In September 1979, the York Region Public School Board locked me out. After reporting for school one morning, my OSSTF Representative Dick Barron stopped me in the Thornlea Secondary School parking lot. Huddled together with the other teachers, I was told that the Board had shut down the schools and we were advised to go home until further notice. As a youngish teacher in my sixth year, all I wanted to do was teach – and the frustration welled-up inside, not really knowing who to blame for the shutdown.
That infamous York Region dispute, following a year of OSSTF “work-to-rule” actions, came back to me last week as hundreds of elementary teachers marched outside the York Region Board offices on Wellington Street in Aurora, Ontario. Back in 1978-79, the York Region teachers succeeded in holding the line, but not much more was really gained. It is also a safe bet that history will repeat itself again.
The raging Ontario teachers’ dispute with the Dalton McGuinty Liberal Government, sparked by Bill 115, has led to bitter denunciations, a breakdown in contract negotiations, the suspension of voluntary secondary school extra-curricular activities, and a rotating round of teacher walkouts. Walkout, lockout, or mini-strike –it’s the worst rupture in labour peace since the Ontario teachers’ war against Mike Harris Conservative Common Sense Revolution in the late 1990s.
The essentials of education are all too often mistaken for the “extras.” Suspending voluntary extra-curricular activities and “walking-out” of school may serve some purpose in defense of teacher rights and current salary levels, but such actions tend to have damaging long-term effects. Students remember being held hostage waiting out the disruption. Provincial governments come away with a blackened public reputation, striking teachers feel persecuted and underappreciated, and school boards are left to put the shattered pieces back together again.
Everyone in the public education sector these days claims to be “putting students first.” That phrase rings mighty hollow in the throes and the later wake of labour disruptions like those in Ontario and in British Columbia over the past year.
Students come first in schools when principals and teachers, supported by school boards, provide those “extras” above and beyond the normal contracted services. It’s only visible when school authorities run the risk of sponsoring student-run conferences, principals support Ottawa or Washington experience field trips, and teacher professionals volunteer to coach the low profile, time-consuming track or tennis teams.
Student engagement is what transforms opportunities into real, deep learning experiences. Filing into class each day, taking classroom notes, and writing tests or examinations rarely stay with you at the end of a school year. “A theatre club can build all those life skills that matter more than knowing how to calculate a math equation,” says Dr. Doug Willms, Director of the Canadian Research Institute on Social Policy (CRISP) at the University of New Brunswick.
Dr. Willms’ ongoing CRISP Student Survey, now in its eighth year and including close to 500,000 students, has demonstrated conclusively that student participation in teams and clubs has a very positive influence on class attendance and overall student success, and, to a slightly lesser extent, on individual academic grades. A 2009 U.S. study involving 8,000 students, cited recently in The Globe and Mail, showed that active, engaged high school students, a decade after graduation, were earning more money than their less involved contemporaries.
Teacher labour disputes, just like band program cuts, can adversely affect critical relationships in schools. Toronto educator, Stephen Hurley, founder of VoicEd.ca, perhaps put it best: “Look what people do when they leave school,” he recently told The Globe and Mail. “Everything is grounded in relationships.”
Ontario Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty invested heavily in public education, increasing spending by 45 per cent between 2003 and 2011, not even counting the massive amounts for full-day junior kindergarten. Most of that money went to salary increases to the very teachers now cheering his downfall.
McGuinty’s prized Ontario educational legacy now lies in tatters and not even a strategic climb-down can salvage the broken relationship with the teachers’ unions. Regular elementary classroom teachers, fired up by the EFTO’s Sam Hammond, are sure to remain embittered for months or years to come. Militant secondary school teachers may, once again, harbour resentment and continue to punish kids by refusing to initiate or supervise voluntary extra-curricular activities. Pity those new teachers entering the profession amidst the poisoned labour-management environment in schools.
Who is responsible for the current breakdown in negotiations and teacher walkouts in Ontario and earlier labour disruptions in British Columbia? After pouring millions of dollars into public education, how can reversing field be justified, let alone explained? Who gains from such bitter labour disputes — and what are the long-term consequences for students, for student-teacher relationships, and for public support of our provincial systems?
Educhatter 
[…] Link: The Essentials and Extras in Education: Who Gains form Teacher Labour Disruptions? […]
You don’t have to look further than Ontario for work that has been done on the issue of preserving extra-curriculars. Not only have we been down this road before in this province, we spent tax payer’s money on a solution. Please refresh your Ontario memory by reviewing a this government commissioned report that was supported by all players in the education wars of that day, but nicely forgotten.
The big winners, the move to empower parents to demand more support to choose schools outside of a system that uses students as pawns and individuals teachers a mindless drones.
The big losers this time are the teacher unions. The disconnect between the unions and the public is astounding.
http://www.ontla.on.ca/library/repository/mon/1000/10294354
One-hundred per cent of the blame lies with the government. It was a classic political error of game changing significance. If the Liberal Party slips into third place never to recover, it will date to these decisions.
1) Who picked the fight? Not the teachers. The government declared absolute total war on the teaching profession with Bill 115. They called in the teachers who met with Bay Street lawyers who told them, this is the contract, take it or leave it. They said, thanks we will leave it and we will make your life a misery for ever having conceived of this direction.
The Liberals first casualty was the KW byelection where they found out their teacher bashing direction was a total loser. The parents and all of the public sector workers, university, college city etc shifted from the Liberals to the NDP.
The Liberal say “the deficit made us do it” total nonsense. #1 the deficit is now $12B not $16 B. It is full of unfunded liabilities that have many years to be dealt with. The budget was balanced in 2007. Public spending on health and education did not cause the deficit, it was caused by fighting the recession, stimulus spending and suppoert for the auto industry.
#2 it will cost the Liberal $1B to more the power plants. It is costing them $1.4B not to follow up on unpaid corporate taxes. Ontario hs the lowest corporate taxes in the Great lakes Basin.
Even Obama knows that taxing the rich is the solution in the USA!!! Does even one of these Liberal leadership candidates discuss revenue?
To organized teachers and Labour, fetters on collective bargaining are tantamout to cancelling free speech or elections. Totally illigitimate.
So we are down to VOLUNTARY, extra curricular activities. These ECs exist due to the good will of the teachers, nothing else. You can strip contracts you can restrict the right to strike but you cannot force people to work for zero pay.
The government squandered the good will of the teachers and it is now gone.
If governments wish to force the issue they can “make it part of the job” oh really? What are they willing to pay for it? Oh they can grant some teachers some time off for it. Guess what. Time granted adds up and you have to hire more staff. Either way it is very expensive.
I now predict and told a former education minister last March, this will end in no ECs for 2 years. The government can impose new contracts January 1/2013. If they do it EC activities are as dead as a doornail.
The teachers will also remove all political support from the Liberals and go all in on the NDP. Up until now, they funded both parties.
The public sector represents 22% of the electorate. If the Liberals persist they will lose all of this and gain nothing. 40% of the electorate supports the government’s direction. 35 of that 40% are Tories and will remain Tories in late spring at election time.
David Peterson attacked the teachers (pensions) after one majority gone.
Bob Rae attacked the teachers (social contract) after one election gone.
Mike Harris attecked the teachers, (extra time) after 2 elections gone.
Dalton McGuinty supported teachers and education 2003-20012 and then turned on them. This caused his support to drop like a stone to a deep third place.
Attacking the teachers = chaos in the system. Chaos in the system = electoral defeat.
I don’t know when they are going to learn?
Doug, clearly spells it out that the public education system, and its stakeholders, including the unions, the model, its governance and operations are based within the political spectrum, of divvying up authority, powers and responsibilities among the education stakeholders at the expense of the public, the students they serve, and the taxpayer’s purse.
The National Post has a good article – ” One suspects the teachers wouldn’t be so upset if the government had imposed a big raise and more sick days upon them using undemocratic means. But it is true that the legality of the government’s action is unclear. The government claims that it tried to bargain for months, but found no interest among the unions. The courts will ultimately decide if the unions’ decision to avoid direct negotiations with the government gave the government sufficient legal grounds to move unilaterally (legal opinion seems split on how the court will eventually rule).
But the unions are hardly in any position to be casting stones about democracy.
First, it’s a stretch to call a bill jointly passed by the elected members of two parties in a minority legislature undemocratic. It might be draconian, and may even be ultimately found to have been extralegal. But the passage of Bill 115 is probably more democratic than most laws rammed through by a majority government over the futile squawking of a powerless opposition.
Then there’s the undemocratic tactics of the unions themselves. If any teacher chooses to not engage in the strikes — if, say, they don’t particularly object to the government’s position — ETFO has made clear that defiance can be punished.”
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/12/14/matt-gurney-the-ontario-teachers-unions-are-the-ones-being-undemocratic/
I too, wondered how the courts will rule, given the public’s awareness on a host of education and economy issues, and more importantly the public inserting their rights to have the students received a quality education to reached their full potential. By cancelling extra-curricular activities, the heads of the unions are damaging students’ futures, their academic futures, and may indeed set the students on a pathway that produces negative outcomes in the futures.
Over on the EFTO site – a gem to read on extra-curricular activities.
“Assuming voluntary extra curricular activities can set a precedent. What is an extra activity one year can become an expectation the next, and is further built upon over time. ”
“Teachers who decide to participate in voluntary extra curricular activities should not receive special considerations for doing so, especially if these considerations mean more work for others. ”
http://www.etfo.ca/ADVICEFORMEMBERS/PRSMATTERSBULLETINS/Pages/Voluntary%20Extracurricular%20Activities.aspx
A report done 11 years – “More than 11 years after a provincial commission offered a blueprint for preventing extracurriculars from becoming a political football ever again — advice that was not followed — some 1.3 million Ontario students face the prospect of losing after-school programs for up to two more years.
It’s all a needless déjà-vu, claims commission member Cathy Cove.”
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1302944–teacher-protest-2001-report-on-how-to-safeguard-extracurriculars-during-labour-strife-ignored
The report – http://www.ontla.on.ca/library/repository/mon/1000/10294354.pdf
But it sure sounds that the ministry, school boards and the unions are not about to take up the recommendations of the report to heart. Gone are the days of the 1960s and 1970s, where one would find lots of teachers busy taking up extra-curricular activities, In the Globe and Mail, “Stephen Hurley, an education consultant and veteran Toronto teacher, recalls discovering the guitar as a teenager, his school would take a break from regular classes on Fridays so students could pursue a non-academic interest. When budget cuts cancel band practice, he says, it costs students an important social opportunity. “Look at what people do when they leave school,” said Mr. Hurley, “everything is grounded in relationships.”
Part of the quality education, that the unions, school boards and education ministries all insist that they have, is the extras. The bells and whistles, What bells and whistles are left inside the school walls?
As Dr. Willms have stated, but is ignored by the education stakeholders when it does not meet the political criteria of the stakeholders – “Students’ long-term aspirations and expectations are shaped by their perceptions of their ability, their experiences at home and at school, and the opportunities
presented to them.
Concerned with:
Available resources
Structural features of school system
Equity”
Click to access Module5.pdf
If the government and the public don’t put an end to it, in another 10 years the teachers will be working for 3 hours, having the support staff abiding by their wishes and whims – since the teachers no longer will be taking attendance, supervision duties, or the new perk of asking the valet to get their car out of the parking lot.
Who gains – Well, I wagered that the unions will be in for a surprise when it goes to court. The ministry of education, will be surprised that the political concerns have shifted to one of the public demand in inserting their rights for students to have a quality education, without strikes and teachers’ union’s labour unrest. The rights of the individual students will play the starring role, since their education is impacted negatively on their academic futures and to reach their full academic potential, on education policies that discriminates at the individual student level. As for school boards, keep on making education policy as political decisions, they be busy spending public funding on lawyers and courts for civil suits, to defend their authority, their power to deliver education.
The student petition – “But using the extracurricular activities as a “bargaining chip” is unfair to students and now involves them in the argument. As a collective body of over 2,000,000 students, we need raise our voices.”
http://www.change.org/petitions/give-back-the-extracurriculars
Students are just beginning to insert their rights as students. Just a matter of time when the education system model, will have to depoliticized, for the sake of the students, their rights to a quality education and their adult futures.
JTC there has been one poll on who is supported by Forum Polling. Who do you support the teachers or the government. Answer
45% teachers
40% government.
The teachers don’t run for election but the govt does. Chaos means we look for someone else that promises peace and no fighting with the teachers. Those soccer moms just want PEACE. So far only Horwath is promising peace. Hudak promises endless war.
You might want to consider John Ryrie’s opinion column in The Record (Kitchener-Waterloo) December 17, 2012, entitled, “Reaping the social discord that Bill 115 has sown”:
http://www.therecord.com/opinion/columns/article/854329–reaping-the-social-discord-that-bill-115-has-sown
Former President of the K-W OSSTF Federation (1995-2009) John Ryrie makes a good argument, but he hardly qualifies as an independent observer. The whole piece seems to be aimed at Dalton McGuinty’s fragile Liberal Government and it contains a few unsubstantiated claims. To cite one example, the whole column rests on a premise that is hard to swallow:
“Let’s be clear. The political pushback from 100,000 teachers right now has nothing to do with freezing salary grids (which was willingly agreed to months ago) or constraining educational costs (also broadly agreed to by the unions), but everything to do with what we, as a community (i.e., government) are saying about how we are developing our collective future.”
The closing statement, comparing Ontario Education Minister Louise Broten’s actions to those of the North Koreans is downright laughable. Frankly stated, I don’t see the connection and it completely undermines the legitimacy of his argument.
Frankly, i consider the entire Bill 115 fiasco a Liberal suicide note. Almost everybody that supports austerity is a Tory and will not vote Liberal if Dwight Duncan stands on his head and spits wooden nickels.
McGuinty has very carefully driven his share of the progressive vote away from the Grits and towards the Dippers.
Brilliant.
While generally agreeing with the teachers’ position it seems to me we do a terrible job at marketing our legitimate concerns. The same points and tactics get trotted out with the same results.
I do NOT want a Tim Hudak government.
Yet if we always do what we’ve always done, we’ll always get what we’ve always gotten. I do not believe this is good enough any more.
We must do a better job of getting the public onside.
That is very easy to say John and very hard to do. Do you say everything that McGuinty is doing is OK because the big bad wolf is in the woods? You need to deal with each party as they are the government. If a few more progressives got off their duff we would not need to choose between bad or worse. We could have semi-permanent NDP government like Manitoba. That is not perfect either but it is as good as it gets.
Everybody who says we need new tactics never seems to be able to point out what those tactics are. Oh a lot more PR big ads etc. The PR companies themselves point out you cannot change the public mind with PR you can only tweek it. At present more people support the teachers than the government which is why the Liberal Party is way down in the polls and suffered the humiliating loss in Kitchener Waterloo.
Reformers do not believe it but almost every teacher in Ontario is furious with the government. Wage controls are bad enough but retroactively removing sick days, an earned benefit, attacking the grid means attacking the young teachers, I just don’t see how a province benefits from an enraged cynical teaching force that will now do the absolute minimum required of them no matter what the rules are.
All parties need to get the message that you can pick fights with the teachers all you want but you are rolling the dice on the quality of education in the process. Parties that attack the teachers need to know that the teachers will use every single weapon at their disposal, economic, political, legal whatever to fight back including the permanent loss of extracurricular activities.
The government can go down the forced extracurricular route if they choose but there will be a war over it like they have never seen. They will end up having to pay for what was formerly a free service based on the good will of the teachers. That good will has been squandered.
How productive is forced labour? How do you attract the best and brightest to teaching by teacher bashing? It is a formula for disaster. When two students are taken to the principals office for fighting the principals first question is WHO STARTED THE FIGHT? Just keep in mind who started the fight.
I have no interest in repeating the tactics of the past since the past is gone.
Otherwise government imposition will be the order of the day and I shudder if we get a Hudak government in Ontario.
The way McGuinty is acting, he is just Hudak light. Bill 115 is a joint Liberal Tory coproduction..
Hudak will learn soon enough, Gov Snyder of Michigan has lost 20% support since he brought in RTW legislation. Dead meat.
“Super Tuesday” came and went — and Ontario’s elementary school teachers are vowing to continue their fight against Bill 115, after the law takes effect January 1, 2013.
The Globe and Mail team of Kate Hammer and Caroline Alphonso filed this news report:
“Ontario’s elementary teachers are vowing to walk out en masse after the Christmas holidays, shuttering every school, even as the province’s Education Minister warned that any job action taken in the new year will be illegal.
As public-school teachers in eight school boards took to the streets Tuesday in the largest walkout the province has seen in more than 15 years, the head of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario threatened the worst was yet to come. A government-imposed contract that takes effect Jan. 1 would trigger a large-scale political protest by teachers.”.
For the full story, see:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario-teachers-threaten-to-walk-out-en-masse-after-holidays/article6547837/
There is an old saying in the labour movement, “when strikes are made illegal, you get illegal strikes.”
Im sure Sam and Ken and many other leaders are prepared to go to jail if necessary.
I am very proud of the teachers and most teachers are very proud of their leaders for refusing to be intimidated by the government. Minister Broten ought to be told that every government action will be met by an escalation.
In the minds of the teachers, the only way this can end is for the government to be defeated. Unless Bill 115 is recinded, the system will be in chaos until it is.
A labor relations expert from Ryerson characterized the position as this – the teachers believe that the right to collective bargaining is inviolable and cannot be taken away under any circumstances. The government believes it can be cancelled when it is inconvenient.
BTW the $16 B debt is exactly the size of the Mike Harris corporate tax cuts of 1995-2003 never revoked by McGuinty.
