Education
RDC – Partnerships enhance program opportunities
![](https://www.todayville.com/calgary/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2018/10/rdc-3.png)
At Red Deer College, we are very proud of the breadth of more than 100 programs that we offer. In my column in June, I shared details about how we are launching seven new programs this academic year, which positively enhances the scope of our offerings.
While we often talk about programs at a high level, today I would like to share with you specific examples about what opportunities within our programs looks like for students on a day-to-day basis. This is the more personal side to our programming, because it involves the experiences, relationships and learnings that can have lifelong impacts on our students. The examples I will discuss are possible thanks to the strong partnership that Red Deer College has with Red Deer Public School District (RDPSD).
Last year, our two organizations entered into agreement that, in its most functional way, could be described as trading spaces to enhance learning opportunities. In September 2017, Red Deer Public School District began using a classroom at RDC for the new College High School, which provides an alternative site for high school students to complete their education here at RDC.
And starting in September 2019, RDC students in the School of Education will benefit from a dedicated, flexible learning space, as well as learning opportunities in the new Westpark Middle School, which is currently under construction.
But this partnership is about so much more than just spaces in which to learn. Thanks to our partnership – and under the leadership of Gloria Antifaiff, Dean of RDC’s School of Education, along with Della Ruston, Associate Superintendent, System Services with RDPSD, and Dean Pasiuk, Principal at Westpark Middle School – we had the opportunity to dream big. We collaborated to determine what the areas of need were, and we looked at creative ways we could work together to best serve our students of all ages.
We are so encouraged by the successes so far. With the College High School, students are taking their high school courses at RDC, and this offers them the opportunity they might not otherwise have had to attain their high school diplomas. These students may have left high school early and are now looking to complete, or the high school environment may not be the right fit for them to be successful in their studies.
Now, thanks to the College High School, they can complete their courses at Red Deer College, taught by a teacher employed by RDPSD, and they can become familiar with and confident in the College environment. While completing their high school courses, they are also exposed to what post-secondary education looks like, and this opens the door for many new possibilities for their futures.
As we look to the future starting next September, we are so excited for what the opportunities at Westpark Middle School will mean for our RDC students in the School of Education. The dedicated classroom space and immersion within the school setting will provide our students with a real-time learning lab in a safe, supportive environment.
Our plan for this space in Westpark Middle School is to deliver a required course that all Bachelor of Education students have to take in either their first or second year. This will allow them to become familiar with and comfortable in a school setting very early in their academic program. They will be able to start building a toolbox of strategies that will help them as future teachers, and they will learn how to interact with students and staff through their coursework and other potential volunteer opportunities. In addition, we are also exploring ways to incorporate this type of experiential learning into the Educational Assistant program.
This is a unique model within a middle school setting, and it is an example of workplace integrated learning, which will be an important part of RDC’s future programming as a comprehensive regional teaching university.
These positive learning opportunities are only possible because of our strong partnership and the support, dedication and commitment from both Red Deer Public School District and Red Deer College. We are all extremely passionate about teaching and learning, and this has been a wonderful opportunity for our organizations – located just across the street from each other – to partner for the benefit of our community members and our students.
Dr. Paulette Hanna is Vice President Academic at Red Deer College.
This column was first published in Red Deer Advocate on Saturday, September 29, 2018.
Education
40 Canadian professors urge Trudeau government to abolish DEI mandates
![](https://www.todayville.com/calgary/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/06/tvrd-ls-trudeau-image-2024-06-26.jpg)
From LifeSiteNews
“Many agree with us – including senior, tenured faculty – but will not speak publicly for fear of repercussions”
Dozens of Canadian professors have joined together to call for an end to the pro-LGBT diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) mandates in universities.
In a May 24 letter to Parliament, 40 Canadian university professors appealed to Prime Minster Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government to abandon DEI initiatives in universities, arguing they are both ineffective and harmful to Canadians.
“While some may view this as a weakness, we hope most will see it simply as an act of conscience from academics no longer able to remain silent,” the professors began.
“These policies disproportionately punish small institutions, are not supported by evidence, employ flawed metrics with no end goal, and are unpopular with the public who funds the research,” the letter explained.
