Informing Education Systems Through Indisputable Reality to Move Forward in a Good and Just Way

• In Event: Truth, Its Beauty, and Its Justice: Reconceptualizing How Stories Are Told in Educational Evaluation

Abstract

Unimaginable violence against the children and families of Ukraine, painful Truth about children buried in the former Indian Residential School sites all over Canada, the pandemic and natural disasters are all reminding us that peoples around the world share something in common at the core and that we all must intentionally and collaboratively nurture what we hold dear. Individuals matter as our actions have reverberating consequences for others. Systems matter as the issues that surface have dire consequences for the individuals that interact within the systems.

As evaluators working with children and youth, we are realizing that we have to step-up and speak Truth to Power more actively–here and now–so evaluation can influence and be used for a much better world than the one we are witnessing today. How can evaluators in the education sector, work with systems so we can be learning as we go and listen to the stories our children and youth share. Yes, student voice really matters. How do we intentionally create a space so the stories can surface when shared with the trusted, caring adults who can connect with the voices of children and families. We as evaluators know that problems cannot be addressed if we don’t even know what they are. Let’s use our tools that we have to surface the voices through layers of the system and get our networks to work together so all our children can be in a good way and get to where they want to be.

Author

• Keiko Kuji-Shikatani, Ontario Ministry of Education