Ending the reign of the Fraser Institute's school rankings

The Fraser Institute Report Card of school rankings has won the hearts of parents and the press. For over a decade, the rankings have been particularly burdensome for low-ranking (usually low socio-economic status, high-poverty) schools when parents of high-achieving children move them to higher-ranking schools. In February 2010, after defending parents’ rights to access the rankings, Victoria’s Times-Colonist newspaper decided not to publish them. Using critical discourse analysis, this article explores the rankings’ long media reign and the Times-Colonist’s abrupt decision to stop publishing them. Discourse about the rankings is shaped by multiple factors including the relationship between the press and educators, as well as the nature of societal discourse— in particular, how powerful institutions create what Foucault calls “regimes of truth.”Le classement des écoles de l'institut Fraser a gagné le coeur des parents et de la presse. Depuis plus d'une décennie ces classements ont été particulièrement pénalisant pour les écoles mal classées (généralement faible SSE et haute pauvreté) quand les parents d'enfants avec une forte réussite scolaire décident de les changer d'école pour une mieux classée. En Février 2010, après avoir défendu les droits des parents d'avoir accès au classement, un des journaux de Victoria, le Times-Colonist, a décidé de ne plus les publier. En utilisant une analyse critique du discours cet article explore le long règne de ces classements dans les médias et la décision soudaine du Times-Colonist de cesser leur publication. Le discours sur les classements est déterminé par de multiples facteurs comme la relation entre la presse et les éducateurs ainsi que la nature du discours sociétal, en particulier comment les institutions puissantes créent ce que Foucault appelle les «régimes de vérité.

LARGE‐SCALE ASSESSMENT OUTCOMES IN BRITISH COLUMBIA, 1876‐1999

For over 20 years, educators and administrators across North America have heatedly debated the value of large‐scale student assessment. Throughout the history of schooling in British Columbia, large‐scale student assessment outcomes have traditionally served to inform broader societal goals. Realistically, “assessment of” group learning (as opposed to classroom‐based “assessment for” individual learning) will continue as the government’s key focus. We also raise several unanswered questions such as the scope of assessment practices that include only numeracy and literacy or the achievement of elementary versus secondary students between 1976 and 1999, questions to move the decades‐old debate beyond its current stalemate. Key words: history, education, testing, achievement Depuis plus de 20 ans, pédagogues et administrateurs de tous les coins de l’Amérique du Nord débattent avec passion de la valeur des épreuves communes. Tout au long de l’histoire de l’éducation en Colombie‐Britannique, les résultats des épreuves communes ont servi à réaliser des objectifs sociaux plus vastes. En fait, l’évaluation des apprentissages d’un groupe (par opposition à l’évaluation de l’apprentissage de chacun au sein d’une classe) va demeurer une priorité pour le gouvernement. Les auteurs soulèvent en outre plusieurs questions laissées jusqu’ici sans réponse, tels l’éventail des pratiques d’évaluation portant seulement sur le calcul et la littératie ou le rendement scolaire des élèves du primaire comparé à celui des élèves du secondaire entre 1976 et 1999, autant de questions qui peuvent faire avancer le débat vieux de plusieurs décennies au‐delà de l’impasse actuelle. Mots clés : histoire, éducation, épreuves, réussite scolaire.

Preparing to be Allies: Narratives of Non-Indigenous Researchers Working in Indigenous Contexts

Insensitive research approaches have resulted in damaged relationships between non-Indigenous researchers and Indigenous communities, prompting scholars and funding agencies to call for more culturally compatible research methods. This paper addresses the qualities, skills and knowledge developed by six non-Indigenous researchers as they built–and continue to maintain–respectful research relationships with Indigenous communities. Also discussed are the important formative experiences that have shaped the six researchers in their ongoing work. Findings presented in this paper are synthesized from a larger research project undertaken using narrative approaches to data collection and analysis. Des approches de recherche insensibles ont nuit aux relations entre les chercheurs non autochtones et les communautés autochtones, ce qui a incité les universitaires et les organismes de financement à exiger des méthodes de recherche plus respectueuses et mieux adaptées aux cultures. Cet article porte sur les qualités, les habiletés et les connaissances qu’ont développées six chercheurs non autochtones en établissant et en maintenant des relations de recherche avec des communautés autochtones. Nous discutons également des expériences formatrices qui ont marqué les six chercheurs et façonné leur travail en cours. Les résultats présentés dans cet article sont synthétisés d’un plus grand projet de recherche reposant sur des approches narratives à la collection et à l’analyse de données

MAINTAINING THE ILLUSION OF DEMOCRACY: POLICY-MAKING AND ABORIGINAL EDUCATION IN CANADA, 1946-1948 1

Following the 1949 recommendations of the Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Commons (SJC), the Canadian government shifted away from a policy of segregated to integrated schooling for Aboriginal children. This paper examines the minutes and proceedings of the SJC. Fewer than 10% of the briefs presented to the SJC called for integration indicating that government’s policy shift was less reflective of the needs of the citizens who addressed the SJC than of government ―insiders‖ who had first promoted integration in the early 1940s. Nevertheless, the SJC’s open proceedings helped government to maintain the illusion of democratic processes

Analysis of an Abandoned Reform Initiative: The Case of Mathematics in British Columbia

Throughout this era of greater educational accountability, assessment researchers have argued that large-scale comparative assessment data can enhance learning within and across systems of education and can foster reforms based on the practices of high achieving jurisdictions. Other researchers are less optimistic, warning that educational reform is fraught with danger. This paper explores an unsuccessful British Columbia Ministry of Education initiative to reform its mathematics curricula. This case study illustrates the myriad factors which prevent the success of planned reforms.

