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.
There is a significant push by some educators to abolish traditional percentage grades. This “ungrading” movement wants teachers to eliminate, or at least minimize, the status of formal grades. A Winnipeg Free Press story recently described how one Winnipeg high...
The provincial government recently announced that it is partnering with a B.C.-based company to deliver virtual financial literacy programming in Manitoba classrooms. Starting next school year, Enriched Academy will provide lessons to about 1,500 Manitoba...
This election will have a big impact on the type of learning that happens in schools.
Keeping students safe must always be a top priority.
Free citizens have minds of their own and want to pursue their lives as they see fit. This is inconvenient for the elites, who wish to be in charge of everyone’s lives so that they can show their superiority and gain benefit for themselves and their friends. So the...
Demographia International Housing Affordability rates middle-income housing affordability in 94 major housing markets in eight nations: Australia, Canada, China, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States. This edition covers the third...
Saunders Secondary School in London, Ontario is home to approximately 2,000 students. It’s been in the news a lot lately, but not in a good way. A recent CBC story quoted an anonymous teacher who described Saunders as a “tinderbox of violence” where students regularly...
When parents send their children to school, they place a lot of trust in teachers. It’s important that teachers not undermine that trust. Unfortunately, some teachers haven’t learned this lesson. For example, last year a school posted a message on its outdoor sign...
Technology has had a huge impact on public education. Classrooms of today look quite different from those of a generation ago. It shows just how quickly technology changes and the extent to which it dominates our children’s lives. However, while it makes sense to...
Prospective teachers learn a lot about individualized instruction in faculties of education. That’s because teachers are encouraged to personalize learning, for each student, as much as possible. To a certain degree, this makes good sense. An inflexible cookie-cutter...
“Sign here please.” Anyone who has ever accepted a UPS delivery, signed a permission slip for a school field trip, or filled out a legal document has likely seen this phrase. Although it takes only a few seconds to sign a document, our handwritten signature means that...
Finally, provincial governments are loosening public health restrictions. Based on what many health officials are saying, there’s a good chance that our country will be largely free of these restrictions by spring. This is happening not a moment too soon, particularly...
Finally, schools across Canada are starting to reopen. Most provinces had switched to remote learning at the beginning of January to assess the impact of the Omicron variant. But now, thankfully, these remote learning sessions are coming to an end. Students in British...
I learned a lot about Canadian history when I was an elementary school student. However, it had little to do with what happened during class. Rather, I came across an old Canadian history textbook in our school library and started reading it on my own time. What...
It takes at least five years of training to become a teacher. In their university courses, prospective teachers learn a lot about the importance of diversity and the need for self-reflection. However, they learn precious little about effective instruction or about how...