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INTRODUCTION
Education is the process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition of knowledge, skills,
values, beliefs, and habits. Educational methods include storytelling, discussion, teaching,
training, and directed research. Education frequently takes place under the guidance of
educators, but learners may also educate themselves. Education can take place in formal or
informal settings and any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels,
or acts may be considered educational. Education is commonly divided formally into such
stages as preschool or kindergarten, primary school, secondary school and then college,
university, or apprenticeship (Johnson, 1916).

Like the teaching profession, education systems are, by nature, extremely complex and
multifaceted, and the challenges entailed in reforming or improving them can be similarly
complex and multifaceted. Even reforms that appear to be straightforward, simple, or easily
achieved may, in practice, require complicated state-policy changes, union-contract
negotiations, school-schedule modifications, or countless other conditions.

Education in Canada is a very high priority of the government. The country boasts a state-run
system of public education, one that is provided, funded and administered by federal,
provincial and local governments. Jurisdiction of the public education system, as well its
curriculum, is overseen by each province. The Council of Ministers of Education is a forum
for education ministers to discuss matters related to education, coordinate education activities
and share information (Scholey, 2015).

Education in the Philippines is a 13-year compulsory education which is divided into

Kindergarten, Primary Education, Junior High School, and Senior High School. K-12 is a
program that covers kindergarten and 12 years of basic education to provide sufficient time
for mastery of concepts and skills, develop lifelong learners, and prepare graduates for
tertiary education, middle-level skills development, employment, and entrepreneurship
(Amoroso, 2005).

OBJECTIVES
Upon completion of reading this module, you will be able to:

A. compare the systems, policies, processes, and practices of education in Canada and the
Philippines,
B. appreciate the educational system in Canada by adapting the smart systems that are
applicable to develop students' appreciation for school learning, and
C. design a curriculum that foster students' skills and knowledge to take on challenges of the
future.
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CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IN CANADA

Canada is a beautiful country occupying the northernmost region of the North American
continent. The country, which consists of 10 distinct provinces and 3 territories, extends all
the way from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward
into the Arctic Ocean. With nearly 10 million square kilometers of land space, Canada is the
world’s second-largest country by total area, and its southern border, which it shares with the
United States, is the longest continuous land border in the world. Canada is a highly
developed country, with an excellent system of education. Below will take a closer look at
that education system, and describe the various levels or stages that comprise it (Routledge,
2012).

Compulsory education starts at the age of five in most provinces when children enter
kindergarten. Parents can choose to send their kids to pre-school and nursery but this is not
covered under the public school system and is private institutions. This is highly
recommended for students whose parents don't speak English or French as their mother
tongue.

Education is compulsory up to the age of 16 to 18 depending on provincial regulations.

Individuals between ages 19 and 21 can continue to attend school if they have not fulfilled
their diploma requirements and wish to continue. There are special classes within public
schools and teachers to cater to the needs to special needs students. In the province of
Quebec, students attend high school for grades 7 to 11 and then transfer to a general and
vocational college for a further two or three years (Routledge, 2012). Public education is
provided free to all Canadian citizens and permanent residents up to the end of secondary
school (age 18 in most jurisdictions).

Grading System

Academic grading in Canada varies by province, level of education (e.g., high school or
university), institution (e.g., Queen's), and faculty. The following are commonly used
conversions from percentage grades to letter grades; however, this is not necessarily
meaningful, since there is not a uniform scheme for assigning percentage grades either. A
grade A would be 80–100% a B would be 70–79%.

Letter Grade Interpretation:

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A = The student demonstrates excellent or outstanding performance in relation to expected

learning outcomes for the course or subject and grade.

B = The student demonstrates very good performance in relation to expected learning

outcomes for the course or subject and grade.

C+ = The student demonstrates good performance in relation to expected learning outcomes

for the course or subject and grade.

C = The student demonstrates satisfactory performance in relation to expected learning

outcomes for the course or subject and grade.

C- = The student demonstrates minimally acceptable performance in relation to expected

learning outcomes for the course or subject and grade.

I = (In Progress or Incomplete) The student, for a variety of reasons, is not demonstrating
minimally acceptable performance in relation to the expected learning outcomes. An "I" letter
grade may only be assigned in accordance with section 3.

F = (Failed) The student has not demonstrated the minimally acceptable performance in
relation to the expected learning outcomes for the course or subject and grade. F (Failed) may
only be used as a final letter grade if an "I" (In Progress) letter grade has been previously
assigned or the "F" is assigned as a result of failing a provincially examinable course.

W = (Withdrawal) According to the policy of the board, and upon request of the parent of the
student or, when appropriate, the student, the principal, vice principal or director of
instruction in charge of a school may grant permission to a student to withdraw from a course
or subject.

SG = (Standing Granted) Although completion of normal requirements is not possible, a

sufficient level of performance has been attained to warrant, consistent with the best interests
of the student, the granting of standing for the course or subject and grade. Standing Granted
may be used in cases of serious illness, hospitalization, late entry or early leaving, but may
only be granted by an adjudication process authorized by the principal, vice principal or
director of instruction in charge of the school. Standing Granted may not be used for a course
with a Required Graduation Program Examination. Standing Granted may not be used for
Graduation Transitions.
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(TS = Transfer Standing) May be granted by the principal, vice principal or director of
instruction in charge of a school on the basis of an examination of records from an institution
other than a school as defined in the School Act.

School Hours

The school year in Canada is pretty similar to the one that’s followed in the United States.
Classes run from early September until late June, for about 10 months total. The school year
is usually divided into two semesters, though in some regions it’s based on quarters or
trimesters (Todd, 2013).

Though it’s less common, there are schools that run year round, as well as ones that follow an
adjusted term schedule that starts in August and ends in May. Regardless of which type of
school is in your area, the administration notifies parents well ahead of time about term dates,
vacations and holidays (Tamminga, 2013).

For elementary school students, the school day typically starts around 8:30am and runs until
3-3:30PM. Children get lunch and recess within their school day. Students in junior high
school and high school usually have slightly shorter school days, from 8:30 to 3:00, which
allows them to participate in after school activities like sports, extracurricular and part time
jobs (Axelrod, 1997).

School Year

The school year varies from start dates in early August through September to end dates from
early May through June of the following year. There are some year rounds schools and some
start in mid-August and end in mid-May. Students have a five day work week. The exact
number of instructional days varies; the current Education Act legislates 195 days. Senior
secondary courses can be timetabled as year-long courses or in semesters with double periods
in a subject area offered for only a half year. In senior secondary schools, courses are
generally offered once a year. Credit toward graduation is based on 25 hours of study per
credit. Currently, 100 credits are required for graduation (Di Mascio, 2012).

The academic year usually finishes at the end of June. Students are on vacation for the entire
months of July and August. Teachers return to work and start preparing for school during the
last few days of August. Students traditionally start the new academic year on the day after
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the Labour Day public holiday. Labour Day is the first Monday in September, and children
typically start school on the following day, the Tuesday. Students get a two-week break over
Christmas and New Year. Students get a ten-day break in the spring. Depending on the
timing of Easter, spring break may or may not coincide with Easter. Schools are closed on
professional development days (when teachers attend professional seminars and workshops)
and on public holidays (Gidney, 2011).

Medium of Instruction

Canada is a bilingual country with both English and French as official languages. The
language of instruction in most schools is English with the exception of the province of
Quebec where the primary language of instruction is French. Schools have provisions for
students who do not speak either English or French (Axelrod,1997).

Parents can enquire about English as Second Language (ESL) and French as Second
Language (FSL) classes. The ESL/FSL class are taught an easier curriculum and some
students may not benefit from this. Parents must do a thorough enquiry to ensure the interest
of their children is not harmed.

Organization and Structure

The Canadian constitution has stipulated that control over education rests with the individual
provinces. This has resulted in a situation where 12 autonomous educational systems, one in
each of the provinces and 2 territories. Individual systems have developed their own
distinctive ways of regulating particular facets of their operation. While there are similarities
in many areas of operation, each province has developed its own legislation dealing with a
variety of operational areas, among them religious schools and schooling, compulsory
attendance, school and school system organization and francophone education (Burke, 2012).

