SOFA

The Provincial Government recently restored $107 Million in funding  previously cut to public education in Alberta .   And although this represents a substantial amount of additional cash, did you know the Government is actually spending less than they did in 1994?

Dr. Mel McMillan is a well known Edmonton Economist and Professor of Economics at the University of Alberta.  In May of 2010, he co-published a report detailing the Government of Alberta’s spending in a wide variety of areas over the past 20+ years.  

When reading his report, it is particularly interesting to note how much has been spent on education for kindergarten to grade 12 students.  According to Table C7 (on page 94 of the report), the Government spent $1,351 on a per capita basis in 1994, compared to $1,259 per capita in 2008. 

In other words, they spent $64.00 per capita LESS in 2008 than they did in 1994.

If you are interested in reading the full report, please CLICK HERE.  Please make sure to read the “K to Grade 12 Education Expenditures” section found on page 94 of the report (or 96 of the PDF file). 

Are you concerned about the the lack of funding for public education in Alberta?  Concerned enough to do something about it?  We encourage you to write to your MLA and express your concerns.  CLICK HERE for a list of MLA email addresses and contact information.  If you don’t know what riding you are in and wish to contact your MLA, CLICK HERE

Fine arts education funding is always the first to get cut in our schools.  We can’t afford to have this continue. 

For the sake of our children…

On behalf of the Save Our Fine Arts Executive Committee, congratulations to Alison for becoming Alberta’s next Premier.

We look forward to further dialogue with your government on public education especially as it relates to the fine arts.

Once again, congratulations!

The Alberta Teacher’s Association recently held a Leadership Forum in Banff to discuss education in the province. 

Check out the Banff Craig & Canyon newspaper article on the forum and what was said.   You can read it by CLICKING HERE

“ALL EDUCATIONAL DECISIONS ARE BASED IN A VIEW OF HUMANKIND.”
Paulo Freire,  Pedagogy of the Oppressed

The Four Pillars of Life

There are four basic universal components from which every human being operates at all stages of life.  They are Music,  Art,  Drama and Storytelling.  In my view, these should be the foundation on which schooling is constructed.

MUSIC

Music, the universal language, the ever-present background to our lives and entertainment, the basis of creation.  I believe everything that vibrates, down to the lowliest cell, produces music even though we can’t hear it.  Even the moon produces its own music!

ART

Everything that exists in nature, and that is created by man, involves form, color and design.  The way we dress ourselves and our homes; the products and labels we produce; the gardens and artefacts we construct; our buildings, cars, airplanes, furniture, and so on, are all art forms.

DRAMA

We are born as actors on the stage of life.  We must interact from moment to moment in an improvisational drama with whatever circumstances surround us.  Our conversations aren’t scripted and are usually not controlled or predictable.  Our lines can’t be retracted once delivered.  Life is lived without an eraser.  The best performers usually win.

STORYTELLING 

We are all storytellers, telling our stories all day long.  That’s how we communicate.  The brain stores information best in story form.  Memory workshops tell us to make a story around lists and facts if we want to remember them.  In everything from job interviews to relationships, the most convincing storyteller is usually the most successful.  When story is delivered through art, music or drama, the brain thrives and recall is greatly enhanced.

Achieving competency in each of these pillars builds the flexibility that enables each individual’s differences and strengths to flourish and to be used to master academic knowledge.

The Pillars of our Current Model

The view of human kind that our educational system espouses is directly opposite to that of the four pillars of life.  These pillars are the least valued and first to be abandoned in a financial crisis.  Rather, students are viewed as vessels to be filled so they can spew back enough information to pass tests and make their way through the maze.  The pillars are Math, Science, Social Studies and English.  These are important fields of study and are excellent ways to arrange subject matter.  Considering the Pillars of Life in delivering this subject matter would make it much easier for students to succeed.

In their Inspiring Action on Education (2011) discussion paper, Alberta Education has identified Seven Competencies that they believe, “transcend subject areas”.  These are “the foundational skills employers depend on to make our workforce innovative and productive.”  They are also linked to student “disengagement, dissatisfaction with their school experience and dropping out.”   The Competencies are:

• Critical thinking and problem solving
• Creativity and Innovation
• Social Responsibility and Cultural, Global and Environmental Awareness
• Communication
• Digital Literacy
• Lifelong Learning, Self-Direction and Personal Management
• Collaboration and Leadership

In my view, these can only be achieved using the Four Pillars of Life as the method of delivering academic learning.

Time is the Coin we have to Spend

How many people have wasted many of the best hours of the day, during the formative years of their lives, being forced to sit in classrooms that are not meeting their needs but that may, in fact, be destroying the strengths and talents that would enable them to lead successful lives?  The only thing that counts in our current out-dated model of education is to avoid failure by getting good grades.  So everyone must be fed the same diet so they can pass the same tests. 

Let’s resolve to make the moments of our students lives interesting, challenging and filled with wonder at the great world we inhabit in an incredibly complex universe.

Respectfully submitted by   
Vera Goodman,  B.Ed, M.A.     

