Posts Tagged ‘education’
One… Two… Three Questions About Education In BC
1. Is it time to flip the classroom on teacher education?
After receiving my B.A. from UBC in 1983, I went on to complete the one year professional teaching program. To complete my course of studies, I was required to do three separate practicums, two in the Lower Mainland and one outside of it, for a total of eight weeks of classroom experience.
As the saying goes, life is what happens when you make plans and I never did become a full-time classroom teacher. Reflecting back, I wonder how I would have coped in a classroom with so little direct experience. I’m not fully versed on the changes that have taken place with the professional programs since then, but I still wonder if teachers get enough of an introduction to the career they’ve selected.
What if it’s time to flip the classroom on teacher education? What if less time were spent on a university campus and more time in a K-12 classroom? What if student teachers were paid a living wage, worked during the school year, and did course work in the summer? With such a model, would we benefit by having a second adult in a classroom to assist teachers with the increased demands of inquiry-based teaching and support students with their personalized learning? Would we gain teachers who are better prepared for classrooms comprised of many students with special needs including many more English Language Learners? Teachers who had more direct knowledge of the career they’ve chose? In this way, would we be able to provide more staff to better support all students in their many and varied learning styles?
2. What do parents want?
There are many things parents want and expect from the public education system. I’m not going to launch into enumerating the laundry list of expectations, but here’s the one “request” which I believe is paramount. Parents, I believe, would like the needs of their children to be assessed and met on a timely basis without having to bang on drums for attention or to wait and wait and wait and to have measures introduced much too late in a child’s progress and development. Yes, this is an issue of resources, but it is also an issue of responsiveness in schools and understanding that the children losing out are not always those with the most easily identifiable needs. The children who are significantly at risk, it seems to me, are those who may appear typical but whose needs, if neglected, result in bad behaviour and consequences much more severe than they might have been had interventions been introduced earlier.
3. How do we define school?
It seems to me that we have a picture of school as it was, as it is, and as it ought to be. I think there’s general agreement that the most successful model will be one which is student-centered. If we agree on such a fundamental principle, why can’t we find a way to work together to build that model so that when talking about the world’s best school system, BC is referred to as often, if not more often, than Finland?
Are Report Cards Irrelevant?
Report card bashing is a popular pastime these days in British Columbia. And the cacophony is bound to get louder when parents discover the report cards they receive bear little resemblance to what they usually get.
Imagine a parent standing there, hand outstretched expectantly for delivery of that all important document. The apprehensive child rummages around his or her backpack for the crumpled up envelope to deliver up the much-loathed, traditional reckoning. Imagine a mother or a father tearing open that envelope, heart-beating, wondering whether this will be an occasion to celebrate with hugs and kisses or glower with frustration or tenderly offer comfort. Slowly, ever so slowly, the white sheet of paper is pulled out from behind it’s protective covering, and the parent looks at the page. Turns it over and looks again. Looks at the child fidgeting, scuffing their shoe against the floor, and gazing in wide-eyed apprehension waiting for their parent to share the news on how he or she has done.
The parent, this term, will see nothing on the page. Aside from attendance and other non-curricular related information, there will be nothing on that piece of paper, except in certain circumstances, because of the job action currently in progress by the province’s teachers.
The delivery of blank report cards is being sloughed off as a way to minimize the possibility of an outcry from parents — they’re not essential we’re being told, report cards are irrelevant anyways, so don’t worry. But before we consign all those woefully blank sheets of paper to the recycling bin, let’s look at this issue a bit further.
It seems to me that report cards are part of a larger discussion around the issue of assessment which is currently taking place in education. As a parent and active volunteer, I am not very familiar with current practices and research — I can only speak to the information I’ve gleaned through reading, asking questions, and the social media information exchanges I’ve had on-line.
Assessment FOR Learning (AFL) seems to be the approach now being embraced in education circles. This is a process for providing feedback to students — not graded and not numerical — to help them understand where they stand with their learning and the steps they need to take to progress. I think this sounds like a wonderful new approach with lots of potential to create a safer environment for students in which to risk and to strive and to achieve. It also seems designed to help them develop a sense of ownership for their own learning, a critical skill.
However, given the way our society is currently structured, I don’t see how we can escape completely from coming back, at some point, to marking, to a grade, to a numerical value which is presented as a summary of student achievement.
The form and content of a report card still serves a useful function. It provides a snapshot, a quick look at where a student stands at a certain point in time. There may be weaknesses with this approach, but it does actually cover a lot of territory in a relatively quick and efficient way.
