The media, online and off, has been buzzing about various education announcements coming from B.C. Premier Christy Clark's office. The last one about a proposed 10-year contract between the Government of B.C. and the B.C. Teachers' Federation (BCTF) sparked a lot of debate, none of it terribly positive for either side of the table.
For parents and students (the ones with an actual stake in the plan), there isn't much to be done about it except wait and see. Parents of school-age children don't actually have much of a say when it comes to who and how our children are being taught. We can show our opinions by our vote or we can move our children to private or home-schooling, if we are so lucky.
Something does have to change with the way our kids are being taught though. Every school year, the teachers bring out the same decorations for each season and theme. Nothing seems to change. I like most of the teachers at the school, I think it is a pretty good place and my children seem to be (after a few bumps along the way) be doing OK. Just OK, not exceeding, not failing, but going along in the middle, like a school wants their students to be.
But when I see the same old, same old, I really start to question the value of the curriculum in our ever quickly changing society.
Are our schools keeping up with what is truly relevant in our world? Our school has a large computer centre with its own teacher. I have NO clue what is taught there. The kids bring home printouts about "online safety," but I don't think these courses actually mention things like Facebook or Twitter.
My son came home from some sort of presentation on the topic and the only thing that stuck with him was a story about people spying on you through your webcams. None of what was told actually resonated with is already existing online life.
Wouldn't it be good if they taught kids how to research online? How to source information and not violate copyright? I don't think elementary school is too young to learn this, not if the kids are already developing Internet lifestyles at home. The kids are merrily cutting and pasting images with no lessons about the legality of this.
Could they not perhaps start to cover basic keyboarding skills too? I suppose I will have to request a special meeting with this computer person when the next parent-teacher conference rolls along.
I think the biggest thing we have to realize when the talking heads are discussing our children's future that it is up to us on the ground to make sure our kids are learning what we want them to learn.
A Twitter discussion set me off again when parents and teachers were discussing what to buy or make for their kids class Valentine's. My question is, WHY? Why are we teaching Valentine's at all in classes? And not the actual origin of the day but instead what the card, flower and chocolate makers want our kids to know: how to be good little consumers.
Why not just make cards for parents or sick kids or something. Why make a fuss of the day at all? I was told that parents would be upset if we didn't do it. Why? Is it really relevant to the world we live in today? We want to teach our children to be the next heroes and givers, but instead we mark a day by rushing out to the dollar store and writing 25 cards that end up in the garbage as soon as they are home.
If this attitude is just me, then I apologize for wasting all your time, but I just thought we wanted the future generations to be more enlightened than what we seem to be right now.
There is absolutely no point in agreeing or disagreeing with the premier or the BCTF if we the parents don't speak up and have a voice in how our children are being taught in the 21st century.
I will step off my soapbox now.
Follow Kerry Sauriol on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CrunchyCarpets
On-line saftey is all about social sites do's and don't's my kid learned it and they also learned to type properly at school and supported at home.
It seems a no brainer to me as kids are expected to use the computer daily but my stepson never learned to keyboard correctly (we are in Ontario). If we can't do even the basic stuff.....what hope is there for more complex learning?
Further, we base vast amounts of projects and assignments on social media, and modern information sources, since it actually resonates with students and will, hopefully, make it meaningful.
We spend huge amounts of class time teaching how to do proper online reasearch, and you can bet that at least 50% of essays and research papers handed in still list Wikipedia as a source.
Both teachers and parents need to work together instead of blaming one another. And schools and parents need to allow teachers to fail students.
http://gelponline.org/sites/default/files/resource-files/case_study_bc.pdf
As for me, personally, I would definitely prefer if the level of my children's education was higher, and would motivate more critical thinking. I would also like to see more hands-on real-life teaching such as Permaculture. They are still very young though, in K and grade 1, so I tend to feel that I'm being impatient in that regard...
The range in abilities can be attributed to ever more reasons; poverty, malnutrition, poor parenting, poor teaching, family issues, language issues, diminishing work ethic, overblown curriculums, student distraction, fewer disciplinary options, more students with mental health concerns, anxiety, bullying, poor social skills.
While at school, there are additional reasons why student's brains function in low gear; never ending classroom interruptions due to assemblies, holidays, PD days, sick days for students and/or teachers, teacher seminars, fire drills, lock down drills, computer malfunction, Internet malfunction, photocopier malfunction, switch days, boredom.
