The value of an education

I grew up in a small 800 sq foot house in north Edmonton. When I was in Grade 8, my jr. high school, Wellington appeared on the front page of the Edmonton Journal under the heading of the "toughest school in Edmonton". Wow, did we think we were cool!

My father had a grade 6 education and my mother a grade 11, but all three of us children completed at least one university degree. My sister has two and my brother has three. Why? Because we were told over and over again by my mother, "if you want to improve your life education is the answer."

I have a great deal of respect for education. It has given me experiences and opportunities, I never even imagined as a child.

I have a great deal of respect for Vernon Watchmaker from Kehewin First Nations. He has decided to embark on a journey of education to make changes to his life. He worked hard and achieved. He is an outstanding role model for his children. Watching their father commit to getting and education and achieving it, they too will come to respect education and the opportunities it offers.

So congratulations Mr. Watchmaker, I hope you continue on your journey.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/From+homeless+graduate+years/5741170/story.html

Report card time

Recently a friend of mine who teaches jr. high was told at a staff meeting, each teacher is expected to write 3 full paragraphs (3/4 of a page) about each student. The comments should be "meaningful" and explain in detail where the child is in terms of grade level, how they are being taught and exactly what the teacher is going to do to help the child improve.

Most Jr. High schools have 40 minute classes, 4 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon. The class size is somewhere between 20 and 30. So if we do the math, 8 classes of say 25 students per class is 200 report cards. 200 x 0.75 of a page = about 150 pages.

150 pages is a small novel and not easy writing either. The teacher must choose their words carefully, to communicate clearly and not offend or upset the parent. If there is a spelling error or a typo, it will be pointed out. Teachers are expected to complete report cards in a few days of time (while continuing to teach every day all day long). This is only one of four report cards done in the year. By the end of the year the teacher will have written 600 pages worth of report card comments.

I have to assume the parent with a student at this school will get several pages of comments. My only hope is they will have the time in their hectic schedules to sit down and read every word care and carefully reflect upon their child education.

As a parent I am happy with 65 per cent and "good effort" on my kids report card. If I am really concerned with my child's education, I can pick up the phone or go to the school and "talk" to my kids teacher.

True Education

Education for the sake of "true learning". If you have 20 minutes, its worth listening about the barefoot college in India. The school is about "learning" not making money. What can we learn from this?

http://www.ted.com/talks/bunker_roy.html?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2011-10-19&utm_campaign=newsletter_weekly&utm_medium=email

Politics of change

I am willing to give the new Minister of Education Tomas Lukaszuk a chance mostly because I like Alison Redford. So far Redford seems supportive of Education but .... only time will tell for sure.

The PC's have announced the return of a large chunk of funding for Education. While thats nice, it never should have been cut in the first place so they are simply correcting something which was done wrong. No extra points there.

Lukaszuk has decided not to go forward with bill 18, the new Education act in the Fall Legislative Session. Again a good idea, there are some changes which are not well thought out. Two that come to mind are mandatory schooling to age 17 and funding education for high school completion to age 21.

"Over the next few months we will be engaging students, parents, teachers and members of the community in a discussion on how the Education Act can make a difference in Alberta classrooms,” said Lukaszuk.

http://www.alberta.ca/acn/201111/3147269F45DBE-D1A2-0106-A0EE19F6672F171C.html

Sounds very political doesn't it ... talk talk talk. Everyone had input with "Inspiring Education." What they need is someone with a little common sense to sit down and write something sensible.

In the mean time teachers, TA's, principals and the entire eduction system will somehow forge forward without the brilliant guidance from our elected leaders.

ADHD

Should we be so quick to treat ADHD with drugs. So many children are given drugs for ADHD, largely based on evaluations from schools but is that the best approach? Are we stifling their natural creativity?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110311153543.htm

I have worked with children with ADHD and know how challenging it can be but perhaps we need to question if the structured classroom is the correct environment for all children. Instead of drugging children to make a square peg fit in a round hole, perhaps we need to make two completely different holes.

The arts and creative programs are always the first to be cut in schools. Perhaps its time for public education to diversify and teach children in different ways.

Just a thought.

Cheater's prosper

I think it is time to consider giving up testing in schools. In this article the school board in Newfoundland and Labrador passed a ruling that students caught cheating on a test must not be given a zero and must be given a re-write.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2011/10/24/nl-cheating-students-school-board-1024.html

This is very very different then saying "work it out with your teacher." It means no matter what the kid does to cheat in class, no matter how blatant and in your face the cheat is, the teacher still has to offer a re-write, presumably giving up their lunch time or after school time to accommodate.

If I remember correctly, students caught cheating on diploma exams here in Alberta were also permitted to re-write the exam.

As a teacher it would be just easier and more sensible to say, "I would recommend that you don't use your text book or copy the answers from the person next to you but if you decide to do it anyway, ok, I will mark the test and record the grade." It's really just a review assignment but we will all call it a "test" just to appease those who know nothing about education.

In fact why don't we just teach cheating as an exam strategy. It makes sense, "Hey kids if you are not prepared, cheat because you will then get a second chance. It's a really poor test strategy to 'try your best'." Kids need to know this.

Is it any wonder that private schools are becoming more popular.