Page "William Aberhart" Paragraph 9

One way Aberhart applied his organizational prowess was in creating one of Calgary's first and largest Parent-Teacher Associations, which had an average of two hundred parents attend each meeting ; Aberhart had a generally good relationship with parents.

His standing with his staff was more mixed: he had a habit of " talking down " to them, dominated the school to the point that teachers were left with little initiative, and, as Elliott and Miller put it, " never entered the staff room except to issue an order ".

Many of his teachers, while respecting his abilities an administrator, thought very little of him as a man, and some believed that his domineering approach stemmed from a fear of people smarter than him.

In 1919 eight Crescent Heights teachers wrote the school board requesting an investigation into Aberhart's work ; the resulting inspection led to the transfer of three male teachers — with whom Aberhart had a particularly poor rapport — to other schools, and stated that persisting problems would lead to a request for Aberhart's resignation.

A follow-up investigation two years later found a substantial improvement in conditions and reported favourably on Aberhart's abilities.

Despite this uneven relationship, Aberhart was not all together closed-minded, and would entertain — and sometimes even be convinced by — arguments from his staff.