Student Voice influences the future of Education in BC

A recent Vancouver Sun article from December 13, 2011 outlines plans to overhaul British Columbia’s education system. The BC Education Plan, which was launched by Minister of Education George Abbott at Student Voice’s Fall 2011 meeting, emphasizes personalized learning and a focus on technology.

From the article:

It’s worth noting, too, that the genesis for the plan appears to have arisen from education’s main clients: students. Based on a report to emerge last spring from a representative gathering known as the “BC Student Voice,” their opinions are consistent and clear.

In Learning in the 21st Century, students wrote that they favoured expanding the role of technology as “a seamless extension of what they are already doing,” and “education individually catered to each person.”

Overall, they seem comfortable about a significantly modified version of schooling, reporting a “need for education to be less rigid,” and that “the concept of students as a homogeneous group sitting in a classroom listening to a teacher present material is outdated.”

Apparently, Minister Abbott joined the student meeting last spring and was so impressed with what he heard that he returned to his office determined to create the new plan.

Read the full article from The Vancouver Sun 

Here’s the original BC Student Voice report “Learning in the 21st Century”: