JUSTCAWS

Many of us are still confused as to why Americans would elect a political party hell bent on cutting the size of government and turning its back on helping the world. I’ve been taken back by the change, but the voter frustration that has led to it has been building for sometime. If liberals are still wondering why their brand is under siege globally, perhaps a lesson about Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can help explain. I’ve learned and taught about Maslow so many times I feel like I met him, even though he died before I was born. His premise was that humans are motivated to satisfy a pyramid of needs and that until our most basic needs are met (food, water and shelter) we won’t concern ourselves with any higher purpose. Once the basics are met then people move onto safety and security, love and belonging, self-esteem and finally fulfilment. I believe the same motivation holds true for voters. Nobody will concern themselves about more progressive causes or concern themselves with...

One of my favorite columnists, Jeffrey Simpson of the Globe and Mail, would, like many opinion writers, offer his thoughts and predictions in his columns. What I admired the most, was that Simpson's end of year column would keep score of what he got right and wrong in the past year. So in that spirit, I offer my own reflections.  I did take a long shot on Nikki Haley becoming the next President and while that obviously did not happen, it may have come within an earshot however. No, I didn’t predict Trump being assassinated, but I did state often that I believed the 2024 U.S. election was going to be full of surprises. I was one of the few who not only predicted the day after Biden's terrible debate performance that he would be replaced by the Democrats, but stated my belief it was their intention to do so before June 27th. Finally, I did correctly predict the outcome of the U.S. election, so as Meatloaf sang - two out of three ain’t bad.  In terms of Canadian politics I ha...

  The Ontario Ministry of Education is hoping to address the inequality issue within its secondary schools by treating everyone the same. The result has been that everyone is suffering.    Rather than continuing to let parents and students decide what level or stream (academic, applied, workplace) they wanted to take their mandatory Grade 9 courses, now students must take these courses all at the same level, regardless of ability.  This approach relies heavily on the elementary schools preparing students to have success in high school. But for far too many students under this new de-streamed system - it doesn’t.   The reasons for this are varied and not necessarily the fault of the changes to an elementary education system that has moved away from failing students and deemphasized grades. I am not here to debate the merits of that decision, but the idea of holding students back and not allowing them to progress with their peers is now viewed as being exces...

  Time to take a break from politics and discuss the benign…. Recent discussion among Yankee fans debated if Juan Soto signed a long term deal with the team, where he might end up on their list of greatest Yankees ever. Obviously, with an iconic franchise with such a deep pool of hall of farmers and all stars any discussion of the greatest evers can go on for a while.  Instead of going down that rabbit hole, I decided to think of the Blue Jays best evers. Sadly, it didn’t require that much time. In terms of criteria, I decided to first look at position players that had played a minimum of 500 games for at least 2500 at bats as Blue Jays. So while the Jays have had some quite notable hall of farmers either start their careers, Fred McGriff, or play with them later on in their careers, ie. Paul Molitor - they are not eligible. For offensive reference used https://www.mlb.com/bluejays/stats/all-time-totals I can’t be bothered to rank them, as everyone will have their own weightin...

As Remembrance Day draws near I fear the current movement to tell half truths and erase parts of our history are going to have some dire consequences. When older generations see young people toppling statues and spouting historical ignorance under the logic of the ends justifying the means, we all have reason to be worried. You don’t have to connect many dots to lay the blame at our education system. Schools are where we teach our history, celebrate our victories and learn from our mistakes. What started with shedding more light on Canada’s sins, has now devolved to removing accomplished figures in education for the crime of being white. Schools across Ontario have already started removing our first Prime Minister, Sir John A, from the names of schools bearing his name. Parks have removed or boarded up his statue. Those who objected were reminded of his role in establishing residential schools. He should be in a museum, not a park, is the progressive cry. But you need to meet people ...

  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 r...

  With so many skills that can be done by AI much faster and and sometimes better than humans, it does beg the question what’s left for us? Under this uncertain future, it is no wonder the Ontario Ministry of Education is pushing a greater emphasis in technical, trades based education. As for students who aren’t hands on learners the opportunities in the future seem much less certain. It may even require governments to set parameters on what work humans will never relinquish. We have all read and seen what AI can do. It writes books, reports, essays, and generates art within seconds after be given a few basic commands. In this reality is it worth spending time building skills that will never match the power of artificial intelligence? Of course it is from an intellectual and humanity perspective - but what about practically? Education to a large degree is about teaching the skills necessary for the jobs of tomorrow. Many jobs today simply will not exist in the future for humans i...

The dawn of a new school year comes with a new cell phone ban that has already generated plenty of discussion. Be interesting how this will play out, but parents will play a key role in determining how well enforced the ban will be. Right now, much of the concern has been about getting student and parent buy-in. My experience is that most kids and parents get it by now, that cell phones and classroom learning don’t go well together. Share There will still be some holdout parents who want all day access to their kids, but I believe school administrators will hear more from engaged parents if the phones are not banned in class. Will also be interested in seeing if teachers themselves can practice what they preach. Listen to latest Public #onted for more on implementing the ban.