It's almost March, and I still haven't posted anything for February...I did start writing about three different blurbs, then abandoned them due to frantic extra-curricular activities!
I guess the biggest event happened right at the beginning of the month: I'm officially 30! The fam plus Leona, Don and Julie's bf treated me to a Seafood Extravaganza (see more photos on Flickr) --it was also a Farewell Extravaganza, because I left for Italy two days later. Much to Filippo's dismay, I'm super-comfortable with my age and now feel more settled in my skin. In the past decade, I've learned and changed so much; though my fundamental flavour is the same, I feel more focused --but less apologetic for the scattered spectrum of interests I've retained.
Am pleased to report that I'm not mellowing with age: Filippo came home waving a newspaper clipping ranking Italy above Canada in terms of child well-being. It was referring to the UNICEF study (issued Feb 14) comparing 21 industrialised countries across 40 indicators between 2000-2003, including:
- Material well-being
- Family and peer relationships
- Health and safety
- Behaviour and risks
- Own sense of well-being [educational]
- Own sense of well-being [subjective]
As with any study, there are all kinds of controversies --i.e. the inclusion of self-assessment (British children might be culturally predisposed to rating their personal level of happiness lower than perky Dutch children). But, overall, I think it was successful in its mission to provide a broad 'historical snapshot'.
I had to address Filippo's swagger on one count, though: I've learned that children are treated like God incarnate in this country, which surely accounts for a correlated spike in their well-being self-assessment. I don't dispute that strong family values and comparatively low crime rates make for happy and deservedly highly-ranked kids, but I know a little something about the Italian public education system, and its failings are too significant to be overlooked. Am pasting my response to Filippo below --feel free to tell me what you think.
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Ciao my softie,
I just wanted to show you the data that UNICEF uses to calculate the educational component of its "child well-being" statistics: the annual OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) numbers. This study came out last September and I have it saved to my computer if you'd like to read the whole thing. I find it interesting because I studied education policy for my Bachelor's, and you might find it interesting because it does a thorough job of comparing education systems around the world.
Here are some highlights:
Income parity
In Canada, men and women with the same level of university education earn the same salary. In Italy, women earn on average 13% less than men with the same level of university education.
This disparity is 'corrected' in the unskilled labour force, likely due to the strength of Italian labour unions: Canadian women with only a basic education earn 16% less than Canadian men with a basic education; Italian men with a basic education actually earn 8% less than women with the same level of education.
Variation in the performance of 15-year-olds in Mathematics
Variation within schools: Canada 70% : Italy 50%
Variation between schools: Canada 17% : Italy 58%
This variation is due not only to differences in quality of education given to students from poor backgrounds (as you will see elaborated below), but also because students in Italy (and Europe in general) are divided at a young age and sent to different schools depending on aptitude demonstrated in certain subjects.
In Canada (with only rare exceptions), students choose from the same classes offered at every single school in the country. There is no such thing as a "technical/vocational curriculum" vs. "academic curriculum", for example; all students must take the same core courses (60%) and write the same Government-administrated exams --but they can supplement these with a wide range of elective courses (40%) including auto mechanics, Cantonese language, drama, etc.
The study illustrates my explanation using Germany as an example, then goes on to explain how deeply entrenched this ideology is in national traditions: "France, for one, refuses to publish PISA's evidence on social inequality between schools." (p 17)
Quotes to ponder
"Here lies perhaps the biggest disappointment in Europe's education system. Many of them make ambitious claims when it comes to securing equity in learning opportunities. But the OECD's PISA study reveals that social background plays a larger role in determining a student's performance in countries such as Germany, France and Italy than in the U.S. This means that -despite the nominal emphasis on equality and equity in the educational system- Europeans from difficult socio-economic backgrounds don't receive the same educational opportunities as children from rich and middle-class families. In many countries, the data suggest that European schools reinforce existing socio-economic inequities." (p 16)
"Success will go to those individuals and countries which are swift to adapt, slow to complain and open to change ... International comparisons show the challenges that lie ahead for Europe. But they indicate that these challenges, which are also faced in other parts of the world, are being successfully addressed by countries as different as Finland, Canada and Japan." (p 17-18)
I just wanted to show you the data that UNICEF uses to calculate the educational component of its "child well-being" statistics: the annual OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) numbers. This study came out last September and I have it saved to my computer if you'd like to read the whole thing. I find it interesting because I studied education policy for my Bachelor's, and you might find it interesting because it does a thorough job of comparing education systems around the world.
Here are some highlights:
Income parity
In Canada, men and women with the same level of university education earn the same salary. In Italy, women earn on average 13% less than men with the same level of university education.
This disparity is 'corrected' in the unskilled labour force, likely due to the strength of Italian labour unions: Canadian women with only a basic education earn 16% less than Canadian men with a basic education; Italian men with a basic education actually earn 8% less than women with the same level of education.
Variation in the performance of 15-year-olds in Mathematics
Variation within schools: Canada 70% : Italy 50%
Variation between schools: Canada 17% : Italy 58%
This variation is due not only to differences in quality of education given to students from poor backgrounds (as you will see elaborated below), but also because students in Italy (and Europe in general) are divided at a young age and sent to different schools depending on aptitude demonstrated in certain subjects.
In Canada (with only rare exceptions), students choose from the same classes offered at every single school in the country. There is no such thing as a "technical/vocational curriculum" vs. "academic curriculum", for example; all students must take the same core courses (60%) and write the same Government-administrated exams --but they can supplement these with a wide range of elective courses (40%) including auto mechanics, Cantonese language, drama, etc.
The study illustrates my explanation using Germany as an example, then goes on to explain how deeply entrenched this ideology is in national traditions: "France, for one, refuses to publish PISA's evidence on social inequality between schools." (p 17)
Quotes to ponder
"Here lies perhaps the biggest disappointment in Europe's education system. Many of them make ambitious claims when it comes to securing equity in learning opportunities. But the OECD's PISA study reveals that social background plays a larger role in determining a student's performance in countries such as Germany, France and Italy than in the U.S. This means that -despite the nominal emphasis on equality and equity in the educational system- Europeans from difficult socio-economic backgrounds don't receive the same educational opportunities as children from rich and middle-class families. In many countries, the data suggest that European schools reinforce existing socio-economic inequities." (p 16)
"Success will go to those individuals and countries which are swift to adapt, slow to complain and open to change ... International comparisons show the challenges that lie ahead for Europe. But they indicate that these challenges, which are also faced in other parts of the world, are being successfully addressed by countries as different as Finland, Canada and Japan." (p 17-18)
