They say that when you have one dog, you have a dog, but when you have two dogs, you have half a dog and when you have three dogs, you have no dog at all.

It’s like that with purpose. If an organization’s purpose is to diffuse, it has no purpose at all. A classic case of fuzzy purpose is the education system. Education is a lifelong endeavour that has a limitless number of potential inputs, often to no clearly defined purpose or outcome. It serves both immediate need and innate curiosity.

SNOBELEN: Being schooled and correcting the business of education Back to video

Schooling, on the other hand, is more easily defined. It’s the business of providing young people with the skills, knowledge, habits and discipline necessary to pursue their lives.

Words matter. This is why Ontario Minister of Education Paul Calandra used some very clear language in the recently introduced Putting Student Achievement First Act.

The name........

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