Education in the Age of Climate Change

Dear B.C. Liberals: Your budget priorities need fixing.

Lizanne Foster — Sun, 12 Feb 2017 17:22:31 +0000

Dear B.C Minister of Finance Michael De Jong,

Thank you for your voicemail message expressing your regret that I was not home to share with you my priorities for a balanced budget. Perhaps it was a good thing that I was not available for your call because I have a feeling you don’t really want to hear what I have to say about your government’s fiscal management record.

Firstly, I don't think we could even agree about the topic of our conversation since I see a balanced budget as an oxymoron, like fresh-frozen or pretty-ugly. A budget is a forecast, not a fixed entity. It's a projection that is at best an estimation of what spending will be.

B.C. Women's Marches should spark a movement for justice here, too.

Lizanne Foster — Sun, 22 Jan 2017 19:07:31 +0000

Yesterday it felt good to be one of thousands marching in B.C. to challenge the misogynist rhetoric of a narcissistic president. It was cathartic to walk with so many whose protest was displayed on signs philosophic and poetic all around the planet, from Alaska to Antarctica.

But today, when I think about what is happening in our own province, I wonder when we will see thousands take to the streets to protest the egregious actions of the B.C. Liberal government and Christy Clark?

While big money gets to feast at her table, children with learning disabilities struggle to keep up with lessons in mouldy portables, waiting for the crumbs she was so "excited" to promise.

B.C. teachers' victory brings to mind 14 years of losses for kids

Lizanne Foster — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 17:25:53 +0000

She's excited about our Supreme Court win. Premier Christy Clark, who as Minister of Education in 2002, introduced legislation that violated teachers' constitutional rights, and set in motion 14 years of students' suffering, is excited that the Supreme Court of Canada has said that she was wrong.

What I wish she would feel is remorse.

What I feel is grief.

My elation at hearing the news of the end of a very long struggle for teachers was followed by sadness mixed with anger about all that has been lost over the past 14 years.

Dropping the ball on public education in British Columbia

Lizanne Foster — Sun, 30 Oct 2016 17:43:50 +0000

I always know when I've dropped one of the gajillion juggling balls that is my teaching job. It's when my students' faces have the kind of look a puppy has when it's being blamed for something it didn't do. They look at me all wide-eyed and wondering what just happened as they listen to me express frustration.

This frustration always happens when I temporarily forget what I know about what my students need. Last week, at a moment when I was exhausted and distressed, I forgot that lecturing after 1 p.m. is an utter waste of time, completely out of sync with students' circadian rhythms.

B.C. Ministry of Education: Spare us the hyperbole about flexibility

Lizanne Foster — Sat, 17 Sep 2016 19:26:04 +0000

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One time I wished I had playdough in my classroom. Another time, a whole bunch of Lego blocks. Last week, I wished I had crazy sunglasses for all my students.

Here's what B.C. teachers aren't including on their back-to-school supply list -- but maybe they should

Lizanne Foster — Fri, 26 Aug 2016 21:23:54 +0000

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How do we teach our teenagers courage in a world that needs it?

Lizanne Foster — Mon, 18 Jul 2016 22:25:52 +0000

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Public schools nurture Canadian values

Lizanne Foster — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 22:39:00 +0000

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I wonder if it’s because Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is actually a teacher that so much of his Canada Day speech today reminded me of all that is good about public education?

For every example he gave of Canadian values, I thought of what those values looked like in the place where I teach.

B.C. Liberal's education funding deception right out of '1984'

Lizanne Foster — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 02:52:07 +0000

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Worried about B.C. Ed funding cuts? Just bring your own hazmat suit [Satire]

Lizanne Foster — Sun, 22 May 2016 17:11:35 +0000

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For Immediate Release

Lower Mainland, B.C.

22 May 2016

PARENTS PREPARE TO PURCHASE ADDITIONAL SCHOOL SUPPLIES

It's never been easier to get the public to accept privatizing our schools

Lizanne Foster — Tue, 03 May 2016 02:20:26 +0000

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As a technology corporation you have long been aware of Rupert Murdoch's suggestion to invest in a public education sector that is worth trillions of dollars. Unfortunately, as you are also aware, investment in this sector is particularly tricky and requires much patience.

How to privatize a public education system

Lizanne Foster — Sun, 24 Apr 2016 22:16:12 +0000

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Teenagers are creative problem solvers. Let's nurture that.

Lizanne Foster — Wed, 24 Feb 2016 14:24:15 +0000

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Dear Teens,

We care about more than just pocket money Premier Christy Clark

Lizanne Foster — Sat, 09 Jan 2016 20:21:12 +0000

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Does Premier Christy Clark believe that money is the only thing on the minds of voters? Does she think that voters are really enjoying having the extra money in their pockets from all her tax cuts so that they can have the choice to pay to cross bridges? Does she think we're pleased that we have some extra change to support school fundraisers and to donate to Adopt-a-School?

The children Christy Clark forgot

Lizanne Foster — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 15:45:16 +0000

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I'm thinking of the students who wish school was open today. The ones whose only meal each day is the one they get through a school meal program.

There's something about a headscarf

Lizanne Foster — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 17:20:20 +0000

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Dear Sajjal,

I wonder how you bear it all each day.

After the Paris attacks, will hate win again?

Lizanne Foster — Sat, 14 Nov 2015 16:14:50 +0000

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New B.C. curriculum designed for private, not public schools

Lizanne Foster — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 19:59:20 +0000

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B.C.'s new school curriculum doesn't 'personalize' learning, it 'technologizes' it

Lizanne Foster — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 19:48:26 +0000

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B.C.'s new curriculum can't help students while millions in funding cuts still fester

Lizanne Foster — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 19:11:15 +0000

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Which Canada will you celebrate on Canada Day?

