Education and Its DiscontentsEducation and Its DiscontentsMy intended audience for the blog includes members of the general public who are interested in publicly-funded education as well as teachers, administrators, and parents. Come take a peek behind the curtain that often conceals public education. Articles
What Word Other Than 'Evil' Describes This?
2008-06-09 18:48:00 A while back, I wrote a blog entry on the immorality of using food to create ethanol. In today’s Globe and Mail, business writer Eric Reguly reports on the recent food summit which accomplished nothing in easing the food crisis. I have reproduced his article below. I have bolded certain parts of the article for emphasis.King Corn wins battle at UNERIC REGULY June 9, 2008 at 6:17 AM EDTROME — All hail the mighty American corn cob!American corn was the biggest winner of the United Nations food summit in Rome last week. It wasn't supposed to be. Many countries and aid agencies - Egypt, Venezuela, Oxfam, even the director-general of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization - came into the summit with corn, the de facto international symbol of the biofuels industry, in their gunsights. They lost the gun fight. After three days of squabbling, the UN's final declaration did absolutely nothing to halt, even slow, the rise of the biofuels industry. Turning food into fuel was, in ... More About: Word , Evil
The Province Takes Action
2008-06-04 20:39:00 Owing to the corruption and financial mismanagement of the Toronto Catholic District School Board, the Province of Ontario has appointed Norbert Hartmann to take control of its finances. Read the full story in today's Toronto Star More About: Action
How a Corrupt Board Deals with its Financial Improprieties
2008-06-03 21:56:00 Given the Toronto Catholic District School Board ’s penchant for enriching its members with lavish expenditures, is it any wonder that they are taking out the fruits of their profligacy by cutting teachers, budgets, and support staff? As usual, the bolded sections are mine.Catholic board cuts 85 teachersTrustees eliminate $14 million deficit, cut school budgets 10%June 3, 2008Comments on this story (9) Kristin Rushowy EDUCATION REPORTERIn a flurry of voting early this morning, Toronto Catholic trustees effectively balanced their budget, cutting almost $14 million and putting several areas under review to make up the difference."We are committed to a balanced budget," board chair Catherine LeBlanc-Miller said, adding that if there's any deficit left over after the review, "it will come out of trustee services, trustee expenses."Among the cuts approved: laying off 85 teachers ($4 million), not hiring secondary teachers to fill job openings ($1 million), 10 per cent reduction to sc... More About: Financial
A Culture of Entitlement and Corruption in Toronto
2008-05-09 23:35:00 Toronto Catholic school trustees' fat perks blastedThe culture of entitlement and corruption seems alive and well in the Toronto Catholic School Board. No wonder teachers and the general public are cynical about those who make important decisions about our children’s education. Below I have taken the liberty of reproducing a story in today’s Star detailing this betrayal of the public trust. I have placed in bold certain parts of the article.STEVE RUSSELL/TORONTO STAR Provincial adviser Norbert Hartmann is blasting the culture of entitlement at the Toronto catholic school board. May 08, 2008 04:30 AM Kerry Gillespie and Kristin Rushowy STAFF REPORTERSA culture of entitlement among Toronto Catholic trustees saw them hire relatives, double dip on restaurant bills and approve car allowances and health benefits, despite being told by board staff and lawyers such perks weren't allowed, says a scathing report.Trustee expenses have ballooned since 2003 and are now among the highest... More About: Culture , Toronto , Corruption , Entitlement
The Great Homework Debate
2008-04-07 17:38:00 Currently, the Toronto District School Board is putting the finishing touches on the draft of a new homework policy. As reported in the Toronto Star,Based on thousands of interviews with parents, teachers, students and community members, the draft policy would ban homework in kindergarten, confine it to games and family activities up to Grade 2, allow a gradual move to independent homework by Grade 6, but keep it to no more than one hour right through Grade 8.For the board's 89,000 high school students, the new policy would prohibit more than two hours of homework a night.While the parenting public seems to largely agree with this proposal, citing family vacations, outside school activities, etc. as of at least equal importance to homework, as a retired educator I am ambivalent about the policy for a number of reasons.First, when my kids were in high school, there is little doubt that much of their out-of-school time was spent on school assignments, although some of that time was ... More About: Homework , Great , Debate
