Between Past and Future: Quebec Education in Transition

George G. Ambury is an associate professor of adult education at
Queen’s University.

The authors, both of whom teach in the Faculty of Education, McGill University, present a comprehensive guide to current educational issues in Quebec from an anglophone perspective. Set in the context of the culture and history of the province, they describe the radical transformation in education brought about by the Quiet Revolution in the l960s and look at implications for the future.

In the past, Quebec society was largely controlled by the Church as the French-speaking population struggled for linguistic and cultural survival in the midst of an English-speaking continent. In the post-war era, the old ways were being questioned and new ways were being sought to assure these ends. The Parent Report (1963-66) and the establishment of a Ministry of Education (1964) were radical attempts to help make education serve as an effective means to accomplish this. The authors, however, see the euphoria of the sixties as shortlived, with the declining enrolments of the next decade and the budget and staff cuts of recent years. In describing developments over the past 25 years, governance, economic, and policy issues are analyzed as they influenced the new approaches to education, from infant to adult.

An analysis of issues currently facing educational planners leads the authors to conclude that, in spite of major problems in the near future, “Quebec education … may be able to build its own unique bridge between a distinctive past and a promising future” (p. 231).

Henchey and Burgess provide a rich resource for English-language readers and researchers who have difficulty obtaining information on educational matters in Quebec. This book is based on an exhaustive investigation, and the inclusion of major policy documents in the appendices adds greatly to its value.