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“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” – Thomas Jefferson

“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” – Ray Bradbury

“The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable. When it’s no longer profitable, the illusion will be taken away, and you’ll see the brick wall at the back of the theatre.” – Frank Zappa



What Are We Really Teaching?

When we talk about “education,” we often mean curriculum, standardized tests, and professional training. But how often do we ask:
• What kind of knowledge are we passing on?
• Are we preparing students to think critically, adapt, and thrive in a changing world?
• How are we measuring well-being, mental health, creativity, or civic engagement?

Scoring well on standardized tests does not necessarily mean students are flourishing or prepared for the future.



The Narrow Scope of Higher Education

Take a university engineering student as an example:
• Will they learn about global politics, different cultures, climate change, or ethics?
• Will they explore compassion, empathy, or citizenship?

Most often, no—unless by chance, through an inspiring professor or peer environment. Without exposure to the arts, humanities, politics, and philosophy, can we really expect graduates to make informed democratic decisions or contribute fully to society?



Why Broad Education Matters

A broad-based education—history, arts, religion, philosophy, politics, and culture—is not a luxury. It is a foundation for democracy. Without it:
• Citizens lack the context to question systems of power.
• Elections become about slogans and personalities, not policies.
• Emotional manipulation replaces logic and debate.

This is not hypothetical—we already see it in populist rhetoric and simplistic political campaigns that appeal to fear rather than reason.



The Legacy of Control

Our modern education system was built in the 19th century to produce workers, not leaders. It fills “empty vessels” rather than fostering curiosity. Elite and private schools continue to provide advantages for the few, while the majority are trained to fit into existing systems rather than challenge them.

Historically, education has often reinforced power structures rather than disrupted them. From ancient China to modern democracies, elites have used education to maintain control, not broaden it. Only rarely do we see education used to truly empower citizens.



Canada’s Challenge

In Canada, students learn little about global politics, governance beyond Parliament, or non-European histories and cultures. Yet we live in a global economy. How can students become informed citizens without these perspectives?

Government control over curriculum, standardized testing, and even delivery methods means that pedagogy is shaped by political priorities—not necessarily by educators. Should elected officials without expertise in teaching decide what students learn?



The Consequences of Shallow Learning
• Students graduate without financial literacy, civic knowledge, or even an understanding of their own health.
• Critical thinking is underdeveloped, making people vulnerable to misinformation.
• Opinions often form from single sources or trusted friends, reinforced by a fixed mindset and resistant to evidence.

International tests like PISA try to link test performance to economic growth, but results are inconsistent. Some emerging economies grow rapidly despite low PISA scores, showing that education quality must be assessed in broader ways, including creativity, well-being, and peer learning.



What Needs to Change

If education primarily trains workers, how do we nurture entrepreneurs, innovators, and democratic citizens? By deliberately broadening curriculum and assessment to include:
• Civics and government (beyond one high school credit).
• Financial literacy, taught by trained educators.
• Arts, humanities, and global citizenship as central, not optional.
• Well-being, empathy, and real-life knowledge integrated throughout.

Education should be continuous—not ending at graduation. Lifelong opportunities for formal learning can help sustain democratic societies.



A Warning from the U.S.

The U.S. shows the risks of an unequal, divided education system. Wide gaps in equity and opportunity are undermining democracy. Canada must not follow this path.

⸻

A Vision for Canada

We need a curriculum that is:
• Equal: available to all Canadians, regardless of background.
• Global: teaching world history, politics, and culture alongside Canadian content.
• Holistic: valuing well-being, creativity, and the arts.
• Forward-looking: preparing citizens for entrepreneurship, sustainability, and democratic leadership.

By doing so, we can nurture citizens who are not only workers, but also critical thinkers, innovators, and stewards of democracy.

