April 18, 2013

Education and Role Models


This editorial is a continuation of my series on education. The question of role models inside and outside the classroom is a crucial element in public education in Ontario Canada.

A recent study on education shows how many junior and intermediate students feel isolated from their teachers when it comes to matters of psychological and emotional concerns. In my opinion many students turn to celebrities and media personalities as their main influence.

Key concerns over the influence of behaviour towards others and matters of self esteem are often either ignored or overlooked not only in education but in parenting, and friendships where far too often the pressures of longer work weeks and the over-consuming culture we've become sends a message that perhaps money and status are save all solutions to shrinking role models.

But alas, a good editorial makes you think, so I leave it up to you to decide...

April 17, 2013

Education Ontario and The Monkey On My Back


Decided to break away from my usual format of the daily sketch and focus on an opinion piece for my OP/ED section.

Education in my hometown, Ontario Canada, is a controversial topic. Eduction isn't simply enough that a teacher's main responsibility is to their student's education and learning. Over the years many additional responsibilities have been added to public education by our provincial government. Some might say they've been dumped onto the elementary teachers laps irrespective of teacher's concerns.

The Ontario Government has been relying more heavily on standardized testing as a model for determining the overall status of school performance. Teachers who teach grade 3 and 6 especially feel the additional pressure in preparing their students for the standardized tests on top of their already loaded expectations.

There has been much debate over the topic of standardized tests and educational performance, and debates over the health of public education in Ontario and whether our province is producing brilliant minds or mindless minions.  You decide...
 

April 16, 2013

Alien BOB-Z

I was thinking about alien life today so I inadvertently came across my alien BOB-Z. Although BO- Z
may sound like a rapper, he may prefer the softer sounds of R&B while BOB drifts through space.