Archive for the ‘Education’ Category
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Bad science: Global-warming deniers are a liability to the conservative cause
Saturday, July 17th, 2010
July 15, 2010
… too many of us treat science as subjective — something we customize to reduce cognitive dissonance between what we think and how we live. In the case of global warming, this dissonance is especially traumatic for many conservatives, because they have based their whole worldview on the idea that unfettered capitalism — and the asphalt-paved, gas-guzzling consumer culture it has spawned — is synonymous with both personal fulfillment and human advancement. The global-warming hypothesis challenges that fundamental dogma, perhaps fatally.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology
Posted in Education Debates | 1 Comment »
Poverty should not stand in the way of education
Friday, July 9th, 2010
July 8, 2010
The problem is current education funding virtually ignores all factors except student population (there are some concessions made to smaller, rural areas). Thus any efforts to overcome socio-economic issues within school boards comes at the expense of other schools, assuming boards even have the ability to tackle anything related to socio-economic issues… If education is truly the key to helping people escape poverty, then we need to do everything possible to ensure poverty doesn’t then stand in the way to our children getting that education.
Tags: participation, poverty
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Loyola’s good fight
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
Jun. 28, 2010
In 2008, the Quebec government introduced a grade-school course titled “Ethics and Religious Culture” (ECR), to replace the religion courses previously offered by the province’s schools. Compulsory in all public and private institutions, ECR presents all religions on a morally relativistic footing, and devotes considerable weight to the history of liberal social movements. The introduction of ECR generated opposition among parents who saw it as an exercise in social engineering.
Tags: ideology, rights
Posted in Education Debates | 2 Comments »
Ontario reveals schools that will receive second wave of all-day kindergarten
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
Jun. 15, 2010
The program will be introduced this fall in nearly 600 schools, and by September of 2011, with the additional 200 schools the full-day option will be available to about 50,000 students across the province. “What we’re hearing from school boards is there has been a very healthy response to this initiative, parents are voting with their feet on this one,” said Minister of Education Leona Dombrowsky… All-day kindergarten will be available everywhere in the province by 2015.
Tags: child care
Posted in Education Debates | 1 Comment »
Native counsellors vital to student success
Sunday, June 6th, 2010
June 5, 2010
The Ontario Native Education Counselling Association (ONECA) has released Walk In Our Moccasins: A Comprehensive Study of Aboriginal Education Counsellors in Ontario… The report addresses many of the challenges facing native students in post-secondary institutions and confirms the necessity of culturally validated curriculum. It also presents the need for parental and community involvement, academic readiness, social services, and the native counsellors to advocate on behalf of, and provide guidance to, First Nations students.
Tags: Indigenous
Posted in Education Debates, Equality Debates | 1 Comment »
Investment is great, but what about people?
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
June 2, 2010
… making low tuition fees a cornerstone of post-secondary education policy would make it impossible to properly balance costs between individual students and the broader society… I think income-contingent loans, along the lines of what’s offered in Australia, are also well worth considering… The income contingent system has been criticized as being unduly costly for graduates who don’t make big salaries and therefore take a long time to repay. But this could be solved with something as simple as a cap on eventual repayment costs.
Tags: participation
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Today’s college kids are 40-per-cent less empathetic, study finds
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010
Jun. 01, 2010
Mary Gordon, the Toronto founder and president of Roots of Empathy, also blames a “poverty of time” in families. “You have to experience empathy to continue to develop it. If children don’t have enough opportunity and parents don’t have enough time to be with their children, it’s really difficult,” she said. The non-profit organization offers an experiential learning program to students from kindergarten to Grade 8 to help beef up children’s “emotional literacy.” School officials typically call the organization after they’ve seen a spike in bullying.
Tags: participation
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Top grades for Canada’s new research program
Thursday, May 27th, 2010
May 26, 2010
The $190-million is stretched over seven years, and therefore will cost Ottawa a little more than $25-million a year. That investment has already sparked millions more from private sources and provincial governments… In the United States, a program like this might not be necessary, because private universities are so well endowed, and so much private and foundation money is available to recruit the world’s best. And success feeds on success, so the top U.S. universities are automatic magnets for talent.
Tags: participation, standard of living
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Fewer than 3% undergraduates opting to study abroad, study finds
Thursday, May 27th, 2010
May. 26, 2010
At a time when politicians are extolling the virtues of attracting more foreign students to Canada, a new study shows our own undergraduates are homebodies. Less than 3 per cent ventured to a foreign country as part of their studies, even though most say they are interested in global issues and are attracted to the idea of studying abroad. Money, difficulty in meeting degree requirements and lack of awareness of opportunities are all contributing to the low showing, the study finds.
Tags: globalization, multiculturalism
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Awarding of research chairs ‘brain coup’ or brain cramp?
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
May 25 2010
This year’s federal budget provided only a modest increase for Canada’s research granting councils, hardly equal to inflation and certainly not enough to offset the nearly $148 million in cuts announced last year. As a result, labs are being shut, important research projects are being shelved, and some are looking at a future outside of Canada. That context helps explain why many researchers are shaking their heads in disbelief as universities lucky enough to scoop a CERC chair now say they’re on the hook to cover significant new costs associated with the program.
Tags: budget, participation
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
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