As you read this I trust you will be settled into the new school year. For educators September is a month of change and adjustment, of setting goals, and establishing a classroom routine. By now you and your students are moving forward, working to make your goals a reality.
ETFO is an organization made up of 73,000 potential leaders. Most of our members chose education as a career because they wanted to lead and support others, to help them grow and achieve. Without that impulse it’s unlikely you would have wanted to become a teacher in the first place.
Early in my teaching career I came to understand the extent to which public education is intricately entwined with politics.
THIS IS THE THIRD ANNUAL special edition of Voice. In 2007 our special issue theme was teacher-led professional learning. In 2008 we focused on education and poverty.
Teaching is a social activity. Early in our careers teachers learn that the basis for our success is often found in our relationships with others.
The Current Economic Crisis has been likened to the Great Depression and has created pressures that most Ontarians have not experienced before.
There is no denying that work-related stress is on the rise among classroom teachers. Ontario Teachers’ Insurance Plan statistics show that stress and mental health illnesses make up 39 percent of all claims for long-term disability.
As this is being written, only a handful of settlements have been negotiated. All of them are excellent, despite the very major challenge that this year’s unusual bargaining scenario being presented.
With the economy contracting, we are likely to see the resurrection of the myth that accessibility is just too costly. In fact, most workplace barriers to full participation could be eliminated with little or no cost attached.