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Issues & Experts Archive > Week of June 16-23, 2003
Week of June 16-23, 2003
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Jun 23, 2003
Pushing out childhood?…A University of Alberta study on learning in kindergarten suggests schools should implement full day programs immediately, citing a dramatic impact on children’s mastery of key learning skills, particularly reading, and possible impact on their ability to succeed in school. SFU education professor Milt McClaren agrees that if students spend more time "in really good" kindergarten programs there will be positive advantages in terms of their advancement into Grade 1." That doesn’t simply mean hours of simple reading and arithmetic drills. I also suspect that part of the readiness is due to nothing more than the child getting acclimated to spending five hours in school," he says. But McClaren adds: "The conversation we aren’t really having however concerns childhood itself. We seem to be more and more intent on pushing childhood out of life, especially the sort of childhood where kids could spend time alone, playing with things of their own making, or simply fooling around with other kids." McClaren, who now lives in Kelowna, has studied curriculum development and a wide range of learning issues for more than three decades.
Getting a free doctoral ride…A number of Canadian universities have opted to waive tuition fees for doctoral students in the hopes of attracting the crème de la crème, who could potentially replace academe's rapidly retiring workforce. Queens, the University of British Columbia and Ottawa University are going down this path. Their action has prompted the Canadian Association of Graduate Studies to seek other universities' position on the matter. SFU dean of graduate studies Jonathan Driver says there are myriad reasons why universities should not get into giving doctoral students a free ride. Among them he cites: "Many of our masters students make significant contributions to knowledge and are an important component of many research projects. The logic that PhD students should pay no tuition because of their research contribution is flawed. A second feature of many 'free' tuition polices is that the lost tuition revenues must be made up from other sources. If the tuition waiver is paid for by funds that could have been used for graduate student support, the value of the waiver is debatable."
Market economy: not a panacea for Latin America…In an article recently published by the The Fraser Institute, the treasury secretary of Mexico says Latin America has failed to embrace market economies. Gil Díaz says, given that market economies are a necessary institutional framework for a sound and flourishing economy, Latin America hasn’t even met the essential prerequisites for creating such an economy. SFU assistant professor of Latin American studies and political scientist Anil Hira says, "Mr. Díaz’s prescription does not square at all with the current or past economic reality in Latin America. To claim that market economics is the solution is unscientific." Hira can expand on why he sees Latin America’s tie to the US economy as having more to do with the failure of the southern continent’s economic wellbeing than its failure to adopt a market-based economy. Hira can also talk about the view that he shares with Díaz, that the inadequacy of Latin America’s justice system is linked to its ailing economy, and his view that Chile is not a good example of a market economy.
- Milt McClaren, 250.764.8781; milt_mcclaren@sfu.ca
Getting a free doctoral ride…A number of Canadian universities have opted to waive tuition fees for doctoral students in the hopes of attracting the crème de la crème, who could potentially replace academe's rapidly retiring workforce. Queens, the University of British Columbia and Ottawa University are going down this path. Their action has prompted the Canadian Association of Graduate Studies to seek other universities' position on the matter. SFU dean of graduate studies Jonathan Driver says there are myriad reasons why universities should not get into giving doctoral students a free ride. Among them he cites: "Many of our masters students make significant contributions to knowledge and are an important component of many research projects. The logic that PhD students should pay no tuition because of their research contribution is flawed. A second feature of many 'free' tuition polices is that the lost tuition revenues must be made up from other sources. If the tuition waiver is paid for by funds that could have been used for graduate student support, the value of the waiver is debatable."
- Jonathan Driver, driver@sfu.ca (email best), 604.291.4255 (away after June27)
Market economy: not a panacea for Latin America…In an article recently published by the The Fraser Institute, the treasury secretary of Mexico says Latin America has failed to embrace market economies. Gil Díaz says, given that market economies are a necessary institutional framework for a sound and flourishing economy, Latin America hasn’t even met the essential prerequisites for creating such an economy. SFU assistant professor of Latin American studies and political scientist Anil Hira says, "Mr. Díaz’s prescription does not square at all with the current or past economic reality in Latin America. To claim that market economics is the solution is unscientific." Hira can expand on why he sees Latin America’s tie to the US economy as having more to do with the failure of the southern continent’s economic wellbeing than its failure to adopt a market-based economy. Hira can also talk about the view that he shares with Díaz, that the inadequacy of Latin America’s justice system is linked to its ailing economy, and his view that Chile is not a good example of a market economy.
- Anil Hira, 604.291.3286, ahira@sfu.ca
(away until July 7, but checking email regularly)