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.
Hospitals are experiencing an influx of young children with serious respiratory illnesses. Out of concern for their wellbeing, some health professionals are pushing to bring back mask mandates for schools. In other words, students would be required, once again, to...
The Manitoba government intends to improve how it handles teacher misconduct. In a recent news release, Education Minister Wayne Ewasko said his department is consulting with key stakeholders about this issue. It’s about time the province tackles this problem. The...
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Vancouver’s recent school board election generated a lot of heat. The heat was caused, in part, by a group of trustee candidates pledging to bring back honours courses, which the board abolished last year. Many parents were upset when the honours courses were cut,...
Education has never been more important for Canadian students, parents and our nation and yet it has never been more looked at with more skepticism that it is not serving anyone well. In a competitive world where critical thinking, skills and shared civic values are...
At the time of Confederation, Canada’s Plains Indians were in a desperate situation. The same European-introduced guns and horses that resulted in a briefly glorious golden age for them had also resulted in constant inter-tribal warfare and the rapid disappearance of...
Political attacks on the Indian Act are back in the news, and that is a good thing. However, Canadian politicians, including First Nation politicians, need a credible plan about what to do before we pull out the champagne. Attacking the Indian Act is not a big deal...
When teachers look at the students in their classrooms can they assume that they all come from similar backgrounds and all had the same opportunities while growing up? Anyone who has ever been in a public school classroom knows that the answer to that question is a...
What type of learner are you? Do you learn best when you are shown pictures? Maybe you preferred having things explained to you verbally, or perhaps you need a hands on approach to really grasp a new topic. Many people assume that we have individual learning styles,...
According to a survey conducted for Historica Canada only one-in-four Canadians was familiar with the historical achievements of Lucy Maude Montgomery, author of the acclaimed "Anne of Green Gables" series, even worst few than one-in-five Canadians are familiar with...
Remember Lynden Dorval? He was the Edmonton high school teacher that was fired because he refused to follow his schools "No Zero Policy." His firing set off a storm of controversy and drew much attention to No-Zero policies in general. A No-zero policy means teachers...
Back in 2017 CBC ran a story about a teacher who was so passionate about climate change that he attended an intensive training session lead by former US vice president Al Gore, after being designated a climate reality leader at this session, the teacher had his grade...
How good is your memory? Let's test it out. Memorize these seven letters H, K, C, T, N, I, E, was that hard? Try these seven letters instead K, I, T, C, H, E, N which series of letters were easier to remember? (Episode 5 of 10)
Teaching is a challenging job, anyone who spends any time in school knows that teachers have a lot of demands placed upon them. Their responsibilities go far beyond basic classroom instruction, from dealing with disruptive student behaviours to organizing extra...
Something we often hear is that students need to become critical thinkers, but what does this exactly mean? Critical thinking is defined as the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment. Take a step back explore perspectives and come up...
Thomas Edison is one of the greatest inventors who has ever lived. Some of the inventions that he is credited with include the light bulb, phonograph, motion picture camera. I think we can all agree Edison's inventions changed our lives for the better. however, Edison...