The New Education Plan

Well, on Friday, the government announced it's new plan for educational change.  BC's Education Plan is "based on the principle that every learner in the province will realize his or her full potential" and consists of five key elements:

• Personalized learning for every student

• Quality teaching and learning

• Flexibility and choice

• High standards

• Learning empowered by technology

To learn more about the plan, I went to www.bcedplan.ca, where you can read the specifics as well as how schools around BC are moving to implement parts of the plan already.

As I look through the plan, many aspects makes sense, but of course like any great idea, the proof is in the pudding.  Personalized learning for every child is a great start but will definitely take some time as we work towards more completely defining the vision.  Reducing curriculum outcomes should allow teachers more flexibility in how they engage students with opportunities for deeper learning.  In many courses currently, the race for curriculum completion often leaves little time for exploring in more detail the questions and interests of students.  I am excited about the move towards greater flexibility and choice, but there needs to be caution in ensuring all students, particularly those in rural areas, have access to similar opportunities as their urban peers.
The other area of the plan where we are already making progress is the move to empower learning through technology.  With wireless access and increasing availability of personalized electronic devices, we need to ensure that technology is used to engage students and increase the variety of ways students can demonstrate their learning.  We also need to keep in mind that technology does not replace good instruction but rather should be used to supplement learning and provide students access to collaborative opportunities with peers both locally and globally.
The other issue of concern around technology is related to access for all learners.  This is an area where the school will hopefully be able to assist in order to ensure that students who lack the resources to obtain their own devices will be able to participate as well.  Just as we have seen with the advent and influx of cell phones, we still have students that do not have one.

To read the entire plan, click on the following link http://www.bcedplan.ca/assets/pdf/bc_edu_plan.pdf

To watch the video, see below

We look forward to further discussions with students and parents as we move forward within the new educational model.