In October of 2010, Canadian Education Association (CEA), in conjunction with colleagues from SCOPE (Stanford Centre for Opportunity Policy in Education), hosted an event entitled "Achieving Equity through Innovation: A Canada-United States Colloquium." This two-day event provided an important platform for the exchange of ideas,…

The Canadian Education Association, originally called the Dominion Educational Association, was established 120 years ago and held its first annual meeting in Montreal in July 1892, at a time when free and compulsory public education was just gaining a foothold in Canada. The pivotal role of public education has always been to reflect the values…

Classrooms in Bhutan overflow with eager students; however, the teacher supply is often not enough to meet demand. The Bhutan Canada Foundation (BCF) is a Canadian charity working with the Ministry of Education in Bhutan, providing Canadian teachers to remote areas, where they work for a local salary and live in basic conditions The feature of…

Promoting student health and well-being in school has long been a component of education. Traditionally, sports and physical education programs have stressed the importance of staying physically healthy through exercise. More recently, school-based sexual education and nutrition programs have informed young people about the importance of sexual…

The United Nations' Child Friendly Cities movement is committed to implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child. School boards can participate by augmenting a safe physical environment with a policy environment that treats children with respect; encouraging meaningful participation in school governance; recognizing and addressing the…

New information technologies help one to aggregate information in mesmerizing ways, but interpersonal relationships and conversation are necessary to teach a child how to interpret and order that information within a social context. Computers and the Internet are just tools; they must not become the medium of education and thereby rob us of time…

Analyzes the anticipation of educational change in British Columbia associated with the Year 2000 document. The perspective on change involves positive and negative aspects dependent on values and beliefs embedded in the culture. The study of four teachers and their classrooms shows that the seeds of change have been planted. (KS)

Compares the pedantic and renaissance approaches to educational leadership. Pedantic leadership deals in the context of those things which are manageable and predictable (and often trivial). Renaissance leadership emphasizes inspiration, renewal, knowledge, excellence, commitment, and sheer hard work. The renaissance leader is the key to a…

Globalization poses a challenge for societies that must adapt to an ever-changing world. The Delors Report to the International Commission on Education for the 21st Century identifies the problems that globalization raises. Education must not be restricted to a narrow utilitarian role related to economic growth but must regain its political and…

This article discusses the Canadian Civil Liberties Education Trust (CCLET). For many years, the CCLET has been in the business of working with teachers, teacher-candidates, students in grade two through university, and even with those in law schools, to engage them in making choices about controversial issues. CCLET proposes a structural approach…

Discussions about what makes a good school often overlook the importance of encouraging active student involvement in creating their own school environment. In the wake of September 11, surveys showed a drop in youth participation in traditional politics and participatory citizenship. In this article, the author observes how despite the fact that…

Preparations for a Canadian exhibit in a Paris museum prompted reflections on how the adversity encountered in Canada's northern wilderness has fostered Inuit inventiveness and creativity. Anecdotes of other people's adaptations to harsh conditions illustrate that inventiveness is universal to the human condition. Perhaps the best example of…

Vignettes concerning the Writers in Electronic Residence program in Canadian high schools demonstrate that, rather than just being a "tool" in the service of production or efficiency, technology can affect the learning experience and the relationships among all members of the learning community, both in the local classroom and via…

What do we want from our education system? What do we expect? What should we expect? What functions do schools perform in our society? A professor emeritus of education addresses these questions, provides a menu of 19 expectations that we should have for our education systems, and suggests nontraditional means of expanding public education to…

While remaining alert to worthwhile new initiatives, schools must remember that promising practices by themselves are unlikely to make much sustained impact. Good practice must be integrated into a whole-school effort to build coherence and overcome fragmentation. In schools that can do this, and keep a constant focus on student learning,…