Jordyn Fernandes Blog 4

I began this chapter by skimming through and reading some of the bolded terms and headlines and I was shocked at how many different types of schools there were. As I began reading the text I was also blown away by the 80 billion dollar budget that all three levels of government had for Canadian education per year.(p.89) I think it would be very interesting to see the breakdown of this budget, whether it is equally shared, see what the money is allocated for and the benefit that this budget brings. Taking it a step further I wonder whether a study has been done that compares the product of the budget such as services for different schools and the results of academic testing to see if the different budgets truly did lead to a better education. (p.99) It would be interesting to see this among schools in Canada and also among schools throughout the world. These studies would be help to demonstrate whether or not the higher socioeconomic classes truly do receive a better education due to higher funding. I understand that there are numerous other factors in play but it would help to see if the budget and its ability to provide certain services had positive, negative or neutral impacts on the students.

I was also interested in the idea of alternative schools in regards to the Montessori programs. As a child I was placed in the Montessori program. I walked away learning things like subtraction, reading, I was able to participate in the Orff programs, learned the continents, had chores, and a multitude of other skills that I entered school with that my peers had not yet acquired. The structure, philosophy and funding made for a very different learning environment then is found in a standard daycare or preschool class. Once again it would be interesting to see if there was a long term benefit to this early learning or if at some point the educational ‘playing field’ becomes equal.

 

Discussion question: There are so many different ways the jurisdictions structure their educational programs and so many different opinions, are any right or wrong? Do you have a preference?