It's been some time since I waded into the issues surrounding both primary and secondary education. Of course that is probably for the best, as my ideological leanings do not align with the preaching from the pulpits of pedagogy popular today in the public and unionized system. But I come from a long line of beloved teachers and last year I began to substitute in the profession myself. Thus, I have some observations to put forth - take them or leave them.
Let's begin with the student, in case we've forgotten why we bother building a school and filling it with staff.
The purpose of schooling is to increase a child's knowledge and skills in math, reading, writing, history and science. "Socialization" and "self-regulation" are certainly important, but they are incidental to curricula: the object is not to create perfectly obedient citizens - the object is to create well-informed humans who can survive something as taxing as a classroom.
Speaking of those four walls teacher and student must endure, I have seen its invasion by smart boards and tablets. It has not yet been proven to me that these beat slate and chalk, paper and pen, or marker and whiteboard.
For higher math and science, as well as the few internet resources that actually instruct rather than inculcate a biased view, I can concede the usefulness. But digital malfunctions and distractions seem to waste teaching time far too often.
To prove I am not just a luddite hoping to reintroduce rote learning and dunce caps, I will mention here that computer classes are absolutely vital to the formation of students as our world continues to digitize everything. The best learning I've seen in this subject has been in the area of programming, with simplified lines of code needing to be properly sequenced in order for a fun task on screen to be completed. This is the stuff that will get us to Mars and I am in full support.
Of band, sports teams, and extracurricular activities, I can only say that we still seem to be stuck between the draw of private lessons or non-school leagues, and the conviction that all children must have a chance to experience these things, a tension that has existed since before I was born.
There is no solution that fits all these issues, except perhaps revisiting the question of vouchers or tax credits that will make such activities accessible to all of our schools' families.
However, I ardently believe that the elimination of standardized testing and its ongoing denigration by particular members of the pedagogical class is perhaps the greatest scandal of our time. From uniforms to provincial exams, standards allow for the marginalized to rise to an objective and respected threshold which aids their success down the road. It is paramount that a committee of stakeholders be struck to create rubrics that test academics, arts and sports.
It's swell to dream of how to make education great again but the single biggest stumbling block to maintaining the system, let alone improving it, is the teacher shortage.
This has many causes, not least of which were the shenanigans of the previous provincial government. But as I have applied to "teachers' school," I can tell you the entrance requirements aren't helping: even with my substituting experience, my lack of a university math course will now cost me a year.
Thankfully, I will be able to use these months to gain more experience in the classroom.
But unless I take a 15-month program down south, there is no way to gain back the lost annum: substituting every other day until June won't shorten UNBC's two-year program. And at the end, despite similar effort and time, the degree doesn't say "Master of Arts" - it's just another BA.
Thus, our inflation of higher education is actually inhibiting our ability to teach the next generation, all while primary and secondary curricula are being made less rigorous and more therapeutic. Until these problems are addressed, teachers and students will continue to suffer.
