THE GROWTH OF THE JOINT SERVICE SCHOOL IN NEWFOUNDLAND - THE TRADITIONALIST-MODERNIST CONFLICT

In recent years, Newfoundland's denominational education system has co me under increasing criticism. Declining enrollments and demands for i mproved facilities and services have, once again, highlighted the prob lem of duplication. Consequently, several reports have contributed to an unprecedented interest in jointly operated Roman Catholic-Protestan t schools. This article suggests that the acceptability of these ''joi nt service arrangements' as an alternative to the traditional practice of providing separate schools and the high level of satisfaction with these arrangements can best be understood in light of the continuing conflict between the forces of traditionalism and modernism in contemp orary society. Newfoundland, far from being fundamentally different fr om the rest of Canada and North America, is part of the same modernist -traditionalist conflict; the island's remoteness simply serves to del ay the impact of new forces. Thus, while various physical, economic, p olitical, geographical, and other factors act as incentives for interd enominational cooperation at the local level, cooperation occurs withi n a broader framework characterized by a conflict between the traditio nal values and secular tendencies of an increasingly modem Newfoundlan d society. This contention that interdenominational cooperation in the form of the joint service arrangement represents a step towards great er secularization of education in Newfoundland has implications for th e future of Catholic education not only in that province but also in o ther provinces such as Ontario, where the extension of public funding of Catholic education to all grade levels has only recently become a r eality. If this analysis is correct, the time will come when Catholics in Newfoundland (and in other provinces) who choose traditional relig ious ''functional community'' over secular efficiency and equal opport unity will have to set up independent Catholic schools outside governm ent-funded systems.