The difference in school jurisdiction organization is most notable in the manner in which
religious schools and religion in schools is structured. Each province has developed its own
solution to the issue of state-supported sectarian schools. While some provinces have a dual
system within the public education structure whereby the Catholic or Protestant minorities are
entitled to operate their own schools, five provinces have legislation in place which only
permits the operation of religious schools as private or independent schools. Funding of
religious schools is also problematic as five of the provinces provide no direct financial
assistance to private schools (Gidney, 2011).
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Some provinces provide funding for the public denominational schools. Others also provide
public funding for private and independent schools. In a number of provinces, however, there
is no funding at all for religious schools, although all provinces permit their operation
provided they meet certain government requirements for buildings and program delivery.
Differences can be seen also in the manner in which levels of schooling are organized in the
provinces. All provinces currently provide financial support for kindergartens (Harris, 1976).

The Minister of Education and the Department of Education

In each province, the Department or Ministry of Education, headed by the minister of

education, is the central educational authority. In some provinces postsecondary education
and training is assigned to a separate minister and department, while in others both portfolios
are included within a single jurisdiction. The minister of education, an elected member of the
provincial legislature, is appointed to the education portfolio by the premier; he or she is also
a member of Cabinet. In the Canadian parliamentary system, the Cabinet responsible to the
legislature and dependent on the support of a majority of its members is the key planning and
directing agency of government. It determines what legislation is brought forward by the
government, as well as formulates policy and supervises its implementation in education and
all other areas of provincial jurisdiction (Council of Ministers of Education in Canada, 1994).

The role played by a minister of education at any particular period of time depends on the
overall priorities of the premier and the government, and on the ability of the minister to
influence these priorities. Ministers make or approve decisions about all sorts of educational
issues, from new curricula to be introduced, to rules governing the certification of teachers, to
the number of credits required for high-school graduation. The minister must defend before
the public the government’s policies on education, even if he or she was opposed to the
policy. And when parties to a local dispute at the school board or district level cannot come to
an agreement, they will often call on the minister to intervene and settle the matter (Burke,
2012).

The department’s civil service is headed by the deputy minister, who is a civil servant
appointed by the Cabinet. At one time, provincial deputy ministers were almost always career
educators, many of whom had previously been teachers, principals, and school
superintendents. The deputy minister coordinates the work of the department in all its
multiple functions. A typical department of education will have units dealing with areas such
as planning, school finance, curriculum development and assessment, special education,
language programs, and renovation/construction of school buildings. All of these tasks
require full-time attention and some technical expertise; thus, departments of education today
tend to be large organizations employing hundreds of people, many of whom are professional
educators (Harris, 1976).
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The Department of Education is a mix of political and professional authority, embodying the
tension between professional and lay control. The civil servants are generally guided by their
professional training and background. Their views of the needs of education are often similar
to those of teachers in schools. These tensions are part of the process of government, and can
contribute toward developing policies that are sensitive to both professional skills and public
wants (Levin, 2005).

Provincial and Territorial Departments and Ministries

For each type of publicly funded school (such as Public English or Public French), the
province is divided into districts (or divisions). For each district, board members (trustees)
are elected only by its supporters within the district (voters receive a ballot for just one of the
boards in their area). Normally, all publicly funded schools are under the authority of their
local district school board. These school boards would follow a common curriculum set up by
the province the board resides in. Only Alberta allows public charter schools, which are
independent of any district board. Instead, they each have their own board, which reports
directly to the province (Harris, 1976).

Table below presents the provincial and territorial departments and ministries.

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

LEVELS OF THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IN CANADA

Education across Canada is generally divided into four stages: pre-school or early childhood
education; primary or elementary education; secondary education and post-secondary or
tertiary education, which includes college and university programs and vocational/technical
schooling. The provincial and local governments are mainly responsible for funding and
providing universal free education up until grade 12. Educational practices and policies vary
depending on the province. Control of public school system to a large extent is decentralized
and overseen by local school authorities.

Pre-Elementary Education in Canada

Pre-elementary programs in Canada—educational programs offered to young children (4-5

years) prior to that student beginning elementary school at age six—are offered by public,
private, and federal schools within the country, as well as schools for the visually and hearing
impaired. Most jurisdictions offer one year of public pre-elementary education (usually called
kindergarten), with Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta offering
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additional years of free preschool. Parents living in jurisdictions that have offer but one free
year of pre-primary education have the option of enrolling their children in a private program
until those children reach the eligible age.

In most jurisdictions, kindergarten (the pre-elementary program in the year before Grade One
is offered to children who turn 5 years of age by a certain date in the school year, as specified
by jurisdictional or provincial legislation. Attendance in these programs is optional in most
jurisdictions, although it is mandatory in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The intensity of
these programs varies; some jurisdictions offer full-day programs, some have half-day
programs, and some offer both.

In the province of Quebec, one additional year of publicly-funded pre-elementary schooling

is available to some 4-year old children who have disabilities or who are from low-income
families. In Ontario, the provision of an additional year of pre-elementary for 4-year-olds is
dependent on the choice of the local school board, and funding is provided by the Ministry of
Education.

The curriculum offered in kindergarten and other pre-elementary programs is far from rigid.
Students are introduced to the alphabet, pre-reading and mathematics skills, music, art, and
play. All kindergarten and early child hood education programs in the country are designed to
prepare students for success at the next level of education (primary school) by teaching them
how to participate and act appropriately within the group setting and cooperate with both the
instructor and the other children in the class.

Primary (Elementary) Education in Canada

Primary education in Canada is compulsory for all children, usually beginning at age 6 or 7
with Grade One. Students receive six years of primary education—Grade 1 through Grade 6
—typically broken down in the following manner: Grade 1 (ages 6–7), Grade 2 (ages 7–8),
Grade 3 (ages 8–9), Grade 4 (ages 9–10), Grade 5 (ages 10–11), and Grade 6 (ages 11–12).

Students in the primary grades of education typically study under only one instructor for the
entire school year and receive that instruction in a single classroom. Special education
programs may also have one to four instructional aides present, depending on the type and
severity of the students’ disabilities, to assist the teacher throughout the day.

The curriculum at the primary stage of education encompasses a number of subject areas,
including mathematics, reading, language arts (usually English language, but French in
Quebec), social studies, history, geography, science, music, art and physical education.
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Naturally, the difficulty of said curriculum increases somewhat with every passing grade, as
students learn to master new skills.

Secondary Education in Canada

Secondary education in Canada consists of two distinct levels: intermediate or junior high
school; and high school.

Intermediate Education

Once students have successfully completed the final year of elementary or primary education,
or Grade 6, they are promoted to intermediate or junior high school. Intermediate school is a
two-year educational stage, broken down into the following two grades: Grade 7 (ages 12–
13) and Grade 8 (ages 13–14).

In Grade 7, at the age of 12 or 13, students are introduced to the process of attending different
classrooms throughout the day and having different teachers for every class. These teachers
are considered experts in the subject they teach and must obtain a single-subject teaching
certificate indicating that expertise.

The basic goal of intermediate education is to prepare students to enter the next phase of
secondary education, or high school. They are taught many of the same subjects in which
they received instruction in primary school, although the difficulty increases substantially.
Other subjects are also added to the curriculum in intermediate school, most notably foreign
language instruction—French, Spanish, English (for Quebec students), etc.

High School Education

The curriculum in all of Canada’s high schools is designed to prepare students for a college
or university education and/or provide them with the skills to succeed vocationally once they
graduate. Depending on the jurisdiction, a variety of programs —vocational (job-training) as
well as academic—is offered at the high school level. Some jurisdictions even offer dual
credit courses that simultaneously give students both high school and postsecondary credits.

