Public schools have been around since the mid 1800’s in our province. They have been a critical part of our societal fabric for a very long time. We knew that a strong public education system was critical to the health and success of our province. I found out some time ago with intrigue that Saanich was actually one of the first established school districts in the province. How cool is that? We were a trend setter here on the peninsula!
If you’re a parent you’ve probably done it dozens of times — telling your child to say “Thank-you” when someone has done something nice for them. We do it because it teaches our child to be polite and appreciative towards others. As parents, we want our children to understand the importance of being grateful.
But, is there more to showing gratitude ? Are there other benefits to understanding and expressing gratitude towards others? Our BC Curriculum includes it as an important learning objective, and some relatively new research even points to other potential benefits.
I found myself feeling somewhat nervous, perhaps a tad intimidated, when I set out to write this particular post. I felt myself being drawn into writing something about residential schools and the upcoming Orange Shirt Day (Sept 30th every year), but I also felt incredibly inadequate:
What I am NOT concerned about is whether this blog post might result in people talking about our nation’s past practices with Indigenous people. In fact, I hope that it might encourage some conversation about our experience with residential schools. Our country’s history with residential schools is shameful.
The Power of Why 