Bullying in the Workplace
2008-03-27 21:35:00 For any teacher that has ever been bullied by an administrator, or is currently being bullied, there is an interesting article that provoked over 400 reader comments on the New York Times website. Check it out if you get the chance. More About: Workplace , Bullying
Obama's Race Speech
2008-03-24 14:09:00 I've been sitting on the sidelines lately in the blogging department, largely because I've been busy with things around the house, projects, etc. However, after having watched the full version of the Obama speech, I felt like making a couple of observations.1. Judging by the readers' comments on the L.A. Times, I'm surprised at the overwhelmingly negative reaction the speech is garnering. 2. I was struck by the fact that in the speech, what Obama is asking from his audience is rare in present-day politics: thought and reflection, not simple reaction to fiery rhetoric. In other words, he is doing what few politicians do today, treating his listeners with respect, inviting them to be both thinkers and participants in the process known as democracy. I wonder if, after almost eight years of demagoguery and fear-mongering by the Bush Administration, this is asking almost too much of the American people?Check out the speech and decide for yourself. More About: Race , Speech
Another Novel Recommendation
2008-02-27 21:14:00 I've been doing a fair bit of reading lately. If you enjoy fiction, please take a look at my review of Before I Wake by Robert J. Wiersema on my other blog. More About: Recommendation
A Novel Recommendation
2008-02-18 18:27:00 For those who enjoy fiction, I've posted a review of the novel Restless, by William Boyd, on my other blog. More About: Recommendation
An Emblem of Indifference
2008-02-16 18:18:00 Perhaps more than any other time in the past, I have been thinking a great deal about the developing world lately. That is partly due, I suspect, from my involvement as a volunteer editor for Kiva.org, a group that promotes microfinance projects. My thoughts have lately turned to the issue of using corn as a biofuel, and after reading an article in The Independent, I am convinced that there can be no stronger symbol of the Western world’s indifference to poorer nations than corn as a substitute for oil. Recent research shows that it does not reduce carbon emissions, but perhaps more disturbingly, food -scarce nations in Africa, in their rush to become the green version of OPEC, are forcing their citizens into starvation. But the truth is not quite that simple, is it? Where do we stand on the issue? Are we, as citizens of the West, not choosing the continuation of our own lifestyles and conveniences over the very lives of people in far off lands?I hope you will read The Inde...
Shedding Some Light on the Mentality of the Toronto District School Board
2008-02-07 16:44:00 Today’s Globe and Mail has a story that illustrates the culture of secrecy of the Toronto District School Board and apparent consequences for breaching that secrecy. The bolded parts are sections I found of particular interest.Demoted vice-principal sues school boardJAMES BRADSHAW From Thursday's Globe and MailFebruary 7, 2008 at 4:21 AM ESTA former vice-principal of a Toronto elementary school is going to court today seeking remedy for what he claims were failures by the school board and Ontario College of Teachers to act on alleged threats and aggressive behaviour by the school's former principal.Gary Pieters, now vice-principal at Carleton Village Public School, also states in court documents that he was demoted and penalized for reporting his allegations.The documents filed with the court detail alleged misconduct between June, 2005, and February, 2006, by Gordon Kingsmill, then principal of the Shoreham Public School in the Jane-Finch area. Mr. Kingsmill's lawyer, Sarah C... More About: Light
A Very Effective Free Anti-Virus Program
2008-02-03 16:08:00 A friend of mine recently put me on to a free anti-virus program that seems to be working very well thus far. It's called AVG. If interested, check it out at http://free.grisoft.com/ More About: Anti Virus , Virus , Anti-Virus , Free , Program
