[In a Teacher Strike it is ultimately the students who are the victims. It’s great when students can research the issues and come up with an analysis, which can be put down for others to see. Armand Birk, a university student, had his first published piece in the Huffington Post — For Every Student, There Was A Teacher — http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/armand-birk/bc-teachers-strike-students_b_5703501.html?utm_hp_ref=canada-british-columbia Aug 24 ’14 After many comments and lively discussion Armand then asked: “Do you believe that the situation at hand would have been so dire if these issues had been fully addressed when they originally arose 12 or so years ago? . . What are your thoughts?” Below is my response and would love to hear back.]
GOVERNANCE VERSUS IDEOLOGY FRAMES THE PRESENT SCHOOL STRIKE
Armand: After publishing your excellent tribute to teachers you are now probing the larger picture, one of policy and financial management.
Firstly, let me say that I, as parent and grandparent, do agree that relationships between teachers and their students can be precious and should be valued. But that is not what the current struggle is about.
Now you ask if things would be different today if proper decisions were made 12 years ago.
But, that is not what is informing the two sides — the government and the teacher union — during their secret negotiations. They are immersed in age-old divisions that go back at least 40 years and well documented in the book Worlds Apart: BC Schools, Politics & Labour Relations Before & After 1972, Thomas Fleming (Bendall Bks, 2011).
This is key to understanding this “Hatfield/McCoy Feud” being played out today in BC. The closing paragraph of Fleming’s book (3 yrs ago!) said prophetically: “ . . .will government and the teachers’ federation finally find ways to behave in a civilized manner, or will the discord of recent decades finally weaken support for old organizational relationships to the point that a new ‘post-public’ universe of schooling will emerge?”
All members of the bargaining teams are well-aware of this 40 year feud and probably have well-thumbed copies of Worlds Apart in their briefcases. To read an article online of this issue go straight to the section “teacher power” http://historicalstudiesineducation.ca/index.php/edu_hse-rhe/article/view/454/611
You will see how teacher union members, though not directly through BCTF, were instrumental in defeating the government and bringing in the first NDP government in BC. You will read how the BCTF president, “radical Marxist” Jim MacFarlan (misspelled McFarlan in article) “believed schools should be used as instruments of social change”. History records that BC governments of every stripe — socialist, liberal, conservative — struggled with this militant union ever since.
You ask good questions, but I stress the issues go far beyond 12 years of history. The issues relate to ideology, that is, political agendas and you will find the politics of the inner BCTF circle (Yes, some still there from ’72) are off the continuum of local everyday politics in BC. The current strike rallying cry — As Long As It Takes — is part of the narrative from this extreme left website whose logo proclaims — Agitate, Educate, Organize http://rankandfile.ca/2014/06/28/bc-teachers-keep-your-eyes-on-the-prize/
[In a Teacher Strike, students are the ultimate victims, so it's great when students actually research, then place their analysis down for others. Here is a university student, Armand Birk, who had his first published article in Huffington Post — For Every Student, There Was A Teacher, Aug 24 '14 http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/armand-birk/bc-teachers-strike-students_b_5703501.html?utm_hp_ref=canada-british-columbia After many comments, Armand then asked: "Do you believe that the situation at hand would have been so dire if these issues had been fully addressed when they originally arose 12 or so years ago? . . . What are your thoughts?" My answer below, and would love to hear back!]
In case you didn’t know, we have TWO School Acts in BC. The Independent Schools Act, which forbids sedition — fostering discontent and overthrow of government, and the BC School Act, which says nothing about sedition. It’s too bad that besides all the active and unconcealed acts of rebelliousness being demonstrated, we now have the BCTF president, Jim Iker, urging members to actively swamp school board elections this Fall. (Lay control?)
Armand: I appreciate your well-meaning questions and answer from a history that I've lived through. We learned that a military defense system should not be governed by the soldiers and understood education should not be run by teachers. Pasi Sahlberg, the highly revered speaker on behalf of Finnish education and its achievements also believes teachers should not dominate decision-making. http://eltorofulbright.blogspot.com/2013/05/my-interview-with-pasi-sahlberg.html
Armand: Who manages the education system is probably the biggest issue of the current quarrel, not finances. I hope you’re thinking of going into public administration studies at University. Best wishes.
FREE SCHOOLS — Turning Crisis Into Opportunity
What’s to stop a burst of innovation and versatility due to the shutdown of government schools? Don’t young people still need an education?
The old standby for home educators, if they had no other plan or program, was simply to follow the syllabus. This is the carefully prepared Typical Course of Study of the World Book encyclopedia people. Every level, from Preschool to Grade 12, is here.http://worldbook.com/typical-course-of-study
The outlines for BC curriculum are also available from Ministry website. Correspondence courses also available.
$40 a day per student can easily initiate learning pods operated by either parents or teachers or both. Used textbooks are easily available from online used book outfits and delivery is quick. Online learning would also help meet the challenge. The possibilities are limitless.
The Free Schools movement of the 60s had great passion and created hundreds of small independent schools without all the technology we now have.
Go for it! Education is a continuous, developmentally urgent activity. It need not stop for a teacher strike and government lockout!
Is anyone scoping out the possibilities — sites, notices, personnel, accountability & mission statement — yet?
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21st Century Learning Under Challenge
Three provinces in Canada have so far been pressured to embrace 21st Century Learning — a broad term for “transforming” whole systems toward shifting to “competencies” and squeezing out skills and content. Constructivism is the new “teaching” style — basically non-teaching — or discovery or child-centered inquiry.
Gurus have travelled across the globe bringing in the principles and procedures for whole system change — similar to the Common Core initiatives in the United States where already major objections are raised by parents.
In Canada we have BC with its Personalized Learning Plan ready to roll out. Ontario has a 21st Century initiative.
But it is Alberta that’s worth watching. The same gurus travelled back and forth to develop Alberta’s plan — Inspiring Education. Of course, public was typically not involved.
Why Alberta is important is that there is currently a contest amongst the ruling Conservative Party for a new leader. As the three rivals travel across the province, they are hearing about concerns and discontent from parents about these new plans. It’s gone so far that one candidate, Jim Prentice, has already “pledged to halt all major education curriculum overhauls under his premiership.” None of these concerns would have been exposed so forcefully if these politicians had not been glad-handing with the grassroots in their communities. The first voting is Sept 6.
It’s too bad there is no similar opportunity in BC for parents to be examining our Personalized Learning Plan as it’s full of the same gobbledygook as Alberta’s plan. See http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/
That’s why, at $40 a day, parents should grab the chance to snag alternatives to what’s coming down the pike.