Education in Canada

Pg. 17-20 from text

It is said that the structure of schooling in Canada is relatively the same throughout the country. There is universal access to elementary and secondary schooling and by law, students must stay in school until the age of 15 or 16. The length of the school year varies from country to country. However it is found that the amount of time spent in school makes no difference to academic achievement, rather the difference is related to how things are done in the classroom and the teaching strategies that are applied. Canada has separate education systems for all provinces and territories, however all the systems are quite similar. Therefore if a family wants to move to a different province, the students wouldn’t find it difficult to adjust. Students coming from other countries into Canada might find they are behind or more advanced in some areas.

I think that it’s great that the education systems are similar from province to province in Canada. I feel that being a country that is the way things should be. I am not sure it is just as easy for teachers to go from province to province. I know that up until a year ago, teachers trained in Alberta wanting to teach in BC had to take extra courses and there were specific requirements. I am happy this is no longer the case as I plan to teach in BC next fall. But I don’t understand why curriculum and teaching requirements should be any different throughout the country. I can understand if Quebec might be a little different as there are many French schools and they have cegep, but there is no reason for the rest of the country to be different!

Also I one hundred percent agree with the fact that it does not matter how many days you are in school in relation to academic achievement. What happens in the classroom, what the focus is, the teaching styles, strategies and methods of the teachers, are definitely the things that matter the most. If you’re teaching the subjects and not the students, not getting to know them in order to be able to teach the individual and adjust your teaching accordingly, you could spend everyday of the year in the classroom, and not have successful students.