A Very Effective Free Anti-Virus Program
2008-02-03 16:08:00 A friend of mine recently put me on to a free anti-virus program that seems to be working very well thus far. It's called AVG. If interested, check it out at More About: Anti Virus , Virus , Anti-Virus , Free , Program
An Article That Speaks Real Truth
2008-02-02 21:19:00 I would doubt very much that there are many teachers who believe we can solve the problems of society, yet that is exactly what society expects us to do. Not only are we supposed to educate, we are also supposed to adjudicate, intervene, and remedy problems arising from behaviour, socio-economic differences, indifferent or abusive families, etc. ad nauseam. The problem is that the policy makers, our education masters, have never had the political will to force people to face reality as to our limited ability to bring about heaven on earth. In today’s Globe and Mail, Jeffrey Simpson has written an insightful article about this that contains much truth. I am reprinting it below.Memo to Toronto school board: Are you nuts? JEFFREY SIMPSON February 2, 2008TORONTO -- Public schools are supposed to be places for teaching and learning, but society often hands them other burdens for which they are poorly equipped.Society dumps social problems on schools, and expects schools to solve t... More About: Truth , Article , Real
Wal-Town – A Documentary Recommendation
2008-02-01 16:27:00 Wal-Town – A Documentary Recommendation In 2004 and 2005, a group of young activists toured Canada, their goal being to inform people and perhaps change their attitude about Walmart’s presence in their community. While their mission was not altogether successful, and the first part of the film has a rather sluggish pace, probably owing to the frustrating indifference with which they are largely met, the film succeeds because of the questions the viewer is left to ponder.By now, probably everyone knows some of the reasons many people oppose the Walmart behemoth: • Its predatory pricing that has forced a host of manufacturers to move offshore to meet the cost expectations of their biggest buyer.• Its use of suppliers who regularly abuse human rights and exploit child labor• Its monumental efforts to prevent the unionization of its employees• Its driving out of small businesses that often have a very long history in the community• Its refusal to pay decent wages to its ...
What Politicians These Education Officials Be
2008-01-29 14:34:00 Caroline Alphonso, in today’s Globe and Mail, writes about a draft internal document from the Toronto District School Board that suggests officials are more concerned over ‘damage control’ than anything else when it comes to violence in their schools. This simply reinforces my contention that some of the biggest problems in education today are aggravated by the types of people that tend to hold positions of power – quasi-politicians, a label I think appropriate not only for elected officials, but also principals, superintendents, education bureaucrats, and directors of education . Read and decide for yourself. I have bolded parts I feel are especially relevant: SCHOOL VIOLENCE Board had a plan to limit safety-report backlash CAROLINE ALPHONSO January 29, 2008TORONTO -- The Toronto District School Board prepared for the release of a damning report on school safety with a media strategy designed to "mini... More About: Education , Politicians
Scared Sacred
2008-01-27 23:43:00 As a teacher, I always felt that it wasn’t enough just to be current and well-versed in my own subject area; I therefore made it a point to read as much as possible, both fiction and non-fiction, as well as to keep current with national and international events through the Globe and Mail. Of course, as anyone in education knows, time was always my greatest enemy. How does one keep engaged in the community and the world when there are the demands that we place on ourselves as classroom teachers, not the least of which is to return assignments in a reasonably timely fashion? Even though I am now retired and in a much better position time wise (at least in theory) to read as much as I want to, lately I have been exploring the world of documentaries which, at the very least, seem a relatively time efficient way to expand one’s knowledge and open up a variety of avenues for further inquiry. One that I recently watched and recommend is Scared Sacred , by Canadian filmmaker Velcro ...
What Can the Young Teach Us?
