Many of the ideas that were presented in this chapter from Ryerson, and
others, when education was just developing are still very relevant in our
classes today. Ryerson was an advocate for equitable public funding and for
schools to be open to inspection and scrutiny. (p. 126) Without this
suggestions I believe school and educational reform acts would have been much
harder to create. The original objective of the curriculum was for the “Canadization”
of new immigrants. (p. 126) The scrutiny that the educational system was
subjected too allowed for students, parents and teachers to push for a change
in the focus and material taught in the classroom and in the purpose of the
curriculum. “Students wanted more ‘practical’ knowledge that also reflected a
more diverse (non-British) population.” (p.129) This idea became a motiving
point in educational reform and is still desired today because Canada is a combination
of so many diverse peoples. The cultural influence on learning and the
different needs of students was and still is a strong political point in terms
of what students need to learn. (p. 132) Overall, I was very surprised how many
debates are still occurring and how many questions still have yet to be
answered.
One question that has been hotly debated for many years is how students
learn best and whether standardized testing helps or harms the learning
process. (p.136) After a semester in education I have no idea what the answer
to these questions are and many professors freely admit that, after years
teaching, they still have no answer. My discussion question is, even if you do
not have an answer to these questions, what is your opinion on the use of
standardized testing? Also, what do you think is the most effective way to
teach children in general, is there one?
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