Category: IPE/BC Commons

Education Funding

Summary Report of the BCTF Membership Survey 2022/23

April 2023

“These findings point to the urgency of districts receiving funding to meet all student needs.
Currently, school districts receive supplemental funding only to cover the additional needs of students with so- called “low incidence” designations. However, about half of students with an identified need are designated with a “high-incidence” designation, which is accompanied with no additional funding. This has created a situation where districts receive substantially less in supplemental education funding than what they actually do, or need to, spend.”

BCTF Research Department

Drawing on a broad range of education research, and quantitative and qualitative methodologies, the BCTF Research team advocates for the development of educational policy, school programs and classroom practice based on teacher knowledges and experiences.

Funding for Success:Post-Secondary Education in BC

“Faculty and staff at BC’s research universities are the backbone of the academic mission, serving as stewards of the knowledge economy. Supporting the human infrastructure on campus, especially in areas of teaching and research, will be critical to the future success of a strong post-secondary system in this province. This success hinges on the support from government and institutions.”         CUFA- BC

The Confederation of University Faculty Associations of British Columbia (CUFA-BC) represents approximately 5,500 university faculty members through the faculty associations at BC’s research universities.

Why are Public Dollars for Private Schools Rising? 

“The good news is B.C. has every ability to close the funding gap and reinvest in public education. Rather than continuing to massively subsidize private schools, these resources should be redirected to building stronger public schools for all.”   Alex Hemmingway

Alex Hemingway is a Senior Economist and Public Finance Policy Analyst at the CCPA’s BC Office. His research focuses on tax fairness, public finances, public services, and economic inequality in BC and Canada.

Critical Response to “A Short History of K-12 Public School Spending in British Columbia”

“Recently a scholar at UBC, Jason Ellis, made the claim in a research article that “K-12 public education spending in British Columbia – adjusted for inflation – is 250 percent higher in 2020 than it was in 1970”. Concerned that readers might misinterpret such a claim, we authored an article offering both a critique of that claim and a more carefully conducted analysis of the available data. We illustrate how Ellis’ claim lacks a theoretical framework, is based on weak data sources, a flawed research method and skewed analysis that results in a misleading understanding of resource allocations in BC. We present alternative ways to understand spending on education in BC in an effort to correct the scholarly and public record.”

Daniel Laitsch, John Malcolmson and Larry Kuehn

Dr. Daniel Laitsch is the chairperson of the IPE/BC Board,  founding director for the Centre for Study of Educational Leadership, Associate Professor at SFU and Director of the SFU Surrey Campus Liaison, Faculty of Education. His research interests include examining the use of research by teachers, application of research to inform policy and practice and policy analysis.

John Malcolmson is on the IPE/BC Board of Direcformerly the CUPE research analyst for the K-12 sector. He is interested in education finance and, in particular, the mounting structural shortfall in K-12 funding produced as a result of neoliberal austerity imposed from above and the changing role played by property taxation in public school funding.

Dr. Larry Kuehn is a member of the IPE/BC Board of Directors and chair of the Research and Programs Committee.  He is a research associate for the CCPA and retired BCTF Director of Research and Technology. He has written extensively on education matters including funding,  globalization, technology and privacy.

Neoliberalism and Public Education Finance in Canada: Reframing Educational Leadership as Entrepreneurship

This book, authored by Wendy Poole, Gerald Fallon and Vicheth Sen, reports on research that investigated the worlds of school district administrators (SDAs) in the education policy environment characterized by retrenchment of government expenditure on public education and the imperative for school districts to actively generate supplementary revenue through entrepreneurial and other means.  It reports on the kinds of initiatives that SDAs undertook to protect public funding and to generate new sources of funding through business-like activities, paying attention to the ways in which the SDAs responded to the policy environment differently according to their understandings of local contextual conditions.  Themes that permeate various chapters of the book include:

(1) the impact of entrepreneurial public education finance policy on financial equity between school districts in a spatially diverse province and the implications for equity of student access to quality education; and

(2) how SDAs negotiated their subjectivities as educational leaders within a policy rationality that
compelled a business-like model of leadership.

“We propose a vision of educational leadership that transcends the parochialism and self-interestedness of entrepreneurial leadership at the school district level and that moves toward public education and educational leadership for the common good.”                      Dr. Wendy Poole 

Dr. Poole, a former secondary teacher and leader, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Studies at UBC. Her research  interests include educational leadership, teacher unionism and education policy, particularly neo-liberal policy and its impact on students, teachers, administrators and school communities.

