Ministry of Education and Child Care
The stated purpose of British Columbia’s school system is to help children realise their individual potential—and to prepare them to contribute to a healthy society and a sustainable economy. But when systems punish vulnerability and reward compliance, whose potential is actually being nurtured? This tag gathers analysis, reflection, and lived experience that interrogate the gap between official vision and daily reality in BC schools—especially for disabled, racialised, and neurodivergent students. It asks what kind of society we are cultivating when children are excluded for their needs, and what kind of future becomes possible when we build schools that honour every learner’s humanity.
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The history of collective punishment
Collective punishment emerged in a time when people were not understood as individuals, but as extensions of the family, the clan, the village. Responsibility was held in common. Honour was shared. So was shame. In such systems, if one person broke a social norm or committed a crime, the entire group was held accountable. Not…
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A neurodiversity-affirming critique of the BC Ministry’s guide to school conduct
The BC Ministry of Education’s guide presents itself as a blueprint for positive school climates. Yet beneath its conciliatory language, it reinforces behavioural conformity and institutional authority over student autonomy. It fails to address the structural and sensory barriers faced by neurodivergent students, and in doing so, undermines its own claims to safety and care.…
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When school discipline undermines trust at home
There’s a problem in our schools. You’ll see it on a child’s face when they come home. You’ll hear it in the way they describe something that left them feeling humiliated, angry, or confused—and often, all three at once. It happens when school staff use discipline strategies that completely contradict the values a student has…