A History of Public Education in Alberta under Conservative Control
or
Over Forty Years of Conservative Confusion, Complacence, & Incompetence
"THOSE WHO CANNOT REMEMBER THE PAST ARE CONDEMNED TO REPEAT IT."
Spanish Philosopher George Santayana 1863 - 1952
A. Underlying Malaise
Knowing little history and less philosophy, the Conservative Ministers of Education, like
most Albertans, are not aware that the American philosopher, John Dewey (1859 - 1952),
was the founder of Progressive Education and a major voice of liberalism over that past
hundred years. After failing as a high school and elementary teacher, he took refuge in
pragmatic philosophy: his book, The School and Social Progress, (1899) heralding his
debut on the educational stage. He became to education "what Aristotle was to the later
middle ages, not a philosopher, but The Philosopher." The result being that every
generation since World War II has been less skilled in reading, writing, mathematics, and
knows less of geography and history.
Over time his disciples in the United States and Canada infiltrated the universities and
Faculties of Education, emerged like the pox across the continent, where his theories were
expanded and codified. By the middle of the 20th Century zealous graduates were
swarming the ramparts protecting traditional teaching and values. They melded into the
Educational Establishment, gaining control of the departments of education, school boards,
teachers associations, wrestling the reins of power from the elected: trustees and politicians
who formerly controlled the schools.
Joe Freedman, a medical doctor, offered a brilliant diagnosis of this malignancy:
"Education in Canada is managed by an expensive array of provincial ministries,
faculties of education, district educational bureaucracies and organizations of
educators" who "have little stomach for serious reform and who, unlike the
classroom teachers and public who are stuck with their product, most of them can
not even recognize that there is a serious problem, let along cure it.
“International Comparison in Education"
The failure of the Conservatives to realize that a Minister of Education must have deeper
philosophical roots than the Minister of Tourism is a direct cause of the educational malaise
that has plagued the province ever since the Conservative sweep in 1972.
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B. The Opening Round -Lougheed
Before the election, Peter Lougheed opened Pandora's Box when he promised to set up a
commission to examine and advise on the state of education in the province. Unfortunately
Lou Hyndman, then Minister of Education, appointed Dr. Wally Worth to head the
commission, and thoughtlessly made his report A Choice of Futures official doctrine.
Its basic premise that Alberta's, 'Second-Phase Industrial Society'
was a continuum of industrialism where the individual was secondary to capital and
technology which produced prosperity, poverty, alienation, pollution, and unrest.
Education which centered on knowledge and skills, would emphasize discipline,
conformity, the work ethic, self-control, and independence.
Its stated goal was to create a 'Person -Centered Society' where:
power and productivity would be shared among the different levels of society with
the total system directed towards the 'over-arching' goal of individual selffulfillment. Its schools, centered on Progressivism, would produce the autonomous
individual characterized by sensualism, self-fulfillment, co-operation, joy and
leisure. The floodgates opened and in swept uni-pacs, valuing, open areas, noninformational report cards, and individualized instruction. Out went the Grade 12
departmental exams.
Somehow Wally Worth managed to con Lou Hyndman and the Conservatives into
adopting a radical educational philosophy contrary to almost everything they stood for:
personal initiative, individual responsibility and freedom, competition, rewarding success
and the other traditional values that nurture and sustain free enterprise.
Obviously the only thing dumber than adopting a curriculum for a society that does not
exist is swallowing it hook, line and sinker. Most likely the document got past Lou
Hyndman because of its great length and verbosity. As Churchill once remarked, "This
paper, by its very length, defends itself against the risk of being read!" No doubt the old
adage, "BS baffles brain" played its part.
Whatever the cause, Wally and his henchmen deserved a medal for pulling off one of the
greatest scams since Hans Christian Anderson's emperor, wearing imaginary robes, paraded
in the buff before his docile subjects. Of course the charade collapsed when a child
shouted, "The Emperor is naked!" Isn't it about time someone shouted, "If Alberta Ed has
discovered 'The Royal Road to Learning,' why are so many students in the ditch!"
One hilarious sign of the times appeared in the old St John's Report of August l8th, l975:
Last week from another quarter came what may be the final solution to the schools'
reading problems. According to Dr. Juanita Chambers, Professor of Educational
Psychology at the University of Alberta, reading isn't even necessary.