The Ontario Premier may well be losing his grip. With some 35,000 elementary teachers, in eight different school boards, preparing to walkout yesterday, he appeared on CITY-TV’s Breakfast Television. “It’s gotten a little sticky,” he said in the political understatement of the year:
http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/canada/269160-ontario-pupils-miss-day-s-classes
Looks to me, from a distance, that the Education Premier is in some kind of political shock as his legacy erodes before his very eyes.
Who benefits from labour disputes-certainly not school board clients!
If airline personnel is considered an essential service,why not teachers ?
Shameful behaviour from professionals-they are spoiled now-Dalton is surprised they had no empathy for the have not province-like all spoiled children they want more and more and more….it`s called upping the ante!
Airline personel are not essential services under legislation it is just that Harper s so right wing he believes essential is the same as inconvenient.
Essential services are services where people would die if strikes were allowed. This includes emergency responders and some hospital workers. The thing is essential services have automatic right to arbitration which almost automatically allows the inflation rate or the average wage increase in the private sector to be the contract. McGuinty will not allow arbitration conciliation mediation or meaningful discussions. H has proposed a “my way or the highway” approach. Teachers chose the highway.
Teachers want every party to see “if you cross us we can make your life a living hell” so that all parties get the message. All parties are soon defeated when they cross the teachers.
All of the mothers and dads just want PEACE. The ones who start wars get punished politically.
I would say that your post is very illuminating to Union culture,wow-hostage the children and we`ll get what we want.
I hope Paul can get this to the media.
I agree with you Paul, I have many Liberal friends who are insiders who are furious with McGuinty and Duncan for getting us into this mess. The Liberal party has suffered dramatic popularity losses and the leadership candidates are distancing themselves from the decisions already.
McGuinty made a serious miscalculation that the teachers would go quietly into the night. A couple of phone calls to Mike Harris and Bob Rae might has disabused him of that notion. Internally Liberals are all telling McGuinty “this is all your fault.”
Political people make the serious miscalculation that teachers seek popularity as if they were also a political party. This is seriously incorrect. When teachers are angry they seek chaos because the politicians suffer from chaos. The parents believe the politicians job is to keep the peace. If you cant do that we will get someone who can.. McGuinty realizes that NOW but it is too late for him.
Hudak is promising “even more chaos” Horwath is promising PEACE. Who do you think the parents will support?
I don`t read in Paul`s posts that he has taken a side one way or the other,he simply asked,”who benefits?”
Don`t put words in his mouth.
I agreed with him that the premier looks as if he is losing his grip which you can read above and BTW Paul seems very capable of speaking for himself.
I would say that your post is very illuminating to Union culture,wow-hostage the children and we`ll get what we want.
I hope Paul can get this to the media.
No news there. Teachers don’t make cars or cut down trees. They teach children. What wouuld you like them to do go on strike in the summer? OSSTF teachers are coming to school every day and teaching all of their classes. ETFO is coming to school almost every day and teaching their classes. This is what botth are contracted to do.
If you want them to do more you treat them right and never make them angry. Extracurriculars are based only on good will. When good will is removed, so are the activities. Where is the difficult part?
All of the public sector services should be considered essential services, period. When the public service sector goes on strike, it blocks access to government services, and impacts all citizens. Unlike the strike at the local auto plant, to which the public have other means at their disposal if they wish to purchased a auto product. When the teachers’ unions go on strike, work to rule and other such actions, the students education futures are at stake, and their young adult lives.
Teachers’ unions should be really ashamed of themselves. Words are powerful, and it certainly is displayed in the comment sections of the media reports. One from a teacher claiming – “The press & government continue, erroneously to say the teachers are striking for a raise.
They are not striking for money, they are striking because their right to strike is being taken away – a right I might add our forefathers fought & died for. Canada will be a place of minimum wage earners if govts allowed 2 take away collective bargaining rights & strike rights. No one will be safe if they get away with it. They want citizens 2b under total dictatorship of govt & big business.”
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/education/article/1304210–teacher-protest-broten-not-budging-on-bill-115-heading-for-showdown-with-teachers
Correction – It was my father, and people like him working in the private sector who made the unions a powerful entity, in the 1940s and 1950s. I don’t see teachers and their union leaders, opening up their lunch boxes with a dead rat sitting inside
And this threat – “At my school we have already cut back our work to a level slightly above the incompetent level. We are now studying how to sabotage with finesse. One way or another we will win”
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/12/18/teachers-union-warns-there-could-be-more-strikes-as-339000-gta-students-miss-class/
The few comments defending the actions of the teachers’ unions to the overwhelmingly and majority that are NOT supporting the teachers’ unions, nor their stupid take on democracy, nor how the teachers’ unions are in it for the children and democracy. In the NP article – ““We’re out here to support public education. Public education is a right and we need to be here because right now it’s being attacked,” Ms. Platt said. “A teacher’s workplace is a student’s learning place, so we need to make sure that our students’ learning places are of premium quality.”
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/12/18/nearly-800-gta-schools-set-to-close-for-the-day-as-teachers-hit-picket-lines-for-super-tuesday/
Meanwhile the public are not buying it. And the union leaders are busy making strategic plans in the new year, to curtailed teacher duties at the expense of the students’ and their education as their way, to convince the public that it is all about the charter rights. ““Folks understand that it’s about our charter rights. Today it’s our rights, and tomorrow, who’s next?”
Oh really? In the comment section – “I just saw this suggestion on another article about the teachers; why don’t they go on a hunger strike instead, and show how devoted they are to their cause without taking it out on the children? Let’s see how long their resolve lasts then.”
No chance for the pamper teachers’ unions, and they should really take a page from the First Nations and the leaders’ hunger strike. The native leaders resolved is present. Where is the resolved of the teachers’ unions, when their actions and behaviour is at the expense of the students they served and their futures.
Just a matter of time, when governments on both levels will bring down right to work legislation. If the political chattering is correct, the next agenda number for the Harper government, and I am sure the provinces will follow suit.for the public sector unions. Doug’s statement speaks about the culture and agendas of the teachers’ unions, that are self-serving to serve the pocketbooks of the teachers, without being accountable for the outcomes of the children’s education. “They teach children. What wouuld you like them to do go on strike in the summer? OSSTF teachers are coming to school every day and teaching all of their classes. ETFO is coming to school almost every day and teaching their classes. This is what botth are contracted to do.
If you want them to do more you treat them right and never make them angry. Extracurriculars are based only on good will. When good will is removed, so are the activities. Where is the difficult part?”
Blackmail, and I do hope parents rise to the occasion when opportunity presents itself – to tell the classroom teacher or better yet the educrat at the board office – Why they should not being taking strike actions on the backs of the students they serve. The teachers’ unions have lost the good will of the public, and the public will cheer when the government imposes the contract by legislation. Apparently the papers have been drawn up, according to the reports of the media, and we see how much more angry the union leaders become like children when they have their toys taken away from them, and more so when the court ruling rules in favour of the government.
Nancy,
I mean really, the National Post the Toronto Sun and the Globe and Mail, are the house organs of the conservative anti-union movement. Letters and discussion under their articles are overwhelmingly representitive of the 35% of the popuation that support conservative causes.
The Forum poll shows that they are totally out of touch. The population suoports the teachers overwhelmingly over the government.
I worked in PR for OSSTF for years. We discovered a few things with polling and focus groups. The greatest lesson we learned is that the public wants PEACE in the education system. David Peterson, Mike Harris, Bob Rae and now Dalton McGuinty are learning that the one who disturbs thepeace
The governor of Michigan brought in RTW and fell 20% in the polls overnight. Everybody knows RTW= lower wages public and private. Now everybody wants to be the Demicratic candidate against him.
Essential services are not about inconvenience, the are about life and limb and when used guarantee arbitration which guarantees raises at the inflation rate or the incrwase in the average industrial wage .
Some people need to learn how things actually work before they opine.
The Teacher Strike Watch suggests that Alberta may well be next among the provinces. Today, The Globe and Mail’s Josh Wingrove provided this quick summary of the prospects for a strike:
“After province-wide talks collapsed two weeks ago, Alberta’s government is now negotiating its teacher contracts individually with each of its 62 school boards. In other provinces, such breakdowns have led to strikes. But, in Alberta, the main issue isn’t pay – it’s the demands of online learning, special needs and English-as-a-second-language students created by a booming, fast-changing province.
The union wants hard caps on “assignable time” to preserve teachers’ work-life balance; Education Minister Jeff Johnson says that would “lock our education model into what it used to be.” (Excerpt)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/will-alberta-teachers-strike-association-president-hopes-not/article6571769/
A Toronto CTV News story (December 18, 2012) demonstrates the impact of the “Super Tuesday” walkout on some 300,000 students and their families. Many families were left scrambling to find suitable activities or child care arrangements.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/news-video/video-thousands-of-ontario-students-off-school-as-one-day-teacher-strike-begins/article6506067/
Gee what have they been doing on PD Days, winter break, March Break, summer holidays?
Usually working and having to make alternative arrangements. The question is what have unionized employees been doing?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/tdsb-workers-used-public-funds-for-personal-business-manager-says/article6593891/
This pretty much says it all. The public backs the teachers, not the government. The public also is telling the MPPs, “there was no problem until McGuinty provoked the teachers.”
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1304763–teachers-protest-unions-winning-pr-war-with-liberal-government
Didn`t the Ontario minister gently ask after everything he did for the teachers that they take a pay freeze for two years as he asked of the Catholic Teachers;they made a deal that worked for everyone.
Bill 115 came after the public school teachers refused to cooperate,the government had no choice because it`s got to tame the expenditures and get the province in better fiscal order.Many people are suffering,the bill came AFTER an effort to negotiate something fair which is IMPOSSIBLE with the teacher`s union,we all know that,they want so much and give so little,they can`t even do their job for all that they get,it`s more…more…more…more…
Tragic circumstances for the customers that pay their wages, people in Ontario pay heavy taxes.
The attack on teachers has nothing to do with the deficit. Corporate taxes, if left at the level that Mike Harris inherited would be generating another $16 Billion. Peoblem solved.
McGuinty and Duncan have become too close to Bay Street. Watch the jobs they both get as a result of this. Duncan will be working on Bay Street like ernie Eves before
It was hardly about more more more… the teachers offered a pay freeze last May. The issue is collective bargaining rights not money.
You can say unions not teachers all you want but 92% strike votes and rejection of contracts on local votes indicated the grass roots members are even more militant than the leaders.
BTW this “everything he has done for them” language cuts nothing with teachers. They believe it is their due and low class sizes and ECE are popular and increase the Liberals popularity.
I believe as do most teachers that they are significantly underpaid.
By the way, the Ontario minister did not gently ask. Neither the Minister not the Premier could face the teachers. They were told to meet with a few Bay Street management lawyers working for the government who said “here is the new contract take it or leave it”. They told the lawyers where they could put it.
Teachers are far from underpaid,it`s a BA plus an 8 month course to become a teacher and job for life,not too many BA`s plus with those wages,hours and pensions.
You`re out of control.
They consider only $96 000 after ten years is far too low. Teachers are worth $120 000 at least. This is the average for professions requiring a bachelors degree.
I don`t think so…most of those that you refer to are not off for 11 weeks a year either,nor do they get benefits that most people would kill for!
Teachers are not paid for the summer or the other holidays. They simply have their wages for 194 school days amortized over 12 months.
If others want those benefits go out and fight for them as teachers did. They don’t fall out of the sky.
Sad really. Too many bloggers and others talk past each other, fail to listen or make even the slightest attempt to find common ground, except for Stephen Hurley and Paul.
Also sad, as I have noted earlier, that the same talking points used in 2012 were used in the 1970s when I began teaching.
In so many ways the world has changed. But too often when it comes to education- same, old, same old.
Tant pis; c’est dommage.
Oh well, have a happy . . . and a merry . . .!
and don’t forget to make at least one thoughtful and considerate resolution on dialoguing online.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1304788–walkom-the-teachers-dispute-and-the-war-on-wages
This is the real agenda. Teachers aren’t having it.
I listen very carefully to the opponents arguments John before I conclude they are totally bogus and completely without merit of any kind.
It is time to understand that society is permanently in the midst of a serious class struggle. It never ends but is sometimes in remission and then flares up again in difficult times.
I am on Obama’s side. The rich people caused the problems totally by themselves through their unbridled greed. They need to be given the bill for the full cost of the damages. They are trying very hard to pass the bill off to others.
Someties there is no middle ground John. The Liberal Party in Canada is suffering because the 2 big forces in society, business and labour have decided to duke it out. Those who don’t choose one side or the other are road kill in the middle of the road.
The Globe and Mail`s Margaret Wente is sounding predictable. Today`s column, `How the unions bully teachers“ (December 20, 2012), is a case in point. As a former OSSTF member, I cannot say that I ever felt bullied, nor do I think that it`s a common feeling among the current membership. I felt conflicted and constrained, at times, but not really bullied.
Attending OSSTF rallies and pre-voting meetings in the mid to late 1970s, declining enrollment was a fact of life and my main concern was job security. In 1977-78, I was the Aurora HS OSSTF Rep on the Staffing Committee responsible for overseeing the process of declaring teachers `redundant`to their schools. The very next year, 1978-79, my number was up, and I had to change schools. It was a rude awakening and left its psychological scars.
Looking back, I can remember being upset about the LIFO rules protecting some of my more comfortable, school day-counting colleagues. The big monthly calendar in our Social Sciences Department Office was marked with `X` at the end of every teaching day. A few of the teachers showed films in every period on Fridays and for the last week of every term. Need I say more?
For the most part, as a teacher on probationary contract, I was smart enough to keep quiet and to focus almost entirely on doing the best job I could with students in the classroom.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/how-the-unions-bully-teachers/article6586208/
I don`t think Wente`s column really captures the dependency factor that influences your thinking and actions.
There is a very common belief among both nonunion and particularly antiunion circles that there is massive bullying of the members and intimidation needed to force union members to follow union bosses.
Those who actually live the experience understand that every single round of bargaining since WW1 when teachers unions were formed, the employers begin bargaining with zero raises and some take aways on the table. All teachers including those less than enthusiastic about the union, understand that everything worthwhile to their worklives xame due to the efforts and unity of the union.
The pay, the benefits, the pension, the class sizes, the prep time, the individual protection, and everything else. None of it would exist without the union. They also know at the end of the day, the union has only one tool at its disposal, solidarity. The fact that nobody, or almost nobody breaks ranks is the spine of the union.
When they ask for a strike vote the % is the envy of other unions. When they strike only a tiny group break ranks. When we took a 7000 member Toronto OSSTF out against Mike Harris, 12 members went to work. Their names were printed in the strike newsletter and there names were read at every union mweting for one year after. They were not fined one cent. Many teachers would not speak to them. They were well aware of what peoplethought of them.
Dr.Myers,why does speaking openly and debating these issues bother you so much?No one is being rude,people have differing views,you are a University Professor,Doug is a politician and Union man,Dr.Bennett an educator and I was a parent,my children are now out of the system,however,as a parent,this was and continues to be an obnoxious detrimental action against the children of Ontario and the tax payers so heavily burdened to pay for public education.
Teachers are incredibly fortunate,they just don`t know it-a stint in the “real world” would fix that.
Keeping the children hostage and not giving them extracurricular activities is injurious-these activities need to be paid for by third part providers so at least some of the hostaging can be alleviated.
The interesting problem for conservatives is that teachers providing extraxurriculars free is the only way they can be provided free. Anyrhing else will be prohibatively expensive.
Of course if teachers provide the service free, the service can be removed when teachers are not feeling appreciated. They only exist due to teachers good will.
If Broten imposes contracts, the end of extracurriculars for 2 years is a mimimum responce. It will also cost the Liberals the next election.
I worked in the political P R dept of OSSTF for years. The one thing we all learned from very expensive and extensive polling and focus groups is that the public expects politicians to “keep the peace” in education. Those that dont are forced out like McGuinty, Rae, Harris, Eves,Peterson.
Attacking the teachers radically shortens the life of most politicians.
“Dr.Myers,why does speaking openly and debating these issues bother you so much?”
What bothers me is that there is NO debate. No one ever changes their minds even slightly.
BTW I am a teacher – of kids and adults, and a parent and work at a university.
I have been a union person. Most of us in the real world have several roles. Sometimes they conflict. Sometimes they do not.
Oh yes, I almost forgot. I have worked since I was nine years old and ran two small business before I began teaching
and
I do not like extra-curriculars being curtailed- I coached too.
As for having extra-curriculars done by third parties for pay? Seeing how this works in the US tells me it is more trouble than it is worth.
John,I actually think the union had a chance before the bill to listen and do the right thing,I read the beginning journey of the altercation tonight,it isn`t as Doug painted it,they in my opinion,have done the wrong thing.They could have taken the high road for two years and really been rewarded later.
I hate that kids aren`t getting what we pay for as tax payers and I do believe many great non profit after school groups exist,the question is,could they get grants to scale so we can make sure our children are getting what they need.
Teachers have changed morally,they`re different now,not all of them but most,teaching is a job with benefits..it`s missing something and boy does it show up in this power struggle.Everyone I know is fed up and sympathy is not with the teachers,far from it!
Tans pis is right!
yes,we are hostages and I`m well aware of your union angle and experience,Brotten luckily is a lawyer.
Shame on all of you frankly,it`s deplorable.
” Their names were printed in the strike newsletter and there names were read at every union mweting for one year after. They were not fined one cent. Many teachers would not speak to them. They were well aware of what peoplethought of them.”
School yard bullies uses the above tactic, and more so when the victim reports on him. The victim is reminded by the bully that he is a rat, a narc and names referring that the victim spoke to outsiders telling the inner secrets of the bully and his circle. He keeps on repeating it, until it sticks to the victim where all others do not want to associate with the victim. It doesn’t have to be a victim, or could be the best buddy of the bully.