Dr. Fallon’s research interests include school and education system managementand cultural diversity.  education law, policy, sustainability and leadership.  He is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Studies at UBC. Dr. Fallon also has extensive experience in school and district leadership positions.

Dr. Vicheth Sen is a sessional instructor in the Department of Educational Studies at UBC. His research interests include adult and higher education and social justice/equity in ‘postcolonial’ and post-conflict/transitionalsocieties, neoliberalism and public education, and adult learning and sustainability.

Decolonizing and Indigenizing Public Education

Teaching Where You Are 

“As educators, part of our work in decolonizing our teaching begins with learning about the place(s) on which we live and work, and the people who have lived there since before colonial times. Starting where you are can also help debunk pan-Indian notions that have been infused through media, curriculum, and colonial mythologies.”  Shannon Leddy and Lorrie Miller 

Dr. Shannon Leddy is an Asociate Professor of Teaching, Indigenous  Education, Faculty of Education, UBC.  Her practice focuses on decolonzing education and Indigenous education within teacher education and her research interests include art education, cultural studies, environmental education and ways of knowing. Dr. Leddy also serves as co-director of the Institute for Environmental Learning, a UNESCO Regional Centre of Excellence, and an IPE/BC Fellow.

Dr. Lorrie Miller is a sessional instructor in the Department of Curriculum Studies, Faculty of Education, UBC She holds a PHD in art education. Dr Miller coordinated the Orange Shirt Project, Acts of Remembrance, Respect and Reconciling,  at UBC.  In 2022, along with co-editor, Wenona Giles, Dr. Miller received the Jackie Kirk Award from the Comparative and International Education Society for the edited book collection, Borderless Higher Education for Refugees: Lessons from the Dadaab Refugee Camps.

Interview with Lorna Wanosts’a7 Williams 

This interview was originally published in the October edition of the Bulletin, produced by the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT/ACPPU).

“Indigenization is when we’re able to embed Indigenous points of view and ways of being within our practice in institutions and in society. When we can be who we are, and it’s understood and recognized either in public or within institutions.”

Lorna Wanosts’a7 Williams is a member of the Lil’wat First Nation of Mount Currie, British Columbia. She led the development of Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Indigenous Language Revitalization, and a Master’s in Counselling in Indigenous Communities at the University of Victoria, where she is Professor Emerita of Indigenous Education, Curriculum and Instruction. She also developed a mandatory course in Indigenous Education for all teacher education students in British Columbia. Williams received the Order of Canada in December 2020.

Learning To See: Generating Decolonial Literacy Through Contemporary Identity-Based Indigenous Art 

“Recent revisions to British Columbia curriculum mandate the inclusion of Indigenous content and pedagogies across the curriculum, which is a positive step towards better understanding. But such changes are not made easily. We need to revise the way we look at Indigenous peoples, content, and pedagogies within school curriculum so that teachers and students are better able to detect and eliminate racism when they encounter it in course materials, and in themselves.”  Shannon Leddy

Shannon Leddy (Métis) is an Assistant Professor (Teaching) in Indigenous Education in the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia, where she also teaches in the NITEP program. She focuses on decolonizing education through infusing Indigenous content and pedagogies in teacher education.  She serves as Co-Chair of the Institute for Environmental Learning, a UNESCO Regional Centre of Excellence.

Equity, Access and Inclusion

Improving the school experience: Review of Diversity Leadership in Education: Embedding Practices of Social Justice
edited by Catherine McGregor and Shailoo Bedi  

“Through a variety of unique studies, narratives, and lived experiences, the diverse voices in this volume collectively point out that education is understood to be a great tool for social change. It is therefore the role of education to create spaces that interrogate persistent and damaging oppressive ideologies and practices within their educational institutions.”  Review by Natalie Virginia Lang published in the British Columbia Review.

Natalie Virginia Lang is teacher, writer and alumnus of the Graduate Liberal Studies Program at SFU. Catherine McGregor is an Associate Professor and Associate Dean, Graduate Programs and Research at the University of  Victoria. Shailoo Bedi is the Executive Director of Learning and Teaching Support and Innovation, University of Victoria.

Trauma informed appraches to discipline matter for equitable and safe schooling

“When discipline is the response to trauma, it is likely to increase a student’s stress and anxiety and alienate them from necessary resources.

