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• Whole Education: Provoking a Movement for Change in the UK

  September 23, 2011 3:38 PM Comments Off on Whole Education: Provoking a Movement for Change in the UK

  The gulf between what education systems provide and what children and young people need is widening. Schools and colleges rightly try to ensure that young people are literate, numerate, and gain academic qualifications. But the emphasis on testing and passing exams often squeezes out the development of other skills and qualities that are just as vital in today’s world.

  Whole Education began in England in 2010 in response to this challenge. Its seeds can be traced back to 2008, when the Royal Society for Arts, Manufacture and Commerce brought together a large number of organizations to develop and sign a “Charter for 21st Century Education.”[1] A number of organizations involved in this process were keen to move beyond a simple charter to take action; thus Whole Education was born as an independent, non-political, non-profit organization committed to ensuring all young people develop the range of skills, qualities, and knowledge they will need for the future. At our heart is a list of partner organizations that share our views. Together, we are working with a growing number of schools that – despite the pressures of league tables (school rankings) – remain committed to helping young people develop in a more holistic way.

  Most schools committed to providing what we would call a “whole education” tend to be led by the brave leaders who swim against the tide. They have a clear vision of learning and a strong moral purpose to do what is best for their students, not simply to get the school high up on league tables. They appear to be in the minority. We intend to change that.

  In the English education system, the most important assessment of students and schools occurs when, at age 16, students pursue their General Certificates of Secondary Education (GCSEs). A key measure of school and system success is the number of students who attain five good GCSEs (A-C grade) and are thereby eligible to obtain the A-level qualification necessary for university.

  When Tony Blair’s Labour government came into power in 1997, it heralded a fundamental change in the role of government in education. Despite the introduction of a National Curriculum in 1992, implementation had been left largely in the hands of local education authorities. Under Tony Blair, government assumed greater responsibility for delivery by setting targets and monitoring outcomes, effectively diminishing the role of local authorities. Their role was further diminished by the introduction of the Academies Program, with academies funded by central government and independent of local government control.

  Despite some undoubted achievements, the Labour government was criticized for excessive centralized micromanagement and overburdening schools with a constant stream of initiatives; encouraging a culture of “teaching to the test”; failing to tackle the divide between academic and vocational education; failing to deliver the knowledge, skills, and qualities employers need; and presiding over an escalation in the number of young people not in education, employment, or training (NEET).

  The coalition government of David Cameron, which came into power in May 2010, has introduced its own reforms. Most notably they have rapidly expanded the Academies Program, with some estimates suggesting over 80 percent of all secondaries will be academies by 2013. The general direction of reform of the current government is to give greater autonomy to schools over what to teach and what to include in the curriculum – albeit with increased accountability for results.

  While the context of the system has changed, Whole Education sees a number of longstanding challenges that need to be addressed:

  • Lack of workplace skills. Employers continue to express concerns about the lack of employability skills in young people. A recent report by the Confederation of British Industry entitled “Building for Growth” highlighted a number of issues regarding the skills and qualities businesses need but are not finding in too many school leavers.[2]
  • High levels of disengagement with learning. The number of young people “not in education, employment or training” has escalated to a record high, from 600,000 in 2000 to almost one million in 2010.[3] In addition, record numbers of young people are dropping out of university, struggling to cope as independent learners after years in “exam-factory” schools.
  • Well-being and mental health concerns. In UNICEF’s investigation into child well-being across the world’s industrialized nations, the UK came in at the bottom, below countries with significantly lower levels of GDP and higher levels of poverty.[4]
  • Dominant assessment system. We have an assessment system that has rewarded schools for teaching to the test, at both the primary and secondary levels, rather than nurturing the potential of the child. A report from the Education Select Committee on the newly introduced English Baccalaureate – which places schools on a league table based on numbers of students achieving A-C grades in English, Maths, Science, Languages, Humanities – has provided some damning conclusions about the impact of such a measure young peoples’ ability to pursue a broad and balanced education.[5]

  In short, we have created a system in England – which other countries appear to be following – that is very high on targets and league tables based on exam results. This trajectory is being continued with the current government, with promises of increased data transparency and more local discretion on what pupils should learn. However, local discretion may not work in favour of a more balanced curriculum; many head teachers (particularly those who have become heads in the last ten years) have become accustomed to top down prescription and “playing the exam factory game.”

  Of course, helping young people succeed academically is – and should be – a top priority for all schools. But there is a growing feeling in the profession that too much focus on the “system measures” is squeezing out a wider set of skills (leadership, teamwork, communication) and qualities (resilience, empathy, creativity). It is in response to this challenge – and the current policy environment – that Whole Education has emerged. We are seeking to be a constructive partner to work with schools, policymakers, and a wide range of stakeholders to help young people develop the full range of skills, qualities, and knowledge they will need for life and work in the 21st century.

  There is a growing feeling in the profession that too much focus on the “system measures” is squeezing out a wider set of skills (leadership, teamwork, communication) and qualities (resilience, empathy, creativity).

  Our work is evolving in the context of David Cameron’s “Big Society” agenda. Instead of relying on local authorities, officials, or central government to respond to issues they face daily, individuals and communities are to have more power and responsibility for improving their own neighbourhoods and local services. This creates a conducive environment for Whole Education to support schools, and in doing so to support reform in the system.

  Whole Education’s eleven common beliefs that all stakeholders and partners adhere to can be distilled down into three key points:

  • Helping young people develop a range of skills, qualities, and knowledge they will need for the future;
  • Making learning more relevant and engaging, with young people at the centre of their own learning, balancing practical and theoretical learning;
  • Recognizing that learning does not just take place within the school or the classroom, and that the best schools engage with the wider community to raise aspirations and opportunities for learning.

  About 30 partner organizations are already working with young people to help provide a “whole education”. Any organization or project wishing to be a partner has to show how its offer to schools or young people relates to the above points. Some partners focus on specific issues. For example Speakers Trust helps develop communication skills, and UK Sports Leaders helps develop leadership skills through sport. Some focus on specific qualities, such as Channel 4, which has developed online games that help foster resilience and well-being in young people. Others focus on making subject knowledge areas more engaging, such as Discovering Language. Some of our partners offer alternative forms of assessment. One example is the Certificate of Personal Effectiveness from ASDAN (Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network). Another is the Effective Lifelong Learning Inventory (ELLI) – a tool that measures young people’s “learning power” along seven dimensions. Some of our partners – like Building Learning Power, RSA Opening Minds, and Learning Futures – encompass many of the points above (see footer).

  All but a few of our partners are non-profit organizations, and their projects range in size from the largest, ASDAN, which works with over two thirds of all secondary schools in England to smaller, innovative projects and organizations doing very exciting work in a few schools. All share a passionate commitment to the beliefs and mission of Whole Education.

  That mission is to ensure that all young people have access to a holistic education, as reflected in the above three points, within ten years. In pursuit of that goal, we have three operational aims we are focused on in the next three years:

  • To support the development and spread of “whole education” practice in schools;
  • To engage schools and a wider group of stakeholders (i.e. young people, parents, local communities and employers) to collectively influence policy;
  • To create a sustainable organization capable of delivering against our mission.

  In December 2010, our first annual conference (entitled What Are Schools For?) was a sellout. School leaders, academics, and employers in attendance all agreed that we need to provide young people with a more rounded education, and that the skills and qualities employers are seeking are the same skills and qualities that young people need for life, to build relationships, and to be happy. This led to a full-page article in The Times.[6] Since then, we have embarked on a series of events (entitled Whose Curriculum Is It Anyway?) targeted specifically at school leaders. These events allowed school leaders to engage with our 30 partner organizations in one place, encouraged them to be creative with their curriculum and to “look out, not up” (to government) when planning the curriculum.

  At these events, we encourage schools to join the Whole Education Network so that they can continue to learn and engage with our partners and – more importantly – with each other. Within less than six months more than 200 schools have signed up. We aim to have 1,250 by August 2012 and 3,000 by August 2013. Key nodes in the network will be “champion schools” that are high performing on league tables, but also passionately committed to providing a holistic education and supporting other schools to do so. An initial analysis of the 150 secondary schools in the network so far shows their academic results exceed the national average by approximately 10 percent, and 90 percent are showing an upward trajectory in results. It appears that the schools attracted to Whole Education so far are those that might be seen to be leading the system.

  Our aim is to spread whole education practices among and within all schools. However, focusing on that alone will not help us achieve our mission. Early focus group research showed that young people, parents, teachers, and employers already agree with our views. So, in a sense, within the education community we are preaching to the converted. We need to influence the wider system to recognize that education is more than getting the exam results you need to get into the best university – important though that is for most young people.

  This is where our second aim is key – engaging a much wider group of stakeholders. If we can add growing numbers of young people, parents, community members, and employers making the same case, this will become a movement.

  The early signs are positive. We are working with a few large businesses that are keen to engage with Whole Education Network schools to offer work experience opportunities. Through one of our partners, Space Unlimited, we will be working with young people to help “refresh” these businesses’ work experience programs to improve the experience for all. We are also discussing plans to support the development of Whole Education towns and villages, to explore what it will look like to have local communities working together – young people, scouts, girl guides, sports teams, local employers, parents…and more – to help all young people develop the skills, qualities, and knowledge they will need for the future.

  Our main aim in the next three years around influencing policy is to be both “unignorable” and a constructive partner with government. Our activities so far have been mainly reactive. We are coordinating a campaign in response to the English Baccalaureate, which we believe will have an overall negative impact. However, rather than negative campaigning, we are building on a groundswell of opposition to focus on what “A Better Baccalaureate” would look like.[7]

  If we meet our goals – if in three years we have 3,000 schools actively engaged in our network, with 30 champion schools at the heart of that network that are deemed by the system to be outstanding – our ability to influence government and policymakers will grow. If we have large numbers of young people and parents supporting our beliefs, we will be a powerful voice that government cannot ignore. If we can show what towns and villages can achieve by working together in support of young people, we will be demonstrating the Big Society in action. And if we have big employers actively endorsing what we are doing, will have a significant impact on those who make decisions about the policies governing our education system.

  If we have large numbers of young people and parents supporting our beliefs, we will be a powerful voice that government cannot ignore.