“Many agree with us – including senior, tenured faculty – but will not speak publicly for fear of repercussions,” the letter revealed. “Specifically, they are scared even to question Tri-Council policies relating to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI).”
Currently, DEI quotas are mandated across Canada through the Canada Research Chairs program. Under the program, universities must meet specific hiring requirements, skewed in favor of racial minorities and those who identify as “LGBT.”
The letter cited various studies which revealed that the DEI mandates not only harm universities but lead to more discrimination.
The professors referenced a case at Laurier University in Ontario where the institution sought to hire six black and six indigenous faculty.
“During the process, an informal outside inquiry made on behalf of a promising black candidate had to be rebuffed because black people were ineligible,” the letter explained. “This open racial discrimination in the name of fighting systemic racism is one concrete example of negative impacts of EDI.”
Similarly, a February research report from Wilfrid Laurier University social scientist David Millard Haskell, a signatory of the letter, found that there is “no evidence that EDI reduces bias or alters behavior.”
“In fact, DEI interventions have been shown to do harm by increasing prejudice and activating bigotry,” the letter declared.
The professor’s recommendation comes as Trudeau recently pledged $110 million of taxpayer money to hire DEI consultants tasked with looking into a supposed problem of “racism” in Canada.
Indeed, the Trudeau government has spent over $30 million on DEI-affiliated contracts among many federal ministries since January 2019.
This has led to an increase in woke ideology creeping into all parts of society. As LifeSiteNews reported recently, the University of British Columbia (UBC) Vancouver campus posted an opening for a research chair position that essentially barred non-homosexual white men from applying for the job.
Signatories:
Geoff Horsman, PhD
Associate Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Wilfrid Laurier University
David Haskell, PhD
Associate Professor of Digital Media & Journalism, and Religion & Culture, Wilfrid Laurier University
Zachary Patterson, PhD
Professor, Concordia Institute for Information Systems Engineering, Concordia University
Stephen Lupker, PhD
Professor of Psychology, Western University
Lawrence M. Krauss, PhD
President, The Origins Project Foundation
Foundation Professor, School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, retired
Kirsten Kramar, PhD
Mount Royal University
Stephen Quilley, PhD
Associate Professor of Social and Environmental Innovation, University of Waterloo
Scott Davies, PhD
Professor of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education, University of Toronto
Edward Vrscay, PhD
Professor Emeritus of Applied Mathematics, University of Waterloo
Martin Drapeau, PhD
Professor of Counselling Psychology and Psychiatry, McGill University
Frances Widdowson, PhD
Political Science professor
Brian F. Smith, PhD
Professor of Business and Economics, Wilfrid Laurier University
Christopher Dummitt, PhD
Professor of Canadian Studies, Trent University
Altay Coskun, PhD
Professor of Classical Studies, University of Waterloo
Ron Thomson, PhD
Professor and Chair of Applied Linguistics, Brock University
Chet Robie, PhD
Professor of Organizational Behaviour & Human Resource Management, Wilfrid Laurier University
Mark Collard, PhD
Canada Research Chair in Human Evolutionary Studies and Professor of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University
Janice Fiamengo, PhD
Professor of English, University of Ottawa, retired
Philip Carl Salzman, PhD
Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, McGill University
Laurence Klotz, CM, MD, FRCSC
Professor of Surgery, University of Toronto
Sunnybrook Chair of Prostate Cancer Research
Chair, Council for Academic Freedom at University of Toronto (CAFUT)
Member, Order of Canada
Division of Urology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Brad Fedy, PhD
Associate Professor, School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability, University of Waterloo
Scott Smith, PhD
Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Wilfrid Laurier University
Henry Wolkowicz, PhD
Professor of Combinatorics and Optimization, University of Waterloo
Gail S. K. Wolkowicz, PhD
Professor of Mathematics and Statistics, McMaster University
François Charbonneau, PhD
Associate Professor, School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa
Rima Azar, PhD
Associate Professor of Health Psychology, Mount Allison University
Douglas W. Allen, PhD
Burnaby Mountain Professor, Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University
Rachel Altman, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, Simon Fraser University
Alexandra Lysova, PhD
Associate Professor, School of Criminology, Simon Fraser University
Richard Frank, PhD
Associate Professor, School of Criminology, Simon Fraser University
John Craig, PhD
Professor, Department of History, Simon Fraser University
Dennis Sandgathe, PhD
Senior Lecturer, Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University