To prepare parents for the seemingly absurd — actually, surreal — experience of receiving blank report cards the push has been to assert that teachers will provide information on how students are doing, and so forth. I have no doubt they are endeavouring to do so.
But let’s consider: when report cards are sent home, there will be a certain percentage of parents who request a follow-up with the teacher because of concerns they have regarding their child’s assessment. However, it seems to me that the larger proportion of parents accept the report card without question. Are we cognizant of the additional time commitment on teachers if report cards are eliminated and instead of speaking with only those parents who do follow up, being required to provide assessments by speaking to ALL parents? In speaking today to a Trustee from another provincial jurisdiction there are also those parents who may be hesitant to approach teachers and schools. To them, the report card is the primary means of communication they rely on. While we may want to focus on community outreach to allay such reluctance, maybe we need to be aware that report cards do represent a valid mode of communication for a subset of parents.
I think the focus on assessment is crucial: both the assessment for students in school for their learning and as a means of sharing information with those outside the confines of the classroom and the school. And perhaps there will be better models — maybe there already are — for reporting out and maybe we do have to consider at what age and for which students numerical values or letter grades for performance are appropriate.
Until we get there, let’s not label report cards irrelevant: they aren’t. Let’s focus instead on finding the combination of form and content which will make assessment and reporting meaningful, productive, supportive, and transformative for all students.
Out And About In West Vancouver – Part Two
I filed my nomination papers on October 12, 2011, and I’m not quite sure how this happened, but five weeks have passed since then. A blink of an eye, a heartbeat, a breath.
It has been an intense five weeks: not so much because of the new challenge of running an election campaign for the first time, but because of the way the demands on my time and attention as a Mom, a candidate, an employee, a graduate student, and a volunteer seemed to escalate at the same time.
As much as I’ve enjoyed the experience, I have to admit I’m looking forward to kicking back tomorrow night, after what’s sure to be a frenetic day, to watch the results roll in once the polls have closed.
And even though tomorrow’s election day, I’ve already begun to file away lessons learned for the future. One of the most significant is that while it’s intimidating to promote yourself as a candidate, in the face of the reluctance of individuals to engage and the malaise that seems to hang over the modern electoral process, the connections you make are invaluable and essential.
I’m not just talking about the encouragement offered by friends and family or the surprising shouts of support from acquaintances, sometimes strangers. My favourite example of the latter was a woman who said to me, “I was talking to my son in Singapore today and he said to vote for Reema Faris.” I didn’t know her, I don’t know her son, but I had been recommended as a candidate in a message sent out by a supporter to acquaintances and colleagues, one of whom was the man in Singapore!
Other connections, connections which may be transitory or incidental, take on additional significance during a campaign because they resonate with meaning. I wrote about one such connection last night: the story of my conversation with a teacher for the visually-impaired who I met during a meet and greet at the Park Royal Shopping Centre last weekend.
I had a number of conversations that day, all of them meaningful in their own way. And one that sticks with me was the interaction I had with a woman who shrugged apologetically in passing, saying that she didn’t have children in the school system.
With all the activity in the days since, my recollection of the details is already hazy, but I think she did pick up a copy of my brochure and we did talk briefly.
What was so significant about this interaction?
Well, I’ve heard that assertion before: “I don’t have children in the school system”. And while that would make the election of Trustees more directly relevant to a voter, the Board serves on behalf of the entire community. So while it’s critical that you get out to vote tomorrow, please take the time to encourage everyone you know who also votes to cast their ballots, not just for Mayor and Council, but for Trustees as well whether or not they have school-age children or grandchildren. The Board of Education is theirs and they have a right to exercise their discretion in choosing candidates who will serve on their behalf effectively, efficiently, diligently, and passionately.
As I hope to do in West Vancouver.
Out And About In West Vancouver – Part One
Last Saturday, Park Royal Shopping Centre offered council candidates the opportunity to hang out at “the mall” to meet voters.
Trustee candidates were not contacted directly, but Nora Gambioli, my friend and neighbour who is seeking election as a District councillor, let me in on the plans and we shared a display table in the centre court of the North Mall. Watching Nora engage people — she has campaigned before — inspired me and I enjoyed the time I spent meeting with residents and voters.
There was coffee on the go and sugar cookies decorated with reddish icing — the word “Vote” had been inscribed on the top of each treat. Passers-by were much happier taking the time to snag a cookie and a cup than they were to talk to candidates. However, connections were made and there was a full range of interaction that day: from the “I will avoid eye contact at any cost” to the “I’ll acknowledge with a smile, a nod and move on” to “I was wondering”.