Vera is a Calgary based educator and best selling author.  She is also a SOFA executive member.  If you would like to connect with her, please do so via email at  vera@readingwings.com or website at www.readingwings.com

Sam Gregory was one of the original founders of Save Our Fine Arts in October of 2009.  He is also an honors with distinction grade 12 high school student here in Calgary. 

The Calgary Herald recently recognized Sam for being a ‘Class Act’.  To read the full article, please CLICK HERE.

Congratulations Sam, and all the best in your final exams over the next few weeks!

The United States President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities released a report today called, “Re-investing in Arts Education.”   It credits fine arts education with better attendance, fewer discipline problems, increased graduation rates, higher academic achievement and significant impact on brain development to name a few positives.

In the Executive Summary of the above report, it lists 5 actions that need to be taken to ensure a comprehensive, well rounded education.  They are as follows:

1. Build collaborations among different approaches
2. Develop the field of arts integration.
3. Expand in-school opportunities for teaching artists.
4. Utilize federal and state policies to reinforce the place of arts in K-12 education.
5. Widen the focus of evidence gathering about arts education.

If you are interested in reading the full report, please CLICK HERE.  To learn more about the U.S. President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, please click on the following link:  http://www.pcah.gov/

We can only hope that our Alberta Government officials, including the next Premier and MLA’s read the full report and take decisive action to provide further support to fine arts education in Alberta.

SOFA is pleased to advise that a number of key recommendations from the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) Fine Arts Task Force have been approved by all the Superintendents.

As you may recall from an earlier posting, Cathy Faber (Superintendent of Learning Innovation) formed a Fine Arts Task Force within the Board late last year to review, “… the philosophy and direction of Fine Arts Education in Alberta with specific focus on the implications and management of the Instrumental Music Program from Kindergarten to Grade 12 within the Calgary Board of Education (CBE).”

With input from a number of key stakeholders including two SOFA executive committee members  (Lyle Bennett, and Sam Gregory), the task force came up with four recommendations for CBE Superintendents to consider:

• Develop a Standard of Music Instrumentation
• Establishment of an Education Standing Offer (ESO) Process for the Purchasing, Renting, Maintaining and Repairing Instruments
• Implement a Centrally Managed Musical Instrument Inventory System
• Create a full-time Centralized Technical Support Position to help manage the above

On May 16th, 2011, Cathy Faber and members of the task force presented a report outlining the above recommendations to Superintendents at the CBE.  Following a discussion, the report was fully endorsed.

If you are interested in reading an Executive Summary of the above report, please CLICK HERE.  To learn more about the CBE’s Fine Arts Task Force, please visit their website at www.cbefinearts.org.

 We are thrilled with the progress made by the task force and by the acceptance of the above report by the Superintendents.  Further, we look forward to continued dialogue with the CBE on other fine arts education initiatives.

Hundreds of people protested at the Legislature in Edmonton this past Sunday regarding funding cuts in Education.  

According to a report by the Edmonton Journal, approximately 350 teachers will be laid off at the Edmonton Public School Board as a result of a funding shortfall.   It is concerning this will happen despite a decision by the Alberta Government to spend approximately $550 Million on new schools.

To read the full article, CLICK HERE.

On Saturday, May 28th, the Alberta Party held their first leadership convention in Edmonton at the Shaw Conference Center.    For more information on the convention, CLICK HERE.

Congratulations to Glenn Taylor for winning the leadership race!  SOFA looks forward to discussing education with you in the near future.

How committed are each of the candidates to public education, specifically fine arts education?  If elected, will they provide enough funding to ensure our programs remain vibrant? 

To help you determine who to vote for in each of the PC Party, Liberal Party, and Alberta Party leadership races, we thought we would ask the candidates a number of questions.  We also asked the current leaders of the Wildrose Alliance and NDP parties.

Letters were sent to each of the candidates via email or fax (if available) on April 22nd.  We asked them to respond by Friday, May 6th. 

Check out the responses that have been provided below by each of the candidates/parties as of the date of this post.

PC PARTY - website

The PC Party does not appear to have a policy on Education.  However, there is a list of education action items they’ve outlined in their “Platform Book.”  To view it, CLICK HERE and search for ‘education’.

 LIBERAL PARTY – website

NDP PARTY

If you are interested in reading the NDP Party’s policy on education CLICK HERE. To read their policy on the Arts, CLICK HERE

WILDROSE ALLIANCE PARTY

If you are interested in reading the Wildrose Alliance Party’s policy on education, CLICK HERE

ALBERTA PARTY- website

If you are interested in reading the Alberta Party’s policy on education, CLICK HERE and look for the applicable section.

We encourage our SOFA members and readers of this website to closely examine the above responses and websites to determine how committed each candidate and party is to public education, specifically fine arts education.  This will assist you in determining who to vote for in each leadership race and in the next Provincial election.

SOFA would like to sincerely thank each of the leadership candidates and Party leaders who took the time out of their busy schedules to respond to our questions!