The 90's - my first decade

My first contact with Dalhousie University School was sending International speakers to do presentations with the children. I was always intrigued with its "alternative" reputation, but had never actually set foot within it...until one day, after I had finished my Masters of Education, left the IEC and was looking for the next job, I spotted a small box ad in the newspaper. Teaching jobs in Nova Scotia were few and far between in those days, and indeed after my 8 years at the IEC I feared I would never have a regular classroom job again. Therefore, I wrote a very careful cover letter and polished up my resume to  highlight my "alternative" qualifications...my cross-cultural experience, my experience with adapting curricula, and my belief in a hands-on, discovery approach to learning. I was thrilled when I was invited in for an interview, and prepared more than for any other job I had applied for (can't remember how!). I did not read the Book beforehand (this was before the internet, and I don't think I even knew it existed) and barely knew what "theme studies" entailed, but probably did go and dust off my copies of "Open Education" and "The Integrated Day in the Primary School".

The big day arrived, and I was interviewed in the upstairs main lobby of the Education building, seated on modern looking armchairs, by a group of 3 women who consisted of Ruth Gamberg, Heather B. (a teacher) and a parent from the school committee whose name I have forgotten. All I remember of the interview is that I felt very comfortable with these women, and felt that we had had a good discussion. I know I spoke about cuisenaire rods, and how great they were for teaching basic math concepts (I was fresh from home-schooling 5 year old Winnie) and later when I discovered how central they were to the math programme at DUS, I believed that this is what got me the job (I should check on that!). After the interview, I wanted the job more than ever and prepared for an agonizing wait for a phone call. I did not call or write to thank the interviewers for interviewing me...I just crossed my fingers and in the end,  I didn't have to wait too long. When Ruth called, she started out with, "Well I have bad news and good news..." and my heart sank. The bad news was that they had a candidate who had been working in the school, but who was British, and could not be hired until they had established that there were no suitable Canadian candidates. The good news was that she was pregnant, expecting in May, and would be on maternity leave for the fall term. So Ruth asked if I was interested in a short term position in the Youngs class to replace Cate A. I don't believe I thought too much about it before I said "yes", as I was very excited to be back in the classroom, and I knew that a foot in the door was the next best thing to full time job.

I spent several days volunteering with Cate in her classroom that spring, and remember being continually amazed that all sorts of things that I had only read about in my radical literature  were happening in the school - things like 5 year olds running around doing polls on various topics and then graphing the results (while many other activities were simultaneously happening), stuffed animals taking on elaborate roles in various scenarios devised by the children (weddings were very popular during those early years) and a atmosphere of respect and trust that was at all levels. One memory stands out - Cate and I took the children outside to the Quad, the grassy area in the centre of some of Dalhousie's oldest buildings, including the Administration Building and the Faculty Club. It was Earth Day, and we were cleaning up garbage - a typical rainy April day with daffodils brightening up the gloom. A roving photographer from the Daily News came by and took a picture of the children, and then of course wanted to know all their names. I was shocked that Cate did not know the last names of any of the children and had to go inside to get a list; this shocked and amused me because my experiences with registers and daily attendance in my previous schools meant that my pupils' full names would have been ingrained. I had a lot to learn!  At this time,  I got to know Heather, who was teaching the Middles, and Janet N.L., the Headteacher who was also the Olds teacher and I felt very lucky to have such a supportive team to work with in the fall.

What did this tiny theme studies school look like when I first started? Located at one end of the first floor of the “temporary” post-war Education building, a low ivy-covered structure which graced Dalhousie’s central quad,  2 small classrooms and 1 tiny classroom along with a tiny office, kitchen and library were arranged around the “lunchroom” which doubled as a central meeting spot. A cloakroom had doors which led outside to the small fenced playground, which had a set of swings, a few wooden structures to climb on and the Playhouse which had been built during the World of Work year. The  playground was surrounded by lovely mature trees, and set against the grey stone buildings, it had a very peaceful, academic air. The Youngs’ classroom had a playhouse built in one corner, known as the Wendy House, but the majority of the furnishings were shabby cast-offs from various university departments. Broken tiles, ancient blackboards and grimy paint characterize the decorating style, but the whole was enlivened by the children’s art work displayed, the in-progress projects lying around and the brightly coloured toys and books everywhere.

Who were these 37 students whose parents were paying good money to attend this not very prepossessing looking establishment? About 1/3 of them were the children of faculty and staff of Dalhousie University. The rest were from the larger community – in those days there was a sizable chunk from the fairly newly established Buddhist community and more than a sprinkling from the arts community. There were “hippie” kids and the children of doctors and lawyers, new immigrant children and scions of Halifax business owners. Parent meetings and social occasions were always lively affairs.

Not only was the school located within the Department of Education, teachers were considered faculty and paid by the University (tuition fees covered salaries and the university covered the rest of the expenses), and the school was administered by a School Committee consisting of Education professors, parents and teachers. This close relationship was widening by the time I started as Dalhousie stopped training elementary teachers (who had previously spent considerable time observing and volunteering in the school) and it seemed less and less relevant to the secondary education students who came in batches of 5 at a time to observe.

In my first full year, I taught the Olds – about 12 grades 3 and 4 students. The theme was Nova Scotia and that year we studied fisheries, the Mik’maq, and Black Loyalists. One of our biggest projects was researching real Black Loyalists, making marionettes of our characters and writing and performing a puppet show. Another Fair presentation had the children debating what could be done to save the Nova Scotia fishery – several years before the moratorium on the cod fishery, these children were calling for drastic reductions in fish quotas.  On a typical day, you might find a group pouring through books researching Loyalists, another in the lunchroom working with a parent sewing their puppets’ costumes and another painting backdrops for the puppet show. Children are chattering to each other, but generally they are focused and on task – they know that their parents will be watching their show in a few weeks, and as well as the subject matter, they still have to master the art of puppetry!

At snack time, the children would eat quickly in the lunchroom and pour out the cloakroom door into the small playground sandwiched between the Education building and the Faculty Club next door, shaded by couple of large elm trees. There they would play on the swings, climb on the 2 platforms and chase around through the playhouse (built a few years earlier by the children during “World of Work” theme). Stuffed animals played a big role, and animal “weddings” were frequently staged between various children’s stuffies whose personalities were well known, and quite distinct from their owners.

The month of December was largely devoted to the production of 3 short plays which were written and/or  adapted by the children, and performed in one of the larger classrooms in the Education building. All the props and backdrops were made by the children, and the stage was demarcated by a line of jury-rigged stage lights on the floor. All the parents squashed themselves in to the room, and the heat would be intense as the children acted, sang and danced, reaching a climax when the whole school gathered on the stage for the finale song. Afterwards, the children would bask in the glow of appreciation from their audience at a pot-luck dessert back in the lunchroom.

Even before I arrived at the school, change was in the air. The shifting focus from elementary to only secondary education meant that most professors were no longer interested in theme studies or elementary education; but the real death knell was issued at the beginning of 1991 when the Nova Scotia government decided to “rationalize” the universities, and Education departments at Dalhousie and Saint Mary’s were closed. Most  teacher training in the province was centred at Mount Saint Vincent University.

Parents and teachers alike were upset at the prospect of losing this tight knit community of students, parents and teachers, and a small group began investigating the options around moving off campus and becoming independent.