Category Archives: BC Politics
The Rise of the Electives and the Smorgasbord Kids (And Why Trades vs Academics is Obsolete)
One of the most common dichotomies in modern education is “trades vs. academics”. Supporters of one (often the trades) will decry the predominance of the other, and demand equal consideration from educators, government and society as a whole. However, I think the debate is clichéd and misses something important. One of the most noticeable trends I […]
There Are Costs Associated With Choice and Flexibility
The following is a recent contribution I made to the BC Edplan website; the government is using the site to gather feedback for its current forays into “21st century learning” and “personalized learning”. Admittedly, the site is probably also being used to legitimate any future policies that may turn out to be controversial, but I’ve […]
Equality of Opportunity?
a The following is a quick letter I contributed to the online forum of the Globe and Mail: ____________ One of the great challenges to North America’s dominant political narrative is that it doesn’t actually believe in “equality of opportunity“. If one doubts my contention, simply review the attempts here in Canada to introduce a […]
Back to the Future with Technology
One of the personal ironies of the current push to “21st century learning” is that I would be happy to return to the technology of the 1990’s. Back in those halcyon days, when I lived and worked in a small community along the Alaska border, our tiny rural school had one bookable computer lab fitted […]
Tobey Steeves: Schools as sorting machines and the imperative of reform
I am pleased to offer a guest post from my comrade-in-arms, Tobey Steeves (@symphily). I think Tobey’s call to recognize the unique qualities of each student in the face of bureaucratic classification and stratification is imperative in today’s obsession with “reform”. Tobey points to a particularly egregious proposal regarding special education: as a sop to […]
A Few Tweets with Baldrey
Twitter is an interesting technology that I’ve just started to use in the last four months (@grapemanca). So far, it has been a wonderful way to save, share and collect valuable links to fast-breaking stories. Not so useful is its capacity for discussion. Trying to follow a conversation between two other people is very difficult, […]
Changes in Core Competencies?
The following is my response to the Ministry of Education’s question, What new competencies will students need to prepare them for graduation and the future? The question can be found on the Ministry’s new website, engage.bcedplan.ca/ ______________ The most important competencies are the ones that have existed for millennia. In terms of the basic literacy […]
Reflections on the Social Studies Conference
On Oct. 21 I attended the annual conference held by the BC Social Studies Teachers’ Association. Given how touchy everyone is about Pro-D, I thought I should mention that I spent my time wisely! The theme of this year’s conference was a familiar one – “21st century learning”. In the sessions I attended, the tone […]
Some thoughts on consumer debt, inequality and taxes
A recent report from Transunion, a Canadian credit agency, shows that consumers in B.C. carry the largest debt load in Canada. This debt includes credit card debt, but not mortgage debt. Given the real estate prices of urban British Columbia, it’s doubtful that adding mortgage debt would improve B.C.’s debtor status. This status, of course, […]
The Order of B.C. a Laughingstock
With Gordon Campbell, Ken Dobell and David Emerson included in its latest round of recipients, the Order of BC is now officially a laughingstock!