  For now though, most of our focus is on supporting schools committed to providing a whole education and – through the Whole Education Network – helping them to do so. If you want to follow us on our journey visit www.wholeeducation.org or email douglas@wholeeducation.org

  EN BREF – Le fossé entre ce que procurent les systèmes d’éducation et ce qu’il faut aux enfants et aux jeunes s’élargit. L’accent mis sur les tests et la réussite aux examens nuit au développement d’autres compétences et qualités qui sont tout aussi vitales aujourd’hui. Le réseau Whole Education (éducation entière) a vu le jour en Angleterre en 2010 afin de relever ce défi. Il s’agit essentiellement d’un groupe d’organisations partenaires qui travaillent avec un nombre croissant d’écoles qui désirent aider les jeunes à se développer de façon plus holistique. Whole Education vise à constituer un partenaire constructif qui collabore avec les écoles, les responsables de politiques et un large éventail de parties prenantes afin d’aider les jeunes à acquérir toute la gamme des compétences, qualités et connaissances qu’il leur faut pour vivre et travailler au 21e siècle. Son objectif plus large consiste à exercer de l’influence sur la société et à lancer un « mouvement » qui se répercutera sur les responsables de politiques.

  ---

  Whole Education Partners at Work

  RSA Opening Minds is an imaginative competency-based curriculum that meets the requirements of the national curriculum and examining bodies. Teachers design and develop a curriculum for their own schools based around the development of five key competences: citizenship, learning, managing information, managing situations, and relating to people. It offers students a more holistic and coherent way of learning which allows them to make connections and apply knowledge across different subject areas. http://www.rsaopeningminds.org.uk/

  Learning Futures focuses on learner engagement. Students are encouraged to have a “deep engagement” with learning, caring both about the outcome and the development of their learning. The belief is that learning should connect students’ academic and personal lives; foster a sense of value and agency; extend beyond examinations to independent informal learning; appeal and matter to students.

  Learning Futures schools have co-constructed four principles for enhanced school engagement:

  • Enquiry based learning, often within an extended project.
  • School as “base camp” where learning is organized, taking students into their communities and further afield.
  • Extended, reciprocal learning relationships­ – peer to peer, student-teacher, or involving parents, external mentors, businesses, external experts, and others.
  • School as a “common ground”, with all its users sharing access to its resources and responsibility for its development

  http://www.learningfutures.org/

  Building Learning Power (BLP) helps young people become better learners, both in school and out, by systematically cultivating habits and attitudes that enable young people to face difficulty and uncertainty. These include the 4R’s: resilience, resourcefulness, reflectiveness, and reciprocity. BLP offers a wide range of practical seeds and frameworks that stimulate and guide the development of culture change in the classroom. 
  http://www.buildinglearningpower.co.uk/

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  [1] http://www.thersa.org/projects/past-projects/education-campaign/education-for-the-21st-century-a-charter

  [2] CBI Building for Growth: business priorities for education and skills; Education and Skills Survey (2011)

  [3] Department for Education (2010) – www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/STR/d000987/index.shtml; www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/feb/24/neets-statistics

  [4] Unicef, Child Well Being in Rich Countries

  [5] House of Commons Education Select Committee Report: www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmeduc/851/85102.htm

  [6] “How a Holistic Approach to Education can Help Business,” The Times, 10 December 2010.

  [7] www.abetterbaccalaureate.org

• Failing Boys! Beyond Crisis, Moral Panic and Limiting Stereotypes

  3:21 PM Comments Off on Failing Boys! Beyond Crisis, Moral Panic and Limiting Stereotypes

  In 2010, The Globe and Mail identified eight issues that will challenge Canada in the next decade and beyond and devoted a week to covering each of the designated topics, ranging from the role of Canada’s military post-Afghanistan to addressing the problems afflicting the publicly funded health care system in Canada.  Included in this list, and pitched equally in terms of inciting some degree of urgency and encapsulating a prevailing angst, was a discussion devoted to “Failing Boys”.  For some time now, school boards, Ministries of Education, and the popular media have been expressing concerns about failing boys and how best to meet their needs, framing these concerns in terms of a crisis in which boys are often cast as the “new disadvantaged”. 

  Statistics are often used to draw comparisons and to highlight the plight of boys. For example, we know that boys have higher suspension and expulsion rates, as well as higher dropout rates. We also know that boys’ literacy scores on standardized tests are lower than those of girls.[1] As reported in the Globe and Mail series, there is a sense that “the pendulum has swung too far” in favour of girls. In fact, conveyed in such media reports is a perception that boys are being “disregarded” and left to “find their own way in a feminized education system.”  As the Globe and Mail report acknowledges, some people are afraid that even admitting that there is a problem with boys is considered politically incorrect, even anti-feminist.  However, statistics and perspectives such as these do not provide an accurate representation of the problem and, in fact, detract from deepening our understanding of which boys and which girls are actually at risk.

  Not all Boys!

  We know from disaggregating achievement data that not all boys are at risk of failing or dropping out. For example, the Toronto District School Board published a report in 2006 that identified specific groups at risk of underachieving in Toronto schools.[2] These groups include students from low-income neighbourhoods, those born in the English-speaking Caribbean, Central and South America/Mexico, and Eastern Africa, as well as those speaking Portuguese, Spanish, and Somali. The report is careful to highlight that higher representation of underachievement along class, ethnicity, and race lines “does not mean causation.” This is important because simply identifying groups by race or culture also fails to address the issue of differentiation within these groups. But breaking down statistics in this way is important because it provides a clearer picture of who is actually at risk and provides a more informed basis for addressing the problem. In short, it draws attention to the fundamental problem of homogenization in terms of how boys as a group are represented and the consequences of this for limiting both our understanding of the problem and how to address it.  

  In a report entitled: The Truth About Boys and Girls, for example, Sarah Mead states that: “the current boy crisis hype and debate around it are based more on hopes and fears than evidence. The debate benefits neither boys nor girls, while distracting attention from more serious educational problems – such as large racial and economic gaps – and practical ways to help both boys and girls succeed in schools.”[3]

  Mead further claims that “the so-called boy crisis” also feeds on “a lack of solid research evidence” or rather on a research base that is “internally contradictory, making it easy to find superficial support for a wide variety of explanations but difficult for the media and the public to evaluate the quality of evidence cited.”[4] This problem relates directly to the tendency to justify certain explanations about boys’ and girls’ different learning styles in light of selectively chosen literature about brain-sex differences.

  The Sexy Nature of Brain-Sex Research

  The framework or lens for understanding the problem then becomes one of the major issues in these debates about the “boy crisis”. It is often taken for granted that boys are innately different from girls and that these differences are grounded in their biological and brain-sex differences. For instance, there is a tendency to explain the gender achievement gap and differences in terms of the failure of schools to cater adequately for boys’ more distinctive kinesthetic learning styles.  Such views drive concerns about the ways in which schools are designed to cater for the natural inclinations of girls in terms of fostering behaviours such as sitting still, working collaboratively and expressing thoughts and feelings.  However, neuroscientist, Dr. Lise Eliot at the Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, claims that the differences between girls and boys are very small and that there is far more overlap than separation between the sexes in terms of brain-sex differences.[5] Eliot claims that studies which result in finding a statistically significant difference between men and women are more likely to be published than studies finding no difference and highlights the role of the media in taking up such studies before actual verification can be undertaken.  She refers to a case in point involving a study about the gender difference in sizes of the corpus callosum – the bundle of nerve fibres that connect the right and left side of the brain – which was published in the journal, Science in 1982. This study found that the corpus callosum was proportionately larger in women than in men, but Eliot points out that the study was based on five female and nine male subjects. Despite its small sample size and limited value for generalization, the media used it to endorse generalizations about brain-sex differences. Eliot further states that a later review of 50 such studies in 1997 found no significant sex differences in the corpus callosum of adults and that more recent studies have failed to detect any significant differences for boys and girls. In spite of such research, however, many advocates of boys’ education still rely on such research or theories to endorse single-sex schools for boys and the boy-friendly curriculum.[6]

  Single-sex Schooling and the Boy-friendly Curriculum

  Sara Mead agrees that education decision-makers have used isolated studies to endorse strategies, such as single-sex schooling and the boy-friendly curriculum, without first engaging with the larger body of research-based literature – thereby calling the legitimacy and justification of these strategies into question. “Building from this analysis [of brain-sex differences], a wealth of books, articles, and training programs endeavour to teach educators how to make schools more boy-friendly. Many of these suggestions – such as allowing boys to choose reading selections that appeal to their interests – are reasonable enough. But many others are based on an inappropriate application of brain research on sex differences. Many of these authors draw causal connections between brain research findings and stereotypical male or female personality traits without any evidence that such causality exists …”[7]

  This highlights one of the major problems with approaches to boys’ education that have gained some currency, such as single-sex schooling and the boy-friendly curriculum. Because they are not soundly grounded in evidence-based literature, they suffer from a lack of commitment on behalf of those endorsing them to fairly weigh all of the available evidence regarding the effectiveness of these various reform strategies. The justification for such approaches, which is often founded on brain-sex differences, needs to be exposed as flawed and driven largely by an ideological agenda. As Eliot asserts: “[T]he argument that boys and girls need different educational experiences because their brains are different is patently absurd. The same goes for arguments based on cognitive abilities, which differ far more within groups of boys or girls than between the average boy and girl.”[8]

  The danger here is in needlessly exaggerating and reinforcing sex differences. Perpetrating and legitimizing such stereotypes do not serve the interests of boys or girls and, in fact, result in limiting their capacities and the range of human potential. 

  Embracing Alternative Theories

  Rather than relying on theories and the very problematic research about brain-sex differences, neuroscientists, such as Eliot, promote a different perspective on brain-functioning which foregrounds plasticity. They argue that the brain changes in response to experience and so is capable of modifying itself depending on the task and the eternal influences at play – the brain is responding continually to life experiences and is “continually remodeled to adapt to them.” According to Eliot, the brain in childhood is particularly malleable, “writing itself in large measure, according to the experiences in which it is immersed from prenatal life through to adolescence.”[9] So if gender differences are constantly being reinforced and exaggerated – albeit not always consciously – the danger is that the harmful and limiting stereotypes about what it means or to be a boy and what it means to be a girl congeal and become cemented as truths in the minds of parents and educators. As Eliot states: “Kids rise and fall according to what we believe about them, and the more we dwell on the differences between boys and girls, the likelier such stereotypes are to crystallize into children’s self-perceptions and self-fulfilling prophecies.”[10]

  If gender differences are constantly being reinforced and exaggerated – albeit not always consciously – the danger is that the harmful and limiting stereotypes about what it means or to be a boy and what it means to be a girl congeal and become cemented as truths.

