New Evaluation Policy Causing Concern
Brittany Finlay
Does the New Late Policy Make the Grade?
Rose Tai
Failing Class averages for new Gr. 12 Algeo Course
Daniela Scur
Where Iraq stands: An opinion
Niko Block
Jarvis' Native students share cultural exchange
Skyler Longboat
The Student Protection Act
Sarah Didora
Morning announcements -
you know, those things we ignore.
Renata Ancans
Utilitarian Education
Molly Gardner
New Evaluation Policy Causing Concern
Brittany Finlay
Ministry of Education policies and university mandates have been implemented this school year at Ontario high schools, changing the way students are evaluated and graded. Anxious graduating Jarvisites already fear looming university applications and the haunting impact of the double cohort, but now also face evaluation changes that directly affect their entrance marks.
Graduating students dread the 'cumulative assessments' coming up in January. Students are told that marks will not be deducted for late work anymore, and that behavioural aspects of schoolwork are no longer graded. Most of these changes began with the new Grade 9 curriculum, but after a few years of leeway, Jarvis teachers are now expected to have implemented the changes.
A significant change in evaluation is that students must be given a major cumulative assessment towards the end of the third term. This exam or activity must somehow cover most of the course material. Principal McKenzie says, "It's quite a challenge to design a series of activities that are worth 30% of the mark...that are fair, and broad enough in scope that they answer the Ministry requirements."
At Jarvis, there used to be exams in December. Now, a province-wide mandate by all universities states that graduating students must be formally evaluated after December, but before entrance marks are sent to universities. Therefore, all Grade 12 and OAC students will have exams in the month of January. According to Mr. Caldwell, head of the English Department, "Universities say, 'We don't trust the new curriculum with all this hocus pocus about dynamic process.' Universities want a traditional marks-based system."
Students from semestered schools have January exams for their first semester courses only, whereas Jarvis students must do all 6, 7 or 8 exams. The government allots 10 days for January and June exams in total, and Jarvis students may be given as few as 3 days in January for the exams that are crucial to their university entrance marks.
Mr. Szuba, head of Geography at Jarvis, expresses his concern about the January exams: "The problem is, the Ministry gives no extra time for these exams. That's pretty hard on the students. The students should let the administration know about their anxiety. They have a legitimate concern. If students don't have enough time to study, it jeopardizes their entrance to university."
The January university exam must not be included in the 30% summative evaluation that the Ministry requires. This is troublesome to the math department. Ms. Cooper, the head of Mathematics at Jarvis, comments on the universities and the government: "They're not working together."
Mr. Sumi, another math teacher, adds: "It's too bad they would not allow us to split it up more. I would have preferred if the June exam could count for less and the January for more. But that's where we have no control."
Another change at Jarvis this year has been the combination of Grade 12 and OAC classes. Without these combinations, Jarvis would not have been able to offer students all of their desired courses, given the limited number of teachers and classrooms. However, the merging of old and new curriculum classes has created obstacles because of their different requirements.
Mr. Caldwell explains: "The old curriculum had certain percentages set apart for certain types of writing: independent studies, exams, and essays. The new curriculum focuses more on skills, and wants to de-emphasize exams. It is based on the process of learning rather than a piece of writing."
In order to treat graduating students equally and fairly, English teachers will assign independent studies to Grade 12 students, contrary to the new curriculum. An independent study combined with a June exam is the department's solution to the required 30% cumulative assessment.
Caldwell says that the old curriculum requires teachers to "combine averages of certain components very carefully." According to the new curriculum, teachers are "supposed to take the most consistent effort, and just eyeball it, ignoring fluke marks...If by April the student has really learned to write an essay, that's what matters," Caldwell says. Fluke marks include both high and low marks that are not consistent with the rest of the student's work. The English department averages everyone's marks alike, despite the new curriculum's policy.
Mr. Szuba comments on changes in the evaluation of Grade 12 Geography students in merged classes: "We have decided this year that we're going to evaluate them as if they were OAC students, so we'll demand the same kind of work. Next year, it will be different."
