Plenty to be thankful for in public education

Opinion

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This article was published 24/12/2024 (268 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As we gather this holiday season reflecting upon our blessings, perhaps we should further ruminate on how fortunate we are to have quality public education in Manitoba.

While it may seem a mundane topic for consideration, there truly is much to be thankful for in our province.

Albeit an imperfect system, there are fairly remarkable grassroots initiatives, programs, teachers and administrators facilitating transformative opportunities within our communities. These qualities certainly should not be taken for granted, but rather we should recognize the imperative role in which our local schools cultivate a society intended to be safe, welcoming and inclusive to all.

The recent provincial effort to bolster school-based nutrition programs is a significant development worthy of acknowledgment and gratitude.

Despite escalating and recurring narratives of “back to basics” and “common sense” education to enhance students’ academic achievement, it is axiomatic to understand malnourishment compromises students’ learning. If we are truly committed to advancing students’ academic potential, safeguarding their physical and mental health should remain an apex priority.

In Manitoba schools, we should celebrate our vibrant music and arts programs that foster creative thinking, individualistic expression and intercultural learning.

There are a plethora of unique programs in our schools, including classroom guitar and ukuleles, Bhangra dance, fiddle, digital multimedia, visual and performing arts and so forth. Access to such learning opportunities is not universal among public education systems, however, as arts-based programs are often devalued as mere extra-curricular off-site activities and are not guaranteed as a part of school programming in many jurisdictions.

We should revel in the rich learning experiences Manitoba youth embark upon, particularly as public schools increasingly collaborate with, and learn from, community elders and knowledge keepers.

Our conceptual understanding of the schooling experience continues to broaden as public schools progressively incorporate land-based learning experiences, story and song, fiddling and oral histories into the classroom.

We are fortunate to have highly educated, qualified public school teachers in Manitoba. Our local post-secondary institutions generally require a minimum of five years of university-level study for teacher certification. Countless Manitoba teachers have attained post-baccalaureate diplomas, master’s and even doctoral degrees to enhance their pedagogical practices.

Teaching, while accommodating students’ diverse socio-cultural needs, is an exceptionally complex endeavour and necessitates expertise.

However, highly skilled public school teachers are not necessarily the organizational norm across the continent, particularly as chronic teacher shortages are resulting in reduced teacher certification standards and/or hiring parental volunteers to fill vacant positions.

Increased regulation over, and public scrutiny of, teachers’ practices are only exacerbating the staffing crisis, unfortunately.

A final consideration is to be thankful for school governance structures that utilize local voices in educational decision-making.

Democratically elected school trustees are tasked to represent their local constituents to ensure community interests are actualized. There are further opportunities for community members to exercise agency in school function via parent advisory councils.

Incorporating local voices is a process that is certainly not embraced across the world, particularly in repressive nations where educational systems are strictly regulated by the state. Fortunately, we do not need to navigate such oppressive structures in Manitoba, but we must be cognizant of covert reformation efforts.

Bill 64, as an example, was proposed legislation to destabilize grassroots governance structures by eliminating elected school boards in favour of hierarchical government appointees. The capacity to mobilize community perspectives in public education via democratic infrastructures should be cherished and strictly upheld.

While there is certainly much to be grateful for in Manitoba, we can uniformly agree that our educational systems are imperfect and necessitate perpetual enhancement. School improvement is a never-ending venture as our institutions must continually adapt to the ebb and flow of societal flux.

We must make concerted efforts to dismantle the pervasive inequities impeding students’ academic growth and humanistic growth.

There are a myriad of looming threats to which we must be proactively vigilant in opposing, whether it is chronic underfunding, undue scrutiny over teachers’ competency and practices, or efforts to undermine transparency and dialogical processes. Safeguarding our public education systems are essential to optimize the infinite potential of our youth and to ensure the vitality of our social democracy.

Whether it is nutrition programs, robust music and arts educational opportunities, the diversification of school programming, having highly qualified public teachers, or our democratic governance infrastructures: I encourage my fellow citizens to ruminate this holiday season on how much we ought to be thankful for in having quality public education in Manitoba.

» Jordan Laidlaw is a public school teacher, union activist and PhD candidate in educational administration at the University of Manitoba. This column previously ran in the Winnipeg Free Press.