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Throughout history, opportunities for great education have been limited to the few. Public education was put into place in large part to feed commerce. It has served to prepare workers for the workforce. The workforce was needed to create things for companies owned by the elite, wealthy and powerful people in our societies. Those from wealthy families could afford to send their children to elite schools and have them graduate to positions of power in both industry and politics. Having wealth was often the ticket to both higher education and power. As demonstrated in recent times, students from wealthy families have paid extra money to institutions of higher education in order to guarantee entrance for their children to those institutions. Not only can this wealth guarantee entrance to these institutions, but it can also guarantee the marks needed for graduation.

How are we doing in Canada? Are all schools equal and access equitable? Let’s start with elementary schools and high schools.

There are a growing number of schools that are marginalized by social-economic classes. These are the schools that don’t have parents who can fundraise for school trips or extra school equipment. These are the schools that don’t have enriched arts programs and have few if any afterschool extra-curricular activities. In Ontario, it’s up to the Principal of the school as to whether or not there are arts programs! No equity at all!!

Although the curriculum for all provinces in Canada includes the arts, if there is no arts specialist (such as music specialist) on staff, its up to the individual teacher how they will manage or not manage to teach music. In countries like Finland, Arts education is considered a human right and there are specialists in each school as well as 97 publicly funded music schools for an afterschool education opportunity. Of course there is also music in their public schools….each and every one. Teachers in Finland must have at least a Masters Degree to teach and it is a highly competitive profession where only about 10% of those who apply get the opportunity to teach. Music and Arts specialists exist in every school there.

Scientists at Standford and education specialists around the world have clearly stated that our future will rely on creative entrepreneurs. They will create the new economy and tackle our social and environmental challenges. Daniel Pink in his book “A Whole New Mind” makes creative education his thesis and the basis for his arguments about the type of economy that’s ahead of mankind. Manufacturing jobs will become scarce as automation and AI take over. Entrepreneurs who have been steeped in creative risk-taking and the skills needed will form a new economy based on invention.

Creativity comes in large part from the arts and not as much from STEM education. This is a supporting reason to include the arts as an essential part of our education curriculum and make that education happen! The fundamental reason for the inclusion of the arts in core curriculum is that it is equitable and good for us. It brings joy and fulfillment to our lives. Kids are often motivated to get out of bed and go to school for arts curriculum… more often than STEM curriculum.

Knowing that some families and children have access to an enriched education and other don’t, how do parents feel about this? The working class might not even notice as they are busy trying to hold their lives together. But when they do, I’m sure outrage and action is ahead. The United States is a great example of this. There are huge social-economic divides in the U.S. and there is a rising “us and them” political and cultural civil war happening as a result. Education equity is a huge factor creating this divide. This is not good for society or the economy. Let’s not let Canada slip further away, but act with awareness to ensure that we fight for equitable education for all Canadians! How? Start conversations about it. Talk to your teachers, school boards, family and governments and insist that what we are doing does not align with Canadian values. Protest and vote for the change. Change comes when you drag the politicians into it!

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We are a long way from having any sort of education equity in our country. I’m optimistic that we can achieve equity once our people understand that it doesn’t exist now and understand the benefits of education equity. Having under educated people creates a society of “us and them”. It leads to social unrest and populism. It is the root of a diseased society.

Leaders would tell you that the inequality has to do with lack of funding, but why are the good educational opportunities most often present for the middle class and up? That is because they have the political power. End of story. They are the doctors, teachers, lawyers, architects, engineers and so many other professional positions in our society. They shape the system. They often believe that if someone is to succeed financially in life, others have to be subservient to them. They believe we should keep the lower classes lower.

We’ll fix that! I’m optimitic. It’s the soft revolution that will make a huge difference for all of us.

But once everyone gets access to the same education content, is the same education content serving us well?
Most education content is designed to exercise short term memory challenges. Learning for the test and quiz is critical for success, but it is short-lived. Hundreds of students have told me that they don’t see the point of this type of schooling. They forget most everything after the test or examination.

With AI finding information for us in seconds, why do we need to retain facts? Or better still, what facts do we need to retain and what skills do we need to develop? This is the question we need to ask. Some are. The problem is our education system is extremely bureaucratic and run by governments who often have no expertise. It responds extremely slowly to change. Change is now happening at lightning speed!

