The Alberta Teachers’ Association

The ATA’s foundations were built in the years 1905–1940

From A Brief History of Public Education in Alberta, published by the Alberta Teachers’ Association, 2002.

When Alberta joined Confederation in 1905, some recognizable key features of public education were already present. The pattern for public education in the pioneer era was recognizable as North American, a model of public schooling that greatly resembled that of Ontario and Saskatchewan.

In Canada, education was legally established under the jurisdiction of the provincial governments rather than the federal government. Accordingly, public schools in Alberta became provincial institutions. The arrangements also respected the importance of local involvement in education. Local school trustees hired teachers, constructed and maintained school buildings, and taxed ratepayers within the school district to pay for educational expenses.

The provincial legislature was legally responsible for education and assigned the many related responsibilities to the minister of education. On behalf of the province, the minister and the Department of Education oversaw the implementation of the government’s policies for public schooling. School inspectors served as the department’s eyes and hands across the province. Provisions existed for both public and separate school districts. In the earliest years, Alberta school districts were predominantly rural.

The provincial legislature provided annual funding—a regimen of grants—for school districts throughout the province. This financial support was an essential feature of Alberta’s public schools. The minister and the department oversaw the provision of teacher preparation (which then took place in normal schools) and handled teacher certification.

Moreover, the province developed a prescribed course of studies for its young pupils. To accommodate local needs, the prescribed curriculum typically contained options from which local school trustees could choose. School inspectors, itinerant in the early years, represented the Department of Education in the field and submitted reports to the trustees and the department.

This pioneer period marked a successful beginning for the province and for public schooling. In retrospect, one cannot help but marvel at the early accomplishments in a frontier society. That Rutherford, Alberta’s first premier, also served as minister of education indicates the importance accorded to educational matters in the first years of the province. Within months of Alberta’s entry into Confederation, the province had a normal school operating in Calgary. The University of Alberta, established in 1906, was functioning in Strathcona by 1908.

Some educational issues that emerged later had their origins in this period. According to the Indian treaties, the federal government remained responsible for educating aboriginal students, a circumstance that resulted in the creation of Indian residential schools, which were to prove so problematic in later decades. Rather than being a concern of public schooling, the education of exceptional children was considered a responsibility of the affected family. Moreover, in the earliest days of the province, no professional organization existed to address the concerns and interests of teachers as a profession or to ensure the minimum standards of professional practice.