Perspectives on Education: Voices of Eminent Canadians
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Perspectives on Education: Voices of Eminent Canadians Spring 2010 Vol.3 No. 2 Editorial Staff Editor: Lynn Butler-Kisber Managing Editor: Mary Stewart Copy Editor: David Mitchell Graphic Artist: Maryse Boutin Technological Direction and Support: Timothy Scobie and Jeremy Dubeau Web Integration: Zegapi The views expressed in this journal are not necessarily those of the Editorial Staff or LEARN. It is the responsibility of the authors to ensure that proper standards of scholarship have been followed, including obtaining approval from review boards, where applicable, and ensuring that informed con- sent has been given from participants involved in any research studies. Copyright ©2010 LEARN holds the copyright to each article; however, any article may be reproduced without permission, for educational purposes only, provided that the full and accurate bibliographic citation and the following credit line is cited: Copyright (year) by the LEARN Web site, www.learnque- bec.ca; reproduced with permission from the publisher. Any article cited as a reference in any other form should also report the same such citation,following APA or other style manual guidelines for cit- ing electronic publications. Comments to the Editor: [email protected] Published in Canada in the 2nd quarter of 2010 Publié au Canada au 2ième trimestre 2010 ISSN 1913-5688 Table of Contents Spring 2010 Vol. 3 No. 2 7 Statement of Purpose 9 Dedication 11 Editorial Lynn Butler-Kisber 15 Narrative Understandings of Lives Lived in and out of Schools D. Jean Clandinin 21 The Soul Purpose Eleanor Duckworth 29 Urban Education Policy in Canada and the United States Jane Gaskell 37 A Perspective on Higher Education Through the Lens of a Student Activist Saron Gebresellassi 43 Dance and Desire Margie Gillis 49 The Role of Education in Rural Communities Tim Goddard 57 A Well-Rounded Education:The Gateway to Successful Careers and Lives Michael Goldbloom 67 Blueprint for a Smart Nation David Johnston LEARNing Landscapes | Volume 3, Number 2, Spring 2010 3 73 Evidence in Education Ben Levin 81 A Passionate Plea: Equal Educational Opportunities for All Canadians The Right Honourable Paul Martin 93 Education for Its Own Sake Elizabeth May 97 Curiosity, Passion and Learning Avrum Morrow 101 Higher Learning, Meager Earnings Terry Mosher 103 Ear of the Heart Lorri Neilsen Glenn 109 Taking Charge of Our Educational Journey Julie Payette 115 Integrated Thinking, Integrated Learning: Changing Our Ways for Changing Global Realities Hélène Perrault 123 Regaining the Love of Learning Cecilia Reynolds 129 Where Are We? The State of Education Sharon Rich 137 Bilingualism: A Canadian Challenge Bernard J. Shapiro 141 Teacher Education and Teacher Identity in Transition Fern Snart 4 LEARNing Landscapes | Volume 3, Number 2, Spring 2010 147 Educational Transformation With a New Global Urgency W. Duffie VanBalkom 155 How Science Clubs Can Support Girls’ Interest in Science Larissa Vingilis-Jaremko 161 Life Lessons From the Arctic Sheila Watt-Cloutier 169 An EDUCATION Letter John R.Wiens LEARNing Landscapes | Volume 3, Number 2, Spring 2010 5 6 LEARNing Landscapes | Volume 3, Number 2, Spring 2010 Statement of Purpose LEARNing LandscapesTM is an open access, peer-reviewed, online educa- tion journal supported by LEARN (Leading English Education and Resource Network). Published in the autumn and spring of each year, it attempts to make links between theory and practice and is built upon the principles of partnership, collaboration, inclusion, and attention to multi- ple perspectives and voices.The material in each publication attempts to share and showcase leading educational ideas, research and practices in Quebec, and beyond, by welcoming articles, interviews, visual representa- tions, arts-informed work and multimedia texts to inspire teachers, administrators, and other educators to reflect upon and develop innova- tive possibilities within their own practices. LEARNing Landscapes | Volume 3, Number 2, Spring 2010 7 8 LEARNing Landscapes | Volume 3, Number 2, Spring 2010 Dedication This issue of LEARNing Landscapes entitled “Perspectives on Education: Voices of Eminent Canadians” is dedicated to Muriel Duckworth (nee Ball) who spent the greater part of the cen- tury which her life spanned (1908-2009) as a tireless advocate for peace, education, feminism, and social reform. She was born in Austin, Quebec in the Eastern Townships, and graduated from McGill University in 1929 where she also met her lifelong partner, Jack. Subsequently, they did graduate work together at the Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. Photo Credit: They had three children, Martin, Eleanor and John, and much of their