Barely two weeks after the release of Gregory Charles on education, the news is bringing us a new one: Marc Denis offers to teach skating at school! First of all, I had to find out about this government committee and try to understand how hockey had become such a national priority that it deserved a government committee.
I am not trying to discredit Marc Denis. He is entirely entitled to his opinion and his thoughts to defend hockey, which is a passion that seems close to his heart. But three issues immediately came to mind when reading this reflection.
First, the unrealistic aspect of the idea. Several schools are falling into disrepair. There is a shortage of classrooms and teachers. Many schools have to provide education with outdated resources. I can’t imagine how we’re going to implement teaching skating at school in rural areas (imagine the logistics of the schedule and transport to the arena) or in underprivileged areas (skates are far in the priorities when we have to provide lunches).
Secondly, this unpleasant habit of wanting to throw everything in the school yard. School is not the only place where a young person can learn things. Parents can also teach their children certain things at home (and thus strengthen the bond with their child). You can also invest in community centers and after-school activities. However, we should get rid of this habit of wanting to attribute responsibility for everything to be learned to teachers.
Third, the music teacher in me was stung. When I saw that the idea of adding skating instruction to the school curriculum was just being floated, I thought of my colleagues who have spent the pandemic walking around with a trolley of instruments . For those who have to share a room with the daycare service, which uses it during their lessons. To those who lose their premises because the clientele is more numerous and they are “expendable”. Those who work miracles with few resources. Those who, each year at this time, still have to fight with their own colleagues to justify the importance of music at school and to prevent them from removing periods of music in favor of English or physical education.
I am also thinking of all the colleagues to whom we offer the equivalent of 30 hours of salary per year for the “other tasks” of the music teacher, that is to say repairing instruments, shopping for equipment, organizing a concert, manage the equipment, maintain the instruments, manage the extracurricular ensembles, participate in a competition or a festival to motivate the students, find artists to invite, etc. I’m thinking of colleagues in the arts who are told to make do with $500 a year, when massive investments are made in sports programs.
Far be it from me to want to denigrate physical education and sports, but there is a certain imbalance in wanting to add even more resources for an optional sports discipline, when artistic subjects are already sorely lacking in resources (and, quite honestly, considerate).
So, before you want to throw another non-essential (though surely exciting) responsibility in the schoolyard, can we take care of those who are already there? Can we value the importance of artistic subjects in the human development of our students?