At this time of year it is a good time to honour classroom teachers. As I wrote not too long ago, Prime Minister Harper recently honoured them as well. They are dumped on by the public so much of the time for the problems within the system, their accreditation bodies, their union leadership and the various provincial government’s — all situations beyond their control or influence.

What they can influence, however, are the children in their care — in loco parentis – in place of the parents. Like parents, they love children and they want only the best for them. And, yes, in spite of two months vacation every summer, teachers work very hard. For all those who complain that they work just as hard, that may be true. But, that shouldn’t take away from the dedication and commitment most teachers have for their jobs.

And, contrary to popular opinion, most teachers do not have two months off in the summer. Both my husband and I had to complete our university and graduate degrees during that period — all so we would be better teachers.

So, for today, let’s look at what teachers do in the life of our children and grandchildren. Think about it. Children spend most of their day — and young lives — with their peers and their teachers, not with their parents. As a result, the affect those teachers have on their outlook on life is tremendous.

What is nice is that at this time of year, most people put aside all their grievances with the “education system” and think of individual teachers. It is the time, as Moira MacDonald writes, when parents and their children frantically look for just the right thank you card or end-of-the-year gift – a gift that is personal enough to show that the child and his or her parents really do appreciate all the teachers have done during the year.    

One teacher I have been following this year is a high school English teacher. He has his own blog called “The Lamppost.”  Take a visit to his blog. He obviously stretches his students to the max to cover not only current affairs, but the classics — literature and philosophy both. He is an example of how dedicated teachers can be and I know there are many more out there in the blogosphere that I have missed.

To teachers everywhere, thank you. And, if you got another collection of thank you “mugs” this week, just start another shelf. Each one will remind you how important you are in the life of the children you teach.

H/T to Cathy Cove for MacDonald’s column.

We all know the often misquoted reference to “those who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it.” Some think it was said by a Roman philosopher, Napoleon Bonaparte or Winston Churchill. Well, it was 19th century philosopher and essayist George Santayana in his Reason in Common Sense, the first volume of his The Life of Reason.  Apparently his actual words were:”Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it.”

Therefore, I think the Toronto District School Board’s decision last Thursday night to approve the development of a curriculum for a Grade 11 course on genocide and crimes against humanity in the 20th and 21st centuries was a good idea. As Natalie Alcoba of the National Post reported in Thursday’s paper it ”delves into examples of genocide in the 20th and 21st centuries, including the Holocaust, Armenia and Rwanda.” She also wrote a related column in Friday’s paper entitled “Genocide Course Sparks Contoversy in Toronto.”

In it she reported:

“The committee of Toronto District School Board officials and university academics that reviewed the complaints insists that politics has no place in this debate. ‘Disagreeing about the appropriateness of the label of genocide is not the same as denying that the killings occurred,’ committee members said in a report that was submitted to Toronto school trustees. ‘Genuine historical controversies do belong in a high school curriculum and can be beneficial in giving students an in-depth understanding of complex events and in teaching students critical thinking.’”

I agree. Not only that, the course will be very relevant for the here and now because “Students will examine identity formation and how ‘in groups’ and ‘out groups’ are created, including an analysis of how bias, stereotypes, prejudices and discrimination impact on various groups.” That will make it real because even in individual classrooms and schools, such groups exist.

While I have been critical of the TDSB on previous occasions, I think officials and trustees were right to make this decision. These various genocides happened within the last hundred years or in Rwanda’s case, likely in the Toronto students’ own lifetime. And, while current regimes may not like it (e.g., Turkey), the only way we can honour the memory of those who lost their lives is to talk openly about these historical events. In fact, to deny the various genocides will continue to dishonour the dead.

Although additional crimes against humanity may be added to this curriculum, such as the Ukrainian famine of the 1930’s, the bottom line is that a Grade 11 history curriculum on modern day genocide is a good idea for all the right reasons. 

To paraphrase Santayana once again: Unless students are told about historical crimes against humanity, there is always the chance that new generations will repeat them.

C/P at Jack’s Newswatch.

Jack atJack’s Newswatch came across a CTV article yesterday telling the story of a special Web browser developed for children and youth with autism. Designed by John LeSieur for his grandson Zachary, it is called the “ZAC Browser” in his honour. 

This type of browser would be a huge breakthrough for all children and youth with autism or other types of concentration problems and/or learning disabilities. And, perhaps most important, it allows these special needs children to access the Internet and all the important educational sites so important to their future.

However, technical help is needed to get this browser working properly. It is apparently still in the Beta stage and the interface still has a lot of bugs, such as the forward and back buttons.

As such, is there anyone or any company who would be willing to take a look at the ZAC browser as it is now and then upgrade it to make it a reality?

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C/P at Jack’s Newswatch.