Bullies often used this tactic to keep his friends on board, to tolerate the bully’s behaviour. A power struggle, where the dominate alpha rules the roost, until the day that someone takes away his power. Union leaders are very much like the school yard bully, controlling their members’ actions and behaviours that goes beyond the professional duties of an educator. A law unto itself, that offers no mercy. Do as you are told, or face the consequences of being humiliated after whatever misdeeds the union leaders deem unacceptable.
As Wente has stated, ” If you don’t show up for strike duty, you could face a stiff fine. The union-issued lists of dos and don’ts go on for pages, and include such minutiae as whether teachers are allowed to collect money for pizza days (no).” The union plays down the list, but it is comprehensive that the majority of teachers would not go off revealing the inner secrets and tales of the union executive. The members over-riding fear of the consequences is greater than than the just putting up and tolerate the circumstance in the relative comfort of the union arms. Just have to behave, and do everything that is asked of me. Reminds me of the unhealthy relationship of wife abuser, or the relationship between parents and the school, of where the ‘yes’ parents, will accept the one-way communication of being told what to do, in the hope that it will favour their child. What the ‘yes’ parents will not do, is to upset the apple cart figuratively speaking in fear the repercussions will hurt their children’s education. Although, school officials will swear up and down this does not happen, but it never does to the group who is holding the power and authority.
The union executive of the teachers’ unions, – “Teachers don’t deserve to be bullied by their unions. Unfortunately, the unions are still run by people who think that old-style labour tactics will work in the modern world. They’ll find out soon enough they’re wrong.”
The teachers’ unions represent the old style unions of the 1950s, when my father would received a dead rat in his lunch box. He fixed that, by putting on a lock. He also worked around the union executives demanding that union members are not employed at another job, while out on strike. The union executive made the life of the more highly skilled labour a miserable hell, for daring to be gainfully employed while out on strike. Not so today, and more so if a strike drags on. The better skilled labour will move on to another job until the strike is over. They may or may not come back to the former place of employment, but the union leaders will not penalized them for doing so.
From the OSSTF site – the list of the don’ts and heaven help any union member for disobeying the don’ts.
http://www.osstf.on.ca/Default.aspx?DN=03ff2bbf-b1fd-4935-893f-3b607276d674
I wonder if the teachers’ union executive have given pause to the ongoing threats, attacks and government legislation on unions to their old style union tactics that includes keeping their members playing the same tune as their masters or else as Doug has inferred the union members pay the price of destroying their careers. In much the same way, the victim of a bully is eventually shunned by one and all, for reporting on the bully. Actually, what Doug had boasted proudly, “Their names were printed in the strike newsletter and there names were read at every union meeting for one year after. They were not fined one cent. Many teachers would not speak to them. They were well aware of what people thought of them.”
Old style tactics may have work well in the 20th century, but not anymore. The key to a bully is to take away their power. An effective one, is to threatened the bully with his own secrets, that he does not want everyone to know. The teachers’ union executive and some of its members claims that they are not bullying their members, but take away their power by revealing the inner secrets of the union executive for the whole world to see, it turns out to be the everyday bullying behaviour of the alpha, that is needed to keep his buddies subordinated to his power. Better watch out, with the wealth of 21st technology, you soon be frisking your members and scanning the members for hidden surveillance gear. Next thing the union executives will be seeing their dirty laundry on Anonymous, the hacker group or some other organization dedicated to revealing the secrets of the inner sanctums. They play no favourites, to unions or governments or corporations.
What will the teachers’ union executive do, fined all of their members? Or will they sit down, and agreed to operate within the 21st century parameters, without using bullying tactics to keep their members subordinated to the union executive. Or will the executive wait, until the federal government via through Revenue Canada, declaring the hefty discounts that union members received from insurance companies, travel agencies and other discounts that the public cannot avail of the generous discounts, as a taxable perk? Would not put it pass the federal government, especially when the unionists and the executives boasts with much gusto, as Doug has, “The pay, the benefits, the pension, the class sizes, the prep time, the individual protection, and everything else. None of it would exist without the union. They also know at the end of the day, the union has only one tool at its disposal, solidarity. The fact that nobody, or almost nobody breaks ranks is the spine of the union.”
Governments are breaking up the unions by weakening the solidarity. Just a matter of time, in Canada when the public sector unions will have their back broken by the individual members of the union, for going to far, stepping far out of bounds that prevented the individual teachers from carrying out their professional duties as they see fit and limit their full participation in a democracy because they have to watch their Ps and Qs, in fear of the union executive, who control their members using bullying tactics of the school yard bully.
My comment just published in G&M comments:
Collectivization At The Heart Of The Struggle
The teacher union movement is not just about “bread and butter” issues — militant as they are on these.
Unlike every other trade union in the world, teacher unions have a very urgent second agenda — to continue molding future generations to transform society. No other unit in society is as well placed as teacher unions to advance the progressive and socialist cause. To do this successfully they rely on centralized power systems like big, powerful unions to keep their own members in line.
And they depend on big centralized units like school boards for their conduits to power, influence and opportunity. That abolishing school boards is on the back burner of this dispute is a big “elephant in the room” issue. The Ontario teacher unions, regardless of how pushy they are, will not push hard enough to lose their school board playing fields.
The Sandy Hook tragedy brings forth some interesting left-wing opinions. Here is one that argues for continuing to push “toward the collective and away from individualism”. And readers are counseled not to homeschool their children as a way of avoiding violence because this “violates progressive values”. http://www.thenation.com/blog/171827/sandy-hook-must-push-us-toward-collective-and-away-individualism#
Now, this G&M article is about teacher unions bullying their members. Many deny this. Well, if it can be shown that bullying, intimidation and coercion occurs to keep collective union members in line, can we not see how collectivizing future generations will also have these “means to an end” applied?
On a blog (Educhatter) currently discussing teacher unions one supporter had this to say:
*** “When we took a 7000 member Toronto OSSTF out against Mike Harris, 12 members went to work. Their names were printed in the strike newsletter and their names were read at every union meeting for one year after. They were not fined one cent. Many teachers would not speak to them. They were well aware of what people thought of them.”
Mandatory collectivization of teachers is supported by School Acts in Canada. And teachers are kept in line by their unions.
My point is — If teachers are accustomed to coercive collectivization methods from their union, won’t they in turn use these methods on our children and grandchildren?
Tunya – “My point is — If teachers are accustomed to coercive collectivization methods from their union, won’t they in turn use these methods on our children and grandchildren?”
In the link and in the comments – a parent – “My kid sat in PS for 2 years and literally learned nothing other than how to keep his mouth shut in a group. That was not an acceptable option for my child. And I’m not going to apologize for doing what is best for my own kids. It’s a rejection of one school for one child. Not a rejection of society as a whole. And it certainly isn’t because I’m afraid of the safety of schools. This could happen ANYWHERE as it’s been seen. Malls, movie theaters, college campuses. My kids attend homeschool classes every week in a public school building that houses 2 other elementary schools.”
It is what happened to my youngest child, she learned to keep her mouth shut in group activities to avoid the name calling of being called dumb in 1001 different ways. All the group projects were done at home, until the day my child could expressed herself in writing and to participate. No matter how I approached it to the school, nothing was done. I solved it, by having this busy work for the most part, brought home, because the main issue was that the students in the group would declared she did not know anything, and the collective group was on the right track. Nine times out of 10, my kid was on the right track, and the rest of the kids in the group were on the wrong track. She just needed help in expressing herself in writing, but in the group, children will just see the child with weaker writing skills as a burden to the collective. So my child learned how to shut-up and do what she was told to do.
As for the group activities being done at home, it was over looked by the teachers and I always made extra copies, just in case one of the students would rather put their name on my child’s work, than their own work.All I did, was I became the scribe putting her thoughts and ideas on paper in a coherent fashion.
The collective weakness is the same weakness found in individualism. The weaker parts of the collective will be silenced to present no threat to the collective whole and the ones who are holding the political and economic powers in their hands. I rather have individualism any day, because the individual has a fighting chance to carved out their own pathway. Like I did, when I was no longer willing to leave the education of my youngest child in the hands of the collective called a public education system. The bully tactics of the public education system to parents, is similar to the bully tactics of union executives – all about keeping the individual union members in line, obeying the union directives. Not complying to the union directives, heavy consequences for the individual member.
You all have a total right to your opinion but don’t confuse it with majoritarian opinion. Here are some examples of the evils of collectivism
Public schools
Medicare
pensions
public libraries
public roads and streets
public lighting
public transit
public housing
public health nurses
public airports
public harbours
National parks
provincial parks
universities
colleges
garbage collection
the police force
the fire department
EMS
the army
meat inspectors
forest rangrers
crossing guards
bank regulators
coops
credit unions
the United Nations
the World Bank
the IMF
disability benefits
ECE
and so on and so on.
Oh my gosh stop with this collectivism you are scaring the children.
On CTV news net – a group together of the political pundits
Warning – if unions don’t reign in their demands, it be a rough year for the public sector unions. The great hope is that the unions will do it on their own accord, before the government does it for them.
Many of the ones that listed, except for the global ones – have had their hours reduced, if not people must meet the narrowed criteria to access and avail of the benefits. As for forest rangers? What forest rangers? Back in the 1970s it was an excellent summer job for students. Not anymore……..
As for the public harbours – really public? Planning to fenced in the St. John’s Harbour at a price of $600,000 to keep out the public. Oh yes, blocking the Narrows. What an expensive fence, while the roads and the lack of sidewalks go answered for another 3 years or so.Sounds like Toronto, and the wonderful pie in the sky plans for the Spadina Parkway? Save the tax dollars to pay for the services that will be needed when the previous services were cut.
Somehow the collective for common services and benefits, the citizens are left out of the equation, and the citizens end up paying for the fallout and being highly inconvenienced.
Services are only as good as the outcomes. Something the collective of government and other collectives such as unions need to learn – outcomes are more important because outcomes judges the quality of the service, the cost effectiveness and if the service is completing the intended goals of servicing the public. And not a service, to supply jobs for the unions………LOL
http://www.threehundredeight.com/
The above outlines what has happened to the Liberal vote since Bill 115. Brilliant.
The last time i heard that anti-collectivist thought was from the Ayn Rand cult. Crazy extremists.
I have a great idea,everyone should go to catholic schools-
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/education/article/1207283–catholic-schools-more-often-score-better-than-public-schools-new-c-d-howe-report-shows
All extracurriculars are on and the teachers are working,the kids are learning!
Not going to happen but guess what, it does weaken the boards bargaining position. Catholic elementary teachers make more than ETFO
The Bill 115 Discussion on The Agenda with Steve Paikin (December 12, 2012) asked the question: “What Has Been Learned?” Here is the telecast:
http://www.peopleforeducation.ca/pfe-news/annie-kidder-on-the-agenda-with-steve-paikin/
A week later, does much of the arm-chair analysis hold water? How would the panelists respond now after the past week of massive labour disruptions?
Where does People for Education actually stand on Bill 115 and the Teacher Labour Disruption?
The P4E Fact Sheet gives it all away, especially the section on What Concerned Parents can do to end the dispute. The Answer: Labour Peace at all Costs!
Click to access People-for-Education-quick-facts-on-Ontarios-education-labour-dispute.pdf
Fascinating to read because Annie Kidder and P4E had Dalton in their pocket for most of the past decade.
The Kidder non-fact sheet doesn’t surprise us here at all. It still reads more like a co-opt piece rather than objective information and help for parents. What concerned parents can do at all costs? Be suckered in to the union mantra and that of P4E.
It’s been rumoured that the reason Kidder had Dalton in her back pocket was one person Ms. Wynne. Could that have been the reason for Wynne’s demotion to a lesser ministry?
What’s missing from P4E’s “fact sheet” is any support for parents.
The most obvious one would think IF the goal of P4E is to support and advocate for parents that is.
I took a quick browse to the discussion forum at Ms. Kidder’s website and I have to say that I’m surprised that the educators there don’t seem to be too happy with their union either. Odd that the fact sheet is a bit of a disconnect to that actual discussion.
Annie Kidder accurately reflects the honest opinion of the vast majority of “soccer moms” Paul which is why the teachers are winning and the Liberals are losing. Public opinion is such that a “don’t provoke the teachers under any circumstances” is how I would characterize it. So what if you have a deficit? Go raise the taxes, oh look deficit is gone. Deficits are composed of uncollected taxes. The Liberals were even ready to ‘write off’ $1.4 B in uncollected corporate tax. The auditor general told them “you should be sending tax collectors to their door to tell them they have three weeks to pay or we are closing you up,”
Kid gloves for corporations and the rich – the jack boot for teachers and unions. The Liberals already know their direction was idiotic which is why McGuinty had to walk the plank
Stupid economics, even stupider politics.
For once you are right JTC, many teachers believe the stance of the union is not nearly militant enough. The NDP has the Liberals right where they want them due to Liberal stupidity.
Paul – Doug’s comment illustrates my point beautifully. The sad irony to the Little/Kidder message is the arrogance that anyone is “winning” anything at all. THAT is why the public will have the last laugh next election time and the unions will not like it. Why? Because by that time the Ontario public will be all about who they trust to manage the public purse and it’s sure not going to make the party who gave us Bob Rae or Dalton McGuinty.
Individual teachers lose, parents lose, but most of all students lose.
Confidence is public education is further shattered and those keeping score will pay the price.
http://www.threehundredeight.com/
As you can see Tim Hudak is in no position to form a majority government. The Liberals and NDP will have way more seats. As a result we will have a Tory government that totally depends on the Liberals and the NDP to pass its bills or you will have a Liberal NDP cohabitation of some sort.
The governor of Michigan brought in RTW and instantly lost 20% popularity. Hudak saw that. He cannot break 40% popularity because his his policies are too unpopular.
When it comes to public education everybody remembers Mike Harris, the worst premier for education in the last 100 years. Tory education policies are very unpopular with Ontario. People want labour peace uber alles. Smaller classes, more ECE, no private school support, and so forth.
The same policies that make Tory leaders popular with their base turns off the general population.
Ya Tories are great money managers, lol. They left a secret deficit of $6B they lied about last time. Does F-35 inspire confidence, how about more and bigger jails and the most wasteful inefficient spending any government can indulge in – military spending. Flaherty just keeps postponing the date of his balanced budget. Meanwhile they indulge in Ebinezer Scrooge cuts to the poor.
They are the worst of he worst.
What’s the matter Doug, don’t like the news lately?
P4E has change over 2012. More unhappiness from the educators that write in, and what few parents that do write in, are not buying the P4E agenda or the union stance.
From the P4E – a teacher wrote in to respond to a parent.
In part – ” I am not complaining, I love my job, but clearly, you do not have a fair understanding of what teaching involves and you are judging it from the outside. As for your daughter’s trip, I am sorry for her disappointment, but I would hope that you could sit back and think that rather than lament a trip for a child, the loss of the ability to negotiate fairly in her adult life will be a great deal more frustrating for her. I hope you want a better world for her than that. We all want our children to be happy. I certainly want mine to enjoy life. However, I have tried to teach them that happiness isn’t achieved by getting every small thing we want, but by devoting our hearts to doing what we believe to be right. The system can always be improved, but attacking it’s lifeblood is not the answer. And yes, there was a time when less effective teachers were shuttled from school to school and perhaps put in priority areas. Those times have passed. If anything, accountability is so data driven now that stress is our number one health concern and it is not a joke or a lie or a cop out. By nature, most teachers are high achievers and they put so much pressure on themselves that they push themselves to the breaking point trying to please so many people and they are crushed by the lack of support and understanding that they get from parents and the public who rush to judgement. Sam is right, read the legislation and understand that this is not about us wanting some benefit here or there. This truly is about democracy and freedoms and our fears that the very foundations that this country was built on are being rocked by an agenda that has to be challenged before it is too late. We can’t let a Christmas concert or a field trip (and yes, my daughter is missing out, too) get in the way of our children’s future.”
http://discuss.peopleforeducation.ca/forum/topics/bill-115-teachers-parents-and-the-province?id=2468495%3ATopic%3A56960&page=10#comments
I bet that teacher wouldn’t be there for one of her students at 3:00 in the morning. Some of the teachers are claiming their are raising the Ontario children. Parents are objecting to the teachers’ stances, and the union stance that children must sacrificed for the sake of the union, who is saving democracy and freedoms. The extra-curricular activities went bye-bye, along with all the administration work duties of a teacher, so the union can go out and save democracy even if it is at the cost of students’ education.
You love anacdotal stories Nancy because the macro story never suits your agenda. You would report a 92% strike vote as “significant minority of teachers dont support strike”. Did you miss the Forum poll? How often does a public sector strike result in overwhelming support for the union?
Paul is quite right. Parents want PEACE uber alles and will punish,the one who disturbs the peace. In this case the government attacked, the unions defended, therefore in the public mind goverment bad, union good.
I take Annie Kidder as representitive of the parents opibion.She has her finger on the pulse if the parent world.
At the top of the macro world and more so in politics – the one-sided stories and angles. What happened to the 30,000 members who did not vote Doug?
If you watch the Agenda clip – The conservative party may just get in, and probably being the work of putting Ontario back together. You ought to read NP and the article about Ontario crying the blues over equalization. For good reasons thought, but it is rather ironic when Ontario was a have province, they just dismissed and laugh at the points of the other provinces receiving equalization monies. Now Ontario is using the same points.
But seriously Doug, Ontario has to put their fiscal house in order, and part of it is to reigned in the public sector. If they don’t, who ever will be the next government, cuts to services and eliminating services will be the call of the day. Than the layoffs will begin…….
The union stance is pure rhetoric. Their stances are absurd, and not very logical. But it is obvious some teachers are gullible enough, or are they really union trolls at the P4E site, to put parents in their place, by using this ridiculous reasons of democracy? Children have to sacrifice because the teachers’ unions’ are saving democracy for the children?