Mr. Caldwell sums up the issue, saying that the old and new curriculums are "guided by different philosophies, yet taught at the same time...We are forced into ignoring parts of each curriculum in order to blend them."
Although OAC and Grade 12 students will be applying to universities together as the double cohort, the two classes have very different report cards. Grade 12 students, along with all other new curriculum students, will receive the new report card, which excludes behaviour from the percent grade. Behaviour is evaluated separately in a portion of the report card entitled "Learning Skills". Skills included are teamwork, organization, work habits, homework completion, initiative, and ability to work independently. In each category, a student may receive an assessment of "Excellent", "Good", "Satisfactory", or "Needs Improvement". OAC students are not being evaluated on behaviour anymore either, but their old curriculum report card has no "Learning Skills" section. Therefore OAC students are in no concrete way being evaluated or graded for their learning skills.
The exclusion of behaviour from marks is a controversial policy. From the perspective of the Ministry of Education, the separate report card category for behaviour clearly shows the student's skills. Principal McKenzie points out: "The Conference Board of Canada produced a set of things that people would need in order to be successful in work. Things like initiative and being able to work as part of a team appear to be very important in today's work world. So that is one of the reasons the Ministry has moved towards its own separate category so that it is highlighted."
Self-discipline is also important to develop before university, where attendance and homework are not checked. Although the behaviours are not included in the mark, McKenzie maintains that there "is a connection" between the mark and the behaviour evaluations. That is, a person who does poorly in the learning skills evaluation is likely to have a low grade in the course.
The Ministry's reasoning behind the changes in evaluation is in keeping with the objectives of the new curriculum, as explained by Education Minister Janet Ecker in a June 2, 2000 news release: "This completes the most comprehensive modernization and overhaul of Ontario's Kindergarten to Grade 12 curriculum that has ever taken place. It will also better prepare students for their futures whether they plan to go to university, college or the workplace after they graduate." The Ministry's position is that new concepts such as mandatory volunteering, future planning (in T.A.P., for example), and separate evaluation of learning skills will better prepare students for the transition into the workplace.
However, some teachers and students are upset by the new policy, which seems to belittle the behavioural aspect of schoolwork by excluding it from grades. From the perspective of students who complete work on time, it may seem unfair that other students have extra days or weeks after the due date to work on an assignment without penalty. This is a special concern for double-cohort students who feel the pressure of competition for university acceptance. Also, the policy may encourage procrastination, worsening the skills that the Ministry wants to foster.
Many OAC students completed OAC courses last year in which they were penalized for late work. Other graduating students taking the same courses this year are not being penalized for late assignments. Universities do not consider these differences when accepting students.
It seems that the policy-makers have good intentions, but have failed to realize the impact of their decisions on individual students. When universities see a student's application, they see grades, and they compare those grades to a cut-off line. They do not see the number of exams that student had in one week, or his excellence in Learning Skills. And that could make all the difference to students who feels their futures are on the line.
In the words of our principal, "Every time they change the curriculum, life seems to get harder." Good luck.
Does the New Late Policy Make the Grade?
Rose Tai
Imagine an assignment is due in class. You hand it in on time, very proud of the quality. The student who sits beside you hands it in a day late. A few classes later, your work is returned. You get an A; the other student gets an A+. You realize the student's paper wasn't deducted at all for its tardiness. Is that fair? Shouldn't that student be punished? Can you complain? According to the new board-wide policy concerning late assignments, you can't.
Named the Evaluation Late Policy, according to the principal, it states that any assignment handed in after the due date won't be penalized on the condition that it is not handed in after the teacher marks the work and gives it back to the students. Once the work is returned, the mark will become an automatic zero.
"It's Ministry policy. There are a lot of rules that we can't make; the Ministry makes the rules and we have to follow them and all we can do with rules is try to make it work the best we can for our students," says Principal Mrs. McKenzie.
In actuality, this policy is only for students under the new curriculum, but it has been decided at Jarvis that it be applied to students under the old curriculum as well, due to fairness and the fact that Grade 12 and OAC students are often mixed in the same classes.
After interviewing nine students, it's clear that the majority are strongly in favour of the policy.
