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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1974-02-28, Page 151 i 1 go* An *mac WW* Moos "*leek M Foreat - is 'mg in the .ipstows. Bannortliso .orest Cent.. by Since the ;cr dit, system made its way into secondary schools; if few years ago, it has been praised and criticized„ to recognize that stu- dents re. indl'vidta+►ls, It tries to provide anpportunity 'for each, student to ,ear, what he can 'without discouraginghim and ;forcing him, to the pointof - oration ,,and failure Those .,are some of :40 good points;', ; . . :However,:'its biggest .disadvan- •tage, says Gordon ,Phillips,-prin- cipal oft F. `E N`Mad ll ndarYL School,, wince►, IS, , f "►. 'y erechildren 'stet nano►: a-� . tore to chow courses wisely, and: the school is placedin the position of . authoritative advisor.' He says it's* °bland assumpp-� tion that children can choose sub- jq9ts wisely," and adds ; that' the elementary scoolstudentss going into Grade 9 tend to choose "self ishly . "People are shot uniformly m , w.,,ell- modedsaid mr. �hiips, "hut ► with good rformatuu and counr - selling the young' student' usually clime a' Cour beSt` fnited .for • r, The credit systetn. bas :placed more responsibility on the guid-` ante departments of'., secondary. choo1e because n most cases the: counsellor's advice- is imperative in pd/�eci,student's a student's course selection, The counsellors, look.at thet stu-- dents'' strengths and weaknesses ,in determining acourse and Sub- jects beset .suited ,to them. • A document called HSt (High School To .l), deseribing the sys- tenii' is, distributed . to Ontario. schools atiirrtilr .Th' 19775 version was Sent put, , January 22. .14'14 na ,n• ;the credit system in •efirst! that ' tu� ent is dt a�tea � 11t . t the °a d... given: credit fof teach: course he. successfully completes and., s ondlythat,°:in °accumulating. these' credits, the, 'student approaches. the requirements of the Sec- ondary ec-onda r School ',Graduation Dip- loma. a � .� is as die sue-, defined th A�cr u cessful completion of . a course.; planned, to .. contain, work that would 'normally be .completed Tip 110 120 hours' of scheduled tune. .This Means a student taking English for one 40mintite•`period each ,day` for the; entire year would be granted one credit, and ,he, is, required -to accutnulate.' 27 credits before gaining eligibility for a Secondary .wool Gradua- tion .Diploma Normally, .students select >sev- en credits ' in' year one, ;'seven `;in year two, seven m year three and six credits in year four, but be- cause of; the 1tet'n's' f 1exibili . students May ° ,thke More' or, ;les. • depending on' the cireinnOtances of the:individual. Many 5 parents, . are concerned thatthe syatemis.allowing their children, to choose courses that are too easy and too weak to N build a good foundation of educe- 'tion for -theme . Mr. Philli however, says are. of 1 ° that "Most kids .. po coin Out." ng for an easywayout., c ui 'n He, said, that with' da e • H,thtag counsellor's help, ,,the soon discover 'what :COMICS • best for theln and R prime concern;' not OntooEng easiest coursecto,courses obtain ;a Iowa. • .But, to leave it exeluofv the student to deeide,,he.+c • is askingfor trouble:. He sri+i is also hie for ,a shad take courses Iiist for the"just for: •k .:a ,certain n tbrough.r `_« Mr, Phillips mid he'., point the fngerariy cular course �as, being. one. "one student may • suited fora partite auI course, ° while . for another,- com`pletely::wrong and :let tal to•his future. The Matei • then •right , 'student > to, coUrseor.subjectls the *too portant decision`, to be matte's school career." ti ' Wiliam. e Carmichal i �,` * P�"�l is of the Listowel Pistrict;,, ondary School. for four` „ • • says he "absol tel -:d net n nes w Y Y to see any more.. , free i choice of courses. Asa matter° or fact, like to see it ""subatan creas'ed". He prefers ,toy flexibility: in the degree_ culty of a particular course ARD AAT WORK—A group of grade 12 - girls , take ad- ,rvanta.., a of a spare re riod:to dig intosome'hori ew orkh'the Cafeteria. From left to right are�Yace 've fer Debtie er than have no compulsory std • .jects and freedom, of choice:`: various subjects. This :wpu tyI mean that students would be talo' ing. common core subjects but would be enabled te'sttldy the ;}; at a level suitable ter t.l i own .t , i wM fir 'l idgal`histe es ' 01 pl i= gress in school:.' How about the" theory that Atu- -dents, choose easy courses? "I think itis a very remote case," he said. "On the contrary, many students bite off more than they can chew. Some' enter the five year course, for example, when they are more suited to level four." He pointed out the problem of re economics caused by . the in- , creasing number of.options and new courses. "The more