Chapter 7 - Lexi Valcourt

This chapter focused on structural and social inequalities in schooling here in Canada. One section specifically focused on how the neighborhood, region, and location of schools can affect the educational attainment of the students enrolled at these schools. When students reside in areas with high concentrations of poverty, it can “negatively impact on children’s academic achievement, acting to keep children in cycles of poverty.” (196) I was surprised to read that Canada has no federally funded early childhood intervention programs which are comparable to the one in the United States, the Head Start Program. (223) It is then, easier to see how children in low socioeconomic areas will be more likely to be kept within that cycle of poverty. Programs like Pathways to Education in Toronto, which operate at a provincial level, have been shown to be effective in their interventions with at-risk youth. Pathways to Education, which targets youth in the area known as Regent Park has been shown to be highly effective in producing change within this improvised community. The program reduced high school dropout rates from 56 to 12 percent and increased the number of youth to go on to post secondary educations from 20 to 80 percent. With success like this, I am surprised we do not have nation wide programs such as these funded at a federal level. Socioeconomic status contributes greatly to how well a student will do in school and whether or not they go to enroll in postsecondary education and as teachers we must work to close the gap and provide all children with the education they deserve.

Question: How can we as teachers effectively provide students who come from all different kinds of backgrounds and circumstances with quality education and resources they need to succeed outside of school?