With this policy, students loaded with homework are given more time to work on each piece and to hand it in without getting deductions. Some academic students even approve, despite their ability to usually hand work on time.
"I try to [hand work on time], but there are many times when I'm not able to finish everything and I can't help that," says one OAC female student. "Even if I was given a long amount of time, there are only 24 hours a day and we spend most of our day in school and once we get home, of course we have to eat, and that doesn't leave us a lot of time for homework and if we do have a few hours, we might not even be able to finish everything we want to finish."
Teachers have been affected by the new evaluation late policy as well. According to several students, some teachers have been marking faster to prevent any sort of abuse from the students concerning the new policy. Other teachers, however, have no desire to change their marking speed.
"I don't think that I'm going to allow it [the Evaluation Late Policy]to change the way I operate," says Ms. Ancans, who teaches English. "I will not be a slave to the new evaluation policy."
What about the students who constantly hand work in late? Sometimes, an extra day is all that's needed to turn a C paper into a B or an A.
"What I have done in the past sometimes to get around this problem is in fact to give bonus marks if a student has handed in a piece of work on time," Ms. Ancans replies. "Therefore if you've got a fabulous paper you can still get a fabulous mark, but it still makes the kids who have done everything absolutely the right way,it makes them feel as if they haven't been overlooked."
"There will always be students who take advantage," Ms. Ancans points out, "and for the students who take advantage there doesn't seem to be any kind of a built-in mechanism other than the sooner you [the teacher] hand back the assignment, the sooner the kid earns a zero, but is that in fact what you want to have happen?"
Some students see the problems as well.
"Children will eventually become procrastinators even more and more," says Ashley Kim, a Grade 11 student. "It makes people keep on procrastinating. That's really bad. They should push themselves to make time. If they're too busy, you know, don't do everything at the last minute."
"It leads to this whole thing of 'well, if there's no late policy, then it doesn't really matter when I hand it in', so there's no sense of deadline and if you don't instill that sense of deadline at an early age, then later in life, it doesn't exist," says Mr. Reid, who teaches English and Music-Vocal.
Without a sense of deadline, how will this Evaluation policy prepare students for University or college? Or does it at all?
Deadlines in Post-Secondary school are almost impossible to negoiate and late assignments are automatic zeros or deductions depending on one's professor. One Grade 11 female student believes that failing in subjects is possible, since the policy isn't building up any positive work habits.
"Failing university is not like failing high school. Failing university, you pay $3 000 to get in and then you fail and then you lost your thousands of dollars. High school, you don't pay a penny. It's better to learn your lesson now than when you have to pay for it [university] and you get a worse lesson," she says.
On top of all the negative aspects of the Evaluation Late Policy, there is a loophole.
Consider this scenario: a teacher assigns something due next week. A month passes and nobody has handed it in. The students actually don't intend to ever hand that thing in. Technically, the class' work is late, so there can't be any deductions. Also, since nobody handed in the work, the teacher has nothing to mark and return, so nobody can get zero. What can a teacher do in a situation like this?
"In realistic terms, that would never happen," says Ms. Ancans, "and if it did I think the teacher would be very free to be able to simply say, 'Oh, okay, I don't have any papers. I'll go home and mark those no-papers and you've [the students] all got zero, because I've got nothing to hand back.'."
Mr. Reid says, "The most correct thing to do, and this was according to my brother, who used to teach grade 3 and 4, is that he would say: 'Well, if they [the students] don't do their homework, you're [the teacher] supposed to test them on their homework; find out whether or not they've done their homework.'."
Despite how many students approve of the Evaluation policy, it is definitely not a policy that helps students prepare for university, nor is it protected from those who wish to abuse it. In the end, it is up to each individual student to decide whether or not the policy will make its mark on them.
Failing Class averages for new Gr. 12 Algeo Course
Daniela Scur
Picture this: you are in one of the three regular Grade 12 Geometry and Discrete Mathematics classes. You have written two tests and one retest, and assuming you belong to the majority, you did very poorly on all three (but perhaps a little better on the retest). Therefore, you are expecting a very low mark. Once you get your report card on November 20th, you look at your mark and say "OUCH!" And then you look over to the next box and start to feel a little better about yourself because even though you got a 48%, you're still above the average (excluding the Enriched class, whose median is 89%). This is the true account of a Grade 12 Geometry student who would rather remain anonymous.
