Education- what it is and what it isn’t

By Lethbridge Herald on February 11, 2026.

Editor:

Public Education has spent a lot of time in the spotlight here in Alberta over the past while.  All of us have memories of our own school years.  For some, these are pleasant memories; for others, they are times we would sooner forget.  My reality suggests that years of being a student is only a small part of what the education system is all about.  Our 12 or 13 years as a student do not equip us to understand what education is all about.

Every child/youngster in the province has a right to an education.  This includes the opportunity to acquire skills and abilities that will equip one to eventually become a productive and contributing member of the larger society.  This can be defined as achieving “knowledge out comes” and “performance outcomes.”

In more simple terms, it is, “What does one know and what can one do with that knowledge?”

Education is the highway that prepares young people for the opportunities to earn a living and have a share of the goods and opportunities of the grown-up world.  Education is how each youngster will become aware of his/her individual talents and abilities.  It is the vehicle by which each one will grow to understand that not all share the same strengths and abilities; some learn to read and understand the alphabet quickly and easily; some are gifted in using numbers and performing calculations; some have exceptional dexterity and demonstrate unique abilities physically and athletically.  Mostly, children have degrees of skill in all these things and many more.  These skills are not equal. Self-examination can guide each of us to assess what our strengths and challenges might be; no two of us are going to be identical. Genetically determined abilities play a role in what we are likely to define as our gifts, or our challenges; different experiences can equally impact how we define our “fit” in the world around us.  The economics of the home into which we are born will also have a huge potential to influence who we might become.  This is only a tiny sample of the factors that might impact what a youngster experiences in school.  That full list might well be infinite, but the list here will hopefully communicate that young people in school are not all equal.

Teachers are very frequently people who learned easily and found their schooling to be a positive experience.  They were so comfortable in their role as students that they chose to find employment in the school system and pass on their experiences to the next generations of youngsters.  However, the world in which today’s teachers find themselves is substantially different from the world in which they were the students.  

I stated above, “Every child/youngster in the province has a right to an education.”  That remains an accurate statement.  Included in that statement is the right to feel safe.  Every child must be able to come to school and live in an environment where his/her safety and security are assured.  Only then can all children thrive.  

Parents have the right to expect that the public school system will provide that environment.  

However, the next half of that sentence states, “Every child has the responsibility to contribute to the safety and respect for every other child.”  

Every parent has the responsibility to teach his/her child (or children) to contribute to the wellbeing of the other children who share that classroom with their child.  

Every parent is expected to be very supportive of their child’s right to an education.  Children, for the most part, are very quick to learn and understand their rights.  This is not necessarily indicative of accepting responsibilities by children or parents.  It is one thing to expect that your child will be kept safe from being hurt or impacted negatively by another child in the room; it is quite another when your child is presented as the antagonist who is hurting or negatively impacting the learning of another child or group of children.

A child’s failure to live up to his/her responsibility to contribute to the smooth operation of the classroom environment is to lose – usually on a temporary basis – the right to be a participant in that classroom. 

In a perfect world, all might agree that such an environment is attainable.  However, no group of children is going to be completely compatible all the time.  There are going to be conflicts that will need adjudication and settlement by teachers and administrative staff.  If the perfect world does not exist and your child is being the recipient of verbal or physical aggression on the part of another student or group of students, what are your expectations from the teacher or administrator?  What consequences do you expect to be imposed on the aggressor? 

The first factor that must be addressed is the classification of the transgression.  A verbal outburst, for example, is very likely far less invasive than a physical action.  Does an unkind or vulgar remark warrant the same consequence as a slap?  Does a slap warrant the same action as a punch?  Does a punch deserve a smaller consequence than being hit with a stick or a rock?  As parents, your irritation is expected if your child is violated.  

In contrast, when the one doing the name calling, cursing, slapping, hitting, kicking, or throwing rocks is your child, you are expected to anticipate and accept that the same consequences you want when your youngster is offended will be the same consequences your youngster will receive when he/she is the perpetrator.

No child or youngster has the right to disrupt the learning environment for any other student or group of students.  When that disruption occurs regularly and frequently in a manner that interferes with the learning of others, the student presenting the problem can no longer have a place in that classroom. He/She may need a couple of days, a week, or longer away from the classroom to conclude that his/her return to the class is dependent on a change in attitude and behaviour.  In the extreme circumstance, that youngster may not be able to come back. School suspensions are a tool schools can use to help a youngster reset the expectations and privilege of having a physical presence in the classroom.  Note that I have called it a “privilege;” the right to be there is contingent on not interfering in the learning opportunities for others; it is contingent on living up to the defined responsibilities.  

School expulsions are a much more serious matter.  This tool will only be used when the offending student refuses to change the required behaviours.  It will only be used when the offending student presents a viable threat that endangers the learning or safety of others. 

School suspensions do not relieve the school of its responsibility to provide educational opportunities to that youngster.  Assignments and self-directed learning opportunities are expected to be made available for the youngster to continue academic growth while away from the school.  

Expulsions carry a similar responsibility.  The youngster cannot come back to school.  Provision of learning materials that can be pursued at home with parental guidance and direction should be provided.  This work is time driven.  Completed work is returned to the school where the progress can be marked, assessed, and corrected in a given time frame.  Once accomplished, new work is to be made available with a new timeline for completion.  

Failure to complete the work often means that new tasks are not provided.  In such cases, the non-attending student frequently abandons his/her right to further instruction from the school.  The education system has provided the best means at its disposal to provide for this youngster.  If the youngster decides not to complete the educational opportunities provided, the youngster, and his/her parents, abdicates the right to be a student.  That liability now lies with the youngster and parents.  

This content has only reflected on the impact of interactions between or among students.  There is another component that centers on the required behaviours each youngster must demonstrate relating to those attempting to provide the instruction and learning activities by which progress is measured.

That content will have to wait for another day.  For today, this is enough.  

Gary Moore,

Lethbridge