Chelsea Needham - Blog #4

Throughout this chapter for our reading it was all about the different structure types of education in Canada.  I thought this was an interesting chapter in its own sense, it was quite a lot of information to take in.  Something I found pretty interesting during this chapter is when it was talking about how the school age is increased to 16 (91).  It is very important that we give our students the best opportunities to succeed and even though it may not seem important for them, it is getting far more difficult to get anything without a high school diploma.  Something that I think about is how it is the teachers responsibility to keep our students interested.  When it comes to the education we can't force our students to become interested in what we are teaching, but if we can relate it to them and actually make them feel helpful and valued then we can give them a better chance to succeed.  I used to love when my teacher would take time to actually talk to me and make me feel valued, that is something that needs to happen more in school, especially in the Senior Years.

Something else I found interesting is when the book was talking about how the system in Quebec has different names.  They go by cycles instead of grades, I think it would be a very interesting system to observe from the outside (91).  It makes me wonder how the students would compare to students in Manitoba, would there be a difference between the students?  It also makes me wonder about how they are taught, is it the same teacher for 2 years or do they have different teachers?  I would really like to learn more about this system.

I also think it was interesting when the book talked about school choice and what it refers to.  "School choice refers to the freedom that parents (and students) have in selecting the type of school that their children attend free from government constraint, whether it is public, alternative, charter, religious, or private" (93).  I think this is really interesting because there is a lot of drama going on between athletics and students transferring schools.  There is a rule that is getting into place that won't allow students to play the year after they transfer to a different school then is in their jurisdiction.  I think this is interesting, I agree and disagree with the rule.  It stops students from switching to a better high school to create a better athletic outcome, but I also don't think it is good because sometimes students transfer for a different reason and they shouldn't be punished for that.

Discussion Question: Do you think there are benefits to the different school systems other then the public system?