THE ENGLISH SCHOOLMASTER IN CANADA
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
Sra, – The Englishman in Canada hears that " Englishmen of
the right type are wanted," and is duly flattered. He, of
course, is of the right type, and the more steeped he is in English prejudices the more satisfied he will feel. He will soon see that Canada needs him and he will tell her so, imper- th...eutly. But if-he happens to he a schoolmaster ; a product, that is to say, of our English Public Schools and Universities; and as such a representative of English culture, his position is not so simple.
Attracted perhaps by the salary offered, perhaps by the idea of leaving home or by the romantic prospect of living in a new world, many such schoolmasters come every year to Canada, but as soon as they encounter the Canadian boy they get into difficulties. Instead of attempting to understand differences they try to annihilate them, and the schoolroom is the stage for an amazing exhibition of snobbery.
English habits are often strange, and cause a good deal of healthy amusement, but they cease to be amusing when they become barbarous, and the victim, even though he is a mere schoolboy, is thrashed to the accompaniment of " We don't do things like that in our country," or " People like you wouldn't be tolerated in our country." The young master, thrown into a life of which he knows nothing, in a country of which he knows less, is not altogether to blame, but the harm caused by his intolerance, conceit, and lack of adaptability is far-reaching. He aggravates the vices he should cure and soils the material he handles.
His stumbling block is ignorance—ignorance of the problems and difficulties of teaching, and ignorance of the history, customs and conditions of the country in which he is to work. The first is probably inevitable. Head-masters must continue to recruit their new men from the English Public Schools and Universities, and they are usually justified. But ignorance of Canadian conditions is surely not inevitable.
There is a story of an American lady who married an Englishman. She had never been to England and when he talked, as he frequently did, of hunting, she always looked puzzled. But one day he mentioned that the quarry had doubled and led them back to their starting point, and her face brightened. "Ohl " she said, " you chase the fox round and round the island." Her opinion of the size of the island was less fantastic than the average Englishman's opinion of Canada.—I am, Sir, &c., J. N. S.
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