Besides the skills and knowledge we need to attain for success in our society, what experiences, skills and knowledge do we need to flourish as human beings? How do we build ourselves into strong, brave, resilient individuals with the necessary grit to face life’s challenges?

What could we be teaching consistently from the beginning? Not just one elective class in high school, but classes each year that teach:

Money/Finance class: not just one class, but classes each year starting from the beginning!
Earth class: empowerment and understanding to make our earth healthy again
Creativity Class
Teaching, Learning and Mentoring/Apprenticeship class: right from the very beginning, learning how
Critical Thinking class: not as part of something else, but how critical thinking works; every year of education
World Cultures Class: this includes a knowledge of world religions: every year of schooling and not elective
Great thinkers’ class: philosophy as a foundation for how to think and how cultures are formed
Role Models Class: investigating outstanding human beings and how they’ve lived their lives
Student driven subject class: put the learner in the driver’s seat
Values and Ethics class: sorely needed in our world today. We must teach good values, ethics and morals
The no curriculum class: a class where students shape the education they want
The unlearn class; this is where we question what we’ve learned: is it true? Is it valuable? Has it made me a better person?
The social justice class: a cause driven class
Leadership class: how to lead in any role and how to support leadership
How to get things done class: time management, goals, habits
Invention class: creating new things: this is extremely relevant with the problems our society is facing right now
Problem solving class: project based learning. Not just math, but real human challenges facing everyone
The Art of Being Class: what does it mean to be a human being?
How to build “self” class: the people we hang out with, the books we read, the music we play and more
Mortality class:  or perhaps:  Life Span Class: what is death? Yes, let’s talk about that
Beliefs Class: what do you believe? Why is it important?
Food Class: where does food come from, preparing it, sitting and having a meal together
Survival Class: grit and resilience to conquer or walk around life’s problems
The Great Teachers Class: who are the great masters? What wisdom did they leave us?
Performance and conquering fear class
Personal Development Class
Peace Class
Quiet Class (Meditation, Mindfulness etc.)
History: there is a huge focus on national history, but little else. How about that has repeated itself class?
Self-care class: How to look after my body class: understanding physiology
Sexuality class (every year of schooling)
Human behavior class: psychology
The class on what we don’t know.
The class on building a social movement: empowering the people
The class on global policy and politics
The class on diversity, equity and inclusion
The class on reconciliation: what does it mean? How can it be part of every day living?
Outdoor nature class
Personal Finance Class including investing
The doing nothing class:  naps, meditation, wasting time, sleep, unprogrammed time, how to observe and be present: The mandala class: The doodling class
The collaboration class: How to collaborate
The walking class (walks help the brain to think, notice, be creative, practice meditation, help the brain process ideas and much more). This would also include expedition learning outside of the classroom (what do we have to sit at desks to learn?

These are just a few ideas to spur some thought about things other than math scores and literacy. The arts are critical to our development personally and our development as a society. They need to be in every school “deluxe”. That means classes in dance, visual arts, theatre, music, and much more. Every year for every child!

Let’s work together to incubate a new education experience. One that liberates young people to be their best selves and at the same time, benefit society.

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It’s so difficult to speak to audiences about the value of music education and music making. In Canadian culture and many others around the world, we start out with the added value of music outside of the value of music itself. We have to justify music making because research shows that it has the following benefits:

Improved physical health including eye-hand/body coordination
Improved emotional health
Improved cognitive health
Improved literacy
Increased social inclusion and cohesion
Calming the mind-body
Improved focus
Improved learning and retention

Of course, clinical trial studies are finding all of this to be true. Governments, educators and citizens will nod at this information, but still not put the resources in place to facilitate good music education. We think we’re making headway by spouting these facts, but they continue to fall on deaf ears. Music education is eroding in our country. It’s not considered by the powers-that-be as valuable as STEM subjects even though scientists are saying it’s at least equally important and some say more important!