I think the public is in no mood. In fact in a foul mood, dealing with the rising costs in Ontario. They don’t have time, to listen to teachers’ unions and how hard done they are.
Toronto Star today pg A20, Hudaks popularity falling since he announced RTW and other crackpot Tory policies.
Forum poll asked if union dues should be made non compulsory. 34% agreed 45% disagreed. The rest had no ipinion. Conservatives need to get outside their own bubble. Most people do not agree with them.
Hudak is so fearful of being overthrown by his own base that he keeps throwing them red meat like RTW. It is a formula to hold your base but it is not a formula to grow.
Romney tried the same thing.
Umm the world works on “votes cast” Nanacy. I would love to tell people that Harper only got 24% of the vote because he only got 40% of the 60% that voted. Sadly that is not how it works. you are clutching at straws. The Forum poll shows that you are wrong about everything. I know you find this difficult but most parents and most citizens just plain don’t agree with conservatives.
Your most important words in your last paragraph is “I think..” I’m sure you think that but most people do not.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1305278–polls-suggests-ontario-pc-leader-tim-hudak-s-right-turn-is-not-helping-with-voters
Read it and weep.
Nancy,
I believe in the instant elimination of the deficit. Lets start by returning corporate taxes back to where they were 1994, ooops deficit gone.
Are Teacher Unions Deliberately Undermining Parental Role?
Just what is the position of Parents 4 Education on this matter of Parent Progress Report Cards? They should be 4-square behind parents being kept fully informed!
This is what I just published in the Globe & Mail comments regarding the RC issue
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/toronto-teachers-face-disciplinary-action-over-report-cards/article6590674/
Parents Are The Ultimate Decision-Makers Of Their Children’s Education
When parents are forced — by hook or by crook — to use the government “safety-net” of public schools, then it is statutorily obligatory that government schools provide the parents with relevant information of their child’s progress.
Most School Acts schedule the first Parent Progress Report Cards in the fall so that parents can make an “informed decision” as to whether to keep their child in the public school or disenroll to another choice — home education or some other provider, private or public.
To provide incomplete Parent Progress Report Cards at this stage — AND to be so instructed by their teacher unions — clearly indicates that teacher unions are deliberately sabotaging and undermining parents’ instrumental role in the education of their children!
Of course, the teacher unions support a monopoly public education system through government public schools and therefore would not want parents to be leaving the system come January.
This withholding of information amounts to insubordination and non-compliance with the School Act.
Withholding of critical information in education is just as serious as withholding critical medical information in health care. In the health trade such withholding of information is subject to malpractice suits.
When people go on legal strikes, they can choose to do or not do anything they want. The board has one option – lock them out.
The Ontario Education Act refers to the role of the teacher as “In loco parentis”
kinda means the teacher stands in as the parent while the student is in school.
http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.ca/2011/03/snyder-quickly-falls-out-of-favor.html
Ought to read about ‘loco parentis’ on the legal pages. Very interesting reading for both Canadian and American legal files.
That said, what Tunya has related, applying within the 21st century, rights and that good stuff – it would not surprised me to read in 2013, of a parent suing the school, school board for failing to provide progress reports containing relevant information. Resulting in a false sense of security, that their child was doing okay, but that was not the case. By March, the parent perceives that her child is failing, and pays for a private tutor, since the teachers are still working to rule and there is no tutoring classes after school.
Been reading a whole set of interesting papers, from the education ivory tower. Seriously worried about parents’ awareness of rights, of inserting their rights, challenging the public education system, and taking the schools and school board to court. It starting to break in the education ivory towers across the U.S. and Canada. Little cracks, where one day the teachers’ unions will wake up one day, to find that they are alone in defending the status-quo. of doing things the 19th century way.
Just a matter of time, because the present system is unsustainable, and then there is the law suits……..of parents.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/pulseofcanada/pulse-canada-walkouts-way-ontario-teachers-protest-181847951.html
read the 230 comments Doug-220 are against the strike and see you as naive and unreasonable-the naivete part is one I hadn`t thought of,how unions look for opportunities like this as a business opportunity for raising dues!
Forum Poll (a serious poll not an internet poll)
Support teachers 49%
Suppport govt 35%
Bill 115 good 38%
Bill115 bad 54%
Bill115 is about collective bargaining as teachers claim 58%
Bill 115 is about wages as government claims 20%
Unions should not be able to receive compulsory dues 34%
Compulsory dues are ok 45%
Oct 15
PC 35%
Lib 29%
NDP 27%
Green 8%
Dec 20
PC 33%
NDP 31%
Lib 27%
Green 8%
It is rare but it does happen that a party can win a majority with less than 40%
What education reformers need to understand is that depending on the question, they represent a lot of people 30-35% but their opponents represent almost twice as many people.
Three articles on the importance of extra-curriculars
“.He believes sports and other extracurriculars are an extension of education and, therefore, should be provided by the community.
“If the Board of Ed and the community agrees that these are important facets of education, and it’s a public school, then they should pick up the tab on it,” he said, noting that he was speaking for himself, not the SWC. “And if it’s not, then don’t have them.”
http://southbury.patch.com/articles/pay-to-play-sports-extacurriculars-common-at-high-schools
“The indications are (and research supports) that teens who are involved in extracurricular activities actually do better than their non-involved peers in a number of areas. Instead of test scores falling and sleep being sacrificed because a student is taking on more activities, the opposite is true. Most studies show that students who are involved in extracurricular activities excel above their peers academically. But that’s not all.
According to a study published in Education, the benefits of teen participation in extracurricular activities go well beyond just filling up an already-busy schedule and having another line to add to the college application.
Benefits include having a sense of team spirit and belonging, personal pride and an understanding of the value of fair play, an increased sense of honesty and trustworthiness, and, importantly, the prevention of drug and substance abuse – among others. The study states “Repeated records of high school students across the United States have shown that those students who become heavily involved in extracurricular activities tend to be model students and seldom get involved in delinquency and crime.”
http://www.education.com/magazine/article/Can_High_School_Extracurriculars/
“If Not At School, Where?
From the standpoint of the delivery of educational programs, our schools exist in a triad with institutions of higher education and non-governmental organizations and institutions. Taken together, our K-12 schools, higher education institutions, and non-governmental organizations represent the full range of resources and training possibilities available to students, and collaboration across all three strengthens each individual member of the triad considerably. In many cases, out-of-school programs are coordinated either by higher education outreach coordinators on a university campus or by community organizations in a community-based space.”
http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/strategies/topics/Character%20Education/outside.html
It has been established that extra-curricular activities are important, and crucial to the development of children and youth. As a parent, I could not imagine where my children would be in life, without the outside activities that I paid for, to provide experiences that developed discipline, responsibility and skills that are transferable to other things in life. However, in the public education institute the professional establishment of educators, have undertaken over the years to removed extra-curricular activities in educating the youth, as no longer being necessary and crucial in the development of our youth to become productive and actively engaged youth, Arriving into emerging adulthood with a sense of worth, respect of self, and are less inclined to engaged in high-risked activities, or not to participate in the mundane activities of daily life, such as taking the time to vote in a municipal election.
As a parent, I will never forget my youngest face, beaming ear to ear, all of 8 years old receiving her first gold medal of many to come, for being top champ at a swimming meet. Historically, duly recorded in the swimming annuals, and her name being forever in black and white. When she returned to start the new school year, my youngest was determined and motivated to turned things around in the academics. Now that is true intrinsic motivation, and not the sloppy kind that is discussed in the public education ivory towers, where motivation and engagement are in separate silos away from their counterparts – what I would call life activities. of the extra-curricular kind.
Instead extra-curricular activities within the K to 12 public education are deem expendable and the value of the extra-curricular activities are held hostage by the public education stakeholders, and the teachers’ unions are the blackmailers. The extra-curricular activities are waved as a carrot for parents and students, expounding on the virtues of extra-curricular activities, much like the three articles cited above to induced parents and students on their value to their children. and the carrot is taken away by extortion, blackmailing, and other methods within their legal authority and mandate in delivering education services.
On a law blog – “Wasn’t hard for me to explain it to my 9 year old: Doing after school activities is not part of the teachers’ jobs, and they don’t get paid for it. In Canada, luckily, no one can be forced to work for free. Your teachers volunteer to stay after work for free, because they care for you guys. But right now they are mad at their employer, who they think is being mean and unfair to them. The only way they can show their employer that they are mad is to stop volunteering to spend their free time at work. They are not mad at the kids. But sometimes in life you have to take a stand when you think someone is being mean to you.”
http://www.yorku.ca/ddoorey/lawblog/?p=5548
When teachers’ unions get upset, they moved into pompous territory to justified their actions by pulling out the collective agreements, the school acts and other legal legislation to take away the carrot of extra-curricular activities. When things get settled down, the teachers’ unions will join with the other education stakeholders to put the carrot back in place, by refreshing the education literature on all the things that the public education employees do for free and voluntary, plus the importance of having students to participate in the extra-curricular activities the school has to offered. It becomes mindbogglingly when after-school tutoring is an extra-curricular activity. but the majority of the students are mandated to show up, or face discipline measures. Of course it is used for students who do not hand in assignments, and other academic reasons on the premises of offering increase motivation and engagement of students.
Even more mindbogglingly when the educators go into the mode, of how much they do for their students that they are not paid for. As if, not setting an adult example, a model is no longer part of their job description. If parents did the same things as the Ontario teachers’ unions are undertaking, rest assured we be charged and facing a judge, or be paying a hefty price when our children grow into holy terrors.
This brings me back to the lag blog, and what is stated – ” Look at the definition of a strike in the Education Act:
(b) “strike” includes any action or activity by teachers in combination or in concert or in accordance with a common understanding that is designed or may reasonably be expected to have the effect of curtailing, restricting, limiting or interfering with,
(i) the normal activities of a board or its employees, (ii) the operation or functioning of one or more of a board’s schools or of one or more of the programs in one or more schools of a board, or (iii) the performance of the duties of teachers set out in the Act or the regulations under it, including any withdrawal of services or work to rule by teachers acting in combination or in concert or in accordance with a common understanding.”
If the education act can define legally what is a strike, why can’t the government and the ministry of education, define and spell out in legal terms what is a basic education, spelling out in detail all parts of a basic education. As it stands now, a basic education as defined in the education acts across Canada, is vague and opened to wide interpretation, the enables the education stakeholders to manipulate the legal statues and the education act to work for the best interests of the adults working in the public education system.
Change the legal definition in the Education Act, of what is an education, watch all the stakeholders cried out in unison. It would put an end to the gravy train and the education stakeholders holding students hostage, and put an end to poor education quality that passes for quality, that closes many future doors of students, before they even pass the goal post of grade 8.
“Strong public education system
0.1 (1) A strong public education system is the foundation of a prosperous, caring and civil society. 2009, c. 25, s. 1.
Purpose of education
(2) The purpose of education is to provide students with the opportunity to realize their potential and develop into highly skilled, knowledgeable, caring citizens who contribute to their society. 2009, c. 25, s. 1.
Partners in education sector
(3) All partners in the education sector, including the Minister, the Ministry and the boards, have a role to play in enhancing student achievement and well-being, closing gaps in student achievement and maintaining confidence in the province’s publicly funded education systems. 2009, c. 25, s. 1.”
http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_90e02_e.htm
The vagueness of the legal definition in the education act, spells out to the public education stakeholders, any quality will do, and why extra-curricular activities are not part of what constitutes a basic education under the legal legislation. For that matter, why children can go from one grade to the next, and arrived in grade 12, without the skills and abilities in the 3 Rs of advance learning, to prepared for exiting out of the K to 12 system.
Instead the education act and its legislation is all about addressing the needs and wants of the employees to delivered the education services, and to which the individual employees and the collective parts can do the nasty at the expense of the students’ education and their futures. .
The “don’t provoke the teachers under any circumstances” attitude exists because parents, for the most part, have no other choice but to send their children to the local publicly-funded schools. They fear retribution against their children.
The solution to all of this mess is to give them a way out. Give them school choice (public charter, voucher, a tax credit, a public scholarship) and they would certainly take it. Perhaps not in droves, but in enough numbers that the unions KNOW their powers would be greatly reduced. When politicians wake up to the fact they have the power to end the union control over education $$ and put it into the hands of parents, things will be very different.
1) Not going to happen Doretta. As soon as it is characterized as “public funding for private schools” no political party will touch it, not even the Tories any more – once burned twice shy.It polls very badly.Check the National Post, a majority of every party opposes public funding of any religious schools for example.
2) Since last election Tories have gained no support, the Liberals have lost 10% and the NDP is + 8 %. Green is +2%.
Doesn’t look like Bill 115 is very popular.
I don’t think the teachers know which parents told the pollsters they had turned off the Liberals. The secret ballot in Kitchener Waterloo told the whole story. I don’t think the teachers know which parents switched from Liberal to NDP do they?
When 49% tell pollsters they support the teachers I don’t think the teachers know which ones are which. (35% support the Liberal government, interestingly almost all Tories).
The charge that parents fear retribution is totally bogus as a result. Parents simply do not want an “upset system”. They are correct. The Liberal assault on teachers has killed extracurricular activities which are only offered free due to teachers good will. The government squandered the teachers good will.
Teacher Unions Are Vipers – Part ONE
A picture is worth a 1000 words. But since I can’t send a picture, let me try and describe a BUTTON produced by the BC Teachers Federation during our last “job action”. The BCTF is a militant teacher union so you expect tough language.
But threats?
Here is the wording on the button:
IF PROVOKED — WE WILL STRIKE
A huge viper is seen — eyes flashing, fangs exposed, ready to strike.
Let’s face it. Teacher unions have usurped legitimate authorities and are now ruling the public education field. By coercion, intimidation, threat of force. Psychological warfare.
Everyone is fearful of their venom. Everyone is pussyfooting around them aware of the harm that can be inflicted. MIND — and I want to be very clear. I am talking about teacher unions, not your everyday, average, ordinary teachers. I AM singling out to focus on “teacher unions” as a separate entity that rules not only its teacher members but also other facets of the education field.
Those magical “labor peace” deals that politicians and teacher unions achieve from time to time are veritable “sweetheart deals” because they are extracted under threat.
This is an international, organized, political, and ideological movement we are dealing with — the international teacher union movement.
Yesterday I used the Internet to check into “withholding report cards”. I was SHOCKED to realize this did not just apply to BC and Ontario. Teacher unions are usurping and undermining parents in their role in the education of their children in many parts of the world!
Let’s stop and think for a moment. Public schools are government “safety net” schools that are provided for parents who are unable or unwilling to educate their children themselves or buy them tutors or private services elsewhere. They were never meant to be government indoctrination stations! If parents choose this easy way by using a government service, then they are entitled to reports — called Parent Progress Report Cards — by which they can monitor their child’s progress and be enabled to advocate or intervene or disenroll and choosing another option — be it home education, or online, or private school.
These Progress Report Cards are mandated by School Acts.
But information from the Internet shows that it has become the norm for parents to be denied this critical tool during teacher union job actions and strikes. . Parents’ duty to advocate and intervene on their children’s behalf has been ruptured from them through teacher union job actions. Parents are accepting this as “normal”. Parents are being “normed” to accept this as “normal”. Reading the literature on behavioral change we know that “norming” can be accomplished by cultural evolution or by coercive, training, habituation, conditioning methods.
Tunya a few points
1) many things are mandated by the EducationActs but unions can choose to go on,strike or by work to rule. When they work to rule they can pick and choose which things to strike. Education Act says teachers will do many things but this is all suspended during strikes.
2) check your history books. When public schools were established it was PRIMARILY to indoctrinate the views of the state such as Christianity and support fot the British Empire.
3) What about catholic schools? Is that indoctrination or is it only ideas you dont like that are indoctrination.
Teacher Unions Are Vipers – Part TWO
If the teacher unions use these coercive methods to obtain obeisance from their members and those they work with, what’s to prevent these methods from being used to transform the subjects in their charge — our children and grandchildren?
Naturally, a monopoly industry wants to keep its customers. But, in a democracy should parents be trapped by teacher unions into submission?
Unfortunately, “the system” is itself beholden to the unions in order to carry on peaceful business. They dare not stand up against such psychological warfare as these unions unleash.
There is no organized resistance to teacher unions. But you can be sure they are well organized, sponsored and funded to continue their work — internationally. Teacher unions are not just committed to advance the “bread and butter” issues of their members. In contrast to other trade unions, they have self-appointed themselves to be the vanguard in transforming society into their image. Their image? Some perverse notion that everyone is going to be equal, but with teachers as “public intellectuals” leading the way. Animal Farm — everyone is equal, but some are more equal!
For a rant about Public Intellectual Teachers (PIT) please see Henry Giroux’s latest about the Sandy Hook tragedy. http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/13367-the-corporate-war-against-teachers-as-public-intellectuals-in-dark-times
I have followed this development closely for 40 years — or so I thought. I think I’ve only seen the tip-of-the-iceberg looming ahead!
It was yesterday that it hit me — the so-called Mayan End-of-the-World day — Dec 21, 2012. “Norming”, making normal, is what is being achieved through teacher strikes. It is during these strikes that boundaries are being pushed, and not being counterattacked or challenged or even “red-flagged”.
Withholding of information to parents is just one of the “victories” that these strikes accomplish for the teacher union juggernaut. This seems to be the teacher unions’ thinking: “If we can get pesky parents out of the way — they being the true ultimate authority in responsibility for their own children’s education — then we can push the rest of the industry and politicians our way.” (See “Universal Declaration of Human Rights – 1948)
For forty years in BC, since 1972 when the socialists (NDP) first gained electoral power, we have seen the steady growth of “teacher power” as systematically set into motion by then teacher leader, “radical Marxist”, Jim MacFarlan.
