Schools must avoid the equally misguided extremes of zero-tolerance policies and permissive idealism
Saunders Secondary School in London, Ont., is home to approximately 2,000 students. It’s been in the news a lot lately, but not in a good way. A recent CBC story quoted an anonymous teacher who described Saunders as a “tinderbox of violence” where students regularly challenge teachers to fist fights after school. Over the last six…
Age of Enlightenment partly responsible for the destructive colonial logic that has wreaked so much havoc among Indigenous peoples
There is a wisdom principle known as wâhkôhtowin underpinning how Cree peoples fundamentally see the world. Literally, it means kinship but refers more widely to the interconnectedness of human beings with each other and with all other forms of life. According to Dwayne Donald – freshly appointed Canada Research Chair in reimagining teacher education with…
The Black Graduate Students’ Association helps build a more inclusive university for all students
Heather Gray Lamm’s introduction to the Black Graduate Students’ Association came while she was sitting on the floor of the Butterdome at the University of Alberta. Lamm, a new graduate student, was taking a moment amidst the chaos and crowd of orientation to figure out where she was supposed to be. “You’re easily invisible in such…
Teachers are hired to educate students, not to indoctrinate them
When parents send their children to school, they place a lot of trust in teachers. It’s important that teachers not undermine that trust. Unfortunately, some teachers haven’t learned this lesson. For example, last year a school posted a message on its outdoor sign stating that farming affects oceans and that the chemicals used in farming…
The only professor in academia working on deaf education
There is a fierce debate raging in the deaf community. Many audiologists believe sign language is obsolete, recommending instead that deaf children rely exclusively on technology such as cochlear implants and hearing aids. Sign language, they contend, interferes with learning to speak. Joanne Weber argues the whole dispute is absurd and unnecessary. The first Canada Research Chair in…
Students need more time reading books and less time reading screens. Good teaching, not more technology, is key
Technology has had a huge impact on public education. Classrooms of today look quite different from those of a generation ago. It shows just how quickly technology changes and the extent to which it dominates our children’s lives. However, while it makes sense to ensure that students and teachers have reasonable access to computers, technology…
The primary job of the principal is to improve the results of a single school, not a district
Nearly two years ago, Quebec’s ministry of education reorganized the management of the province’s elementary and secondary schools to enable each school’s principal, staff, and parents to take over the operation of the school. The external political school board no longer exists. In a sense, the Quebec system now looks very much like the management…
It is the only way to ensure quality education
Prospective teachers learn a lot about individualized instruction in faculties of education. That’s because teachers are encouraged to personalize learning for each student as much as possible. To a certain degree, this makes good sense. An inflexible, cookie-cutter approach to education serves no one well. At the same time, the pendulum has swung so far…
They’ll need them
Apparently, both the British Columbia ministry of education and the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation would rather not encourage the province’s students to develop and utilize their critical thinking skills. Better to just take the teachers’ truth in the classroom rather than discovering and understanding both sides (or all sides) of a contentious subject. Shame on…
Ignore mistakes of the past or allow racist policies in the present and we embrace our own demise
There has been a great deal of discussion in the American media about the teaching of critical race theory. Some states have passed legislation to prevent the discussion of this topic in schools, and others have similar bills before their elected assemblies. Michigan is one of these states, and I recently came across a document…