Critical Education Articles Placed in the Teacher Staff Lounge While I Was a Teacher, Part Thirty-Four (Last Part): A Critique of an Attempt to Identify Dewey’s Progressive Educational Theory with Modern School Practice

This is the final post of a series of posts on summaries of articles, mainly on education. When I was a French teacher at Ashern Central School, in Ashern, Manitoba, Canada, I started to place critiques, mainly (although not entirely) of the current school system. At first, I merely printed off the articles, but then … Continue reading Critical Education Articles Placed in the Teacher Staff Lounge While I Was a Teacher, Part Thirty-Four (Last Part): A Critique of an Attempt to Identify Dewey’s Progressive Educational Theory with Modern School Practice

Reimagining the Same-Old-Same-Old: Lakeshore School Division’s Reforms as an Example of School Rhetoric, Part One

The following is a critical look at the reforms proposed and implemented in Lakeshore School Division, in the province of Manitoba (I worked for this Division as a French teacher from 2008 until 2012). Such reforms illustrate the extent to which school rhetoric is rampant in schools these days. You would not, however, know it … Continue reading Reimagining the Same-Old-Same-Old: Lakeshore School Division’s Reforms as an Example of School Rhetoric, Part One

The Expansion of Public Services Versus a Basic Income, Part Two: How the Social-democratic Left Ignore the Oppressive Nature of Public Services: Part One: Oppressive Educational Services

Introduction This is a continuation of a previous post (see A Basic Income Versus the Expansion of Public Services? Part One: Critique of the Social-democratic Idea that the Expansion of Public Services is Socialist), which critically analyses Simran Dhunna's and David Bush's article that criticizes moves towards a universal basic income (see https://springmag.ca/against-the-market-we-can-do-better-than-basic-income). In the previous … Continue reading The Expansion of Public Services Versus a Basic Income, Part Two: How the Social-democratic Left Ignore the Oppressive Nature of Public Services: Part One: Oppressive Educational Services

Much Educational Research Assumes the Legitimacy of the Current School Structure

When we read educational research, what is striking is how certain common assumptions run through such research. In particular, there is the assumption--hidden from view--that the curriculum or content and organization of studies taught at school--is sacred. For example, in a short paper written by Jon Young and Brian O'Leary, "Public Funding for Education in … Continue reading Much Educational Research Assumes the Legitimacy of the Current School Structure