Students learn best when immersed in a content-rich learning environment that builds up their background knowledge
Instead of making students memorize a bunch of useless facts, we need to help them think like scientists and historians. Does this make sense to you? It probably does if you’re a curriculum consultant or an education professor. After all, that’s what’s being pushed in faculties of education. The problem is that this approach is…
This useless app has only contributed to the chaos at our major airports
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland thinks her government is too humble. At least that’s what she said when a reporter asked her why travellers are still forced to fill out the ArriveCAN app before entering Canada. After extolling the virtues of national humility, Freeland went on to take credit for saving 70,000 lives by enacting…
Schools must avoid the equally misguided extremes of zero-tolerance policies and permissive idealism
Saunders Secondary School in London, Ont., is home to approximately 2,000 students. It’s been in the news a lot lately, but not in a good way. A recent CBC story quoted an anonymous teacher who described Saunders as a “tinderbox of violence” where students regularly challenge teachers to fist fights after school. Over the last six…
Teachers are hired to educate students, not to indoctrinate them
When parents send their children to school, they place a lot of trust in teachers. It’s important that teachers not undermine that trust. Unfortunately, some teachers haven’t learned this lesson. For example, last year a school posted a message on its outdoor sign stating that farming affects oceans and that the chemicals used in farming…
Students need more time reading books and less time reading screens. Good teaching, not more technology, is key
Technology has had a huge impact on public education. Classrooms of today look quite different from those of a generation ago. It shows just how quickly technology changes and the extent to which it dominates our children’s lives. However, while it makes sense to ensure that students and teachers have reasonable access to computers, technology…
Prospective teachers learn a lot about individualized instruction in faculties of education. That’s because teachers are encouraged to personalize learning for each student as much as possible. To a certain degree, this makes good sense. An inflexible, cookie-cutter approach to education serves no one well. At the same time, the pendulum has swung so far…
Two years of pandemic restrictions have taken a toll on our kids
Finally, provincial governments are loosening public health restrictions. Based on what many health officials are saying, there’s a good chance that our country will be largely free of these restrictions by spring. And not a moment too soon, particularly for our young people. Even though kids are in the age group that is least likely…
We are more likely to remember words we write than words we type
“Sign here please.” Anyone who has ever accepted a UPS delivery, signed a permission slip for a school field trip, or filled out a legal document has likely seen this phrase. Although it takes only a few seconds to sign a document, our handwritten signature means we have read the document and accepted its terms.…
Telling students to create their own knowledge by finding sources on the internet is just plain wrong
I learned a lot about Canadian history when I was an elementary school student. However, it had little to do with what happened during class. Rather, I came across an old Canadian history textbook in our school library and started reading it on my own time. What sparked my interest was the textbook author’s ability…
Parents can no longer rely on the public system for their kid's education
Finally, schools across Canada are starting to reopen. Most provinces had switched to remote learning at the beginning of January to assess the impact of the Omicron variant. But now, thankfully, these remote learning sessions are coming to an end. Given this trend, it looks likely that all Canadian students who want to be back…
Instead of making students memorize a bunch of useless facts, we need to help them think like scientists and historians. Does this make sense to you? It probably does if you’re a curriculum consultant or an education professor. After all, that’s what’s being pushed in faculties of education. The problem is that this approach is…