This is particularly concerning in a social context of historical and ongoing systemic racism negatively impacting Black and Indigenous students that was maintained through both anti-Black public schooling models and residential schools.”  Jane E. Sanders, Andrea Joseph-McCatty, Michael Massey 

Jane E. Sanders is an Assistant Professor, School of Social Work, King’s University College, Western University. Her research focuses on the impact of trauma and adversity, systemic racism and inequality on academics, with a focus on the adverse experiences of students who have been expelled from school.

Andrea Joseph-McCatty is an Assistant Professor of Social Work at the University of Tennessee. Her research focuses on interventions to address gendered and racially disproportionate school discipline and the relationship between trauma and school discipline. She has designed and faciliated anti-bias and anti-bullying for students and educators in K-12 schools and post-secondary institutions.

Michael Massey is an Assistant Professor at the National Catholic School of Social Service at the Catholic University of America. He teaches courses in social justice, diversity, human behavior, and social policy. His research interests include anti-racists practices in schools, critical race theory, and racial equity in education.

Here are some dos and don’ts to help tackle ableism 

“We all have a role to play in challenging ableism, which may sometimes leave us feeling awkward or unsure if we’re doing and saying the right things. But, to our knowledge being awkward isn’t deadly. Ableism too often is.”  MIchelle Stack, Heidi L. Janz 

Michelle Stack is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Studies at the University of British Columbia. Her current work is focused on cooperative colleges and universities and the opportunities they provide for democratic decision-making and housing and food security for students and staff.  Michelle is also an IPE/BC Fellow.

Heidi L. Janzi is  Core Faculty Member and Associate Adjunct Professor with the John Dossetor Health Ethics Centre at the University of Alberta and a national disability rights advocate. She is also a writer and playwright whose creative works focus on the experiences of people with disabilities.

Why attending publicly funded schools may help students become more culturally sensitive 

“Research shows that when parents choose educational programs based on large scale assessments and measurable achievement outcomes, they are often choosing programs that rank racializedsocio-economic privilege rather than quality teaching and learning.”     Wendy Hughes 

Wendy Hughes is a former school principal who is now a doctoral student at OISE with research interests in curriculum, education policy, children’s educational rights and the common school.

When the BC government refused education for Japanese Canadian children, Hideko Hyodo and the community created an alternative

“When Japanese Canadians were interned during World War II, their children were excluded from B.C. public schools. The interned communities created alternative schools with volunteer teachers trained in summer programs and led by Hideko Hyodo, the only Japanese Canadian teacher in B.C. public schools at the time. She was later awarded the Order of Canada in recognition of her role and the work of these teachers.”   Larry Kuehn 

Larry Kuehn is a member of the IPE/BC Board of Directors and chair of the Research and Programs Committee.  He is a research associate for the CCPA and retired BCTF Director of Research and Technology. He has written extensively on education matters including funding,  globalization, technology and privacy.

Inclusion interrupted? The impact of COVID restrictions on inclusion and belonging in classroom communities  (See page 13) 

“While many schools and classrooms have been working hard to forge a path towards implementing more inclusive practices that aim to service and value all students, the challenges presented by government regulations during the 2020-2021 school year had significant impacts on the ability of schools and classroom teachers to maintain those environments and practices for students. Based on personal observations and reflections, this commentary explores some of the challenges and effects of COVID regulations (i.e. social distancing, limited access to school during non-instructional times, suspension of extracurricular activities, hybrid-learning) on classroom communities. Additionally, comments focus on the impact of regulations on the ability of educators and students to sustain a sense of belonging and the ability of educators to service diverse student needs within the context of COVID policies.”                    Dr. Gemma Porter 

Dr. Gemma Porter is an Assistant Professor at Acadia University and an experienced middle and secondary school teacher. Her teaching interests include Social Studies methods, creative integration of curriculum, principles and practices, and the sociological, historical and philosophical foundations of education.   Dr. Porter’s dissertation focused on the history of the Social Studies curriculum in Saskatchewan, including the dominant narratives about Canada and the explicit and implicit messages conveyed through official curriculum.

BCEdAccess Presentation to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services 

On August 31st, 2021, Tracy Humphries, BCEDAccess, presented to this legislative committee during its annual consultation process after which it will make recommendations to government to consider in developing the provincial budget.

