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Another Great Debate
Panel Discussion on Educating the Whole Child
by Randy Huth
On January 24 th, BCASCD hosted a dinner meeting of over one hundred people to a very successful debate on how to educate the whole child for the 21 st Century? Bruce Beairsto, Superintendent of Richmond School District, Ron Broda, Vice President of BCCPAC, Dan Brown, UBC, Professor of Educational Administration, Fred Herfst, Executive Director of Independent Schools and Irene Lanzinger, President of BC Teachers’ Federation presented their perspectives on educating the whole child.
Dr. Fred Renihan did a fabulous job as the moderator as he started off the debate in alphabetical order with Bruce Beairsto presenting his views. Bruce opened the debate using the metaphor, “we need to continue to teach our children with the head, heart and hand.” He showed his belief that we do a solid we do a solid job teaching the hand (fine arts, performing arts) and the head (basic academic skills), however, we need to continue to strengthen our teaching of the heart by providing the skills and knowledge to make good ethical decisions. Life is a series of choices and all of our choices are dilemmas, so we need to encourage children to be brave and address their dilemmas in order for them to be successful.
Next up was Ron Broda and he talked about appreciating all children, their strengths and their differences. Ron elaborated that educators need to focus more on each child as individuals and help nurture them to have a bright future. It will take the full participation of all partners if we want our children to be successful and he used the African proverb, “It takes a whole village to raise a child.”
After Ron spoke it was Dan Brown’s turn to share his perspective. Dan began with pulling out the Canadian Flag and asked the question what Canadian culture means to you? Dan spoke about the importance in education to take on the lessons that help to carry on our society. He spoke how English culture has provided us the many advantages we have in our society today. Dan ended his presentation by posing the question about what we already have in our schools, and posed the question, “What curriculum do we need to subtract?”
Fred Herfst, the Executive Director of the Federation of Independent School Associations told two stories to get across his philosophy of educating the whole child. He used the story of Noah to illustrate his view of educating the whole child and our ability to use a multi-facetted approach. For example, children must be able to hear to learn, learn between the passive and the active, work hard and get along with others.
The president of BCTF, Irene Lanzinger closed the conversation and told an inspiring story about a teacher and his class organizing a project to help the homeless in Vancouver. Irene used her story to demonstrate that the children in the class learn to help our most disadvantaged people in our society despite all the regulations from government that got in the way of the students helping the homeless. She ended her talk with a criticism of the education system, sharing her belief that we need to deepen our work supporting social justice beliefs with the result being children who are in charge of their own learning.
After all the speakers had finished, questions from the dinner tables were sent to Fred to ask the various guests. The presenters answered and elaborated on the questions and when the last question was answered, Fred summarized the evening and concluded by reciting by memory Frank Scott’s poem, “The Examiner”. The poem (please see below) was a great ending to a delightful evening of conversation and dialogue for educating the whole child.
The Examiner
by F.R. Scott, A poem written in the 1940's in Canada concerning
the American schooling system
The routine trickery of the examination baffles these hot and discouraged youths
Driven by they know not what external pressure, they pour their hated self-analysis, through the nib of confession, onto the accusatory page
I, who have plotted their immediate downfall, I am entrusted with the divine categories: A, B, C, D, and the hell of F
The parade of prize and the back door of past, in the tight silence, standing by green grass window, watching the fertile earth graduate its sons with more compassion
Not commanding the shape of stem and stamen, bringing the trees to pass by shift of sunlight and increase of rain
For each seed, the whole soil; for the inner life, the environment receptive and contributory
I shudder at the narrow frames of our textbook schools in which we plant our so various seedlings
Each brick-walled barracks, cut into numbered rooms, black boarded, ties the venturing chute to the master's stick
The screw-desk rows of lads and girls, subdued in the shade of an adult, their acid sub-soil, shape the new to the old in the ashen garden
Shall we, shall we open the whole skylight of thought to these tip-toe minds, bring them our frontier worlds and the boundless uplands of art for their field of growth?
Or shall we pass them the chosen poems with the footnotes, ring the bell on their thoughts, period their play, make laws for averages and plans for means, print one history book for a whole province and let 90,000 read page 10 by Tuesday?
As I gather the inadequate paper evidence, I hear across the neat campus lawn the professional mower's drone clipping the inch-high grass.
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