ABSTRACT
The first four decades of the twentieth century saw substantial transformations in systems of secondary education throughout North America. Social, economic and legislative changes brought new clienteles and new courses to schools-both state and private-in all regions of the continent. In Ontario, for instance, total secondary school enrollment increased from 21,723 in 1900 to 119,652 in 1940, while the number of secondary schools rose from 131 to 489-among the latter were fiftynine vocational institutions, symbolizing the changing orientation of North American education.1 These adjustments inevitably altered the professional status of teachers and educators associated with particular disciplines. In cases where their status declined, some subject teachers and administrators employed curriculum change as a way to increase the material or symbolic resources available to them.