“I’m here to ask you today to invest, in a significant way, in K-to-12 education, which is still experiencing budget cuts every year. On the table were approximately $100 million in cuts among the 60 school districts for the 2021-22 school year, many of those targeting inclusive education, and there’s more cuts on the table for next school year.”

Tracy Humphries is the Founder and Chair of BCEdAccess.  She has been an active volunteer in public schools for over twenty years and has served on her local Parent Advisory  Councils and the District Parent Advisory Council in Victoria.  She is a dedicated advocate for families of children with disabilities.

The Pandemic and Public Education

Practicum during the pandemic

“Varied implementations of technology use and willingness to adapt due to the pandemic on part of the coaching teacher and teacher candidate made the implementation of remote observations during the 2020-2021 school year by the practicum mentor via Zoom possible and successful. This program evaluation looked at the viability of remote observations during the short and long practicums as one response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The practicum mentor was able to observe the professional standards demonstrated by the teacher candidate with conferencing with the support of the coaching teacher. Remote observations can be one way for teacher education programs to observe teacher candidates during practicum in small communities.” Dr. Christine Ho Younghusband 

Dr. Christine Ho  Younghusband is an Assistant Professor in the Teacher Education Program and Graduate Studies at the University of Northern British Columbian.  She completed her doctorate degree in Educational Leadership at Simon Fraser University.  Christine has sixteen years experience as a secondary math and science teacher in BC’s public schools and has also served as an elected school trustee. She is also serving on the Board of Directors for the Institute for Public Education/BC.  

Finding Our Way Through a Pandemic: Teaching in Alternate Modes of Delivery

“In a search for themes to connect all the promising pedagogies, I came to realize that a critical element in each of these lessons was connecting individual students, living, and studying in isolation all over the world, to others socially, in small groups, and to the whole class. Both teachers and students faced serious challenges in alternate delivery modes of instruction. But in our search for effective ways to engage students in their virtual learning environments, teachers, and researchers have an incredible opportunity at this time to learn from one another.”    Dr. Edward Howe, Dr. Georgann Cope Watson 

Dr. Edward Howe is Professor and Chair, School of Education, Faculty of Education and Social Work, Thompson Rivers University. His research focused on comparative and international education, teacher induction, self study and narrative inquiry.  Dr. Howe is an IPE/BC Fellow.

Dr. Georgann Cope Watson  is an Open Learning Faculty Member at Thompson Rivers University and a Sessional Lecturer at Brock University. Her research interests include the pedagogy of online teaching and adult education.

Student Agency in COVID Times 

“What lessons can we learn from having to adapt teaching and learning during the pandemic? COVID-19 separated us and now we pine to be together as a community and learn together as a community. We want and need to bring back humanity, strive for learning that is student-centred, competency-based, personalized, and interdisciplinary.  To regain our sense of power during the pandemic and beyond is to understand and exercise our agency as educators and feel good about letting go of some of what we previously did – because doing so allows us to get to the heart of teaching and learning.”  Christine Ho Younghusband.

Don’t Let This Viral Wave Swamp Our Kids

“Raffi and I collaborated on this commentary out of a shared concern about the lack of protections for children returning to school, especially among those who are not yet eligible for vaccination. The Delta variant is much more infectious than previous variants and original COVID-19, and yet, children returned to school with fewer public health measures in place. Our commentary discusses the current state of the evidence of COVID-19 in children, and how infection and transmission risks can be reduced through evidence-based public health interventions. Ultimately, Raffi and I urge government and public health officials to honour children and adopt the precautionary principle when it comes to implementing protections that can help prevent infection among children.” Andrew Longhurst

Andrew Longhurst is a researcher and policy analysist with the BC Office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. He is also a researcher and PhD student in SFU’s department of geography. His research interests include health and social policy, poverty and inequality, and labour market change.  Raffi Cavoukian is a singer, author and founder of Child Honouring who has received both the Order of BC and the Order of Canada.

Comparing School COVID-19 Policies Across Canada 

Thanks very much to People for Education, Ontario, for tracking and updating the COVID-19 policies and practices in public schools coast to coast to coast.

