What People said at David’s Public Meetings on Education

October 26, 2016 David Coon

Education Plan Public Meeting

David Coon held four public meetings to get feedback from constituents about the 10 Year Education Plan. From these discussions, he was able to get valuable input from constituents, students, teachers and education experts. Some of the highlights were:

Create an Education Commission, at arms-length from the government.
Restructure education so that teachers are learning-facilitators following students’ abilities and interests; more open and fluid classroom structure.
More opportunities for hands-on, community-based learning.
Everyone must have access to language training towards bilingualism, or bilingual requirements should be relaxed.
More inclusive curriculum (queer, first-nations, non-Eurocentric, different world-views, etc.)
Inclusion is good but does not always work for the student with special needs; for some subjects, students should be grouped by ability.
Must have adequate support and training for teachers for inclusion to work.
Need for practical life skills and knowledge (practical sex ed, filing taxes, food education, career development, political system, time management, etc.).
Extracurricular education should be more incorporated into schools. When it is in addition to schools, this just adds stress to students.
Break down silos so that students with mental health and special needs can be helped by a team that includes teachers, professionals, parents, etc.
Allow students to be held back; this allows them to actually learn the material, and also builds resilience
Critical thinking and communication skills are important and need to be taught earlier and better.