One of the most informative discussions I had was with a teacher for the visually-impaired. She had previously worked in West Vancouver and now commutes to Surrey to teach there.
We had an engaging discussion and spoke at length about the challenges she faces in her work.
One of the most interesting points I took from our conversation — aside from the keen sense of her commitment to her students and her passion for her profession — had to do with how the nature of her work had changed.
She explained how visual-impairment now was often not treated as a singular challenge. That is, the students she works with now may be struggling with little or no vision, but they must also contend with other issues as well, such as autism or behavioural challenges.
Perhaps the ways in which student needs are identified have changed and the increasing sophistication of diagnosis has helped to identify a range of support and assistance required.
Our conversation emphasized how important it is, in addressing the special needs of students, to look at the whole individual. We have to identify the complete complex set of factors with which a child may be dealing, and we may not be able to rely on the work of one individual to help a child, no matter how committed or passionate, because their skills may only address one area of need — we need a team approach which capitalizes on the strengths and specializations of the personnel and resources available.
I know that the West Vancouver School District has worked very hard to help address the needs of its students. Jody Langlois and the team at Student Support Services do great work.
If elected, I look forward to learning more about the approach they’ve taken in West Vancouver to support our students. I hope also to work, as a Trustee, to make sure the programs in place continue to evolve and adapt to new research findings and new modalities of service in order to provide support and assistance to students with special needs on the basis of who they are as a whole, valued individual.
Why Women’s Rights Are An Education Priority
Here are some numbers I came across while preparing for an upcoming presentation:
- Women constitute 53% of the world’s population and own 1% of the wealth
- Women still earn 20% less than men
- In Canada, women occupy only 11% of the seats on corporate boards
- Of the 308 parliamentary seats in Canada’s House of Commons, only 68 (22%) are filled by women
- According to the New York-based Women’s Media Centre, only 3% of media decision makers are women
- In the 2010 Report on the Global Gender Gap issued by the World Economic Forum, which assesses criteria such as employment equity, health care, and political representation, Canada ranked #20 — a free-fall from #7 in 2005 — putting our country behind the US for the first time ever in terms of its treatment of the female population.
What does this all mean?
I think it means that even in our developed Western world, where gender inequalities are not as apparent as they may be elsewhere, there’s a lot of work to do in sustaining women’s rights and in working towards a better, more just society. There are worrying indications and further support to be found for this need in articles such as this one from The Globe & Mail on the reduction in the number of women appointed to the judiciary.
My focus here is not to talk about the broader social policy issues — at least not today — but I would like to address what I think this may mean in terms of educating young men and women, boys and girls.
Let’s look at what some consider the three levers of our modern society — money, politics, and the media — and some subject areas or topics which could be incorporated into or emphasized in the curriculum.
Money
On the premise that the more you understand money and how it works, the better you’ll manage your own financial situation. Are we teaching enough about:
- financial literacy and budgeting?
- economics and the history of financial economics?
- how to contend with the lure of consumerism?
Politics
Unless you learn why politics is important, how our system works, and its history, you’ll never see or understand the relevance to you and the world you live in.
- Why aren’t K-12 students exploring elections as they happen? In our community, students from Capilano University helped to run the All Candidates Meeting hosted by the West Vancouver Chamber of Commerce (Trustees were not included in the official proceedings). However, as far as I know, none of the municipal candidates were invited into schools to talk to students or to answer questions. If our intent is to improve the engagement of youth in the electoral process, why not take advantage of real life situations when they are current and relevant?
- Is the history of the struggle for women’s rights highlighted when Canadian history is being taught?
- Are biographies or autobiographies of Canadian women included on reading lists for social studies courses or even as examples of non-fiction in English or French language classes?
Media
It surrounds us, it influences us, it continually evolves and changes. In a recent CBC documentary, Naomi Wolf, author of The Beauty Myth, says she finds media images of women getting worse, reinforcing unrealistic expectations and norms. Are we doing enough to educate students about the media — advertising, movies, music videos, song lyrics, newscasts, etc. — and the influence it has on our behaviours and attitudes? Did you know that misogynist comments on-line are starting to drive female journalists and bloggers off-line according to a recent article in the UK newspaper, The Guardian. Women’s voices need to be heard and represented, not shrouded in the silence of earlier eras that would negate the work of great Canadians such as Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, Emily Murphy, and Irene Parlby. https://archives.cbc.ca/on_this_day/10/18/
There are many other ideas and initiatives we could pursue and explore. Paying attention to these three areas would be a start because the issue of women’s rights is an issue of human rights — not just abroad, but here at home.