The educational value to the Canadians has formed a core factor in the country’s economic growth and development of the nation. The education for Canadians has been shaped through the integration of parents, teachers, and other stakeholders such as the federal government. Despite the coordination of the various organizations, education for the Canadian population remained challenged on the ways to achieving its intended goals and mission. The need for equality in the provision of education needs to Canadian students has been of central focus in education in the country, but the current education system fails to attain its goals and mission due to poor organizational structure. The discrepancy in the development level of the various groups thus calls for the harmonization of the schooling in the state, especially the minority groups.
The disparity in the distribution of the national income among the minority groups has led to a high poverty level, which subsequently put pressure on those students hailing these families. The unjust distribution of resources and income has also contributed to the increased dropouts from the poor families which can afford to cater to most of the necessary essential needs for their children such as medical services, adequate food as well as clothing. While to some extent this is accounted for as child neglect, but the inability for the parents to provide for their families perhaps is associated with the poor paradigm of education systems which is pumping a large number of graduates to the market without acquiring the basic skills and knowledge.
The setting of education standards for Canadian students is of significant importance. This would streamline the organization and operations on the education for teachers, students, and administrators. This makes me disagree with the previous argument which tries to monopolize the systems of decision-making by the parliamentarians who know very little about instructions and students’ needs. Letting the selected parliamentarians and legislators steer the educations system is likely to results in numerous problems including the lack of the student’s needs including those who are physically challenged such as the disabled, the dumb, and the mutes.
Students become successful if they consider formal education important in their later lives and feel the value of the schools they attend. The cultures of the school are determined by the type of practices the school society entertains. This includes the kind of organizational structure present, the school traditions and ways of doing things, the way they choose to deliver their programs among other aspects that influence the activities that take place in the school. All the members of the school society have to adhere to the rules set out by the school stakeholders and this puts them into one category with everyone striving to achieve the objectives and mission of the school. The daily routine of activities that take place in a secondary school environment constitutes its culture. These are things like the curriculum documents, the codes of conduct allowed for students and staff alike, the timetabling of the subjects, and co curricula activities among several other administrative duties. These activities are routinely done every day within the school compound and it contains some aspects of the communal life lived in the society.
Some basic assumptions dictate the kind of behavior that a school community is allowed to engage in. These beliefs include the way that students are grouped for different purposes and projects, the techniques that the students prefer in their instructions, and how the status quo within the school is managed and sorted. In secondary schools in Canada and America, the students have a habit of only doing something when the bell rings. The degree of success a student manages to achieve when in high school pretty much determines her future. This is because most high school students are in their adolescence and are constantly moving from one social domain to the next. Whatever form the school culture takes depends on the collective thinking of the stakeholders of the secondary school in question including the administration, the staff, the students, and the community members.
Most secondary school institutional structures are concrete and can be outrightly observed. They are guided by the mission and long-standing traditions performed in the school as well as the way the school is organized internally. These factors among others determine the parameters of the schools. The experiences that students go through in high school give them a sense of commonness which ends up forming strong bonds between them as well as with the other members of the school community. The adolescents in high school find a common experience that forms a vital stage in their entire lives and gives them some sort of rite of passage. These practices also enhance social cohesion within the school environment among the members of the school community. Examples of such practices are the extra-curricula activities like sports, the pep and spirit rallies, the social events they are allowed to hold in schools like school dances and Prom nights, and also the final ritual ceremony of graduation. These events are not only registered in the memories of high school for the students but are also considered stages in their lives.
Other cultural values are determined by symbols that unify and give a sense of direction to the members of the school society (Thousand 2005). These are like the school’s missions as well as the symbols that mark the achievements of the school like trophies won during several occasions and activities that the students engage in.
The kind of organizational structure a school develops depends heavily on the size of enrolment that the school allows. Large-sized schools can enjoy the economies of scale and provide their students with a wide range of specialization but this has an impact of bringing about social stratification as a result of differentiation in curriculum delivery. Departmentalization is one of the most predominant characteristics of such schools and this affects the cohesion of the school as a community (Rothstein 1995). It even distracts the school members from the overall mission of the school. The structuring of instruction also affects the overall culture of the schools. The schools in Canada and the United States group their students according to the students’ choices and their perceived abilities.
The school administration is mandated with the responsibility of coordinating school activities, setting and enforcing rules within the school as well as allocating resources to various departments, and ensuring that the school program runs smoothly. The teachers also greatly influence the culture within a school especially depending on the relationships they have with their students within and without the classroom setting. The contemporary secondary schools divide their subjects into subject departments, an act that greatly affects the relationship students have with their teachers. This defines the kind of teaching activities the teachers can engage in like learner-centered practices as opposed to teacher-centered ones. It also affects how teachers perceive each other within and outside their respective departments. Students on the other hand tend to group themselves according to the social or economic status of their families, the sporting activities they choose to engage in the subjects they are interested in among other criteria. In the cafeteria, the students will always sit according to the various groups that they formed following their different criteria. These groups formed by the students determine the social relations among and between individuals and groups formed. These adolescents are not entirely to credit for the formation of these groups as all the other stakeholders in the school community always have something to do with the status hierarchies formed. The way the application of social controls on groups is done unevenly and how the academic ability of students is perceived by teachers also influence how the students view and group themselves. If the students do not develop a sense of belonging to the institution they attend, their academic performance can also be greatly affected. Generally, this is how organizational structures, rituals, and myths within the school environment affect the overall culture of the schools in Canada and the United States. All these aspects influence the lives of all the individuals who are present in the school communities.
Finally, if the structure of schools is to be changed, then all the stakeholders must be consulted to attain the best results. All the people involved in the running of the school are important determinants of the success of the schools. These include the teachers, the students, the administrative staff as well as the community at large.
References
Allan, S. and Tomlinson, C. (2000). Leadership for differenciating schools & Classrooms. Alexandria: ASCD.
Brady, P. (2009). Working Towards a Model of Secondary School Culture. Lakehead University.
Rothstein, S. (1995). Class, Culture, and race in american schools: a handbook. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Thousand, J. (2005). Creating an Inclusive School. Alexandria: ASCD.