Below are Some Statements Regarding Ryerson's Impact
Coleman - 1907
"So complete is the system, so carefully is every contingency provided for, that the observer...is apt to feel that its completeness is perhaps its greatest defect" (Coleman, 1907, p. 105).
Statement by the Hall-Dennis Report - 1968
"Dr. Egerton Ryerson, the architect of public education in Ontario, built a system which has worked well and which has been of immense benefit to the people of Ontario and to other parts of Canada in the first hundred years of Confederation. Fragmentary changes have been made from time to time in the system, but basically no vital or fundamental change has been made in the intervening century nor was there any pronounced demand for drastic change or replacement until the postwar period" (Living and Learning, 1968).
Ontario Education - 1994
"Regarding Ryerson through our backward prism
We find no madness in his Methodism,
But see in all those works he left behind
The logic of his energetic mind.
The House he built remains - though renovated
By many hands, as previously related;
Some minister, concerned to waterproof,
Deciding that he needs to raise the roof
Whereafter his successor with disdain
Decides she ought to lower it again.
Yet still there stands the ever open door
And cross the threshold still the children pour.
The teachers still their expertise bestow
And still the generations come and go.
And on foundations that still stand secure
The House that Ryerson built will endure.
Hugh Oliver, from The House That Ryerson Built"
(Quoted on the Ontario Ministry of Education Website, 1994)
We find no madness in his Methodism,
But see in all those works he left behind
The logic of his energetic mind.
The House he built remains - though renovated
By many hands, as previously related;
Some minister, concerned to waterproof,
Deciding that he needs to raise the roof
Whereafter his successor with disdain
Decides she ought to lower it again.
Yet still there stands the ever open door
And cross the threshold still the children pour.
The teachers still their expertise bestow
And still the generations come and go.
And on foundations that still stand secure
The House that Ryerson built will endure.
Hugh Oliver, from The House That Ryerson Built"
(Quoted on the Ontario Ministry of Education Website, 1994)
Alberta Education - 2002
"To this day, the figure of Egerton Ryerson is present in some fundamental aspects of the educational system in Alberta” (Ell, 2002)
Ryerson University Pride over Ryerson Tradition - 2010
Even in 2010, Ryerson University is talking about the impact that Ryerson has had on education. The statement mentions:
"The establishment of the Normal School, which was Toronto’s first teacher’s college in the mid-1800s, was a part of this process. The Normal School’s facade sits at the heart of our campus forming the entrance to the University’s Recreation and Athletic Centre. In addition, institutions that Ryerson pioneered developed into the Royal Ontario Museum, Ontario College of Art and Design, Ryerson University and the University of Guelph. Because of Ryerson’s achievements, particularly in establishing the public education system as we know it today, our University was named after him in 1948" (Ryerson University’s Aboriginal Education Council, 2010).
"The establishment of the Normal School, which was Toronto’s first teacher’s college in the mid-1800s, was a part of this process. The Normal School’s facade sits at the heart of our campus forming the entrance to the University’s Recreation and Athletic Centre. In addition, institutions that Ryerson pioneered developed into the Royal Ontario Museum, Ontario College of Art and Design, Ryerson University and the University of Guelph. Because of Ryerson’s achievements, particularly in establishing the public education system as we know it today, our University was named after him in 1948" (Ryerson University’s Aboriginal Education Council, 2010).
Ryerson University Statement (Residential Schools) - 2010
Although Ryerson did a lot of good, his involvement in advocating Residential Schools is seen to have caused a lot of harm. Ryerson University put our a statement in 2010 with the following words:
"Ryerson University is proud of our history and of the contribution our namesake, Egerton Ryerson, made to Ontario’s educational system. However, while Egerton Ryerson supported free and compulsory education, he also believed in different systems of education for White and Aboriginal children. These beliefs played a role in the establishment of what became the Residential School System that has had such a devastating impact on First Nations, Metis and Inuit people across Canada. While remaining proud of the “Ryerson tradition”, we think it is important to acknowledge this role and in so doing firmly state our commitment to respectful relationships with Aboriginal communities, both within and outside Ryerson University" (Ryerson University’s Aboriginal Education Council, 2010).
This document goes on to mention the fact that Ryerson did not come up with the idea of Residential Schools, nor did he start them. Residential Schools had already been in operation when Ryerson took over as Superintendent. The point is that Ryerson's promotion of them had a part in promoting their continuation.
Ron Stagg, Chair of the Department of History at Ryerson University, made the comment in an online article that "Ryerson's connection to residential schools is not very substantial" (Stagg). He also says in this article:
"It is rather interesting that Ryerson lived for a time with the Mississauga nation on the Credit River. He can hardly be seen as anti-native, but these natives were both largely Christianized and engaged in farming. They were likely the model for what Ryerson and the missionaries thought would allow native peoples to survive in a Euro-Canadian environment. In fact, Ryerson’s report says that he hopes the native population will thrive as farmers" (Stagg).
"Ryerson University is proud of our history and of the contribution our namesake, Egerton Ryerson, made to Ontario’s educational system. However, while Egerton Ryerson supported free and compulsory education, he also believed in different systems of education for White and Aboriginal children. These beliefs played a role in the establishment of what became the Residential School System that has had such a devastating impact on First Nations, Metis and Inuit people across Canada. While remaining proud of the “Ryerson tradition”, we think it is important to acknowledge this role and in so doing firmly state our commitment to respectful relationships with Aboriginal communities, both within and outside Ryerson University" (Ryerson University’s Aboriginal Education Council, 2010).
This document goes on to mention the fact that Ryerson did not come up with the idea of Residential Schools, nor did he start them. Residential Schools had already been in operation when Ryerson took over as Superintendent. The point is that Ryerson's promotion of them had a part in promoting their continuation.
Ron Stagg, Chair of the Department of History at Ryerson University, made the comment in an online article that "Ryerson's connection to residential schools is not very substantial" (Stagg). He also says in this article:
"It is rather interesting that Ryerson lived for a time with the Mississauga nation on the Credit River. He can hardly be seen as anti-native, but these natives were both largely Christianized and engaged in farming. They were likely the model for what Ryerson and the missionaries thought would allow native peoples to survive in a Euro-Canadian environment. In fact, Ryerson’s report says that he hopes the native population will thrive as farmers" (Stagg).