Voices

When the Ontario government unveiled the  province’s full-day kindergarten  program last  year, it  ushered  in  a  new  era  in  early learning.

Critics,  especially  those  on  the  right, take  pride  in  denigrating  public  education. They want us to believe that our schools – and by implication, you, our members – are failing our children.

“It is  not  enough to  be busy. The question is:  What are we busy bout?” When Henry David Thoreau  made this  remark he was not relating them to the activities of OTF,  but his words resonate.

UNESCO describes  the role of education for sustainable  development as helping people “develop  the attitudes, skills, and knowledge to make  informed decisions for the benefit of themselves and others, now and for the future, and to act upon those decisions.” This is the core of a new CTF progr

Working as a daily occasional teacher is exciting, rewarding, challenging, and stressful all at the same time.

“Education is a social process. Education is growth. Education is not a preparation 

Many  of  you  will  have  read  the Robert Munsch story, Thomas’ Snowsuit, to  your students.  When  Thomas refuses  to  put on his snowsuit to go out to play at recess, his teacher and his principal try to force him into it.

In 2006, as the social justice chair of my local, I attended the ETFO annual leadership  conference. The  two-day event ignited my interest in equity work.

Every year thousands  of ETFO members  take part in a rich form of professional learning, learning that takes place in their own classrooms.  It’s  a learning opportunity that happens when they agree to become associate teachers. Associate teachers are those who volunteer to have a student teache