Education

18 May 2021 School of Thought

What’s the school of thought on education in Manitoba? I’m sure there have been times when you were deep in thought. Even lost in thought. Someone shared something with you as food for thought. Or told you to hold that thought. Well, I want to take you to the school of thought. The school of thought in Manitoba. It’s the thought that counts. Do your part in revamping the system They’re calling it the most major education overhaul in Canadian history. Bill 64, The Education Modernization Act, has been tabled in the Legislature....

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18 May 2021 Live and Learn

Well, you live and learn, don’t you? I’m sure you’ve all learned a thing or two. You learned the ropes. Sometimes you learned your lesson. You had to learn the hard way. You learned to live with someone. You learned to live with something. You learned by heart. You learned by rote. You learn something new every day. So, I invite you to join me and continue to live and learn. Do your part The government is consulting with Albertans and is asking for input on the new K-6 curriculum. Many of our...

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17 Feb 2021 ARPA’s Newest Policy Report: Educational Diversity

“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” ~ Proverbs 22:6 The central importance of Christian education in the life of Reformed Christians inspired ARPA’s latest – and perhaps long overdue – Respectfully Submitted policy report on the topic of Educational Diversity. God commands parents to raise their children in the fear of the LORD and to pass along the covenant promises to their children (Deuteronomy 6:7, 11:19, Joshua 4:7, Exodus 12:26-27). Reformed thinkers such as Louis Berkhof have...

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06 Nov 2020 What if British Columbia and Canada were governed by students?

Imagine a parallel universe in which British Columbia and all of Canada were ruled not by adults, but by students. Two weeks ago, British Columbians went to the polls to elect a new provincial government. A little over a year ago, Canadians also elected a new federal government. We all know the outcomes: the BC NDP won a solid majority at the provincial level, with the BC Liberals bleeding seats and BC Greens maintaining their support. At the federal level, the Liberals won a minority government. The Conservatives formed the official...

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04 Aug 2020 CBC’s strategic attack on Redeemer University

CBC is at it again. Last week, I explained how CBC’s reporting on a videographer’s decision to decline to film a same-sex wedding was designed to advance a particular narrative: that governments and society still have a lot of work to do to combat homophobia. This week, in a piece posing as investigative journalism, CBC bolsters this narrative and suggests next steps in the progressive battle against homophobia, namely: suing, defunding, and disaccrediting Christian schools. CBC targets Redeemer University, whose code of conduct forbids sexual intimacy outside of (heterosexual) marriage. Framing...

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09 Jul 2020 Parental Rights and Education in Alberta: A Timeline of Success

Real progress in education! The past two years on the Alberta education front have been anything but dull. To name just a few memories… The court challenge against Bill 24. The emails. The phone calls. The Gideon Project. The appeal hearing and ARPA’s intervention there. The Education Amendment Act. And now, finally, the Choice in Education Act. Below, we've put together a timeline of legislation from limiting parental involvement to legislation promoting the idea that parents know what’s best for their children. An Act to Support Gay Straight Alliances In November 2017, Alberta’s...

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18 Jun 2020 BC Cuts Funding to Independent Distributed Learning Schools

Updated July 14, 2020 The year 2020 seems to be a year of almost unlimited government spending. The federal government (as of July 8) announced that its deficit would be $343 billion this year. The government of British Columbia is also spending $5 billion on a variety of COVID-related measures. The dominant view among policymakers and economists is that government should spend, spend, spend to avoid an even deeper recession. But, apparently that fund-everything-in-sight logic doesn’t apply to independent distributed learning (IDL) schools in British Columbia. On May 4th, the British Columbia...

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13 Nov 2019 Toronto Catholic School Board includes ‘Gender Identity’ and ‘Gender Expression’ in its Code of Conduct

In a meeting last week that went into the early hours of the morning, the Toronto Catholic District School Board voted in favour of changing its Code of Conduct policy to include the terms “gender expression” and “gender identity.” ARPA supporters will no doubt recognize these two terms, as they were at the centre of changes forced on Reformed schools in Alberta by the previous government in that province. We applaud the schools in Alberta that stood up to government and societal pressure and are disappointed to see the Toronto...

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23 Aug 2019 Ontario government releases updated 2019 sex-ed curriculum

Some improvements made to the curriculum, but concerns remain By André Schutten & Ed Hoogerdyk The Ontario government has released its new health and physical education curriculum. The 320-page document highlights what and when students will be taught under the following four strands: Social-Emotional Learning Skills, Active Living, Movement Competence, and Healthy Living. A good chunk of the curriculum has nothing to do with sex; instead it focuses on important topics like diet, exercise, mental health, physical safety, biological development, and online safety. These basic elements of the curriculum are uncontroversial and...

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08 Jul 2019 Bill Hate? Bill Straight? Or Bill Dictate?

  This video brings back memories. Just the mention of those 28 private schools reminds us all of the court challenge against Bill 24. The emails. The phone calls. The Gideon Project. The appeal hearing and ARPA’s intervention therein. The requirements of the Alberta School Act added by Bill 24 caused confusion, tension, and a healthy fear about the future of Reformed education. The communication from the Alberta Education Ministry under the NDP government gave an even stronger indication that the Ministry was unwilling to back down on their demands that every...

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