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As technology advances, Dr. Chambers says, people can get along very
well without reading. If you are just digesting information, you don't need to
read. After all, that's what television, radio, and tape recorders are for.
"Perhaps literacy is not the only form of education" she says. "It could be
something that will be eventually left to scholars."
What is ever so much more important than reading books, in her view, is
learning how to "read people"
High priced incandescent nonsense has its effect. Today a sizeable segment of the
American population has regressed to the Pre-Phoenician stage. According to a study
recently released by the National Science Foundation, over 25% of Americans are Pre Copernican, believing that the sun goes around the earth, less than half 48%, are aware that
humans evolved from early species, 42% believe that astrology is either "very scientific"
or "sort of scientific," in sharp contrast to a study in China where 92 per cent of people
there believe horoscopes are unscientific.
Reality set in when SS Alberta Education foundered on Gresham' Law: "cheap money
drives out dear." Before the departmentals were abolished, Edmonton Public Schools
averaged 10.25 per cent. A ratings while the province had only managed 4.96 per cent.
Within two years the provincial average had skyrocketed to 19.8 per cent A ratings while
Edmonton Public's average rose to 20.9 per cent. The highest roller, Zone 6 (Medicine
Hat, Lethbridge & Surrounds) "doubling down" experienced a dazzling metamorphosis.
Over a period of five years, their students surpassed Edmonton Public more than 80 per
cent of the time, and they surpassed the province over 90 per cent of the time, emerging as
Alberta's Academic Mecca.
Beyond making matriculation a joke, little damage would have resulted but for the dilemma
facing the universities. Overwhelmed, they tried to ward off the rising tide of young
Gallileos, Newtons, and Einsteins by raising standards but this did not solve the problem of
the restricted faculties.
All the snake oil from the Faculty of Education and Barnett House could not gloss over the
fact that any attempt by a local board to ensure credible evaluation of its students was like
exchanging gold for paper at a counterfeiters’ convention. The whole fiasco made as much
sense as the province abolishing judge and jury, leaving each client's case be decided
according to the "professional judgement" of his or her lawyer.
Julian Koziak, Minister of Education, not wishing to directly confront the ATA or the
Faculty of Education, chose the classical solution and set up a `blue ribbon` group - "The
Minister's Committee on Student Achievement" (MACOSA), its goal to survey the
stakeholders - school superintendents, high school teachers, high school principals,
educational consultants, post-secondary school personnel, the Alberta Teachers'
Association and the public at large. After the next round of "musical chairs," he wiped his
sweating brow and left the Education hot seat to David King.
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Dave King, desperate for data on student achievement, spent thousands of dollars
introducing the Comprehensive Exams which, being voluntary, proved to be as vestigial
as a second set of ears. Well aware of the ground swell of confusion and disillusion across
the province, he expected a swift return to sanity when MACOSA made its report.
When the reply to the blunt question, " Should the Government bring back compulsory
Grade 12 examinations?" turned out to be an overwhelming 'Yes,' the numerical data was
somehow buried in a `Component Study` and quietly shelved in the bowels of the
Legislative Assembly. The `Blue Ribbon` report was such an evasive, hedging document
that only the most ferret-minded reader might suspect it was concealing evidence,
unpalatable to the committee. I doubt that any reader from minister to mushroom miner
would ever have guessed what lay buried beneath this masterpiece of Byzantine
opaqueness:
The result of the questionnaire survey indicated that ...people from outside the
professional educational community tended to feel that the changes had been for
the worse.... Educators, on the other hand, were less enthusiastic about a return to
a compulsory departmental examination system...There was a general but not
universal feeling that some change was needed but the groups responding were
split as to whether compulsory departmental exams should be re-established.
Adults generally favored re-introduction, but sub-categories of adults varied in
opinion.
Smelling a rat, I phoned Alberta Education asking for the questionnaire and was
informed that there was no such document in its files. Tipped off by a friendly mole I
finally got my hands on the questionnaire survey.
Who would have surmised that "people from outside the professional educational
community tended to feel that the change had been for the worse...perceived a lack of
common standards, meant that the public at large` ``favored a return to departmental
exams by a ratio of 3:1, private sector employers by a ratio of 9:2, and school trustees by a
ratio of 3:1
Or, who would have thought that the statement "educators, on the other hand, were less
enthusiastic about a return to a compulsory departmental examination system" meant that
professional groups favored a return to compulsory exams and by the following wide
margins: "school superintendents by 54% to 32%, high school teachers 48% to 34%, high
school principals 48% to 35%, educational consultants 52% to 36%, and post-secondary
school personnel by 72% to 14%.`` Students, on the other hand, were opposed to the
departmentals on religious grounds, being mindful of the plea in the Lord's Prayer, "Do no
put us to the test."
