This anthology, the third in a series, consists of articles which have been published in The Morning Watch over the eight-year period 1982-1990 (i.e., Vol. 1 Nos. 1-2, 1982 to Vol. 18, Nos. 1-2, 1990). Vol. 11, Nos. 3-4, was never published. The first anthology appeared in 1977 under the title Society Culture and Schooling: Issues and Analysis, and it contained most of the articles which originally appeared in various issues of The Morning Watch from 1973 to 1977. The second anthology was published in 1982 in two volumes, with the title Society and Education in Newfoundland , and contained articles that had appeared in The Morning Watch in the five years from 1977 to 1982 (i.e., Vol. 5, Nos. 1-2, 1977 to Vol. 9, Nos. 3-4, 1982). A few words about the origin, history, purpose and orientation of The Morning Watch may be of some interest to readers. In this connection, we quote from the preface to Society and Education In Newfoundland:
Dr. W.J. Gushue, a former Head of the Department of Educational Foundations, was instrumental in helping with launching of The Morning Watch . Publication commenced in 1973 and has continued through the Committee on Publications, Faculty of Education, Memorial University, St. John's, Newfoundland.From the very beginning there has been no doubt in the minds of the editors that The Morning Watch exists in the main for the teachers of Newfoundland and Labrador.Dr. Gushue, in introducing The Morning Watch to readers, remarked that "...the birth of The Morning Watch is explained by the somewhat rapid awakening of the Newfoundland consciousness. Indeed, that fact is reflected in the title of the journal in that it is The Morning Watch that precedes a new day - a new and better era for Newfoundland and its people."
Over the period of seventeen years, faculty members from various formal departments in the Faculty of Education and from other faculties of the University have written articles for The Morning Watch. Some submissions from people in schools in the province have also been published.
The orientation of this journal remains the same. It is stated as follows:
"Social scientists and educators often use jargon and tedious language while commenting on the complex interaction among society, culture and schooling. The editorial policy of The Morning Watch has urged, and still urges, contributors to write with as much simplicity and clarity as possible without foregoing the 'respectable' level of sophistication required for social and cultural analysis. It was felt that there was need to introduce and explain to a specific audience in the province students, teachers, supervisors, superintendents, members of school boards and the general public - some of the major social science concepts and perspectives that are often used in analyzing social, cultural, political, economic and educational problems and in formulating policies pertaining to such problems. How well each contributor has met such objectives is evident in the articles included in this book. Also, by exposing her/his ideas, each individual writer has taken the risk of being critically evaluated by others. Hopefully, some of the ideas presented in the articles will initiate dialogue among students, teachers and others regarding pressing social and educational problems in the province and elsewhere. Readers are therefore invited to read these articles critically, to raise questions that are not raised in them and to develop perspectives of their own which may help them understand the larger problems associated with the survival of human beings in today's interdependent world and the relationship of such problems to the individual's everyday life-style wherever she/he might live.This larger perspective on education and society makes sense too as because Newfoundland Society and Culture are going through rapid transformation under the impact of economic and technological forces..."
Recently, some changes have taken place at both a micro and a macro level. At the micro level for example, the Faculty of Education was re-organized, in September of this year, under the impact of the Hardy Report. Also, a new President, Dr. Arthur May, has been appointed at the University. At the macro level the Hibernia deal was signed and the province is still waiting for the flow of oil from the off-shore oil deposits. Re-organization of fisheries and related issues are still being discussed. We still do not fully understand the implications of the death of the Meech Lake Accord for Canada and the province. Citizens need to understand fully the implications of the GST (Goods and Services Tax): How does it affect their individual lives? How does it affect the provincial economy? Should we, without any questioning, restructure our system of education within the framework of current economic thought? Or should there be some resistance? Lately, the denominational system of education has again come under critical scrutiny. Soon this province will have a report by the Royal Commission and Inquiry on the Delivery of Programs and Services in Primary, Elementary, and Secondary Education. Hopefully, the Commission will deal with questions such as:
To what extent has our present denominational system of education contributed to the maintenance of moral capital?
How far has the present system of education in Newfoundland effectively counteracted the corrosive effect of individualistic self-interest on the moral context of the community?
It is hoped that many articles written in future for The Morning Watch will analyze the role of these new forces in the educational and social arena.
Amarjit Singh
Ishmael J. Baksh
St. John's
January, 1991