courses that are offered, the more teach- ers' and teaching hours are re- quired to meet the demand. And many of the courses are chosen by only a few, so it isn't feasible to supply the teachers and room space and time on this basis. It's . a logistics problem." Currently, the Listowel school has no compulsory subjects, al- though the core subjects such as English, Math and Science are highly recommended to students coming . into Grade 9 • and the 'majority of the student body stu- dies these, With the odd excep- tion, says Mr. Carmichael: . He strongly feels. that Phys -ed should be a compulsory .subject, if the student has good health. If not, then the student should at least study the classroom por- tions of the .course, he says. Mr. Carmichael also cited a smaller problem, ° It has been speculated and' supported by a Mr. Phillips of Madill aid, "I feel very much that English should 'be required. There is no excuse. for not handling our own Vfew • cases, that, students find it language, I don't think, or at least 'difficult.to relate to any one class a good,�solid attempt at it." because they are constantly: He said f, anadian studies 'changing classes and classmates involves history, .geography and in order to attend the various law, and possibly economics, all. optional courses they have on a strictly Canadian: ,basis. selected. He said the problem is "Students definitely should have. riot r. ;serious, but, t .least one Canadian studies." he says "It is b. ro die ,.Y H , fro .,�-, I'• �+���-feels �. �is- �� fifth Vis. �of a Nl'r. f'h�lp$� said �e ".credit closeness with any one class. system is base',ally the same as Do'parents 'play an important • last year, with the exception of enough 'role in the selection of the addition of the compulsory their children's options? "I don't courses: English and Canadian think they will ever be, complete- studies. •ly yup todate," answered the The Ministry of Education. Listowel school principal. "It is states -in .the HSI. document that part of the nature of the students the school must place all of the • tto want an almost complete say subjects offered into one of four in what they do in'both scholastic major areas of study These are and extra -curricular activities. communications, pure and ap- They want independence, natur- plied sciences, social and envi- - 0 that age." ronmental studies and the arts. He 'stated the most important Each subject is designated by the `Point is that parents trust their principal and his staff into one of children's teachers And co-oper- these areas. The student is .re - ate with them in the best interest quired to select at least three of the student. • • credits from each of the four Mr. Carmichael said, "Parents in this community have complete trust in the teaching staff here and we work very closely togeth- er. We're ogeth-.er..We're lucky here in that re- spect:. We have always worked together with the parents and students to come up with the best • courses and decisions," Although the credit system allows the student a wide rangeof choice, he is not alone in the de- cision-making and it is important to note that the right of selection iS subject to parental approval. In addition to the controls in HSI., a student's optioncard for his proposed studies is checked by the subject teacher to deter- • mine if the choices are realistic forthe student. A guidance coun- sellor then reviews his choice and the student has an opportunity to discuss his program of studies personally with the counsellor. Parents are expected to review the program and usually are in- .vited to discuss the choices with the counsellor as well, . The major advantage of the credit system of education compared with the former system is the flexibility it gives the student. If a student had difficulty in one or two subjects several years ago, he would ,likely have had to select a four year program for all subjects. Under this system he Inay select courses at various levels, in keeping with his ability, needs and interest. . It permits the student who has exceptional ability to reach ahead and take courses at a high- er grade or year level, while per- t'hitting others to reach back and take courses at a lower grade or year level. If he is not clear about his needs, the student is usually encouraged to select a program Of Studies that will permit him the flexibility to move in many direc- tians once he makes a decision. Each student ,,oust take four enures in English studies and two Courses in Canadian studies • Were he can be granted a sec- Oridalry school diploma. SEVERAL STUDENTS at F. E. tion with the credit system although one student summed up the discontent by where you're going by grade 10, out of luck. Madill not Secondary for but if you School in Wingham voiced dissatisfac- all the same reasons as their principal. But saying that the credit system is fine if you know don't you'll wake up in grade 12Rand find you're hl OPEN EDU ' TION u Birtwistie, Ortnel it of Mount . , ' High choo►l talks overkill. pros and�.