Whose children are they? A transnational minority religious sect and schools as sites of conflict in Canada, 1890–1922

Abstract

In 1874, 6000 Old Colony Mennonites, an ethno-religious minority sect, immigrated to the Canadian prairies from Russia, after negotiating a charter of privileges with the federal government. Chief among these freedoms was the right to educate their children without government interference. Between 1890 and 1922, tensions mounted between the Mennonites and the government over issues related to schooling, culminating in the 1922 exodus to Latin America. Archival evidence – school inspector reports, personal correspondence and German and English-language newspapers – illustrates how a lack of identity with a nation-state rendered government attempts at assimilation through schooling ineffective. The transnational lens elucidates why these Mennonites were not moved by state efforts; their allegiance was to their own community and to the kingdom of God, but not to any particular nation. Successive legislation – the 1890 Schools Act, the 1907 law mandating that the Union Jack flag be flown outside schools, and the School Attendance Act – though not directed solely at the Mennonites, made it harder for them to conduct their schools according to tradition. Schooling served as the primary locus through which their language, religion and worldview were transmitted and these goals often conflicted directly with predominant concepts of education.     

The Long‐term Effects of Cooperative Learning on Children's Behaviour and Interactions

This study investigates the long‐term effects of training in small‐group and interpersonal behaviours on children's behaviours and interactions as they worked in small groups two years after they were initially trained. Forty‐eight third grade children, who had been trained two years previously in cooperative group behaviours, were assigned to the Trained condition and 44 third grade children who had not previously been trained were assigned to the Untrained condition. The children in the trained and untrained groups were reconstituted from the pool of students who had participated previously in either trained or untrained group activities. The results showed that there was a long‐term training effect with the children in the Trained groups demonstrating more cooperative behaviour and providing more explanations in response to requests for help than their untrained peers.     

Refereeing academic articles in the information age

The new technology (such as ScholarOne) used for submitting papers to academic journals (such as this one) increases the possibilities for gathering, analysing and presenting summary data on stages in the refereeing process. Such data can be used to clarify the roles played by editors and publishers as well as referees—roles less widely discussed in the previous literature. I conclude, after a review of related issues, that refereeing should be “open” in this information age—i.e. correspondence between editors, referees and authors should be open and available, and not private. Some of the issues involved in achieving this are outlined and discussed.     

Barometer for Beauty: How Cosmetic Surgery Websites Define and Visualize “What Is Beautiful”

The present study investigated visuals on cosmetic surgery websites to better understand how these sites depict ideal beauty. The content analysis of 90 cosmetic surgery websites found most sites used general photos and more than half used 10 or more before-and-after photos. Women outnumbered men in general photographs but not in before-and-after photographs. Brunette men and women significantly outnumbered blondes. However, there were significantly more men with dark-colored eyes, while women were significantly more likely to have light-colored eyes. Implications are discussed.