School board reorganization in Campbellton, N. B. 1970-74: a sociological and historical study

Brebner, Mary Cecilia (1981) School board reorganization in Campbellton, N. B. 1970-74: a sociological and historical study. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

[English] PDF (Migrated (PDF/A Conversion) from original format: (application/pdf)) - Accepted Version Available under License - The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. Download (30MB) [English] PDF - Accepted Version Available under License - The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. (Original Version)

Abstract

This study was undertaken to discover the factors, both historic and sociological, for the reorganization of the Polyvalente Restigouche Senior High School Complex of Campbellton, New Brunswick from a single bilingual high school into two unilingual high schools. This history traces the development of a territory by two language groups whose wishes were to educate their children in their own languages, preserving their cultures and religions. Each developed an educational system, but the services and facilities offered by the two groups were not equal. -- In the nineteen sixties, the government, in an effort to equalize services, changed the educational financing system and constructed many new schools, one of which was the Polyvalente Restigouche Senior High Complex on which this study is based. This school housed both language groups as a bilingual school. It remained as such for only three years, after which it was divided on language lines into two unilingual schools. During the three years, the Francophone community became more ethnocentric and with the threat of loss of their language organized to obtain a unilingual French high school. This they were able to accomplish through group solidarity and political action. A comparison is made between this and a similar occurrence in Sturgeon Falls, Ontario, studied by Danielle Jutneau Lee and Jean Lapointe. -- This study is important, as with total immersion classes in French for English students, there will be a new need for bilingual high schools in the future.

Actions (login required)

View Item