Jan 28, 2021

Book Talk: Dr. Paul Bennett, The State of the System – A Reality Check on Canada’s Schools (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2020)

January 28, 2021, at 2:00pm to 3:30pm PST.

Zoom Meeting URL:
https://ubc.zoom.us/j/69917530995?pwd=WGkrWGlFWEpaY2Fpa1BldkcyaFJWdz09

Meeting ID: 699 1753 0995
Passcode: 806800

PDF Version: Book Talk – Dr. Paul Bennett

Overview:

Exploring the nature of the Canadian education order in all its dimensions, The State of the System explains how public schools came to be so bureaucratic, confronts the critical issues facing kindergarten to grade 12 public schools in all ten provinces, and addresses the need for systemic reform. Going beyond a diagnosis of the stresses, strains, and ills present in the system, Paul Bennett proposes a bold plan to re-engineer schools on a more human scale as the first step in truly reforming public education. In place of school consolidation and managerialism, one-size-fits-all uniformity, limited school choice, and the “success-for-all” curriculum, Bennett advocates for a new set of priorities: decentralize school governance, deprogram education ministries and school districts, listen to parents and teachers, and revitalize local education democracy.