Whatever!

Judging by your response yesterday to our conversation about a recent Toronto District School board study, this topic is far from over.



To bring you up to speed, the TDSB asked grade 7-to-12 students questions about themselves and what they think of their schools and the education system.



On the positive side, most students said they feel safe in their schools, but with 7-in-10 students being non-white, they felt ethnically left-out of the curriculum.



Most of those students said if there was more cultural programming they could identify with, they'd probably do better in school and like coming to class more.



I haven't been in high school for quite some time, so I'm not sure what's going on these days, but I do remember history being quite generic and forgettable, even though I loved the topic.



And talking with morning show super assistant Renee, who's only a few years removed from high school, she brought up an interesting point. The problem isn't necessarily the curriculum, which I think we can all agree needs an update, but more the teacher and how they present the topic.



Some people naturally love and get math and science, while others get and love history and English.



Being someone who never fully comprehended math, I found it incredibly frustrating and failed several times. That was until I went to summer school and found the best math teacher ever who presented all the equations and long division in a way I got.



The same thing goes for history. If a teacher is just going to stand-up at the front of the class and spew a bunch of dates without putting them into context of how they relate to us today, who cares? Students don't get why it should mean anything to them.



I firmly believe there's room in Canadian history lessons to include the many things immigrants have contributed to this country over generations.



While I'm all for getting to know each other and everyone's culture, the simple fact is we are in Canada and we need to know about this country before anyone else’s.



But Whatever!




You can hear Ruby Jones' Whatever rants live Tuesday-Friday during the Morning Show at 7:50, on Flow 93.5. Or check out the podcast at www.flow935.com!