See section “teacher power” in “From Educational Government to the Government of Education:
The Decline and Fall of the British Columbia Ministry of Education, 1972-1996” – Thomas Fleming http://www.edu.uwo.ca/HSE/04fleming.html
A thousand words are not enough to alert people to this evil, poisonous element undermining families and individuals and threatening the stability of civil society itself. What will it take to get beyond this “new normal” of teacher union domination of public education ?
Charter schools, ya right.
http://edushyster.com/?p=1582
If public schools are “safety net” schools, why do we build them in wealthy neighbourhoods and why are those schools packed and why do those schools outperform elite private schools?
Public schols are not schools for people who live in public housing. Some day they will be the only schools.
[Tunya’s note: This comment is broken into two parts, a and b, hoping that WordPress will accept this.]
Teacher Unions Are Vipers – Part TWO – a
If the teacher unions use these coercive methods to obtain obeisance from their members and those they work with, what’s to prevent these methods from being used to transform the subjects in their charge — our children and grandchildren?
Naturally, a monopoly industry wants to keep its customers. But, in a democracy should parents be trapped by teacher unions into submission?
Unfortunately, “the system” is itself beholden to the unions in order to carry on peaceful business. They dare not stand up against such psychological warfare as these unions unleash.
There is no organized resistance to teacher unions. But you can be sure they are well organized, sponsored and funded to continue their work — internationally. Teacher unions are not just committed to advance the “bread and butter” issues of their members. In contrast to other trade unions, they have self-appointed themselves to be the vanguard in transforming society into their image. Their image? Some perverse notion that everyone is going to be equal, but with teachers as “public intellectuals” leading the way. Animal Farm — everyone is equal, but some are more equal!
For a rant about Public Intellectual Teachers (PIT) please see Henry Giroux’s latest about the Sandy Hook tragedy. http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/13367-the-corporate-war-against-teachers-as-public-intellectuals-in-dark-times
Teacher Unions Are Vipers – Part TWO – b
I have followed this development closely for 40 years — or so I thought. I think I’ve only seen the tip-of-the-iceberg looming ahead!
It was yesterday that it hit me — the so-called Mayan End-of-the-World day — Dec 21, 2012. “Norming”, making normal, is what is being achieved through teacher strikes. It is during these strikes that boundaries are being pushed, and not being counterattacked or challenged or even “red-flagged”.
Withholding of information to parents is just one of the “victories” that these strikes accomplish for the teacher union juggernaut. This seems to be the teacher unions’ thinking: “If we can get pesky parents out of the way — they being the true ultimate authority in responsibility for their own children’s education — then we can push the rest of the industry and politicians our way.” (See “Universal Declaration of Human Rights – 1948)
For forty years in BC, since 1972 when the socialists (NDP) first gained electoral power, we have seen the steady growth of “teacher power” as systematically set into motion by then teacher leader, “radical Marxist”, Jim MacFarlan.
See section “teacher power” in “From Educational Government to the Government of Education:
The Decline and Fall of the British Columbia Ministry of Education, 1972-1996” – Thomas Fleming http://www.edu.uwo.ca/HSE/04fleming.html
A thousand words are not enough to alert people to this evil, poisonous element undermining families and individuals and threatening the stability of civil society itself. What will it take to get beyond this “new normal” of teacher union domination of public education ?
As a matter of fact, it is quite to the contrary. The REAL parent agenda in education is about 90% congruent to the teachers political agenda, Annie Kidder and P4E are an excellent example of this POV.
Both want smaller classes, round the clock child care, more resources, much more spending, happy teachers, tons of support services, enriched extracurricular programs.and most of all PEACE at all costs. This is why the teachers are winning in Ontario. Their parent allies are shifting their votes from Liberal to NDP and the Liberals know it.
Teachers should have the same influence in education that doctors have in health or lawyers have in the legal community. No more, no less.
If Tunya means that teachers unions are left of centre, heavily support left of centre parties, believe global warming must be stopped, more equality economic not just legal is good, guns are evil, medicare is an unquestioned good thing, more regulation of industry is good, the Tar sands are bad, the Labour movement is good, gay brights are good, feminism is good, the rich ought to pay higher taxes. If Tunya is accusing teachers of deseminating these ideas inside the union and carefully and slowly tthroughout the school system all I can say is – GUILTY.
Today on Global-TV’s Focus Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty adddessed the crisis over Bill 115 and his falling-out with the teachers’ unions. His appeal: remember how good the Liberals in Queen’s Park have been to the teachers and their unions. Here’s the story from The Hamilton Spectator:
http://www.thespec.com/news/ontario/article/858413–mcguinty-reminds-unions-that-liberals-have-been-good-to-teachers via @thespec
It’s obvious that McGuinty’s government is unravelling and he looks desperate. It’s not clear whether he’s asking teachers to forgive him or to bite the bullet until better times return. Either way, it’s not working and reflects how dazed he is by the turn-of-events.
Dazed? He shouldn’t be surprised that the unions have done this to every premier who didn’t give them whatever they wanted. Why should he have been any different? For a smart politician, this was poor judgement at the least and total delusion at worst on his part.
I saw it and agree 100% Paul. What he fails to appreciate is that teachers don’t think he did a single thing “for them”. He was astute enough to know that “education labour peace” was good for the Liberal Party after Mike Harris. Lower class sizes and ADK were good for students, good for Liberals and the fact that they were good for teachers is a side bar.
Pay raises that simply kept pace with inflation were seen by teachers as “an absolute minimum” and their due.
The teachers`federations have long had `their heart in the NDP and their brains in strategic voting`.
OSSTF just launched a TV ad campaign with a very short tough message:
`There is only one thing standing between these students and their extracurricular activities`- BILL 115“ visit bill115.ca.
sorry
fightbill115.ca
Tunya is a Libertarian. Talk about radical wow, few are as far out as Libertarians, a fringe group on the extreme right. They believe there should be NO public education.
Here is Ontario policy. It takes a certain chutzpah to call others radicals when you are part of a radical fringe party of the extreme right.
http://libertarian.on.ca/our-platform/education
http://westernstandard.blogs.com/shotgun/2008/10/the-north-shore.html
The government is unraveling and it could be any government that pandered to the public sector unions to keep labour peace. And now it is time to pay the bill. The liberal government is stuck between two hard places, and no room for fiscal capacity. More so, when teachers’ unions are acting like spoil children, who want all the candy, without having to pay for the candy.
There is no more room in the pockets of taxpayers to picked up the tab for the extras that teachers’ are demanding. Tossed in the global economic woes, Ontario have-not status, the steady loss of manufacturing jobs, and the steady gain of lower paying jobs, on one side of the equation. On the other side of the equation, regarding education. Parental rights, and their increasing awareness to insert their rights, the Supreme Court of Canada ruling on the Moore case spells out in neon lights no more dumb-down education for children who struggled academically in school, and the growing civil suits in related issues with bullying, safety and the growing interference of the state triumphing over the taxpayers by abusing their power and authority by always having the final say. This side of the equation, are the unknowns. All one can do to is to project the future costs, if the education system and its structure is unwilling to change.
In places like Europe, the taxpayers are no longer willing to picked up the tab of the social programs, and more so not willing when quality of services decreases as user fees increases. Sweden, parents want education choice, and the Sweden government is fighting them tooth and nail, by putting the parents of homeschooled children in jail, or pay a ridiculous high fine. In Germany, and other places like Finland, the taxpayers are not happy campers, paying more in taxes, for less and less services. In education, Europeans of the ordinary citizens are not too please of the declining education quality of their children. In Europe, the billion dollar plus tutoring industry is in full swing as it is across the globe. Billions of dollars and for what? The remediation of the 3 Rs. Certainly not for enrichment education, unless one happens to be parked on the other side, the public education side. They called it enrichment, but what it really is, the downloading of education services to the parents to pick up the cost, what the public education system is not willing to do.
Global wide, and that includes extra-curricular activities. As Tunya has pointed out, “There is no organized resistance to teacher unions. But you can be sure they are well organized, sponsored and funded to continue their work — internationally. Teacher unions are not just committed to advance the “bread and butter” issues of their members. In contrast to other trade unions, they have self-appointed themselves to be the vanguard in transforming society into their image. Their image? Some perverse notion that everyone is going to be equal, but with teachers as “public intellectuals” leading the way. Animal Farm — everyone is equal, but some are more equal!” It is an eye-opener reading the global literature and papers on education matters. The identical talking points all dressed in flowery language, to disguised the dumb-down curriculum, what the education system no longer does, and more importantly what it will not do, using the scientific education and learning research and the technology to reach the full academic potential of each student. Instead, parents are faced with some fanciful spiel based on 19th century pedagogical premises, all dressed up using 21st century language. A parent’s head would turned into a pretzel listening to the contradictions. On one hand, the child is only average and has limited academic promise. On the other hand, your child is capable of great things in school, if we can get a handled on to addressed the low self-esteem that is stopping achievement and progress.Much like the contradictions of the pigs on Animal Farm, until the other animals decided to revolt.
In Ontario and other provinces across Canada, they are at a crossroad, In Ontario the perfect storm is on the horizon. My take, the premier is sorely disappointed on the actions and behaviours of the teachers’ unions who claimed they are professionals. They should be smart enough considering their education level, to see the lowering education quality. To see that students are not progressing as they should. Shouldn’t the high school teachers be concerned that they are using instruction methods and manipulatives that really belong in grade 6 or lower? I thought I got away from the guess and check method, but I was so wrong. My 17 year old, came home ranting for the next 20 minutes, that the calculus teacher told the students to guess and check. I am sure the post-secondary instructors would not be impressed having students using the guess and check method.
On the global level of the teachers’ unions, extra-curricular activities are at the bottom of their list of their priorities. Unless the extra-curricular activities are tied in increases in salaries. Bottom line, unions pushed for inclusive classroom, for small classes but unions are not willing to pushed for the resources needed for the negative fall-out of reducing academic achievement and progress. Extra- curricular activities of the kind of tutoring, relearning, and other activities that benefits the cognitive pathway development of networks of students, such as an after-school arts program or a music program. Teachers’ unions simply don’t want them extra-curricular activities because it is not in their best interests, but they are willing to be paid for them, providing that they have full control over all of it. The extra-curricular activities will morphed and shaped into whatever fanciful visions dancing in their heads, and students’ progress can measured in snail paces. It be left up to the kids, if they want to know more or do more, they have to do it on their own time, There is differences across the globe, but overall, the global teachers’ unions have the same thinking process as the lower rung teachers unions have – every minute must be accounted for according to a salary rate, without being held accountable for the outcomes of students.
The crossroad is in Ontario, and whatever Ontario is doing, the other provinces follow suit. The algorithm at work with the unknowns and known variables is at the crossroad. It is going to get a whole lot messier, since the unions decided to act like spoiled children and the lagging variable that has not quite reach the horizon to see the crossroad, is the education rights variables. When they do, all the stakeholders are going have to take a back seat, because there will be a new sheriff in town, and this sheriff of rights, doesn’t like inequities causes by the employees and stakeholders of the public education system. Far too many students are being kicked off the education ramp for many different reasons caused by the education stakeholders and the sheriff will be setting it right.
But as SQE has said – political will is needed. Will the Ontario premier have the political will to do what is right, or will he leave it up to the next premier to act on. If not, the Ontario education system, can look forward to directing education funds to pay the legal bills of lawyers fighting civil suits from everything between A to Z. Political will, will help the Sheriff of rights and if not, it is going to get really messy, as it did when people moved out west in the 19th century.
“PEACE” AT ALL COSTS !
Another MORALITY TRAGEDY is being enacted right now in the public school domain. The elected government in the Province of Ontario, Canada, is in the throes of being destabilized by deliberate and concentrated actions of the teacher unions. Their claim is that new legislation — responding to straitened economic circumstances — will drastically reduce their pay packets and constrain collective bargaining rights.
For that reason, the whole of the Province must pay for the professionally well-paid teachers’ tiff and sense of outrage.
Labor Peace seems to be a fragile possibility at this point — everyone wants it — parents, students, politicians, the public and the everyday workers and teachers in the public schools.
BUT, are you willing to sell your soul to the Devil for Labor Peace?
One unionist says teacher federations’ hearts are with the NDP, that is, a socialist government. Teacher unions internationally are know to be left of center and eager to participate in social engineering to transform society. They usually endorse and support the election of left political parties.
This same unionist says disseminating these ideas, “carefully and slowly throughout the school system” is OK!
We in British Columbia, Canada, have just been through all that, with our militant teacher unions poised, ready, and well oiled, to usher in an NDP government in our next Provincial Election, May 14, 2013.
The tactics and strategies being used in Ontario now were fine-tuned in BC this last year — including the withholding of vital information to parents via Progress Report Cards.
To see one of the buttons the BC Teachers Federation produced for use during this period go to — http://www.parentsteachingparents.net/2012/12/peace-at-all-costs/
How do people feel being victimized by such threatening images of an enraged viper? How do people feel about using such images to gain power behind the throne of public education ?
That VIPER is not just a poisonous deadly snake. It is also an image used by people to portray the DEVIL and EVIL People may be tempted to sell their souls for tenuous Labor Peace. But look at the moral costs.
I could deal with our phony deficit in 6 months. Duncan told Drummond, “you must not look at revenue” first big mistake. Second, every economic assumption is the most pessimistic possible. Most forcasters use averages,
Public spending had nothing whatsoever to do with the deficit and every honest economist knows that. The budget was balanced in 2007 before the deficit. The deficit was created by greedy speculating capitlists on Wall Street attempting to make money out of paper and nothing more.
They are already paying themselves bonus’ again while they broke the dreams of thousands of Americans.
They are scum.
Some of my best friends like Larry Kuehn are at senior levels of BCTF, you probably will have an NDP government soon, you sure won’t have a Libertarian government.
The government can always win a skirmish but not the long term struggle for a progressive social justice oriented green society.
Parties and governments come and go but the union goes on and on.
“Social Movement Unionism” Is The Latest in Teacher Unions’ Playbook
The latest playbook for international teacher union activism is “The Future of our Schools”. Published just one month ago it already is a designated book in activist teacher book clubs.
Published by Haymarket Books — a “progressive” publisher, arming “new generations of fighters for a better world”, the publisher quotes Karl Marx —
*** “The philosophers have merely interpreted the world; the point, however, is to change it.”
The author, an activist professor, Lois Weiner, sees a much greater role for parents in social movement teacher unionism. Parents are always being courted by teacher unions, but will be more so in the future, Weiner says.
She praises highly the leadership by both the BC Teachers Federation and Larry Kuehn for their work on behalf of “social movement teacher unionism” and international relations with other teacher unions in their struggles.
Let’s not kid ourselves. These so-call “bitter labour disputes” are not only what they’re made out to be in BC or Ontario. Other hidden agendas are at play with end goals toward more totalitarian control by progressive collectivist teachers — both of public schools and public policy — internationally!
Nothing wrong with social movement unionism. Ever since the CIO was formed mainly by the UAW, unions have turned away from simple pay check unionism towards being the bulwark of advancing the cause of a progressive social-democratic society. The support political parties, mainly the NDP but some support the Liberals as well. This has really helped Canadians gain pensions, medicare, womens rights, minority rights, EI, welfare, social housing, and ther advances that the vast majority of Canadians support it seems.
Teachers contribute heavily to social movement unionism.
It is why the ‘democracy’ argument is being used by the Ontario teachers’ union. The reason being is social movement unionism has already infiltrated the big Canadian teachers’ unions, in Ontario, BC and Quebec. Even at the national level concerning the Canadian Teachers’ Federation, sending delegates to global conferences. with various names as outlined in this interview with Lois Weiner. http://www.teachersolidarity.com/blog/the-future-of-our-schools/
I don’t know which group is worst – the educrats preventing access to education opportunities or the teachers’ unions that want total control over what is taught,, and at every opportunity, to reinforce the collective rights over the individual rights. I have spent far too much time on searching this particular extreme left found in the teachers’ unions, but one blog puts it this way, “The roots of our unions are to be found in the deep desire for justice and dignity. Ms. Weiner brings us back to those roots every time, and places our unions in that long struggle that we can trace back generations, and will be with us for generations to come. She points out:
…we speak to deep human desires that cannot be so easily erased: of parents for their children’s social and emotional well-being; of school workers for dignity and economic security; of citizens for schools that will educate the next generation. As we face challenges, we need to keep in mind that many of the laws and social norms we take for granted were achieved by “fringe” groups not long ago.
The Future of Our Schools may indeed depend on our teacher unions. This book offers some great insight into how teachers can take greater initiative in these unions, and make sure they fulfill their promise.”
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2012/11/book_review_the_future_of_our_.html
The above passage is what they present to the individual teachers, parents and communities. But what they won’t tell you, the individual rights have to be tossed out, send to curb to secure the collective rights of teachers, their professional class status, and their economic security to change the world, according to the visions of Marx and Engels. Where the enemy is not only the capitalists, but the home school parents, the parent who is teaching their children how to insert their individual rights, to the private school operator, to everything that does not honour the collective. All wrapped up in pedagogical practices of social justice.
What they lack is the grassroots of teachers and parents. And for good reason, most living in Canada, United States and Europe would reject this new form of unionism, because it is asking people to suppressed their individual rights, in favour of the collective group, the teachers’ unions.
So I have had it with this nonsense, it is almost like reading the Communist Manifesto. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Communist_Manifesto and as such fits quite nicely with the 19th century pedagogical thought, where individuals were seen as less than the collective professional educator class, who undertook the role as the glue for the public education system of mass education.
The rise of the professional educator class where any quality will do, as long as it does not interfered with the collective rights of the teachers’ unions, their salaries and does not usurp the pedagogical of social justice. In essence, they just want students to be happy in their lot in life, and blame their learning struggles of learning their ABCs unto whatever mysterious forces, other then the educators, who always knows what is best for their students.