Once students successfully complete the 8 Grade, they are promoted once again, this time to
high school—a four year program that breaks down in the following way: Grade 9 (ages 14–
15), Grade 10 (ages 15–16), Grade 11 (ages 16–17), Grade 12 (ages 17–18).
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Approximately 90 percent of students in Canada successfully complete high school and are
awarded a diploma for their efforts. Secondary education in Quebec continues to Grade 11
(Secondary V), and is typically followed by college, a two year pre-university (university for
Quebecers is three years, except Engineering), or three year vocational program taken after
high school.

TERTIARY EDUCATION IN CANADA

The tertiary education system in Canada is divided into: Certificate level, generally for a
year; Diploma level, for one or two years; Advanced Diploma, generally two or three-year
programs; Bachelor degrees, awarded after four years of full-time study; Post-graduate
Diplomas/Certificates, for one or two years of study; Master’s degrees, available after a
bachelor degree to excel in a certain subject, for one to two years; and Doctorate or PhD,
generally four to seven years.

Vocational Schools and Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships in Canada allow students to learn the skills they need for a given trade by
working hands-on in that environment under a qualified supervisor. Apprenticeship training
involves a contract between an apprentice and an employer—registered with the province or
jurisdiction—in which the employer provides the apprentice with training and experience for
a trade. Programs such as these vary in length depending on the type of trade or program,
ranging anywhere from two to five years.

Registered apprenticeship programs combine real-world experience with classroom

education. In most provinces, the classroom portion of the course is conducted during the
apprenticeship training, although in Quebec, classroom instruction must be taken prior to
beginning an apprenticeship program. There are over 200 registered trades in Canada, each
with specific standards and training requirements outlined by the provinces. In some of these
trades, apprenticeship training and certification is compulsory to enter into and to practice the
trade.

Bachelor’s Degree

The bachelor degrees in Canada take three to four years to complete. There are over two
hundred bachelor degree programs offered in various universities in Canada and students can
make the choice based on what interests them most. Canadian universities offer high
standards of education in their academic programs and a bachelor degree from Canada is
therefore globally recognized for its quality. Bachelor's level students can enter after having
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successfully completed secondary school or the two-year cégep program in Quebec.

Bachelor's degrees require three or four years of full-time study, but this depends on the
province and whether the program is general or specialized.

Disciplines of Bachelor’s Degrees

- Administration Studies
- Architecture Studies
- Art Studies
- Aviation
- Business Studies
- Cosmetology
- Design Studies
- Economic Studies
- Education
- Engineering Studies
- Environmental Studies
- Fashion
- Food and Beverage Studies
- General Studies
- Humanities Studies
- Journalism and Mass Communication
- Law Studies
- Life Sciences
- Management Studies
- Marketing Studies
- Natural Sciences
- Performing Arts
- Professional Studies
- Social Sciences
- Sport
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- Sustainability Studies
- Technology Studies
- Tourism and Hospitality

Master’s Degree

A master’s degree is a postgraduate degree that students can earn once they have completed
the required coursework in their chosen discipline. MA degrees are available in many
different specialties, which allow students to tailor their education to their future career and
life goals. Masters programs in Canada are offered in many different fields with two main
types of course – academic and professional (Sapienza, 2002).

Academic programs usually involve a final paper and or comprehensive examinations at the
end. These requirements can also apply to professional master's program; however, the
emphasis here lies on professional practice at an advanced level. Professional master’s
program usually takes longer (2 to 3 years) and the type of program is included in its name:
Master of Business Administration, Master of Social Work, Master of Public Health, Master
of Applied Engineering, and so forth. Programs with an academic focus usually award either
a Master of Arts (MA) or Master of Science (MS).

Masters degrees in Education explore advanced topics in pedagogy (the theory and practice
of education) as well as individual teacher training for schools, higher education and
specialist roles. Many courses are designed for students wishing to become qualified teachers,
but some also provide continuing professional development (CPD) for existing practitioners.

Professional Master’s Program

- Master in Information Technology

- Master of Applied Engineering
- Master of Business Administration
- Master of Public Health
- Master of Social Work

Academic Master’s Program

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- MA in Classical Archaeology
- MA in Criminology
- MA in Education
- MA in English
- MA in History
- MA in Industrial-organizational (I/O) Psychology
- MA in Mathematics
- MA in Military Psychology
- MA in Physics
- MS in Biology
- MS in Chemistry
- MS in Economics
- MS in Environmental Science
- MS in Mathematics
- MS in Microbiology
- MS in Physics
- MS in Psychology

Doctoral Degrees

Doctoral degrees in Canada are the highest level and require students to produce an original
piece of research. Unlike other countries such as the UK, doctoral students in Canada are still
expected to complete coursework and written examinations rather than just focusing on their
research.

Types of Schools

Most Canadians attend public schools, which are government funded. However, independent
or private (fee-paying) schools are also available. Religious schools exist but it depends on
the province as to whether these are publicly funded or private. International schools can be
found in large urban areas but these are predominantly private.
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International Schools

English language lessons are usually provided to newcomers who are not English speakers.
French is also offered to newcomers in some provinces (for example Ontario) for those who
don't already speak French. These services are provided in association with local settlement
agencies (such as the library Settlement Partnership) and Citizenship and Immigration
Canada.

Home Schooling

Home schooling is allowed in Canada but requirements and regulations vary from province to
province, in accordance to the relevant Education Act and Regulations. Some provinces only
require notification regarding a child's home schooling, while others require regular
reporting. There are many resource sites which provide support to parents who choose to
home school.

Special Needs Education

It is law in Canada that all public schools have some form of special needs program.
However, individual schools may not be able to cater for particular disabilities or severe
learning difficulties. In this case, children are able to attend specialist schools which cater for
children with higher needs. These may be fee-paying but there is often funding available
from private organizations, as well as provincial government funds.

Some of the top universities in the world are available in Canada, and students from all over
the world have come to join the biggest names in their field. Experts in Journalism, Politics,
Medicine, and Technology got their start at universities like the University of Toronto and
McGill University; and you’ll have the chance to work alongside some of the sharpest minds
in the world.

Canada offers an interesting variety of college models: colleges, polytechnics, and cégeps
(vocational schools). Depending on what your goals are, or what you’re looking for, you may
want to select the institutional model that fits your needs.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IN THE PHILIPPINES

The Philippine education system can be described as a dynamic one. The implementation of
the K–12 Program of DepEd and subsequent ratification of Kindergarten Education Act of
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2012 and Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, the basic education today takes thirteen
years to complete—one year of kindergarten, six years of elementary education, four years of
junior high school and two years of senior high school for children aged five up to seventeen.
Meanwhile, higher education requires even as little as two years (e.g. associate degree) or
much longer (e.g. bachelor's degree, master's degree, doctorate) to complete in universities
and colleges, and much shorter in technical and vocational schools

"Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world
anew. This one [COVID-19] is no different. It is a portal, a gateway, between one world and
the next. We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice ... and
dead ideas … or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another
world. And ready to fight for it."

- Arundhati Roy, 2020

In the 2020-2021 school year, teachers, students, and administrators alike were left with no
option but to “imagine their world anew.” While we are well aware that schools were faced
with many challenges and barriers, it was also an opportunity to reflect, rethink, and refresh.

PHE Canada had a front row seat, and witnessed first-hand the growth and evolution of
Physical and Health Education (PHE) across the country. From what we’ve seen - our PHE
colleagues stepped up, demonstrating time and time again their resiliency, innovation, and
creativity to foster meaningful experiences for their students during a very difficult time.

As a new school year begins, we are suggesting, requesting, and very much encouraging
everyone to NOT return to pre-pandemic PHE. COVID-19 challenged everyone to reflect on
student needs, rethink priorities, and refresh programming.

From our front row seat, we wanted to provide some practical examples of what we have
seen, heard, and experienced over the past 18 months.

Students have focused more on the joy of movement and the positive benefits of being
physically active, especially as it relates to their mental well-being.

Teachers have expanded their list of approaches and activities, finding new ways to foster a
love of the outdoors, alternative environments, and mental wellness, which has created a
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more inclusive PHE context. The virtual environment enhanced connections across the
country and expanded teachers’ professional learning networks.

