If you are reading this, you probably have a job. But in Canada, for the 2,457,350 potential labour force participants with disabilities (ages 15 to 64), employment is fraught with barriers and uncertainties.
For some time now, I have been examining my thoughts and actions as I recall my years in the classroom. I use the question, “What stories did I construct about a child or children that imposed limitations or opened up possibilities for their learning and achievement?”
Despite the growing awareness about its negative effects, cyberbullying continues to be all too common among elementary and secondary school students. Online forums are still rife with the potential for false allegations and degrading comments, and new school-based video clips recorded with cellphones are posted to YouTube every day.
ETFO has been much in the news in the past several months. there have been dire warnings of imminent strikes, looming deadlines, and other seemingly apocalyptic scenarios.
In this issue of the magazine you will find a number of articles about how teachers’ classroom practice can improve the chances for educational success for children from low-income families.
ETFO’s campaign to Close the Gap is about standing up for fairness and equality for our students and ourselves.
Re: Poverty and Learning
(June 08)
On behalf of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF), please accept my sincerest congratulations to you– members and leaders of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario – on the occasion of your tenth anniversary.
It is fitting, in ETFO’s 10th anniversary year, that we celebrate its successes. However, we must also look, acknowledge and reflect on the challenges that bind the 155,000 members of the Ontario Teachers’ Federation (OTF). One of these is the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT).