Recent news of school children being taken to a Pro-Palestinian protest has rightfully caused quite a stir from parents and has led the Ontario Minister of Education to investigate further.
You may ask why schools would allow field trips to participate in political protests altogether - most don’t, but the line between what is deemed “political” is quite blurry.
During my 25 years of teaching, I have witnessed greater emphasis on implementing character and values within education. While some will point to the increased politicization of some teachers and their unions, what is often overlooked is the Ministry’s own Character Education document Finding Common Ground that was released way back in 2008.
I remember this document generating discussion back then as some believed the Liberal government (in power at the time) was trying to push their “values” onto students through this initiative. In fact, the document itself seems rather defensive in explaining what it is not intended to do, as much as its intended purpose. Overall however, even as policy documents go, this one is quite vague and on the surface rather benign.
What it did was give cover and open the door to more hosting of assemblies and public awareness efforts in schools to support issues that were intended to unite us, not divide. Initially, issues generating little controversy like protecting the environment and recycling took centre stage.
It didn’t take long for politically driven teachers to recognize the opportunity to embed their own causes within their classes and if they were able to convince their administrators - within the whole school. Soon posters and announcements were augmented by school wide activities. As one can imagine, depending upon the school, time and energy was soon being taken from traditional curriculum teaching and directed toward character initiatives. If your son or daughter has ever been removed from their math class to attend a WE Day or charity event during the instructional school day then you know what I am talking about.
With each passing year there has been an incremental push toward building awareness for some cause and less time for basics. So while it may seem crazy to an outside observer that a school system would allow students to be taken on a field trip to a political protest - to this inside observer, it is the logical progression or regression after opening the character education box.
The title of the document “finding common ground” was quite prophetic, as recent culture wars show we are still in search of it. Case in point, some schools will be replacing the Canadian national anthem with alternative versions for the upcoming Truth and Reconciliation Day. Apparently we can’t even agree on a national song anymore.
So it will be interesting to see how this all unfolds, but the push back from parents whose values are not in common with that of the school are only getting stronger. Since public schools are a public good, they will need to address those concerns.
Fixing it will not be easy and I am not entirely sure it can be done, but I am not for throwing the baby out with the bath water on this one. Character education is not without merit. But setting AND enforcing strict guidelines on implementation are needed. Have some thoughts on this - listen to the Public #onted Podcast
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