We’re in a conundrum. Until everyone has the experience to learn and play music, it will be undervalued. If a child picks up a violin today, they will likely support an orchestra later in life. “I did that” is the most important element for engagement, understanding and equity of the value of a great music education. We can’t afford an “us and them” situation for any aspect of education. Just look south of our border and see what that leads to. We need equity in our education system with a rich, arts infused education including music! Our future depends on the creative entrepreneur who can help solve problems, create beauty and help us all experience the joy of living. The arts give that joy, but they also help us to create things like solutions to homelessness, solutions to our climate and ecological crisis, solutions to help us work together in peace on this planet.

I encourage everyone in our country to protest the inequities in our schools. Inequities that include the lack of strong music and arts education. Some schools have everything (orchestras, choirs, dance, drama, art classes), some schools have little to nothing. This is not the Canadian way.

If we do for one, we should do for all. When we do for all, our entire society will thrive!

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Ranking systems for education are extremely flawed and myopic. For example, the U.S. World and News report ranks Canada in the top five countries for education. But what does this mean? If you ask students about schooling in Canada, most will not be happy with the system. They often talk about short-term memory and forgetting everything after tests. They also are exasperated about the extensive and intensive testing including standardized tests. Most don’t see the point of the curriculum and delivery. Even teachers are fed-up with the system where they often feel they can’t be creative in their teaching. I’ve done hundreds of interviews with teachers and students to determine this conclusion. Perhaps you have your own stories.

A growing gap in enriched education is happening. Many schools don’t have arts or music programs. Some schools have everything. Often this is related to class and wealth gaps. Some school districts have public schools for the arts where a limited amount of students can attend by audition. So many are turned away. A good example of this is Pearson School for the Arts in London Ontario. Why should one school be an arts school and the rest not have that branding. Research is showing that every child will benefit greatly from an arts education and that it is fundamental to having the ability to create anything in life. Neuroscientists as Stanford and many other Universities have research to prove this.

We can’t go on measuring education by test scores. We must measure it by well-being and grit. How engaged are students in learning for the sake of the benefits to their lives? I’m not talking about the corporate job, I’m talking about building who we are as human beings (not human doings) and being able to flourish in our world. We need a moral reconning as a society! What values should we use when measuring education and our lives in general? In places like Finland (the happiest country in the world for the seventh year in a row), they focus on the well-being of the student. They don’t test in the first seven years of education as they trust their teachers to know how the students are doing and what they need to succeed. Education is also free to the PhD!

Education equity is one of the major footprints leading to our social ailments. People are slipping through the cracks and ending up on our streets in large part because of our education inequity. Let’s strive to correct this. At a time when we need to re-brand our country, let’s make education our number one investment!

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What should we make of online courses and “hacks” that claim to teach either the best way or cut corners to successful learning?  This is a fascinating area.  There are so many wonderful tools on the web that can help musicians grow.  Youtube videos by great masters, interviews with great artists, pedagogical resources (such as websites with free music scores like http://www.imslp.org), websites, games, virtual lessons, courses, specialized platforms, interest groups and more.  

With learning, one size doesn’t fit all.  We all bring our unique mind, motivation and heart to learning.  Claims from an online resource that there is one way or the best way is both false and naïve.  There are great opportunities for online resources and apps to strengthen and cultivate musicianship.  But there is also no substitute for a real guide; a real person to share the learning experience with!  Find someone with experience, openness and curiosity.  Someone with passion and optimism.  Someone to demonstrate physically and acoustically (with a real piano). Someone who builds a relationship in person with heightened levels of communication and awareness.  Someone to form a relationship with as a trusted guide opening doors of inspiration.  Someone who learns from the learner and is humble enough to understand the partnership between a learner and teacher. If face-to-face is impossible, the next best thing is an online lesson with a real person-not just an app.

Holding the tension between Artificial Intelligence, online resources and virtual formats for games, lessons and more is the solution.  The landscape of pedagogy is changing rapidly.  Don’t hold on to any one truth; be open and curious for ways that can help you, “the individual learner” to grow. Embrace resources as tools, but not as “the way, truth and light”.