John Allison - A Most Canadian Odyssey: Education Diplomacy and Federalism, 1844-1984

A Most Canadian Odyssey

Education Diplomacy And Federalism, 18441984

This book should find a place in the office of every minister and deputy minister of education in Canada. Our new prime minister should also read it. John English

Contemporary Canadian education provides a critical lens for how we see ourselves as a civilization. Education diplomacy in current times broadens this vision, speaking to how we see ourselves on the global stage. Despite the fact that educational diplomacy is a critical aspect of diplomacy around the world, Canadians know very little about it and Canada has a poor record in the field. In fact, Canadas presence internationally in this area is close to non-existent.

Drawing on historical research, John Allison documents the history and development of Educational Diplomacy in Canada. In setting the stage, he looks at its early development via the voyages of Egerton Ryerson, the importance of education at Confederation, and developments in the early twentieth century leading up to the 1960s. The principal focus of the book, however, takes the reader through the 1960s, the rise of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC), the activities of Paul Gerin-Lajoie to extend Quebecs jurisdiction in this area, and the federal response. With the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Country Education Review in 1975-1976, Canada faced new challenges in this field. In his examination of the latter part of the 1970s, Allison analyzes the ongoing debates and discussions concerning who oversaw education diplomacy: Ottawa and the Department of Foreign Affairs (now Global Affairs Canada) or the provinces and CMEC. In the early 1980s, a Memorandum of Understanding between the provinces (as represented by CMEC) and the federal government was signed. Rather than addressing it in a dynamic fashion, this had the effect of mummifying the question. Canadian education diplomacy is a field in which all governments could do far better. With the history of this question in hand, leaders, governments, and Canadian educators can more effectively look anew at this issue and search for innovative and better approaches to Canadian-style education diplomacy.

John Allison, Ed.D., is an Associate Professor in the Schulich School of Education at Nipissing University in North Bay, Canada. He was the 2014 recipient of the Chancellors Award for Excellence in Teaching at Nipissing University and is currently the president of the Nipissing Branch of the Canadian International Council.

The Althouse Press

Faculty of Education, Western University

Allison , A Most Canadian Odyssey:
Education Diplomacy and Federalism, 18441984

A Most Canadian Odyssey:
Education Diplomacy and Federalism, 18441984

by

John Allison

The Althouse Press

Geoffrey Milburn, Founding Director

Paperback edition first published in Canada in 2016 by

THE ALTHOUSE PRESS

THE ALTHOUSE PRESS - ISBN 978-0-920354-81-0

Subsequent paperback, ebook and hard cover editions published by John Allison

Copyright 2016 by John Allison, North Bay, Ontario, Canada. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying, mechanical or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.

Earlier versions of Chapters One and Six appeared as peer-reviewed journal articles.

John Allison, From Journeymen Envoys to Skilled Diplomats: Change in Canadas Education-Related International Activities, 18151968, Diplomacy and Statecraft 17, no. 2 (2006): 23759. Reprinted by permission of Taylor & Francis, LLC (http://www.tandfonline.com).

John Allison, Walking the Line: Canadian Federalism, the Council of Ministers of Education, and the Case of International Education, 1970 1984, Journal of Educational Administration and History 39, no. 2 (2007): 11328.
Reprinted by permission of Taylor & Francis, LLC (http://www.tandfonline.com).

Editor: Gregory M. Dickinson

Cover Design: The Aylmer Express Ltd.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Allison, John Daniel, 1964-, author

A most Canadian odyssey : education diplomacy and federalism,

1844-1984 / John Allison.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-9953406-1-9 (electronic book)

1. International education--Canada--History. 2. Education and state--Canada--History. 3. Federal government--Canada--History.

I. Title.

LC1090.A45 2015 370.1160971 C2015-907727-3

Designed, printed, and bound in Canada by Aylmer Express Limited,
390 Talbot Street East, Aylmer, Ontario.

This book is dedicated to my parents,
Jerene Louise Allison (19272005)
and John Aiken Allison (19252003).
We remember you still.
You lit the way.

Table of Contents

by John English

A History of Innovation:
Early Education Diplomacy, 18001967

The Lessons of la Doctine Grin-Lajoie:
Provincial Education Diplomacy, 19601970

Provincial Engagement and Cooperation:
The Rise of the CMEC

The Cmec , Federalism, and The Ottawa Way
in Education, 19701984

Index

Acknowledgements

This book has taken the better part of fifteen years to come to fruition. Over time, my views on this subject have morphed and changed, but the core idea of the book has nonetheless remained intact. I would like to acknowledge several people and organizations for their invaluable assistance and support in the planning, preparation, and completion of this work.

Parts of Chapters One and Six of this book were previously published in a different form in the Taylor & Francis journals Diplomacy and Statecraft and Journal of Educational Administration and History, respectively (see note 1 of each chapter for full bibliographic information). I am grateful to Taylor & Francis for granting permission to republish this material.

Having begun its life as a doctoral dissertation at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, this book would never have seen the light of day without the support and encouragement of my doctoral supervisor, Dr. David Levine of the Department of Theory and Policy Studies. Together with Dr. Hesh Troper, Dr. Glen Jones, and Dr. Cecilia Morgan, David shaped my early views on this topic and on the deeply important task of historical writing. David remained present all along the way; his steadfast encouragement to see this project through to the end has been instrumental in the books completion. I had no idea what an interesting but demanding journey I was embarking on when I followed his advice, with the aim of pleasing university hiring committees, to develop two articles and a book out of the dissertation!

Through my teaching and service at Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo between 2000 and 2005, my thinking on this subject developed further with the support of Dr. John English at Waterloo and the members of the History and Political Science departments at both universities. During, and as a result of, my travels and work at the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) with Dr. Alistair Edgar, my ideas on international organization and cooperation took greater form. Alistair, I am grateful for the influence you have had on my workmay you continue to travel far and wide.