October 29th, 2018

My learnings this week were quite simple, they were about the history of education in Canada. I honestly hated history in high school and did not pay attention, so reading through the history reading provided me with lots of new information. The first thing I learned was that a century ago, people rarely got a formal education. Those who did get an education often became teachers. My second learning was that he earliest formal schooling was developed by missionaries and religious orders, used mainly as a replacement of indigenous lifestyles and knowledge; this was slightly shocking to me, but we have also been educated lots on the effects of residential schools and how colonization had effected the lives of many. My third learning was about the growth of the “welfare state” and how it increased interest in formal education. By getting a formal education, people were able to get the credentials needed for entry into specific occupations in the 1940’s to 1970’s.

I was able to make connections to the information on industrial schools, as I learned lots of information on this topic in a previous class I have taken. Another connection I was able to make was to the agriculture component of education. Living in a small farming community, I was able to experience agriculture and the outdoors first hand throughout my schooling. I also believe that this needs to continue to be taught in schools as outdoor ed seems to be a dying field. I am in the joint education and kinesiology degree program so I am getting educated on the importance of outdoor education in our schools today. I am a very strong believer in keeping our children active and present in the outdoors. It is important to understand nature and how truly important our environment is in our every day lives.

My question this week is where would our world be without teachers? In the history reading, it is mentioned that basically the only people that got a formal education over a hundred years ago, were those that wanted to become teachers. These teachers have had to grow and expand their knowledge substantially to prepare others for the occupations they choose.