2008-01-25 17:10:00 Every so often, something occurs to bolster our faith in human nature. I had one of those moments the other day, while working at the food bank. A woman brought in a large shipment of food (well over 300 lbs.), and when I inquired of her if the source was a school, her answer surprised me. She told me that her daughter had just had a party to celebrate her 13th birthday, and instead of presents, she asked her guests to bring food, to be donated to our food bank. Such a selfless act needs no further comment from me. More About: Young , The Young
The War on Greed
2008-01-20 20:46:00 Robert Greenwald has an interesting film on corporate takeovers. value="transparent"> More About: Greed
Some Reading Recommendations
2008-01-19 16:40:00 For any of you who might be avid readers, I have posted four recommendations on mybook blog. There are mini-reviews of three novels and a comedic memoir. More About: Reading
Culture of Concealment - Part 2
2008-01-15 18:38:00 In the last post I gave several examples demonstrating the administrative penchant for obscuring unpleasant truths. What are the effects of decisions prompted by policies of parental appeasement, avoidance, and concealment? Beyond the immediate impact of eroding student discipline and respect for rules, which makes the school less safe for everyone, there are much more insidious consequences negatively affecting the educational experience: staff demoralization, cynicism, and, in the case of impressionable younger teachers, the sense that educational principles are fluid and changeable, which, in turn, adversely affects their own judgment and development as educators. One final example will help to illustrate this.In a specific department I will not identify, the practice existed of having a fieldtrip for the culminating task, which accounts for a certain percentage of the final mark. In this particular instance, because the students had performed so badly in the accompanying ... More About: Culture , Part
The Culture of Concealment Part 1
2008-01-14 21:38:00 Thanks to the recent publication of the school safety panel report investigating violence in Toronto schools, the general public has received a rare glimpse into some unpleasant truths about contemporary secondary education. One of the newspaper headlines, ‘Fears of career suicide stopped educators from reporting violence,’ was followed by the revelation of a board–wide staff failure to report problems due to fears that revealing anything reflecting badly on the board would be “a career-limiting move.” Unfortunately, however, people living outside of Toronto have little reason to feel smug. This culture of concealment is widespread in public education today.Although now retired, as a teacher for thirty years I witnessed my own share of questionable decisions and behaviour based more on political expedience than educational principle, and most seemed to spring from the almost pathological fear many administrators have of dealing with unhappy parents or having their sc... More About: Culture , Part
School Safety - Part 3
2008-01-12 14:14:00 Once more, I have included in bold print the parts that seem particularly pertinent to teachers. As well, the politically expedient comments of Gerry Connelly, the Director of Education for the TDSB, have been bolded. One fact the article fails to make clear is that any criticism of your employer can be grounds for dismissal, undoubtedly another reason for the culture of fear and concealment endemic in education.SCHOOL SAFETY: UNREPORTED ASSAULTSViolent incidents hushed up, union saysCAROLINE ALPHONSO January 12, 2008Toronto's high-school teachers' union confirmed yesterday that educators are told by administrators to keep safety issues quiet for fear of damaging their schools' reputations.Simultaneously, principals moved to tackle the hundreds of unreported violent assaults taking place on school grounds in the wake of a damning report on school safety.Doug Jolliffe, president of the Toronto district of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, said union members ar... More About: Safety , Part , Part 3
School Safety - Part 2
2008-01-11 15:43:00 The findings of the school safety panel investigating violence in the Toronto District School Board were reported in today’s Globe and Mail. Teachers, I think, will see the almost universal truth expressed in the section I have placed in bold print.Fears of career suicide stopped educators from reporting violenceCAROLINE ALPHONSO AND OMAR EL AKKAD From Friday's Globe and MailJanuary 11, 2008 at 4:01 AM ESTTeachers and school staff are too intimidated to speak out about violence in Toronto's public schools, a damning report charges.A school safety panel revealed yesterday that employees of the Toronto District School Board told them they feared that revealing school safety issues or anything that would reflect negatively on the board would be "a career-limiting move."As a result, hundreds of incidents that should have been reported were not. This "culture of fear" led to a failure of the system and its overseers to protect students from violence, including robberies and sexual a... More About: Safety , Part
School Safety
2008-01-10 18:44:00 Below, I am posting the latest news about the Toronto District School Board and its culture of concealment. One would be naïve, however, to think that the failure of administrators to report assaults is unique to that board. I remember an incident in my own career a few years back when the vice-principal informed me that a student would be joining my English class three weeks into the semester. I was told that the student had been a victim of bullying in one of her classes, and therefore her entire schedule was being rearranged so she would no longer be in the class where the bullying took place. When I asked the vice-principal why this student was being victimized a second time by having her schedule disrupted, she said, “Lorne, I’m trying to save this girl.” When I asked why the people responsible for the bullying weren’t being punished instead, she claimed that she didn’t know their identities, something I found hard to believe. Two days later, a guidance counsel... More About: Safety
Nemesis is Sometimes a Sweet Thing
2008-01-08 15:37:00 As much as I would like to claim personal magnanimity and say I take no pleasure in the misfortune of others, the story from today’s Globe and Mail that I am reprinting below made my day in its exposure of administrative duplicity. As anyone who has taught for any period of time will know, management, ranging from school to senior administration, frequently has a seemingly endless capacity for concealing things that reflect badly on their schools. I attribute this to the likelihood that the people who are attracted to management tend to be political, and I mean that in the worst sense of the word. In any event, my prediction is that unlike teachers who might have done the same thing, these administrators will not lose their jobs. In fact, one of them mentioned in the article has already retired. But that double standard is perhaps the basis of a future post.C.W. Jefferys staff charged with failing to report alleged assaultTIMOTHY APPLEBY From Tuesday's Globe and MailJanuary ... More About: Sweet , Thing , Nemesis
What do Writers and Teachers Have in Common?