Now the question is, why is this average so low? Mr. Sumi explains: "First, some students chose the course who probably shouldn't have chosen that course. Second, some students are not putting forth the required effort. [This course] is the toughest of the three. [The reason kids don't get it] is because it is kind of hard to see it at first, because you [Grade 12's] haven't been exposed to it. In the old curriculum, kids saw that in earlier grades, but in the new curriculum you guys don't see it until this year, really."
Another Grade 12 student agrees: "We have never seen this before, so how do they expect to grasp all these new concepts, put them together and apply them in such a short time? We're not all geniuses! And then, they give us a thousand hard questions to work on with only about 45 minutes to solve all of them. It's insane!"
It is very easy to point fingers and put all the blame on the "inconsiderate teachers" or the "goof-off students" - depending on which side you're on. However, it is obvious that both sides have their share of the responsiblity. True, the teachers could have started off with the easier topics and perhaps given more time for the tests, but how were they supposed to know? It is also their first time through the course.
On the other hand, students should have realized this is not just another math course, but the hardest one. So they should have put thrice as much effort into it to succeed. Then again, it is their first time through the course, too.
For many Grade 12 students, this was simply the last straw. All through their high school careers, they have been the guinea pigs. The difference before was they could always say: "Oh well, this year doesn't really matter anyway. Hopefully it'll be more organized next year." But now's the deadline. This year's marks are the most important of their whole lives.
Perhaps this incident just further aggravated the looming feeling that, even though everyone knows the Grade 12's are the disadvantaged pack in the notorious double cohort, no one is really doing anything about it. "I'm wondering what they're gonna do about this. I really hope this isn't going to jeopardize my average by the time university applications come around!" complains another student.
Mrs. Jordan from the Guidance department says not to panic. "Universities never get to see these marks. This is only the first report card which is not weighted that much on your final mark."
Can the students possibly improve their marks drastically enough to make the cut? Mr. Sumi says "Sure! Why not? It's only one third of the way through the year. The first three chapters in the book are quite tough. The next three chapters are somewhat easier."
"I'm determined to study as hard as I can to get my average higher. I just hope we're not going to be screwed over again, and that the administration will look at this and do something about it to make sure we're getting an equal shot at this when compared to the OAC's," rants another upset Grade 12 student, who also asked that her name not be published.
Now all that's left for us to do is hope that, for the sake of the next generation, the government will get their act together soon and stop messing with our curriculum.
Where Iraq stands: An opinion
Niko Block
A look at the rising tensions between the United States and Iraq
Saddam Hussein, the current dictator of Iraq, is well known for his invasion of Kuwait, and his testing of chemical weapons on civilians. Before the Gulf War, during Iraq's conflict with Iran, the US was speculated to be a strong ally of Saddam Hussein, for economic purposes.
Not long after this, the United States proclaimed war on Iraq, although Hussein remained in power after the war had finished. During the Gulf War, the US Army bombed targets like water filtration and sewage plants. Since then, Iraq has not had any proper foreign support to repair these facilities, and as a result, raw sewage is being dumped into the river, which flows downstream and becomes drinking water. Due to this lack of funding, there is no clean water for children to drink whatsoever.
Noam Chomsky, a well known professor at MIT, in his speech at Bloor Street United Church on Sunday November 10, posed the question 'Why Iraq?'
Many hold the opinion that the United States plans on turning Iraq into 'an oil pumping station', in light of the fact that Iraq presides over one of the largest oil reserves in the world, second to Saudi Arabia, and produces only a small portion of that every year, due to its very limited resources of oil transportation. One quarter of oil imported to the US comes from the Middle-East. In order to lessen their tensions with Middle-Eastern countries, the US would need to increase other sources of oil, like Mexico or Venezuela.
