Franco-Manitobans and the struggle for the preservation of religion and language, public schools and the township of Ste Anne, 1946-1955

Abstract

This study is an analysis of public schooling and life in the classroom from 1946 to 1955 in Ste Anne, a small rural Franco-Manitoban school. The purpose of the study is twofold: (1) to investigate the degree of autonomy school districts had in securing the reproduction of cultural values in the classroom; and (2) to investigate how community values, particularly language and religion, were preserved and reproduced in the classrooms in the public schools in French Roman Catholic communities. Data collection was primarily obtained through taped interviews with people nvolved in the school system at the time. The themes for the study were examined through analysis of the oral narratives in conjunction with other primary historical documents related to the specific issues. The results of the study make clear that resistance to values of Anglo-conformity and negotiations to reach a compromise, a modus vivendi, were central themes in Franco-Manitoban schools which enabled the reproduction of ethnic and religious values in the classroom from the mid 1920s until Consolidation. While trustees and teachers complied with the requirements of the Department of Education, they also followed the directives of l'Association d'Education des Canadiens-Francais du Manitoba. It is contended that l'Association played a parallel role to the Department of Education which encouraged the reproduction of ethnic and religious values. The Catholic Action Movement and other forces in society at both the macro and micro level also had an impact in securing the reproduction of cultural values in the classroom.