Check out a speech given by Britian’s most senior Catholic. Filed under: Education Tagged:
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Dead Wild Roses: School in Finland – Student Centered Learning
Finland blazes a trail of successful educational policy. Filed under: Education Tagged: Academic Win, Educational Policy, Finland
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Tuition Fees and University Participation #nlpoli
The connection between tuition fees and university participation was big subject in the summer run-up to the general election and then in the general election last fall. Just to give some additional food for thought on that topic, here are a couple of slices from a study done in September
Continue readingTerahertz: Alberta Education: An election bomb?
Alberta is ramping up for an election and while busty buses and money-for-nothing schemes are dominating the scandals, the new Education Act may be the thing that pisses enough people off to actually care about how this election turns out. Alberta’s education laws haven’t been updated in decades and given
Continue readingwRanter.com: Things that make me go arghhhh! Part 1
I figure that this wouldn’t be a true blog without random kvetching about nothing in particular. So in that spirit, I present semi-aimless carping about disconnected aspects of modern life, or, with apologies to Arsenio Hall, what I like to call “Things that make me go arghhhh!”: • When a
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Grappling Ignorance – A Proportional Proposal
Because of strong unionization and higher regard for education in Canada teachers make a better living than those in the United States. However, the points GI brings up still apply to Canadian educators and should apply to Canadian politicians as well. Filed under: Education, Politics Tagged: Education, Grappling Ignorance,
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose
I grew up informed and amused by Vancouver’s great editorial cartoonists Len Norris and Roy Peterson. At home, there is an original Norris on the wall, purchased at a 1981 elementary school fundraiser that benefited from the artist’s generosity during another time of restraint in public education. Browsing through works
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: OLPC Canada in Saskatchewan
Years ago I bought two XO laptops from the OLPC program. I got one, and the other went to a child in Mongolia or another country where technology is scarce. Back in 2009 (or was it ’08?) it was hard to get an XO as a Canadian. There were no
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: ThunderF00t – Why make a fuss about religion?
The title of the video is actually called “Thunderf00t Unmasked” as it deals with some of the nasty things zealots have and continue to do. It is a little slice of youtube drama, but at the same time the argument Thunderf00t makes against religion is remarkably cogent and clear and
Continue readingThe Sixth Estate: Globe & Mail: Save Costs by Increasing Class Sizes
I offer this post not to distract people from the robocall crimes, but to remind everyone that there are other scandals going on as well. Readers in BC probably already know, and readers everywhere else should know, that there is yet another conflict between the government and the teachers union.
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Homophobic language from an Ontario Catholic School Board
A Toronto area Catholic school board has recently released a blueprint to combat a wide range of discrimination. Laudably it includes a robust defense of the need to combat homophobia. However, it also includes a passage quoting all but the last sentence of the Catholic Church’s Catechism (or teaching) #2358: “The
Continue readingArt Threat: Education versus war – Friday Film Pick: War Made Easy
As students wage a massive strike in Quebec, over proposed tuition hikes that will nearly double rates in a few years, and with police responding like violent fascists—blinding the eye of one young student only two days ago—it seems an apt time to reflect on the hierarchy of values, matched
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: A No Era for British Columbia
The British Columbia Liberals promised a number of things when they aimed to form government in 2001. This is from page three of their 36-page campaign document A New Era for British Columbia. Indeed, under more than a decade of Liberal rule, expenditures on education increased. However, we need to
Continue readingTrashy's World: New school rankings!
The Fraser Institute school ranking have been released and Pleasant Park PS has moved up the scale considerably! Congrats! I am not a huge fan of these rankings (nor of the Fraser Institute.. in fact, everything else they publish outside of these rankings is little more than drivel), but I
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Dishonourable and unscrupulous – but consistent
Currently, the internet is alive with discussion of public education in British Columbia and I’ve gathered a few elements from different sites to create a composite of opinions that reflect my view that an unnecessary dispute serves no good purpose. Ian Reid wrote about Liberal maneuvering as they aim to
Continue readingBC Liberals Need To Stretch the Truth, They Already Know We Don’t Believe Them
There is a lot of rhetoric going around in the current BCTF/BC Liberal Government battle over teachers contracts. To set a context; BC teachers have been without a contract since last January and have, since September, been working using limited job action (filling out report cards and supervising recess) but
Continue readingBC Liberals Need To Stretch the Truth, They Already Know We Don’t Believe Them
There is a lot of rhetoric going around in the current BCTF/BC Liberal Government battle over teachers contracts. To set a context; BC teachers have been without a contract since last January and have, since September, been working using limited job action (filling out report cards and supervising recess) but
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: What do YOU want from education?
A young woman, for whom I have unlimited regard, sent this message to me. She is a very experienced school teacher with a Masters degree in education. She knows more about teaching youngsters than nearly all of us could aspire to know. Beyond that, she cares deeply about empowering children
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: BC isn’t broke: putting teacher bargaining in perspective
Last Monday, BC teachers held a Day of Action in communities across the province to protest the BC government’s decision to legislate a contract and put an end to their collective bargaining process. I was invited to speak to teachers at the Surrey rally, where I had the opportunity to
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The DWR Sunday Disservice – How do you know its *your* God?
Yes, we do mock religion here. Necessarily so. Today on the Disservice we look at the burning question (heh) of knowing if your magical sky fairy is indeed the correct sky fairy to be spending your time worshipping. I can think of a few possible responses from the deluded that
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