Public Education and Privatization

Self-checkout education 

“Neoliberal efforts to transform public education existed prior to the pandemic; however, the uncertainty of this moment has created openings to further these endeavors. Despite an utter lack of research about sustained online learning in the K-12 context, investments in e-frastructure made through the pandemic are now being used to advance online learning across Canada. Through an interview-based study, Teachers’ Homework: Online Learning Through COVID19, we spoke to 14 teachers from across Manitoba about their experiences “pivoting” to an online environment. Through this article, we share three prevalent themes from the interviews: deprofessionalizing, demoralizing, dehumanizing.”  Dr. Shannon  DM Moore, Dr. Bruno de Oliveira Jayme

Dr. Shannon DM Moore is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba, where she teaches courses in media education, social studies education, social justice pedagogy, and research methodologies.  She previously taught social studies and English in the K-12 public school system. Dr. Moore’s research interests include the incorporation of media education and theories of social justice into the social studies context, the ways in which youth make sense of sexualities conveyed in digital media, and the impact of neo-liberal policies on public schools and schooling.

Dr. Bruno de Oliveira Jayme is also an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba where he teaches courses on curriculum leadership, cultural leadership and social learning through the arts, art-based teaching and education research, and developing a responsive pedagodgy among others.  In addition to teaching at the university level, Dr. Jayme has taught elementary and secondary students in BC, Manitoba and Brazil. His research interests include critical pedagogies, arts-based education, social justice and civic engagement, and media literacies.

After 60 years, do the arguments for K-12 vouchers still hold?

“Public education is a public interest, but there are also real questions related to funding, governance, and the role of private industry in provision of education to the public. These questions can, and should, be informed by research data and scholarly analysis. This article explores the the arguments for K-12 voucher programs in light of 60+ years of gathered research evidence.” Dr. Dan Laitsch

Dr. Daniel Laitsch is the Chairperson of the Institute for Public Education’s Board of Directors.  He is a founding director for the Centre for Study of Educational Leadership, Associate Professor at SFU and Director of the SFU Surrey Campus Liaison, Faculty of Education. His research interests include examining the use of research by teachers, application of research to inform policy and practice and policy analysis.

Leadership and Governance

Communities expect “the courtesy of an explanation” from school districts

“Researchers into school and school district ­community relations programs agree that when a community feels connected to its schools, it is more likely to be confident about school districts’ policies and ­practices and in individual schools’ teaching and ­learning processes.”  Geoff Johnson, published in the Times Colonist, March 10, 2024

Geoff Johnson is a journalist, with regular columns on education issues in the Times Colonist, and a former superitentent, supervisor of instruction, principal, and teacher.

British Columbia School Trustees Use of Research and Information Seeking in Decision Making

“Public education is a public interest, but there are also real questions related to funding, governance, and the role of private industry in provision of education to the public. These questions can, and should, be informed by research data and scholarly analysis. BC’s school trustees gather information from a wide range of resources as they navigate the decisions they need to make—education scholars interested in informing those decisions may want to think more strategically about how they engage education leaders.” Dr. Daniel Laitsch

Dr. Daniel Laitsch is the Dean, Faculty of Education, SFU, and past Chairperson of the Institute for Public Education’s Board of Directors.  He is a founding director for the Centre for Study of Educational Leadership, Associate Professor at SFU and Director of the SFU Surrey Campus Liaison, Faculty of Education. His research interests include examining the use of research by teachers, application of research to inform policy and practice and policy analysis.

Leading from the Heart

“I am an avid reflective practitioner and while reflecting on my strengths and stretches as an educator and researcher for a particular position in this blog post, I was brought back to the ideas of leadership, community, and compassion. In my imagination, the making comes from the breaking. How can we rebuild and hold each other up as we attempt to create equitable and inclusive learning environments? What role do we play? What can you do?”    Christine Ho Younghusband

Dr. Christine Ho Younghusband is Assistant Professor at UNBC School of Education and an Affiliate Scholar at Centre for the Study of Educational Leadership and Policy at SFU.  She holds a PhD in Educational Leadership from SFU and a M.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction. She has extensive experience in the field of education having been a secondary math teacher, a trustee on the Board of Education for SD46, and a member of the BC School Trustees’ Association Board of Directors.

Technology and Public Education

Educators can take inspiration from growing efforts to resist the current hype around AI

Rather than being set in stone, there are plenty of reasons to believe that the ongoing AI-ification of education is something that can be resisted, and perhaps even reimagined in radically different ways. All the different perspectives just outlined should inspire us to slow down and recalibrate current discussions around AI and education – reflecting on what these technologies cannot do, and calling out what is lost and what harms occur when these technologies are used.

