How was our school system doing 13 years ago? Not well enough, said some students
Cross Country Checkup | CBC | Posted: February 2, 2018 12:59 AM | Last Updated: February 2, 2018
In 2005, the biggest challenge for one student at Glenlawn Collegiate was that she wasn't challenged enough.
"There's a children's book that we have to do at the end of the year," said Katie Kutryk during Checkup's live show from Winnipeg, Manitoba's Glenlawn Collegiate in March 2005.
"In a grade 12 English course or [as] an entrance to university, I don't believe that writing a children's book is really showing what I've learnt for 13 years."
Then-vice principal Arpi Babaian countered, arguing that the assignment offered an opportunity for students to explore language and storytelling.
Jan Sanderson, a parent of two students at Glenlawn chimed in: "For my daughter, that's something that she can look forward to. … Different people learn different ways and that's one of the challenges for the education system."
Thirteen years ago
At the time, former Checkup host Rex Murphy asked whether or not young people were being prepared for life in the "real world" to a room full of students, educators and parents in Winnipeg.
At the time, the challenges seemed obvious: A changing workforce. The prominence of media in young peoples' lives. The difficulty in accommodating conflicting learning styles.
The solutions, however, seemed less so.
"We can't concentrate on a narrow range of skills," Ms. Babaian said. "We have to try to ensure that our kids have the skills they're going to be able to apply to a whole range of jobs, because we know in this new society kids aren't necessarily going to be guaranteed a career for life."
"We have to create 'Renaissance people.'"
Compare and contrast
The circumstances youth face today are far different from 2005. Smartphones — and access to information — are ubiquitous, the "gig economy" is ever-growing and politics, due to partisanship and the rise of so-called fake news, are more divided than ever.
So what challenges are young people facing today and can schools prepare them for what seems like an uncertain future?
Join us Sunday, February 4, as Checkup returns to Winnipeg and Glenlawn Collegiate to follow up on what schools are doing right and what they're doing wrong.