ith just six more
years before the
dawn of the year
2000, a question begs to be
_asked.

Whatever happened to the
B.C. Ministry of Education’s
much-touted and publicized Year
2000 scheme of inspirational
goals for the public school sys-
tem? ;

The term, so easily identified,
seems to have been abandoned.

The Year 2000 philosophy
emerged from the 1988 Sullivan
Royal Commission on Education,
which called fer a “refocus” to
meet the needs of all learrers.

_ Working towards full imple-
mentation by the turn
of the century, the
ministry directed the
first changes to occur
at the primary levels
about four years ago.

Limited success

The key concept
of learning as an indi-
vidually paced
process, particularly
‘in the early years,
was greeted with
enthusiasm.
~~ The new dual-entry system for
kindergarteners was fought by
parents in West Vancouver, how-
ever...
It was to be the beginning of a
“new process, whereby children

would flow through the levels of -

learning during years one to four
at their own pace.

-. Before the first year was out,
dual entry was dropped — per-
haps because it. was awkward -

.» and disruptive in practise, and
because the necessary funding
cand resources to make it, and -
»: “some of the other modifications
- work, were not available.
- Other aspects of Year 2000 |.
seemed to work well. :
Even before 1990, kinder-
“garten teachers had begun to -
_ change some of their teaching ”
“methods, such as greater use of
» theme-based instruction (apples
to teach everything from drt to
“math) and reducing pressure on
little’ ones to reach milestones at

SERVICE

a prescribed time.

Teachers began keeping copi-
ous notes so that they could pro-
duce the anecdotal report cards
that focused on the positive and
what each child could do —
ignoring what they could not.

But it wasn’t long before par-
ents began to complain about the
vagueness of the reports and
demand to know how their chil-
dren were doing in comparison
to other children or the average
standards for that age.

“Some people were confused
by the reports; it all depended on

- how well-written they were and
now well understood,” says Chris
Kelly, North Vancouver Assistant
Schoo! Superintendant.

The Ministry of Education has
responded by announcing that
the concept of standards will be
reintroduced to primary reports
by next fall.

Evaluation will be based on a
child’s progress towards expecta-
tions tor their age group.

Students in Grades 4 and up
will get letter grades.

Parents will be told what steps
they can take to support their
child’s education.

Parents want changes

Jill Mingay, president of the
District Parent Advisory Council
in West Vancouver, greets this
change with enthusiasm.

“The children never experi-
enced failure. If there are no stan-
dards, there’s nothing to strive

for,” she believes.

Mingay says that she has been
fighting against the Year 2000
program for some time because
she thought it copied similar
experiments in education that
had been tried and had failed in
Alberta and Ontario.

In the past few years, Mingay
feels that there has been a lack of
concern for course content and
that the students are being taught
that school is a place to play.

“This does not work in teach-
ing kids to respect learning,” she
says.

Mingay is critical of the indi-
vidual approach to learning
because it assumes an inate
desire to learn that is not, in all
cases, that strong.

The fack of phonics in reading

‘and the acceptance of poor

spelling (to encourage kids to
write without being bogged
down by details} she dismisses as
not being part of “the real
world.”

The results further down the
road are disgruntled employers
and unemployable kids, Mingay
says. -

She believes that the Ministry

_of Education is moving slowly to

answer these concerns about the
public schoo! system.

According to West Vancouver
assistant superintendant George

. Stewart, the primary program is

staying the same except for a few
key changes.

In addition to the new report-
ing methods, there will be a tura
back to the use of the words
kindergarten and Grades 1 to 3
instead of the terms Year One
(kindergarten) to Year Four
(Grade 3) which never quite took

"PEOPLE MAKING THE DIFFERENCE"

". Our primary goal as an organization is to work together to maintain and improve the

_ quality of life for the residents of our community. Our mandate is to provide high
““ealivre, cost effective services in a wide variety of areas such as public works, parks,
2 engineering, finance, environmental and fire protection, library, health, recreation,

| ‘planning and.administrative services.

Career Advancement - We offer a diverse range of employment opportunities from

~ entry level, technical, operational to management positions.

“Diversity in the Workplace and the Community - We value the diversity of
people in the workplace and the community and uphold the principle of employment
equity and public participation. ‘

Summer Positions - We provide employment opportunities to students while

continuing their education.

i

Human Resources and Fire Departm

ent personne! will be pleased to provide more

_information on career and employment opportunities, and look forward to meeting
with those who attend the ''Stay in school - Career Fair 1994".

off with parents.

Government publications indi-:

cate that the ministry is settin
high goals for all students an
supporting the premise that every
child should emerge from his
school yeass with the “knowl-
edge and.skills needed to earn a
living in the next century.”

Curriculum will be reviewed
to make sure that students can
meet high standards in the tradi-
tional basics: reading, writing
and arithmetic.

There has never been a de-
emphasis of this core curriculum,
according to Kelly, at the North
Vancouver School Board.

In addition, students require
an expanding number of skills,
from problem solving to the use
of computer-based technology.

Intermediate and
graduate programs

The Ministry of Education has
turned its focus to updating inter-
mediate and graduate programs,
placing higher priority on career
planning and job readiness than

efore.

There is no mention of the
now discredited term, Year 2000,
in newly reieased documents,
even though the concepts that
worked have been kept.

Education experts acknow-
ledge that some Year 2000 con-
cepts were unworkable or were

introduced too quickly and with-

out sufficient ministry support. .
* Since then, the North

Vancouver Schoo! District has

come up with its own guiding

plan?

principles for change.
These are:

* Any decision made to alter
programs will adhere to five
elements of teaching and learn-
ing: ;

+ students as active partici-

pants in learning,

> respect for the idea that
every student has an indi-
vidual style and pace for
learning,

> belief in the need for for
every student to develop
both individually and as
part of society,

* the need to develop appro-
priate curriculum, an

+ the use of different ways to
assess and report on sttl-
dents’ progress.

*» Using the above criteria, pre-
sent practices that work should
be recognized for their success
and should be maintained.

“* When changes must be made,
they should be introduced in a

radual, incremental and evo-
utionary way.

“ Any changes that are made
should be school-based and

. involve parents.

. wa

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