Superintendent's Monthly Message

February 17th 2010

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

Student Engagement has long been recognized as a critical factor in student success and has been characterized by Willms, Friesen & Milton in What did you do in school today? (2009) as a combination of three types of behaviour: ‘social engagement’ (a sense of belonging and participation in school life); academic engagement (participation in the formal requirements of schooling); and, intellectual (a serious emotional or cognitive investment in learning, using higher-order thinking skills such as analysis and evaluation to increase understanding, solve complex problems or construct new knowledge). As schools provide programs for students within the context of a school environment and through a variety of educational experiences (both within the school and beyond its walls), deliberate efforts are made to cultivate and promote all three types of engagement.

The importance of student engagement as a precondition to student learning was captured as one of the 20 recommendations contained in the Prince Edward Island Task Force on Student Achievement (December, 2005) and, more recently, has been the subject of further investigation by a Student Engagement Committee consisting of representatives from the Department of Education & Early Childhood Development, school board supervisory staff, school administrators, and classroom teachers. In addition to a review of current educational research from both Canada and the United States, the committee noted “Prince Edward Island educators, schools, school boards, and department now, more than ever, are collaborating to share expanding knowledge and practise, to learn together as we explore curriculum content, effective instructional strategies, ways to provide feedback and assess student learning, and strategies to support students, with the goal of improving teaching and learning in our schools.” Further, the committee recognized “a substantial amount of work has been done to develop or enhance initiatives related to early learning and literacy, curriculum and assessment, career education, school health, school development, parent engagement, and leadership.”

Within the Western School Board, these same initiatives are well-documented: School Development in all 21 of our schools, Common Assessments (Grades 3, 6 and 9), a pilot program this year in Career Education for Grade 10 students at Kensington Intermediate Senior High School, a School Health survey last spring in 20 of our 21 schools (with school-specific results on mental fitness, physical activity, healthy eating, and tobacco/drug/alcohol usage), a Parent-School System workshop on Talking & Sharing last October, and the ongoing improvements to curriculum and programs through the collaboration of our own staff with Department of Education & Early Childhood development personnel (new or updated programs at various grade levels in Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies, Health, French, Art, etc.). We are also particularly pleased to see the extension of Career and Technical Education programs for our high school youth. Similar to the excellent history of widespread success at Westisle with its extensive menu of programs, Three Oaks is building its own repertoire and, through partnering with Kensington and Kinkora, we are now offering the TOSH-based technical and vocational programs to all 3 high schools in East Prince. One program of which we are particularly proud is unique to TOSH and continues to grow and evolve each year - a program related to the aviation industry which offers credits in aviation and aerospace. A recent media release (see below) provides more information on this exciting program and the collaborative efforts among the School Board, TOSH, Department of Education, the PEI Aerospace Sector Council and a number of local businesses/partners.

The continuing efforts of staff and students in the pursuit of excellence in these programs and the myriad of educational experiences from Grade 1 through Grade 12 is truly a collective effort which is sustained by the active involvement of our parents and local communities. Through recognizing and responding to the diverse needs and interests of all school population, we will indeed gain the student engagement so critical to success. With everyone working together for the benefit of our children, we will find the success we seek!

Aviation and Aerospace Initiative in the Western School Board

Students in the Western School Board will have the opportunity to participate in an enhanced Aviation and Aerospace program beginning in September of 2010 at Three Oaks Senior High School. The enhanced program is a result of a year long collaborative effort involving Three Oaks, the Western School Board, the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, and the PEI Aerospace Sector Council.

The flight simulator used in the program

Willard Horne of the PEI Aerospace Sector Council, who was involved in the planning of the new program, is impressed with the curriculum and learning activities: “This arrangement will allow us to meet one of the Sector Council’s main goals . . . to effectively govern labour market development through collaboration between industry, government and education . . . Companies in our sector are looking forward to assisting students with their experiential and cooperative education learning experiences.”

The principal of Three Oaks, Duncan McKillop, congratulated Donnie Gallant, the Aviation and Aerospace instructor, “Donnie has worked hard in establishing a strong program at our school and creating positive learning outcomes for our students.” Mr. McKillop added that the new program would also be available to interested students from KISH and Kinkora High School.

“The recent report on student engagement, What Did You Do In School Today? Exploring the Concept of Career Development and its Inplications for Teaching and Learning (2009 Canadian Education Association) has clearly stated that hands on, experiential learning is an important concept to having students fully engaged and maximizing their learning potential,” says Mike Leslie, Career Education Specialist at the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. Mr. Leslie also indicated that additional schools were in various stages of planning for similar type initiatives to enhance student engagement.

Aviation and Aerospace
What will students in the aviation and aerospace program study?
A bundle of Grade 11 and Grade 12 courses in which students earn:

• Four aviation and aerospace credits
• Two cooperative education credits to gain workplace experience that enables students to refine, extend and practise sector-specific knowledge and skills
• Experiential learning, career exploration and reach-ahead activities within the sector
• Certifications and training programs/courses in first aid, CPR and WHMIS, and three additional industry certifications
• Essential Skills and work habits required in the sector

What are the future career paths for aviation and aerospace majors?
For aviation and aerospace majors, possible careers include:

• Apprenticeship – aircraft maintenance engineer, instrumentation and control technician...
• College – aviation technician, commercial pilot...
• University – aerospace engineer, flight engineer...
• Entry level workplace – cargo attendant, tarmac signaller...