Education crisis in Ontario: Trustees stay on boards even after issues arise - The Peterborough Examiner, November 7, 2018
There is a crisis occurring in education in Ontario. Two different reviews of two very high profile school boards – the Toronto DSB and the York Region DSB – pointed to a culture of fear, silence and retribution in the education system. Both also pointed to a dysfunction and deficit of leadership capacity on the administrative and elected sides of the organizations.Margaret Wilson's review called for a roll-back of trustee power. Suzanne Herbert and Patrick Case called for meaningful professional development in relation to trustee responsibilities and governance training so trustees would better understand and fulfill their responsibility of providing elected leadership. They found that far too many trustees "failed to demonstrate a basic understanding of their role and responsibilities as elected leaders." In spite of these high profile government interventions, the problems continue. We've now reached a crisis point in Ontario.
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Counterpoint: Ontario experience provides ample rationale for axing school boards in Nova Scotia - The Chronicle Herald, February 2018
With all due respect to former Education Minister Marilyn More who wrote, “The Glaze report does not offer evidence to justify the extreme leap to disbanding elected school boards,” (Opinion: Canning school boards will have unintended consequences), there is more than enough evidence to justify the move. One need only look as far as Ontario to see why the recommendation is spot on.
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Mindfulness in Education - CPCO Principal Connections Winter 2014 Volume 18 Issue 2 pp. 10 - 11.
With a solid foundation for mindful practice, both educators and the children that we serve will be much better prepared to deal critically, creatively and compassionately with the challenges ahead.
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Einstein and Math - CPCO Principal Connections Fall 2014 Volume 18 Issue 1 pp. 4 - 5
When Einstein discovered the theory of relativity, he brought illumination to the world at the tender age of 26. More than 300 years of scientific certainty were swept away with his formula. Using his intuitive and rational minds, intuition, the power of his daydreams, play, creative imagination, music, walks in nature, a pencil, paper, and a math formula, Einstein literally changed the world.
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Standardized Testing - CPCO Principal Connections Summer 2014 Volume 17 Issue 3 pp. 32 - 33
If Ontario wishes to continue to lead school reform around the world, the use of standardized tests needs to be reconsidered. A useful tool in the traditional world, standardized testing could easily become handcuffs in the modern one.
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The Role of Spirituality in Public Education - OPC Register Winter 2014 pg. 42
If we reframe the way we think about spirituality in public schools, it will be a revolutionary prescription for education in the new millennium.
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Global Education Perspectives: Canada Grapples With Testing Too - ParentMap January 2014
As it mounts its own version of education reform, Ontario is also grappling with standardized testing. Is the drive towards improved test scores and stronger PISA results killing creativity in Canadian education?
http://www.parentmap.com/article/global-education-perspectives-canada-grapples-with-testing-too