  And this is essentially the problem with the politics of boys’ education. It is not to deny that boys are experiencing problems in schools and in the world beyond school.  Rather, there is a need to draw attention to the limitations of defining and understanding boys in terms that emphasize physiological and biological sex differences. Once we allow ourselves to define boys in terms of these binary differences, we can justify and legitimize certain strategies without due regard for the available evidence about their effects.[11] For example, there is no evidence that single-sex education is necessarily or inherently better for boys than co-education.  In fact, the better performance of students in these schools is mainly attributed to a combination of factors such as ability intake of students, their socio-economic status, the type of school and its ethos, and more significantly to a question of pedagogy and teacher beliefs and values about boys and their masculinity.

  Good Teaching Matters

  Available research shows that what matters is a combination of high expectations and effective teaching, understood in terms of: (i) connecting the curriculum and assessment to the everyday lives of students; (ii) developing a range of higher order and problem-solving activities that stimulate and engage learners; (iii) building respectful and caring relationships with students in schools; and (iv) a knowledge of difference and a commitment to breaking down stereotypes of what it means to be a boy.[12] For example, we already know that stereotypes about what it means to be a real or normal boy, coupled with the expectations to present oneself as appropriately heterosexual, impact on the quality of boys’ lives and relationships both inside and outside school.[13] Boys themselves, if given the opportunity and a safe space, will talk about the impact of homophobia that is linked to the policing of masculinity and, hence, the fear of failing to live up to the expectations of their peers in terms of what it means to be appropriately masculine.[14] Acting “tough” or “cool”, which can involve avoidance of the feminine or the fear of being perceived as not masculine enough, has been linked to the sort of behaviour that puts boys at some risk psychologically, emotionally, and in terms of their engagement and participation in schooling. For example, we know that some boys have a tendency to be more disruptive in class and to be engaged in peer group dynamics that do not accord high status to devoting time and effort to high achievement.[15] In addition, we also know that boys are more likely to die in car and motorcycle accidents or to be victims of violent crimes.  Issues of masculinity are clearly at play here. The tendency to reinforce stereotypic notions of boys in terms of how they think and approach learning – a tendency which is endemic in boys’ education here in Canada and elsewhere – runs the risk of exacerbating and supporting the very versions of masculinity which we know limit boys’ human potential and capacity for building the broader repertoire of skills needed to navigate a changing, post-industrial world.

  Beyond the “Boy Crisis” Hype

  Rather than fuelling the current boy crisis hype, we need to weigh more carefully the evidence for many of the claims that continue to be made about boys’ disadvantaged status in schools and the broader society. This does not mean denying that a problem exists. It means making a commitment to engage more with the research-based evidence and test score data that are not disaggregated solely in terms of gender. We know that not all boys are at risk of failing or dropping out – that clearly class, race, and other factors such as sexuality, geographical location, and disability intersect with gender in significant and meaningful ways. Not all boys are losers and not all girls are winners!

  Continuing to endorse stereotypes about boys and support strategies that are built on reinforcing these stereotypes is to exacerbate the very problem confronting boys by limiting the expression of their masculinity to a binary frame of reference grounded in sex differences. Rather than portraying boys as victims of an education system, which has not only neglected them, but has conspiratorially failed to address their specific learning styles and needs, we would do boys a greater service by attempting to dismantle such stereotypes. This would open up possibilities for them to embrace a broader repertoire of skills and capacities that need not be defined in terms of rigid gender binaries or biological sex differences.

  EN BREF – Depuis quelque temps, les commissions et conseils scolaires, les ministères de l’Éducation et les médias font état de préoccupations au sujet de l’échec des garçons et de la meilleure façon de combler leurs besoins, brossant le tableau d’une crise où les garçons sont les « nouveaux défavorisés ». Cette façon de présenter la situation fausse le problème, nous empêchant de mieux comprendre quels garçons sont vraiment à risque. Il est souvent affirmé que les garçons sont foncièrement différents des filles, alors qu’en fait, les cerveaux des deux sexes comportent beaucoup plus de similitudes que de différences. Nous savons que la classe sociale, la race et d’autres facteurs comme la sexualité, la région géographique et les incapacités comportent des liens importants et significatifs avec le sexe d’une personne. Il n’est pas question ici de nier l’existence d’un problème, mais d’insister sur la nécessité de tenir davantage compte des preuves de recherches qui ne sont pas analysées uniquement en fonction du sexe. Pour une autre perspective sur les garçons à l’école, voir l’article de Tatiana Carapet en page 10.

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  [1] Carolyn Abraham, “Part 1: Failing Boys and the Powder Keg of Sexual Politics,” The Globe and Mail, 15 October 2010. www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/time-to-lead/failing-boys/part-1-failing-boys-and-the-powder-keg-of-sexual-politics/article1758791

  [2] Toronto District School Board, Research Report: The TDSB Grade 9 Cohort Study: A Five-year Analysis, 2000-2005. (Toronto: Toronto District School Board, 2006).  See also Wayne Martino, Boys’ Underachievement: Which Boys Are We Talking About? 2008. www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/Martino.pdf 

  [3] Sarah Mead, The Truth About Boys and Girls, 2006, 4. www.curriculum.org/secretariat/files/May17TruthBoysandGirls.pdf

  [4] Ibid., 14.

  [5] Lise Eliot, Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow into Troublesome Gaps and What We Can Do About It (Mariner Books, 2009).

  [6] See Bob Lingard, Wayne Martino, and Martin Mills, Boys and Schooling: Beyond Structural Reform (Palgrave McMillan, 2009).

  [7] Mead, 16.

  [8] Eliot, 305.

  [9] Eliot, 6.

  [10] Ibid., 15.

  [11] See Chapter 3: “Boy-friendly Schooling” and Chapter 4: “Single-sex Classes and Schools for Boys” in Lingard, Martino, and Mills.

  [12] See Debra Hayes, Martin Mills, Pam Christie and Bob Lingard, Teachers and Schooling Making A Difference: Productive Pedagogies, Assessment and Performance (New South Wales: Allen & Unwin, 2005).

  [13] See Wayne Martino and Maria Pallota-Chiarolli, Being Normal is the Only Way To Be: Adolescent Perspectives on Gender and School (University of New South Wales Press, 2005).

  [14] See Wayne Martino Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli, Boys’ Stuff: Boys Talking about What Matters (New South Wales: Allen & Unwin, 2001).

  [15] See B. Francis, Boys, Girls and Achievement: Addressing the Classroom Issues (London and New York: Routledge, 2000).

• Monkey-see…Monkey-do

  September 21, 2011 2:26 PM Comments Off on Monkey-see…Monkey-do

  Last spring I wrote a series of blogs based on the proposition that our publicly supported schools should not only be in the community, but of the community. By that I meant that adolescent students approaching adulthood and the responsibilities of citizenship in a democracy need to be significantly engaged in the ordinary affairs and activities of the community. I urged that 20% of the regular school time of students aged 16 to 18 should be spent in work/learning situations outside the school. Adequate staff resources would have to be provided to make it work satisfactorily both for students and community persons and organizations. An earlier blog of mine offered some practical working details.

  A fellow blogger, Stephen Hurley, wrote recently about capacity building as the essential ingredient in implementing any improvement in education. In his list of “Schools are —“ statements he said this: “Schools are built on the assumption that students can effectively learn about the world by being removed from it for most of their formative years.” That statement goes to the heart of what I believe to be the most critical challenge in transforming education.

  In that regard, the line that I wish to pursue for a few weeks is this: the structure of public education in North America is at odds with the needs of its clients, i.e. students and their parents. Put differently, the clients need a structure that will not only provide the skills and techniques for success in the digital age but also the attitudes and personal sensitivities for constructive citizenship in a democracy. In that respect, the typical power structure in public education is counter-productive. It is hierarchical, i.e. Minister of Education at the top, central administrators next, followed by school boards as hand maidens of the Minister, with principals and teachers serving the school board. At the bottom are students and parents dancing to the tune of the school authorities.

  Of course, there must be a line of accountability satisfactory to the politicians who manage the tax revenue needed to pay for the system. What is lacking is sufficient operational flexibility at the local level to ensure that the clients (students and parents) are actively in touch with the realities of their own communities while their children are growing up. That for me would be a real environment for learning. More to come!

   

• Bullying: Responding to a Sad Fact of Life

  September 19, 2011 3:45 AM Comments Off on Bullying: Responding to a Sad Fact of Life

  Bullying is a fact of life.  It has always been so and it always will be, because bullying is part of our human nature.  We see it in politics, in professional sport, in the movies and, not surprisingly, we also see it in schools – playgrounds, staff rooms and board meetings included.  Aggression and dominance are a part of our make-up; it can be managed, but not eliminated.

  That doesn’t mean, however, that we should accept it.  What it does mean is that suppression is not an adequate response and is doomed to fail.  Of course there has to be “zero tolerance” but the only constructive interpretation of this term is that we can never look away.  Responding to bullying with vengeance doesn’t get at the root of the problem and therefore does not resolve it.  It may push it away but it doesn’t eliminate it.  The “just say no” approach is both naive and irresponsible.

  There are much better ways to go.  You can set clear expectations for behaviour, you can provide adequate supervision, you can teach students how to respond if they encounter bullying, you can intervene decisively if it happens and you can use restorative justice to heal, for example, but by far the best approach is to build students’ resilience.

  Personal resilience is rooted in our own characteristics, of course, but also in the social environment that we construct for ourselves and others.  We might refer to this as our personal network, or our community, or the social capital in our society.  Schools have an important role to play in developing both students’ internal and external assets, but I want to comment particularly on the external assets – the social capital upon which students can draw.

  In “Bowling Alone,” Robert Putnam defines social capital as “a norm of generalized reciprocity: I’ll do this for you without expecting anything specific back from you, in the confident expectation that someone else will do something for me down the road.”  Others might talk about Social Responsibility or the Golden Rule.  Whatever you call it, what matters is how we go about creating a society in which, when bullying occurs, there is immediate, supportive and constructive response from those who observe it – both for the victim and the perpetrator.

  Schools are not solely responsible for building social capital, but they have a very important role to play.  In fact, the creation of social capital is one of the main reasons for having a public school system.

