THE YUKON EDUCATION ACT: COMMENTARY AND DISCUSSION ON RECENT LEGISLATION

For the past four years the people of the Yukon Territory in the Northwest of Canada have been involved in a number of activities designed to bring about a reform of their education system. The culmination of these activities is to be a new education law planned for enactment in 1990. This article p...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Burgess, Donald A.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: McGill Journal of Education / Revue des sciences de l'éducation de McGill 1990
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Online Access:https://mje.mcgill.ca/article/view/7917
Description
Summary:For the past four years the people of the Yukon Territory in the Northwest of Canada have been involved in a number of activities designed to bring about a reform of their education system. The culmination of these activities is to be a new education law planned for enactment in 1990. This article provides an analysis of the Yukon's proposed new Education Act, refers to some of the recent education reform movements elsewhere, and then outlines some of the major elements of the Yukon's draft law including student and parental rights and responsibilities, a three-tiered system of local school governance, the roles of teachers and principals, a "made in the Yukon" curriculum, a comprehensive appeals procedure, and arrangements for the increased participation of the Yukon's First Nation peoples. The article concludes with critical analysis and commentary on the appropriateness of the proposed law for schooling in today's society. RÉSUMÉ Depuis quatre ans, la population du Yukon (nord-ouest du Canada) participe à un processus de réforme du système d'éducation qui a pour but l'adoption d'une nouvelle loi sur l'éducation dont l'entrée en viguer est prévue pour 1990. Le présent article analyse ce projet de loi, examine d'autres mouvements réformistes récents et décrit certains des principaux éléments du projet de loi yukonais, notamment: les droits et responsabilités des parents et des étudiants, le système de gestion scolaire à trois paliers proposé, le rôle des enseignants et principaux d'école, le programme scolaire "conçu au Yukon", la procédure globale d'appel et les dispositions visant à accroître la participation des Premières nations. L'article se termine sur une analyse critique assortie d'observations où l'auteur examine la pertinence du projet de loi compte tenu des besoins de la société contemporaine en matière d'éducation.