Q) I have heard about a New Education Plan for B.C. - but I don't really know what it means.
What does it mean for Richmond?
A) Simply put, the B.C. Education Plan is about creating personalized and flexible learning opportunities for students, and using current technology to help them along the way.
Does this plan mean each student will spend most of the time working independently on a computer?
No, that's not the idea. Does it mean our traditional idea of learning in schools needs rethinking?
Yes, it does, and we're already beginning to do that.
In the Richmond School District, rather than use the term "B.C. Education Plan," we talk about "Student Success Through Engagement." In other words, if children are engaged in what they're learning and feel personally connected to it, they'll learn more successfully.
Given Richmond students' high achievement levels, the first take on any education change proposal could be, "If it isn't broken, why fix it?"
Richmond school district consistently has one of the highest graduation rates in the province, ranging from 89 to 91 per cent each year. Our students also score well above average in provincial reading, writing and math assessments.
A combination of high quality teaching and family support for education is definitely paying off for Richmond students.
So what's the point of changing it up?
The point is, we're preparing students for our current world, and with the rapid pace of change, their future world will be very different than ours is now.
To put this in perspective, school systems everywhere are considering changes - it's not just B.C. What's creating this common focus is the need to prepare our students for an unpredictable future. That sounds challenging, and it is.
While basic skills like reading, writing and math are as necessary as they ever were, the world these skills are needed for is flooded with information that changes almost as quickly as it gets produced. Along with being able to read, our children need to rely on their own judgment and critical thinking skills to make sense of that world now and in the future.
Being educated isn't simply a matter of memorizing things. It means knowing how to analyze, criticize, and use information in a fast-paced world that also demands working together and appreciating different points of view.
At this point you may be asking, "What does this look like?"
Though there are many examples, here's one an elementary school shared with me recently.
The teachers were very excited about the small group project work that their Grade 6 students were doing. After researching their topic, the children were writing their own book on an electronic tablet, complete with text, graphs, pictures and student-made video.
They told me they got the information online, "But we used our own words and ideas to write and show what we mean."
We were amazed at the depth and quality of students' work and how focused they were.
As one of their teachers said, "I can set them up anywhere in the school, and they stay completely caught up in the project. Distractions aren't an issue."
Is the attraction the tablet? Technology can seem like it's stealing the show, but it's just a supporting actor.
Yes, kids like using tablets, but being engaged in the learning is centre stage. Tools like laptops and tablets simply help them find information and show what they've learned in ways that take them far beyond "basic skills".
Children are eager to go there, and our job in education is to get them started, coach them along the way and get ready to be amazed at where they end up.
The B.C. Education Plan is described more fully on the B.C. Ministry of Education website:
Monica Pamer is the Superintendent of the Richmond Schools District.
