Sharon Halfyard, ID PhD Candidate to present.

The early post-Confederation years brought massive growth and change to rural Newfoundland (NL). It was a watershed time in the development of the once independent colony. Roads were built and communities were resettled to take advantage of water and sewage, electricity, health and educational services (Smallwood, 1993). Government officials recognized that education and the leadership offered by teachers were of paramount importance in the “tremendous hope for progress,” heralded by NL joining Canada (Warren, 1973, 164). The purpose of this interdisciplinary research study was to explore the factors which may have contributed to the leadership development of educators in rural NL during the post-Confederation years from 1949 to 1986. Using a social history narrative inquiry methodology and drawing from a mixture of oral history, life histories, autoethnography, and visual auto/biography narrative methods, I examined the emergence of educational and community leadership identities – how and why so many teachers became leaders in rural NL during that time frame. By examining the culture, place, and identity nexus, I endeavour to better understand the complex intertwining matrix of factors, circumstances, influences and strategies involved in their leadership development. This included examining the life and times of my father, A. Job Halfyard, who taught in the White Bay/Green Bay area for over thirty years. Sharon Halfyard is a former educator, documentary filmmaker and 4th-year interdisciplinary PhD. candidate.