Neil Selwyn is a distinguished professor at Monash University and a foremost scholar and writer on the implications of technology in education. His books include Facial Recognition, Should Robots Replace Teachers and Education Technology: Key Issues and Debates. This article was published on August  Education International’s Worlds of Education Newsletter, August 25, 2023. 

Why freemium software has no place in our classrooms

Published in The Conversation, June 13, 2022

“Educational settings should focus on equity, especially when it comes to decisions related to the use of technology for teaching and learning.

In educational settings, software-whether for teaching and learning or for parent-teacher communication- should not have tiered offerings where users who have the financial means to pay are privy to a better version of the software with additonal feature and tools.”  Lucas Johnson 

Lucas Johnson is a PHD student in the Faculty of Education at Lakehead University and an Education Technologies Facilitator.  His research is focused on examining the decisions related to education technology selection and implementation, including the reasons tools end up being used in classrooms.  

Digital Technology and BC Education: Underlying issues revealed by COVID-19   

See pages 10-12.

“Like so many aspects of life COVID-19 has altered, teaching and learning practices in BC’s public schools have dramatically shifted over the past year. Among the many adaptations teachers have made, online instruction has become a key strategy for preserving ‘continuity of learning’ for students both when schools were initially closed in Spring 2020, and in ongoing remote and hybrid arrangements since.Just prior to the pandemic outbreak, the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) brought together teachers for a one-day think tank on the topic of Education and Technology. The goals of the day included developing a deeper understanding of the impacts of technology on BC’s public education sector. At the time, teachers already expressed concerns about the effects of technology on the datafication of student learning and assessment, the (un)sustainability of teachers’ increasing workloads, and the encroachment of ed tech companies into teaching and learning.

The piece first appeared in the Summer/Fall 2020 issue of Our Schools/Our Selves, which focussed on how COVID-19 has presented an opportunity to radically rethink how public schools can be supported to meet society’s needs.”  Anne Hales, Michelle Gautreaux

Michelle Gautreaux holds a PHD in Curriculum Studies and has extensive research experience in the US and in BC.  Her interests include the impact of neoliberal education reforms, critical pedagogies, and social justice issues in education.  Anne Hales has taught in the K-12 public school system and instructed at SFU and is a doctoral candidate at UBC.  Anne’s research interests include teacher mentorship, professional development, mental health, and teacher union engagement.

Education Policy and Practice 

Forget school rankings. Canadian universities need cooperatives. 

“The good news is that innovative higher educational models that emphasize equity and inclusion thrive. The key lies in reimagining the role of universities.

Instead of adhering to a corporate model based on individual achievement, we need to shift towards co-operative governance that fosters collaborative approaches to teaching and research, and grapples with the crises we collectively face.”  Michelle Stack and Caroline Shenaz Hossein

Michelle Stack is an associate professor in the department of educational studies at UBC and an IPE/BC Fellow.  Her research currently focuses on the democratic decision-making opportunities in cooperative universities and colleges, as well as the way in which cooperative approaches can support food, job and housing security for students and staff. 

Caroline Shenaz Hossein is an associate professor of global development and political economy and a Canadian Research Chair at the University of Toronto Scarborough. She founded the Diverse Solidarity Economies Collective. 

Changing values cited as one reason for PISA decline 

“In the higher-performing systems, “learning systems are being built on a different understanding of capacity to learn,” meaning that given well-targeted support and sufficient time, every student is capable of eventually achieving success.

This has significant implications for the ­evaluation of learning, which will require a shift away from ­measuring what students know to measuring what they can do with what they know.” Geoff Johnson (Published in the Times Colonist, March 3, 2024.)

Geoff Johnson’s career in public education included serving as a teacher, principal, director of instruction and superintendent of schools. He has a regular column in the Times Colonist and is a consultant, writer and speaker on education issues. 

Why BC has ended letter grades for younger students 

The scale operates from a strengths-based perspective that views all students as coming to school with inherent skills. Classroom learning seeks to build upon this.

Proficiency scale assessment regards learning as ongoing, whereas the letter grade and percentages system viewed learning as an event with a definite end.

Dr. Victor Brar is an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia. His research interests focus on the intersection of academia and K-12 classrooms. This article was published in The Conversation on August 2, 2023.

