Liberal Debutante

I’ve been saying it for a couple days now, but I really need to do this post on education. I’d have posted it 5 hours earlier, but it took me longer to write and I got a distress call from the roommate… but its finally finished…

I went to my old highschool to visit a few of my teachers last week that really made a difference in my life through high school. I got into a really good conversation with one of them, Mr. Smith, about the state of education in Canada and how completely inadequate it is. Some of the things he told me about the school were completely insane. He is the head of the social science department, and he doesn’t even have a say in who gets hired anymore, people are basically placed into his faculty. The following is a list of 10 things that I believe need complete transformations in highschools.

Like some people, I don’t think highschool should be eliminated. The social skills that I developed in highschool have gotten me all of my jobs, and all of my friends. I learned a lot about people, and about myself in highschool and it gave me a chance … basically be a teenager. Growing up and becoming an adult so quickly is such an… old world thing to do. Now there is an entire world for teenagers to be a part of, and we live so much longer now that growing up quickly is a waste of time. We have tons of years a head of us to be old. However - on top of all this social development there needs to be a ton of reform to teaching methods, subjects… everything. So that not only do the kids get a proper social up bringing they also get a proper education that actually prepares them for life.

1. Math:

I don’t know math. I know how to add and subtract and all that easy stuff. I know how to factor and enough to get me a decent score on my SAT. However, I never took grade 12 math, and I also took the "workplace" math class in grade 11. (aka - everything was open book and I got an 80 just for showing up.) Part of the problem here is that they teach us math and simply expect us to know the theory behind it. We’re told that 12/4 = 3 but we don’t know why.

Mr. Smith was talking about a new program that his daughter is in. They give her 13 bunnies, and tell her to make 3 equal piles. When she is left with one she understands why… that that bunny doesn’t fit into those piles so he has to start a new family. It’s really basic - but she’s going to understand the logistics behind math where as we were always just told to accept the fact that math just works like that.

I would often ask my math teachers "Why?". …I needed to know WHY we were to simply carry something over, WHERE a screwy/random number was coming from. I had to know. I needed to know the theory behind it - this is why I failed grade 10 math (that and not showing up…) because there was never any reason as to why we were doing the math. It didn’t help that the teachers didn’t care if we really knew the math - as long as we passed and they passed their grade quota.

Everyone can "get" math. People always tell me the just don’t "get" math. I was one of those people who didn’t "get" math. But really - its a matter of finding a way to make it work for you. The way it could have worked for me was the philosophical/theoretical approach to it. Reading Alon’s advanced math books, I understand more of some of those than I do of the grade 12 calculus book. But high school takes the easy way out, they prepare kids to be able to apply math to physics, or just give them formulas. That’s what I hated the most… that we would be handed a formula. How was I supposed to remember a formula when I had no clue what the formula was doing? Teachers desperately need to start looking into the "why" of math, and instead of breaking up everyone into "workplace" "college" and "university" math… split them into usable categories… one that applies to computer programming, another to science, another to theoretical…

2. Science:

In grade 9 and 10 we have to take general science classes. In one semester they jam together all 3 large science areas. Grade 9 is when we learn all our definitions and yadda yadda. Here is our first problem. In one year we get an entire textbook of definitions dumped onto us. Then we go away for a summer and another semester and we’ve all forgotten the definitions, but we’re expected to be able to apply them to things, but again we’re getting all three major areas of science all jammed into one semester.

First thing - make chemistry, physics and biology all their own classes. There isn’t enough time in one semester to go over all the basics of physics to prepare you for your 2nd year of mock physics because then you get thrown into REAL physics in grade 11 and you have no clue what gravity really is. This is what happened to me, only with biology. For grade 9 I had a teacher named Mr. Banken. He basically made us do all the work ourselves… "Read pg 40 - 69. Answer # 1 - 10" would be a class. He wouldn’t even say it.. it would just be on the board.

