Archive for the ‘Education Debates’ Category
Ryerson hosts international conference on Mad Studies
May 19 2012
Through their medical faculties, universities conferred “power and legitimacy to enforce imposed practices ranging from lobotomy, ECT insulin-coma shock, excessive drug treatments, discriminatory labels. “Now that some of us are in these elite positions within academia, it is essential to ensure we use this power and privilege to organize, to promote, research, write and engage the public about a topic that has too often in our history been interpreted through the views of medical-model academics.”
Tags: disabilities, Health, ideology, mental Health, participation, standard of living
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
North America is out of touch with ‘Ideas Economy’
March 14, 2012
Every increase in value added in Canada will come from the Ideas Economy, and if you’re going to have an educational system that’s suited to that and prepares people, you have to train original thinkers, people who are willing to challenge authority, not follow hierarchy or teach to the test. Memorization, harmonization, standardization; these make an easier job for educational bureaucrats and teachers, but what we need to do is teach our children, and teach ourselves throughout our careers, to keep re-learning how to learn.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, participation, standard of living, youth
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Pass the Books. Hold the Oil.
March 10, 2012
To be sure, there is a role for stimulus in a prolonged recession, but “the only sustainable way is to grow our way out by giving more people the knowledge and skills to compete, collaborate and connect in a way that drives our countries forward,” argues Schleicher… “knowledge and skills have become the global currency of 21st-century economies, but there is no central bank that prints this currency. Everyone has to decide on their own how much they will print.”
Tags: economy, globalization, participation, standard of living
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Fraser report raises questions on provincewide testing
March 04, 2012
Fraser’s report card ranked elementary schools on the basis of how well students performed on annual standardized reading, writing and math tests. Critics of Fraser’s rankings see them as a “narrow” snapshot of a school’s performance… Thomas argues that “hardships” outside of a school — such as poverty or a community with a large number of single parents — are not necessarily determinants of academic failure or success.
Tags: ideology
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Larger classrooms among sweeping changes suggested to education
Feb.15, 2012
The economist advising Queen’s Park on how to wipe out the deficit suggests sweeping changes to the sector on which Premier Dalton McGuinty has staked his reputation, arguing the province has hiked per-pupil spending by 56 per cent in the past 10 years, while enrolment has plunged… He also suggests post-secondary spending grow by no more than 1.5 per cent until 2017.
Tags: budget, disabilities, economy, tax, youth
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Children ask Harper to ‘Have a Heart’ and improve education on reserves
February 15, 2012
The Have a Heart campaign aims to raise awareness about the problems facing aboriginal children in government care. It’s part of a major publicity campaign surrounding a Federal Court judicial review brought by aboriginal child-advocacy groups against a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal decision to dismiss a case against the federal government.
Tags: budget, Native, participation, rights, standard of living, youth
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Why underfund? [1st Nations Schools]
Feb. 10, 2012
If education is a means to alleviate dependency, poverty and social issues, then why does the government continue to underfund education on reserves such as Waterhen Lake? I urge the Prime Minister to make the financial resources available so Waweyekisik can continue its success with students.
Tags: budget, Native, participation, standard of living, youth
Posted in Education Debates | 1 Comment »
Learning to live with ‘boy energy’
Jan 29 2012
Noting that “boy energy” is often perceived as something “innately disruptive,” Reist has observed that boys, in particular, are seen as threats to the “institutional decorum” of schools, expressed in three terse rules: “sit still, be quiet, and do what you’re told.” Building on recent research in psychology and cognitive studies, he points out that many boys learn kinetically, and that their tendencies to fidget, tap and move while in the classroom is not only normal, but also often advantageous for their learning processes.
Tags: youth
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Does Ontario really need three new universities?
Jan 14 2012
Even if the new universities or campuses are launched as teaching-oriented universities — which are less expensive — it’s doubtful the academic community will allow that model to continue over the long term. Eventually, the institutions will become “real” universities, with all the associated research and administrative costs. And the added expense for new university spaces is unlikely to significantly change the number of people who are properly trained for the workforce… We should probably be looking at a different or expanded role for colleges…
Tags: economy, ideology, youth
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Too many sociologists? Just enough
Jan. 02, 2012
A liberal arts education is not an automatic guarantor of an emancipated intellect or an enlightened sensibility. You have to work at it… exposure to a tradition of learning that is not subservient to a prevailing political ideology, that is deeply humanist in its core, steeped in the writings of extraterritorial thinkers not held hostage to the orthodoxy of the moment… (can bring) down an oppressive system through… art and witness.
Tags: ideology, participation, standard of living
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Recent Posts