�►s of �� �►ls�wl� , . , . • 'hl h tchh+aoi c1"'editsyster system,With llzal tit McNabb, Carol Manion Dan' McGee, ihidehfs at the rtehool. Mr, flirt iVlainit� and ", wistie tdthis the system open education" and tails it a '."truly continuous edtleatlon program focusing ,On the in- dividual and his needs and aspirations, instead ofI ust giving, him Bias he ma Hever u 'again. areas of study. This method was initiated with the hope of guaranteeing that a student hasq some variety and breadth in his selection of sub- jects leading to a secondary school graduation diploma. The new feature of the four English studies courses and two courses in Canadian studies was added to this requirement. Mount Forest District High School has.. been ° 4utilizing the credit system for over two years now and principal Don Birtwistle is very much in favor ofit and what he calls "open education". He likes the continuous pro- gress aspect of the system. "In the old days if a student failed French -or some other subject, he failed his year. Now, with this system he passes what he passes and fails what he fails, without losing his whole year and having to start over from scratch," Mr. Birtwistle calls the system a "truly conauous education program focusing on the indivi- \ dual and his needs and aspira- tions, instead of just giving him facts he may never use or need again." The system makes it possible for a student to work for a few months then come back to school and start up right where he left off, instead of having to take his year over. It is also possible, through the system, for a student entering high school at the first level to get his diploma in three and, a half years by obtaining the necessary -27 credits. He can do it in three sears by going to summer school ' for credits. Under the system, a graduation diploma is not required in order to obtain an honorary graduation diploma, "It has true flexibility. 1 have the right to start a grown-up at any level I think he can handle in the beginning, even if he never passed Grade 8. t can do the same thing with a public school pupil by giving 'him some courses at high school level while he still t Ritchie, a ,�oqe 'R,. Elliott, allstudents-at 1L,i'stowel Dlstri c takes courses at.public school • level,• if he is far • enough ad- vanced," said the far.. One of. the advantages, cites, :is that some 'students': i difficulty in adjusting 'to • self learning based 'program, He. said the . concept of `having a. teacher stand in front '+of'the Class and teaching them is belxiig ere jected in°the education f ielc et teacher:. is : .° if -mots iii c u al AYR4 4 ` + ;fibre "1f Y.Y: • .iY+ 41! studen ,acting ° ore as a' re- . person than the"old defini- tion of teacher.\' Mr, Birtwistle said the.concept of open education is that a ``child is born curious and wants to learn." "But, then he is put into .a school at five or six years of age, what is really a mass mold' be- cause it is the cheapest way of educating them, and. he is then structured. In high school they re -structure him all over again." The Mount Forest High School ' decided to let the students "choose their courses and options totally." The principal says, "Most kids are extremely. sen- sible. It offers them flexibility and I think they like that after they become accustomed to it. "The final' responsibility of choosing the student's courses is up to the,parent, until the student turns eighteen," ; he says. "My responsibility is to provide advice for the student and the parent,. who have the right to my services and the guidance counsellor's. "If the student has entered into Another con Y s senlesteirlr Mr. Birtwis initiated, inl Mo unt F School th °�..:.. ;...:: �t`. He explai is to getiong class work periods 'per lfi ally spending as a... school as .before. He. said the students.would; be covering less material, butwould be in each class longer would' ' have only four subjects Per semester. on which. to concentrate and work. "You.need :`timet Con- centrate deeply-4nd go into the work in depth without' interrup- tions such as' bells and amount of topics and subjects in same' day," he .says. There will' be two semessters, five months in duration each, and these will call upon a higher de- gree of self-motivation on the part of the Students. . "For some it will provide in- centive knowing they can make four credits in five months," said Mr. Birtwistle. He said the stu- Please turn to Page 3. DISCUSSES (NpitoceDURE WITH STUDENT- -William Carmichael, principal at Listowel District Secondary School, discusses the school's curriculum with Student Council president Terry Unsettles.