Administrators have prioritized the development of healthy schools and appreciating the
positive impacts of our PHE field, hopefully for the long term.

Communities have adapted and become filled with families walking and children playing
outdoors, restructuring their roads to be more accessible and promote physical activity.
What We’ve Seen:

75% of teachers teaching outside all the time

Inventive adaptations of sports and games - e.g., human foosball, curling with soup bowls
Interweaving of outdoor education and land-based learning into Physical Education (PE)
Flipped classrooms that help to solidify learning
Increased minutes dedicated to well-being throughout the day
Walking meetings outside
Higher attendance at, and availability of, virtual professional development (webinars,
workshops, etc.)
Cross curricular connections between PE and other subjects
Teachers sharing equipment, ideas, and sanitization processes from coast to coast to coast
School boards sharing mental health and well-being resources with families in multiple
languages
School districts prioritizing well-being on par with, and as an essential precondition to,
teaching literacy and numeracy
Families engaging together in community/neighbourhood parks and outdoor spaces
Greater engagement of parents/caregivers in students’ Physical and Health Education
Students becoming more aware of what’s in their community and how they can be active and
play in their communities
What We’ve Heard:

Teacher to teacher connections helped surmount challenges in a virtual teaching space

Students getting involved in the planning process and having their voices heard
Well-being highlighted as a national and educational priority
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Huge uptake in wanting to learn more about Social Emotional Learning, resilience, and
trauma-informed approaches
A shift to a less traditional, non-sports based PE, resulting in a more inclusive space for
students
How MANY meaningful and fun activities can be done with a pair of socks for equipment!
Health and well-being needing to be a high priority within a wholistic learning approach - on
par with literacy and numeracy. It isn’t a matter of “academics or health”. Having high
standards in both will elevate student achievement in all areas, and address systemic
inequalities through education.
What We’ve Done:

Updated 10 guideline documents to support teachers

Advocated for government bodies to include PHE in all teaching plans
Created 234 at-home and adapted activities in the PHE Learning Centre
Facilitated thousands of connections at the national level through Cross-Canada Check-Ins
Offered virtual professional development through the PHE National Conference and
Research Forum
Partnered with other PHE organizations to co-create and co-deliver content
Piloted alternative approaches to PE to increase inclusion and equity
What We Hope:

Physical and Health Education will continue to be seen as an essential part of development
Teachers will continue to use outdoor learning environments like forests, streets, and parks to
teach Physical Education
New activities that have been created or incorporated this year will continue to create more
inclusive, engaging, and inviting learning environments
Student voice and choice will continue to be embedded into programming, resulting in more
meaningful PE for all
Connections and relationships that have been developed as a result of working remotely will
continue to support high quality, creative PHE
Health and well-being will be integrated across whole school systems as foundational aspects
of any educational setting
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Approaching the 2021-2022 School Year

Undeniably, health and movement are essential aspects of education, and the link to student
success has never been more clear. The PHE Community is eager to see their students and
apply their skills to contribute to each and every student’s continued learning and recovery.

PHE Canada reached out to a number of Physical and Health Educators across Canada to
hear how they have innovated throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and hear their
recommendations for themselves, their students, and the field of Physical and Health
Education as it ramps back up this fall.

Keep teaching outdoors:

Keep teaching outdoors and keep adding to all those awesome new outdoor activities you
created!

Shake things up:

With the distancing and sharing restrictions lightening, bring back in lots of diverse activities
to keep things relevant and students engaged.

Stay flexible:

The 2021-2022 school year will continue to throw us curveballs. This time, we are ready!
Have a plan for your program, but know that the plan will need to be dynamic and responsive
to the changing needs of students, your environment (e.g. weather), and evolving health
guidelines.

Listen:
 19

Students have learned a lot during the pandemic - ask them what they would keep as it relates
to physical health and well-being.

Don’t go back to the ways things were:

Continue to hone your new ideas and keep up with professional development to learn other
people’s new approaches.

Take care of yourself:

Praise and reward yourself and your students for being courageous. Know your limits and
read your levels (e.g., fatigue, health, fitness, diet, sleep).

Build networks and stay connected:

Continue to share what works and help each other provide excellent teaching and resources to
students.

Keep wellbeing as a foundation:

PHE Educators know that wellbeing is not just one more thing to add to educators’
plates...wellbeing IS the plate - it's what we do!!

Be the things you want your program to be:

Use language that promotes caring, trust, and physical literacy. Encourage students to do the
same. Model this language, caring, empathy, communication, and sportspersonship.
 20

Be positive:

Students may be anxious about school. Be aware of their Social Emotional Learning and
make the gym a positive and safe place to be.

Encourage students to have choice and voice:

Demonstrate all skill levels, from beginner to expert, so that all students can achieve success.
Provide lots of opportunities for success during class.

EQUITY, POLICY, PROMISING PRACTICES

Learning Our Way Out of the Pandemic
Beyond “back to normal” for Canadian students

by: Dr. Karen Mundy, Dr. Kelly Gallagher-Mackay

date: May 12, 2021

EDITOR'S PICK

LIKE SO MANY FAMILIES and children around the world, Canadians are looking with
relief to a more open, carefree summer and normal return to school later this year. But after
18 months of profound disruption, will “normal” be good enough? Are we on track to set all
 21

children up for success in a world that often seems more uncertain – and unequal – than ever
before?

This article begins by examining how Canadian schools have fared during COVID-19
compared to those in other jurisdictions. We then turn to evidence-based ways that educators
can ensure a better, stronger, and more equitable start in September 2021.

Educational equity is COVID-19’s shadow crisis

While students are less likely to contract or die from COVID, around the world their lives
have been deeply disrupted by the pandemic. At its peak, schools serving 1.6 billion students
were closed. Today, UNESCO’s global tracker shows that, a year into the crisis, “partial
opening” is the norm. Overall, North American schools were closed in whole or in part for
online learning for longer durations than experienced in most other parts of the world.

A sobering reality of the COVID-19 schooling experience is that even the best-resourced and
highest-performing education systems in the world have heightened their tendency to
privilege better-off children (UN Secretary General, 2020; OECD, 2020). Students from
households with greater levels of connectivity, higher levels of parental education, greater
availability of parental time for engagement, and in-home availability of books and materials
have much better ability to access and benefit from distance learning.

In Canada as elsewhere, responses to COVID-19 have led to a patchwork of educational

offerings. While students in Atlantic Canada and British Columbia have largely enjoyed face-
to-face instruction, in other parts of Canada, students continue to experience periods of full-
time or blended online learning from home. “Virtual schools” – intended as an emergency
response – are a new feature of the landscape in Ontario and Alberta. Across the country,
sports and extracurricular activities that build engagement and keep kids active have been
paused.

Connectivity has not saved us. Access to broadband is not considered an essential service in
Canada; coverage is both expensive and sometimes unavailable, especially in rural areas.
Schools in some jurisdictions are still struggling to deliver appropriate devices to students.
Stories abound of Canadian children who, one year into the pandemic, have limited
bandwidth, are using old technologies, and are functioning without microphones or
earphones. It is common to hear of kids whose attendance has dropped, who are disengaged,
or who are missing from school altogether.

A growing body of large-scale international evidence shows that educational disruptions

today and during other periods have caused impacts both on students’ academic achievement,
 22

and on their social and emotional well-being. Virtually all large-scale studies in OECD
countries during COVID-19 (including from Belgium, the Netherlands, England, and the
U.S.), have shown that students’ learning has fallen behind where it would have been for their
age and grade levels in previous years. Overall, math scores have declined more than scores
in literacy-related assessments and the youngest learners seem to have lost the most ground
(Bailey, 2021; Education Endowment Foundation, n.d.).

For example, one U.S. study of over 400,000 students showed that the proportion of students
starting Grade 1 two years or more behind grade level had risen from 27 percent to 40
percent. “As a result, a hypothetical school that needed to offer intensive intervention to 100
students in the fall of 2019 is faced with making up for the lost instruction for 148 students in
2020.”(mClass/Amplify, 2020).

