Industrious, but Formal and Mechanical: The Sisters of Charity of Providence in Residential School Classrooms

During the 1940s and 1950s the classrooms at St. Martin's (Wabasca) and St. Bruno's (Joussard) residential schools for First Nations' children in northern Alberta were staffed by the Sisters of Charity of Providence, a religious community that specialized in caring for the sick and el...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Titley, E Brian
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Historical Studies in Education/Revue d'histoire de l'éducation 2011
Subjects:
Aboriginal Education
Missionary Schools
Nuns as Teachers
Charity
Wabasca
First Nations
Online Access:http://historicalstudiesineducation.ca/index.php/edu_hse-rhe/article/view/2403
Description
Summary:During the 1940s and 1950s the classrooms at St. Martin's (Wabasca) and St. Bruno's (Joussard) residential schools for First Nations' children in northern Alberta were staffed by the Sisters of Charity of Providence, a religious community that specialized in caring for the sick and elderly. In this essay the effectiveness of the sisters as teachers is examined in the context of a missionary/reformatory model of schooling that was rapidly falling into disfavour. A picture emerges of a hard-working group of women whose lack of education and teacher training hampered their ability to meet the needs of their students.

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