Questioning the Classroom: Perspectives on Canadian Education

Introduction: What's the Point?!Part One: Why Should Children Be Educated?1. What Are the Values and Aims of Education?Terminology: Does Education Have a Purpose?Education versus SchoolingChanging Models of EducationStep One: Knowledge and Understanding as an Aim of EducationStep Two: Reaction and CriticismStep Three: Well-Being as an Aim of Education2. Can We Educate for Canadian Identity?What Is Civic Identity and What Is the Point of Educating for It?Challenges to Education for Civic IdentityA Brief History of Citizenship Education in CanadaPart Two: How Should Children Be Educated?3. What Are Our Main Conceptions of Education, Where Did They Originate, and How Do They Inform Our Current Practices?Metaphors We Live ByThree Conceptions of Teaching and LearningEducational Rationalism: Teaching and Learning as Building KnowledgeThe Developmental Conception of Education: Learning as GrowthThe Guidance Conception of Education: Learning as Insight and Discovery4. Are Students Becoming Consumerist Learners?Introduction: What Is Consumerism?Types of School CommercialismCivic Identity or Consumer Identity?Private Gain or Public Good?"Me, Inc."Economistic Approaches to EducationCommodification of KnowledgeThe Humanities and Economic GrowthTeacher AutonomyCritical ThinkingEducational Risk and the UnexpectedShould Education Be "Easy"?Part Three: What Should Children Learn?5. What Should Be Taught on the Curriculum?How Do Decision-Makers Decide What Should Be on the Curriculum?Curriculum in Canada: A Look at the PastCriticisms of What Is Taught on the CurriculumThe Changing Nature of What Should Be Taught in Schools6. Should Teachers Teach Students about Controversial Subjects?Controversial SubjectsWhat Is a Controversy?What Difficulties Do Teachers Face in Teaching Controversial Issues in Schools?How Can Teachers Navigate Controversial Issues with Dignity and Worth?Part Four: Where Should Children Learn?7. Place-Based Education and the Rural School EthicWhat is Place-Based Education?Well-Being, the Individual, and CommunityThe Limits of Place-Based Education8. Should School Choice Be Fostered in Public Education?What Is "Choice"? How Do People Choose?The Merits and Demerits of School ChoiceCriticisms of School Choice PoliciesPart 5: Who Should Control Education?9. Should Cultural Restoration Be an Aim of Education? Justice, Reconciliation, and Aboriginal EducationResidential Schooling and Transitional JusticeEducation for Canadian Identity RevisitedResidential Schooling and Canada's Truth and Reconciliation CommissionWho Should Control Aboriginal Education?Education and Deliberative Democracy10. Should Parents Decide How Children are Educated?Parens PatriaeArguments in Favour of Parental RightsArguments against Parental RightsPart 6: What Is the Role of Teacher's Professional Identity?11. To What Extent Do Teachers Have Professional Autonomy?Why Is Autonomy Important for the Work That Professionals Do?Is Teaching a Profession?Legal Issues12. Conclusion: Teaching for the Canadian Ethical EnvironmentPhilosophical Perspective in the Practice of TeachingWhy Professional Self-Cultivation?Professional Self-Cultivation and Reasoning about ValuesSelf-Cultivation and Teacher EducationTeaching for the Canadian Ethical EnvironmentGlossaryNote: All chapters include:- Introduction- Conclusion- Review Questions- Further Readings