A Tale of Two Women: Edith Lucas, Mary Ashworth, and the Changing Nature of Educational Policy in British Columbia, 1937-1977

Both Edith Lucas and Mary Ashworth were instrumental in the lives of minority learners in British Columbia between 1937 and 1988. Although their goals were similar, their professional experiences could not have been more different. Unbridled by the dictates of elected politicians from 1937 to 1963, Lucas provided teachers and students with the necessary resources and services to meet their educational needs directly. Conversely, from 1968 until the late 1970s, Ashworth spent as much of her time lobbying elected officials for adequate resources as she did working with English-as-a-second-language teachers. The professional lives of Edith Lucas and Mary Ashworth illustrate the profound shifts in educational governance and social thought — and their aftermath — that occurred in British Columbia, as elsewhere in North America, from the late 1960s onward

Teaching Czech German Refugees at Tate Creek, British Columbia, During World War II

Abstract This paper explores the experiences of two teachers of Czech German refugees who settled at Tate Creek, British Columbia after Hitler’s annexation of the Sudetenland in 1938. In an era which pre-dates the genesis of the term “English as a Second Language” (ESL), Amy (Brown) Dauphinee and Celia (Stickney) Dowding employed pedagogical techniques that closely resembled those advocated by today’s ESL experts. This research also raises questions about the roles schools played in Canada’s war effort. The extent to which children and teachers engaged in war-related activities depended on many factors, including a teacher’s personal qualities and skills as well as the nature of the community. Résumé Cet article traite des expériences de deux enseignantes qui ont travaillé auprès de réfugiés tchèques d’origine allemande installés à Tate Creek, Colombie-Britannique, après l’annexion par l’Allemagne des Sudètes en 1938. À une époque précédant l’apparition du terme « anglais langue seconde (ASL) » Amy (Brown) Dauphinee et Celia (Stickney) Dowding employaient des techniques pédagogiques qui s’apparentaient à celles utilisées de nos jours par les experts d’ASL. L’étude soulève également des questions quant au rôle joué par les écoles dans l’effort de guerre canadien. L’étendue de l’engagement du personnel et des élèves dans des activités liées à la guerre dépendait de plusieurs facteurs dont la personnalité et les aptitudes des enseignants, ainsi que du caractère de la communauté où l’école se trouvait

Crowding the Curriculum? Changes to Grades 9 and 10 Science in British Columbia, 1920-2014

In recent years, educators and academics across North America have argued that science curricula have become increasingly crowded, rendering it almost impossible for teachers to address the multitude of learning outcomes mandated in any given document (e.g., Fortner, 2001; Hacker, 1997). Unfortunately, an analysis of the research literature has failed to substantiate this claim with empirical evidence. This study investigated the claim of crowding in the Science 9 and 10 curricula of one jurisdiction: British Columbia (BC). A content analysis of the Grades 9 and 10 science curricula issued by BC’s government between 1920 to 2014 revealed curricular change characterized by the expansion and reconfiguration of content, persistent attempts to respond to social and educational needs, and constant oscillations between student-centred and subject-centred teaching approaches. This study also illustrates that the potential crowding of the science curriculum suggested by a pattern of constant curricular expansion has as much to do with changing educational theories and ideologies as with scientific developments

The role of the social foundations of education in programs of teacher preparation in Canada

This paper argues that the social foundations of education, and particularly the disciplines of history, philosophy and sociology of education, must continue to play an integral role in programs of teacher education. We report on the decline of the study of history of education within Faculties of Education in Canada as an example of the marginalization of the role of the social foundations in teacher education programs generally. In this context we furnish what we take to be some of the strongest reasons for the requirement for future teachers to engage with the social foundations—some of these arguments apply to all of the foundational areas, and some apply to specific foundational disciplines. Some of these arguments will be familiar, some new. We conclude that if a teacher education program in Canada is to be of a very high quality then it must include a strong social foundations component.Keywords: teacher education, sociology of education, history of education, philosophy of education, social foundations of educationCet article affirme que les fondements sociaux de l'éducation, et particulièrement les disciplines telles que l'histoire, la philosophie et la sociologie de l'éducation, doivent continuer à jouer un rôle intégral dans les programmes de formation des enseignants. Nous faisons rapport du le déclin de l'étude de l'histoire de l'éducation au sein de facultés d'éducation au Canada, comme un exemple de la marginalisation du rôle des fondements sociaux dans les programmes de formation des enseignants en général. Dans ce contexte, nous fournissons ce que nous pensons être parmi les plus fortes raisons, en tant qu'obligation pour les futurs enseignants, de se familiariser avec les fondements sociaux - Certains de ces arguments s'appliquent à l'ensemble des domaines fondamentaux, et certains s'appliquent seulement à des disciplines fondamentales spécifiques. Certains seront connus, d'autres nouveaux. Nous en concluons que si un programme de formation des enseignants au Canada se veut être un programme d'excellence, alors il doit inclure une composante importante sur les fondements sociaux.Mots clés: formation des enseignants, sociologie de l'éducation, histoire de l'éducation, philosophie de l'éducation, fondements sociaux de l'éducatio