Making a Global City: How One Toronto School Embraced Diversity

This highly accessible sociological study serves as a thoughtful meditation on the economic, social, political, and cultural changes experienced in Canada over the past century, as reflected in the fascinating history of a landmark downtown Toronto public school. Vipond (Liberty and Community) cleverly charts Clinton Street Public School’s dramatic demographic changes from a largely Eastern European, Yiddish-speaking community through the post-war influx of Portuguese and Italian immigrants to the contemporary gathering of global voices representing all continents. Original research that reclaims the most interesting nuggets from dusty government reports,oral histories, and a generous collection of archival photographs serve as springboards for enlightening discussion on significant educational debates that both shaped curriculum and contributed to broader public discourse on diverse issues such as cultural accommodation, religious freedom, discrimination, and debates among immigrants about assimilation versus integration. The study is very specific to one Canadian city, but Vipond has a knack for illustrating how lessons learned there could be applied to most North American settings where competing views of pedagogy often reflect the broader tensions tearing at the seams of a society. (Apr.)