Ontario's Plowden Report: British influence on Canadian education in the 1960s

Treading in the footsteps of past generations, Ontario policy advisers journeyed throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1966 to directly understand the educational reforms that were being undertaken in that country. On their return, these consultants brought back a number of innovations for discussion with their parent committee in the hopes of possible adaptation by the province. When their final submission was tabled two years later, the Hall-Dennis Report' (as it became popularly known) went on to reflect the tone for education in the province for a generation. This study examines the impact that Britain's educational policies in the 1960s, and especially the Plowden Report' of 1967, may have had on the recommendations found in the Hall-Dennis Report. As well, it ties these two reports to the longstanding legacy of British influence on the Ontario education system 1 .