Story by Bill Belanger '63

Submitted on 15 October 2009

Remembering Huron - Dr. John Gordon Rowe

I recall one day in history class, Dr. Rowe entered very agitated over the treatment of his daughters in elementary school. I had been an elementary teacher before attending Huron (one could do that in those days). Dr. Rowe's comments focused on the inadequate training of elementary teachers. He caught my eye and stopped his ranting. "You were a teacher, Belanger, what do you think about the way that teachers are trained?" he said.

"Well," I responded, "I agree with you that one year teacher training is insufficient." He smiled. Then I added, "But it is one more year than university professors get."

You could hear a pin drop as he gave me the nastiest look. Then a big grin broke on his face and he burst into laughter. Fortunately. I passed history and rather well.

The real story is that Huron was sufficiently small and intimate that Dr. Rowe actually knew my name and my background. In my career in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa, I worked at keeping the groups small and getting to know my students personally (an important subliminal lesson I learned at Huron). The close personal relations made my career and their educational experience more positive and memorable.