Author: Tara Ehrcke

The BC edplan, along with most incarnations of 21st Century Learning, calls for a reduction in specificity of learning outcomes in favour of more integration of skill based learning. This is part of a world wide push by business and education think tanks. The underlying theme is to repurpose schools

We elect three different governments to look after different parts of our school system. Locally elected School Boards develop budgets, define policy, and manage the day to day running of Districts. Provincial governments set curriculum and most education policy. They create the legal and regulatory framework for schools. The federal

When a parent visits a daycare, top of their minds is what kind of activities their children will be doing. A typical visit includes a description of the day, from play time, to nap time, to out door time. Most day cares proudly announce that they hav…

I noticed in the news this week that a debate is taking place in Alberta over the consideration of selling naming rights to companies for school facilities and classrooms. The administration at the Calgary Board claims the funds are necessary to creat…

The news this week that BC parents are increasingly turning to private schools was not surprising. For two decades, teachers and trustees have been raising the alarm over the impact of funding cuts to our public schools. Parents notice too, and if they can afford it, they go elsewhere. One

Much of the hype of the 21st Century Learning centres around “personalization”. Academics such as the UK’s Ken Robinson lament that existing forms of schooling are restrictive and standardized – deadening children’s innate sense of curiosity. At the opening keynote of a recent education conference (ISTE 2012), he said:“Humanity is

With funding cuts across North America, schools and school districts are turning to fundraising more and more as a source of income. There is a long history of parent committees raising funds for extra-curricular activities, but the type of fundraising now gaining traction goes beyond paying for some extras. Is public education

It is a disturbing juxtaposition: in the same week that Facebook refused to remove hundreds of bullying comments about teenager Amanda Todd, who recently took her own life, another Internet company, ServerBeach, shut down, with almost no notice, 1.4 million blogs of teachers and students due to a copyright infringement

In the latest bizarre policy measure by Premier Christy Clark, the BC government will provide free online textbooks for 40 post secondary courses. It reminds me of the time they sent a book home to every household in BC with a child. I imagine this will be just about as

It is easy to think that we are immune here in Canada from the influence of the global “education reformers” who claim to want to improve schooling but really want to reduce government expenditures, reduce public service delivery and the levels of service publicly funded, and at the same time

Most of the education world is filled with numbers that shouldn’t count. A book by John Hattie is making the rounds in BC and Canada. The book is used to develop a theme: that there is data-based evidence that class size and other working conditions don’t matter that much, but

Chicago teachers ended their strike and returned to classrooms this week. The strike was particularly significant – this was the first teacher union in the US to make a significant push against the corporate reform agenda. It was the first teachers strike in Chicago in decades. The Chicago board was

The wholesale elimination of public schools would be a political impossibility. So too would be the wholesale replacement of brick and mortar schools with online learning. As a result, those who seek to make profits from education by replacing teachers with machines typically do so in small steps. Privatizing creeps

Today’s 24 Hours posted a “debate” about the new curriculum proposal by the BC Ministry of Education. Unfortunately, both participants got it wrong (see: http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/Columnists/TheDuel/2012/09/16/20204426.html) The “facts versus skills” debate is a false dichotomy. Children need to learn some facts and children need to learn some skills. The most important question

It all sounds so familiar. Under the false guise of “austerity” and “student’s first” the Chicago public school board wants to eliminate teacher pay increases, increase class sizes and lengthen the school day. After a summer of failed bargaining, Chicago teachers are today on strike for the first time since

On the first day back at school, just after former Education Minister George Abbott announced his intention to resign from politics, and just before a cabinet shuffle, the BC Government decided to announce they are overhauling BC’s curriculum. The proposed curriculum changes were developed last year, during a protracted labour

I am happy to see George Abbott go. It is ironic that he is announcing his departure just as thousands of students arrive to classrooms that are woefully overcrowded. Mr. Abbott’s legacy? Bill 22 – trampling on teachers’ democratic rights, overcrowding classrooms, failing to heed the constitutional requirements to negotiate