Other studies from past crises and disruptions are even more concerning. These show that
learning gaps can continue to grow even after schools return to normal (Andrabi et al., 2020).
Further, school disruptions can have harsh cumulative effects, lowering chances of secondary
completion and reducing labour market earnings of affected children many years later (Jaume
& Willlen, 2019).

Perhaps most importantly, COVID-19 will not impact students equally. Recent studies show
larger average gaps for relatively disadvantaged students, such as those living in low-income
households or where parents have less education, or additional language learners. In the U.S.,
which tracks measures of racial inequality, Black and Hispanic students are also, on average,
further behind. When surveyed during COVID-19, these are the same populations of learners
who report facing a larger number of barriers and disruptions to their learning; who have
lower access to technology; and who report fewer opportunities to get support from an adult
at home or in the school (Chu & Lake, 2021).

In Canada, we know that all our kids are under strain. But we have little empirical evidence,
beyond immediate experience, to tell us how our kids are doing overall, much less to
spotlight where equity gaps are most severe. For the most part, large-scale provincial
assessments and high-quality comparable surveys of student well-being are not available.
Small-scale studies – such as one conducted recently in Alberta, and a recent report from the
Toronto District School Board – show significant year-on-year gaps in early reading
proficiency (Johnson, 2021; Alphonso, 2021). Education budgets and plans for the 2021
school year are being settled now, before school boards and higher educational institutions
have begun to release data on school attendance, graduation, and applications to post-
secondary education. Already, we can see that this lack of data on equity and other
vulnerabilities is leading to a limited focus on educational recovery in planning and budget
processes for 2021/2022. In this sense, Canadian educational systems may be flying blind.
 23

Yet even before COVID-19, we knew that Canadian students from households in the bottom
income quintile across Canada achieved the equivalent of one year less of schooling than
students from households in the top income quintile. A recent study suggests that in many
Canadian jurisdictions, the average student from a low-income household does not leave
compulsory school with the skills needed to proceed to post-secondary education (Haek &
Lefebvre, 2020).

In summary: International evidence and recent trends in Canada suggest that harms from
COVID-19 will almost certainly exacerbate educational inequality. COVID-19 has disrupted
learning and wellbeing for most students in Canada – but its impacts are unlikely to be evenly
distributed.

In other countries, efforts to redress inequity have already begun

Around the world, countries have responded to the educational needs created by COVID-19-
related disruptions with programs and initiatives that aim to jump-start learning and support
social and emotional well-being for those students most disadvantaged by the pandemic. For
example:

As early as June 2020, the government of the Netherlands committed $278 million US for
students who need extra academic support due to COVID-19 school disruptions.
In November 2020, Britain announced a £1-billion commitment to help students “catch up”
after school closures, including £350 million for tutoring, targeted at the disadvantaged
students who were most affected.
Most recently, the American stimulus package passed into law in March 2021 included a
commitment of $129 billion for K–12 education. While most of those funds were to support
safe re-opening, it also contained a commitment of $22 billion – equivalent to twenty days of
extra schooling – to support learning recovery through tutoring, summer school, and extended
hours programs alongside targeted support for students with disabilities and young people
facing homelessness.
These examples suggest a strong focus internationally on academic catch-up programs. We
know less about what governments are doing to ensure that schools adjust to meet the social
and emotional needs of kids, an area that research suggests is of great importance after the
widespread trauma of the past year (Hough & Witte, 2021).

Apart from a few small or failed initiatives, it appears that Canadian policymakers are just
beginning to think about how to redress the impacts of COVID-19 on student learning and
well-being. Quebec recently announced a program to hire online tutors to support struggling
students; while B.C. has announced a $23-million supplement for vulnerable learners that
could cover tutoring, mental health support, or additional staff hiring.
 24

Connectivity has not saved us… It is common to hear of kids whose attendance has dropped,
who are disengaged, or who are missing from school altogether.
In many parts of the country, community organizations have stepped in with academic and
other kinds of support. But a federal program that promised to provide funding for university-
level volunteers, with enormous potential for serving the needs of disadvantaged students, fell
apart in the shadow of scandal, leaving the energies of tens of thousands of registered
volunteers untapped.

Canadian students will need more – and there is a wealth of evidence to guide us
It will take a whole-of-society effort to ensure Canadian students make a successful return to
school in September 2021. We already know that the economic challenges faced by some
households are intensifying, and that national and provincial budgets are likely to contract.
Policymakers will need to focus on a few cost-effective ideas to guide their actions. Research
points us in three main directions:

Don’t act like it’s business as usual.

Much recent research suggests that schools will need to start where kids are this fall.
Slimming back the curriculum to ensure a balance between mastery of the essentials and in-
depth opportunity for social and emotional learning is an approach that has been widely used
during recovery from different types of crises around the world (Winthrop, 2020; Srivastava
et al., 2020). Students’ connection to school – perhaps jeopardized through repeated
interruptions – is reinforced with opportunities for creativity, play, and collective action.
Engage parents and communities, early and often.
COVID-19 has reminded many educators that education is a partnership between home and
school (Winthrop, 2020). It also led to many experiments for improving the link between
parents and schools – from SMS messaging to parents in Botswana, which improved
student’s math learning; to parent hotlines and weekly meetings with school-based
community liaisons. Partnerships between schools and community organizations were
essential during COVID-19. A recent OECD study suggests that interactions between parents
and schools were not very prominent in some Canadian jurisdictions prior to the pandemic
(OECD, 2021). Postpandemic, we should be aiming for more – not less – community and
parental engagement in schools, including through models that allow community
organizations to provide wrap-around academic and non-academic supports to kids (Murray
et al., 2021).
Provide extra opportunities for kids to catch up.
A strong body of evidence suggests two key ways to support a strong start to the 2021 school
year for all kids, especially those most disadvantaged during the pandemic.
 25

Summer learning programs – especially those that utilize trained teachers, structured
pedagogy, enrichment experiences, and high levels of teacher-student engagement – have
been shown to provide strong gains in learning (Alexander et al., 2016). Even modest efforts
to promote learning over the summer months can be effective. For example, Harvard’s
summer learning program mailed ten books to students over the summer, matched to
students’ reading interests, with email/texts to parents. This simple program was shown to
promote more than one month of gains in reading skills.

Tutoring – through one to one or small group instruction – is also highly effective, especially
when based on sustained relationships between a tutor and student, and when using good-
quality materials aligned to classroom instruction. Even programs offered by volunteers,
peers, or family members, when trained, produce surprisingly strong outcomes for kids
ranging from stronger academic performance to increased confidence and self-efficacy. Such
programs need to be designed with equity in mind – but can also benefit from inclusion of all
students in a grade level to reduce any negative stigma and ensure broader organizational
commitment (Robinson et al., 2021).

Much more can be done to tilt our education systems toward greater equity post-COVID. We
need our education leaders to plan beyond a return to the normal in September 2021.
Promising strategies include: starting where kids are, rather than where they are supposed to
be; leveraging the engagement of parents and communities; and providing new opportunities
for kids to get up to grade level. Each of these holds a key to a successful return to school for
Canadian students, regardless of social advantage.

