasons behind it’s coming. His approach, although at times confusing, is very reliable because he uses governmental data.
Donald Wilson’s story like approach makes for an easy, engaging read. The focus seemed to be on genderization and focused on female support and protection. The recognition of power indifferences added intriguing contradictions. The power struggle between teacher and parents as well as child and authority were noted and seemed to have similar outcomes as they both stressed safety for the inferior group (teachers and children). Female children were separated from males in order to stay safe and rural areas were marked in a “best served by male teachers… [or] not for inexperienced women teachers”[11] context. It’s shown that protection does not seize with age. When children are young regulation are implemented as a “response to the wishes of anxious parents and friends,”[12] and continuing to teen years with the “fraternization of the sexes even though the students were at least in their late teens,”[13] and finally the Welfare Officer declaring areas unsafe for women when they are in adulthood. The title of the article seems to have two purposes– to emphasize the Welfare Officer’s usefulness as being a protector of women, but also represents the teacher’s role in rural community schools. The role of the Welfare Office and women teachers exemplify the struggle to hold power in the workforce, as presented in the article, both occupancies run into troubles and indifferences which degrade their role to having little purpose.
[1] Sager, Eric W. “Women Teachers in Canada, 1881-1901 in Sara Burke and Patrice Milewski (Eds.), Schooling in Transition: Readings in the Canadian History of Education, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2012: 140- 165.
[2] Wilson, J. Donald. “‘I Am Here to Help If You Need Me’: British Columbia’s Rural Teachers’ Welfare Officer, 1928-1934,” in Sara Burke and Patrice Milewski (Eds.), Schooling in Transition: Readings in the Canadian History of Education, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2012: 201-222.
[3] Sager. “Women Teachers in Canada, 1881-1901.”143.
[4] Ibid. 151.
[5] Ibid.
[6] “What Is History and Historical Research?” Retrieved from http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/researchcourse/history_research.html
[7] Sager. “Women Teachers in Canada, 1881-1901.” 149.
[8] Ibid. 148.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Connelly, M.P. “Women in the Labour Force.” Historica Canada. 2006. Retrieved from http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/women-in-the-labour-force/
[11] Wilson. “‘I Am Here to Help If You Need Me.” 208.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Ibid.