On reading MACOSA's recommendations my analysis, which was sent to the Minister,
contained the following warning:
I would personally advise the Minister, if he does decide to follow MACOSA's
recommendations and introduce systematic monitoring across the grades without
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re-instating the departmental exams, that he take stringent measures to ensure
that Alberta Education does not release any further statistical information either to
the school boards or to the public. It would be far wiser to bury it along with the
already existing evidence of mal-administration, dereliction of responsibility, and
educational chicanery that has been slowly accumulating under the present
administration. [Analysis of MACOSA available on request --gstolee@shaw.ca]
I then printed enough copies of my analysis and had them hand-delivered to every MLA at
the Legislative Assembly. I know little of the details of the blood letting that took place;
the Deputy Minister was fired and several other prominent high-flyers suddenly vanished.
C. The Middle Years: Getty, Klein and Stelmach
Despite this setback, Alberta Education did not abandon its missionary zeal. When Don
Getty made the credulous Nancy Betkowski Minister of Education in 1988 she mandated
that within five years Program Continuity become official doctrine. This hallucinatory
scheme would fragment classes and transform the curriculum into a smorgasbord.
Teachers were to provide individualized lesson plans for each student, thus becoming
tutors, something that even elite private schools do not offer. The chanting of " positive
self-esteem is a pre-requisite for learning`` was heard in the halls of Alberta Ed as it
joyfully resumed its pilgrimage to the Wonderful World of Wally Worth.
It soon became painfully clear that Alberta Ed's barren doctrines and exhaustive
methodology were coming home to roost. The normally docile teachers were becoming
dangerously demoralized. In a single year the number of teachers on long-term disability
skyrocketed by 20%, a rate ten times higher than that of Edmonton’s civic employees.
Disillusioned parents were demanding a focus on the Three R's rather than self-esteem,
private schools were flourishing and home-schooling was increasing.
The answer could not be increased funding. Over the previous 30 years, spending on
education had gone up 7 and 1/2 times faster than the cost of living, with little to show
except a widespread suspicion that the public had been paying for a Cadillac and getting a
Lada. Bumper stickers pleading, "Lord, send us another oil boom and we promise not
blow it away," were ominous signs that the Great Alberta Goose was running out of golden
eggs.
Klein's Education Minister, Jim Dinning was quietly dozing in his office when he was
handed a report on Program Continuity by Stuart Wachowicz, undoubtedly the most
knowledgeable educator in Alberta. His insightful analysis warned that Program
Continuity would seriously damage the provincial economy. No fool, Dinning`s eyelids
snapped open like spring- mounted window blinds and he promptly slew the beast by redefinition.
Declaring that “Program Continuity is not a particular way of organizing the school …
direct teaching, indirect teaching, whole group teaching, small group teaching ...no one
method is or is not Program Continuity,” he thus weakened the control of the Curriculum
Branch and replaced it with his own Vision for the Nineties. His primary thrust stressed
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knowledge, skills, achievement, testing and accountability. The professional freedom of
teachers seemed to be once again firmly established.
The election of Ralph Klein was followed by Musical Chairs and sighs of relief when
Gary Mar landed the seat. The departmental gurus quietly resumed their trek to Wally
Land. The Western Math Protocol and The Common Curriculum Framework for English
Language were carved on the headstone where Dinning's reforms lay buried.
Although I sent the Minister detailed reports based on empirical evidence that Alberta Ed
was riding a camel facing backwards, his replies were obviously written by the gurus. I
concluded that the Minister had never read my letters and remained blissfully unaware of
the defective pedagogical methods being forced upon the hapless teachers and their
students.
Obviously I was not foolish enough to expect the Alberta Teachers' Association to take any
sensible action. In my fifty eight years of watching the provincial drama unfold and once
having been member of its Executive Council I can make the following categorical
statement: "While the ATA has never ceased to ensure that teachers are well-paid, I have
never seen it take even the smallest step to protect them from the fads, follies that have been
foisted upon them."