The other popular reason for the US to attack Iraq, Chomsky said, is that they are fearful of losing their global leverage. Atif Kabursi, a professor at McMaster University, supports this argument and says that American foreign policy is unjust, comparing it to colonialism.
Another huge contributing factor to this theory is the substantial economic sanctions (meaning international trading restraints) that the US presence in the UN has imposed on Iraq. A recent article in 'Harper's' magazine, written by Joy Gordon, reports an estimated 500,000 Iraqi children under five years of age have died from these sanctions. The main causes of these deaths are diarrhea, malnutrition, bad water, and severe lack of immunization to protect the children. Due to these sanctions "Iraq cannot legally export or import any goods, including oil, outside the UN sanction system," which the US has been persistently pushing for over the past decade; not only the restraint of oil, but also of other humanitarian goods.
When asked about these cataclysmic sanctions, the US government has admitted that they are in place in order to put pressure on Iraqi civilians, and will be in place until Hussein is removed.
So where does Iraq stand right now? Well, the US has presently been silenced by Saddam Hussein's agreement to allow UN weapons inspectors in Baghdad, but no doubt they will find another excuse to bomb Iraq. Russia and China have openly denounced the war, unlike Britain who is likely hoping on strengthening its relationship with the US by joining them in this tyranny.
What is not quite so heartening about Russia and China's defiance is the fact that they are likely only defending Iraq because they are huge business partners with them on the oil market, which is always a huge asset for their economies.
Colin Powell sent a letter to the Canadian government in mid-November asking that we would assist them in the war. This just goes to show us that the US is not interested in "disarming" Iraq's weapons program, and that this excuse of their threat is merely a facade. In spite of the fact that UN weapons inspectors are in Baghdad, the US' attention is not upon diffusing the situation, but on gaining allies to help them commit this injustice.
It's no secret that Saddam Hussein has committed horrible humanitarian crimes, such as his invasion of Kuwait, his testing of chemical weapons on the Kurds, and the torture of innocent civilians. It is very tricky to remove a dictator from his position, especially because neither the UN nor the US has the authority to determine how a country should work. It seems that no matter how bad things get in Iraq, the people will not revolt, and because it is not a democracy, Iraqis have no power to decide in what direction their country will go.
Right now the best thing for the US to do, far off as it may be, is to lift the sanctions on Iraq and at the same time keep the UN weapons inspectors in Baghdad.
Jarvis' Native students share cultural exchange
Skyler Longboat
Ask the Redspirit Drummers and Dancers from Toronto, who recently had the opportunity. They were invited to the Andong International Mask Dance Festival in South Korea, as representatives of Canada's First Nations people.
"People were very generous, and helpful with everything," says Cheryl Rivers who attended the trip along with six others.
Rivers is a student who attends the Native Learning Centre, which is an alternative program for Native students at Jarvis. She accompanied seven young people to Andong, South Korea, for the 10-day festival that took place September 29th, through to October 8th.
The group was made up of Jingle Dress Dancers: Cheryl Rivers, 19, from the Wikwemakong Reserve on Manitoulin Island, Sylvia Redbreast, 19, from Chapleu First Nation, and Fancy Shawl Dancer Katie Longboat, 16, from Six Nations.
The festival, which featured cultural performances from countries including Mexico, Britain, and Sri Lanka, was an opportunity for the Redspirit Dancers, particularly Rivers, to show their style to the world.
The main event of the Festival was the Ancient Mask Dance, performed by a large group from host nation South Korea, plus others from Eastern Asia. Originating from Korea's prehistoric age, the dance is performed in both artistic and religious contexts. More than movement, the Mask Dance is a drama that allows performers to act out people, animals, or supernatural beings.
Steve Teekens, who is the leader of Redspirit, says it wasn't always easy to understand the significance of the various dances he saw, from places like Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Ethiopia, "but everyone still enjoyed watching."
Redspirit performed every day of the festival for one hour. They were then free to enjoy the colourful sights of the festival and also the city of Andong.
"The ocean was beautiful and the sand stones were a nice colour of jade," says Rivers, who also adds that she thought all the temples were very impressive.