Ontario has established curriculum, resources, and achievement standards in the Arts, French,
Health and Physical Education, Language, Mathematics, Native Languages, Science and
Technology, and Social Studies at the elementary level, and additionally for Business
Studies, Canadian and World Studies, Classical and International Languages, Computer
Studies, Interdisciplinary Studies, Native Studies, and Technological Education at the
secondary level. The curriculum is revised cyclically in consultation with curriculum
developers, parents, teachers, and other stakeholders. A full revision cycle takes about nine
years, with different components of the curriculum updated every year. In 2016, Ontario
revised the Social Studies and History curriculum to be more culturally responsive and
increased support for education in Indigenous languages and in 2019 added a new First
Nations, Metis and Inuit Studies curriculum for grades 9-12. The curriculum is currently
under review, and a new version of the mathematics curriculum, stressing a “back to basics”
focus, was implemented in the 2020-21 school year. The Ministry also added financial
literacy content to the Social Studies and Business Studies curricula in grades 4 through 12.
The Ontario Ministry of Education provides sample activities and rubrics by grade level and
subject to help teachers incorporate activities and assessments directly aligned with the
curriculum goals.
 26

British Columbia recently rolled out a new curriculum designed to help students succeed in a
fast-changing, interconnected world. The curriculum was fully implemented as of the 2019-
20 school year. Designed to be “concept-based and competency-driven,” the curriculum
maintains focus on literacy and numeracy while supporting deeper learning. It is also flexible,
encouraging students to engage in their own learning and follow their interests. The three
core competencies —communication, creative and critical thinking, and personal and social
competence — and two skill foundations—literacy and mathematics— are integrated into all
subject areas.

British Columbia’s curriculum for grades K-12 includes English Language Arts, Languages,
Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, French, French as a Second Language, Physical and
Health Education, Arts Education, Career Education, and Applied Design, Skills, and
Technologies. All subjects have grade-by-grade curricula except Languages, which begin at
grade 5, and Career Education and Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies, which are
organized by grade span. In addition, there are curricula for elective vocational subjects
available at the upper secondary level. The Ministry of Education defines “what to teach” but
not how to organize the time, space, or teaching methods. Each subject area has a set of “Big
Ideas” that students need to understand, curricular competencies that describe what students
should be able to do, and curriculum content that describes what they should know. Teachers
are encouraged to create courses, modules, thematic units, or learning experiences that meet
students’ needs and interests. The province provides a set of resources for teachers and
classrooms to use to incorporate Indigenous knowledge and perspectives across all subjects.

At all grade levels, the curriculum is intended to support both disciplinary and
interdisciplinary learning and enable a variety of learning environments.

Assessment and Qualifications

The primary national assessment is the Pan-Canadian Assessment Program (PCAP), which
measures the reading, mathematics, and science skills of a sample of 13- and 16-year-old
students. The PCAP was formulated to be much like PISA; each year, one of the three core
test subjects is the primary focus of the examination. In addition to the tests, PCAP also
collects data on Canadian learning contexts. Students, principals, and teachers complete
surveys about school learning environments and how much value is placed on the core
subjects. PCAP’s results are reported by CMEC and analyzed by province, gender, and
language spoken. They are used to inform broad policy decisions and as a benchmarking
standard across provinces, but CMEC does not provide data on individual schools or school
districts to the public.

All provinces also develop their own assessments. Most have province-wide examinations in
numeracy and literacy at select grade levels, and some have core-subject tests for secondary
school graduation. In Ontario, students are assessed in mathematics, reading, and writing at
grades 3 and 6; in mathematics at grade 9; and in literacy at grade 10. The tests are developed
 27

and administered by the Education Quality and Accountability Office, a semi-independent

agency established by the Ministry in 1996. In British Columbia, students take the
Foundation Skills Assessment in reading, writing, and numeracy in grades 4 and 7, which
was recently revised to align with the 2016 curriculum. New literacy and numeracy
assessments have replaced end-of-course tests in high school, but the updated grade 12
literacy assessment was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Implementation is
expected in 2021-22.

Students in Ontario must pass the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (or, if they do not
pass, complete a literacy course in grade 12) in order to earn a high school diploma.
Eventually British Columbia’s new high school literacy and numeracy assessments will be
required for graduation, but scores will be awarded on a 4-point proficiency scale and will not
impact course grades. High school graduation rates vary across the country; the graduation
rate is 87 percent in Ontario, 84 percent in British Columbia, and 83 percent on average
across Canada.

Canada has community colleges similar to those in the United States, some of which are open
admission and some of which have specific academic requirements for admission. Admission
to universities in Canada is typically based on student performance in high school, and
primarily on grades. Students who wish to continue to university submit their transcripts to
their school(s) of choice and are generally accepted on the basis of grades alone. Some
universities, however, are expanding their admissions criteria for more holistic assessment of
applicants. The University of British Columbia, for example, announced that as of 2019
applicants would be evaluated not only on core-subject course grades, but also on the depth
and rigor of their coursework and on their work in non-core subjects relevant to their
intended area of university study. Students are given preference at universities in their home
province but may apply to any university across the country. There is no national or
standardized exam required for admission.

Canada has the second-highest attainment rate in postsecondary education among OECD
countries: 61.8 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds in Canada have postsecondary credentials
compared to 44.5 percent in the same age group on average across the OECD in 2018. In
2017, Ontario made college and university tuition and educational expenses free or low-cost
for many students through the Ontario Student Assistance Program, which offers grants and
low-interest loans to students from low- to middle-income families.

Learning Supports
Struggling Students
Canadian provinces have their own approaches to supporting students who struggle
academically.
 28

Since 2003, Ontario has focused on supporting struggling students in schools. As part of its
goal to improve literacy and numeracy rates, the Ministry has implemented a series of major
reforms. These include the establishment of the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat in 2004, a
100-person team devoted exclusively to working closely with districts and schools to improve
literacy and numeracy. The Secretariat originally focused on kindergarten to grade 6 but later
broadened its focus to grade 12 and was renamed the Student Achievement Division. The
initiative worked with schools to set high but achievable goals for improvement in these basic
skills and to identify ways to improve achievement. Specially designated teams at both the
school and district levels were funded to carry out the program.

Ontario also developed the Student Success Strategy, which focused on identifying potential
dropouts early and providing them with extra support, including one-on-one learning
opportunities. The program also developed a range of new high school majors to appeal to
more students and integrated experiential learning with classroom learning. Using
government funds, high schools hired designated teachers to support the program.

British Columbia’s approach to addressing struggling students gives a great deal of flexibility
to local schools and districts. At the school level, teachers can refer struggling students to a
Learning Assistance Teacher (LAT), who is responsible for working with students who have
mild to moderate difficulties in learning and behavior. Some schools have a designated LAT
position, while in others this position is combined with other support services. The LAT
works with the classroom teacher to design academic supports for the student, which can
include short-term individual or small group teaching to help close knowledge or skills gaps.
Additional supports for struggling students are designed at the district level. For example,
districts receive funding to provide summer learning, which can include remedial courses.
The 2020 Framework for Enhancing Student Learning also requires districts and schools to
develop local partnerships to address the needs of struggling student populations, including
Indigenous students.

Special Education
There is no national special education provision, so special education services are designed
by each province. The scope of services differs across the provinces, but in general there is a
focus on placing students with special needs in mainstream classrooms. For example, Ontario
considers a wide range of students to have “special needs,” from students with developmental
or physical disabilities and/or learning disabilities to students who perform far above their
grade level. Schools aim to meet the needs of all of these students through modified
educational programs and access to necessary resources. For students who require additional
support, there is a formal process of identification and a process for shaping an individual
program. There are also special schools for students with severe disabilities including
deafness, blindness and the most severe learning disabilities. The Ontario Ministry of
Education allocates specific funds to school boards for special education programs and
services, provides expert advice to school boards when considering special education
policies, and has a tribunal in place to help mediate between school boards and parents if a
 29

conflict arises. This is in addition to a three-tier funding model (based on levels of need) the
province uses to allocate funds for special needs students.

In British Columbia, there is also an emphasis on inclusion of students with special needs in
the mainstream education system. The basic allocation to each district factors in the costs of
education for students with learning disabilities, students with mild intellectual disabilities,
students requiring moderate behavior supports, and students who are gifted. Students with
more severe disabilities, including those with severe physical handicaps, serious mental
illness, autism, and those requiring intensive behavioral interventions, receive supplementary
funding.

Digital Platforms and Resources

Canadian provinces vary in the development of systems and resources for online learning.
Provinces that did not have systems in place prior to the coronavirus pandemic quickly
developed them to facilitate distance learning in early 2020.