Successful students are invariably the result of good parenting. When parents accept the idea that lessons at school are merely a bonus over and above what MUST be taught at home, they will understand the responsibilities they have in their child's development.
Reading, writing, addition, subtraction and knowing the multiplication tables have all become HOME LEARNING TOPICS. Teach your children these things and they will be less fragile within school and in life.
All the other stuff, keyboarding, copyright laws, research, these are small potatoes. Intelligent students will pick this stuff up in no time. And for the less intelligent students sorry, but it doesn't matter. They must develop their HOME LEARNING TOPICS first.
But there is not enough communication until usually it is almost too late for those parents who are unprepared for the 'home learning' and some do not have the resources themselves to take it on.
We need a better vehicle for communication and understanding between schools and parents..I really don't think parents feel that they are stakeholders in the whole education system at all.
Parents should march to their local teacher's college and to their provincial Ministry of Education and demand changes to the curriculum and how time is used in the classroom so that all children can be taught the skills they will need in the adult world.
i agree with you about valentine's day - in the end it always amounts to the same "participation" phenomenon that plagues the sports program in schools
the other point you have to remember is that teachers spend an awful lot of extra time preparing materials for curriculum and unless your kids are repeating grades they don't generally see the "same things every year." remember that we spend what, 6 hours, with your kids and you spend the rest. you, as a parent, have an obligation and opportunity to extend learning into your home. most computer/technology teachers DO teach keyboarding and privacy stuff but it's your call if your kid has facebook, mobiles, ipads, and even access to the internet. we the teachers are not your babysitters, but we often have to be because many parents see us that way, and we have to bridge the gap between your lack of teaching your kids basic manners and listening skills. (i say "you" not as in all parents but some). and we have tons of resources so if you want work to give your kid at home - JUST ASK!
also, the next time i come into YOUR office you better have changed the decorations on the wall. i don't want to see your awards and certificates in the same frames as before. and please, get a new coffee mug - "World's Greatest Journalist" is getting
And yes..parents do have an obligation to teach the rest of the time and many sadly don't and so the burden is on the school the teachers and the other parents out there having a better way to communicate and build a system that addresses curriculum issues, questions about what is being learned and perhaps new ways that do indeed push parents to being more involved in their kids education.
My point is...there has to be a better way than what we are currently wading through.
What if... parents worked as being PARENTS and we raised our kids to be curious, disciplined, respectful beings, and teachers worked at being TEACHERS, whose job is to motivate, encourage, and impart knowledge and skills!? How would you like it if teachers told parents how to parent? There are enough examples where parents need a bootcamp session or two about effective parenting.
If you knew anything about the school system, you'd know that my children are in classes where the teachers are too busy parenting other children who come to school with almost no skills to learn, and teaching becomes secondary. You'd also know that teachers bring an ENORMOUS wealth of creative, dynamic, and interesting educational practices into the classroom. I'm shocked you would judge the content of their ENTIRE curriculum based on some window or wall displays. Seriously?
I laughed out loud re: Valentine's day and parental pressure. And you are advocating for.. what, exactly, if not that very thing?
The biggest problem is the curriculum. The whole language method of learning replaced basic progressive systematic teaching tools like phonics, memorizing math facts, graded reading, spelling, handwriting, etc. etc. Not to say that these systems didn't leave out kids. The problem is throwing out the baby with the bath water. Schools and teachers should have both tools in their tool kit. This way all the children learn, instead of many (mostly boys) who are now offloaded into the pseudo-educational medical system which has grown up around the whole language method of instruction. Now, children who can't learn by osmosis (totally normal) are shunted off to therapies, psychologist, neuropsychologists, physiotherapists and the like as early as SK or Grade 1!!!
As for the classroom, it's time for the learning to take place at desks arranged to face the teacher, and for there to be progressive discipline and strategies to keep the classroom quiet and a proper place for learning. Instead of a free for all, periodic breaks to get energy out are better, and for god sake, don't teach children on the carpet, which seems to be very popular, but a recipe for misbehaviour and squirming, especially on the part of boys who generally learn better when they understand the expectations and have clear boundaries.
Really?!! That is very strange assumption.
She says: " Our school has a large computer centre with its own teacher. I have NO clue what is taught there." Why doesn't she go to the school and find out?
Then: "If this attitude is just me, then I apologize for wasting all your time." Apology accepted. Please go to the school, ask some questions, and the next time you write, please write from an informed point of view.
"When I had questions about my son's education the union rep was called into the meeting. What has the union got to do with a parent wanting some answers about issues going on with my kids education?"