National Council of Education : The National Council of Education was established in 1919. The Council was initially created to improve the moral and civic education being provided in Canadian schools. At the outset, it attracted significant support from influential religious, business, educational and governmental figures. Lord Byng, Governor-General, served as honorary president, William John Bulman was chosen as president and the Honourable Cyrille F. Delage, the Honourable John A. Maharg and Mr. Vincent Massey served as the Council's vice-presidents. In 1920, F.J. Ney was appointed Executive secretary of the Council and eventually served as the Council's Executive Head. During the presidencies of William J. Bulman and Vincent Massey, the Council established a national lectureship scheme (1923), undertook a nation-wide textbook survey, commissioned the writing of new books and lobbied for the creation of a National Bureau of Education. With some Canadian provinces feeling threatened by both the Council and its bureau proposal, the Council abandoned its attempts to influence schooling and began to focus its efforts in the direction of adult education. Local committees in Halifax and Montreal pioneered the field of adult education broadcasting. Through its lectureship scheme, the Council encouraged Canadian development in the fields of physical education, music, dance and drama. The Council's domination in these areas of education continued until the establishment of the Canadian Association for Adult Education.
Although the Council flourished during the 1920s, by the early 1930s support, especially financial, had begun to wane. Loss of support was due in part to the harsh economic reality of the depression but a perception that the Council had an imperialist agenda may also have played a role. By the end of the Second World War the National Council of Education had all but ceased to exist. Attempts by Ney to revive the Council following the war failed and without strong institutional or financial support the Council was easily supplanted by the Canadian Education Association, the Canadian Association for Adult Education and other similar organizations.
Throughout its existence the Council collaborated closely with the Overseas Education League. The two organizations jointly maintained offices in Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and London (England) together with a joint Secretary in France. The National Council of Education shared its office staff with the Overseas Education League and many of the responsibilities for the activities of both the Council and League overlapped. A fire in the Council's Winnipeg offices circa 1954 destroyed many of the records relating to the coronation activities. For more information consult the thesis by John Edward Lyons, "In pursuit of an ideal: a history of the National Council of Education" (1981).
