The purpose of this book is to help readers understand the different ways in which pre-Kindergarten to Grade 12 education is organized under provincial jurisdiction in Canada. It considers issues related to the purposes of schooling; the structure of Canadian education; the influence of policy, politics and law on schooling; resource concerns (economic and human); teaching and learning environments; the nature of the teaching profession; and links between schools, parents and communities. The text ends by detailing social, political and economic impacts on school reform.

The revisions for this 2021 version of Understanding Canadian Schools: An Introduction to Educational Administration have been written by Dawn Wallin and Jon Young. However, the work remains the work of the three authors listed on the title page – Dawn Wallin, Jon Young, and Ben Levin.