Then in grade 10 I had Mr. Koos-Hutas. I didn’t do a single ounce of work for that class. I am not kidding or exaggerating on any level. I don’t remember doing a single thing. But Mr. Koos loved me. …I even picked out the color of his new car. He would answer his phone in class and try and hook me up with his son. So you can imagine the shock I had going into a real biology class and being expected to simply *know* everything about a cell… and everything about evolution… well, you know… I was expected to have enough of a foundation to build on it. But I didn’t know a thing. And I didn’t even take physics or chemistry. …It wasn’t needed to graduate. Instead of taking a senior science we could take a computer/tech class instead - I took computer programming… got an A and forgot about science all together.

This ended up hitting me in the ass when I discovered that not only is a Ba worth nothing, to get a BSc I needed a TON of high school science. …I can’t even get an environmental science degree because I don’t have the science foundations. I’m positive that I could take a first year biology/physics/chem course and do just fine - but the school won’t let me because I don’t even have grade 11 sciences because it wasn’t mandatory. Not only should the science be mandatory all the way up until grade 12 - they should be separate all the way up to grade 12, and the teachers should actually know what they’re talking about.

3. Social Sciences:

As a social science student, this area has some of my biggest pet peeves. I don’t even know where to start… History is only mandatory in grade 10, and even then you only learn Canadian history because apparently the rest of the world doesn’t exist. I was smart enough to take all the histories I could - which really makes you learn about other cultures instead of being so sheltered by the limits of Canadian history. Some people I know aren’t even sure what countries "won" the world wars and why they were so significant - and that was something that actually WAS covered in Canadian history.

The problem is, there were only 2 other history classes. The first is in grade 11 and it’s called Ancient Civilizations. This class was probably the most interesting class I took… ever. Including university. And in grade 12 there was World History, but the world only includes Europe. (I wrote a paper defending Hitler in this class and got into a lot of trouble…) There really should be at least one mandatory history class for each area of the world. The only way we’re going to understand, appreciate and respect the cultures and struggles of other countries is by learning their history and their roots.

Part of this appreciation is supposed to be seen through the class "World Issues", but it ended up focusing mainly on Canada and how it interacts with other countries. This was a perfect opportunity for kids to start researching and learning about conflicts outside of Canada, but we didn’t. This class should be mandatory, but not in grade 12, in grades 9 and 10 and should get kids interested in and knowledgeable about world conflicts.

Another class that should be mandatory all the way through high school is geography. I realize that I love geography so I may be a little biased here, but in grade 9 there should be Canadian geography, which there is. But then it stops. What about physical geography so that we understand the earth? And environmental studies so that we understand what we’re doing to the earth? And how about a tourism class so that we can see how cultural geography plays in our society? No. None of that. We have an environmental course, which is really just known as a bird course. Related to this is our economics course - which also isn’t mandatory. My grade 12 economics course was fantastic! I learned so much - and learned about the environment, but no one took that class because it was known as being too hard…

Philosophy, my other favorite class, wasn’t mandatory - and I don’t think it really should be… but it taught me more about essay structure and university preparation than any other course. It’s hard as hell, but I tell every single person in that school to take the course. Anyway - geography, world issues and history really should be mandatory to cover all the bases. The other classes such as law and anthro I can see why they’re not - they’re interest based. But history and geography are… important factors in our lives. I know law is too, but this can be covered in a world issues class, or in history, or the already mandatory civics class. Environmental studies is becoming more and more important as time goes on - It baffles me that there is no environmental course to show the dangerous state the earth is in.

4. Family Studies:

This one is easy. Get rid of it.

How stupidly pointless? Learning how to be a mother? What? Learning how to cook? Uh??? Learning how to hold a baby?? I almost understand why we would have a class on parenting, and how to treat a child… But that is also something that comes pretty naturally, I think. I’ve never taken a parenting class but I figured out how to change a kid pretty fast.

These are all things that kids can learn at home. Cooking instructions come on boxes, and cook books are fairly easy to follow. I can’t get over the fact that we have an entire wing of my high school dedicated to teaching people who to live. I always thought that school was about learning academics… not how to change children. If being an ECE worker is something that someone wants to do - do it in university. If being a cook is something someone wants to do - do it in university. High school should be used for creating a strong base in science, math and the world. Not skills that can be learned later when you’re preparing for a career. Damn I hate family studies.

