As per Elections BC advice, we won’t be commenting or posting anything new on this site during the election period. Your ideas and involvement in this community are important to us, so we look forward to connecting with you again after the election.

In late January, Parliamentary Secretary Jane Thornthwaite hosted a Twitter Town Hall to learn how we can better communicate with parents about their children’s learning. On Wednesday March 13 she hosted a second Twitter chat to continue the conversation.

Sidney’s Parkland Secondary is a stone’s throw from the Pacific Ocean. It is also home to the Parkland Marine Institute, where students can take courses towards graduation and a potential career in fields like marine vessel restoration, sailing, dive instruction, and marine biology.

Over the past several months, government, industry, and others have been working closely to promote the trades as a great career choice for youth. A new phase of the campaign, called the Discover Trades Conferences, was launched last week to help support this goal. These conferences will provide parents and K-12 educators with a chance to learn more about the trades and showcase them as a worthy and rewarding career choice.

Government released its Framework for a 10-year Agreement with Public School Teachers. What do you think?

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Parliamentary Secretary’s Twitter Town Hall. Click here to download a full archive of the conversation.

As parents, we all do our best to support our children’s education. Many of us wish we could do more than our hectic lives will allow. And when we do want to participate more, sometimes it can be tough just to know where to start. That’s not really anybody’s fault. In many ways it’s just the reality of the complexity of an education system.

We’re reviewing our grad program to see how we can better prepare students for the future. Want to be part of this? Please read our background information then answer the questions below.

One of the things we’ve been working on lately is a set of digital literacy standards for students. These standards identify the skills and knowledge students need to be successful in our increasingly digital world.

It’s been estimated there will be over 1,000,000 job openings in BC between now and 2020. 43% of these will be in trades and technical training occupations – but unless we act now there may not be enough skilled workers to fill them.

Our StrongStart BC programs provide school-based early learning services for parents and their children aged 0-5. More than 33,000 children and their families utilize these free drop-in services every year.

For the past two years, the Ministry of Education has been consulting with stakeholders on revising BC’s K-12 curriculum. Much of what is being suggested aligns with what you’ve said on this engagement site as well – things like:

Since the launch of BC’s Education Plan, people from all parts of the province and all walks of life have weighed in on how we might make our already great education system even better.

Teaching students to be successful readers begins early. We recognize this, and in response will be placing additional emphasis on reading intervention in the primary grades. We also know that many great programs already exist across the province.

As we wind down another school year, I look forward to taking a well deserved break. In the past I would by now have planned vacations, organized my children’s summer camps and known that by the time the lazy days of August set in, we would all be keying up for another school year. So, last Sunday while working in my home office, my ears perked up to Cross Country Checkup. A gentleman on the program was describing the idea of shortening the summer holiday and spreading it out across the school year. There are benefits to this, he said, especially for the struggling learner. It turned out the guest was none other than our former Minister of Education, George Abbott.

Over the past few months we’ve received many suggestions from people on how we can improve our website. Here are a few examples:

BC has a scholarship and awards program that rewards students for high academic achievement. However, we’ve heard that the program needs to be changed to reflect a more personalized approach to student learning.

BC is potentially facing a skilled labour shortage. We believe schools can play a larger role in helping address this problem.

The Graduation Program is the education program students must complete to earn a Graduation (Dogwood) Diploma. We recognize that elements of this program likely need to be changed to ensure success for each learner. Some of the ideas we’ve heard so far are that students:

Questions of funding, class size and other issues determined through bargaining and defined by teachers’ employment contracts are important. But setting those aside for the moment, what is one thing teachers could be empowered to change today that would improve the school experience for them and their students?

BC’s Education Plan includes a commitment to ensure university teacher preparation programs provide new teachers with the skills to support new approaches to student learning. What should the first priority be to achieve this goal?

Think about your favourite teacher. What set(s) him or her apart and how could we help other teachers achieve a similar level of performance?

One of the things you’ve told us is there are resources and expertise in the community that schools can tap into to support learning. Some school districts, such as Peace River North, are doing this already.

We’ve heard from you that students’ passions and interests can play a part in helping them learn. For example, Nancy told us:

Research suggests adjustments to current school scheduling may have positive effects on student learning. Many of you, like Terri, have also said the typical BC school schedule needs to change to better accommodate different out of school activities and work requirements.

Across the world education experts are asking: “What do teachers need to keep current in today’s context?” Research also shows that systemic, ongoing teacher professional development is more effective than traditional one-time workshops.

Teachers today have to meet a diverse set of student needs. Teaching Assistants are being used in some, but not all classrooms to help teachers support student learning.

In the past few weeks you’ve made over 1300 comments on flexibility and choice in the K-12 education system. Here’s a synthesis of what you’ve said so far. Click on the links below each theme to read supporting examples.

How do you think our schools and school districts need to change to support more flexibility and choice?

Flexibility and choice are evident in many B.C. schools and communities. Do you have some good examples to share?

What do you think are the benefits and challenges to offering students more flexible learning opportunities?

Over the past several weeks many people have commented on a broad range of questions about personalized learning. We’ve gone through all of your comments (more than 1000!) and have updated this wrap-up to share back with you what we’ve heard since the engagement forum began. What was originally a Questions 1-3 Wrap-Up now includes a summary for Questions 4-6 as well. We now have a much clearer picture of what issues are important to you and what suggestions you have for us as we move forward with education transformation in BC.

What does it mean for students to play an active role in their education?

How can teachers personalize learning for reading, writing, math and science?

How can our education system support the unique needs of students?

What do you think is important for our education system in the future?

What type of information do parents need on their child’s learning?

What new competencies will students need to prepare them for graduation and the future?