Charles Ungerleider, Professor Emeritus, The University of British Columbia
[permission to reproduce granted
if authorship is acknowledged]
Although Canada’s publicly funded elementary and secondary schools are among the best in the world, there are many students under-served and unserved by those schools. These students are ones who society has marginalized, including Indigenous and Black students, students with special needs, and students who are refugees or who come from families that sought refuge in Canada.
There have been improvements for such students, but those improvements have been far from impressive. The small improvements and the rate of change has persuaded me that there are systemic factors that impede the progress of students in these categories, including the racism of low expectations and resistance to assuming responsibility for the success of all students.
Confusion about the purpose of education is at the heart of the
problem. Schooling is perceived as a private, individual benefit rather than a
public good. Consider these two mission/purpose statements from school boards:
Each student, in keeping with their individual abilities and gifts, will complete high school with a foundation of learning necessary to thrive in life, work and continued learning.
The [school district] provides a learning environment that fosters the growth of each student’s potential and provides equitable opportunity to develop the knowledge, skills, and values necessary for meaningful participation in a global and diverse society.
The statements focus on the individual student and
contain what, in a contract, would be an escape clause. “Individual abilities
and gifts” and “each student’s potential” are weasel words that limit the
responsibility of the school districts. Now, I doubt very much that the boards
that adopted these statements said, “How can we limit our responsibility?” My
point is that, from the outset, the statements see limitations over which the
schools believe they have little control. Consider these alternatives:
Students will complete high school with a foundation of learning necessary to thrive in life, work and continued learning regardless of the individual abilities, gifts, and limitations they had when they entered the school system,
The [school district] will develop students’ knowledge, skills, and values necessary for meaningful participation in a global and diverse society regardless of the potential or limitations they possessed at the point of entry to the school system.
My point is that our conception of schooling is flawed
and pessimistic from the beginning by, among other things, its focus on the
individual rather than the society. The conception of schooling as primarily
focused on the individual puts school and program choice ahead of social equity
as priorities. Prioritizing choice over equity makes it difficult, if not
impossible, to create a common educational and social experience.
Schooling results in positive outcomes for most students much as the health care system generates positive outcomes for most Canadians. The problem is that the outcomes are determined more by their socio-economic and marginalized circumstances than by the benefits of the schooling they receive. The measure of a school system is the degree to which it helps those whose circumstances pose barriers to their success to succeed.
The fragmented experiences of individual learners do little to counter the forces that divide us, putting the lie to developing “the knowledge, skills, and values necessary for meaningful participation in a global and diverse society.”
This will be my last blog for this school year, but I invite you to think about the society you want and how schooling can help to achieve that vision. If your time permits, please share your thoughts with me at oneducationcanada@gmail.com.