5. Teachers:

The three courses that I mentioned previous as really enjoying, economics, ancient civilizations and philosophy are all taught by the same teacher. This isn’t a coincidence. He can teach. Why can he teach? He has a proper education and only teaches classes that he supposed to teach. He has a PhD in history and used to teach at university. His style of teaching is very Socratic, which is amazing. He doesn’t sit there and make you read from the text book, learning nothing. He makes you think and analyze.

Same with the teacher Ms. Dalfonso (she is Mrs. Something-else now, but I don’t know what…) she made us do mind maps all the time, connecting themes and ideas and writing paragraphs on important things… Not just restating the textbook for tests. However, Ms. Dalfonso has a degree in history and sociology and guess what they have her teaching this semester? …Parenting! Yay!… *sigh*.

Along the same lines they have Mr. Fernback (heart!) who has a degree in history and geography teaching sociology, anthropology and psychology. …He’s not trained in these one bit and all he does is teaches directly out of the text book because he doesn’t know how else to do it. His geography courses are much more engaging. He teaches the environmental course and makes it very interactive and full of analysis… but he cant do that with subjects that he knows nothing about.

This wouldn’t be terribly problematic… however he is teaching senior classes. So in grade 12 kids are still learning the same way they did in grade 9. How is this supposed to prepare anyone for university? University isn’t about just reading the text book and then handing in a page full of definitions with the exact words copied down… You have to write essays, good essays… with proper writing, spelling and grammar. With good analysis and proper citations. I didn’t even know what a citation was until University. …And had I not taken that philosophy class I never would have known what an essay was supposed to look like. I lucked out, only about 50 people of my graduating class were ready for university, because only about 50 of them had Mr Smith’s philosophy class.

Teachers with degrees in history are teaching math, teachers with degrees in math are teaching media studies and teachers with degrees in fine arts are teaching computer programming. It makes no sense.

6. "Fun Weeks":

Next week at my old high school they are having an entire week dedicated to Christmas. This is wrong for two different reasons. The first is that they’re using a week which could be used for real education, and instead giving the students an excuse to skip classes. The students are calling Friday "international skip day" because all that is going on are Christmas activities. I spoke to Mr. Fernback and he said he doesn’t even plan on having anything to teach next week. …That’s entire week of schooling gone down the drain. "Its just one week Katie! Lighten up…"

Well then there is March break, another week they take off. And there is Cancer drive another week where the entire school basically shuts down and focuses on raising money for a kids cancer camp… The entire week is full of activities that are based around taking as much money as possible out of the student’s pockets. Then there is Fun Drive… I don’t even remember what fun drive is for but its another week used to raise money for something… The student counsel I think. So there are 4 weeks that are taken out of school programming to do nothing… And entire month! It’s a complete waste.

The other thing I don’t like about this Christmas week event thing is that it is forcing Christmas on the entire school. I thought it was just a "holiday" thing… but no, it is definitely based around Christmas, Christmas activities, Christmas carols… etc. Its breaking that church-state boundary!

7. Languages:

French is mandatory in grade 9 only. It would be beneficial for Canadian students to have french mandatory all through high school. Without french it is impossible to get a real government job, or an important job. …Canada claims to be a bi-lin country, but no one knows how to speak french.

Not only would they benefit from this - they would also benefit from having at least one other language requirement of their choice. Something like Italian, Spanish, Chinese… etc. This is how the arts are done, you have to have 2 different art credits… visual arts, drama or music and then it’s optional to continue. I like that, it should be the same for one other language besides french.

8. Babysitting vs. Teaching:

The biggest complaint that I hear from teachers is that their job has changed from programming and teaching to babysitting an behavioral issues. There are basically two streams in which a student can get into in the Canadian high school system. The "academic" stream and the "applied" stream. The applied classes are focused almost entirely around behavioral issues.

These are classes that basically give kids an excuse to slack off and be idiots. Everyone knows that when you take an applied, or a workplace course you’re walking into a class with no standards. All you have to have to get into the next level is a 50% and you’re completely set and most teachers simply pass the kids to get rid of them.

