The development of the high school curriculum in Nova Scotia

Abstract

It is to examine the part these studies played in the growth of the present high school curriculum that this thesis is written. One of the basic responsibilities of the educational system is that of providing a curriculum which keeps pace with the practical needs of the students, and the pressing demands for adaptability required in a democratic society. It may come as a surprise to many to realize that there was no such thing as a general high school curriculum in Nova Scotia before 1885, and that only in the 1930’s did it take its present form. In the following pages the reader will be taken back to 1750, to see what efforts were made to provide youth with a worth-while education that would fit him for life. No attempt will be made to concentrate on any one subject, but rather, the curriculum as a whole will be examined over the years to the present day. The first two chapters review the curriculum picture briefly in the United States and Canada, to supply background and precedent for many of the events and trends that helped form the program of studies in Nova Scotia. The remaining four chapters concentrate on our own Province and its educational system and will, we trust, provide the reader with a sequential account of “The Development of the High School Curriculum in Nova Scotia.”