Collection Holdings
The Collection is classified through the description of eight distinguishable types of material held in the Archives:
- Curriculum Guides (1960+) and Programmes of Study, 1896-1969
- Other Educational Documents
- Authorized Textbooks for Use in Manitoba Schools, 1871-1950's
- Authorized Media Materials
- Periodicals, 1890-1980's
- Supplementary Materials
- Rare Monographs
- Miscellaneous Material
Curriculum Guides and Programme of Studies
This section contains both Programmes of Studies and Curriculum Guides. Programmes of Studies cover what subject matter was taught for elementary and senior high as well as listing authorized textbooks and sometimes guidelines for teachers. The date range for Programmes of Studies is from 1896 to 1969.
Curriculum guides served as the guidelines for teaching in the province during the 1960's - 1990's. They outline teaching goals, materials, and subject matter to be covered for each grade. They are usually published individually from each other according to subject and grade level. Curriculum guides in the Collection date from the mid-1960's to the mid-1990's.
Other Educational Documents
This section includes all documents, reports, handbooks, and guidelines that were produced or used by the Manitoba Department of Education. This includes the Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, examination papers, Manitoba Royal Commissions on Education, minutes of the Core Curriculum Committee, or publications of the Manitoba Normal School.
Authorized Textbooks
This section of the Collection contains books and series of books that were authorized for use as textbooks with the public schools of Manitoba. The period of the textbooks date from the late 19th century to the 1950's. The textbooks cover most subject matter (later subjects such as computer science are not included) and include books for every grade level in elementary, junior, and senior schooling.
Authorized Media Materials
Archived media in the Collection includes Departmentally developed educational kits (usually booklets with filmstrips and audiocassettes) from the 1970's and 1980's, 3/4" videocassettes of the Manitoba Department of Education productions, slide presentations on the early Instructional Resources Library (under its former name), loose audiocassettes, 16mm film of various topics, and text versions of CBC/Manitoba Department of Education Broadcasts.
Periodicals
Periodicals in this section include The School Times (1889-1890), Educational Journal of Western Canada (1899-1902), Western School Journal (1906-1938), Manitoba School Journal (1938-1963), Education Manitoba (1974-1991), School Art (1920's and 1930's), and several other titles in which only a few copies are held. The periodicals are both bound and unbound.
Supplementary Materials
This section contains monographs that are identified from sources such as "supplementary readings" or "references," monographs that recommended for requisition for Manitoba school libraries, and the requisition lists (1916-1967) of Manitoba school library books.
Rare Monographs
This section of the Archives includes those monographs that are extremely old and delicate. The source of most of these monographs is unknown and their country of origin and subject matter varies. The oldest monograph dates from 1830.
Miscellaneous Materials
This last section contains monographs and other materials appraised and selected for inclusion in the Archives Collection. They do not necessarily stem from the Manitoba Department of Education. Each item is individually appraised and the note section of the catalogue record explains the reasoning behind the inclusion.