Finance

I learned a lot in our discussion on Finance and I found it to be particularly interesting. Before this class I knew that at a certain date (September 30th) the school would receive funding for special needs students as well as rural area funding. I may be a bit confused, but I think it would be great if the federal government contributed money to education. In my view the federal government could contribute to the maintenance of the building. I realize that this may not ever happen, but I feel it would help relieve cuts that keep taking place.

I thought it was extremely interesting and practical to look at an actual school budget and try to make cuts from it. In our group we found that we were a little biased and were cutting things that we didn’t use. For example, we cut music, art and the cafeteria. After doing so we realized that we were being biased and we needed some in for the multiple intelligences.

When doing this assignment it put me in the mind set that this was real and there will be a public outcry with anything we cut. I feel bad for those who are in charge to make the cuts. It seems to me like it is a lose lose situation. I feel that education is often at the scrutiny of the public and I can’t figure out why. Who out there does not want their child to have a great education and is exposed to new things so that they can reach their fullest potential. I have no problem with my tax dollars going to education. I think it is money well spent, especially compared to other things municipal governments spend their tax money on.

I feel that by continuously cutting education funding we are saying that education does not matter. We are saying that our children do not deserve it. When the reality is, they do deserve it.

Governance

When looking at the levels of governance throughout the education system I cannot help but feel a little overwhelmed! It is simple when broken down, but at first glance it appears daunting.

I think the most important thing to mention is school boards. In my view it is a good thing that in Manitoba school boards are elected into office. This allows the public to have some input on how they feel things are being done.

I think at the community and school level it is good to have parent councils, but I think these can sometimes become a select group and so I think it is important to note that they should be open for all. I think schools having community partners I a fantastic thing. Getting kids involved is the best thing we can do for them.

I found it very interesting how you mentioned in class that you, yourself found it interesting how certain staff at different schools have different levels of power among each other and principals have varying levels of authority and say within the division. I just had this moment where I realized it is like this anywhere. Politics are everywhere. No matter where you work or what you do they are everywhere! I guess I knew this on some level, but when I began to think about it some more I just became more and more, shocked? I guess would be the word. So, thank-you for the enlightening class today, Jackie!

History of Ed

I found it very interesting to look at the history of education in Canada. It has evolved tremendously over the years and will continue to.

When looking at the French tradition, it reminds me of a private school. How boys and girls are separated. As a female it upsets me that in the olden days males received better educations than females. It is sad that in some places of the world it is still like this. In recent years education in Manitoba has seen a shift to not include any religious teachings, such as Christmas and Easter. In these cases I do not know what the right answer is. I know that Canada is considered a mosaic society, but I feel with moving to a new country people should try to embrace new cultures and traditions, while still keeping their cultural heritage alive. When looking at the English and American Tradition it is not surprising that education was divided by social status. I am glad that in Canada this is not the case, as I feel everyone is entitled to education. The French, English and American all had a strong influence of religious teachings in their education system. The Scottish Tradition, however, solved the problem of religious differences. The Scottish Tradition is one that I most agree with, maybe it is because it most closely resembles our modern day education system, with boys and girls being taught together and education having no class structure.

            The education system varies in different countries and is ever evolving. I am quite happy with Canada’s education system. However, in my view there seems to have been shift among students and I am not sure when it took place. I recently went to a Professional Development where this was the main discussion. When I went to school students, for the must part, respected their teachers and listened. Now it seems students are not scared of anything. They are not scared if they go to the principal’s office, they are not even scared if their parents are called. I know if my parents received a phone call, you were in deep trouble. My conclusion to this shift is that many parents now days have a more laissez faire parenting approach it seems and in the schools we have eliminated the fear of teachers and principles. Now this might be considered a good thing, not having students feeling scared of those in charge. But I feel that it is a good thing for teachers to have the upper hand.