A Philosophy of Public Education for Prince Edward Island Schools

In November of 1989 the "Philosophy Committee" struck by then-Minister of Education Paul Connolly presented its final report. The Minister established the commitee in the fall of 1988 "to undertake a revision of the statement of philosophy and goals for the province's public school system." The 12-member committee included representations from the Department of Education, School Administrators of PEI, the PEI School Trustees' Association. the PEI Teachers' Federation, the PEI Home and School Federation, the University of PEI and Holland College. It consulted broadly, holding 13 meetings and a set of public hearings.

That final report it delivered 26 years ago continues to be the bedrock of the public education system's philosophy: in the 2014-2015 Education Handbook for School Administrators the "Basic Principles," and "Goals of Education" are taken directly from the report.

As such, it's a foundational document the genesis of which should be understood by everyone in the public education system; so we've scanned the final report and you can download and read it here.

The 1989 Philosophy Committee's task was to revisit the Philosophy of Education that was first prepared in 1970 in the era of the Development Plan; if public education changed dramatically between 1970 and 1989, there's no doubt that it has changed at least as much in the intervening years, and perhaps it's time to strike the next "Philosophy Committee" to chart the course for the next generation?