Charles Ungerleider, Professor Emeritus, The University of British Columbia
[permission to reproduce granted if
authorship is acknowledged]
Statute, international covenant, and court decisions make it clear that all eligible children are entitled to an education. But what is the nature of that entitlement? In British Columbia, under section 2 of the School Act eligible persons are “entitled to enrol in an educational program provided by the board of a school district” if they are resident in the school district and of school age. The School Act defines an educational program as “an organized set of learning activities that . . . is designed to enable learners to become literate, to develop their individual potential and to acquire the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to contribute to a healthy, democratic and pluralistic society and a prosperous and sustainable economy.” The definition accords the agency responsible for the provision of an educational program some latitude as to what constitutes learning activities.
Although granted some
latitude as to what an educational program entails, it must meet specific
conditions. The definition refers to an educational program, meaning it must be
a plan of action to accomplish specific objectives. The objectives of such a
plan are to equip the learner with “knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to contribute
to a healthy, democratic and pluralistic society and a prosperous and
sustainable economy,” specifically calling attention to literacy. Again, there
is obviously some leeway about what knowledge, skills, and attitudes learners
might need to make such a contribution. Leeway is not carte blanche.
To my mind, the determination of the learning activities must meet the Professional Standards for BC Educators. Chief among those standards is: “Educators value the success of all students. Educators care for students and act in their best interests.”
The educational program provided would not impede a student’s normal progress to graduation. Or, to put it another way, the educational program should not discriminate among students without adequate reason. Thus, it might be reasonable to provide an educational program that would take a given student longer to complete than her peers because of the circumstances affecting her situation. This, for example, is a consideration in adjusting the educational program provided to a student with special needs.
Provincial ministries and departments of education acknowledge that adjustments to a student’s educational program may require the student to spend more time in achieving its intended purposes. Secondary schools in British Columbia, for example, incorporate five years (from grade 8 to 12). The BC Ministry of Education reports the number of grade 8 students that earned graduation in five years as well as the number that completed in six.
An educational program that prevents a student from acquiring the knowledge and skills s/he needs after she completes school does not meet the spirit or the intent of the School Act. The concept of program requires both deliberation about the characteristics of the learner and the circumstances affecting her and consideration of the knowledge and skills that she needs to maintain normal progress toward successful school completion and the eventual assumption of adult responsibilities in “a healthy, democratic and pluralistic society and a prosperous and sustainable economy.”
School board determination of what constitutes an educational program is an essential task that must be performed for all learners and, especially, for learners who face challenges that, if not considered, would impede their successful attainment of the intended outcomes of schooling. These include students with special needs, students who are not proficient in the language of instruction, and students who, because of circumstances beyond their control, find schooling more challenging.
School boards, to which the responsibility for ensuring that students are provided and educational program, are not without guidance. There is a provincial curriculum. There may be, as there is in British Columbia, a ministerial order that spells out the required areas of study. That order specifies that a school board must offer students in kindergarten to grade 9 an educational program that meets the learning outcomes in language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and other subjects. There is a complementary order that specifies the requirements a student must meet to achieve graduation, including the number of credits a student must accumulate, the courses for which credit must be earned, and the literacy and numeracy assessments that a student must complete.
There are students for
whom the determination of an educational program is too often overlooked or is treated
perfunctorily: students subject to out-of-school suspension. Students suspended
from school are among the most challenged and challenging students. For some,
one of the factors prompting the behaviour that gave rise to suspension is lack
of school success. Their reintegration to schooling should not be further
impeded by failure to provide them with an educational program while suspended,
one that, given the circumstances, a reasonable person will regard as
appropriate.