Canadian Policy

This year, I'm teaching a first year seminar (enrollment is 22 first year students) on "Understanding Power and Conflict Through Film: Making Sense of the Politics of the 21st Century." The idea for this course is to introduce students to some of the main conceptual tools that political scientists use to make sense of the world. My hope is that by the end of the course, the students will be able to apply political science concepts to any political situation they encounter in the news, etc.

A popular question in Canada, among both scholars and pundits: cultural diversity and deep disagreement... good? bad? some of both? What to do in the face of deep disputes over big questions of religion, cultural practices, and moral values?

According to a recent Globe and Mail article:

“The Conservative government will introduce legislation that would allow first nations members living on reserve to own their property, a radical change that aims to spur economic development in native communities that choose to embrace the new law ….

Over the last several years, social science research on educational success has been coalescing around one indisputable fact.  If you control for socio-economic factors, the most important influence on student success is the quality of the teacher.

Recently, a friend of mine, who is a vice-principal at a middle school in downtown Toronto, mentioned that although a majority of new teachers they hire every year succeed in the classroom, a significant number do not.

Part of the problem, apparently, is the interview process.