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The Reggio Emilia Approach comes to Coquitlam
A Coquitlam school is planning to experiment this fall with an unusual approach to education that’s already won high praise from researchers and academics. Meadowbrook elementary is preparing to open a Reggio Emilia classroom for children in primary grades, following a vote of support late last year from the board of education. It is believed to be only the second such experiment in a B.C. public school, with the other starting quietly in 2010 for K-3 students attending Burnaby’s new University Highlands school.
Superintendent Tom Grant said the Coquitlam proposal is part of a broader effort to provide a range of programs that appeal to different types of students. And it’s the second time in recent years that his district has introduced a groundbreaking program, following the launch of a K-1 bilingual Mandarin program in 2010.
Although the Reggio Emilia philosophy is rare in the B.C. public school system, it is practised in some independent schools and preschools, such as Childgarden Preschool in Coquitlam, which has been operating since 2007. Director Sue Woodward said one of the defining features of Reggio Emilia is the “emergent” curriculum, which is created according to student interests, rather than a “canned” curriculum that is taught year after year without change.
Sometimes the students’ interests reflect what is happening in the community, such as at Christmas or Halloween, but at other times simple curiosity, for instance about tape or movement, can be turned into lessons, she explained. The Reggio Emilia approach was developed in Italy after the Second World War in an effort to reconstruct society and help students become more resilient and creative. It is similar to Montessori education, another Italian import, in that it encourages students to be actively involved in their personal development, but has a less formal structure.
To read the entire article by Janet Steffenhagen, click here.
The Must Read on BC Schools You Won’t Like
UVic historian of education paints a bleak political picture, and blames all sides.
By Crawford Kilian, 3 Jan 2012, TheTyee.ca
Title: Worlds Apart: British Columbia Schools, Politics, and Labour Relations Before and After 1972
Author: Thomas Fleming
Published by Bendall Books (2011)
Just about everyone with an interest in B.C. schools will have to read this book — parents, teachers, trustees, administrators, politicians, the media. None of them are going to like it.
That’s because Thomas Fleming, a professor emeritus at UVic, has studied our schools for many years; he knows the system we set up back in 1849. He knows how it’s changed, not always for the better. With energetic impartiality, he finds fault with teachers, trustees, civil servants, and politicians, especially since the first NDP government took power 40 years ago.
From his earlier books and articles, I was familiar with his thesis: B.C. education had been effectively nonpolitical from 1872 until 1972. A handful of dedicated ministry officials had run the schools in an “imperial” style from Victoria, while sending equally dedicated inspectors out to make sure the system was running well. Those inspectors were often veterans of rural and urban schools who had risen through the ranks.
Vancouver Board of Education Launches Website
The Vancouver board of education commenced a review of its schools and services Thursday with the launch of a new website intended to be a one-stop shop of information for parents, students, staff and community members.
The website, called Your Schools, Your Community, Our Future (http://ourfuture.vsb.bc.ca), marks the start of an extensive review and public consultation process to determine what programs and opportunities Vancouver students need now and into the future, deputy superintendent Jordan Tinney said in a release. The review will also include public hearings at a later date.
The website will provide an array of information about alternative and special-needs programs, enrolments, seismic and heritage rankings, staffing numbers and student catchment charts, the release says.
The board approved the sectoral review after voting in late 2010 not to close five small east-side schools that had been targeted due to low enrolments. At that time, the board instructed staff to prepare a report outlining the educational opportunities available in the district.
“The question of whether the [district] has the necessary facilities and resources to support its programs in all areas of the district will be a key consideration when the final report is presented to the board in March 2012,” the release says.
Despite declining enrolments, Vancouver has closed only one school: a small annex in 2003. Vision Vancouver and COPE trustees, who form a majority on the board, have said they do not intend to close any schools.
Story by: Janet Steffenhagen, Vancouver Sun
The challenges of success: dramatic growth of open access early year-end edition
Universal access to all knowledge will be one of humanity’s greatest achievements. We are already well on the way! from Stewart Brand’s: Brewster Kahle’s 30 November Long Now Talk For fun and inspiration, check out the Internet Archive for the more than 3 million books (adding 1,000 titles per day), 100,000 concerts and 1 million recordings (3 new bands uploading / day), 600,000 movies, and of course the web itself. Thanks, Internet Archive and Brewster Kahle – and wow!
2011 has been another outstanding year for the growth of open access to scholarly resources. Highlights this quarter include the remarkable growth of the Directory of Open Access Journals, with an increase of more than 600 titles this quarter alone so far, for a growth rate of 9 titles per day. On November 26, RePEC reached a major milestone. There are now One million works available online through RePEC (Nov. 26, 2011). According to the Sherpa services blog,
60% of journals allow immediate self-archiving of post peer-reviewed articles
and the Open Access Directory just sailed past our 2 millionth view of the OAD.
From my perspective, open access has entered a new phase, one in which we are beginning to see the challenges of success. How can we track all these resources and make it easy for people to find and use them? The emerging open access marketplace for commercial scholarly publishers appears to have attracted what Beall calls predatory open access publishers as I have commented on here. As we begin to address these challenges, it is also timely to begin other overdue discussions, such as Dissension in the Open Access Ranks on CC Licenses.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Group kids by ability not age at school, public says: Government petitions ideas to remodel education system
B.C. schools should group students by ability rather than age, promote personalized learning but not at the expense of basic skills, eliminate standardized tests and provide more frequent reports to parents about student progress.
Those are among the ideas submitted to the Education Ministry after it made a public appeal for suggestions about how to remodel schools for the 21st century. The ministry is continuing to seek comment in what it has described as its “first grand experiment in citizen engagement.”
The “experiment” began in late October when Education Minister George Abbott announced a government plan for education renewal that would include an emphasis on personalized learning, critical thinking and quality teaching. But before developing policy, he said he wanted to hear recommendations from educators, parents, students and others.
To encourage discussions, the ministry posted several questions on a newly created website and invited members of the public to make submissions on what they think needs to change for students and how schools, teachers and parents can help make that change happen.
By Janet Steffenhagen, Vancouver Sun
December 29, 2011
jsteffenhagen@vancouversun.com
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