Teaching an applied class is like walking into a house whose parents don’t give a shit about the kids. They students swear, fight, don’t listen and don’t care. You can call the principal on them, but they’re not going to give a shit because they were down there last period. Teachers try to give detentions but they just don’t show up, you suspend them but to them that’s just a nice 3 days off of school. But the teachers won’t fail them. If you fail them you have to deal with them again the following year.

Unless there is some real counseling nothing is going to get better. There is no help offered at my school. For example, my best friend’s little sister’s ex-best friend (gee) is seen as a sort of "hooligan". She’s always had problems getting her work done and never really shined in class. The teachers simply wrote her off and threw her into the "resource room" …aka - where all the dumb kids go. However, just last Thursday I sat down with this girl to help her out with one of her essays that was due… a week before that. All she needed was a little one on one.

She got discouraged a few times so I would help her with word use. Once she had formulated a really great thesis that she was proud of she was able to make everything fall into place. The finished product was better than almost anything I had produce when I was her age. (I never would have done the topic though… it was on tattoos and why they should be more socially acceptable. For that class when I was in it I wrote it on the minds of serial killers… …Serial killers and Hitler! you can see why my school thought I was messed up… as opposed to just messing with them.) Anyway, it was sort of like babysitting her - but then you look at her background. Her family is way messed up. Her dad is a jerk and her mother is a drunk. She has no parental foundations and no one to look up to. She needs some one on one attention now and then, not just to be sent to the office. The office isn’t going to help her to write an essay to demonstrate that she can actually think.

9. Universal:

When a student moves from Montreal to Toronto, or Toronto to Vancouver, or Vancouver to Victoria or even just Mississauga to Oakville it should be a smooth and easy transformation for them. Its not. I have a few good examples of this. The first was my transition from Bothwell to Mississauga. When I went to the Mississauga school I was *so* far behind. I caught up very quickly… because that’s what I do - but it was the hardest transition ever.

The french that the other kids were speaking was far beyond anything I had heard in bothwell. Part of this problem was funding. Bothwell was a poor hick town… not a newly developing area of the GTA. But hick kids shouldn’t be getting any less of an education - we all end up at the same universities.

I knew a girl who transfered from Montreal in grade 10 and she ended up getting skipped ahead to grade 11 because Montreal is apparently much more advanced than Toronto and area. I have a 3 dozen stories like this too. There is so much instability with jobs and families right now that we owe it to the kids to have universal education plans. If you move from one area to another you should be walking into a school that has the same sort of programs and is being taught at the same speed.

10. Method:

If we were from 50 years ago we would walk into this decade confused. Life just isn’t the same - but the schools are. There are very few new technologies in high schools, most of the money is being put towards buying upgraded text books… Schools are still in the 20th century. There is so much more students need to be taught about the world. As globalization increases, the more vital it is that we know as much as possible about everyone around us. …The world is shrinking, we’re connected to people in Japan, China, India… ect. so we need to start teaching kids about these social connections.

Students also need to be learning about the interconnectedness of topics. …It’s not enough to teach economics and environmental studies separate, there needs to be opportunities to bring together all aspects of what they’re learning to make connections.  By not doing this the students are still thinking inside the box, they’re not making new an innovative discoveries and connections because they’re not being encouraged to do so. The sources of information that are available right now are staggering - but schools do not use them. The Internet is so available - but in grade 12 we were told for at least 3 essay to *not* use the Internet because it wasn’t "reliable".

No, that’s not the problem. The problem is that the teachers are too lazy to design a class around proper research skills. I know people who can’t find anything on Google. Having grown up in a computer techie house, I can find anything on Google within 2 minutes or less. The Internet isn’t just a thing for punk kids at home anymore. It connects people, it is the largest source of information and its as reliable as anything thing else. …The way teachers are afraid of the Internet is only hindering kids for when they need to start doing independent research in University - then they’ll always use the net - but they won’t know how.

By emphasizing on the speed of education, as I mentioned before and keeping the kids at a universal pace you can create a new method that focuses on different skills at each age. Like in grade 9 emphasis the importance of people skills, studying habits and proper English/grammar/writing styles for papers. In grade 10 up it a little bit and focus more on studying and independent learning and start writing essays…. and so on. Create a system, country wide, that allows for growth and development of the mind. The current system keeps the students at a grade nine level through all of high school.