Chapter
three of the text gave a brief overview of the history of our education system
in Canada. As I was reading the chapter, I was surprised at how much of the
information I had never learned before this class. In high school we very
generally covered certain aspects of Canada’s education history, but I think
that it would be really valuable to teach this part of our history to students
at an earlier age and more in depth. I am quite ashamed to say that I had no
idea before I entered University the true horrors that occurred in Residential
Schools, and the “long-term psychological damage that occurred has been passed
down through generations due to psychological distress”(p. 73). I can’t believe
that the last residential school to close was Gordon Residential School in Saskatchewan
in 1996, not even twenty years ago (p. 75). It was only recently on June 11, 2008, that there was a formal apology made to former residential school students by the government of Canada, more than ten years after the last residential school closed (p. 77).
For
a country that prides itself on multiculturalism today, we certainly have had
many dark pages in our history with regards to the treatment of minority
populations living in Canada. I don’t think that it ‘s well known that there
were segregated schools for Blacks, Chinese, as well as Japanese students in
Canada (p. 77-81). I think that it is essential that students are educated
about our country’s history, to be aware of what has happened in the past and
to avoid making the same mistakes in the future.
Discussion: Do you as a future teacher believe that you are
well educated and informed about Canada’s educational history?
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