How to Excuse Your Child from the Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA)
Well, it’s that time again: Foundation Skills Assessment in BC. There are so many things wrong with the FSA tests. I won’t go into them here, but you can read…
Education
Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Emma Woolley discusses how homelessness developed into a social problem in Canada in large part through public neglect. Judy Haiven is the latest…
Do You Want To Be A Better Mentor?
Probably. But maybe you don’t actually know that you are a mentor now. You probably are, but if you are more mindful of relationships with your informal apprenticeships, you will…
Sunday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your Sunday reading. – Walden Bello discusses the need for our political system to include constant citizen engagement, not merely periodic elections to determine who will be…
Helping out Clifford Bowey PS…
… in the Aviva Fund competition. Hi all – PSA time: Clifford Bowey PS has moved into the Aviva Fund Semi-Finals! I like to think that our school community last…
Legislatively “Balancing” Human Rights
There is a simple, time-honoured rule about attempting to “balance” human rights classes in legislation so that it works out a particular way every time, and it goes like this:…
What if Prentice Issued an FAQ to Explain Bill 10…?
Premier Prentice likes corporate-speak (“under new management”, “price takers, not price makers”, etc) so let’s apply a corporate communication tool, the FAQ, to explain the government’s rationale for Bill 10.…
Monday Morning Links
Assorted content to start your week. – Murray Dobbin writes about the damage caused after decades of allowing the corporate elite to dictate economic policy – and notes that the…
Activist pasts, austere presents, queered futures: An interview with Emily Davidson
“Imagine a new relationship to every aspect of everything.” “Capitalism has fallen; Art must be redefined.” “You get to pick your gender when you come of age, but feel free…
UBC Must Divest From Fossil Fuel Companies: Faculty Members
Open letter signed by 215 University of British Columbia faculty members asks university to divest from destructive fossil fuel companies within five years. The post UBC Must Divest From Fossil…
New column day
Here, on how the City of Regina has learned a painful lesson about the Saskatchewan Party’s habit of accepting credit but not responsibility on P3 projects. For further reading…– Emma…
An Open Letter to Janet Fraser
Dear Janet Fraser, First of all, let me start by congratulating you on your school board election victory this past Saturday. I voted for you enthusiastically, as I did your…
Conservatives Learning Lessons of History
11. Government handing over the most vulnerable to religious groups has worked out well in Canadian history: look at the residential schools — Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) November 10, 2014 1.…
Apprentice. Intern. Slave.
The employment climate for many students and graduates has been a difficult terrain to not only navigate but also survive. And slavery masked under labels of ‘apprentice’ or ‘intern’ only…
New student coalition vows to block tar sands pipelines at Quebec border
A new student coalition promises to block Transcanada’s Energy East and Enbridge’s line 9B tar sands pipeline projects “at Quebec border.” The post New student coalition vows to block tar…
Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Duncan Cameron discusses how Canada can respond to being stalled economically: In 2011 median earnings in Canada were $30,000. That means one-half of…
Means-test the rich, or another argument for eliminating tuition
Here’s an oversimplified choice for how to fund post-secondary education. Imagine you have two options for dealing with how people pay for post-secondary education: Universal free tuition, means-testing to see…
Germany Now Has Free Tuition
Germany has done something that the rest the developed world should copy: reducing post-secondary tuition fees to zero. Open and accessible education is key to making a richer and more…
Feel Better By Visiting Your Local Library
It turns out that by simply using your local library you can improve your life – no matter what you read. As long as you make use of what the…