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School’s out for the winter holidays – and before it’s in again, I’m reflecting on the pressing stories that writers covered for The Conversation Canada in education this year.
Early learning is a child care, schooling, socio-emotional and economic development issue. David Philpott’s research detailed how quality early childhood education reduces the need for later special education. Louise Zimanyi wrote about how in a Forest School program, children are developing reciprocal relationships so integral to sharing our planet.
Vidya Shah uncovered red-alert rising student achievement gaps based on race and income in the Greater Toronto Area and called for identity-based data to better understand these gaps. Astrid Helene Kendrick illuminated the heartbreak educators endure when their agency is restricted and resources strapped.
How schooling and learning at all levels of society can redress and respond to the legacy of Residential Schools and the Calls to Action by Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission is a searing and urgent problem. Lindsay Morcom and Kate Freeman wrote about teacher education, asking readers to consider what it means to be a “good witness” while Sam McKegney and Michael Auski wrote about rethinking
Canada through Indigenous hockey.
Tonya Callaghan wrote about LGBTQ+ experiences in Catholic schooling, and Wisam Kh. Abdul-Jabbar’s story discussed how Arab Muslim Canadian students yearn for a better curriculum that changes stereotypes and seeks to understand “the roots of global conflict.”
Asking “who profits, and who pays?” is no less relevant in education than in all policy and governance. Jennifer Fang asked, “Would you send your child to a school named after a cigarette brand?” Beyhan Farhadi wrote that with regards to Ontario’s plan to introduce high school e-learning, one lesson from the U.S. is that e-learning will expand the influence of corporations and private interests in
schools, while students stand to lose in-person time with teachers and peers.
Thank you sincerely to every author and to The Conversation’s collaborative editorial team. You amaze me.
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The Year in Education
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David Philpott, Memorial University of Newfoundland
A comparative study examining more than 50 years of data in Canada, the U.S. and U.K. finds quality early child education lessens the need for later special education.
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Louise Zimanyi, Royal Roads University
Earth-centred children's programs that seek to build ethical partnerships with Indigenous communities have an important role in learning about weathering climate change.
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Astrid Helene Kendrick, University of Calgary
A dream teaching job with seemingly great perks may not be worth it when turbulence creates crushing heartache for educators.
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Vidya Shah, York University, Canada
In examining and addressing opportunity gaps for racialized students in schools, school boards must learn to account for present-day and historical inequities.
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Lindsay Morcom, Queen's University, Ontario; Kate Freeman, Queen's University, Ontario
Decolonized education means working with settler teachers to overcome guilt and find the courage to acknowledge privilege, racism and colonialism to work in partnership for a better future.
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Sam McKegney, Queen's University, Ontario; Michael Auksi, University of Toronto
If hockey is to be a sport that brings people together and fosters what’s best about Canada, it needs to reckon with Canada's -- and hockey's -- history of racism and settler colonialism.
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Tonya D. Callaghan, University of Calgary
Using Catholic doctrine to fire LGBTQ teachers and discriminate against queer students in Catholic schools violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
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Wisam Kh. Abdul-Jabbar, University of Alberta
Interviews with Arab Albertan students reveal encounters with uneducated views of who they are in schools -- a troubling situation particularly when hate crimes have been on the rise.
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Jennifer Fang, Simon Fraser University
The Chinese National Tobacco Corporation is expanding its international markets through subsidiaries. Is the world ready for tobacco companies sponsoring or supporting schools?
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Beyhan Farhadi, University of Toronto
For high school students, e-learning is best introduced in face-to-face classes where teachers can meet a greater range of learning needs -- not as a completely online experience.
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