In Ontario, a provincial online learning platform called the Virtual Learning Environment
(VLE) allows teachers to share their own materials—or other teacher- or Ministry-created
materials available within the VLE—with students. Since 2016, British Columbia’s
Distributed Learning program has allowed students not well served by traditional, in-person
schooling to participate in online learning. School districts request approval from the Minister
of Education to offer Distributed Learning, and students can enroll in full-time online
learning or a blended model. Some schools design their own resources for Distributed
Learning, while others use resources provided by Open School BC, within the Ministry of
Education. As of 2018-19, about 1 percent of public school students and nearly 10 percent of
independent school students in the province were enrolled in Distributed Learning programs.

In addition, both Ontario and British Columbia developed new online resource libraries to
provide teaching and learning support during the coronavirus pandemic. Ontario’s Learn at
Home website and British Columbia’s Keep Learning website provide online learning
resources and activities for both educators and families.

Career and Technical Education

Governance and System Structure
There is no single approach to vocational education among provinces in Canada. At the
secondary level, courses are offered either alongside academic courses in a comprehensive
school or, occasionally, in separate vocational schools, depending on the province. Graduates
of secondary vocational programs may then enter the workforce, a postsecondary program to
expand and enhance their skills, or an apprenticeship in their occupational area or trade.
 30

The Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeships (CCDA) serves as an interprovincial

body to promote collaboration and alignment on apprenticeship training and trade
certification. Although apprenticeship programs were initially conceived for adults, students
are choosing apprenticeships following secondary school in increasing numbers. The
Canadian government promotes apprenticeships through the Apprenticeship Incentive Grant
and Apprenticeship Completion Grant, both of which are small grants available to registered
apprentices. In order to encourage people in industry to take on apprentices, the government
also offers a business tax credit equal to 10 percent of the wages paid to apprentices.

CCDA manages the Red Seal program, which establishes national assessment standards for
skills in 56 trades. Programs participating in the interprovincial Red Seal program are
recognized as having met industry standards of excellence; students who have completed
formal education or apprenticeships can earn a Red Seal endorsement after completing a
national Red Seal examination in their field, and their credentials are portable across Canada.
The Red Seal is well-regarded and helps secure better jobs, higher wages, and career
advancement opportunities.

In Ontario, vocational education courses are offered in secondary schools as well as at the
postsecondary level. Ontario high schools offer the Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM)
program and cooperative education opportunities, described in detail below. Students with an
SHSM seal on their diploma earn industry-recognized credentials and can transition directly
into apprenticeships, the workplace, or further postsecondary options. In British Columbia,
vocational education is offered primarily at the postsecondary level. However, there are
career education courses offered in secondary schools. These courses are overseen by the
Ministry of Education, the provincial Industry Training Authority (ITA), or jointly. The ITA
also oversees postsecondary apprenticeship programs. After graduating from high schools,
students can continue to a full apprenticeship overseen by the ITA to earn industry credentials
or enroll in postsecondary education or training at a college.

CTE Programs
Vocational education in Canada is mostly at the postsecondary level. Secondary school
graduates interested in earning vocational qualifications can choose to pursue an
apprenticeship or attend a community or technical college. Apprenticeships last two to five
years, depending on the field. Businesses receive financial incentives from the government to
participate in these programs. At the end of the apprenticeship, students take a vocational
skills exam to earn their qualification. While some provinces have their own qualifications
framework, the most popular vocational qualifications are the Red Seal credentials which are
recognized across all provinces.
 31

Community and technical colleges offer programs ranging from one to four years in duration.
Program offerings vary by province but typically include vocational certificates, a diploma of
vocational studies, associate’s degrees, and a technical bachelor’s degree. Similar to the US
system, students have the option to study at a community or technical colleges and transfer to
a university to earn a bachelor’s or master’s degree.

Ontario
Students in Ontario start a career/life planning program in kindergarten. The program is
designed to build students’ career-related knowledge and skills through curriculum-linked
learning experiences as well as school-wide and community activities. At the secondary level,
all students are required to take a Career Studies half-credit course in grade 10 to graduate
from high school. The course has three components: developing skills needed for work,
exploring and preparing for work, and planning for work, including financial management.

Ontario also offers Specialist High Skills Majors (SHSM) and cooperative (co-op) education
in secondary schools. SHSM are programs of eight to 10 classes in 19 industry or trade fields.
In this program for grades 11 and 12, students are required to take a defined bundle of credits
within their chosen sector, complete sector-specific certification and training, participate in
experiential learning, and develop essential skills and work habits. SHSM programs were put
in place in the early 2000s and have been very popular; the Ontario Ministry of Education
credits them with raising high school graduation rates in the province since they were put in
place from about 70 percent in 2004 to over 85 percent in 2019. The number of students
participating in these programs has also increased every year. Cooperative (co-op) education
opportunities allow students to earn credits while working; these credits must follow Ministry
policy and curriculum and include a classroom and community component. The Ontario
curriculum includes two co-op education courses: one links an internship to a related course
and one allows students to create a co-op education experience around a specific interest that
is not related to a specific course. The Ontario government is committed to work-based
learning opportunities and has beefed up relevant funding in recent years.

British Columbia
In secondary schools in British Columbia, all students take two required Career Education
courses in grades 10 through 12, and a small percentage of students take additional career-
focused elective courses, some of which count toward completion of postsecondary
apprenticeships. The curricula for these courses and the most common career-focused
elective courses are included in the province’s recently revised K-12 general education
curriculum. Provincial curricula for the two required Career Education courses, Career-Life
Education (CLE) and Career-Life Connections (CLC), are designed to be as flexible as
possible in order to accommodate differences in school structures and grade groupings.
Schools have flexibility in how they will structure and deliver the course, which can include
small group or one-on-one instruction. CLC requires students to complete 30 hours of work
experience or career-life exploration, which can be a school-approved work placement,
 32

community service, paid student employment, fieldwork, entrepreneurship, or projects

focused on an area of deep interest. Students must also complete a capstone project, through
which they reflect on their competency development and in- and out-of-classroom learning
experiences. The capstone project is required for graduation, but the format and grading
criteria are determined by teachers.

The provincial general education curriculum also includes curricula for Work Experience
courses, overseen by the Ministry of Education, and Youth Work in Trades courses, overseen
by the Ministry and the ITA. Both types of elective courses include a combination of work
experience and classroom time based on the provincial curriculum, but they do not lead to
full industry credentials. Youth Work in Trades students can, however, register with the ITA
as Youth Apprentices in order to begin earning credit toward a postsecondary apprenticeship.
In both types of elective courses, students receive a final course grade from their teachers
based on the classroom component of the course. Students who want to earn an industry
credential must continue vocational education and training at the postsecondary level,
including apprenticeship.

British Columbia schools can provide additional locally developed, career-focused offerings.
For instance, some schools may offer cooperative (co-op) education programs that can
include coursework, career exploration, pre-employment training, skills enhancement, and
work experience placements for credit toward graduation.

In addition, the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism, and Skills Training and the Ministries of
Education and Advanced Education are working together to implement the BC’s Skills for
Jobs Blueprint, a comprehensive strategy to reengineer the education and skills training
system. Goals include doubling the number of apprenticeship program seats; expanding dual
credit options for secondary students; making it easier for Red Seal tradespersons to earn
teaching certificates; conducting a skills outreach strategy to ensure key stakeholders are
aware of training programs; aligning education and training options with jobs in demand; and
establishing stronger partnerships with industry and labor to deliver training and
apprenticeships.

Teachers and Principals

Teacher Recruitment
Canada is consistently able to recruit strong candidates into teaching. While each province
sets its own policies for entry into teacher education, teaching is generally thought of as a
high-status and well-paid job. Provinces have struggled with recruitment of teachers in
remote parts of the country, however, and most offer bonuses and incentives to attract
candidates into teaching.
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Canadian teacher salaries are determined on the provincial level and therefore reflect each
province’s economic situation and the funding available. As a result, teachers’ salaries vary
widely across the provinces, but they are, for the most part, quite high when compared to
other professionals with a similar level of education. They are almost always higher than
Canada’s GDP per capita, and higher than the OECD average teacher salaries.