The group had tour guides to show them around. They were also provided with translators so that they could communicate with other people, which was good, according to the youth that went. Rivers says that the Korean people were some of the nicest people she had ever met.
Funding for the trip was provided in part by Native Child and Family Services. Redspirit Drummers and Dancers also raised money by drumming at different events around Toronto. Frances Sanderson, who works for Anishinabe Homes Inc., helped organize the trip.
"I think that this trip brought more awareness of First Nations people to the world," says Teekens.
Teekens says that Redspirit was one of the more popular groups at the festival, filling the most seats for every performance.
The Student Protection Act
Sarah Didora
The advisory is meant to be a guideline for conduct and for discipline if ever there is a complaint brought against a teacher. It states that the reason for the release of this advisory is to increase public and professional awareness of sexual misconduct. "Particularly," it says, "where people are in positions of trust and moral authority."
In this document are fairly detailed sections covering topics like sexual abuse, which is defined by the Student Protection Act as:
1) sexual intercourse or other forms of physical sexual relations between the staff member and the student;
2) touching, of a sexual nature, of the student by the staff member, or;
3) behaviour or remarks of a sexual nature by the staff member towards the student.
Also included are sections dealing with professional misconduct by means of sexual harassment, inappropriate relationships. One section is titled "knowing the limits-the responsibility of each member", which states that the teacher is always responsible to put a stop to any inappropriate behaviour on their part or the student's. Another section outlines what teachers should avoid. A few examples are private phone calls, notes, letters, email, chatting online in a sexual manner, as well as private meetings, and dating.
In regards to sexual relations, there are specific limitations. The guidelines state: "Professional misconduct includes, but is not limited to, any sexual relationship with:
1) a student, regardless of the student's age;
2) a former student under the age of 18;
3)a former student suffering from a disability affecting his or her ability to consent to a relationship."
Mrs. Jordan of the Guidance department informed me that as soon as misconduct is reported, the principal gets involved. They have the responsibility to take the report to the Board. Then the Board lawyer gets involved, as well as the teachers' union. The Board does its own investigation, which is separate from the police, who do lay charges.
Consistently, the Ontario College of Teachers stresses that the onus is always on the teachers. There are consequences if you are a member of faculty and have knowledge of something going on but do not report it. Some of the charges may include sexual exploitation or possibly as an accessory.
There are also some serious consequences that do not involve the police. Teachers who break the rules can face a number of possibilities after an investigation is completed, such as a suspension of their certificate or having it fully revoked.
The number of reported cases of misconduct of this kind is only 20 out of a possible 184,000 teachers in Ontario. That is barely a fraction of one percent. So, even given the publicity, there is not a plague of abuse in our schools.
There is however a plague of paranoia. One section of the updated advisory states that a teacher shouldn't have private meetings with a student. If they have to, if it is an emergency, the teacher has to let a third party know so they can be there or be aware that the meeting is taking place, and the doors have to be left open. Fears of allegations, rumors, and possible reports are rampant.
Jarvis has been no stranger to professional misconduct in the past. Sifting through past issues of the Jargon, I came across an incident at JCI between a teacher and a student that occurred several years ago. A more recent example is last year's case, where a teacher got involved with a female student of his. They had a relationship, and in the end, charges were brought against him for sexual exploitation.
The advisory's goal is to prevent this exact kind of thing from occurring in the future. As parents, students, and especially teachers become more and more aware of restrictions through the schools, the media, and material like this advisory, the risks are lowered. But are we losing something by being overprotective?
Jamaal Edwards, in OAC, doesn't believe so. "I don't think teachers will be any less personal as long as it [contact] is pertaining to school or their job."
"It is a question of ethics and power imbalance," said Mrs. Jordan. She also said that these situations occur when someone "doesn't understand boundaries very well." Perhaps they will be a little more clear as time goes by.
Morning announcements -
you know, those things we ignore.
Renata Ancans
"Good morning. Please stand for the National Anthem."
Cue the music.
After the anthem everyone sits down and the announcements begin. Cue the voice of the teacher in Charlie Brown. You know, the one where you can't understand a single thing she says. But why is it that the announcements are just a droning voice ignored by most students and a growing number of teachers? Are they really so inaudible, or are the students so fatigued in the morning that if they can't see a mouth moving, nobody's talking to them?