  So how might schools go about this task?  Well, simply bringing the whole community together is a very good, indeed essential, start.  But then, of course, schools have to operate in ways that exemplify and inculcate the values they espouse.  If they operate on the basis of “might makes right” authority in which adults claim inherent dominion over children  – for their own good, of course – they are not doing that.  What students learn from such an experience is quite likely the opposite of what we would hope and what they require in order to forge a civil society in the diverse and dynamic realities of the modern world.

  Therefore, as part of a pro-active response to the fact of bullying and and for the greater good of society, social capital development  should be high on the priority list for twenty-first century transformation.  This “hidden curriculum”  needs to come out of the closet and take its place beside human capital development in the discourse about school quality.  Without this rebalancing of educational goals, all the focus on individual academic achievements and technological prowess may be for nought.

• Canada as an Immigrant Nation: Implications for Educators Excerpts from an interview with John Ralston Saul

  September 12, 2011 2:29 PM Comments Off on Canada as an Immigrant Nation: Implications for Educators Excerpts from an interview with John Ralston Saul

  The kind of immigration and citizenship that we’re doing reasonably comfortably here in Canada causes horror and dismay and fear at far lower levels among all our allies.  We mustn’t underestimate this. We’re caught up in OECD, NATO, G8, G20 – and all of these people are frightened by the idea of immigrants – new people arriving in their countries.  And so, they’re creating an atmosphere of fearing the other, fearing the outsider. You see this happening in Europe all the time, you see it happening in the United States, building walls.  So fear is becoming the dominant atmosphere, particularly in the Western Civilization, and we have a limited period of time to act with enormous self-confidence as Canadians to say, “Actually, we don’t agree. Actually, we’re not doing it your way. Actually, on purpose we’re doing it a different way, and it’s our way, and it works.  We’re not saying you have to do what we’re doing. We’re not saying that we’re smarter than you. But we are saying, ‘Listen, we know how to do this, we’ve been at this for 400 years, we’ve been getting better and better at it.’” Even when we don’t have sufficient programming and government support, it’s still a very interesting, unusual, and particular thing we’re doing. If we start slipping on that in our schools – let alone elsewhere – then we’ll be in big trouble.

  We’re caught up in OECD, NATO, G8, G20 – and all of these people are frightened by the idea of immigrants – new people arriving in their countries.  And so, they’re creating an atmosphere of fearing the other, fearing the outsider.

  What is the source of the Canadian idea of immigration and citizenship and multiplicity and complexity? 

  Where does it come from? Go back to England; it doesn’t exist there.  They spent 500 years banning Gaelic and getting rid of as many competing cultures as possible, and putting forward this very monotone culture; the French – they banned every language they could get their hands on, and turned themselves into this idea of the Gaulois, single language, single myth. So, it doesn’t come from our mother countries. It doesn’t come from the United States, which in many ways is a European culture with the melting pot – the European idea that everybody becomes the same.  So you’re stuck with this intellectual conundrum.  Did we just invent this out of the air? Does it have no roots? Does it come from nowhere? 

  This question has a direct effect on the way we should be teaching citizenship in our schools. 

  [Looking back to the earliest European settlement of Canada, we see] 1,600, more or less, immigrants arriving in the country, and they are basically poverty-stricken, ill-educated, not well washed, and pretty hungry people from France.  And then there are some equally ill-educated, poverty-stricken, lost Scots with the Hudson Bay Company. Generally speaking, immigrants who came to Canada were poor and more often than not the losers, and they found two million people here who actually were doing not too badly, thank you… and for 250 years those people were the dominant force here.  So what happened?  They used the Aboriginal model of welcoming the outsider, getting them in the circle, providing they followed a certain minimal number of rules.  And once they’re in the circle, you work out how to fit them into the society…what their contribution is going to be.  You balance the individual with the group as opposed to putting them against each other, which is the European tradition.  And, there you are, they’re the citizens. 

  It was the old Aboriginal idea of the circle.  That changes radically the way we ought to be thinking about and therefore teaching Canadian citizenship, and the roots of Canadian citizenship.  

  So that’s where it comes from. It was the old Aboriginal idea of the circle.  That changes radically the way we ought to be thinking about and therefore teaching Canadian citizenship, and the roots of Canadian citizenship.  They do not lie in Britain; they do not lie in France; they lie in the people who were and are here, the Aboriginal people, and they’re not rational linear, they’re circular. They’re not looking for that metaphysical transformation of someone who is one thing into someone who is another.  Instead, it’s a much more complicated, relaxed, living with difference approach. Again, Aboriginal. 

  That’s a very, very big deal.  If you could get that into the heart of our education system, the kids would be so happy, because they’d know who they were, they’d know actually where they come from, and they wouldn’t be fiddling around with this kind of pretend Englishness and pretend Frenchness, and stuff that comes from Europe – and then, when they look at Europe, it doesn’t seem to fit.

• Hockey Riots and Public Education

  September 8, 2011 6:40 PM Comments Off on Hockey Riots and Public Education

  The special report into the Vancouver Stanley Cup riots concluded that, “No plausible number of police could have prevented trouble igniting in the kind of congestion we saw on Vancouver streets that night.” In fact, policing can never create such harmony. It is an essential tool, but it is not the root source of the peace and order that we all desire. Civil society rests on what sociologists call the “social capital” in our culture; that is, “the information, trust and norms of reciprocity inhering in one’s social networks.” (Putnam, 2000) Without this foundation, no amount of authority or force can either create or preserve peaceful coexistence.

  Social capital is created when all elements of society meet, share common experiences and learn to live with and respect each other, thus establishing norms of inclusiveness and reciprocity. Where it exists, social capital acts like a civic immune system, responding to protect the “body politic” from the anti-social behaviour of individuals and groups within it. With high social capital the need for policing decreases and when it is used it is more effective because the public actively support it. Without social capital no amount of force can impose order on a society.

  In “Bowling Alone,” Robert Putnam explains that, “Networks of community engagement foster sturdy norms of reciprocity … [Sometimes] reciprocity is specific: I’ll do this for you if you do that for me. Even more valuable, however, is a norm of generalized reciprocity: I’ll do this for you without expecting anything specific back from you, in the confident expectation that someone else will do something for me down the road … Trustworthiness lubricates social life. Frequent interaction among a diverse set of people tends to produce a norm of generalized reciprocity.”

  We hear a lot about the duty of schools to increase the life chances of students by building their personal skills. Clearly this is important, but it is equally important that schools foster the sort of civil society in which students experience the “peace, order and good government” that our constitution envisages. Schools provide not only private good for individuals but also public good for society as a whole.

  This was one of the fundamental reasons for the creation of public schools. “In1829 at the founding of a community school in the bustling whaling port of New Bedford, Massachusetts, Thomas Greene eloquently expressed this crucial insight: We come from all the divisions, ranks and classes of society … to teach and to be taught in our turn. While we mingle together in these pursuits, we shall learn to know each other more intimately; we shall remove many of the prejudices which ignorance or partial acquaintance with each other had fostered … In the parties and sects into which we are divided, we sometimes learn to love our brother at the expense of him whom we do not in so many respects regard as brother … We may return to our homes and firesides [from the school] with kindlier feelings toward one another, because we have learned to know one another better.” (quoted in Putnam, 2000)

  Assessment of school performance focuses on “human capital” (i.e., accomplished students) but seldom considers “social capital” (i.e., socially responsible citizens). The latter purpose deserves more attention. Schools cannot prevent hockey riots, but unless they do their job in building social capital, it is certain that in a diverse and dynamic world such tragedies will be more common and more severe.

   

  Putnam, R. D. (2000). Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

• What Will You Open First At The Beginning of the School Year?

  September 2, 2011 12:31 PM Comments Off on What Will You Open First At The Beginning of the School Year?

  Canadian thought leader, Rodd Lucier, asked me the following question last week, and it has had me thinking ever since:

  “What is the first thing that will be opened on the first day of school: the textbook or the stories?”

  I remember clearly preparing for the first day of school at the beginning of my career. In those days, I would spend most of August in my classroom (much to the chagrin of our caretaking staff), preparing bulletin boards, photocopying worksheets and activities, designing curriculum tasks and devising complex incentive schemes. On the very last day of summer vacation, I would spend my time arranging desks in neat arrays, making sure that pencils were sharpened and that notebooks, textbooks and name tags were on every desk. I wanted to guarantee that when students walked in on the first day of school  they knew that I had been diligently working on their behalf and that I was, indeed, ready to go.

  I recall those First Days of School being characterized by a great deal of talking and a great deal of listening. Looking back, however, I know that I was the one who did most of the talking, and the students did most of the listening: listening to who I was and what my expectations were; listening to me outline the rules and procedures for the year. I thought that was the way to do it. I thought that was the way to establish control, rapport and student buy-in. I thought!

  Fast forward twenty five years and my current method of preparation for that first day of school:

  Bulletin boards are started but not complete. A large, blank piece of butcher paper runs along one entire wall of the classroom. Tables and desks are pushed to the side and the chairs form a large circle with several pieces of wood resembling a campfire as the centerpiece. A guitar leans up against one wall. I am ready to go.

  It took me too many years to realize that I had been starting off on the wrong foot! The structures and infrastructures of school, while important, are not central to what my work is all about. Textbooks, bulletin boards, notebooks and all of the other scholastic trappings that my students and I are used to hiding behind are not what are essential to the ecology of my classroom.

  For me, the core of teaching and learning has become the story: my story, my students’ story, story of our community and, indeed, our world. And if it’s true that our stories lie at the core of who we are as individuals, then why not recognize that in the way I begin my school year.

  Our stories connect us to one another; our stories set us apart and allow us to express our uniqueness. Our stories allow us to relive both the highs and lows of life. Our stories allow us to express our hopes, dreams and our fears.

  To take the time to open up our stories is to lay the foundation for empathic relationship which, I believe, is the cornerstone of any safe and nurturing environment.

  So, the bulletin boards I begin are now designed to leave room for my students’ own creativity and insight. The butcher paper that runs along my classroom wall acts as a living, breathing record of what we learn and are thinking about on a daily basis. The tables and desks are sidelined in order to encourage openness and vulnerability. And the campfire? Well, that’s my new metaphor for teaching and learning, for it’s around the campfire that the art of living is played out: in story, in song, and in dance.

