Structure and Governance of Education

Just as other readings and class discussions so far, going back to chapter one was still very eye-opening. This part of the chapter discusses the structure and governance of Canada’s system of education and it shows other countries in comparison. Although at a national level, Canada’s education system is highly decentralized, within each province, it is centralized.

The first thing that I learned that I did not know before was that “most elementary schools contain kindergartens, although these are not legally mandated, and attendance is not compulsory.” This was something that I had not heard before. After reading this sentence, I could not help but ask question after question. Isn’t that a starting point for all children for formal education? Won’t they be behind from the students who did take it? Are there many students who do this, and what is the outcome of it? This is something that I will need to research further in order to fully understand.

Another thing that shocked me was the grade level that students are allowed to legally dropout of school. Although I knew that it was a young age, I did not think it was as low as grade 9. Is this without the consent of a parent/guardian?

The chapter also discusses the circumstances of other countries that do not require children to attend school at all. “Parents everywhere want their children educated; however, when faced with economic constraints, they tend to educate their sons longer than their daughters.” Is this because they think the males are more likely to succeed and use their education later on? Think of how much money Alberta has compared to some of these places and yet education is one of the first things that they take money from when others would give anything to be educated. On another side note, something that I truly hope works is projects such as World Vision where we can help those in need. This is something that I have personally contributed to and I find it very rewarding.

When comparing Canada to other countries, Canada has a lot fewer days spent in school compared to a country like china. 185 (Canada) vs. 251 (China). Yet, research shows that “other factors such as teaching strategies are more important.” “It appears that achievement is more closely tied to the subtleties of how things are done in the classroom, rather than how much time is spent there.” This is very true, as an organized teacher will be better with time management and things such as transitions from class to class.

Overall, this chapter gave an insight into how our education system works from province to province, nationally, and even in other countries.