Mike Hart, PhD
Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University
William McNally, PhD
Professor of Finance, Wilfrid Laurier University
Yannick Lacroix, PhD
Professor of Philosophy, Collège de Maisonneuve
Julie Guyot, PhD
Professor of History, Cégep Édouard-Montpetit
Leigh Revers, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Chemical & Physical Sciences, Institute of Management for Innovation, University of Toronto
Rob Whitley, PhD
Associate Professor of Psychiatry, McGill University
François Caron
Professor of Chemistry, Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston
Emeritus Professor, Laurentian University
Alberta
Alberta government’s new smartphone restrictions won’t eliminate digital distraction in classrooms
![](https://www.todayville.com/calgary/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/06/tvrd-fi-alberta-education-students-smartphones-cellphones-image-2024-06-24.jpg)
From the Fraser Institute
By Paige MacPherson and Tegan Hill
Research has shown that simply having a smartphone nearby is enough to distract students from completing a task, and that it takes students 20 minutes to regain focus on learning after being distracted. And when schools removed smartphones from the classroom in the United Kingdom, Belgium and Spain, learning outcomes improved, especially for underperforming kids.
According to a new directive from the Smith government, beginning next September there will be restrictions on smartphones in Alberta schools. While the directive is light on details, one thing is clear—given mounting evidence that smartphone distraction can hinder academic performance, unless the province (or individual school authorities) ban smartphones in the classroom, students will continue to suffer the consequences.
Indeed, research has shown that simply having a smartphone nearby is enough to distract students from completing a task, and that it takes students 20 minutes to regain focus on learning after being distracted. And when schools removed smartphones from the classroom in the United Kingdom, Belgium and Spain, learning outcomes improved, especially for underperforming kids.
Moreover, the latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report found a clear connection between smartphone distraction and declining student achievement, particularly in math. Specifically, 80 per cent of Canadian students report being distracted by the devices of other students in math class—and students who were distracted by smartphones in math class scored 15 points lower on PISA math tests than those who were not distracted. (PISA equates a 20-point drop in student test scores with one year of lost learning.)
Again, this is not just students distracted by their own devices, which are obvious attention-zappers for kids and teens. This is students distracted by the devices of other students. The research on digital distraction and its impact on student achievement makes clear that only a smartphone ban—with very few exceptions—will save kids from digital distraction.
And notably, Alberta’s PISA math scores have fallen 45 points in the last two decades, from 2003 to 2022, which PISA equates with more than two years of lost learning, with the decline predating COVID school closures.
The empirical evidence against smartphones in schools is mounting. But it’s also common sense, and people understand. The Alberta government’s own survey revealed that 90 per cent of more than 68,000 respondents—including parents, teachers, students and principals—had concerns about phone use in schools. This is consistent with other public opinion research in Canada. One survey showed 80 per cent of Canadians support banning phones in public schools. Another found that 51 per cent of Albertans said that phones should be banned in K-12 classrooms, and another 40 per cent said they should not be allowed unless directed by a teacher.
In 2019, the Ontario government issued a similar directive restricting smartphones in K-12 schools, which was nearly pointless because the government left the specifics up to school boards (just like the Smith government is now leaving the specifics up to school authorities in Alberta). Without being able to point to an overarching policy, Ontario teachers said they spent too much time surveilling and nagging in class, and many stopped trying altogether.
In its directive, the Smith government indicated there will be exceptions not only for reasonable health and medical needs (e.g. blood sugar monitoring) but also for “learning needs, and for educational purposes.” To actually eliminate digital distraction in the classroom, the provincial education ministry must support school authorities, who must support principals, who must support teachers to help enforce an actual ban.
While we should be skeptical of reflexive government “bans” in general, smartphones clearly impede student learning and socialization in schools. Banning smartphones in K-12 public government schools is the right move. But a patchwork approach, which accommodates endless exemptions, won’t free Alberta classrooms from the negative effects of digital distraction.
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