Ontario has focused not only on recruiting strong teachers but on retaining them. In 2006, the
Ministry eliminated the unpopular provincial licensing exam for teachers and instituted the
New Teacher Induction Program (see below), in partnership with the teachers’ unions. The
Ministry also created Survive and Thrive, which is an online community for teachers at all
levels—including teacher candidates—to share information and experiences, as well as to
establish online mentorship relationships. In 2019, Ontario adopted new hiring policies
focused on merit and diversity rather than seniority.

British Columbia has been highly focused on teacher recruitment since 2017, when the
province’s Supreme Court ruled 2002 legislation barring teachers from negotiating class size
and composition, including the share of students with special needs relative to available
support resources, was unconstitutional. As a result of this ruling, the school system agreed to
restore language from previous contracts that called for smaller class sizes. Since 2017-18,
British Columbia has invested about CAN$400 million (US$300 million) annually in the
Classroom Enhancement Fund to create and maintain new teaching positions across the
province. As of late 2019, the Classroom Enhancement Fund had allowed districts to hire and
retain 4,200 new teachers, including 700 special education teachers and 190 educational
psychologists and counselors. An additional CAN$1.6 million (US$1.19 million) was
targeted to support teacher recruitment in rural districts through teacher application
management, coordination of national and international recruitment, and local incentives to
help cover relocation expenses, transitional housing, and professional development.

Teacher Preparation and Induction

Teacher training programs are housed in Canadian universities, although separate standards
for teacher qualifications exist among the provinces. There are only about 50 teacher
education programs in Canada, so it is easier for provincial governments to regulate quality
than in countries with many more programs. Typically, students must complete a bachelor of
education degree or a bachelor’s degree with an additional education certification in order to
teach at any level, and several provinces require further subject qualifications for secondary
school teachers. Following initial education, the majority of provinces require another form
of assessment, either through an examination or a certification process. The requirements for
induction also vary across the provinces, although most do have at least an informal
orientation period.

In 2015, Ontario took major steps to reform teacher preparation in order to address the
province’s oversupply of teachers and, at the same time, increase the quality of teachers.
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First, the Ministry cut almost in half the number of teacher education slots in programs run by
16 research universities across the province. Second, the Ministry extended teacher
preparation from a one- to a two-year program. And third, it added an 80-day practicum
requirement. In 2019, the Ministry announced that prospective teachers would also have to
pass a mathematics proficiency test. That test is currently being developed by the EQAO.

Teachers who complete their teacher education program receive a Basic Qualification, which
varies by general or technology education, English or French, grade band, and subjects.
Teachers are required to be qualified in at least two consecutive grade bands (grades 1-3,
grades 4-6, grades 7-10, and grades 11-12).

Once Ontario teachers graduate from teacher education, the province provides a year-long
induction program (with an option to extend to a second year). The New Teacher Induction
Program gives all new teachers a reduced teaching load and assigns them an experienced
teacher mentor, who also has a reduced teaching load. The new teachers also take part in
professional development designed to orient and support them throughout the year. The new
teachers as well as the mentors are evaluated at the end of the year.

In British Columbia, there are nine universities that offer initial training for teachers.
Programs last from one to two years, and all include a practical experience. After completing
a preparation program and earning a Professional Certificate, teachers are assigned a Teacher
Qualification Service category which is used by school boards to set salary levels. There are
seven categories.

The British Columbia Teachers Council has the responsibility of approving any new teacher
education program and requires that the programs meet provincial standards. The Council is
currently reviewing these standards, after a year-long process of gathering input from
teaching candidates, current teachers, school leaders, parents, and the public. The Ministry of
Education has supported the teachers’ union to oversee the New Teachers Mentoring Project
for the past five years. The project is currently on hold, as the Ministry is planning to
redesign it to support the new curriculum and assessment system.

Teacher Career Progression

Canadian teachers have opportunities to progress in their careers. Successful teachers may be
promoted to department head and can take part in professional development and training to
take on leadership roles in the school and the school system later in their careers.

In Ontario, teachers can boost their salaries through Additional Qualifications, which are
awarded on completion of short courses focused on specific content areas as well as
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specializations such as technology use. The curriculum for these courses is approved by the
Ontario College of Teachers, the teacher-led credentialing organization.

Teachers in British Columbia can advance in the province’s Teacher Qualification Service
categories by completing additional programs, including degree, diploma, or integrated
programs.

Teacher Development
All Canadian provincial Ministries of Education support and require ongoing teacher training
efforts. Like nearly all other aspects of primary and secondary education in Canada, teacher
training is decentralized and subject to different requirements depending on location.

In Ontario, teachers receive six professional development days each school year. Two days
must be spent on professional development related to topics aligned with Ministerial goals;
teachers have free choice for the remaining four. Fellow teachers deliver this professional
development through the Teacher Learning and Leadership Program (TLLP). In this
program, classroom teachers are recruited or apply to participate in a collaborative project
with peers, which may involve investigating their own teaching practices or engaging in
another form of education research. These teacher leaders then receive support to design and
facilitate professional development based on their research. As part of the program, teachers
are expected to develop protocols, organize their own projects, direct research into their
practices, and design professional learning for their peers. The Provincial Knowledge
Exchange program provides funding for school boards to disseminate TLLP projects to
further professional learning. The funding allows school boards to connect prior TLLP
participants with school-based learning teams to share best practices. The goals of this
program are to further professional learning communities, promote teacher leadership, and
facilitate best practice sharing.

Principals are also expected to implement teacher professional learning communities in

response to academic needs (determined through polling teachers) and gaps in student
knowledge. There are no province-wide requirements for how much professional learning
time must be protected, but principals are evaluated on—and expected to evaluate themselves
on—their responsiveness to teachers’ professional learning needs.

In British Columbia, teachers are also required to have six professional development days
each year. Since 2015, the Ministry has certified approved courses and categories of courses.
The Ministry provides workshops for teachers, while the main teacher union, the BC
Teachers Federation, also organizes professional learning opportunities. Since 2011, the
province has focused its professional development on what it calls “inquiry-based”
professional learning communities. These networks of teachers meet regularly to focus on
understanding and addressing specific challenges in their schools. Certain teachers train to
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become “Coordinators of Inquiry” and are released from 10 to 20 percent of their teaching
duties in order to lead these networks.

Principal Recruitment, Preparation, and Development

Each province has its own process for recruiting and training principals. Ontario in particular
has prioritized school leadership development, defining clear roles for principals in driving
school improvement and student achievement. The province’s leadership strategy includes
attracting the right people to the principalship and helping to develop them into instructional
leaders. The Ontario Leadership Framework describes successful practices of school and
system leaders based on the latest research and provides a foundation for the province’s
leadership development efforts.

In order to become a principal in Ontario, a teacher must have at least five years of teaching
experience, certification in three of four age divisions (these are classified as primary, junior,
intermediate, and senior), two Specialist qualifications or a master’s degree, and have
completed the Principal’s Qualification Program (PQP). The Ontario College of Teachers, the
teaching regulatory body, develops guidelines for PQP providers (universities, principals’
council, some district school boards partnered with councils) and accredits them. The PQP
includes 250 hours of content organized around the Ontario Leadership Framework, plus a 60
hour in-school leadership practicum requiring the aspiring principal to lead a collaborative
inquiry project with support from a principal mentor. Once on the job, the Ontario Ministry
of Education provides funding to support new principal mentoring for the first two years.

There are no formal requirements for the principalship in British Columbia, although districts
generally require principals to have a teaching certificate and a master’s degree, preferably in
educational leadership or with coursework in leadership. Universities and professional
organizations like the British Columbia Principals’ and Vice-Principals’ Association offer a
range of pre-service training opportunities, including graduate programs and summer
induction programs for new school leaders. Some districts offer their own formal non-credit
pre-service programs for school leaders. The province has developed a leadership framework
but is still deciding how to move ahead with implementation.