Michael Zwaagstra is a senior fellow at the Frontier Centre and public high school teacher. He received his Bachelor of Education and Master of Education from the University of Manitoba and Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Liberty University in Virginia. He is the author of A Sage on the Stage: Common Sense Reflections on Teaching and Learning, and co-author of What’s Wrong with Our Schools and How We Can Fix Them. He is a frequent author of education policy research and newspaper columns across Canada. His research mainly focuses on curricula, teaching instruction and public education. Michael’s research and commentary have been featured in radio, television and newspapers across the country. Michael lives with his wife and children in Steinbach, Manitoba.
The Vancouver School Board (VSB) strives for excellence in educating students. At least that’s what its vision statement says. However, the VSB’s recent decision to cancel all of its math and science honours programs calls this commitment into question. Instead of...
Principals and teachers should not be in the same union. That was a key recommendation of the K-12 Education Review Commission report. Clearly, the Manitoba government has taken this recommendation to heart. Bill 64, the Education Modernization Act, proposes to...
I’ve flown on a lot of planes over the years. Each one of them landed safely, thanks to the pilots in the cockpit. However, I don’t remember the name of a single one of those pilots. Nor do I recall their gender, race, sexual orientation, or religion. That’s because...
Think back to last August when Manitoba announced its back-to-school plan. Critics argued the plan to reopen schools would put students and teachers at risk of catching COVID-19. Not surprisingly, opposition politicians denounced the plan. Despite these criticisms,...
This past weekend, we learned of the tragic and unexpected passing of Pastor Leon Fontaine at 59 years of age. Leon was a gifted leader playing many roles both nationally and internationally. He was, with his wife Sally, the senior Pastors at Springs Church with...
Testimony before the Public Order Emergency Commission reveals the case for government invoking the Emergencies Act is either weak or very weak. The Prime Minister was, in fact, opposed to members of his cabinet or senior public health officials meeting with protest...
Saskatchewan government announced it was was scrapping standardized testing. Michael Zwaagstra is a public high school teacher and a Senior researcher with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.
Cutting throught the Edu-Babble - Research Fellow Michael Zwaagstra - Nineteenth National Congress on Rural Education in Canada, Saskatoon, March 31, 2014. View the entire Power Point Presentation here.
Michael Zwaagstra joins John Gormley to discuss Education Assessment Fads.
March 16, 2014 - Michael Zwaagstra, researcher for the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, joins the discussion about a petition to change math education in Alberta in 2014. (CKNW-AM)
“Everything is changing.” So states the two-minute promotional video on the Alberta government’s Inspiring Education website. It describes the need to “prepare Alberta’s students for this unknown and unknowable future” and notes that “we cannot predict what work will...
The lowly textbook is under siege by progressive educators. Again. Why waste money on textbooks, these educators argue, when all the information students ever need is available with the click of a mouse? Besides, they add, textbooks are hopelessly outdated and very...
“Every student deserves a personalized learning experience that matches his or her unique learning style.” This summarizes the obsession many schools have with individualized instruction. Heaven forbid that a teacher should prepare a lesson without considering the...
There is an old saying that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. By this standard, the Redford government must be insane—at least when it comes to public education reform. Over the last decade, the Department of...
Educational theorist William Heard Kilpatrick once wrote: “If people face a rapidly shifting and changing world, changing in unexpected ways and in unexpected directions, then what? Why, their education would stress thinking and methods of attack.” If it wasn’t for...