The announcements have always been boring in the five years I have been at Jarvis. It's time to get down to the nitty gritty: They need to be improved. Quickly.
There needs to be something attention-grabbing in the announcements because when we walk into the class half asleep, all those words over the P.A. are just a soothing monotonous sound. If students are going to listen, they need to want to listen, not to mention have something worth listening to.
"The morning announcements are very dull. They need to be livened up," a slightly calmer OAC student said. "The teacher should be more excited about the daily events that take place at school."
Having the announcements sound like the wonky teacher from 'Peanuts' is not a particularly desirable start to the morning. There is no doubt that the announcements are important. For people graduating, in clubs or on teams, the announcements can be the difference between being part of something in the school and sitting on the couch alone eating cupcakes while watching Jerry Springer.
So how can we improve them? Surely there must be ways to spark interest in the students while still maintaining the integrity of the morning announcements.
Mr. Humphry, the new Classic Civilizations teacher, recalls that in his previous school he made the announcements less dry. While at Mowat, he read them for 25 years with no complaints. When asked how they could be improved, he replied, "Contests based on the actual announcements would encourage students to listen. A trivia bit each day (something really useless) could add interest. Birthday recognition could make the students interested in listening also."
An attempt by the girls' field hockey team to spice up the announcements, with a doctored game report, mostly failed. Our team captain, Bellamy Leung, made up a tall tale describing bench-clearing brawls, our coach taking out the Ref and an unbelievable 13-1 victory. Instead of waking up the students and having a laugh, the report was greeted with suspicious and disapproving looks by home form teachers and friends coming up to me after every other win asking if we were lying again. C'mon people! Can't you take a joke?
It became quite obvious from the start of the school year, that there were quite a few complaints from students who did not want to hear the voice of our Vice Principal first thing in the morning (sorry Mrs. Phoenix). However, the office did take a step in the right direction by auditioning students for the job of reading the announcements. But the structure remained the same; there were no interesting changes or improvements. Now there are two soothing voices instead of one putting the children back to sleep.
If we are to keep the kiddies awake plus inform them of the daily happenings, there needs to be something extra. Perhaps we may be able to steal an idea from the movie 'Good Morning, Vietnam'. Okay, I know what you're thinking, but I didn't mean invading another country. Maybe something along the lines of Robin Williams's attention - grabbing "Goooooooood morning, Vietnam!!!" every day. Find some enthusiastic students (there must be one out there) who would be honoured to have his or her voice be famed in the hallowed halls of J.C.I. Wouldn't you be woken up if you were greeted with a bellowing, "GOOOOD MORNING J.C.I!" Sure, some might find this annoying, but at least it would be interesting.
Suggestions to make the announcements better can take a variety of forms. First of all, enthusiasm would be a big improvement. They need to be exciting while informative. It can be done. There just needs to be somebody who's not shy to step up and do it.
An OAC student new to Jarvis claimed that at her old school announcements were done well. "In my past, announcements have been interesting and informative. The student council would put on radio, skit - type of things that were very entertaining."
To these criticisms, Mrs. Phoenix offers, "It's very easy for people to take critical potshots at something that they're not willing to step forward and be part of the solution. At least they stepped forward and made a commitment and are trying to make an effort. Someone in the background, who didn't have the motivation, courage, or guts to step forward, those are the people who shouldn't be criticizing."
One thing I know for sure, please find somebody with a loud, booming voice to do the announcements. And preferably somebody who has some character. I have no doubt in my mind that the two doing the announcements now have the talent and ability to be all this and more; they just need to show their potential! A note to them: don't be afraid to raise your voices to the mountains! Or, to the fourth floor of Jarvis, rather. Wake the student body up! We're counting on you to deliver the vital information needed to survive the brutality of high school living.
Just imagine. getting to home form on time to hear the announcements one day may have its advantages.
The Utilitarian Trend
Molly Gardner
Are universities becoming all about job training? Whatever happened to "higher learning"?
