A Canadian Experience: Transcending Pluralism

Moral education has been a significant part of public schooling in Canada from the beginning of the 19th century. In the Province of Ontario, ¹ as in most other parts of Canada, public schooling was erected on the twin pillars of moral education and religious education. Values education was a little-known term in the 19th century; instead, the emphasis was placed on moral education—education that taught children appropriate behaviour, education that taught them right from wrong.