The government must call together a task force of educators, families and researchers to work toward better solutions for inclusive education as education for all.
A person wears a Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation button during a province-wide, one-day strike in Saskatoon, Sask., on Jan. 16, 2024.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Heywood Yu
Decisions to fill teacher vacancies with uncertified adults compromises children’s education and reveals a demeaning notion that teachers — in a female-dominated profession — are merely babysitters.
A student holds a ‘Free Palestine’ sign at a rally at the University of Texas April 24, 2024, in Austin, Texas, one of many gatherings following the arrest of more than 100 demonstrators at Columbia University protesting Israel’s war in Gaza.
(Ricardo B. Brazziell/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
Ontario’s Strengthening Accountability and Student Supports Act threatens to undermine university autonomy, and could serve to censor critical thinking and dissent on campuses.
A Grade 3 student practices cursive handwriting at P.S.166 in the Queens borough of New York in 2017.
(AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Developmentally progressive instruction allows children to learn handwriting. An open-educational resource by literacy and writing experts supports instruction for kindergarten to Grade 3 children.
‘Back to basics’ language used by the government distracts from the importance of continuously updating and revising curriculum.
(Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for EDUimages)
We need to ensure the best scientific research in play-based learning and early reading is leveraged, and teachers receive supports to meet children’s developmental and academic needs.
In a research study on the accessibility of French immersion, one parent was told she faced a three-year wait to access reading supports for her child.
(Andrew Ebrahim/Unsplash)
Parents in a study about the accessibility of French immersion programs discussed inadequate support for learning to read and feeling pressured to pay for expensive tutors.
Canada’s provinces can learn much from each other about approaches to pandemic recovery. Students seen at College Louis Riel in Winnipeg, Man., in January 2022.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods
To boost post-pandemic math learning, a multi-dimensional approach is needed that promotes the success of the whole child: academic, physical and socio-emotional.
One student in a study said they would have loved to receive emails about school closures: ‘I always had to ask my parents. Sometimes they don’t read the emails.’
(Shutterstock)
Insights from youth about COVID-19 school closures and youth exclusion from pandemic-related decisions suggest we have an opportunity to improve how we support youths’ rights.
A school shift towards reading Indigenous literature shows students and our society the importance of learning about Indigenous perspectives, cultures, contributions and histories.
(Jennifer Brant)
Researchers from an Indigenous literatures lab examine texts that are well-suited for a new Grade 11 course, First Voices.
For workers whose wages have fallen behind, the prospect of not having to strike is tantalizing. Buttons on a person in a picket line outside the Toronto District School Board head office in December 2019.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston
A contributing factor to a rise in violence in Ontario schools is underfunding of education and the social service sector. Using trauma-informed responses is part of the solution.
When University of Manitoba Faculty Association went on strike and hit the picket lines in 2016, the association raised issues about having a greater say over ever-increasing workloads, appropriate use of metrics in evaluation and job security.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods
Education strikes by university and public school workers are political fights about diminished respect for education as a public good and workers’ rights in an economy that perpetuates inequality.
CUPE members and supporters join a demonstration outside the office of Parm Gill, Member of Provincial Parliament for the riding of Milton, Ont., on Nov. 4, 2022.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nick Iwanyshyn
Frustration about unsettled bargaining that predates the pandemic could get channelled into pronounced resistance from educational workers during the coming months.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford sits in the Ontario legislature during Question Period as members debate a bill meant to avert a planned strike by 55,000 education workers.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
The Ontario government’s latest use of the notwithstanding clause is at odds with its stated intention to keep kids in school amid a labour dispute — and at odds with the heart of labour relations norms.
Ontario’s elementary and secondary school curricula now include coding, a most basic aspect of learning programming.
(Shutterstock)
Teaching computer programming to youth can prepare them for the future job market, promote equity in tech professions and develop students’ computational thinking skills.
If teachers were to only address the skills, knowledge and referral protocols that Ontario’s Human Rights Commission recommends, students wouldn’t have essential knowledge to support their reading.
(Shutterstock)
Direct instruction matters in learning to read, but reading can’t happen unless children are supported in making connections to what they know and their experiences.
Ontario restored standardized testing in 2021-22 after missing a year due to the pandemic, but it’s going to be difficult to analyze results without consistent baseline data.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Ontario’s incoming government after the election will have its work cut out for it in restoring the public’s faith after extensive school closures.
Parent activism for racial justice in schools is parent engagement. How are school boards valuing and supporting this?
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
A policy of “choice” for full-time online schooling would weaken public education, erode funding for in-classroom supports and drive those who can afford it to private education.