Wednesday, 21 January 2015

Chelsea Needham - Blog #3


                This week for our reading I found it very lengthy but it was informational.  It was interesting seeing how much schooling has changed over the years.  I believe we still have things that need to be changed and altered to still create better opportunities for our students.  Something that really stuck out to me while reading this chapter is just how little I knew of Canada’s history in schooling.  Seeing how far it has come is definitely encouraging, but it is disappointing that our history isn’t as known in the schooling system.  I found it interesting that as I was reading public school was essentially for the lower class, and it was looked down on.  “Charity schools were suitable only for those students whose parents were not able to properly provide for their children” (57).  I think this is very sad because school shouldn’t be looked down upon in any sense.  It is supposed to give our students the abilities to succeed no matter what class they come from. 
                The chapter also talked a lot about First Nations people, and other minority groups in Canada, and what their schooling was like.  As I was reading this part of the chapter I found it very difficult as a future educator to believe that people could do this.  I found myself really struggling with the concept of how horribly people were treated in our country.  As a Canadian we were supposed to be the helpful peace keepers, it was a struggle to understand how terribly people were treated.  I think as future educators we have the abilities to create a better future for our students.  It is important that we entitle all of our students and create a safe, loving, and understanding environment for each child equally.  It is time to create a country where everyone is truly equal.
                My baba (which is Ukrainian for grandma) went to school to become teacher, she went to Teacher College, which was talked about on page 84, from 1961-1962.  When she talks about how she became a teacher it was because when she graduated high school there was 3 options for women: teaching, nursing, or commercial (becoming a secretary).  So she decided to become a teacher, I think it is incredible how far it has come, from a one year degree to 5 years in university.  I love listening to her stories about her classroom, and I hope that one day I’ll be able share those stories with my grandchildren.
                On Tuesday we watched a video on residential schools titled “We Were Children”.  I found this video a struggle to watch.  I think it is a great movie, I was disappointed in my own education on the subject because I didn’t know nearly enough of what I should have.  I believe we can educate our students more about this subject so that they can start to really understand what needs to be fixed in our country.  Students are able to understand and comprehend this type of subject, and I think if people are more informed it will only help the future generations.  I think teachers need to let our students know what happened, and create a safe environment for them to learn about this.  It is okay that we make mistakes, but what isn’t okay is if we don’t learn from them.  That is my goal, to learn from the past to hopefully make the future better.

Discussion Question: Do we shelter our students too much to the history of our country?

No comments:

Post a Comment