Sandor Fizli family life was spent in Halifax, Nova Scotia where Muriel became a founding member of the Nova Scotia Voice of Women (VOW) and ulti- mately national president. She is renowned for her work in VOW along with many other initiatives which included founding member of the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW), the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport, and the Canadian Conference on Education, among others. She became a provincial candidate for the New Democratic Party in the late 1970s, vig- orously campaigning for women’s rights, health care, education and day care, and later participated with the Raging Grannies in satirical per- formances to promote social justice. Her ground-breaking work, talent and commitment as a woman leader throughout her lifetime did not go unrec- ognized as she was the recipient of ten honorary degrees, the Companion of the Order of Canada, the Person’s Award, and the Lester B. Pearson Peace Medal. Notable leaders must have vision, energy, compassion and integrity. Muriel Duckworth was one such leader, an eminent Canadian who paved the way for many to follow. In planning for this issue, our intention had been to invite Muriel Duckworth to be a contributor. Unfortunately, our timing was wrong, but we are delighted to be able to include the work of Eleanor, her daughter, an eminent Canadian in her own right, and whose work reflects the wonderful qualities mirrored in the life and work of Muriel Duckworth. LEARNing Landscapes | Volume 3, Number 2, Spring 2010 9 10 LEARNing Landscapes | Volume 3, Number 2, Spring 2010 Editorial hree years ago the inaugural issue of LEARNing Landscapes made a real- ity of the vision to create a peer-reviewed, open access, online journal that would bridge theory and practice and give voice to all educational Tstakeholders—academics, graduate students, educational leaders, principals, teach- ers, and students—and use technology in ways that would expand and enhance communicative possibilities and representational forms. The LEARN Foundation made this possible and continues to support the work that LEARNing Landscapes strives to do. To date, the issues have focused on student engagement, leadership, education and the arts, curriculum, and literacy, and in each, the technology has been used to enhance the communication in varying ways. With the second decade of the 21st Century upon us, and as we were plan- ning for our sixth publication, we decided it would be appropriate to mark this junc- ture with a special, invitational issue. We thought it would be interesting to get a sense of what a cross-section of Canadians think about education at this moment in time.Accordingly,we cast a wide net,and sent invitations to a broad spectrum of emi- nent Canadians from various walks of life and from a wide range of places and back- grounds. We asked these special guests to write commentaries on education from any perspective they deemed important. We purposely left the focus wide open so that our contributors could explore their visions and experiences. We believed that cumulatively these essays would give a multifaceted and interesting view of educa- tion. We were not disappointed. We were overwhelmed by the positive and enthusi- astic responses and the generous amounts of time and energy that went into these compelling articles.Even when busy lives prevented some of our invitees from partic- ipating, we were heartened by the kind messages of interest, encouragement and support we received. LEARNing Landscapes | Volume 3, Number 2, Spring 2010 11 Lynn Butler-Kisber It has been the practice in the editorials of the five previous issues of LEARNing Landscapes to cluster the contributions into themes and to give a brief introduction to each of these. In this issue we have decided to let the readers/view- ers draw out the themes, of which there are a number, and to let each piece stand alone to underscore the individual, varied, and nuanced nature of the work. The arti- cles are arranged in alphabetical order and the authors, all of whom are eminent in their own right, include Jean Clandinin, Professor, University of Alberta; Eleanor Duckworth, Professor, Harvard University; Jane Gaskell, Dean, Faculty of Education, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto; Saron Gebresellassi, doctoral candidate at York University; Margie Gillis, dancer and choreographer; Tim Goddard, Dean, Faculty of Education, University of Prince Edward Island; Michael Goldbloom, Principal, Bishop’s University; David Johnston, President, University of Waterloo; Ben Levin, Professor and Canada Research Chair, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto; The Right Honourable Paul Martin; Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada; Avrum Morrow, Montreal entre-