This issue of Our Schools/Our Selves talks about standing up against bullying—inside and outside the classroom— and calling out and naming oppressors. It also brings to light some of the challenges of defining and solving bullying in schools, and explores how we can break the culture of silence and speak truth to power in order to change teaching and learning experiences for the better.
Education
Details of the Ontario government’s ironically named Putting Students First Act have not been adequately explained to the public. The missing facts about this legislation follow.
Pay Freeze
Every four years, when teachers’ contracts come up for collective bargaining, the salary grid is updated — usually to allow for cost of living increases of approximately 3% per year. These are the “raises” that Premier McGuinty and the media keep talking about, but actually they did no more than maintain the value of teachers’ current compensation.
It might have been my imagination (or perhaps wishful thinking), but in the midst of this year’s back-to-school media coverage, the issue of student debt seemed a little more prominent than usual.
This issue of Our Schools/Our Selves is about the links between education and activism, but it focuses extensively on issues raised before, during and since the student strike. Some of the articles were written before the electoral defeat of Charest’s PLQ government, and subsequent legislative moves by the PQ under Pauline Marois to revoke the fee hike and repeal Bill 78. Other articles look forward to what we can expect from this new minority government, and how future collective actions will help shape and inform the debates about the kind of society in which people wish to live.
In the report titled Eduflation and the High Cost of Learning, CCPA researchers David Macdonald and Erika Shaker developed a Cost of Learning Index to examine the affordability of higher education across Canada. They do this by examining trends and comparing provincial priorities to show how economic and education finance policies interact, making university more or less affordable across Canada.
Which provincial governments are ensuring university education is more affordable for median and low-income families, and which governments are telling students to take a hike? Take a look at our Take a Hike! infographic to find out (click to enlarge):
OTTAWA—Average tuition and compulsory fees for Canadian undergraduate students are estimated to rise almost 18% over the next four years, from almost $6,200 in 2011-12 to over $7,300, says a study released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
The study looks at trends in tuition and compulsory fees in Canada since 1990, projects fees for each province for the next four years, and examines the impact on affordability for median- and low-income families using a Cost of Learning Index.
This study looks at trends in tuition and compulsory fees in Canada since 1990, projects fees for each province for the next four years, and examines the impact on affordability for median- and low-income families using a Cost of Learning Index.
View our Take a Hike! infographic (click to enlarge):
The latest issue of Our Schools/Our Selves, Smashing the Stereotypes, examines the ways in which stereotypes (such as gender and race) limit debate, and how educators and academics are challenging these constraints. Contributors to this issue include Ozlem Sensoy, David Stocker and Tim McCaskell.
This issue is dedicated to the memory of Bob Davis—a friend, supporter and guest editor of Our Schools/Our Selves.
Inside this issue: