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This dissertation explores the origins of, and the developments among, the approximately one hundred Bible schools that existed in western Canada prior to 1960. Although these schools influenced thousands of people, they have been almost entirely ignored by scholars, thereby leaving a significant lacuna within Canadian religious historiography. This study demonstrates the vital role played by the Bible schools in the development of evangelical Protestantism in western Canada. / The numerous Bible schools in the region are divided into six clusters based on denominational or theological similarities. A representative school (or schools) is selected from each cluster to serve as the focus of an institutional biography. These biographies explore the circumstances surrounding the origin, and subsequent developments (up to 1960) within, each school. The multiple institutional biographies create a collage that is both comprehensive enough to provide an understanding of the movement as a composite whole, and sufficiently varied to illustrate the movement's dynamic diversity. / This dissertation, therefore, presents a more multi-faceted explanation of the movement than previous characterizations that have generally depicted it as a part of an American fundamentalist reaction to Protestant liberalism. Although fundamentalism was a significant influence within some, particularly the transdenominational, Bible schools, at least as important in understanding the movement in western Canada were the particular ethnic, theological and denominational concerns that were prominent within the denominational clusters. The Bible schools typically offered a Bible-centred, intensely practical, lay-oriented program of post-secondary theological training. They were an innovative and practical response to the many challenges, created by massive immigration, rugged frontier conditions, geographical isolation, economic hardship, ethnicity and cultural assimilation, facing evangelical Protestants during the first half of the twentieth century. The Bible schools represent an institutional embodiment of the ethos and emphases of their respective constituencies. They served the multiple denominational and transdenominational constituencies, which made up the larger evangelical Protestant network, as centres of influence by preparing future generations for church leadership and participation in Canadian society. The Bible school movement offers a unique window into the diversity, complexity, dynamism and flexibility that characterized the development of evangelical Protestantism in western Canada.

Over most of the 20th Century, many educational systems around the world became increasingly secular, notably with lessening involvement of religious institutions. However, what it means to offer secular education to an increasingly diverse student population is emerging as a contemporary international educational issue. The face of immigration, the rights of Aboriginals, and increasingly diverse and individual forms of religiosity and spirituality have implications for secular education today. This qualitative study of Alberta schooling provides an example of a setting that underwent a high degree of secularization in the 1960's-1980's. A litigious but interpretive boundary exists for the extent educationists were to engage students in thinking about religion and spirituality. Yet, teachers operated with a high degree of autonomy. With these contextual factors as a backdrop, this study explored how a hierarchical sample of Alberta policy-makers, administrators, and teachers conceptualized religion and spirituality for secular secondary schools. Results show that Alberta Education conceptualized space for the conservative religious and Aboriginal communities, but not mainstream students. The students operated in a 'leave your faith at the door' secular model, curriculum was rationalized, and the function of schooling was perceived as preparing students for work. Findings show that principals and teachers challenged the lack of space for mainstream students to engage in the concepts of religion and spirituality. They argued the secular model disadvantaged mainstream students in exercising their right to religious freedom and developing religious literacy and sensitivity skills and it also prevented non-religious students from gaining access to religious/spiritual concepts and tools to facilitate wellbeing and resiliency.

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