David James Goggin

Goggin, David James

David James Goggin, educator (b in Cartwright Township, Durham County, Canada West 25 Nov 1849; d at Toronto 18 Dec 1935). Generally regarded as the founder of the centralized, fully professional school systems of Alberta and Saskatchewan, Goggin generated controversy during his term as superintendent of education in the North-West Territories (1893-1902) when he set out, with the full support of the government, to make the schools the principal engine for assimilating the immigrant population to the dominant British Ontarian Protestant norm. By requiring that only English be used in the classroom, and by emphasizing training in citizenship rather than intellectual development, he hoped to advance national unity by imposing cultural uniformity and a sense of social responsibility upon his students. Some francophone Catholics objected; and the NORTH-WEST SCHOOLS QUESTION of 1905 resulted from their abortive attempt to overturn his system.