What Have We Learned in 2017?
There is much to reflect on the year passed when December rolls around. Here are a few highlights on the state of math education in BC.
First the not so great stuff.
1. What's astonishing to me, is how edubabble and edufads continue to reign supreme throughout much of our education system. With many set to profit from curricula rollouts and selling various untested resources, it's discouraging that our education leaders, whom both teachers and parents have placed their trust and their children, fail to acknowledge the devastating impact these experimental changes will have.
2. Academic results continue to decline. The downward trend in our children's academic performance continues to spiral in the wrong direction. Supporting this trend is the increasing enrollment in tutoring centres. Many private tutors report they are simply overwhelmed with requests from frustrated and bewildered parents. Bigger centres such as Kumon report a continued increase in their enrollment and a bigger learning gap with their students than ever before. Quite simply, a higher percentage of kids are not learning their 3 R's effectively in their classroom. We have lobbied multiple politicians and education leaders to track tutoring enrollment...to no avail. Those that are responsible for the growing 2 tier public education system do not want to acknowledge this trend and dependency on outside tutoring. Those families who cannot provide this same level of support for their children, despair and watch them fall further and further through the cracks. The great leveler that public education was created for, is lost on today's education leaders.
3. Our media outlets continue to shut out informed voices on educational issues. The only "opinions" published with any regularity, are poorly informed and biased towards the edufads of the day. It's discouraging to read regular columns written by those who are no longer part of the educational system, or who are negligent in presenting an informed view on the empirical evidence supporting best educational practices. It's astonishing that a system responsible for shaping the minds of millions of young people, should be represented in the media by those who are unfamiliar with the cognitive evidence supporting proper child development.
So here's the good news.
1. There are many informed edu voices who are starting to have an impact. The teacher led movement ResearchED made its debut in Toronto this past November, and was a resounding success. Many teachers and others who are involved in the education system, attended this fabulous event and vowed to bring it to their own communities. Tom Bennett's movement struck a chord with many teachers and other likeminded souls who are searching for proper evidence amongst the junk they are being spoonfed at most proD sessions. The next session is being hosted by the OSSTF in April 2018. Fingers crossed...
2. Sites are cropping up for teachers to express their views and stories without condemnation or fear of being reprimanded. Twitter has been very good for this; blogs have also been created for teachers to post anonymously, to get their stories out there. I applaud this move, and encourage as many teachers as possible to embrace this initiative. Frontline teachers are a terrific source of information about what the reality is on a daily basis in the classroom. We support them 100%, and hope this might spark even more interest in speaking out against these edufads. I also suggest following many informed educators on twitter or on other social media platforms: Barry Garelick, Eric Kalenze, Daisy Christodoulou, Andrew Old and Greg Ashman are just a few of these fabulously informed educators and their regular contributions are a terrific resource (gosh, so many good ones...I will have to follow up with another blog posting with a much more comprehensive list) Send me an email if you'd like more information on how to find out more.
3. We encourage more to send in a letter to the editor, write an op-ed or send in a story about your child's experience in school to the local television station. Take the time to sign our national math petition and read through the resources on the WISE website. Email your school PAC - I'd love to come and speak to parents! Lobby to have parents informed on upcoming changes to their child's education. For every story that's published, there are 100s just waiting to be heard. Your voice is important; we need to hear from you!
Many thanks to all of you who have offered your support in such a wide variety of ways. I am privileged to have heard so many stories...and will continue to fight for your children, and to fight that proper math education become a priority for our politicians and our education leaders. Our children - their futures, are worth it.
First the not so great stuff.
1. What's astonishing to me, is how edubabble and edufads continue to reign supreme throughout much of our education system. With many set to profit from curricula rollouts and selling various untested resources, it's discouraging that our education leaders, whom both teachers and parents have placed their trust and their children, fail to acknowledge the devastating impact these experimental changes will have.
2. Academic results continue to decline. The downward trend in our children's academic performance continues to spiral in the wrong direction. Supporting this trend is the increasing enrollment in tutoring centres. Many private tutors report they are simply overwhelmed with requests from frustrated and bewildered parents. Bigger centres such as Kumon report a continued increase in their enrollment and a bigger learning gap with their students than ever before. Quite simply, a higher percentage of kids are not learning their 3 R's effectively in their classroom. We have lobbied multiple politicians and education leaders to track tutoring enrollment...to no avail. Those that are responsible for the growing 2 tier public education system do not want to acknowledge this trend and dependency on outside tutoring. Those families who cannot provide this same level of support for their children, despair and watch them fall further and further through the cracks. The great leveler that public education was created for, is lost on today's education leaders.
3. Our media outlets continue to shut out informed voices on educational issues. The only "opinions" published with any regularity, are poorly informed and biased towards the edufads of the day. It's discouraging to read regular columns written by those who are no longer part of the educational system, or who are negligent in presenting an informed view on the empirical evidence supporting best educational practices. It's astonishing that a system responsible for shaping the minds of millions of young people, should be represented in the media by those who are unfamiliar with the cognitive evidence supporting proper child development.
So here's the good news.
1. There are many informed edu voices who are starting to have an impact. The teacher led movement ResearchED made its debut in Toronto this past November, and was a resounding success. Many teachers and others who are involved in the education system, attended this fabulous event and vowed to bring it to their own communities. Tom Bennett's movement struck a chord with many teachers and other likeminded souls who are searching for proper evidence amongst the junk they are being spoonfed at most proD sessions. The next session is being hosted by the OSSTF in April 2018. Fingers crossed...
2. Sites are cropping up for teachers to express their views and stories without condemnation or fear of being reprimanded. Twitter has been very good for this; blogs have also been created for teachers to post anonymously, to get their stories out there. I applaud this move, and encourage as many teachers as possible to embrace this initiative. Frontline teachers are a terrific source of information about what the reality is on a daily basis in the classroom. We support them 100%, and hope this might spark even more interest in speaking out against these edufads. I also suggest following many informed educators on twitter or on other social media platforms: Barry Garelick, Eric Kalenze, Daisy Christodoulou, Andrew Old and Greg Ashman are just a few of these fabulously informed educators and their regular contributions are a terrific resource (gosh, so many good ones...I will have to follow up with another blog posting with a much more comprehensive list) Send me an email if you'd like more information on how to find out more.
3. We encourage more to send in a letter to the editor, write an op-ed or send in a story about your child's experience in school to the local television station. Take the time to sign our national math petition and read through the resources on the WISE website. Email your school PAC - I'd love to come and speak to parents! Lobby to have parents informed on upcoming changes to their child's education. For every story that's published, there are 100s just waiting to be heard. Your voice is important; we need to hear from you!
Many thanks to all of you who have offered your support in such a wide variety of ways. I am privileged to have heard so many stories...and will continue to fight for your children, and to fight that proper math education become a priority for our politicians and our education leaders. Our children - their futures, are worth it.
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