Jul 2000
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John Pariselli RetiresBy David BrisonThis spring, John Pariselli retired from his position as Principal of Sharbot Lake Public School and Clarendon Central in Plevna after more than 30 years in education. However, his career as an educator is far from over. He plans to continue to share his love of learning with others. For John, that is what education is all about. He sees no reason to stop being an educator just because he no longer has to go to school every day.
John has had a long and varied career in education. He went directly to Lakeshore Teachers College in Toronto from Grade 13 and started teaching in North York when he was 20. One of his first teaching positions was at MAGU, a publicly funded alternative elementary school. MAGU was well known in educational circles for challenging traditional ideas in education. He moved to Parham in 1972, and bought a farm, intending to drop out of teaching. However, he accepted a temporary position, and then stayed on as a teacher, resource teacher, vice-principal, and Principal. He's worked in the public schools of Sharbot Lake, Parham, Mountain Grove, and Plevna.
Along the way, he got a Master's in Education at Queens.
His career was not planned carefully in advance, but consisted of a series of choices along the way. The idea that individuals have choices, should make them in an informed way, and then be accountable for their decisions, is an important part of John's thinking about education. He says, "In the last few years I found that I was asking children why they choose to do certain things. I stressed to them that they could choose to do otherwise and should be held accountable for their decisions."
The most significant change he has seen in his years in education is the knowledge base that children now have in computers. "There have always been children who know more than their teachers in some area but it was an isolated thing. However, today large numbers of students, even at a young age, know more about computers than most of their teachers. Kids are in the position to teach adults." This was really brought home to John when he worked with students on the Sharbot Lake 2000 Yearbook , using computer technology.
Now that he doesn't have to get up in the morning and go to school, John plans to take time to enjoy the change of seasons at his home on Sharbot Lake. He has expanded his garden and is starting a garden club. He will do some project work with children in the schools. He wants to pursue his interests in digital photography.
One thing is for certain, his interests will take him in directions that he can't predict now.
