This week’s chapter was on the many different forms of
schooling. I can vouche for at least three references from the text.
I was homeschooled for 3 years in junior high because I was
bullied often. This also ties in with Aboriginal education because it was a
school on my reserve where I experienced this bullying. The bullying happened
because I was a straight A student and came from what was considered an upper
middle class family who had a nice, huge home and parents who worked endlessly
to make sure I was well-provided for. I was that kid who brought a $10 bill to
school for lunch at least 3 times a week and would often be pushed down the
boardwalk (my school was primarily 12 huts that would later be given away to
families who needed homes) or what I experienced the most, being cornered in
the classroom by 5 sometimes up to 10 girls who would insult me, pretend to
punch me in the face to scare me into giving the “leader” my lunch money. It
was a terrible experience and I am grateful that my mom took the time to take a
leave of absence from work to teach me at home. I often did “unschooling” as
cited on page 106 and 107 of the text. My mom didn’t just teach me whatever she
felt, but she let me choose what I wanted to do. Usually I chose art or
literacy. According to the province of Manitoba, as independently as my mom
would teach me, I still was required to participate in provincial testing to
see if I met all of the educational benchmarks required to move on to the next
grade. I tried to go back to school again in grade 8, and only made it to
October before I was pulled from being bullied. I find that there is a stigma
against homeschooling and that as educators, we should be obligated to not see
the benefits or appreciation for homeschooling, and I know this is partly due
to the fact it means there is something wrong with our profession. That isn’t
always the case, especially if it is a bullying issue like mine was.
However, as Robson states, “there is considerable evidence
that on-reserve schools are not comparable to provincial schools” (109). This
is true. I went to school on Sagkeeng First Nation (Fort Alexander on the map),
and my 7th, grade teacher was still in school getting her teaching
certificate at the time before I was pulled out of school. I know from
conversations with my mom, that many teachers before she took on the Director
of Education position 5 years ago, did not even possess a grade 5 education. At
one point when I attended Powerview, there was a grade 12 science teacher who
did not have a teaching degree, let alone, a grade 8 education. This is still a
problem today, but because of the lack of funding and support that reserves get
(or in this case, don’t get) from the government, this is the way that
on-reserve schools are run most of the time. My mom is constantly stressed out
from her position because she is laying off employees like they are dropping
like flies and then has to come home and deal with angry parents, spouses or
family members. This complaining that community members do only does a
disservice to their children in the end because they are not receiving the
quality of education that they deserve. Once in a while, the reserve will get a
balloon payment for education funding and my mom will hire candidates from off
the reserve. Many usually leave the schools because parents have problems with
non-Aboriginal staff teaching their children even though they are qualified
teachers who can offer their children a decent education. As stated, this is a
government problem.
Lastly, I have participated in the school of choice option
for my son. We reside under Siene River School Division, but my son is currently
attending a school in Pembina Trails. The staff at his previous school had a
difficult time seeing eye to eye with me on alternative education plans. My son
was always coming home from school with notes that were usually negative and
very disheartening and I found the classroom teacher to be very pushy and had a
philosophy that I felt was not a good fit for my son’s well-being. I appreciate
the option for school of choice and I feel that more schools should be honoured
to have families from out of catchment wanting to send their children to these
schools. That says that these families believe in their mission statements and
that they feel those schools are a good fit for their children. Most of the
time, the school of choice option is for special needs students, which I have
already mentioned my son has some difficulties and challenges that he faces. I
needed him to have a fresh start and I may not always agree with what the
teachers are doing in helping my son get by everyday, but I work with what I’ve
got and I do my best to make sure my son’s needs are taken care of.
Question: Should parents require a degree or some other form of credentials to homeschool their children?
No comments:
Post a Comment