Who holds the top jobs?

Another day dawns, it's begun to snow, it's a cold, crisp morning. I have a lot to do, housework, knitting for the twins, yoga, but mainly housework... need to spring clean before Chinese new Year, but... I thought I'd blog instead.

On the walk back from taking the kids to the school bus stop, I got asked by a fellow neighbour, and the father of the twins I'm knitting for, how things were going for us here in Canada... here we go again, I tried very hard not to get on my high horse, and hope I succeeded.

He asked about Dave's work and I said Dave was finding it challenging as attitudes are difficult to modify or change. We all know construction can be a dangerous occupation, risks everywhere from working at heights, using heavy machinery, sites where housekeeping is poor pose all kinds of hazards. Canada has an occupational health and safety act, the laws are there and in place. Attitudes though may not be. Workers are in the mindset of,"Well, construction is a dangerous occupation, therefore, if I have an accident at work, it is to be expected. " Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! So, this is what Dave is up against, but he is making headway, as I knew he would and hopefully, things will begin to improve and workers will be working in a safer environment.

I was then asked about the education system and the school that our kids were attending. We are very happy with the school and our kids are progressing very well.  I like the Canadian education system as it makes my children think and encourages research. My neighbour though felt that his daughter's teacher was not doing much work. They have moved here from Dubai, about the same time as us. They are Canadian having immigrated from Pakistan more than 20 years ago. Their daughter was in a Singaporean International School in Dubai, and I think they notice there is  different style of teaching and learning between the 2 education systems. He thinks his daughter is not being taught very much at all, which is a shame. Mitch and Jas seem to be thriving at the school, so I had very little to contribute apart from saying, I perhaps did not apply myself that well, whilst at school in Malaysia, I think I was taught how to pass exams, learned everything by rote and never encouraged to think for myself. Therefore, when I went to England as a student nurse, I struggled to have an opinion on anything... nothing could be further from the truth now! I am so opinionated, issues on anything run and hide when they see me coming. Fundamentally though, I think at the younger ages, kids need to learn several things by rote, getting the basics on literacy and numeracy, after that, teaching them how to explore, learn by doing and experimenting, researching, performing and discussing is the way to go.

Of course, the British education system came into the discussion, and I think it's still one of the best and has tried to moved away from grooming students for exams, apart from the independent schools perhaps. Grooming students for exams and teaching them how to think for themselves may well be the perfect answer, though exams are not everything, they still seem to be the benchmark that everyone looks for.
M, my neighbour was saying that in his profession, which was IT, the top jobs were held mainly by Asian people from India, Pakistan, China. Now, this is his opinion, I have not researched to see if it is true, all anecdotal.  He said, of all the companies he has worked for globally, very few Americans or Canadians held the top jobs. I said, well, consider this. It may be because that Asians living in India, Pakistan, China, Malaysia etc are striving to make their lives better, working harder to improve their future. On the other hand, the US- land of plenty and opportunity, people do not need to work so hard as they already have all the creature comforts they need. Told you I was opinionated!  I am sure there are more Americans and Canadians who hold top jobs than he thinks. Anyhow, I do not think that this is necessarily a reflection on the education system. Getting the qualifications and being able to do the job can be two very different things. Some are academics and some are more practical.

Interesting discussion for 8am don't you think. Anyhow, must dash, Level 2 hot yoga awaits.....