VANISHING SCHOOLS, THREATENED COMMUNITIES: THE CONTESTED SCHOOLHOUSE IN MARITIME CANADA, 1850-2010.

Halifax : Fernwood, 2011. 190 pp, 9" H. B&w photographs. "Traditional schoolhouses and neighbourhood schools are disappearing at an alarming rate, making way for huge schools that serve multiple communities and adhere to the logic of modernization, centralization, and uniformity. In (this book, the author) explores the phenomenon of school closures, focusing on the little known and contentious history of public schooling in Maritime Canada from 1850 to the present. In a lively and stimulating narrative, (he) examines the rise of common schooling from one-room schoolhouses that encouraged local democratic control through to 'super sized' schools governed by a vast bureaucracy that silences public participation. Local 'save our schools' movements do arise in cities, towns, and villages throughout the Maritimes but rarely succeed in slowing the unrelenting march of 'progress'. Bennett contends that, in both urban and rural Maritime Canada, closing schools rips out a social anchor vital to community survival and imperils the democratic ideals that originally guided the public school system. He shows that education is increasingly dominated by a bureaucratic state where the 'bigger is better' ideology and an impersonal, unresponsive organizational apparatus drive the entire system. The book closes with a clarion call to completely reinvent public education to better serve the needs of our children and our communities." Interior - clean and tight with no previous ownership marks. Exterior - light waviness to edges of text block.. Soft Cover. Near Fine.