As the year gets underway, the annual panic from graduating students is to be expected. Worry and excitement buzz throughout the halls. However this year, with twice as many graduates facing the dilemmas of the double cohort, the panic is building up to be quite the roar. Why are we all so worked up about getting into university?
If I don't get the marks, I won't get into university. If I don't get into university, I won't get a degree. If I don't get a degree, I won't get a good job. Sounds familiar doesn't it? For many students, university has come to represent the only route to success and comfort, which translates into having a good job that pays good money.
Children are relentlessly asked while they go through public school what they want to do when they grow up. And as they get older the questions seem to become more and more important. In Grade 10, students must take a course called Career Studies, which exposes students to various employment options and teaches them practical skills such as building a resume.
Does equating school with a job or a career enrich the process of learning? It potentially gives a destination to the journey, but does it ruin the process? Is that what education is really about?
This year, with the pressures of the double cohort, the value of education seems a more pertinent question than ever before. With greater competition, students feel forced to justify what they plan to pursue, how they plan on pursuing it, and why.
Aman Mohamed is an OAC student who hopes to study Business: "University gives you more time to get to know what you're studying, and there are benefits to that after you graduate, like more pay."
Jay Torres, who is in his first year at Ryerson, firmly believes that university sets you up for a career: "...without it [a university degree] I guess you're nowhere. You're going to have to be stuck with something you really don't want to do, like working at McDonald's or something."
Sothea Choun, an OAC student, provides this explanation: "...to tell you the truth it's what my parents have pushed me to do...society has made them believe that university is the better way."
Ayan Debb is a former Jarvis student who is now in Political Science at York. Going to university for him definitely relates to getting a satisfying, well paying job: "Hell yeah! That's why I'm paying five thousand a year!"
It's an excellent point. When university is so expensive it seems only practical to have a concrete purpose and direction that will reap financial rewards afterwards. This is why applied courses and professional schools are increasingly popular. Education for broadening one's horizons and expanding one's mind seems risky in comparison.
Universities are no doubt aware of people's desire for career preparation, and some are promoting practical educations as a result. On the cover of their admissions brochures, the University of Brock promises "Your career begins here" and the University of Windsor's reads "A degree that works".
The utilitarian approach also underlies the Ontario government's reforms in education over the last seven years. "Personally I find that the thrust from the Ministry is on more skill oriented, career oriented, final product-type learning," confirms Ms. Ancans from the English Department. She is not against all the initiatives of the new curriculum, but says "what truly scares me is that they [the government] are trying to move away from the arts, away from the things that have more depth and more profundity to them."
Canadian philosopher and novelist John Ralston Saul sees great danger in education turning toward the utilitarian. He believes that "when you're in a period of fast unchartable change, as we obviously are, the last thing you want to do is lock yourself into a utilitarian education, because what you want to give people in that kind of atmosphere is the agility of thought, the ability to think, the ability to consider, the ability to understand." He goes as far to say that the idea of education translating into employability is wrong: "You're not giving them [the students] the kind of intellectual self confidence which would allow them to respond to the instability of the changing job market. The move toward a utilitarian education will create the long-term unemployed."
Mrs. Eyasu of the Chemistry Department agrees with Saul's attitudes surrounding education. She believes that education should teach a way of thinking so students are more flexilble, and better able to adapt knowledge to various situations. She states: "it doesn't matter what career or what job you have in the end; the more experiences you can take to that job outside the scope of that job makes you the better person after."
Mr. DeFreitas of the Math Department feels that for education to be useful it must result in something practical, providing necessary skills whether they be interpersonal skills, technical skills or communication skills. He states, however, that " education should ultimately result in an improved state of being which has personal significance for the person being educated.... Education must be intrinsically rewarding."
Ms. Jordan, the Head of Guidance, maintains that: "you're going to university for an expansion of the mind...University is a life preparation." She advises all students graduating from Jarvis this year to spend time essentially getting to know what their dreams and desires are.
Are these words of wisdom or, realistically, a luxury we can't afford anymore? Have we lost our love of learning? Maybe it's time we started to expect more from our education, and look forward to a better life, not just a better job.
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