The Challenge of Teaching

It was 1925, and as Andrew Clement explained in “The Bell and the Book” he needed a teaching position, and the community around Miscampbell School Section No. 1 needed a teacher. In describing his first teaching experience, readers are taken back in time to the stark reality of a one room school. Clement taught at Miscampbell, a community west and north of Fort Frances, for two years.

Andrew Clement boarded with the the Smeeth family and he corresponded with them annually after he left Miscampbell. Jesse and Maude Smeeth were Ruth Vidall’s parents. Some of the photographs in this section were supplied by Ruth’s older sister Mildred Smeeth. Clement recounts his time with the Smeeth family with genuine appreciation and warmth, an invaluable insight into that period of teaching. Clements account is entertaining, describing continual scrutiny by the community and the expectations of the parents. 

In his words the school was “neat, frugally constructed with nothing to spare, and according to regulation, just enough floor space per pupil.” About half the west wall was windows, the light from which reached the far wooden blackboards even on the dullest days. (no electrical lighting) Those same windows added needed warmth from the sun on cold winter afternoons. The wood stove situated 6 feet from the back door, and fired with dry tamarack, was sufficient to heat the school, but the windows were not snugly sealed! 

Every day started with sounding the hand bell. The teacher was required to integrate little children into the awesome process of education and prepare older students to meet the requirements of the Entrance Examinations. Those examinations were set by principals of town schools so distant they could not imagine the challenges for teachers in remote areas. The minimum requirement for all schools was weighing scales, maps, charts, library books, a series of liquid measurements, a standard dictionary, a Bible and of course a hand bell. Teachers were evaluated by the superintendent who used the “Programme of Studies for Grades 1 to 6” issued by the authority of the Minister of Education. A quick look at the introduction and the subtitle “Education for Democratic Living,” highlights the rigorous rules and austere moral codes under which teachers taught. 

It is worth contemplating the challenges of those times, the years between 1900 and 1950. As I studied the artifacts and teaching manuals of those early years, the challenges both personal and intellectual for teachers, the full impact of the second 50 years became clear. In the 1950s the school system evolved and teacher training expanded. After the sheer drudgery and loneliness of the one-room school changes were more than needed. 

The Atikokan Museum welcomes visitors Monday to Friday, 10 am to 4 pm. The exhibit “Inspired Teaching includes profiles of Atikokan teachers. Their teaching experience and memories are valuable history, and like Andrew Clement’s writing takes the reader behind the scenes into the very important work of education. Very welcome are additions to this collection of Atikokan history.