  The textbooks—well, they still have a place in my teaching, but they won’t be seen for a while. If you walk into my classroom on the first day of school these days, the first things that you’ll see us open up are our stories.

  So, come in, grab a chair around the campfire and get ready to learn!

  Note: For a powerful example of how another teacher has adopted this approach on an ongoing basis, take a look at Children Full of Life a Passionate Eye documentary released several years ago. 

• Canadian Education Wire – As summer sizzles, so do ongoing secular schooling debates

  July 29, 2011 4:12 PM Comments Off on Canadian Education Wire – As summer sizzles, so do ongoing secular schooling debates

  
  Photo by: amrufm (flickr)

  Protesters oppose Muslim prayer in public schools – Toronto Star

  (more…)

• The Education Reform Movement (Part 2)

  July 4, 2011 3:39 PM Comments Off on The Education Reform Movement (Part 2)

  It will be a tough slog achieving even a modest measure of my proposal in earlier blogs, i.e. diploma credit for community activity at the senior high school level. It might have been  easier 20, 30 or more years  ago when, for a brief time, there was popular support for  social, political and judicial reform – e.g. the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, 1982; peacekeeping when and where needed; The International Criminal Court, 1990s; co-operative and alternative education experiments everywhere; apprenticeships of various kinds.

  That is to say, the lead-up to the present (2011) has been marked by an explosive growth in the economics of size buttressed by conservatism in politics.  Bigger is better in both public and private enterprises. The larger the organization the greater the need for bureaucratic efficiency, employee conformity, firewalls against legal liability. In the outcome, lawyers are just as important  as specialized staff in the health and welfare of successful organizations, even hospitals, retirement and nursing homes.  

  Ask any large entity to accept a  half dozen high school students for a couple of months to help them learn about the everyday workings of the enterprise or agency, the answer will almost certainly be befuddlement and bewilderment. To whose office should the request be addressed?  How will accountability and responsibility be assured?  How will the organization be protected from legal liability? Will the receiving person or persons or officials have to endure a police check of the sexual offender registry?  How can the privacy rights of members of the organization be protected? How can an assignment deemed by the assigned student to be a failure avoid unfair blowback on the organization?

  These serious questions and others point to complications that would scare any school board away from community engagement for their students.  School trustees, too, have lawyers whispering in their ears. These men and women in public positions, more than most, are comfortable with the emerging police state about which many observers keep warning us.

  There is a ray of hope in this picture of timidity and uncertainty in the ranks of those in charge.  I am referring to the increasingly serious talk about reducing the voting age from 18 to 16. It is an overdue change for these reasons and more: earlier maturation of young persons coupled with encouraging signs of social responsibility. Digital communication has accelerated these trends. These positive signs emphasize the need to get our 16-18 year olds into the community so that they may  learn first-hand about the world of work, about economic productivity and social planning, about health care facilities and practice, about the global economy, about membership in the caring community and , outstandingly, about their own  personal career planning.  It remains for the political parties to take the initiative by broadening the electorate in step with the social evolution of the young and the parallel growth of the aged segment.

  In that social context, the health of our democracy is the real issue and the engagement of our youth is part of the solution.

• Summer Reading

  June 28, 2011 10:03 AM Comments Off on Summer Reading

  As the wheels of the education system begin to slow down a little over the next couple of months, its time for many to take a breath and catch up on some summer relaxation. From sea to sea to sea, schools are closing their doors and thoughts of a little rest and relaxation are beginning to fill the minds of many. 

  For me, the next several weeks are, among other things, a time to catch up on some of the personal and professional reading that I never quite got to during the school year.

  So, my question to you: What are your summer reading recommendations? Is there a book related to your work in education that you hold in high regard? Is there a piece of fiction that has spoken to you over the past year—one that you think should be on everyone’s bookshelf? Is there an article, website or blog that has inspired you and that you feel might inspire others?

  I’ll share a few of my recommendations with you in the days and weeks to come, but I first throw the question to you. As the summer begins to work its magic on the Canadian psyche, what holiday reading are you packing in your suitcase? 

• The Education Reform Movement

  June 23, 2011 8:47 PM Comments Off on The Education Reform Movement

  In the aftermath of the defeat of the Canucks in the seventh game of the Stanley Cup on June 15, 2011, there was a serious riot in downtown Vancouver. The orgy of destruction points to the stunted sense of social responsibility within the ranks of youth in that city. Without any attempt at analyzing the multitude of factors at work through that long night (impersonal atmosphere of the big city, adolescent boredom, alcohol, youth unemployment, fringe radicalism), let me add to the list: the negative effect of the school cocoon. 

  My earlier blogs have argued the merits of community involvement as an integral part of  secondary school education. In blog seven, I went so far as to offer details of implementation, — risky business. Sam Slick, the fictional clockmaker of 19^th century Nova Scotia, once said “If you think you’ve got a man convinced, stop !  Your reasonin’ and details will ruin you!”.  So true! Ignoring Slick’s advice, let me press on with the argument.

  First, a couple of news stories.  A Vancouver journalist, Gary Mason, wrote for The Globe and Mail (June 18, 2011) about the riot under the title  “Hidden faces, painful truths”. Mason presented evidence that it was mainly the sons and daughters of middle class folks who trashed the streets of Vancouver. He wrote “… time and again in North America, violent behaviour at festivals and sporting events tended to be more accurately  identified as middle class blowouts than rational political protests.” Where was the social responsibility of those otherwise nice kids? A couple of days later the same newspaper began a series focused on youth unemployment in Canada .  (It’s twice as high as adult unemployment). The opening shot of the series was under a heading that might have been the title of this series of blogs : “Give youths access to the working world”.

  The newspaper has taken up the notion of mentoring whereby all students registered in professional programs leading to a  degree or a diploma would, as a requirement for graduation, serve a certain number of hours or days being mentored by a person in their chosen field. That was within the broad scope of my recommendation in earlier blogs but there are two significant differences : the Globe recommendation would be implemented in post-secondary schools whereas mine would begin during the last two years of high school. Just as important, the Globe series is predicated on ways and means of reducing youth unemployment where mine is anchored to the idea of citizenship education.

  It is not clear to me how mentoring all students in professional programs will do much to change their prospects for long-term employment in an economy needing fewer employees. But it is perfectly clear to me how a substantial community experience while attending school can make better citizens. By better citizens, I am not talking about Boy Scoutism, but more simply about a youth segment (16-25) displaying hallmarks of maturity : sympathetic understanding of the adult demographic, personal connections with the world of work and public service, appreciation of conventional modes of communication, respect for the traditions of past generations and not least, sensitivity to the need for social and political change. In summary, becoming a good citizen is not a quantifiable process so much as evidence of everyday progress towards a state of mind labelled adulthood.

• The “Canadian Way” in a Chinese School

  June 22, 2011 8:34 AM Comments Off on The “Canadian Way” in a Chinese School

  Recently I spent 10 days in China, mostly in Shenzhen for a conference but also two days in Xi’an, the ancient capital and home of the terracotta warriors, for my own touristy pleasure.  I was invited to China because my previous school district established a partnership with a school in Shenzhen during my tenure that involves placing teachers there and the Chinese students, staff and parents visiting Richmond for one month annually.  The Shenzhen authorities consider it to be the most successful international class in the city of 20 million, which is China’s richest and home to 20% of its PhD’s.

  The teachers in the program change each year and generally they are very young, sometimes straight out of University, and yet their students always do exceptionally well.  In fact, they get the top results in the school, and often the city, in the annual city exams, not only in English but also in every other subject, including Math and Chinese.  This is not because they are a select group – in fact they are quite typical of the school – so what might explain this astounding success (even in subjects that the Canadian teachers do not teach)?

  My opinion, which is based on discussion with the teachers and students over the years, is that the source of the success lies in a way of thinking about learning and about the role of a teacher that is common to teachers in the Richmond School District, and I presume others, rather than the attributes of any particular teacher or the specifics of their personal pedagogy.  In my remarks – which have to make sense across language and cultural differences, and are therefore boiled down to essentials – I suggested it was because all of the teachers we have sent believe that:

  •  the classroom should be a safe, supportive community
  •  children should frequently work together in small groups; there should be lots of conversation; and teachers should work with the students in their groups;
  •  mistakes should be welcomed as opportunities to learn; and children should be encouraged to ask for help from the teacher and also to help each other;
  •  students should respect the teacher and the teacher must also respect the students; because respect is a basic value, there is less need for large numbers of rules and self-discipline should be the focus; and
  •  homework should be limited so students have time for exercise and other activities and are able to get lots of sleep so they are ready to actively engage in learning in school the next day.

  These familiar beliefs are, in fact, quite radical in the Chinese context.  Other North American educators at the conference who had just completed a fairly extensive tour of China commented to me that in most schools they say a relatively rote form of learning but that in Shenzhen they saw much more active and engaged classrooms – but even here these ideas are generally seen as innovative.

  Initially, students, parents and other staff were very nervous and doubtful about the efficacy of a student-centered approach, but over the years understanding has grown and many of the staff have begun to incorporate elements of the “Canadian practice” into their own pedagogy in ways that make sense to them.  Such observation, reflection and adaptation is the the only way for educational ideas to cross borders – direct importation doesn’t work and, in any event, the local teachers have lots to add to them.

  The notion of group work is perhaps the one that has been most widely adapted and which the native teachers of Math and Chinese feel has been responsible for the increase in exam results.  The idea that homework should be limited, on the other hand, is still treated skeptically!

  What is most common between the Chinese and Canadian contexts is the passionate concern that parents and teacher share for the children and youth in their care.  All the surface features of local behaviour and educational practice pale in the face of this universal, which provides a solid foundation for our communication and mutual learning.

  
  

• Writing his way forward

  June 21, 2011 5:52 PM Comments Off on Writing his way forward

  Amin approached me after school and informed me that he would not be doing the assignment.

  “Thank you, Ms Moore, but that is not for me.”

  “I’m sorry?” I stuttered, taken aback. I did not know quite what to say. He did not seem upset or nervous – he was, quite simply, informing me that the main assignment for the next four weeks would not work for him.

  “You said a memoir is about telling the story of my life, about reflecting on the past and stuff.”

  “Yes…”

  “Well, I’m not interested in the past. It’s over. I look only to the future.”

  I paused for a second to consider my options. He stared at me, with calm assertiveness and the shadow of a smile. Amin was new to our school – straight from Iran. I did not know about his past, but I suspected he had lived through some difficult times; he had a maturity and sadness to him that went further than that of most seventeen year olds I teach.

