Professionalism as a legislated code of moral conduct: The government of the woman teacher in education, Ontario, 1918-1949

This dissertation involves a case study of the Federation of Women Teachers' Associations of Ontario (FWTAO). I use the social history of the women teachers' association as a way of exploring the relationship between what Phil Corrigan (1980) refers to as "moral regulation" and the implementation of professional codes of conduct. The project is concerned with the formation of the teaching profession and the historical moment in which the moral character of the woman teacher becomes an object of heightened political concern. I use archival sources to document the regulatory aspects of professionalism and point to the formation of provincial state policy designed to govern the conduct of women teachers. I argue that the professional regulation of the public elementary school woman teacher in the 1930s and 1940s offers insight into recent sociological investigations of law as governance. In particular, I conclude that attention to the formation of a professional moral code of conduct in this context, sanctioned by provincial legislation, enables us to consider the way in which educational authorities are attempting to legislate an ethical disposition.