The Education of Etienne Parent - Part I

Etienne Parent was born at a time when the educational system in Upper and Lower Canada was in a state of flux. The French government no longer subsidized education in Canada after the conquest and for the British authorities public education was not initially a priority. (1) 

Soon after the conquest the British authorities saw the French - Canadian majority as a threat to their authority. They proposed to establish public schools as a way to Anglicize and convert French Canadians to Protestantism. (2) In 1801, the first Canadian school law was implemented; the law of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Science. (3) The Catholic bishop and clergy saw the Royal Institution law for what it was, an attack on their authority over the French - Canadian population. They refused to support the law and it failed. (4) The clergy and the educated class established their own schools that were held in private homes and French Canadian businesses, such as newspapers. The teachers covered a diverse range of topics even for elementary students; Latin, French, reading, writing, arithmetic, spelling, and catechism. There were also teachers who covered English, bookkeeping,and geometry. (5)

At the turn of the nineteenth century both the English and the French - Canadian middle class were beginning to question traditional forms of education; the exclusive control of the church over education, and the role of the clergy in education. This questioning environment led to deeper, more fundamental questions; the responsibility of the state, the role of the church in society, liberal education, national education, and neutral schools. (6) It seems to me that these events had a direct influence on the momentum of the Reform Movement in Lower Canada and the creation of the Patriotes.

 This was the world that Etienne was born into in 1802.(7) Etienne would have gone to elementary school when he was four or five years old which meant that he would have started school in 1806 or 1807.

Benjamin Sulte was a French Canadian journalist, writer, office holder, and historian during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. He was also the husband of Augustine Parent and the son-in-law of Etienne Parent. (8) Benjamin Sulte wrote a series of popular histories about Quebec; Memoire Historique. In volume 14, he wrote a short biography of Etienne Parent. This biography is important because of the closeness and relationship between Benjamin Sulte and Etienne Parent. 

Benjamin states that Etienne Parent attended a primary school in Quebec City. He does not mention how old he was when he started school or the name of the school. Going on, he says that, "the efforts of some friends of public instruction succeeded in maintaining a school here and there." This statement gives us the impression that this school did not have a permanent location and was probably held in private homes or businesses that made space available. His last comment was that these preliminary schools was not up to the standards of the seminaire de Quebec or the college de Nicolet. (9)

As amazing as it is, there is not another short biography of Etienne Parent until 1975. Jean - Charles Falardeau was a champion of Etienne Parent. he clearly saw the importance of Etienne Parent in nineteenth century Quebec politics and intellectual life and did everything he could to bring Etienne Parent to the attention of the Quebecois intelligenzia. Falardeau compiled and edited a book of Etienne's major writings. At the beginning of the book there is a short biography of Etienne Parent. Falardeau wrote that Etienne Parent went to school, "when he was very young". As for the location of where the school might have been, Falardeau hedges, "he was a schoolboy, either in Beauport itself, or in an elementary school in Quebec, we do not know exactly." What Falardeau added was a sentiment that has been echoed by many writers, "Already his intelligence attracts the attention of those around him." (10)

It is clear that Etienne Parent was an intelligent child, possibly a prodigy although there is no way to verify that. In the next post we will look at Etienne Parent's school experience at le College de Nicolet.

 

                                                                                                                                                                      

(1) Education in New France, J.J. Chambliss, Muhammed Shamsul Huq, et al., Encyclopaedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/education, 2019.

(2) History of Education in Canada, Chad Gaffield, the Canadian encyclopedia.ca/en/article/history - of - education, 2013, pgs. 3 - 4.

(3) Histoire de l'education au Quebec, Wikipedia, https:// fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histoire_de_1%27 education_au_Quebec, pg.3.

(4) Galarneau, C. (1990). Les écoles privées à Québec (1760-1859). Les Cahiers des dix, (45), 95–113. https://doi.org/10.7202/1015570ar.

(5) ibid, pg. 105.

(6) Ouellet, F. (1961). L'enseignement primaire : responsabilité des Églises ou de l'État? (1801-1836). Recherches sociographiques, 2 (2), 171–187. https://doi.org/10.7202/055077ar.

(7) It is becoming clear what the influences were on Etienne Parent's early life and what effect those influences would have as he grew into an adult. 

(8)Hélène Marcotte, “SULTE, BENJAMIN (baptized Olivier-Benjamin Vadeboncœur),” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 15, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed September 2, 2020, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/sulte_benjamin_15E.html.

(9) Benjamin Sulte, Memoire Historique, vol.14, compilees, annotees, et publiees par Gerard Malchelosse, Editions Edouard Garand, Montreal,1928, pgs.8 -9.

(10) Jean - Charles Falardeau, Etienne Parent 1802 - 1874, A l'occasion du centenaire de sa mort, Les Editions La Presse Ltee, Montreal, 1975, pg.13.