Saturday, March 17, 2012

GETTING TO KNOW INTERNATIONAL CONTACTS

PODCAST: TJ SKALSKI

My chosen podcast participant is TJ Skalski a Principal of the Mother Earth’s Children’s Charter School which is the first indigenous charter school in Canada. TJ is originally from the Blood Reserve a raised in southern Alberta. She eventually left southern Alberta to complete her education including her Master’s degree.

During TJ’s podcast she discusses her start as a Principle of the Mother Earth’s Children’s Charter School in addition to specific challenges she faced with her new career. Out of 13 charter schools located in Canada, the Mother Earth’s Children’s Charter School is the only school with an indigenous focus. TJ describes her first year as a Principal of the Mother Earth’s Children’s Charter School as “hell”. Prior to TJ’s arrival there were 5 different principles within the past five years. The turnover rate among principals within the school was outrageous considering the fact that the school had only been open for five years.

The start of TJ’s new career as a Principal of the Mother Earth’s Children’s Charter School made her the first principal to maintain that position for one consecutive year. It took TJ 2 years to learn about the evolution of the school and develop an understanding of the school’s mission. The Mother Earth’s Children’s Charter School prides itself on creating a community in which culture and language is placed at the forefront.

TJ stated that she believes that family culture and language is essential to the survival of people. TJ stated that family values are essential qualities missing the lives of children within the current generation, leaving many feeling trapped between family culture and “dominate” culture. As a Principal of the Mother Earth’s Children’s Charter School TJ strives to build dreams and hope for children while inspiring children to do more with their lives.

CHINA POVERTY INSIGHTS

  1. Between 4-8% of the urban population live in poverty, equating to 15-31 million people.

  1. 4.2 Million Chinese children live in absolute poverty while 8.7 million live in disadvantaged conditions.

  1. Recent studies suggest that health and education reforms reduce poor families’ ability to make use of these vital services.

    1. Study in Beijing, the richest city in China, found that 75% of poor families could not afford all children’s education cost such as tuition and stationary.
    2. 50% of families living in Shanghai had no medical insurance due to families’ inability to afford the expensive cost.

2 comments:

  1. I wonder why the school had seen so many principals come and go. I am sure her first year was spent gaining the trust of the students and families and convincing them she was there for all the right reasons (a tiring process for sure). How many years has she maintained being the principal?

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  2. Tinisha,

    Sounds like TJ had a lot to learn in a very short period of time. I too was wondering why the school has such a high turnover rate in principles. Then I started to wonder was it because the school is non-traditional? You stated that the school was the only one of its kind in Canada! This school has a "indigenous focus"! If the provous principles did not understand the culture and language of the students receivng services a imediate barrier would be problamatic.

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