I use to think Ontario and Quebec had national exclusive rights to lunacy in government education but sadly the winds of progressivism are sweeping the West like the dust bowl of 1929. Like Galileo Galilei, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela, an unassuming Edmonton high school teacher named Lynden Dorval steps into the hallowed pages of history alongside other men who dared to stand up for what’s right in the face of despotic and totalitarian regimes. As history tells us, morality and values are at times relative, when fundamental truths and unambiguous laws of nature must yield to political agendas and the well-being of the collective body politic. To maintain order the peasantry must, from time to time, witness a good old fashioned lynching, lest heretics poison their minds with revolutionary sentiment.
Like every good blaspheme looking to earn their heretical stripes, Lynden Dorval did the unspeakable; he graded students that failed to submit assignments with a zero. Punishment was swift to follow from the inquisitors and protectors of self esteem and social promotion at Edmonton Public Schools, which promptly fired the teacher for contravening their no zero policy.
At least they’re somewhat compassionate in Alberta, where the government only destroys a man’s livelihood once he’s declared an enemy of state. Had this happened in Ontario we’d expect Mr. Dorval’s home to be ransacked by armed government officials, followed by a strip search then release to a frightened and traumatized family some hours later - recall the Jessie Sansome case in Kitchener, Ontario. At least the ruling teacher’s union in Ontario would have helped Mr. Dorval to keep his job. Or better still Mr. Dorval ought to consider himself lucky since had he lived in Quebec he’d surely be trampled by an angry mob of students demanding their human rights for A grades. After all, progressivism offers free everything to everyone; free of work, free of responsibility and free of effort. And how dare Mr. Dorval think he can stand in the way of our progressive utopia, where outcomes take precedent over opportunity, where everyone wins first prize and where everyone earns A grades lest feelings and self esteem are hurt.
For most Canadians, too busy shopping or reading the sports pages, this story sounds like a whole lot about zero. Sure it seems wrong that a teacher was fired for giving kids what they desperately need – tough love – and for assessing failure as, well, failure. But truth and common sense have gone up in smoke long ago in our public school systems like the flesh of witches that burned throughout the dark ages. Common sense and the right thing to do have given way to social promotion, grade inflation and making students – and their parents - feel good about themselves. Yes the world is flat whether or not it is actually round, and students have the right to good grades whether they deserve them or not.
In early June, when responding to Mr. Dorval’s initial suspension, Edmonton Public Schools superintendent Edgar Schmidt summed up to media;
“By taking an all or nothing approach to a missed assignment, we are not doing our job as educators to prepare all students, including those who face significant challenges, to take the next step in their educational journey as a lifelong learner.” “Our ultimate goal is for students to complete high school. To accomplish that goal, we must give students the tools they need to get there.”1
Is anyone else disappointed that Mr. Schmidt’s remarks lacked any mention of providing fair and accurate student assessment and high quality education, rather than implementing policies designed to shove students through to college or university before they are ready? The interests of students that fail assignments – or entire grades for that matter – aren’t advanced by pushing that student to the next step in their academic journey Mr. Schmidt. Children that fail to meet academic standards need remedial attention and not advancement. It seems, however, that the egghead bureaucrats and administrators leading our government school systems don’t see it that way and as a result they’re severely and negatively impacting our children’s success with politically correct kindness and outcome-based policies. As well intended as these feel good, nouveau, progressive educational policies du jour seem on the surface, they’re having enormously deleterious effects on our education system and on our children and their chances for success.