Music unites us: a teacher educator and teacher candidate comparative ethnographic narrative inquiry  into the benefits of music education

“Music inspires and uplifts us. Music education is essential to our health and wellbeing. The fine arts should not be relegated to the sidelines of curriculum, teaching, and learning but should be front and centre.

In sum, this research investigated music education through the lens of students, a teacher candidate, and a teacher educator to provide evidence of the many benefits of music education and the importance of music education for all, for music unites us.”                  Dr. Edward Howe

Dr. Edward Howe is Professor and Chair, School of Education, Faculty of Education and Social Work, Thompson Rivers University. His research focuses on comparative and international education, teacher induction, self study and narrative inquiry.  Dr. Howe is an IPE/BC Fellow.

Pause PISA international standardized student testing — it’s been two years of pandemic schooling stress

“Along with 30,000 others across Canada, in the coming weeks thousands of BC students are being recruited to participate in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). This three-hour series of tests, sponsored by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) claims to assess the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students in mathematics, reading, and science. While the subject of much debate by scholars, very little is understood about the ways that students and their parents/guardians are informed about and invited to participate in PISA. We raise some questions about PISA and why ministries of education across the country have decided to add this unnecessary burden on already overwhelmed students and school-communities.”  J-C Couture

J-C Couture is an adjunct colleague and instructor at the Faculty of Education, University of Alberta, and the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. He previously coordinated the research program for the Alberta Teachers’ Association and served as a Research Fellow for Manchester Metropolitan University.  He is currently involved in a number of projects including developing graduate courses related to school leadership, curriculum renewal, and assessment. J-C co-authored this article with David Rutkowski, associate professor in Educational Policy and Educational Inquiry at Indiana University. 

Teacher Acculturation

Stories of Pathways to Teaching

“Teacher Acculturation provides a window into the world of novice teachers from the 1950s through present day. The thought-provoking stories provide a springboard for critical discussions about gender/sexuality, culture/race/ethnicity, Indigenous perspectives, SES/class/religion, location/space/time, and the challenges facing teachers in different contexts.”  Excerpt from publisher’s comments on Teacher  Acculturation by  Dr. Edward Howe

Dr. Edward Howe is Professor and Chair, School of Education, Faculty of Education and Social Work, Thompson Rivers University. His research focuses on comparative and international education, teacher induction, self study and narrative inquiry.  Dr. Howe is an IPE/BC Fellow.

BC Retired Teachers’ Association Advocates to Protect Class Size and Composition

“How can teachers understand and serve the needs of each and every child without healthy class sizes and student composition standards in schools?  From our experience, retired educators recognize it as the balancing point for all our hopes for effective teaching and learning.”

The BC Retired Teachers’ Association strongly supports active teachers in their need to maintain workable class sizes with proper support for the needs of students.”  Gerry Tiede

Gerry Tiede is the Past-President of the BC Retired Teachers’ Association and the President of Association Canadienne des enseignantes et des enseignants retraités – Canadian Association of Retired Teachers (ACER-CART).  Prior to his retirement, Gerry was a school principal in the Surrey School District and was active in leadership in the BC Principals and Vice-Principals’ Association.  He holds a degree in Psychology and a Masters in Education Administration. 

Read more about the work of the BCRTA here. 

Class Size and Teacher Work

“We strongly believe that research should inform practice (and indeed, practice and research should flow together in a symbiotic relationship to protect and professionalize teaching). The research on class size is powerful and shows that for improving teaching and learning conditions in the classroom, smaller is better. But can research determine if “class size” is a working condition?” Dr. Daniel Laitsch, Dr. Christine Ho Younghusband

Dr. Daniel Laitsch is the Chairperson of the Institute for Public Education’s Board of Directors. He is a founding director for the Centre for Study of Educational Leadership, Associate Professor at SFU and Director of the SFU Surrey Campus Liaison, Faculty of Education. His research interests include examining the use of research by teachers, application of research to inform policy and practice and policy analysis.

Dr. Christine Ho Younghusband is Assistant Professor at UNBC School of Education and an Affiliate Scholar at Centre for the Study of Educational Leadership and Policy at SFU. She holds a PhD in Educational Leadership from SFU and a M.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction. She has extensive experience in the field of education having been a secondary math teacher, a trustee on the Board of Education for SD46, and a member of the BC School Trustees’ Association Board of Directors.

What if We Truly Put Teachers in Control of Educating?

