Turning Up the Volume on Student Voice The word “democratic” stems from a Greek word meaning “rule of the commoners”; in other words, governmental power rests in the hands of the people. Although an individual may seem powerless at first, many individuals working together can achieve the insurmountable. Canada is just one of many countries across the world that utilize a democratic system, extending to its institutions. Schools are no exception to this rule: throughout the years, students have collectivized in small and large groups to have their voices heard.
In this day and age, students have an exponentially increasing amount of information at their fingertips. They think critically about and question what others - including school
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In 2012, after learning about workers right and the dignity of workers in the grade 12 religion course, student Isabelle Ng-La looked into Ward’s uniforms, discovering that ironically enough they were made in sweatshops. Isabelle sought to make a difference, and to remove the discrepancy between what was being taught and what was being done. All uniforms at the time were purchased through McCarthy’s, which although Canadian, produced all clothing items in sweatshops in third world countries. Ng-La, along with other grade twelve students, took to the Toronto Catholic School Board in protest against the immorality of forcing students to purchase their required uniform through an inhumane source. As a result, Mary Ward made the switch to Halpern’s School Apparel, a Canadian company that produces some of their clothes within the …show more content…
The event had been cancelled due to safety issues that occurred the previous year, but these student leaders took the initiative to ensure that the event would occur and as smoothly as possible. They created a petition that received almost four hundred supporters, as well as approached those in charge offering suggestions to increase safety. The result was that administration listened, and “Rep Your Grade Day” was back in action. Grade twelve student Karen Tseng spoke about what sparked her interest in the cause, ”I helped create this petition as well as worked towards bringing back this day because I believe that it is a pivotal part of the Mary Ward Experience. Rep your Grade Day is a day that unites the school, and it is definitely a memory that will stick with you when you reminisce about high school.” Karen, as well as the others that worked with her, made a small yet powerful change in order to revive the school’s tarnished
According to J, truly democratic classrooms are not possible particularly at the middle school level; few students at this age have the maturity for such a model to work. There are certainly those few that take their education seriously and have intellectual interests; however, the fact that they are a minority would marginalize their input in the decision making process. The ultimate authority of the teacher provides a check on everything from classroom expectations to bullying.
“The spirit of democracy cannot be imposed from without. It has to come from within”. (Gandhi) A lawful and fair democracy is one that represents the people, where the will of the people is done not where the government’s will is enforced. Here in Canada we believe a democratic government is well suited for its people but like any other system it has its flaws. This country was a model democracy. Canada’s wealth, respect for legal, human and civil rights almost promises that this country has the potential to uphold a legitimate democracy. Reading headlines today concerning the state of democracy in Canada we can see how our political system is slipping. A democracy should uphold the rights of its people rather than the rights of a
Throughout the many years of the educational process, students are often met with different challenges that will test abilities and skills related to cognitive status and learning. The United States places much importance on education for children and young adults to move forward in order to ensure continued prosperity of the nation
With developments in technology growing exponentially, teachers must show students how to think critically and problem solve, using factual information as a primary resource. By mastering these skills, students become prepared for their college and careers, which will most likely involve some form of technology that has not yet been invented. This will influence many of the decisions I make as a teacher. Instead of assigning a reading passage and then comprehension questions to answer after, I can encourage students to discuss what they read and make connections to their own lives, research a topic for different perspectives or deeper details, or give students opportunities to present what they know to their peers and me in creative ways.
The school is testing ground for the brain. I believe that the student should be exposed to new ideas, experiences, techniques and methods so as to further develop their own capacities to adapt, change, learn, and grow as people. One of the most important goals of the school, if not the most significant, is to develop literate and productive members of society, who are able to converse with a variety of issues using varied methods of communication and media. All students should be encouraged to make thoughtful contributions to society, no matter how large or small they may be. Also, the school is not confined to a
Canada is known as a democratic nation, but it is dismaying to say that not everyone is allowed to vote for the person they favour.
As soon as high school begins, most students are swimming in opposition, plagued with the options life has to offer, and judged on how trials are navigated. They live lives of scholarly action; explaining, memorizing, solving and arguing are the basics on which their success is determined
In the present era, the democratic government is mostly liked by the people as this is also known as "People 's Government". This paper seeks to better understanding of the democracy in Canada and this also tell us about various kind of democracies and he type of democracy present in canada and it also develop our understanding about strenghts and weakness of canadian democracy. Also, it tell us about the rights people have in canada.
Students will be challenged and asked questions that push them to refer back to what they’ve read. This stresses critical-thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills that are required for success in college, career, and life (p.1)
Canada is seen as a democratic society. It is the belief that as Canadians one is supposed to promote the principles of justice, equality and fairness. In doing so, Canada has become one of the most diverse country in the world. Most Canadian universities, such as Ryerson, also aims to promote these democratic values. This done through advertising Canadian universities as inclusive and welcoming to all students. However, this appears to be a fallacy. The reason why this is a fallacy is because Canadian society promotes racism and discrimination in the subtlest way possible. Society does this through making anti-discrimination or anti-inequity policies, but people still do not see how it perpetuates. In Frances Henry and authors Race, racialization
Kostos and Shin present the research problem by explaining (in great detail) the implications and consequences of students having these issues. The researchers explain the difficulty in having students focus on finding the right answer, and then shifting that focus to finding a meaningful process instead. Students are required to “communicate
School uniforms were first implemented in the early 1900s and were used for the schooling of minorities, specifically Native American women (Dussel, 2006). In 1996, the US Department of Education reported that only three percent of public schools mandated uniforms. As a result of the belief that uniforms make schoolrooms more orderly and disciplined, President Clinton encouraged schools to adopt uniforms (Gentile et al.,2012). Shortly after, uniforms were widely adopted in urban communities to counterbalance students wearing gang colors or being identified as poor. Since urban communities have often been stigmatized with narratives that are colored by violence, many of the current research studies associated with uniforms focus on the relationship between uniforms and misbehaviors, attendance, and teacher retention.
Prince EA, a motivational filmmaker, poet, and speaker, made a YouTube video about the United States education system, he opens with a quote from Albert Einstein that states, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” To put this into perspective, standardized tests represent the tree and students represent the fish. Most students don’t process information in the same way. In Fact, it’s widely accepted that different approaches to learning have numerous advantages to stimulate
The increasingly widespread introduction of student-centered inquiry-based pedagogies, the explosion of information available to teachers and students and the move to electronic sources of information … [and] the identification of information literacy as a generic skill and graduate attribute (p. 400).
Technology has begun to replace skills, such as learning how to use a thesaurus, solving long division problems, or learning how to use critical thinking skills. Some students have failed to learn because of the abuse of technology that is occurring in the learning environment. The internet has brought more resources to schools around the world but some of the important skills in the learning process are being substitute for the mass of resources the internet has provided. The result of this abuse of technology is a student passing the curium without