If the Educational Establishment were in the least concerned about the academic welfare of
students, why does it promote teaching methods rooted in John Dewey's The School and
Social Progress, (1899) and ignore the overwhelming empirical evidence of their failings
found in The Academic Challenge: What Really Works in the Classroom (2000) by Jeanne
Chall, surely a more credible authority.
Jeanne Chall (1921 - 1999), was psychologist at the Harvard Graduate School of
Education, and a literacy researcher for over 50 years. In 1965 she founded the Harvard
Reading Laboratory, in 1967 she served on the National Academy of Education's
Commission on Reading that resulted in the report Becoming a Nation of Readers (1985).
In The Academic Challenge, an analysis of teaching and learning over the past 100 years,
she divides American instruction into "child-centered" and "teacher-centered" approaches,
suggesting that the 20th century was dominated by the former (discovery approaches) in
spite of the research that supported a later theory, Explicit Teaching. The following quotes
are taken directly from her book:
"I found from these various studies, that the traditional, teacher-centered approach
generally produced higher academic achievement than the progressive, studentcentered approach. Only one study reported few consistent differences in
achievement between the progressive and traditional schools. But it should be
noted, none found that progressive, informal education resulted in higher academic
achievement than the more formal, traditional education…"
"The teacher-centered approach was also more effective for students with learning
disabilities at all social levels…"
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"Research shows that the home characteristics that lead to good academic
achievement are similar to the school characteristics that produce good
achievement. Generally these home characteristics resemble traditional school
characteristics, such as regularity of routines, emphasis on books, rich language,
and concern for the child's academic achievement."
The Wall Street Journal was spot-on when it stated in an editorial:
“Some day, all the people who profess concern about …education are going
to have to wake up to the fact that school reform isn’t a goal or a project: it is
a war.” [Terence Corcoran, “Ignorant armies clash by night,” Globe and Mail, Oct. 25/97]
D: The Age of Inspiration - Redford
Peter Lougheed and Alison Redford both 'new kids on the block' and both of them cut deals
with the Alberta Teachers' Association to help secure power. But here the similarity ends.
Whatever Redford is, she is no Lougheed!
Redford was third-place contender in the race for leadership, when, to their later regret,
the Conservatives, in an attempt to show that they were everyone's party, decided that
anyone could vote for leader who was willing to fork out five dollars for a membership.
She shrewdly cut a deal with the ATA - $107 million to be restored to educational funding
and the provincial achievement tests to be abolished. Understandably there was a surge of
new members, mostly teachers, not noted for being Conservatives. To her opponents'
surprise and dismay, Redford became their leader.
In sharp contrast to Lou Hyndman and Peter Lougheed, Alyson Redford and Jeff Johnson
have been ignoring the growing concern by parents and the public about Inspiring
Education. The simplest explanation may be that Redford is simply clueless. There is a
scarier explanation. Redford may be a ideologist who knows exactly what she is doing.
Whatever the reason, no doubt there are Conservative MLA's who are scared stiff because
the lemming- like Jeff is about to drive the Conservative Bus off the cliff.
Jeff Johnson, inspired by `Inspirational Education` accepts as gospel what he is told by
his Deputy about 'Discovery Learning.' Rather than being lulled by the mesmerizing
mantra 'research suggests' he should ask his Deputy what empirical research has
discovered about `Discovery Learning?
He would discover that in 2006, a team of three educational researchers, hailing from
California, Australia and the Netherlands, combed through more than 100 empirical
(scientific) studies on discovery learning to see if it worked. Their verdict, published in the
Journal of Educational Psychology, was an unequivocal NO!
“After a half-century of advocacy associated with instruction and using minimal
guidance, it appears that there is no body of research supporting the technique.”
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They stated that it was a:
"particularly ``distressing” finding, that students appeared to love discovery
learning, “even though they learn less from it.”
He would also learn of a more recent study by the City University of New York conducting
a meta-analysis of 164 studies on discovery learning; it concluded that “unassisted
discovery does not benefit learners.”
In the face of such invincible intransigence the best that I can do is to close with a quotation
from St. Augustine which expresses the quintessence of my frustration:
"Unfortunately, however, there prevails a major and malignant malady
of fools, the victims of which mistake their irrational impulses for truth
and reason, even when confronted with as much evidence as any man has
the right to expect from another." (City of God, Book 11, Chapter 1).
March 12, 2014
Leif Stolee B.A. B.Ed., M.A