Teachers are organized internationally through the Education International (EI), Each nation has national organizations. In Canada it is the CTF but the power of the unions remains in the provincial organizations since they control the money. Membership above the provincial level is voluntary. BCTF for example is not in the CTF, seen as too moderate.
http://www.ei-ie.org/
EI is the international front guys to bring respectability to the supporting ideologies of the union teachers’ networks.
” Education International (EI-IE) is a global union federation of teachers’ trade unions. Currently, it has 401 member organizations in 172 countries and territories, representing over 30 million education personnel from pre-school to university. This makes it the world’s largest sectorial global union federation.[citation needed]”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_International
Canada, United States and the United Kingdom are all paying members of IE.
The constitution of the EI – http://pages.ei-ie.org/library/libraries/detail/143
“El represents nearly 30 million teachers and other education workers, through 401 member organisations in 172 countries and territories.10 EI’s income is based on membership fees from its more than 400 teachers’ trade union
members around the world adjusted to the members’ size and economy. Since 1995, EI has had a deliberate policy of fundraising among the richer members for international solidarity projects.11 UEN is among the most important funders of EI.”
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=7&cad=rja&sqi=2&ved=0CGIQFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.norad.no%2Fen%2Ftools-and-publications%2Fpublications%2Fpublication%2F_attachment%2F151754%3F_download%3Dtrue%26_ts%3D125d6d3c41c&ei=UlTXULiOLMrmrQGewIHYAQ&usg=AFQjCNH5bT_NWIWyVVn-2L6rkM1zUpOQNg&sig2=Exinttu0JCqHbeZVPkEUhA
It sure appears that every Canadian teachers unions, the individual members are contributing to finance the EI. And probably more for countries like Canada and United States. In other words, the individual teachers have no choice or say where their dues go to.
No doubt, out of the 400 teachers’ unions, the Ontario teachers’ union figures into it. Can’t wait to see when the new legislation of the Harper government, becomes a reality, what causes and expenditures are going to finance the changing of the world to the image of the professional class – the teachers’ unions having all control over education matters, at the expense of the students they serve.
http://dianeravitch.net/2012/12/22/privatization-or-public-education/
http://www.torontosun.com/2012/12/21/letters-to-the-editor-dec-23
The opinion tide turns…
http://ontarionewswatch.com/onw-news.html?id=462
Doretta,
How do you expect to achieve public money for private schools when no political party will touch it with a barge pole and it polls very badly in public polling? The John Tory experience chasened the Tories.
Even in BC where they have had public support for years 2/3 want it out.
Click to access 1005.pdf
Doug, it has something to do with the individual rights train reaching the horizon and heading for a confrontation with the collectives of a few, who which to imposed their will on the individuals, usurping their individual rights and force them to cede them to the collective.
The Rand Formula decision of 1946 is going to take a tumble. Forcing members to pay dues, without them having a say about what special causes, political lobbying and campaigns and other causes that has nothing to do with collective bargaining will be having an update, and just in time for the 21st century of the next decade. The public education system of Canada will be hit hard for trampling over one and all rights of the people they served. The public education heavy weights are dazed and stunned regarding the Moore case rule of the Supreme Court of Canada. The key words are, ‘equality of outcomes’, and to which the public education heavy weights have only one choice, a compete transformation of the public education system. Otherwise confront the individual rights train of many individuals, with each of them having their own beef about rights. Remember the parent who was arrested for the crime of their child drawing a picture with a gun? Over reaction by school staff, that resulted in a parent being publicly humiliated as well as the family. It turned out the picture of the gun, was a water gun. Meanwhile, in Brampton a trio of students were suspended for remarks on the web about a teacher, that were not slander and libelous in nature, but an infringement on the students’ freedom of expression. Oh how about the teacher who sprayed a child with freshener to eliminate the fish odor on the kid’s clothing, without having the child wearing a mask.
The above are just the everyday instances of violations of individual rights within the public education, and the big right issues is the education quality and outcomes of the individual students. Not a whole lot fair, that a parent has now part of their expenses to pay for a private tutor, on things that the public education will not teach anymore. Or the mounting bills of parents with means, who are obtaining assessments instead of being put on a waiting list, in a system that has put caps on the number of students that are allowed assessments at the individual school level. P4E has reported it, earlier in 2012. Shameful violations of students being denied access to education services that are offered in the public education system.
To which brings me to teachers’ unions, and at this very moment is wrestling with the political arm of government, over the union’s collective rights. Meanwhile, the teachers’ union and government are side-swiping the individual rights of students, the parents and taxpayers all in the name who will maintained authority and control.
In the Sun link – ” I am sick and tired of teachers persecuting the children for their perceived loss of democratic rights. ”
“I can’t support teachers who knowingly hurt my grandchildren in the guise of a constitutional right.”
“In Ontario we have teachers’ union leaders who apparently think they can elect, and defeat, governments. This is not democracy. It is petty demagoguery”
” Until parents have the ability to vote with their feet to put their children into any school (public or private) combined with the teachers’ ability choose from a variety of union representation, or not at all, then students will continue to be held hostage every time similar labour disputes arise. The freedom to choose is a powerful one and the strongest incentive for improvement and accountability.”
All expressing individual rights over collective rights. It is just a matter of time before it will gel in Ontario among the individual citizens. More so for the public education system, and its stakeholders. The individual rights have remained suppressed and in turned a social contract for lack of a better phrase, an agreement for government to provide and delivered services to its citizens. The social contract has been broken by the stakeholders of the public education system, and no amount of smooth and glib talk is going to stopped the rights train to confront the public education system.
Of course they have a say, all members have a say. Unions are totally democratic. What they want is a veto. Dont worry, nothing happening in Ontario. The vast majority of Ontarians support the Rand formula. Unions have never been restricted to collective bargaining. The Supreme Court has made that clear twice.The unions are very happy about the Moore s
case.Since Hudak announced he supported RTW his support has gone down.
The Toronto Sun really, please, the Sun is a very conservative rag not fit for the bottom of the bird cage, Anybody who supports the Sun for quotes is sadly desperate. Check the Forum Poll. It is based on all Ontarians not a limited conservative group.
The governor of Michigan brought in RTW and instantly fell 20% in the polls. Now all the Democrats are falling all over themselves to run against him in 2015. He is now seen as easy pickins.
RTW is about lower wages and profit lines getting squeezed. The corporations behind it like the Koch brothers could care less about workers rights. Don’t make me laugh.
Parents in Ontario for example, will never ever have vouchers. The population is opposed to it and no political party will even consider it. It has never won anywhere when put in a direct vote. People simply do not tolerate public money going to private schools. John Tory found out even most conservatives oppose it.
Not happenin here sorry.
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/12/snyders-popularity-plummets.html
Either/Or? Reply to Diane Ravitch
Doug provided the link to Ravitch’s latest post — Privatization or Public Education? http://dianeravitch.net/2012/12/22/privatization-or-public-education/#comment-74662
I found it very illuminating. The post admits to TWO paths for education — the individualistic and the collectivist. The comments were also very instructive regarding these two points-of-view. Of course, there is one BIG PROBLEM. While the individualist people would allow and even encourage whole hosts of choices, the collectivist people are dead set against alternatives to their preferred style, and in fact fight “tooth and nail” against choice as an operating principle.
I, on the individualist side, would have public money go to many choices and feel the public good would best be served by this path and would welcome the variety and diversity — special needs schools, faith-based schools, ethnic schools, Marxist schools, teacher co-ops, etc., etc.
The collectivist side wants all children going to progressive schools. The few choices that exist under the present dominant progressive system are tolerated under sufferance.
I posted the following to her blog (which was still awaiting moderation.)
Either/Or? (posted to Diane Ravitch blog)
Ravitch’s guests write — “Public schools in the U.S. have always operated at the intersection of two sets of legitimate rights: those of individuals, including parents, to pursue their own best interests and those of society as a whole to perpetuate democratic values and to promote collective prosperity.”
Ravitch says we’re at a “fork in the road” regarding education — one or the other.
This imagery reminds me of the song “Crossroads Blues” by Robert Johnson. Legend has it he sold his soul to the Devil at some junction of Mississippi roads to gain the gift of playing beautiful guitar.
Well, I like this visual because I do believe to choose the “collectivist” road IS to sell your soul to the Devil. Look at all the predators and baggage — vested interest groups, big taxpayer costs, political disputes, massive bureaucracies, regulations, experiments, etc., etc.
The individual route should be the starting point as a model for education.
My involvement with the home education movement convinces me that the aggregate contribution by this subset yields far more public good than any other model of education provision anywhere.
Besides, the collectivist route results in monopoly predispositions and limits on consumer choice. Both these behaviors are very damaging to civil society and the public good.
Furthermore, I don’t see democracy well-served by the public school system because of all the political machinations involved.
The only good I see in the collectivist route is the massive employment service it provides for large hosts of public servants. But, this is costly to the public purse #1. And #2, the government should not be in the business of “make-work” projects.
I am in general agreement with commenter Harlan Underhill who sees collective progressive education as “anti individual freedom”.
The way you see things is fine Tunya but most people simply don’t see it that way, Vouchers naver pass when they are on a ballot. Romney wanted vouchers which is one reason he lost. John Tory wanted to fund all faith based schools and lost an election by a mile that he otherwise might have won on that single issue, 2/3 of British Columbians would cancell the existing funding of private schools.
As soon as a proposition such as that is on a ballot opponents like me will call it “public funding of private education” and that concept is very very unpopular. 70% of Ontarians would vote to eliminate funding to catholic schools in Ontario.
Libertarians are extremists who cant even fit in with other conservatives. The learned their extremism from Ayn Rand and other far out crack pots.
You don’t have some kind of natural right to your own school any more than you can get your police taxes back to hire your own security, your fire dept taxes back to buy your own fire hose, your library taxes back to buy your own books or your army taxes back to protect yourself.
You are free in this society to homeschool or send your children to private schools. You are also obligated to pay for the public schools.
We do not pay our education taxes to educate our own children. We pay taxes to educate ALL of the children. Tht is why we make childless people pay for education and people who’s children have long since graduated must also continue to pay.
We live in a democracy. The majority do not want to do it your way, they want to do it our way.
http://www.alternet.org/rights-school-choice-scheme?page=0%2C0
You can see just how crazy these guys are.
Intellectual Schizophrenia Not For Me !
I’ve heard people use the term “tolerating ambiguity” when two opposites were being considered. Even if the two were both doable and valuable.
Thus, the issue of “moral relativism” comes in. How to juggle the two and still face yourself in the mirror.
Then you have to discover how “means to an end” comes in. Sometimes the “means” is not too palatable or is even devious, but “justification” and “rationalization” rear their psychological defense mechanism heads.
To add to my previous reasons for favoring the individualistic approach to education I now add how “means to an end “ factors in.
I maintain that the means to obtaining freedom of the individual and retaining self-respect comes easier and with less taint than using the collectivist route.
I went into that a little in the previous essay, “Either/Or?” — selling your soul to the Devil to achieve ends, etc., etc.
Democracy comes in to the discussion — individual versus collective.
To me, a 51 percent “victory” in a vote confers little validity or authority.
I challenge the notion of “free democratic” countries as being any measure of freedom in the Western world. I particularly raise for attention the fact that in these two “free democratic countries” — Sweden and Germany — home education is illegal and families from these two countries have had to become refugees to continue teaching their children as a family.
I do not respect despotic democracy. We have spent considerable time discussing the teacher unions and their interference in political and electoral politics and in obstacling reform and school choice. It’s instructive to review again the post and 538 comments on this same general topic of over a year ago — on this blog — Teacher Quality Reform: Why are Canadian Teacher Unions So Resistant
https://educhatter.wordpress.com/2011/07/22/teacher-quality-reform-why-are-canadian-teacher-unions-so-resistant/
In the New Year I hope we can examine how this “tolerating of ambiguity”, or some might say “intellectual schizophrenia” , is hurting us personally, is constraining civil society, and preventing the best possible education reaching our children and grandchildren!
Does one side have to win or can there be coexistence with equal opportunities for both major schools of thought?
Translation: I have no respect for democracy when I don’t get my way.
The unions have a 100% right to participate in local school board and provincial elections as do private corporations. It has been to the Supreme Court twice. The Supremes said “unions can spend their money or whatever they want.” They are private organizations.
There are so few who can explain the complexity of how the deep connections between the attack on public education and teachers — that if not stopped –will ultimately lead to the end of democracy itself.
Henry A. Giroux is one of the few:
TruthOut.org / By Henry A. Giroux
The War Against Teachers
December 21, 2012 |
A little learning is a dangerous thing.– Alexander Pope
If the US is to cease its slide into a violent, anti-democratic state, we must rethink the relationship between education and democracy, and the very nature of teaching.
The tragic deaths of 26 people shot and killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., included 20 young children and six educators. Many more children might have been killed or injured had it not been for the brave and decisive actions of the teachers in the school. The mainstream media was quick to call them heroes, and there is little doubt that what they did under horrific circumstances reveals not only how important educators are in shielding children from imminent threat, but also how demanding their roles have become in preparing them to negotiate a world that is becoming more precarious, more dangerous – and infinitely more divisive. Teachers are one of the most important resources a nation has for providing the skills, values and knowledge that prepare young people for productive citizenship – but more than this, to give sanctuary to their dreams and aspirations for a future of hope, dignity and justice. It is indeed ironic, in the unfolding nightmare in Newtown, that only in the midst of such a shocking tragedy are teachers celebrated in ways that justly acknowledge – albeit briefly and inadequately – the vital role they play every day in both protecting and educating our children. What is repressed in these jarring historical moments is that teachers have been under vicious and sustained attack by right-wing conservatives, religious fundamentalists, and centrist democrats since the beginning of the 1980s. Depicted as the new “welfare queens,” their labor and their care has been instrumentalized andinfantilized [3];[1] [4] they have been fired en masse under calls for austerity; they have seen rollbacks in their pensions, and have been derided because they teach in so-called “government schools.” Public school teachers too readily and far too pervasively have been relegated to zones of humiliation and denigration. The importance of what teachers actually do, the crucial and highly differentiated nature of the work they perform and their value as guardians, role models and trustees only appears in the midst of such a tragic event. If the United States is to prevent its slide into a deeply violent and anti-democratic state, it will, among other things, be required fundamentally to rethink not merely the relationship between education and democracy, but also the very nature of teaching, the role of teachers as engaged citizens and public intellectuals and the relationship between teaching and social responsibility. This essay makes one small contribution to that effort.
The War Against Public School Teachers
Right-wing fundamentalists and corporate ideologues are not just waging a war against the rights of unions, workers, students, women, the disabled, low-income groups and poor minorities, but also against those public spheres that provide a vocabulary for connecting values, desires, identities, social relations and institutions to the discourse of social responsibility, ethics, and democracy, if not thinking itself. Neoliberalism, or unbridled free-market fundamentalism, employs modes of governance, discipline and regulation that are totalizing in their insistence that all aspects of social life be determined, shaped and weighted through market-driven measures.[2] [5] Neoliberalism is not merely an economic doctrine that prioritizes buying and selling, makes the supermarket and mall the temples of public life and defines the obligations of citizenship in strictly consumerist terms. It is also a mode of pedagogy and set of social arrangements that uses education to win consent, produce consumer-based notions of agency and militarize reason in the service of war, profits, power and violence while simultaneously instrumentalizing all forms of knowledge.
The increasing militarization of reason and growing expansion of forms of militarized discipline are most visible in policies currently promoted by wealthy conservative foundations such as the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute along with the high-profile presence and advocacy of corporate reform spokespersons such as Joel Klein and Michelle Rhee andbillionaire financers [6] such as Michael Milken.[3] [7] As Ken Saltman, Diane Ravitch, Alex Means and others have pointed out, wealthy billionaires such as Bill Gates are financing educational reforms that promote privatization, de-professionalization, online classes, and high-stakes testing, while at the same time impugning the character and autonomy of teachers and the unions that support them.[4] [8] Consequently, public school teachers have become the new class of government-dependent moochers and the disparaged culture of Wall Street has emerged as the only model or resource from which to develop theories of educational leadership and reform.[5] [9] The same people who gave us the economic recession of 2008, lost billions in corrupt trading practices, and sold fraudulent mortgages to millions of homeowners have ironically become sources of wisdom and insight regarding how young people should be educated.
Attesting to the fact that political culture has become an adjunct of the culture of finance, politicians at the state and federal levels, irrespective of their political affiliation, advocate reforms that amount to selling off or giving away public schools to the apostles of casino capitalism.[6] [10] More importantly, the hysterical fury now being waged by the new educational reformists against public education exhibits no interest in modes of education that invest in an “educated public for the culture of the present and future.”[7] [11] On the contrary, their relevance and power can be measured by the speed with which any notion of civic responsibilities is evaded.
