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1Q*** THE vancouver sun; FRIDAY, ocr, 31, 1976

  

_ employers rather than ‘sta-.

out “chearfu
_ Peady to accept:

 

DOUGLAS COLLEGE LIBRARY
ARCHIVES

‘N

tow well schools do job

.

 

Bur-
Georg Sct Te “the
rge Smith | éaid. ,
schools :are geared to serve
dents . because hey churfi

eh:

“» “They're taught to obey
, the teacher without ques-
tion so when they leave the
' School they'll be trained to
obey their future boss,
“They're taught to be-dil-
gent in their work, no
Matter how dul] it ig, so
when they leave’ schoo!
‘they're equipped to work at
-"@ job in the mill, where the
“only reward is the pay
cheque :

Marks so they will b
. able fa compete in the ‘ob

| “Market after graduation.

- Burbidge said untiversj-

and community col- :

Jages also serve society be-
cause they act as a “hold-
ing pen” for people who
would net find work in a
society already riddled
with unemployment.

“But thé needs of the

 

7 a
o£ |
oi

‘The schol’ sysem!
, Berves the needs.of the pro-

Spactive employers, which: |
‘are not neoegsarily. the
needs of the: students,”
‘Burbidge told about 150

teachers and parents gath-
ered at West Vancouver

secondary school,’ a
“The  attitudep of stu-
dents toward the lg —

especially the last two

"years of high school — is

* Jearn

generally negative. If you
ask them the question we .
are addressing tonight, |

ty hem. and haw and fi-
ay Ree he
those: «dast’

 
  

Mostly: as a peri of bore-
dom enlivened only by: the’
‘breaks between periods, re- ;
cess and noon hour.” “3.2
But he said society at

, large, especially -employ-
aoe
. about whether the gradu-

is not too worried
ates will remember facts.

That is not what students
are in school to |

cording to Burbidge.

7 nts by inculcating

“of
y |

+. students are somewhat dif-

ferent from this,” he said.
“The schools shouldn'? ibe
inculcating the attitudes be.
by employers but

ting the needs of -
ferent attitudes: Students
in a democracy should be

_ taught how to take control
of thelr own lives, vo-
operate with their fellows,
get involved in decision-
making at the municipal, ||
provincial, ' federal levels
and in the workplace.” -.
Smith, a University
B.C. education professor

  

 
 

’ the ‘provincial govern
ment’s sacked research
‘Ment, took Burbidge’s
argument one std further

in his speech for the nega-

. tive.

He said that, as long as
schools continue churning
out workers ready to take
Jobs in society they cannot
serve the needs of stu-
dents. Jobs are becoming
more boring as automation
progresses, so / any job-

and @ former member of cans to be important in |
-\\.. seta.

learn, ‘ac- training in schools must be national 8 itwation,” he
desighed to further numb | | Said.
the mi ts, ‘

eth Pics learn to compete. °

NK ha

d at teacher parley

“Work ig becoming’ more: }-

of a drudge,”” Smith said.:
“Under automation, people
are no longer required to.
Use their heads, just their
hands,
' “For instance, In some
dndustries as equipment be- |’
omnes automated, the men
who formed a skilled labor
force are fired and women
keybunch operators are
hired. And the women who
are hired have no opportu-
nity to.move up. in their
jobs as programmers and
80 on, i

“School is no better than
society and in our society
things are getting much
worse,” he said. ‘Prof.
Leo Johnson, in a- very
well-documented study, re
cently showed most people
are getting poorer while
the top 20 per cent or so
are getting richer,

“Since schools : prepare
People for the system, it
trains people’ te, Jead i

not

Smith underlined

point during a question pe-
tiod when one man said he
does not think the current
school system is working
well because of illiteracy:
among university students,
Smith answered by saying
literacy is no longer neces-
Sary for most jobs, so it

  
  
  

 

But engineer Macdonald,
for the positive, took a
more optimistic approach,
He said that, in his firm,
which employs about 2,000
people, about two thirds of
those hired recently were

 

 

er/training and teaching
méthods, better equipment

  
   
       
    
     
  
     
   
  

y function in modern soci-
ety.

he thinks society is chang-

ing so rapidly that the
school
mately prove a failure if it
turns out students ready to
they must be prepared for

donald if he thinks schools’

anticipates no great change

   
  
   
  
  
  
   
   
  
    
     
    
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
  
   
   
   

ald attributed the
to ‘improved teach-

facilities and better
ice ‘of electives. In all;
said an-educational sys-
m far improved. from his
ays in school is turning
ut citizens who successful-

A questioner later said

system will ulti-

function in 1975. He said
the future and asked Mac-

are doing this.
But Macdonald said he

in society since that would
mean an infusion of capital
into the ecomony from the
industrial sector to create
jobs, which he doesn’t see
in ‘the, near .future. So
schools are doing fine right °

now. °

 

Killeen, now the princi-
pal at Sir Charles Tupper
school, said he thinks the
educational system has
kept pace with society
through stressing iricreased
individualism — necessary
to survive in an increasing-
ly individualized society
.where leisure time is grow-

ing.

' " ae as

| ‘
ae i"

“te

from B.C. , ; p

“Five hundred people in f> J NAA ue y)
‘our Vancouver office, | ; {fv wy
many of them ‘UBC or |- if
_BCIT graduates, compete ie
extreniely well in-the inter- | V