Acadian Teacher Identity in Early Twentieth-Century New Brunswick

Abstract

This research includes an examination of archival documents which trace the awakening Acadian identity of a young New Brunswick teacher during a period in which the province’s public school system constituted a program of English language assimilation. Calixte Savoie later became an Acadian activist and Canadian senator; the narrative of his teaching experience illustrates his mounting frustration, culminating in his 1926 resignation in protest after a dispute over French language education rights. The purpose of this paper is to locate Savoie’s developing Acadian identity in relation to scholarly research about national identity, including works by Philip Buckner, J.M.S. Careless and Benedict Anderson, and to highlight the history of Acadian education in post-World War One New Brunswick.