Lizanne Foster — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 20:20:01 +0000

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I'm not sure which Canada to celebrate this year. In the past I celebrated John Diefenbaker's Canada, the one that introduced the Canadian Bill of Rights, Pierre Elliot Trudeau's Canada, that birthed the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and Brian Mulroney's Canada that fought to end Apartheid. But in Stephen Harper's Canada, what is there to celebrate?

Mother/Earth

Lizanne Foster — Sun, 10 May 2015 15:30:31 +0000

My mother is vanishing. Her hair once lush and long, is gone. Her thick eyebrows replaced by pencilled arches. Her shrinking body no longer capable of painting bedroom walls.

Her mind erodes a little more each week. Her conversation, a stuck record, the same phrases repeated over and over again.

But she still remembers the songs she sang while she worked to keep our home humming.

Her love filled our childhood world. It was there in the clothing she made, the sweaters she knit, the sweets she saved to surprise us with.

But there are no sweet surprises anymore.

We are watching her vanish.

Soon she'll be no more.

Take up the challenge to honour the Earth and mothers between Earth Day and Mother's Day

Lizanne Foster — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 23:30:50 +0000

Earth Day is being marked this week in communities all across Canada. In two weeks, heartfelt cards will be sent to mothers everywhere in celebration of Mother's Day. What would it take for millions of Canadians to spend the next two weeks, between Earth Day and Mother's Day doing something to slow environmental destruction on Mother Earth/Mother Nature?

While the powers behind the Merchants of Doubt are being exposed, mothers everywhere are sounding the alarm about the need for action in response to the climate crisis.

Why you can't afford to shop for a spring outfit

Lizanne Foster — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 21:32:40 +0000

I stopped shopping for pleasure during our strike last summer. While losing large chunks of salary each week, I simply could not afford the pleasure of purchasing that new summer outfit.

I still could not afford to shop for pleasure in the fall when we finally returned to work. And even though by December I had income from two jobs, I did not shop for Christmas presents. I sent wishes instead of presents to friends and family.

But, just as I was beginning to feel smug about the financial benefits of this self-imposed austerity, the spring shopping catalogues started showing up in my mailbox.

So many pretty cardigans! Such cute dresses! I had to have those jeans!

Dear Ms Clarkson: Education on the border between whiteness and blackness

Lizanne Foster — Sat, 07 Feb 2015 16:59:49 +0000

Dear Ms Clarkson,

This photo was taken on 19th November 1999 during a conversation we had in the library at Queen Elizabeth secondary in Surrey, B.C. That morning you had given a speech about the promise and possibilities of our multicultural society.

At this moment, we are talking about teaching. We are not talking about the reason you chose to visit our school.

By focusing on collaboration, not competition, teachers can save civilization

Lizanne Foster — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 01:00:47 +0000

[T]he task is to articulate…an alternative worldview to rival the one at the heart of the ecological crisis -- embedded in interdependence rather than hyper-individualism, reciprocity rather than dominance, and cooperation rather than hierarchy. …Because in the hot and stormy future we have already made inevitable through our past emissions, an unshakeable belief in the equal rights of all people and a capacity for deep compassion will be the only things standing between civilization and barbarism. (This Changes Everything, page 462)

We Are All Connected

Lizanne Foster — Thu, 25 Dec 2014 19:47:53 +0000

Anyone who spends time with children or teens knows that they sometimes say the most profound things, perhaps without actually meaning to. It's as though their eyes can see the world in ways no longer possible for those of us who have fully conformed to conventional ways of thinking, those of us who no longer see the ordinary magic that surrounds us.

Each year I am reminded of this ordinary magic when I take my students on a three-day camping field trip. Even though it's the most exhausting and stressful thing I do - imagine being responsible for 30 teens for 72 hours - I know that their experiences at camp will be what they remember for the rest of their lives. They come back to school each year to tell me so.

We are because the Earth is

Lizanne Foster — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 00:45:54 +0000

Have you noticed that when politicians in the U.S. and Canada talk about education reform, the reason they provide for why change is necessary is because of what "the economy" needs. They tell us that the reason we need to change what happens in schools is because we need to grow the economy and the only way to do that is for schools to produce the kinds of workers that corporations want. Given the fact that there can be no economy without a healthy environment, isn't this focus on what the economy needs a bit short-sighted?

Reading the world, ecologically

Lizanne Foster — Sun, 30 Nov 2014 16:43:51 +0000

Alice, a neighbour's six-year-old daughter, is learning how to read. She's learning how squiggles on a page can be filled with meaning. She's learning that these squiggles "say" things. A whole new world is opening up for her, a world of different spaces and places she can travel to through those squiggles.

But I wonder what other kinds of reading she will need to master in order to make sense of the world in this age of climate change? Should she know how to "read" the land as her ancestors used to do? To know what to expect when certain flowers are in bud or when the wind shifts or when particular birds arrive in the garden?

Ecological literacy critical to tomorrow's children

Lizanne Foster — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 22:25:17 +0000

The IPCC has just released yet another report warning of the consequences of inaction on climate change. In clear detail, the report lays out viable options to mitigate the effects of climate change and suggests a political path that will lead the population of the planet away from the precipice we are heading toward.

But we should expect that politicians will find excuses not to act. They will say it's too expensive. That the economy will be devastated. That now is not the time.