What these individuals and institutions all share is an utter disregard for public values, critical thinking and any notion of education as a moral andpolitical practice [12].[8] [13] The wealthy hedge fund managers, think tank operatives and increasingly corrupt corporate CEOs are panicked by the possibility that teachers and public schools might provide the conditions for the cultivation of an informed and critical citizenry capable of actively and critically participating in the governance of a democratic society. In the name of educational reform, reason is gutted of its critical potential and reduced to a deadening pedagogy of memorization, teaching to the test and classroom practices that celebrate mindless repetition and conformity. Rather than embraced as central to what it means to be an engaged and thoughtful citizen, the capacity for critical thinking, imagining and reflection are derided as crucial pedagogical values necessary for “both the health of democracy and to the creation of a decent world culture and a robust type of global citizenship.”[9] [14]
This is clear by virtue of the fact that testing and punishing have become the two most influential forces that now shape American public education. As Stanley Aronowitz points out,
Numerous studies have shown the tendency of public schooling to dumb down the curriculum and impose punitive testing algorithms on teachers and students alike. Whether intended or not, we live in an era when the traditional concepts of liberal education and popular critical thinking are under assault. Neo-liberals of the center, no less than those of the right, are equally committed to the reduction of education to a mean-spirited regime of keeping its subjects’ noses to the grindstone. As the post-war “prosperity,” which offered limited opportunities to some from the lower orders to gain a measure of mobility fades into memory, the chief function of schools is repression.[10] [15]
Instead of talking about the relationship between schools and democracy, the new educational reformers call for the disinvestment in public schools, the militarization of school culture, the commodification of knowledge and the privatizing of both the learning process and the spaces in which it takes place. The crusade for privatizing is now advanced with a vengeance by the corporate elite, a crusade designed to place the control of public schools and other public spheres in the alleged reliable hands of the apostles ofcasino capitalism[16].[11] [17] Budgets are now balanced on the backs of teachers and students while the wealthy get tax reductions and the promise of gentrification andprivate schools [18].[12] [19] In the name of austerity, schools are defunded so as to fail and provide an excuse to be turned over to the privatizing advocates of free-market fundamentalism. In this discourse, free-market reform refuses to imagine public education as the provision of the public good and social right and reduces education to meet the immediate needs of the economy.
For those schools and students that are considered excess, the assault on reason is matched by the enactment of a militaristic culture of security, policing and containment, particularly in urban schools.[13] [20] Low-income and poor minority students now attend schools that have more security guards than teachers and are educated to believe that there is no distinction between prison culture and the culture of schooling.[14] [8] The underlying theme that connects the current attack on reason and the militarizing of social relations is that education is both a Petri dish for producing individuals who are wedded to the logic of the market and consumerism and a sorting machine for ushering largely poor black and brown youth into the criminal justice system. There is no language among these various political positions for defending public schools as a vital social institution and public good. Public education, in this view, no longer benefits the entire society but only individuals and, rather than being defined as a public good, is redefined as a private right.
Within this atomistic, highly individualizing script, shared struggles and bonds of solidarity are viewed as either dangerous or pathological. Power relations disappear and there is no room for understanding how corporate power and civic values rub up against each other in ways that are detrimental to the promise of a robust democracy and an emancipatory mode of schooling. In fact, in this discourse, corporate power is used to undermine any vestige of the civic good and cover up the detrimental influence of its anti-democratic pressures. It gets worse. A pedagogy of management and conformity does more than simply repress the analytical skills and knowledge necessary for students to learn the practice of freedom and assume the role of critical agents, it also reinforces deeply authoritarian lessons while reproducing deep inequities in the educational opportunities that different students acquire. As Sara Robinson points out,
In the conservative model, critical thinking is horrifically dangerous, because it teaches kids to reject the assessment of external authorities in favor of their own judgment – a habit of mind that invites opposition and rebellion. This is why, for much of Western history, critical thinking skills have only been taught to the elite students – the ones headed for the professions, who will be entrusted with managing society on behalf of the aristocracy. (The aristocrats, of course, are sending their kids to private schools, where they will receive a classical education that teaches them everything they’ll need to know to remain in charge.) Our public schools, unfortunately, have replicated a class stratification on this front that’s been in place since the Renaissance.[15] [21]
As powerful as this utterly reactionary and right-wing educational reform movement might be, educators are far from willingly accepting the role of deskilled technicians groomed to service the needs of finance capital and produce students who are happy consumers and unquestioning future workers. Public school teachers have mobilized in Wisconsin and a number of other states where public schools, educators and other public servants are under attack. They have been collectively energized in pushing back the corporate and religious fundamentalist visions of public education, and they are slowly mobilizing into a larger social movement to defend both their role as engaged intellectuals and schooling as a public good. In refusing to be fit for domestication, many teachers are committed to fulfilling the civic purpose of public education through a new understanding of the relationship between democracy and schooling, learning and social change. In the interest of expanding this struggle, educators need a new vocabulary for not only defining schools as democratic public spheres, students as informed and critically engaged citizens, but also teachers as public intellectuals. In what follows, I want to focus on this issue as one important register of individual and collective struggle for teachers. At stake here is the presupposition that a critical consciousness is not only necessary for producing good teachers, but also enables individual teachers to see their classroom struggles as part of a much broader social, political and economic landscape.
Unlike many past educational reform movements, the present call for educational change presents both a threat and a challenge to public school teachers that appear unprecedented. The threat comes in the form of a series of educational reforms that display little confidence in the ability of public school teachers to provide intellectual and moral leadership for our youth. For instance, many recommendations that have emerged in the current debate across the world either ignore the role teachers play in preparing learners to be active and critical citizens or they suggest reforms that ignore the intelligence, judgment and experience that teachers might offer in such a debate. At the same time, the current conservative reform movement aggressively disinvests in public schooling so as to eliminate the literal spaces and resources necessary for schools to work successfully.
Where teachers do enter the debate, they are objects of educational reforms that reduce them to the status of high-level technicians carrying out dictates and objectives decided by experts far removed from the everyday realities of classroom life. Or they are reduced to the status of commercial salespersons selling knowledge, skills and values that have less to do with education than with training students for low-wage jobs in a global marketplace. Or, even worse, they are reduced to security officers employed largely to discipline, contain, and all too often, turnstudents [22] who commit infractions over to the police and thecriminal justice system [23].[16] [24] Not only do students not count in this mode of schooling, teachers are also stripped of their dignity and capacities when it comes to critically examining the nature and process of educational reform.
While the political and ideological climate does not look favorable for the teachers at the moment, it does offer them the challenge to join a public debate with their critics, as well as the opportunity to engage in a much needed self-critique regarding the nature and purpose of schooling, classroom teaching and the relationship between education and social change. Similarly, the debate provides teachers with the opportunity to organize collectively to improve the conditions under which they work and to demonstrate to the public the central role that teachers must play in any viable attempt to reform the public schools.
In order for teachers and others to engage in such a debate, it is necessary that theoretical perspectives be developed that redefine the nature of the current educational crisis while simultaneously providing the basis for an alternative view of teacher work. In short, this means recognizing that the current crisis in education cannot be separated from the rise and pernicious influence of neoliberal capitalism and market driven power relations, both of which work in the interest of disempowering teachers, dismantling teacher unions, and privatizing public schools. At the very least, such recognition will have to come to grips with a growing loss of power among teachers around the basic conditions of their work, but also with a changing public perception of their role as reflective practitioners.
I want to make a small theoretical contribution to this debate and the challenge it calls forth by examining two major problems that need to be addressed in the interest of improving the quality of “teacher work,” which includes all the clerical tasks and extra assignments as well as classroom instruction. First, I think it is imperative to examine the ideological and material forces that have contributed to what I want to call the deskilling and commodification of teacher work; that is, the tendency to reduce teachers to the status of specialized technicians within the school bureaucracy, whose function then becomes one of the managing and implementing curricular programs rather than developing or critically appropriating curricula to fit specific pedagogical concerns and the particular needs of students. Second, there is a need to defend schools as institutions essential to maintaining and developing a critical democracy and also to defending teachers as public intellectuals who combine scholarly reflection and practice in the service of educating students to be thoughtful, active citizens.
Devaluing and Deskilling Teacher Work
One of the major threats facing prospective and existing teachers within the public schools is the increasing development of instrumental and corporate ideologies that emphasize a technocratic approach to both teacher preparation and classroom pedagogy. At the core of the current emphasis on the instrumental and pragmatic factors in school life are a number of important pedagogical assumptions. These include: a call for the separation of conception from execution; the standardization of school knowledge in the interest of managing and controlling it, the increased call for standardized testing, and the devaluation of critical, intellectual work on the part of teachers and students for the primacy of practical considerations. In this view, teaching is reduced to training and concepts are substituted by methods. Teaching in this view is reduced to a set of strategies and skills and becomes synonymous with a method or technique. Instead of learning to raise questions about the principles underlying different classroom methods, research techniques and theories of education, teachers are often preoccupied with learning the “how to,” with what works or with mastering the best way to teach a given body of knowledge.
What is ignored in this retrograde view is any understanding of pedagogy as a moral and political practice that functions as a deliberate attempt to influence how and what knowledge, values and identities are produced with particular sets of classroom social relations. What is purposely derided in conservative notions of teaching and learning is a view of pedagogy, which in the most critical sense, illuminates the relationship among knowledge, authority and power and draws attention to questions concerning who has control over the conditions for the production of knowledge. Pedagogy in this sense addresses and connects ethics, politics, power and knowledge within practices that allow for generating multiple solidarities, narratives and vocabularies as part of a broader democratic project. As Chandra Mohanty insists, pedagogy is not only about the act of knowing, but also about how knowledge is related to the power of self-definition, understanding one’s relationship to others and one’s understanding and connection to the larger world.[17] [25] In the end, pedagogy is not, as many conservatives argue, about immersing young people in predefined and isolated bits of information, but about the issue of agency and how it can be developed in the interest of deepening and expanding the meaning and purpose of democratization and the formative cultures that make it possible.
Technocratic and instrumental rationalities are also at work within the teaching field itself, and they play an increasing role in reducing teacher autonomy with respect to the development and planning of curricula and the judging and implementation of classroom instruction. In the past, this took the form of what has been called “teacher-proof” curriculum packages. The underlying rationale in many of these packages viewed teacher work as simply the carrying out of predetermined content and instructional procedures. The method and aim of such packages was to legitimate what might be called “market-driven management pedagogies.” That knowledge is broken down into discrete parts, standardized for easier management and consumption and measured through predefined forms of assessment. Curricula approaches of this sort are management pedagogies because the central questions regarding teaching and learning are reduced to the problems of management, regulation and control. While such curricula are far from absent in many schools, they have been replaced by modes of classroom instruction geared to a pedagogy of repression defined through the rubric of accountability. This approach works to discipline both the body and mind in the interest of training students to perform well in high-stakes testing schemes. It defines quality teaching through reductive mathematical models.[18] [26]
Pedagogy as an intellectual, moral and political practice is now based on “measurements of value derived frommarket competition [27].”[19][28] Mathematical utility has now replaced critical dialogue, debate, risk-taking, the power of imaginative leaps and learning for the sake of learning. A crude instrumental rationality now governs the form and content of curricula, and where content has the potential to open up the possibility of critical thinking, it is quickly shut down. This is a pedagogy that has led to the abandonment of democratic impulses, analytic thinking, and social responsibility. It is also a pedagogy that infantilizes both teachers and students. For instance, the Texas GOP built into its platform the banning ofcritical thinking [29].[20] [30] Not too long ago, the Florida legislature passed a law claiming that history had to be taught simply as a ledger of facts, banning any attempt at what can loosely be called interpretation.
The soft underlying theoretical assumption that guides this type of pedagogy is that the behavior of teachers needs to be controlled and made consistent and predictable across different schools and student populations. The more hidden and hard assumption at work here is that teachers cannot be intellectuals, cannot think imaginatively and cannot engage in forms of pedagogy that might enable students to think differently, critically or more imaginatively. The deskilling of teachers, the reduction of reason to a form of instrumental rationality, and the disinvestment in education as a public good is also evident on a global level in policies produced by the World Bank that impose on countries forms of privatization and standardized curricula that undermine the potential for critical inquiry and engaged citizenship. Learning in this instance is depoliticized, prioritized as a method and often reduced to teaching low-level skills, disciplinary-imposed behaviors and corporate values. Neoliberal disciplinary measures now function to limit students to the private orbits in which they experience their lives while restricting the power of teachers to teach students to think rationally, judge wisely and be able to connect private troubles to broader public considerations.
Public schools have become an object of disdain, and teachers labor under educational reforms that separate conception from execution, theory from practice, and pedagogy from moral and social considerations. As content is devalued, history erased and the economic, racial and social inequities intensified, public schools increasingly are hijacked by corporate and religious fundamentalists. The effect is not only to deskill teachers, to remove them from the processes of deliberation and reflection, but also to routinize the nature of learning and classroom pedagogy. Needless to say, the principles underlying corporate pedagogies are at odds with the premise that teachers should be actively involved in producing curricula materials suited to the cultural and social contexts in which they teach.
More specifically, the narrowing of curricula choices to a back-to-basics format and the introduction of lock-step, time-on-task pedagogies operate from the theoretically erroneous assumption that all students can learn from the same materials, classroom instructional techniques and modes of evaluation. The notion that students come from different histories and embody different experiences, linguistic practices, cultures and talents is strategically ignored within the logic and accountability of management pedagogy theory. At the same time, the school increasingly is modeled as a factory, prison or both. Curiosity is replaced by monotony, and learning withers under the weight of dead time.
Teachers as Public Intellectuals
In what follows, I want to argue that one way to rethink and restructure the nature of teacher work is to view teachers as public intellectuals. The category of intellectual is helpful in a number of ways. First, it provides a theoretical basis for examining teacher work as a form of intellectual labor, as opposed to defining it in purely instrumental or technical terms. Second, it clarifies the kinds of ideological and practical conditions necessary for teachers to function as intellectuals. Third, it helps to make clear the role teachers play in producing and legitimating various political, economic and social interests through the pedagogies they endorse and utilize.
By viewing teachers as public intellectuals, we can illuminate the important idea that all human activity involves some form of thinking. No activity, regardless of how routinized it might become, can be abstracted from the functioning of the mind in some capacity. This is a crucial issue, because by arguing that the use of the mind is a general part of all human activity we dignify the human capacity for integrating thinking and practice, and in doing so highlight the core of what it means to view teachers as reflective practitioners. Within this discourse, teachers can be seen not merely as “performers professionally equipped to realize effectively any goals that may be set for them. Rather [they should] be viewed as free men and women with a special dedication to the values of the intellect and the enhancement of the critical powers of the young.”[21] [31]
Viewing teachers as public intellectuals also provides a strong theoretical critique of technocratic and instrumental ideologies underlying educational theories that separate the conceptualization, planning and design of curricula from the processes of implementation and execution. It is important to stress that teachers must take active responsibility for raising serious questions about what they teach, how they are to teach and what the larger goals are for which they are striving. This means that they must take a responsible role in shaping the purposes and conditions of schooling. Such a task is impossible within a division of labor in which teachers have little influence over the conceptual and economic conditions of their work. This point has a normative and political dimension that seems especially relevant for teachers. If we believe that the role of teaching cannot be reduced to merely training in the practical skills, but involves, instead, the education of a class of engaged and public intellectuals vital to the development of a free society, then the category of intellectual becomes a way of linking the purpose of teacher education, public schooling and in-service training to the principles necessary for developing a democratic order and society. Recognizing teachers as engaged and public intellectuals means that educators should never be reduced to technicians, just as education should never be reduced to training. Instead, pedagogy should be rooted in the practice of freedom – in those ethical and political formations that expand democratic underpinnings and principles of both the self and the broader social order.
I have argued that by viewing teachers as intellectuals we can begin to rethink and reform the traditions and conditions that have prevented teachers from assuming their full potential as active, reflective scholars and practitioners. I believe that it is important not only to view teachers as public intellectuals, but also to contextualize in political and normative terms the concrete social functions that teachers have both to their work and to the dominant society.
A starting point for interrogating the social function of teachers as public intellectuals is to view schools as economic, cultural and social sites that are inextricably tied to the issues of politics, power and control. This means that schools do more than pass on in an objective fashion a common set of values and knowledge. On the contrary, schools are places that represent forms of knowledge, language practices, social relations and values that are particular selections and exclusions from the wider culture. As such, schools serve to introduce and legitimate particular forms of social life. Rather than being objective institutions removed from the dynamics of politics and power, schools actually are contested spheres that embody and express struggles over what forms of authority, types of knowledge, forms of moral regulation and versions of the past and future should be legitimated and transmitted to students.
Schools are always political because they both produce particular kinds of agents, desires and social relations and they legitimate particular notions of the past, present and future. The struggle is most visible in the demands, for example, of right-wing religious groups currently trying to inject creationism in the schools, institute school prayer, remove certain books from school libraries and include certain forms of religious teachings in the curricula. Of course, different demands are made by feminists, ecologists, minorities, and other interest groups who believe that the schools should teach women’s studies, courses on the environment or black history. In short, schools are not neutral sites, and teachers cannot assume the posture of being neutral either.
Central to the category of public intellectual is the necessity of making the pedagogical more political and the political more pedagogical. Making the pedagogical more political means inserting schooling directly into the political sphere by arguing that schooling represents both a struggle to define meaning and a struggle over agency and power relations. Within this perspective, critical reflection and action become part of a fundamental social project to help students develop a deep and abiding faith in the struggle to overcome economic, political and social injustices, and to further humanize themselves as part of this struggle. In this case, knowledge and power are inextricably linked to the presupposition that to choose life, to recognize the necessity of improving its democratic and qualitative character for all people, is to understand the preconditions necessary to struggle for it. Teaching must be seen as a political, civic and ethical practice precisely because it is directive, that is, an intervention that takes up the ethical responsibility of recognizing, as Paulo Freire points out, that human life is conditioned but not determined.
A critical pedagogical practice does not transfer knowledge but create the possibilities for its production, analysis and use. Without succumbing to a kind of rigid dogmatism, teachers should provide the pedagogical conditions for students to bear witness to history, their own actions and the mechanisms that drive the larger social order so that they can imagine the inseparable connection between the human condition and the ethical basis of our existence. Educators have a responsibility for educating students in ways that allow them to hold power accountable, learn how to govern and develop a responsibility to others and a respect for civic life. The key here is to recognize that being a public intellectual is no excuse for being dogmatic. While it is crucial to recognize that education has a critical function, the teachers’ task is not to mold students but to encourage human agency, to provide the conditions for students to be self-determining and to struggle for a society that is both autonomous and democratic.