A University System in Crisis: Current state of Canadian universities
In their book Ivory Tower Blues: A University System in Crisis
2, authors James E. Cote and Anton L Allahar present a chilling account of the current state of Canadian universities. The authors cite a number of factors which are overwhelming Canada’s centres of higher learning, resulting in factory mill policies designed to push students through rather than providing them with meaningful training and accreditation. In his 2007 review of the Cote and Allahar book, critic Ken Steele explains;
The authors argue, "as more and more students with inflated grades, but lower levels of academic interest and ability, have entered Canadian universities year after year, many professors have given in by watering down their courses and inflating grades." Not only that, but universities have responded to freshman classes without competent skills in reading, writing, or mathematics, by establishing "all manner of remedial courses, writing-skills workshops, calls for mentors and private tutors, and assorted learning support centres." This "spoon-feeding approach to education" has transformed university from an intellectual enterprise into an extension of high school. "The processes of democratization and political correctness have witnessed the wide conferring of college and university credentials on increasingly large numbers of individuals, who are not necessarily academically or intellectually inclined."
According to Cote and Allahar’s research, a greater portion of university and college-aged people are entering university; whereas thirty years ago when just 10% of baby boomers attended university, their children are enrolling at a rate of 40%. “The role of universities in society has somehow been transformed from scholarly institutions for research and intellectual exploration into reluctant gatekeepers of the middle-class”, writes Steele in his review of the Cote Allahar book adding that, “The authors observe that university is touted in our society as a universal panacea for employment success, and the democratization of educational access has become a politically correct, unquestioned good. Canadians have been too quick to accept that a university education is the best way for young people to experience personal growth”, they argue. “Maturity can also come from four years spent traveling, or working at a challenging job. “
Given the enormous pressure exerted on students to attain university accreditation, most high schools in Canada have responded by adopting social promotion – that is passing students irrespective of competence - with the misguided assumption that holding them back somehow causes social harm. Unfortunately the ruthlessly competitive market place that awaits students after university has little regard for feelings. With technology and sciences moving at light speed, if students lack the tools they need to compete in the global workplace their chances for success are slim indeed. As Cote and Allahar argue, during the 1990s Canada graduated twice as many university students as the number of jobs created requiring that credential, and as supply exceeds demand the value of the credential diminishes.
In spite of the recent economic meltdown, record unemployment and fierce competition from emerging markets – many of which incidentally have higher academic standards than Canada or America – over 1.2M students were enrolled in Canadian university programs in 2008/09
3. One can reasonably conclude that the challenges facing Canadian graduates will only get worse, yet sadly our government education systems are far more interested in making students and parents feel good about themselves rather than providing the tools necessary for success. Rather, graduates are shouldering record levels of student debt while earning useless degrees. Public spending for education is spiraling out of control while unions and education officials engage in their own private empire building at the expense of our children. And as the university mania feeds onto itself the masterminds in government are leading us to on a path of dislocation, despair and disenfranchisement.
When I first heard of Mr. Dorval’s suspension from the Edmonton School Division I immediately predicted his firing. I also predicted that he would be immediately hired by a private school. As it turned it out Mr. Dorval did land a new job just one week after his termination, and I was wrong only in that it took far longer than I predicted. The school that hired him – Tempo School – also allows him to issue zeros to students that deserve them.
Here is a kind and good man, with decades of experience and a passion for teaching. His dedication and love for his students are clear and he was prepared to sacrifice his career in the name of integrity and rational thought. In other words Mr. Dorval did the unspeakable; he resisted the progressive madness that’s gripping our government school systems and he stood up for our kids. He dared to speak the unpopular truth irrespective of the prevailing group think that threatens to crush all opposition. Small wonder why the ideologically driven and policy obsessed liberal progressives within the government system drove Mr. Dorval out. The children and parents at Tempo School are lucky to have him and the kids in the Edmonton School Division will miss him. But we as Canadians ought to hold Mr. Dorval up as a hero who stood up for our kids in the face of out-of-control politically correct progressivism which is causing irreparable harm to our society. Hopefully his actions will be an inspiration to others to do the same.
References:
- CBC News, Edmonton, June 1, 20122 University of Toronto Press, 20073 Statistics Canada – University Enrolment, 2008/09
- University of Toronto Press, 2007
- Statistics Canada – University Enrolment, 2008/09
