Sullivan Forum '99
Forum Themes

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Theme 1: The Legacy of Sullivan '88

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"How should schools respond to their environment and to the changing demands made upon them? That is the question that lies at the heart of this report."
"A Royal Commission on Education should suggest what is good about the kind of education world we have, as well as point the way to the kind of an educational world we wish to create in the years ahead."
Track A: Relevance for Kids
"Despite the diversity among them, all young people have similar
educational needs. All of them need to learn how to be economically self-sufficient, how to participate in the lives of their communities, how to understand the world in which they live, how to enjoy the benefits of Canadian society, and how to raise, in turn, the next generation."
Track B: Relevance for Society
"Schools, and their curricula, will need to be more process oriented, placing more emphasis on thinking, problem-solving and decision-making, and less on acquisition of content and subject matter."
Track C: Policy Recommendations
"This report seeks to define a better educational future for all of them (students, teachers, parents, organizations outside the school)-a future marked by opportunities for greater choice, access, flexibility, cooperation and responsibility-a future that we hope is both achievable and fair."

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Theme 2: Confirming a Mandate for the 21st Century

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"For practical purposes, a mandate statement should:
…. make explicit the scope of the school's responsibilities. We have been careful to define these responsibilities in educational terms… and have strongly cautioned educators not to assume social responsibilities that more properly accrue to other helping agencies of government.
…. clarify the roles and responsibilities of the principal participants
and actors in provincial schooling, both in terms of educational
practice and law.
…. make explicit the nature and sequence of the curriculum to be
followed at elementary and secondary levels, the learning outcomes
generally desired at such levels, the division of responsibility for
curriculum development and implementation, the classroom groupings favoured and preferred, and the nature, kind, and value of student assessment procedures.
…. include an explicit understanding of the level of financial support the system will be provided over a period of time, in terms of both operating and capital funding.
…. define for specific periods of time any special goals the system
seeks to pursue, e.g., promoting greater educational opportunities in rural areas, introducing new technologies into education, … or expanding choice among secondary school programs. If these goals are to be addressed for a specific period and receive special attention, funding, or treatment, the mandate statement should be revised so that it reflects the current emphases, strategies and priorities of government.
…. specify in some way who assumes responsibility for leadership,
change, and the renewal of the system."
Track A: Student Choice
"The curriculum is startlingly inadequate at the senior secondary level for learners not planning to attend a post-secondary institution. What was requested by most of the secondary students, even those headed to college or university was greater variety, choice, and relevance in course selection."
Track B: Transitions and Lifelong Learning
"If we accept current forecasts about the importance of a knowledge-base economy, about the prospects of "de-skilling" and the net export of skilled jobs from North America to other regions, or about the likelihood that mobility within and across careers will increase, then the idea of lifelong learning and the need for continued growth in knowledge and skills holds special meaning for practical and other reasons."
Track C: Challenges of Technology
"People wonder how education will help us understand and manage the new technological and scientific changes that are shaping our lives. The changes in our economic and social life which are being brought by such new and growing computer-based communications networks should be of
concern to the people of British Columbia, since the networks affect the way we live, the way we work, how we interact with others close to us and far away, how we use our leisure time, and how we are educated."

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Theme 3: Taking Sullivan's Legacy to the Next Step

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"Although the school is an institution of great importance, it is not an institution that can stand alone in educating or caring for the young. Any school's effectiveness is determined by other institutions and other forces outside its walls-in essence, the school's relationship with its environment is a symbiotic one. It would be difficult to proceed without some consideration of the articulation that is required among the various levels of the larger education system."

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