Ontario Teachers' Manuals: Literature

In Short

This volume is an official pedagogical manual designed to standardize the teaching of literature across Canadian public and separate schools. It moves beyond rote memorization to advocate for an immersive approach where teachers foster a sympathetic, emotional bond between students and texts. By blending technical instruction on reading aloud, dramatization, and imagery with specific lesson plans for canonical works, it seeks to transform the schoolroom into a space for cultural and moral development. It has lasted as a significant historical record of early 20th-century educational philosophy and classic literary canon.

The Story

The progression of this work moves from the foundational principles of instruction to the sophisticated application of those methods in higher forms. It begins by establishing the necessity of the teacher’s own preparation; an instructor cannot hope to elicit delight in a student if they do not feel a genuine, unforced enthusiasm for the music and emotion of the text. The argument unfolds through a series of "Illustrative Lessons" that demonstrate how to guide a child from simple sensory experiences—like the physical act of pantomime or the dramatization of nursery rhymes—toward the complex, abstract analysis required of older students.

As the lessons advance through the school years, the focus shifts from simple comprehension to the development of critical and moral faculties. In the primary forms, the teacher uses nature study and basic storytelling to teach empathy, such as explaining the timidity of a young bird to illustrate themes of trust and effort. By the intermediate and senior forms, the subject matter deepens significantly. The text guides the teacher in unpacking the psychological depth of characters like those in the biblical story of Joseph, or the nuanced melancholy in Tennyson’s poetry.

The manual is careful to balance the "minute analysis" of short extracts with the broader goal of encouraging "extensive reading" of complete, long-form works. It warns against the common pitfall of turning literature into a dry exercise in vocabulary or historical trivia. Instead, it suggests that the teacher should treat the extract as a "glimpse of literary treasures," hoping to whet the student’s appetite to explore the full works of authors like Dickens, Scott, or Eliot on their own time.

The arc concludes with a collection of curated selections for memorization, intended to store noble thoughts in the student’s mind for future reflection. The underlying trajectory is one of maturation: the child learns to observe the world through nature study, then learns to interpret human behavior through narrative, and finally learns to internalize the profound moral and aesthetic values of the culture. The manual ends with the firm belief that the ultimate success of the teacher is not found in the mastery of a syllabus, but in the creation of a reader who will carry the spirit of these works into their adult life, long after the schoolroom doors have closed.

How It Unfolds

The foundational philosophy The manual opens by defining literature not as a set of facts, but as a medium for moral and emotional cultivation. It emphasizes the importance of matching specific texts to the developmental stages of the child.

Methods of engagement The text details active techniques such as dramatization and pantomime to bring early reading to life. It insists that teachers must maintain a cordial, sympathetic bond with students to foster the right emotional state for learning.

Analytical progression As students age, the instruction moves from simple comprehension to the study of imagery, allusion, and rhetorical structure. The manual warns against the "dictionary habit," suggesting that context and feeling are superior to clinical definitions.

The shift to complexity In senior forms, the lessons tackle heavier thematic material, such as the grief in Tennyson’s In Memoriam or the social critiques in Dickens. The manual demonstrates how to guide students to connect these texts to their own developing sense of character.

Synthesis through art and life The final chapters integrate the lessons with art, music, and the biographical context of the authors. It concludes with a curated list of passages for memorization, meant to serve as a lifelong intellectual resource.

The People

The book is centered on the relationship between two primary figures: the Teacher and the Pupil. The Teacher acts as a mediator, a cultivated guide whose primary responsibility is to remove obstacles—such as ignorance of vocabulary or lack of context—that prevent the student from experiencing the "delight" inherent in literature. The Teacher must be a person of genuine feeling, avoiding the insincerity of "extravagant commendation," and must possess the flexibility to adapt lessons to the specific temperaments of their class.

The Pupil is viewed as a developing consciousness whose capacity for appreciation grows over time. In the primary years, the Pupil is playful and literal, engaging with the world through movement and observation. As they advance, they become the "student of character," tasked with grappling with the moral dilemmas of literary figures. They are expected to move from dependence on the teacher’s explanations to a state of independent inquiry. The success of the Pupil is measured not by test scores, but by whether they develop a "studious disposition" and an internal library of "noble thoughts" that will guide them as they mature into citizens.

In Its Own Voice

"The teacher who has wide information and genuine interest in his work will seldom fail to arouse a real pleasure in the literature lesson."

The manual argues that the teacher’s own sincerity is the most vital tool in the classroom.

"If the treatment by the teacher is made as interesting as it should be, it is hoped that the pupil will obtain such delight from, and be inspired to such enthusiasm by, these glimpses of literary treasures, that he will not be satisfied until he has enjoyed in their entirety such works as The Lady of the Lake, Pickwick Papers, Lorna Doone."

Here, the book outlines its primary goal: to use short, powerful extracts to spark a lifelong hunger for full-length literary classics.

What It's Really About

At its core, this manual argues that literature is the primary vehicle for developing moral character and national identity. It treats reading not as a skill to be mastered, but as a form of cultural inheritance that requires a specific, sympathetic environment to flourish. The book is deeply concerned with the "right mood" and the "right information," arguing that students cannot truly grasp the emotional weight of a poem unless they are first grounded in the nature, history, or social context that informed the author. It suggests that if students are properly introduced to the "good, the great, and the wise" through literature, they will naturally reject "miserable aims that end with self" and adopt a more generous, socially conscious perspective on their own lives.

Why Read It Today

Readers interested in the history of education will find this manual particularly compelling, as it captures a moment when literature was considered the bedrock of a "liberal education." It offers a fascinating, if occasionally didactic, window into the pedagogical ideals of the early 20th century. For the modern reader, there is a certain warmth in its insistence that teachers should be mentors and that students should be treated as young souls capable of deep feeling.

However, the reader must be prepared for the period-specific attitudes that define the text. The manual reflects the imperial and highly moralistic tone of its era, particularly in its selection of texts—which lean heavily on British classics—and its focus on "Imperial" duty and character. The length and occasional density of the lesson plans might feel antiquated to a contemporary audience, and the prescriptive nature of the teaching advice can be restrictive. Nevertheless, the book remains a valuable artifact for those who appreciate the intersection of literature and the human spirit. It serves as a reminder that the act of reading was once viewed as a sacred, transformative process, one that requires patience, silence, and a willingness to be moved by the "music" of language.