Grade 12: a critical rite of passage?

Rites of passage are an interesting phenomenon which occur not only in the human world but also in nature. Cultural rites of passage are human creations which, once they become embedded in people’s minds, are powerful markers of matters like maturity, status and success.

In Canada, Grade 12 graduation is such a marker, signalling a successful end to the schooling of children.

For my mother and father, who respectively had eight and three years of schooling, completing Grade 12 was a secular equivalent of religious baptism. If their sons achieved both these milestones, they would have accomplished a major part of being good and responsible parents. Grade 12 trumped other markers like getting a driver’s licence or getting a first job. In fact, it was assumed that passing Grade 12 opened a world of opportunities not available without it.

In some ways it’s amazing how little has changed. Achieving Grade 12 standing is still rightfully a valued milestone, literally and symbolically. Dr. Jim Silver, well-known inner-city advocate has, through repeated studies over the past decade, tracked the appetite for Grade 12 credentials by those who, because of school life experiences or personal situations, missed out. He notes several advantages of achieving adult basic education (Grade 12), both personal and societal.

In repeated studies, he documented immediate and long-term savings in reduced social assistance, health care and criminal justice costs. Those benefits are accompanied by higher levels of employment and income, resulting in increased tax revenues. One conclusion is that the fiscal benefits exceed the costs, a significant long-term return on investment.

On a personal level adult basic education was seen as helping lift families out of poverty, contributing to reconciliation and greater self worth and life satisfaction. An additional benefit is that the children of adults attending adult learning centres do better in school.

At the moment, basic adult education, while very successful, would be improved if brought under the auspices of K-12 school divisions that are known for providing the type of support adult learners need and that are familiar with Grade 12 requirements. Silver calls for an adequately funded and standardized system as a priority. It’s hard to disagree given the overwhelming evidence of success for division-run programs.

This is the time of year for government estimates and budgeting, an appropriate time for government to reconsider its responsibilities. It would be well advised to include ABE as an educational policy and funding priority for the next few years as a significant return on investment and the well-being of some of its neediest citizens, at the same time a worthy poverty reduction strategy.

It’s also the time of year when schools are planning their graduations for the current Grade 12 class, which raises another consequence of this critical rite of passage.

Grade 12 graduation is now considered a right and an expectation as much as a personal achievement. Colleges and universities consider it an entry credential. Some workplaces use it as a minimum requirement for employment. Young people crossing the stage to receive a Grade 12 diploma are rightfully proud, as are their parents and caregivers. But like all rites of passage, there are also troublesome dark sides, all of which I have experienced as an educator of 60-plus years.

When some adults meet me knowing that I was a teacher, they feel they need to confess to not doing well in school and not graduating — a kind of eternal flame of shame. Still others will make huge personal sacrifices to achieve Grade 12 standing which they consider superior to GEDs, grade-equivalent diplomas, and can’t wait to share the news when they do, whatever their age — and it may be a first in their family. And recently, two years of graduating students missed graduation ceremonies because of COVID-19 — the memories still sting. At these moments it feels like this rite of passage cannot bear the weight of its seemingly lofty status and significance.

The argument is not only that passing Grade 12 means something, but also it has to mean something worthwhile to everyone, leaving schools with some difficult decisions regarding tying participation in graduations to completing Grade 12 requirements.

For young people not crossing the stage with their peers, others with whom they have spent as much as 13 years together, can be devastating — a soul-destroying experience that can last a lifetime and affect all their other relationships. But for those who later earn their mature high school diploma at an adult learning centre, the achievement is often life-changing.

Recently, most high schools have been able to navigate these contentions with empathy and support, recognizing that denying some young people something does not make it more meaningful and valuable to others. How to do this seems to me to be a timely and necessary discussion for teachers, students and parents.

I believe that Grade 12, as a critical rite of passage, calls for a sensitive, public commitment to human empathy and social justice.

John R. Wiens is dean emeritus at the faculty of education, University of Manitoba.