  I’m all for allowing students to show their learning in different ways. In this Creative Writing class students often had the freedom of choice. However, the whole point of the memoir unit was to be honest and brave in our writing – to take risks – and to come to understand that one person’s truth may not be everyone’s truth. At this point in their lives, months away from graduation, I felt students would benefit from reflecting on how they came to be who they are.

  So I looked at Amin and said, “The past may not be as over as you think. I understand that you’d prefer to look to the future and forget the past, but memoirs are worth doing for that reason alone. They can be difficult and scary and demanding. Sometimes, that’s what writing is. I will be here to help you with all that, and you will do the memoir.”

  Amin’s face went dark and he left my classroom.

  For the next couple of weeks, I guided my students through a series of exercises and writing activities to help them mine their pasts for story. We looked at events and memories from various perspectives. They wrote from the heart. They wrote their truths. During this time Amin often sat at the back of the room, away from the group.  He rarely looked at me. In fact, he rarely looked up from his page. Whenever I checked in with him he’d reply with a curt “I’m fine.”

  On the day of reckoning I woke up with a knot in my stomach. It was the day Amin would hand in his memoir, or what I hoped would be his memoir. Throughout the unit he had refused to hand in any drafts or show me any of his writing. I hoped I wouldn’t have to deal with outright defiance of the assignment.

  Amid the general chatter of the class as students got settled and read to one another from their finished memoirs, Amin sat silently at the back of the room and stared out the window. My uneasiness grew. He continued to sit that way while students shared two-minute excerpts of their memoirs. Then, ten minutes before the bell, Amin stood up and walked to the front of the room. In general, I suspect the rest of the students often feel intimidated by Amin. He is physically more mature than most high school boys. His facial hair came in thicker and faster, his build is that of a grown man, and his brooding dark eyes make him seem unapproachable.

  As he took his place behind the podium everyone fell silent. Amin began reading. When the bell rang to dismiss everyone for the day no one moved because Amin had not finished reading. He read his entire memoir and at the end we were all changed. Not because his piece was horrific, or because the story of his life in Iran shocked us, but because of his fierce bravery in facing his past, in telling his truth.

  In my writing class we do not praise others’ work. Sometimes we are simply witnesses to it (a technique I learned from Pat Schneider). Without prompting my students offered their witness to Amin.

  “I remember how you opened with a description of the sky.”

  “I remember that line about your sister’s clothes.”

  “I remember how small you were.”

  “I remember the red of that door.” And so on.

  After everyone had left, Amin handed me his memoir and walked out of the room, moving forward with what I imagined to be a little more swagger than before. 

• How to set up community-based education?

  June 20, 2011 1:41 PM Comments Off on How to set up community-based education?

  Exactly how would one go about setting up community-based education? Alas, there is no exact answer. A single high school with authorization to run an experiment on a conditional basis would proceed very differently from a whole school system with the green light after public debate and a full airing of the pros and cons. Let us assume that we’re talking about the latter. The political debate is over, the administrative leadership has been set up and a set of community bodies and organizations, public and private, have signified their willingness to participate.

  Here are some features of such a plan in operation:

  STEP ONE – Students in third or fourth year high school may participate with parental permission. The approved students, without regard to their academic standing, will select a community posting from an approved list.  Each posting will be for a minimum of two weeks and may be repeated. The maximum posting in any year will be the equivalent of 20% of the total regular class hours. A limit of two credits towards a diploma may be earned through community placements.

  STEP TWO – The receiving persons or organization will ensure that an assigned student receives daily opportunities to learn through managed participation in the activity originally identified. For example, a student assigned to an auto repair shop, will be able to assist in actual auto repair and become familiar with the shop as a whole. One assigned to a department store will be involved in merchandising decisions, display, and maintenance work on the floor. A student in a chemical lab will be able to see the practical relationship between the lab’s function and finished products or services in the market. A student with a construction company will learn about the tools of the trade and have some practice in actually using the tools. One assigned to a seniors’ home will meet on a regular basis with an inmate or more for socialization. In other cases, teams of students will engage in modified apprenticeship roles in house building projects. An assignment will be deemed a failure, but not the student, where the student is merely left on the sidelines.

  STEP THREE – A pivotal role will be played by the school team.  They will keep records on each assignment including assessment of outcomes. The school team will be in pursuit of pre-determined objectives as agreed in the original approval process. School team members will familiarize themselves with placement opportunities without interfering in the working details of the placement.

  STEP FOUR – Each student on community placement will keep a file about the experience including descriptive material supplied by the community agency, essays about the experience, pictures and sketches. The file (excepting private material) will be part of the assessment process managed by the school team. There will be one of two grades assigned after a community placement: Successful or Unsuccessful. Comments from the community agency may be included in the student’s report card.

  Anyone reading this brief sketch will be tempted to say: “Why bother?” Why, indeed. The answer lies in the near certainty that teenagers with a good dollop of community experience under their belts will have acquired a sense of social responsibility needed for citizenship in a democracy. More to come!

• From The Editor: On the Campaign Trail

  June 17, 2011 5:00 PM Comments Off on From The Editor: On the Campaign Trail

  As I write these words, we are just days away from a federal election. By the time you read them, the election and its rhetoric will have faded into the contours of a Canadian summer. I don’t want to spoil your day at the lake, but as the last week of this campaign unfolds before me, I can’t resist sharing these thoughts.

  As educators, we stress the importance of backing up arguments with facts. It’s not enough to claim something; you have to support it. That’s pretty basic, but it’s a lesson that has obviously slipped by our politicians. When called upon for clear evidence to support their points, they resort to the repetition principle of debating: just keep stating your premise again and again until enough people absorb it as a fact.

  We also insist that direct quotations and references to other people’s ideas be cited accurately and clearly. We want to know exactly who said it and where you found it. That’s called “academic honesty” in schools; it’s just plain honesty everywhere else – except on the campaign trail. There, it’s barely given lip service. If you can convince the public that the other guy said something stupid, it’s apparently fair game – whether he said it or not. Or for that matter, whether it’s stupid or not.

  Then there’s the principle of clarity. Whether they’re writing a paper for social studies or presenting a science project, students are encouraged to be clear. Can the listener understand what really happened? Can the reader tell what you really think? If not, try again, because good communication skills are essential to academic and personal success – unless you’re running for high office, in which case obfuscation reigns. A convoluted response to a clear question is the best way to prepare yourself for the inevitable misquote (see above).

  If this level of cynicism makes you uncomfortable – well, it makes me uncomfortable too. Educators across the country are placing a new emphasis on citizenship education, instilling in their students a respect for the principles of democracy, encouraging them to participate in the political process, and urging them to approach

  rational

  debate with an open mind. This is exactly what they should be doing. They should also be empowering those young people to insist on the same standards from political leaders. I hope they are.

  If we can’t re-educate our leaders in the basic classroom lessons about evidence, honesty, and clarity, public cynicism will make all political debate irrelevant.

• Entering the Third Space

  4:36 PM Comments Off on Entering the Third Space

  In early autumn, as the wheat turns to gold and the geese begin their escape from the harsh winter to come, a young girl carries large thermoses of steaming coffee over stubbly fields. She tows a young brother and heads to a group of men – father, uncles, and neighbours working the fields. Seeing the approaching child, the men stop their work, wipe the sweat from their brows and settle into the long grass on the side of the field. The young girl pours coffee clumsily, and listens while the men drink and talk of acreage, cost per bushel, and the impending war with Germany. When the men are finished their coffee, the young girl and her brother gather the thermoses and lug them, with less urgency, back across the fields. The men, refreshed, return to their work.

  My mother tells me this story, has told me this story. She frames her life by coffee. When my father was alive, she would have the kettle on and they would sit in the warm sun drinking coffee each morning and late each afternoon. When I was in university or between jobs, I would join them. Now, without my father, my mother continues the long tradition of coffee drinking with neighbours and friends. When my children arrive at my mother’s home to visit, they go expectantly to the table, understanding that coffee is the start to the day. In the late afternoon, before returning home, we linger for our afternoon coffee, understanding that this ritual brings with it something necessary and nourishing.

  Ray Oldenberg writes about the “third space”– a space removed from home and work, free from government or institutional influence, from responsibility, rules, and institutional norms. He suggests that we all need such a space, that it is in this place where classes, ideas, ages, and ideologies mix and where civic life and democracy are built.[1]

  Today, civic spaces within our society are shrinking. Both the private and public selves of children and youth are increasingly being driven by external agents and institutional policies. Their private spaces (home, after-school time, and weekends) are being claimed by television, technology, homework, and structured activities. Their public spaces (schools, sporting events, extracurricular activities) are being claimed by technology, industry, and corporate interests. Expectations of childhood and constraints on time are increasing. Accordingly, third spaces become ever more important as they carve a little freedom into the lives of scheduled children and youth.

  With shrinking civic spaces, I look to the event of coffee drinking in the creation of the third space. Drinking coffee involves men sitting in tall grasses at the edge of fields while discussing war and economics.  Drinking warm milk with grandmothers involves remembering old dreams and envisioning new paths. Drinking coffee involves students gathering in dimly-lit coffee shops to discuss dissent and society. The event of coffee involves, of course, conversation. In this conversation, a middle ground between home, school, work, and institutional life can be occupied.  In this conversation, individuals prepare themselves for active citizenship.

  The Third Teacher (published in 2010 by design architects Cannon Design, VS America, and Bruce Mau Design) resonates with the idea of “third spaces” and suggests that these spaces can be created through thoughtful reflection on the design of educational spaces. Some of their ideas include the promotion of spaces that are connected to the community, spaces that allow for exploration, spaces that support bodies in motion, and spaces that sensibly facilitate students’ ability to engage in learning and life. They theorize that the design of our learning spaces can lead to open moments where students prepare to become active citizens.

  If schools are to promote democratic ideals, they need to provide spaces where students can explore what it means to be a citizen within society. These spaces may be events (coffee drinking or cookie eating) or places (gardens and lunchrooms where you want to linger). They may also be something completely different…new schedules (open times for exploration and social interaction), curricula (fort-building for inner-city kids), ideas (schools organized around social justice or citizenry themes), and professional learning directions. In an increasingly fragmented and pressured world, the spaces on the edges of fields, on the edges of our classroom schedules, and on the edges of our daily routine, provide centering and democratic possibilities for our children, our youth, and ourselves.

