The Edmonton Normal School was an institution that trained primary and secondary school

teachers A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

from 1920 to 1945, with two interruptions. The normal school in Edmonton was Alberta's third. Alberta's first

normal school A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...

was opened in Calgary in 1906, just after the province was created, and the second was opened in 1912 in Camrose. By 1919 the province hoped to expand teacher education by adding a third school in Edmonton. The new Edmonton Normal School subsequently opened in 1920 and used Highlands School as its home until a new facility was acquired in 1921. However, by 1923 the institution was forced to close due to lack of funds. Corbett Hall at the University of Alberta

Corbett Hall at the University of Alberta

In 1928 it reopened in the premises of the new King Edward School, and in 1930 the school moved into a new purpose-built facility on the grounds of the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Ruth ...

, now known as

Corbett Hall Corbett may refer to: * List of Corbetts (mountains), 222 mountains in Scotland between , with prominence over * Corbett, Oregon, a community in the United States * Corbett Award, US award for athletics administrators * Corbett (surname), people w ...

. The Great Depression, and the subsequent crisis in public finances, again disrupted the school, and it was closed from 1933 to 1935. From 1941 to 1945 the school shared the south wing of Corbett Hall with the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environ ...

as part of the

British Commonwealth Air Training Plan The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), or Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) often referred to as simply "The Plan", was a massive, joint military aircrew training program created by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Z ...

. This was the location of No. 4 Initial Training School. In 1945 all normal schools in Alberta were merged into the University of Alberta's Faculty of Education. The faculty subsequently used Corbett Hall until 1962, before moving to the current Education Building. Corbett Hall has been used by several other faculties since that time.

References

{{authority control Teachers colleges in Canada Educational institutions established in 1920 Educational institutions disestablished in 1945 Universities and colleges in Edmonton Defunct universities and colleges in Canada University of Alberta 1920 establishments in Alberta