speckul Bb. by Peter Speck establishment. In Vancouver for a brief visit, he gave a talk at Robson Square, which I was for- tunate enough to attend. His talk was on “Children - our most precious resource”, and he developed the theme that children, now as never before, are are staggering m problems and opportunities. , Ken Low is a member of the Calgary school _ under an awesome array of . feels that our . educational he says. “Our children are not being They have with have shifted in . the past four decades. Personal competence development in students has been impeded rather than north shore “Public education systents must bear a large part of the responsibility for this. They have not at the same time have grown tremendously in power and influence.” MODELS OF COMPETENCE competence, longer works. “For in- stance,” he says, “we are still i ‘oil technology, when in fact the kids that we are teaching are going to be the first generation to have to bear the brunt of the oil . shortage.” Low says that the present have a certificate, and = somehow that certificate - makes everything all right. We are teaching high levels of dependency, and our assumptions are that reality is considerably simpler than it really is. “Teaching now is like religion was in the middle ages. There’s more ‘rote’ learning being taught than there was in 1930. Most secondary school students that I know today are bored out of their minds. ‘should be a matter of leading — the kids up. to the problem and Wisdom and Wherewithal, yet we're still hung up on. antique linear models.’ of realty - for ‘example, "What “The art. of “teaching them: want to | solve it. I believe that we .- should be teaching. Will,., the: new nw iGader