Completing an Education

A Timeline of Education ‘Formal’ education is a recent development in human history In non-literate societies, news and knowledge was spread through storytelling (a practice that still continues today) Children followed, for the most part, in the footsteps of their parents, learning their crafts etc at their sides

Middle Ages Wealthy boys were sent to “Latin” schools to remove them from the company of women Interesting Fact: the term adolescent is from the Latin word “adolescere”, which means to grow up

The Age of the Printing Press 15th century – development of printing press made it possible to publish written work for the ‘general’ public, not just the privileged or ‘elite’ Adults became more knowledgeable than children

Up to 19th century Young of wealthy families received a ‘classical’ education – Greek ,Latin, math, literature – but not job training Little education available for majority of children

Late 19th Century Primary schools established for all children Working-class parents still resisted sending their children to school because they felt that they did not need to learn those things – learning to farm or maintain a home was much more practical and useful

20th Century Concept of education more widely accepted First 30 years – most left at age 14 – they had learned ‘all they needed’ so could now learn a job

1950s In the 1950’s – Canadians believed that providing opportunities for all children to get a good education would contribute to economic equality

In 1947, fewer than half of students graduated from high school By the 1960’s and 70’s the streaming of education began (in to ‘levels) that better met the needs for more young people and better equip them for the job market Post secondary education also became more accessible – Baby boom children

1980s goal of education was to provide students with the skills that would be required in a changing workplace, but also to encourage students to choose an education suited to their interests and abilities

End of 20th Century Education viewed as the key to success in life Young people are encouraged to go beyond high school in order to get better jobs, and higher incomes Focus was on ‘career’ instead of a ‘job’

How common is it for young Canadians to attend post-secondary programs now? Look at chart on page 74 What are the trends?

Credentialism The trend for education is for it to be valued as job training rather than for the knowledge and skills it provides ) Career counselling in high schools is routinely done Students concerned about marks – will often not take courses that they feel they can’t do well in

Education Inflation Youth today require more education to qualify for some jobs now than was required in the past A high school diploma used to be the ‘guarantee’ of a good job, however, now it is post secondary training of some kind

Conflict Theory’s Perspective The demand for higher education reflects a desire to gain professional status and wealth, not higher skills Their argument – it wasn’t ‘respectable’ to be a doctor until university training was a requirement for medicine

Employment and Education There is ample evidence that a college diploma or university degree will improve your chances of getting a job you enjoy Employers today are looking for people with a broad skills base, - transferable skills are very important

The Gender Gap For the last 25 years , the education of women has been a focus There are more women in the workforce, who need higher levels of training Bt 1999 teenage boys and girls perform equally well in science and math, but girls outperform boys in reading and wriitng 85% of all high school students will graduate, but only 78% of all boys

Women are catching up! In 1997 58% of all university degrees were earned by women ½ of the degrees in medicine and law have doubled their enrolment of women (look at chart on pg 81) There is a widening gap now going the other way – women are beginning to ‘out-achieve’ men Why?

Recent Educational Research There has been much research lately into how boys learn – most of is saying that boys learn differently than girls, and that the school system right now favours the girls Boys reading levels are lower than girls Why?

Homework Questions: P. 92 # 4,5,7 Read p 79/80 Answer questions #1,2,3 Be ready to discuss this on Monday

The Six Thinking Hats