It is worthwhile to say a few words about the origin of The Morning Watch. Dr. W.J. Gushue, a former Head of the Department of Educational Foundations, was instrumental in helping with the launching of The Morning Watch. Publication commenced in 1973 and has continued through the Committee on Publication, Faculty of Education, Memorial University, St. John's, Newfoundland.
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."
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. Over the period of nine years faculty members from various departments in the Faculty of Education and from other faculties of the university have written articles for The Morning Watch.
The orientation of this journal remains the same. 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 forgoing 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 analysing 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 his/her 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 mankind in today's interdependent world and the relationship of such problems to the individual's everyday life-style wherever he/she might live. This larger perspective on education and society makes sense to us because Newfoundland society and culture are going through rapid transformation under the impact of economic and technological forces such as the discovery of off-shore oil, re-organization of fisheries in the province and renegotiation of "hydro" power agreements. It is hoped that many articles written in the future for The Morning Watch will analyse the role of these new forces in the educational and social concerns.
A.S.
I.J.B.
St. John's
March, 1982
Part I includes articles dealing with larger issues pertaining to Society and Education.
Part II focuses on Social Organization of The School. This part is divided into three sections:
Part V deals Early Childhood Issues. Articles in this part are written from the perspectives of educational psychology. The article by Dr. N. Garlie was originally published in Vol. 2, No. 3, 1975, pp. 8-10, The Morning Watch. Similarly, the article by Dr. W. Nesbit, "Light or Heat?" was first published in Vol. 3, No. 3, 1976, pp. 11-16.
Part VI includes articles dealing with Continuing Education and with emerging issues such as Social and Educational Gerontology.
A.S.
I.J.B.
This is a third anthology, containing articles from The Morning Watch during the period of 1982-1990. It has two volumes: Volume I consists of Parts I to VII, and Volume II contains Part VIII. In Volume I , Parts I and II contain articles dealing with larger issues pertaining to Society and Education, issues such as: quality of education, relationship between research in educational and social change, denominational system of education and other similar issues. Part III deals with the issue of Dropout as it relates to schooling in Newfoundland Society. In Part IV, the focus is on Language Studies. In Part V, issues related to Reading and Teaching strategies are discussed and analyzed. Part VI covers material on Special Education. Part VII includes discussions on various other issues pertaining to schooling in our society. Finally, Part VIII, in Volume II, focuses on the Social Organization of The School. This part is divided into three sections: (a) The School, (b) The Teachers and Administrators in the School, and (c) The Students in the School.
Amarjit Singh
Ishmael J. Baksh