  ---

  [1] R. Oldenberg, The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart of Community (New York, NY: Marlowe & Company, 1999).

• On the Campaign Trail

  June 16, 2011 7:35 PM Comments Off on On the Campaign Trail

  As I write these words, we are just days away from a federal election. By the time you read them, the election and its rhetoric will have faded into the contours of a Canadian summer. I don’t want to spoil your day at the lake, but as the last week of this campaign unfolds before me, I can’t resist sharing these thoughts.

  As educators, we stress the importance of backing up arguments with facts. It’s not enough to claim something; you have to support it. That’s pretty basic, but it’s a lesson that has obviously slipped by our politicians. When called upon for clear evidence to support their points, they resort to the repetition principle of debating: just keep stating your premise again and again until enough people absorb it as a fact.

  We also insist that direct quotations and references to other people’s ideas be cited accurately and clearly. We want to know exactly who said it and where you found it. That’s called “academic honesty” in schools; it’s just plain honesty everywhere else – except on the campaign trail. There, it’s barely given lip service. If you can convince the public that the other guy said something stupid, it’s apparently fair game – whether he said it or not. Or for that matter, whether it’s stupid or not.

  Then there’s the principle of clarity. Whether they’re writing a paper for social studies or presenting a science project, students are encouraged to be clear. Can the listener understand what really happened? Can the reader tell what you really think? If not, try again, because good communication skills are essential to academic and personal success – unless you’re running for high office, in which case obfuscation reigns. A convoluted response to a clear question is the best way to prepare yourself for the inevitable misquote (see above).

  If this level of cynicism makes you uncomfortable – well, it makes me uncomfortable too. Educators across the country are placing a new emphasis on citizenship education, instilling in their students a respect for the principles of democracy, encouraging them to participate in the political process, and urging them to approach rational debate with an open mind. This is exactly what they should be doing. They should also be empowering those young people to insist on the same standards from political leaders. I hope they are.

  If we can’t re-educate our leaders in the basic classroom lessons about evidence, honesty, and clarity, public cynicism will make all political debate irrelevant. 

• A Dead Seagull

  4:02 PM Comments Off on A Dead Seagull

  After reading, “High School’s Dark Corners” in the Winter 2011 edition of Education Canada, I thought I would share this story… 

  My high school days are particularly memorable for all of the wrong reasons. On the night of my graduation, my girlfriend chose to break up with me and my parents didn’t attend. But then, neither did I.  

  Recently, I attended a professional development (PD) activity (Tribes Training) designed to help teachers get away from the traditional teacher-centered activities by incorporating more group and sub-group activities. The facilitator of our session directed us to recall and recount a high school memory. I already gave you one of mine, but not everyone was so pathetic. A colleague, for example, fell in love with the high school quarterback and married him, and even more memorable they are still married. One teacher recalled playing senior football for four years. You do the math. He now teaches Religion, likely due to a conversion experience on the way to the coliseum. 

  I recall our high school putting on the play “Annie Get Your Gun.” I played a pivotal role in a climatic scene in which Annie raises her rifle, takes a bead, and shoots a bird right out of the sky. The audience watches in amazement as a bird falls from stage left, where I was in the wings strategically situated in such a way to launch the trajectory of the bird prop synchronized with Annie’s shooting. What can I say: it was a huge coup and theatrical success at a formative stage in my life. 

  As we went around the sharing circle in our PD group, other teachers recounted similar, yet more meaningful and insightful stories than my own. Stories about their high school past, spoken with passion and animated faces – about winning awards, trophies and other honours, about being on various teams, about socializing with friends, and frequently about skipping classes. Some gloried to hear their names announced in a track meet, setting a track record, going on a school trip, dancing slowly and intimately to “Stairway to Heaven” with the dry ice in high gear. But –­ and this is the point here – not one teacher mentioned a single magical pedagogical moment, a learning nirvana, an inner Zen epiphany. No stories were about learning or being at one with the curriculum.

  After the requisite reflection, I had to conclude that if we remain so fixated on curriculum and testing, are we really missing the big picture and the truly holistic view of our students? Schools should be so much more than curriculum-based learning factories.

  When I look yet again on my own high school days, I do remember with satisfaction my Geography teacher who made meteorology come alive for me. I had the unique opportunity to meet with my mentor about five years ago. Although securely ensconced in his retirement, he did seem to remember me. Like his own son, I too became a high school geography teacher. I became fascinated with Geography because I made a real connection with my teacher. I have come to realize that school is more than a sheltered haven for linguistic and mathematical skills. For me teaching is about making the connection with students, and only then is there any hope of giving the content relevance and greater meaning.

  We are the sum total of our experiences. I want to be a teacher who – yes, of course – covers most of the curriculum, but also provides meaningful memories and opportunities for my students. After all, everyone deserves the empowerment of a positive school experience whether they are an ace student or not. I firmly believe that every kid should have the opportunity to throw a dead bird on stage at least once – but I think you get my point.

• What You Don’t Know Can Hurt Me: Diversity, Accommodation, and Citizenship Education in Canada

  June 13, 2011 8:05 PM Comments Off on What You Don’t Know Can Hurt Me: Diversity, Accommodation, and Citizenship Education in Canada

  His head could have been, when he was born, it could have been deformed and he might want to have it covered.

  This was the response I received when I asked one Grade 7 boy in New Brunswick to explain why a boy his age, pictured wearing a turban, might want to be exempt from the school’s “no hats rule”. One might think that this student’s response was an “outlier” – that surely other students in his cohort knew more about expressions of religious and ethnic diversity.  They did not.

  The 19 students I interviewed, and the 25 students interviewed in a similar study conducted two years later, knew very little about ethnic diversity in Canada. Additionally, the students were generally not inclined to agree with or suggest accommodations related to ethnic diversity precisely because they did not understand the basis for which such accommodations might be sought. Granted, these were very small studies conducted in rural settings. I have often been asked if I thought that I would obtain different results if I’d asked Grade 7 students from one of Canada’s larger urban centres the same questions. It’s impossible to know without doing the study, so happily, I am returning to these questions now with colleagues from Acadia University, the University of New Brunswick, and the University of Toronto.

  In the past decade, issues related to ethnic diversity, tolerance, and accommodation have become increasingly important, if not urgent, for educators, policymakers, and the general public across the democratic world – and in Canada in particular. These issues have come to the public’s attention in a number of ways, and have been expressed as political statements, in public demonstrations, and through the development of diversity-related policies.

  Listen to a Podcast: a conversation with author Dr. Carla Peck

  For example, in 2004 the Nova Scotia government implemented a policy “to promote racial equity” in elementary schools across the province. In February 2009, five federal Conservative Members of Parliament chastised Erik Millett, an elementary school principal in Moncton, New Brunswick, for ceasing the daily singing of Canada’s national anthem after several parents raised religious objections to the practice. A few weeks later, another New Brunswick teacher was in the news for having her students decide, out of “un(e) Chinois(e), un(e) Africain(e) noir(e), un(e) Anglais(e), un(e) Amérindien(ne),” which three people should be saved from an impending (and fictional) disaster – an activity that the teacher had employed for years to teach about ethnic diversity. A few months later, in May 2009, a northern Ontario Anishnawbe family sought legal advice after a teacher’s assistant cut their son’s hair without his or his parents’ permission. In June 2009, the Alberta legislature passed Bill 44, a law that amends the province’s Human Rights, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Act to include protection from discrimination due to sexual orientation, but which also requires teachers to alert parents when religion (a characteristic of one’s ethnicity), sexuality, or sexual orientation will be discussed in their classrooms.

  In the past decade, issues related to ethnic diversity, tolerance, and accommodation have become increasingly important, if not urgent, for educators, policymakers, and the general public across the democratic world.

  These cases represent individual and institutional responses to ethnic diversity and accommodation of difference. Looking beyond the specific details of the cases presented above, a number of broader questions arise: What constructions of ethnic diversity lie at the root of these issues? What diversity-related policies are in place in the provinces noted above, and in what ways might these policies have influenced individual and societal constructions of, and responses to, ethnic diversity? Johnson and Joshee note that much of the research on multicultural policy to date has found that educational policies rarely match practice when it comes to ethnic diversity and accommodation of difference. They argue that research into policy and practice must also investigate the broader multicultural and/or diversity policy texts in which educational policies are embedded; policies which are often systemically racist or exclusionary, yet accepted as the norm.^₁

  Since the 19th century in Canada, education has been a central institution for the implementation of policy in the area of diversity and multiculturalism. Several scholars have documented shifts in educational policy and practice related to ethnic diversity in Canada over the years, from an emphasis on assimilation, to more contemporary efforts to promote understanding of, and respect for, diversity.²

  While there is evidence of a retreat from the activist social justice curricula which appeared in some jurisdictions in the 1980s and 1990s, developing understanding of ethnic diversity is a key goal of education generally and social studies education in particular across the country. For example, an Ontario policy document that guides curriculum development in all subject areas states that the principles of antiracism and ethnocultural equity “should equip all students with the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviours needed to live and work effectively in an increasingly diverse world, and encourage them to appreciate diversity and reject discriminatory attitudes and behaviour.” The Foundation for the Atlantic Provinces Canada Social Studies Curriculum, a policy document that outlines a framework for curriculum development in social studies across Atlantic Canada, sets overall standards for the subject area in general and the area of diversity in particular . One Foundation standard states that students should be able to “demonstrate understanding of their own and others’ cultural heritage and cultural identity.” Another states, in part, that “students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of culture, diversity, and world view, recognizing the similarities and differences reflected in various personal, cultural, racial and ethnic perspectives.” The Alberta social studies curriculum also clearly identifies diversity as central to its educational goals. The program rationale and philosophy reads, in part: “Students will have opportunities to value diversity, to recognize differences as positive attributes and to recognize the evolving nature of individual identities.” ³  As Sears and his colleagues note, this commitment to “the pluralist ideal” is endemic in Canadian social studies curricula.⁴

  An examination of curricula and standards in social studies education in Canada reveals a clear assumed progression vis-à-vis outcomes related to ethnic diversity, a progression that begins with knowledge of diversity, through to acceptance and respect of diversity, to justice. For most scholars and educators in the field, knowledge of difference is not enough: “[J]ustice demands the public recognition and accommodation of diversity.”⁵ The desired end, then, is not only an understanding of difference, but also a willingness to adapt, to accommodate, and to advocate for accommodation of difference. However, if knowledge is the starting point for both respect and justice, it seems strange that there is almost no research on how young people or teachers understand ethnic diversity.