Crawford Killian reviews a new book by Pasi Sahlberg and Timothy Walker, In Teachers We Trust: The Finnish Way to World-Class Schools, W.W.Norton(2021).

“I’ve been watching Finnish education for years, and had the privilege of getting to know Tim Walker and to sit in on one of his classes: https://thetyee.ca/News/2014/10/13/Succesful-Schools-Finland/. This is not his first book on the subject; he’s also written Teach Like Finland https://thetyee.ca/Culture/2017/08/29/Teach-Like-Finland/. He and his colleague Pasi Sahlberg make a persuasive case that we shouldn’t try to imitate the Finnish system, but we can apply many of its principles and techniques right now in our own classrooms—and get great results.”    Crawford Killian

Crawford Killian is a writer-editor for The Tyee. Previously, he was a professor at VCC and Capilano University and the public education columnist for the Vancouver Province. He has published extensively on a wide range of topics, including education, science, the environment, and politics.

Education for Social Justice and Sustainability

Ten Schools the VSB Should Aim to Rename 

“Over the past five years, individuals and community groups have placed increasing pressure on the Vancouver School Board to rename schools named after individuals whose historical legacies do not reflect the values of the school communities they’re located in. This article traces the history of Vancouver school naming practices over time and identifies ten schools that the Vancouver School Board and school communities should consider renaming to better reflect the communities’ values and histories.” Dr. Lindsay Gibson

Dr. Lindsay Gibson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy at the University of British Columbia. He taught secondary school social studies and history in Kelowna Public Schools for twelve years and was on the writing team for the K-12 social studies curriculum in BC and Alberta. His research focuses on historical thinking and history teacher education.

The Case for Commemoration Controversies in Canadian History Education. 

In this article Lindsay Gibson argues that commemoration controversies should be an essential part of teaching and learning history in Canadian K–12 schools.

“Commemoration controversies have the potential to be meaningful and relevant for students, they address civic education competencies central to history and social studies curricula, and they provide rich opportunities for advancing students’ historical consciousness and historical thinking.”

Gibson also addresses the issue of commemoration controversies in classrooms in his article in The Conversation.

Dismantling Spherical Cows: Advancing Social Justice in STEM Education

“This paper explores the divide between a presumed value-laden Social Justice education and a presumed value-free STEM education. By examining the colonial legacies of STEM, as well as the Great White Men of STEM, the authors problematize these constructs and commonplace responses to them. The paper concludes by offering some specific recommendations for how a contextualizing, critical pedagogy might occur in the social justice oriented STEM classroom.”  Dr. Öslem Sensoy

Dr. Öslem Sensoy is a professor on the Faculty of Education at SFU and Associate Director for the Center for Law, Education and Society at SFU.   Her research interests include social justice education, anti-oppression and anti-racism education, and critical media literacy. She holds a PhD in Multicultural Education and a MA in Near Eastern Languages and Civilization.

Connecting with Nature: Learning to be Part of the Dance

Shaila Shams writes about the work of Dr. Sean Blenkinsop and Dr. Mark Kettes in SFU’s Faculty Research Spotlight Series.

“Learning about the Indigenous epistemology driven place-based education was an eye opener for me. The incredible work of the researchers helped me evaluate the dominant ideologies of education and their impact on our practices in a new light.  What resonated with me the most was the philosophy  of decolonizing education from an anthropocentric view and reconceptualizing education in a more holistic, inclusive way to teach us to live  in harmony with nature. Working on this write-up during COVID-19 pandemic was a blessing in disguise as it motivated me to learn more about nature, the interdependence of lives and beings , and pushed me to question the current educational system that promotes human-centric activities and practices and their impacts.” Shalia Shams

Shaila Shams is a PhD candidate in Language, Cultures and Literacies program at SFU.   She has a Masters degree in Applied LIngusitics and an undergraduate degree in English Literature, and experience lecturing in the Bangladeshi higher education sector.  Shaila’s research interests include language and identity, and her published work includes the study of imperialism and the role of online social networks in language teaching.

Welcome to the IPE/BC Commons, a space designed for sharing research, articles and other publications on key issues public education.  IPE/BC acknowledges that a range of views will be reflected here and is grateful to the contributors for sharing their perspectives and their work.

Education funding

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Education for social justice and sustainability

Equity, access and inclusion

Decolonizing and Indigenizing public education

Leadership and governance

Public education and privatization

Teacher education

Technology and public education

The pandemic and public education

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