Cdn EdWire – A diverse array of serious education issues play out in the dailies
Cyberbullying and teen suicide, abolition of Quebec school boards, failing our First Nations students, confronting the persistent dropout issue, and continued B.C. teacher labour unrest have made headlines in recent weeks.
CYBERBULLYING AND TEEN SUICIDE
The tragedy of teen suicide: can schools stop it? – Toronto Star
Time to bring controversy, politics into classroom, experts say – Postmedia
A MOVE TO ABOLISH QUEBEC SCHOOL BOARDS
School boards dodge budget cutback bullet – The Suburban
Quebec school boards fear budget-cut proposal – Montreal Gazette
School boards have to go, says Coalition de l’avenir’s Legault – Laval News
School boards in the crosshairs – Montreal Gazette
Keep them? Kill them? For the anglo community, it’s a sensitive issue
FAILING FIRST NATIONS STUDENTS
Former PM calls education ‘absolute key’ to improving aboriginal life – Postmedia
Canada failing First Nations kids with education system, UN told – Postmedia
Ottawa accused of failing aboriginal children – CBC
CONFRONTING THE PERSISTENT DROPOUT ISSUE
Child immigrants over 9 more likely to drop out – CBC
Anti-dropout program is working, report card shows – Montreal Gazette
B.C. TEACHER LABOUR UNREST
In B.C. school wars, the pupils are the losers – Globe and Mail
Gov’t orders B.C. schools to prepare report cards – CTV
BCTF gives failing grade to new education plan – CBC
OTHER NEWS
Have schools ‘professionalized’ the role of parent? – Toronto Star
From $3,000 to zero, fees vary wildly for prestigious high-school program – Globe and Mail
Education Act put on hold – CBC Alberta
Parents fear sex-crime gap in school safety net – Montreal Gazette
Pardoned pedophiles can teach; Police say they’re unable to do same checks done for staff at daycares, hockey teams
Immersion review not welcomed by everyone – Moncton Times & Transcript
Parents uneasy with French immersion reforms – CBC NB
Cheating policy can work, consultant says – CBC Newfoundland
EDUBLOG HIGHLIGHTS
How to Stop Good Ideas from Getting Shot Down – Culture of Yes (Chris Kennedy)
I was listening to Canadian Education Association CEO, Ron Canuel, recently and he referenced John Kotter, a professor at the Harvard Business School. It was a name I knew, but I hadn’t previously been exposed to his work. Canuel shared Kotter’s list of the four strategies people use to help kill good ideas.
- Fear mongering involves creating infectious anxiety, scaring others into believing a good idea is far too risky to pursue
- Death by Delay entails stalling an idea with never-ending questions, straw polls, and meetings—until the idea eventually loses momentum and fizzles out
- Confusion consists of peppering a conversation with a stream of irrelevant facts and convoluted questions, making it near impossible for the innovator to keep the discussion on track
- Ridicule is a direct attack on the character of the person who proposed the idea, creating indirect doubts about the idea itself (read more)
Flipping It – Webb of Thoughts (Kyle Webb)
I’m currently 7 weeks into my student teaching. Recently, I have drastically changed things in my classroom. My classroom used to look like the classroom I had when I was a high school student. Students would sit in their desks and take notes (maybe) as I stood up front speaking to them or worked through a problem on the board. A few students would give me their undivided attention and build a decent understanding of the concept. A few students wouldn’t pay any attention at all and secretly text under their desk or have Facebook pulled up on their tablets. And most students would pay attention for as long as they could, lost attention for just a moment or two, and be lost the rest of the lesson. I would employ all sorts of classroom management strategies to keep my students quiet and paying attention. Then I would wrap things up, maybe give them a few minutes to try some problems, if I had finished things quicker than planned. Most of the time, however, I sent them home to try to tackle problems that they should have learned about during class (and some beyond that). The result? (read more)
Meet the Expert(s)
Max Cooke
CEO
Max Cooke is the CEO of the EdCan Network.
Max Cooke est le directeur général du Réseau ÉdCan.
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