Latest news with #KarenSharma
Winnipeg Free Press
22-05-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
Manitoba review finds widespread dissatisfaction with reading instruction
Manitoba's early 'Right to Read' findings suggest a majority of teachers do not think schools are generally using effective methods to teach students to read. The Manitoba Human Rights Commission hosted a long-awaited public townhall in downtown Winnipeg on Wednesday as part of its deep-dive into issues affecting students with reading disabilities. Executive director Karen Sharma spoke at length about what her team has heard to date about instructional approaches, screening tools to identify struggling readers, and interventions — or the lack thereof. 'We commonly heard that… the approach currently used in Manitoba schools is not effective in teaching students to read,' Sharma told a crowd of approximately 75 at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Her team conducted comprehensive online surveys in the spring of 2023. The release of those results, as well as ongoing public and stakeholder consultations, have repeatedly been delayed. The commission has cited a busier-than-usual litigation workload since it announced the project during Dyslexia Awareness Month in October 2022. At the time, it planned to draft recommendations for the provincial government by the end of 2023. Sharma said Wednesday the project is now a top priority and she and her co-lead, Megan Fultz, plan to finalize a report later this year. A total of 93 students, 315 parents, guardians and other family members, and 283 teachers and school administrators have participated in different polls tailored to their specific identity. Seven in 10 school employees indicated either 'whole language' or 'balanced literacy' philosophies, often grouped together due to their overlapping ideas about the importance of using context clues to guess unknown words, is used most often to teach reading locally. (Reading Recovery, a popular program in Manitoba that introduces struggling readers to levelled books that are grouped by complexity and become increasingly more difficult as students progress through them, falls into this group.) Nine per cent said 'structured literacy' — explicit, cumulative and systematic instruction about the relationship between sounds and letters — was the most common approach. The remaining either did not know or cited 'other.' Asked about their thoughts on the status quo's results, about 60 per cent of teachers and administrators indicated it is not working. Parents were asked the same two questions in their survey. Their answers mirrored educators' ones, with more than half of participants frustrated by existing practises. The findings echo Ontario's groundbreaking 2019 Right to Read report that concluded its schools were not using evidence-based approaches that incorporated phonics into reading instruction. Manitoba's project is a spinoff of Ontario's inquiry. Holly Cebrij and her 11-year-old drove to Winnipeg from Portage la Prairie on Wednesday to weigh in. 'I don't like school one bit,' said Alyssa, who attends a public elementary school located about 85 kilometres east of Winnipeg. Cebrij said she's accepted that her youngest daughter will always have a complex relationship with school and require extra support, owing to her late diagnosis of dyslexia. Following years of unsuccessful requests for a school-based assessment to find out why Alyssa was struggling so much more than her older sister and peers in kindergarten through Grade 4, the family paid for a $3,000 private assessment. They recently got their answers: dyslexia and ADHD. 'She missed the prime years of instruction. She's in Grade 6 now. How do you catch up?' Cebrij said, adding she has taught herself — a non-teacher — how to teach basic letter-sound associations and pronunciations to help her youngest learn to read outside school hours. The duo was presented with data and numerous anecdotes during the townhall that indicated their experience is far from unique. Many participants shared their frustration about schools being unresponsive to their children's needs and the related fallout on their children's mental health and confidence. Some described the hefty price tag associated with finding help externally, be it via tutoring, psychologists, private schools or otherwise. Meantime, teacher-attendees described limited formal training and support to better help struggling students. The commission's two final public consultations on reading education are scheduled for June 10 (online) and June 12 in Thompson. Maggie MacintoshEducation reporter Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie. Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative. Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
CBC
06-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Tories call for changes to Manitoba bill adding gender expression to human rights code
Manitoba's new Opposition leader says his party wants changes and clarity on a bill by the NDP government that would add gender expression to the province's human rights code. The bill, now making its way through the legislature, would include protections for people to be called by their preferred pronouns. Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan said Tuesday he has heard concerns by some members of the public who fear people could face a complaint for addressing someone by the wrong gender. "What is the standard or threshold to file a complaint? What does that look like? The minister has been very vague on that," said Khan, who was elected Tory leader April 26. "We all agree — let's be clear — human rights are of the utmost importance for everyone regardless of anything else.… The concern is the threshold." Karen Sharma, executive director of Manitoba's human rights commission, told public hearings — where dozens spoke in favour and against the bill — the code applies to employment, housing and other services, and not to interactions between private individuals or inside religious institutions. Successful complaints seen in other provinces have involved malicious, repetitive misgendering, she added. Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said the Tories should not oppose a bill that would bring Manitoba in line with other provinces that also protect gender expression. "Eight other provinces and two territories in this country already have this protection in place," Wiebe told reporters. "For many, it's been over a decade." 2019 complaint in Alberta The issue of gender expression recently went before the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal. Marni Panas, a transgender woman, filed a complaint in 2019 after she was misgendered by 911 dispatchers in Edmonton when she called to ask for a welfare check on a friend. Earlier this year, the tribunal found there was discrimination but dismissed the complaint, saying dispatchers didn't mean to misgender Panas. Panas has applied for a judicial review of the ruling. The Manitoba bill is expected to be passed into law this spring, given the NDP majority in the legislature. The Tories hadn't expressed an interest in amending the bill prior to Khan becoming leader in late April. Khan was asked whether he would allow his Tory caucus members a free vote on the bill and appeared to indicate that he would. "I have been very, very clear throughout my [leadership] campaign, and I will now say that when it comes to matters of conscience that I will open it up for a free vote." Opposition wants Manitoba government to clarify bill protecting gender expression 57 minutes ago Duration 1:39 Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan is asking the NDP government to amend its bill adding gender expression to Manitoba's human rights code. He wants the bill to clarify what would prompt a complaint to the human rights commission.