2008-01-05 23:31:00 With the Writers Guild strike showing no signs of coming to an end, largely due to the studios’ refusal to restart negotiations, I have thinking of the parallels that exist between writers and teachers. Surprisingly, we have much in common.1. Without writers, there would be no entertainment industry. Similarly, teachers are the lifeblood of education, a self-evident truth to most, but often an apparently arcane concept to ‘the bosses.’2. The entertainment bureaucracy, including studio heads and production companies, is most reluctant to adequately remunerate writers, without whom their lavish (some would say profligate) lifestyles would not be possible. Again teachers, gross financial disparities aside, are rarely rewarded even with praise or sincere acknowledgement by boards and administrators, who seem eager to take most of the credit for success and none of the blame for failure.3. Both writers and teachers need to be creative, imaginative, even inspired to succeed in th... More About: Common , Teachers
The Search for Meaning – Realizing a Sense of Community
2008-01-04 20:21:00 One of the biggest arguments for the existence of taxpayer-supported schools, as opposed to private schools, is that, due to the diversity of social and economic classes present, students learn about the realities of our pluralistic society and thereby develop a sense of community that extends beyond their own backgrounds. In many ways, inculcating this sense of community is key to developing a better world.A while back I had an article published based on an environmental questionnaire I developed to help the reader determine whether he or she has that sense of community along with the realization that even small steps can effect big changes in the world. What follows is a slightly amended version of that article:… As a world community, we need to realize that each of us makes daily choices and decisions that either worsen or lessen our negative impact on the world, and that the power of individuals working toward a common goal is not to be underestimated. To help clarify your ... More About: Sense , Community , Search , Meaning , Unit
The Search for Meaning – The Possibilities
2008-01-03 16:14:00 As I mentioned in a previous post, the job of teaching can be an all-consuming one, often with few psychological rewards. In my first year of retirement, I intentionally avoided making any long-term commitments on my time since, for the first time in many years, I had the prospect of unstructured time. During that year, I did some house redecorating, a great deal of reading, honed my crossword puzzle skills, started this and my book review blog, and worked on a small research contract. All in all, not a bad introduction to retirement. Since the fall, however, (once a teacher, always a teacher – I think I‘ll always regard the fall as the start of the year!) I’ve begun to consider the real possibilities and opportunities that the freedom of retirement provides. In October I started to do some volunteering.During my working life, for the most part the only volunteering I did outside of helping prepare an annual meal that my wife organizes for a local shelter and drop-in cent... More About: Search , Meaning
Teaching After Retirement?
More articles from this author:2007-12-30 17:52:00 As mentioned in my last post, I am opposed to retired teachers taking up supply positions, assuming the supply exceeds the demand. What follows is an article I wrote about a year before I retired, stating the reasons for my position. It appeared in a local teacher publication, and the response I got was, shall we say, spirited. Teacher Retirement What I am about to write, I know, will not be well-received by many colleagues of my generation, i.e., those who are planning to retire in the near future. Indeed, were it not for the fact that this is my last year of teaching, undoubtedly I would lack the moral authority to assert the following: in my view, doing supply work in retirement, with one notable exception, is wrong, and does a grave disservice to recent graduates in education.How did I arrive at this conclusion? I’m sure that if we think back to the dawning of our own careers, many of us will see parallels to the situations that new teache... More About: Teaching , Tire 1, 2, 3, 4 |
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