The physical and social environment of the school, its connections to the community, and the range of opportunities provided, are key to the development of the skills and competencies students need for long-term success.
Quality Learning Environments
Research on Quality Learning Environments
What is civic literacy and why do our kids need it?
A new report from the Samara Centre for Democracy says that now, more than ever, we need “a politically educated and engaged citizenry.”
What role does education research play in this “post-truth” era?
Annie Kidder shares some of the highlights from the ICSEI conference, and talks about the need to close the gaps between evidence, policy, and practice in education.
Defining success: Views from the next generation
Vincent Atallah, PFE board member and chair of the NextGen Committee, talks about what he learned at our annual conference from a panel of young people discussing what “success” means to them.
The Equalizer: How education creates fairness for children in Canada
Since 2000, UNICEF has released a series of publications focusing on the well-being of children in wealthy countries. This year’s report card looks at equality in education.
Back to school…back to basics?
While Ontario’s schools are doing well in teaching “the basics”, students need a broader set of skills, not only to master these ‘basics’, but to ensure that they can thrive in the future.
B.C. curriculum re-design supports students in learning vital competencies
Desert Sands Community School in Ashcroft, BC is supporting the new basics and developing competencies in their students through student-driven interdisciplinary learning.
It takes a village: Engaging communities to support student success
A pilot program aimed at improving literacy skills in young children found that engaging parents, teachers, and the community helped to improve literacy and change the way that the community thought about reading.
Beyond the 3R’s: Competencies that matter
Students need more than the 3Rs to be successful in school and in life. Health, citizenship, social-emotional, and creativity competencies are the ‘survival skills’ for the 21st century.
Insights for system change
How can our public education system support students' development of competencies in creativity, citizenship, health, and social-emotional learning?
Quality learning environments: Creating conditions for learning
The learning environment has an impact on student success. To ensure that students succeed, we need to pay attention to the different ways they learn and the resources they need.
Quality Learning Environments in the news.
BC is moving to a system without letter or number grades
BC is moving to a new reporting system for kindergarten to grade 9 students which will focus on core competencies instead of letter or number grades.
New report finds anti-racism strategies inconsistent and under-resourced across Canada
New report by People for Education shows gaps in implementation of anti-racism strategies across Canada and in schools across Ontario.
Toronto Star: World’s top teacher shares a lesson in compassion
A feature story on Maggie MacDonnell, the keynote speaker at our 2018 annual conference, and the winner of the $1 million Global Teacher Prize in 2017.