  Constructivist learning theories grew out of the work of Piaget, Vygotsky, and Bruner, among others, and hold that students come to any learning situation not as blank slates but with a range of prior knowledge and experience that is critical in shaping how they respond to new learning. This prior knowledge can be described in a range of ways (constructions, misconceptions, prior conceptions, naïve understandings, for example); however, whatever form this prior knowledge takes, research in several disciplines has suggested that it is persistent (resistant to change) and plays a key role in how students assimilate or accommodate new learning.⁶ Howard Gardner argues that “if one wants to educate for genuine understanding, then, it is important to identify these early representations, appreciate their power, and confront them directly and repeatedly.”⁷ Constructivist research in science and mathematics has produced a growing body of knowledge about the way young people understand important concepts and ideas in those fields. In social education, history educators have made a significant start at building the same kind of knowledge base for how students understand historical ideas and processes.⁸ Outside of that work, very little has been done to map how young people and teachers understand the social world in general and ethnic diversity in particular. Despite the fact that advocates of multicultural education argue that “educators … have to have an understanding of how their students understand difference and adjust delivery of the material accordingly,” little has been done to provide them with that understanding.⁹

  Very little research on prior knowledge of topics related to multiculturalism or diversity, in Canada or internationally, exists. Some notable exceptions include the work of Varma, who found that elementary students in Moncton, NB envisioned Canada and Canadians as White-only;¹⁰ Varma-Joshi, Baker and Tanaka, who found that White authority figures and visible minority students in New Brunswick had very different (and potentially damaging) conceptions of racial slurs;¹¹ Short and Carrington, whose research with British students’ found that students who received religious education had more sophisticated understandings of the term “Jewish” than those who did not;¹² and my own early work, which found that New Brunswick students lacked sophisticated understandings of ethnic diversity, with some not recognizing expressions of ethnic identity (such as wearing a turban) at all.¹³ These studies comprise the few qualitative studies that focus on understandings of, versus attitudes toward ethnic diversity, and all of these focus on students’ understandings, not teachers’.

  One of the goals for the study I am undertaking with my colleagues (Dr. Reva Joshee, OISE, Dr. Alan Sears, UNB and Dr. Laura Thompson, Acadia) is to investigate teachers’ and students’ understandings of ethnic diversity, in conjunction with a critical interrogation of provincial and federal diversity policy texts, in the hope that this research will provide valuable information to educational researchers, ministry officials, teachers, parents, and students, who wish to better understand individual and institutional constructions of, and responses to, ethnic diversity. The research project is currently in the beginning stages. Our plans are to map teachers’ and students’ conceptions of ethnic diversity and the related concept, accommodation of diversity. It is my belief that, in order to understand an individual’s propensity to accommodate ethnic diversity, it is important to first understand the variety of ways he/she constructs or conceptualizes the concept. I also believe that is it crucial to understand how teachers understand ethnic diversity, given they are responsible for interpreting and implementing school curricula generally, and outcomes related to ethnic diversity in particular.

  It is no longer acceptable to have a “colour-blind” attitude towards ethnic diversity. This attitude assumes that, underneath our skin colour everyone is exactly the same. We’re not.

  As noted at the beginning of this article, questions and issues related to ethnic diversity are part of the everyday experiences in Canadian classrooms. Furthermore, curricula mandate that teachers teach, and students learn, about diversity. It is no longer acceptable to have a “colour-blind” attitude towards ethnic diversity. This attitude assumes that, underneath our skin colour everyone is exactly the same. We’re not. “We all speak from a particular place, out of a particular history, out of a particular experience, a particular culture, without being contained by that position….We are all, in that sense, ethnically located and our ethnic identities are crucial to our subjective sense of who we are.”¹⁴ This doesn’t mean that we (teachers, students) should focus only on the things that might, potentially, divide us, but it does mean that we should endeavour to understand what makes us similar and what makes us different, in order to better understand one another and so that the decisions we make (in the classroom, on the playground) are grounded in knowledge, not assumptions about ethnic diversity. Otherwise, what you don’t know can hurt me.

  EN BREF – Les questions de diversité ethnique font partie du quotidien des salles de classe canadiennes. Pour la plupart, les personnes faisant des recherches et exerçant leur profession en éducation présument que connaître la diversité mène à l’acceptation, au respect et à la justice. Connaître la différence ne suffit pas, mais c’est un point de départ vers le respect et la justice. Pourtant, peu de recherches portent sur la façon dont les jeunes et le personnel enseignant comprennent la diversité ethnique. Si nous ne comprenons pas ce qui nous rend semblables et ce qui nous rend différents, nous fondons nos décisions (en classe, dans la cour d’école) sur des suppositions, et non sur des connaissances – et ce que vous ignorez peut me faire mal.

  ---

  1 Lauri Johnson and Reva Joshee, eds., Multicultural Education Policies in Canada and the United States (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2007).

  2 R. Bruno-Jofré and N. Aponiuk, eds., Educating Citizens for a Pluralistic Society (Calgary: Canadian Ethnic Studies, 2001), Johnson and Joshee, eds., Multicultural Education Policies in Canada and the United States, George H. Richardson, “The Death of the Good Canadian,” in The Death of the Good Canadian: Teachers, National Identities, and the Social Studies Curriculum, Counterpoints, Vol. 197 (New York: Peter Lang, 2002).

  3 Alberta Education, “Social Studies Program of Studies. Kindergarten to Grade 12: Program Rationale and Philosophy,”  (Alberta: Alberta Education, 2005), 5, Atlantic Provinces Education Foundation, Foundation for the Atlantic Canada Social Studies Curriculum (Halifax: Atlantic Provinces Education Foundation, 1999) 6 and 12, Ontario Ministry of Education and Training, “Antiracism and Ethnocultural Equity in School Boards: Guidelines for Policy Development and Implementation,” ed. Education and Training (1993), 5.

  4 Alan Sears, Gerald M. Clarke, and Andrew S. Hughes, “Canadian Citizenship Education: The Pluralist Ideal and Citizenship Education for a Post-Modern State,” in Civic Education across Countries: Twenty Four National Case Studies from the I.E.A. Civic Education Project, ed. Judith Torney Purta, John Schwille, and Jo Ann Amadeo (Amsterdam: IEA, 1999).

  5 Will Kymlicka and Magda Opalski, “Introduction,” in Can Liberalism Be Exported?  Western Political Theory and Ethnic Relations in Eastern Europe, ed. Will Kymlicka and Magda Opalski (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 1.

  6 National Research Council, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School, ed. John D. Bransford, et al. (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2000).

  7 Howard Gardner, The Development and Education of the Mind: The Selected Works of Howard Gardner, World Library of Educationalists Series (London and New York: Routledge, 2006) 77.

  8 Keith C. Barton and Linda S. Levstik, Teaching History for the Common Good (Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2004), Rosalind Driver and Jack Easley, “Pupils and Paradigms: A Review of Literature Related to Concept Development in Adolescent Science Students,” Studies in Science Education 5 (1978),

  9 Manju Varma-Joshi, “Understanding Multiculturalism in the Social Studies Classroom,” in Challenges and Prospects for Canadian Social Studies, ed. Alan Sears and Ian Wright (Vancouver: Pacific Educational Press, 2004), 152.

  10 Manju Varma, “Multicultural Children’s Literature: Storying the Canadian Identity” (PhD dissertation, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, 2000).

  11 Manju Varma-Joshi, Cynthia J. Baker, and Connie Tanaka, “Names Will Never Hurt Me?,” Harvard Educational Review 74, no. 2 (2004),

  12 Geoffrey Short and Bruce Carrington, “The Development of Children’s Understanding of Jewish Identity and Culture,” School Psychology International 13 (1992),

  13 Carla Lee Peck and Alan Sears, “Uncharted Territory: Mapping Students’ Conceptions of Ethnic Diversity.,” Canadian Ethnic Studies 37, no. 1 (2005), Carla Lee Peck, Alan Sears, and Shanell Donaldson, “Unreached and Unreasonable: Curriculum Standards and Children’s Understanding of Ethnic Diversity in Canada,” Curriculum Inquiry 38, no. 1 (2008)

  14 Stuart Hall, “New Ethnicities,” in Identities: Race, Class, Gender, and Nationality, ed. Linda Martín Alcoff and Eduardo Mendieta (London: Blackwell Publishing, 2003), 94.

• Isolating public education from the shifting winds of politics

  June 2, 2011 1:54 PM Comments Off on Isolating public education from the shifting winds of politics

  Over the past few weeks, I have argued that the publicly funded schools in Canada and the U.S. are not doing well in terms of educating youth for citizenship in a democracy. The nub of my argument is that the graduates of our public schools, with outstanding exceptions, fall short of parental hopes and expectations – specifically in their too-frequent lack of readiness to take on the responsibilities and accountability of adulthood.

  A reliable measure of that shortfall is the explosive growth of private and home schooling over the past generation. There are now about 3,000 private schools in Canada and as many as 80,000 kids or more being home schooled. The consequent loss to the public schools of some of their most promising students raises the spectre of a public system, in the not too distant future, beggared of quality staff and resources. Already in some big cities in the U.S., the public schools are populated mainly by underprivileged youngsters under the eye of teachers, many of whom hate their work. A doleful picture.

  There are impressive records of community-based education changing the climate of public schooling in the direction of civic mindedness and away from mere careerist ‘self-centredness’. On the dark side of the ledger is the history of political reaction against progressivism in public education dating back to the 1980s. The reactionary forces have easily carried the day – more prescriptive curriculum, standardized tests, penalties for under-performing schools, merit pay for teachers, austerity in funding, enthroning of accountability for school boards and schools. As the saying goes, the natives are restless. Proposed major changes include isolation of public education from the shifting winds of politics, greater autonomy for school boards as education agents, official encouragement of professional status for teachers, involvement of community bodies both private and public in the education process.

  My preference leans to the last one of the list, which, in turn, depends heavily on all of the above for realization.  This will be hard sell. A good place to start without upsetting too many apple carts would be the engagement of service agencies and private entrepreneurs in the education process — in limited ways but with potential for major impact on the maturation process of teenagers. I shall return to this next time.  

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