Making the political more pedagogical means treating students as critical agents; making knowledge problematic and open to debate; engaging in critical and thoughtful dialogue; and making the case for a qualitatively better world for all people. In part, this suggests that teachers as public intellectuals take seriously the need to give students an active voice in their learning experiences. It also means developing a critical vernacular that is attentive to problems experienced at the level of everyday life, particularly as they are related to pedagogical experiences connected to classroom practice. As such, the pedagogical starting point for such intellectuals is not the isolated student removed from the historical and cultural forces that bear down on their lives but individuals in their various cultural, class, racial and historical contexts, along with the particularity of their diverse problems, hopes, and dreams.
As public intellectuals, teachers should develop a discourse that unites the language of critique with the language of possibility. In this instance, educators not only recognize the need to act on the world, to connect reading the word with reading the world, but also make clear that it is within their power individually and collectively to do so. In taking up this project, they should work under conditions that allow them to speak out against economic, political and social injustices both within and outside of schools. At the same time, they should work to create the conditions that give students the opportunity to become critical and engaged citizens who have the knowledge and courage to struggle in order to make desolation and cynicism unconvincing and hope practical. Hope in this case is neither a call to social engineering nor an excuse to overlook the difficult conditions that shape both schools and the larger social order. On the contrary, it is the precondition for providing those languages and values that point the way to a more democratic and just world. As Judith Butler has argued, there is more hope in the world when we can question common sense assumptions and believe that what we know is directly related to our ability to help change the world around us, though it is far from the only condition necessary for such change.[22] [32] Hope provides the basis for dignifying our labor as intellectuals; it offers up critical knowledge linked to democratic social change, and allows teachers and students to recognize ambivalence and uncertainty as fundamental dimensions of learning. As Ernst Bloch insists, hope is “not yet in the sense of a possibility; that it could be there if we could only do something for it.”[23] [33] Hope offers the possibility of thinking beyond the given – and lays open a pedagogical terrain in which teachers and students can engage in critique, dialogue and an open-ended struggle for justice. As difficult as this task may seem to educators, if not to a larger public, it is a struggle worth waging. To deny educators the opportunity to assume the role of public intellectuals is to prevent teachers from gaining control over the conditions of the work, denying them the right to “push at the frontiers, to worry the edges of the human imagination, to conjure beauty from the most unexpected things, to find magic in places where others never thought to look,”[24] [34] and to model what it means for intellectuals to exhibit civic courage by giving education a central role in constructing a world that is more just, equitable and democratic in dark times.
What role might public school teachers play as public intellectuals in light of the brutal killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School? In the most immediate sense, they can raise their collective voices against the educational influence of a larger culture and spectacle of violence and the power of the gun lobby to flood the country with deadly weapons. They can show how this culture of violence is only one part of a broader and all-embracing militarized culture of war, arms industry and a Darwinian survival of the fittest ethic, more characteristic of an authoritarian society than a democracy. They can mobilize young people to both stand up for teachers, students and public schools by advocating for policies that invest in schools rather than in the military-industrial complex and its massive and expensive weapons of death. They can educate young people and a larger public to support gun regulation and the democratization of the culture industries that now trade in violence as a form of entertainment; they can speak out against the educational, political, and economic conditions in which violence has become a sport in America – one of the most valuable practices and assets of the national entertainment state. The violent screen culture of video games, extreme sports, violent Hollywood films, television dramas and other cultural productions do not just produce entertainment, they are mainly teaching machines that instruct children into a sadistic culture in which killing is all right, violence is fun and masculinity is defined increasingly through its propensity to make celebrities out of killers. This is a culture that serves as a recruiting tool for the military, makes military force rather than democratic idealism the highest national ideal and war the most important organizing principle of society.
Public school teachers can join with parents, churches, synagogues, Mosques and other individuals and institutions to address the larger socioeconomic and ideological values and practices that legitimize a hyper-masculinity fueled by the death-dealing assumption that war and a primitive tribalism make men, irrespective of the violence they promote against women, gays, students and people with disabilities. America is obsessed with violence and death, and this fixation not only provides profits for Hollywood, the defense industries and the weapons industries, it also reproduces a culture of war and cruelty that has become central to America’s national identity – one that is as shameful as it is deadly to its children and others. The war on public school teachers and children has reached its tragic apogee with the brutal and incomprehensible killing of the young children in Sandy Hook. What kind of country has the United States become in its willingness allow this endless barrage of symbolic and material violence to continue? Why has violence become the most powerful mediating force shaping social relations in the United States? Why do we allow a government to use drones to kill young children abroad? Why do we allow the right-wing media and the mainstream press to constantly denigrate both teachers and young people? Why are the lives of young people one of our lowest national priorities? Why do we denigrate public servants such as teachers, who educate, nurture and safeguard young people? What kind of country betrays its teachers and denigrates public education? How does the violence against teachers and students destroy the connective tissue that makes the shared bonds of trust, compassion and justice possible not only in our schools but also in a democracy?
[1]
Let The Dialectics Continue
STOP for a minute! Just what are “dialectics”. Sounds like something from Karl Marx! Karl Marx “bad” (?)
Dialectics — tensions, conflicts, interactions, clashes, oppositions, contentions, discussions, debates, disputations, investigations . . .
WOW — a whole new world is revealed if you go to the font of all wisdom a la 2012 — Wikipedia. There are dozens of angles on “dialectics” — Marxist dialectics being only one! There is even ”dialectic biology”! I like Biology and will explore this later . . .
To simplify: Dialectics is not debate where one side wins, the other loses. Dialectics is not rhetoric with endless verbiage (verbosity, waffle, gobbledygook. . . )
Basically, it’s discourse between different points of view seeking truth guided by reasoned arguments. It’s not just what becomes self-evident, but truth will be bolstered by evidence-based information.
The Marxist, Henry Giroux, says:
*** “Rather than being objective institutions removed from the dynamics of politics and power, schools actually are contested spheres that embody and express struggles over what forms of authority, types of knowledge, forms of moral regulation and versions of the past and future should be legitimated and transmitted to students.”
That’s a good starting point for advancing our discussions and dialectics on public schools and their role in society. The division between the individual path or the collective path to “the public good” definitely has TWO clear angles from which to proceed.
This blog post has been dealing with how labour disputes are impacting on the education of our youth. How teacher unions’ behavior is affecting outcomes. Is any of this discussion able to help clear the air or is decision-making in this sphere of public policy to remain secretive and settled behind closed doors in the name of that holy goal of “Labour peace at any cost”?
I, for one, really deplore all this secretiveness in achieving this dubious goal of “business as usual”. Parents and public are completely left out of these secret deals and so-called “collective bargaining”.
Let the dialectics continue on these serious questions that relate so profoundly on continuity, on democracy, on survival.
The primary purpose of the local trustees and MPPs (MLAs to you) is to represent taxpayers and parents, a subset of taxpayers, in negotiations. The public is half of every negotiations. If you don’t like what your negotiators have been doing, get some new ones in the next election.
You will just love Adrian Dix as your next negotiator with BCTF. Your recent ones have been terrible.
Teachers unions, and their underlying values systems have morphed far beyond their original purposes of negotiating contracts and labour protection for their teachers. Its the underlying values and belief systems of the individuals of the teachers’ unions, that are shaping the ongoing struggles between the unions, the school boards, the provincial education ministries, and who they served the public, the delivery of education services.
Giroux, and others like him can be considered the high priests within the public education system to provide the values and belief systems that justifies the educators and its stakeholders positions within the political and social spheres. Teachers’ unions are fully immersed with in Giroux and others like him of the educational philosophies of social justice theories and its counterpart critical theories. In the teacher faculties, its the language of pedagogical social justice and critical theories that are at play, transforming aspiring teachers into critical agents of social change to the now new siren call of Giroux, public intellectuals.
Giroux states, “To deny educators the opportunity to assume the role of public intellectuals is to prevent teachers from gaining control over the conditions of the work, denying them the right to “push at the frontiers, to worry the edges of the human imagination, to conjure beauty from the most unexpected things, to find magic in places where others never thought to look,”[24] [34] and to model what it means for intellectuals to exhibit civic courage by giving education a central role in constructing a world that is more just, equitable and democratic in dark times.”
Ergo, the latest siren call of Ontario’s teachers’ unions that they are the last bastion to save democracy to justified their actions and behaviours of putting students’ education and their futures at risked. Tunya outlines the dangers of the political and social values of the public education stakeholders, but how does the underlying social critical theories and social justice theories affect education quality versus the individual outcomes of students?
For teachers’ unions, the poorer the education quality, the greater the number of future difficulties for students to which the teachers’ unions can bargained on in contract negotiations. In other words, it creates the maximum number of retention of educators’ positions throughout the system, and scores the greatest number of future jobs, within the given present optics of the political, social and statistical data of the past.
The education quality is of great importance to the teachers’ unions, and where the underlying values of social justice and critical theory philosophies are the fuel that is manipulating education quality away from achievement outcomes of students, to social and political outcomes of students. It matters no more if students are not reaching their full academic potential. What matters is how and by what they are reaching their full academic potential.
In Wikipedia, for the sake of simplicity – ” Teaching for social justice is a philosophy of education centered on the promotion of social justice, and the instillation of such values in students. Educators may employ social justice instruction to promote unity on campus, as well as mitigate boundaries to the general curriculum. These boundaries often include race, class, ability, language, appearance, sexuality, and gender.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teaching_for_social_justice
And, ” Critical pedagogy is a philosophy of education described by Henry Giroux as an “educational movement, guided by passion and principle, to help students develop consciousness of freedom, recognize authoritarian tendencies, and connect knowledge to power and the ability to take constructive action.”[1]”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_pedagogy
As I stated before, education quality of of great importance to teachers’ unions. The education social justice and critical pedagogies, its values allows the greatest manipulation of transforming education quality to one that maximizes and promotes the best interests of the teachers’ unions, and transferred education achievement and its responsibility to the students, the parents and by extension to society.
To wrapped it up, I followed one link of social and critical pedagogies in action. I arrived at this page – http://people.exeter.ac.uk/PErnest/
I selected volume 20, June 2007, and the link is – http://people.exeter.ac.uk/PErnest/pome20/index.htm
I then selected the category of ‘special students’, to read the studies.
“In my discussion thus far, I have argued that Special Education is a politically sanctioned system that may at once lock an individual into a disabled identity, while simultaneously attempting to propel him/her towards a new, improved future identity. According to Heller (1999) this sort of paradox combines elements of the technological mindset, with issues of social allocation and social justice. Such a conflict between opposing viewpoints is typical in postmodern society. In the case of Special Education, what may result is a tug of war between the bureaucratic-machine set up to identify and prescribe accommodations for a learner’s disabilities, and the learner’s own desire to break free of these imposed binds. In the United States, the process is justified by political power, spelled out in the legal language of IDEA.”
Teachers’ unions don’t like binding legal laws such as the IDEA laws in the United States. It messes with the underlying values and belief systems of the education social justice and critical theories, its philosophies by hindering the teachers’ unions’ ability to maximized their political and social clout, their power.
If special education is a politically sanctioned system as posed in the above quote of the study, teachers’ unions using their politically and social capital, supported by the social justice and critical pedagogical theories, by manipulating the potential damage of the IDEA laws, by framing students, parents and by extension society as agents working against the collective, the public education system. Ergo, the parent is seen in this context – within the social class parameters, by manipulating the education quality of their children via through their social capital to maximized the number of education services over and above what the norm receives.
Each parent becomes a potential threat to the education stakeholders and their political and social capital power. But more importantly, the greatest threat to the teachers’ unions is the potential damage to the ongoing treasured education pedagogies, the philosophies, the education theories that serves the best interests of the educators, the teachers’ unions, to maintain education control within the sphere of the public education model and its stakeholders.
The outsiders, students, parents, and the communities are left out in the cold figuratively speaking, having both political and social capital being curtailed by the education stakeholders and their belief systems within the political and social spheres. I had no idea, my actions as a parent in 2001 in requesting an psycho-educational assessment is seen within the belief systems and the political values of school and school board, as harming my child’s social position and her social identity within the school community. In other words, as a parent, I was seeking unfair advantage to give my child an edge over the other children, in seeking higher achievement, over my child’s desire to break free from the chains of achievement to one of learning within the social identifying norms of obtaining knowledge via through the pedagogical theories of constuctivism, child-centered instruction, and other education theories such as critical theories.
Teachers’ unions strive in their utmost to create conflict within the classroom, between parents and their children to imposed pre-determined pathways for parents and their children, within the context of the present social/political spheres, using the education high priests of Giroux and his counterparts to imposed the union’s agendas to served their best interests.
To repeat what Giroux states, ” “To deny educators the opportunity to assume the role of public intellectuals is to prevent teachers from gaining control over the conditions of the work, denying them the right to “push at the frontiers, to worry the edges of the human imagination, to conjure beauty from the most unexpected things, to find magic in places where others never thought to look,”[24] [34] and to model what it means for intellectuals to exhibit civic courage by giving education a central role in constructing a world that is more just, equitable and democratic in dark times.”
How equitable and democratic is it, when the public education model and its stakeholders seeks to curtailed the political and social capital of the outsiders, at the expense of education quality and achievement of students?The second question, how equitable and democratic is it, when the public education model and its stakeholders seeks out to support the teachers’ unions by supporting and working cooperatively with one another via the education philosophies and theories of the education high priests?
Im sure you believe all of that, luckily few others believe it. That is why the teachers are winning the PR war in Ontario.
Moral Relativism — Just Say NO !
When I was a college employee we had to take mandatory anti-bullying and anti-harassment training. We learned there was the bully, the victim and those who stand by.
Teacher unions, in their obstinate resistance to education reform, and with all their power and techniques, might very well be characterized as bullies. This description is not peculiar just to us in Canada talking about our complaints. These concerns about the dominance of teacher unions in public education policy are expressed in the UK, USA, and other parts of the world.
The “stand-by’s” in this scenario are those who do little to prevent this, and who in fact gain by having a convenient scapegoat on whom to blame their own lack of effort. Here we have the various other levels in education who benefit from the status quo — principals, superintendents, school boards, etc. And of course, the government of the day — which benefits from “labor peace at any cost” — is the biggest culprit for not using its legitimate power and authority to intervene.
Well, 2013 just might be the year we might see a turn-around to moral excuses — “It depends . . . , our hands are tied, blah, blah, blah . . . “
From England we have Melanie Phillips with her book “The World Turned Upside Down” challenging the contradictions we live by in this so-called “age of reason” as we increasingly behave irrationally.
Many books are dealing with the cultural divide between the progressive and conservative points-of-view. And how the progressive POV has become embedded in the universities, especially faculties of education.
The best little book (a quick read) is “The Kindergarden of Eden – How the Modern Liberal Thinks and Why He’s Convinced That Ignorance is Bliss” 2012. The author, Evan Sayet, a one-time liberal, says:
*** “ . . . the True Believer is an ideologue with a utopian vision, and as with both ideologues and those with utopian visions, the truth invariably gets in the way.”
Thus, it comes to us, regardless of the evidence, irrespective of multitudes of truths and proofs brought forward, that we have a contest in education, that one side must win, and who has the greatest influence in the polls is the WINNER. Who wins “the PR war” will rule. How obscene and irrational!
As people read the Sayet book they will see that the Progressive Agenda of 130 years has incrementally been, indeed, successful in creating the “Modern Liberal” and that it is this “Modern Liberal” who is answering those polls. What false prophets they are!
Sayet interview 2012 http://www.pjtv.com/?cmd=mpg&mpid=174&load=7788
Sayet speech 2007, Progressivism 101, with transcript http://www.ironicsurrealism.com/2012/05/17/brilliant-lecture-how-modern-liberals-think-evan-sayet-video-transcript/
Why would teachers be considered bullies for resisting education reform? Teachers sincerely consider education reform to be evil, i am totally serious here. They consider it to be corporate and religous driven. People who want to make a profit (an evil instinct in education). And those who want to save dying religions by forcing the state to underwrite their religion.
To teachrrs, public education is equal to medicare. A pure public only system is best and the moreprivatization is involved, the more a pure thing is polluted by the evils of the marketplace, greed, elitism, gouging, avarice etc. They look forward to the day when all education is public.
To the unions it will be a great day when, no matter how rich someone is, it is impossible to purchase a better education.The public education system has a great role to play in the elimination of the class system.
Teachers Who Quit — Voluntarily
We have this story about a 15-year veteran elementary teacher in Providence, Rhode Island, published Dec 12, 2012 — over 256,000 views.
*** “I’ve had it, I quit,” Stephen Round says in his resignation video. “I would rather leave my secure, $70,000 job, with benefits, and tutor in Connecticut for free than be part of a system that is diametrically opposed to everything I believe education should be.”
Earlier in September we had this story, “Why I quit Teaching” by Adam Kirk Edgerton —
*** “ . . . I am no longer willing to operate under the old rules while the weight of our educational bureaucracy crushes our country . . . I quit teaching because I was tired of feeling powerless . . .
Edgerton goes on to describe his ideal school, a kind of teacher co-operative. By the way, I have heard a good number of teachers describe this model, and it could easily become a reality as a charter, where they are allowed. He elaborates —
*** “Evaluations are done by peers, and the tools are developed by teachers. Teachers are hired by other teachers. There are no outside consultants, no central office administrators, and no superintendents. There are no unions because there is no one to unionize against. There is a secretary, who is usually the most important person in any organization, who makes phone calls to parents and greets visitors . . .
*** “I quit because the system is demeaning . . . Our schools are still living in a post-World War II fantasy . . .
*** “So what is the answer? Unions? Hardly. We can’t allow union leaders to absorb teachers, to use them as a platform on which to stand. Our union leaders have failed us. Union politics have contributed to us getting to this point by forcing administrators to deal with them rather than teachers directly.
They teach us that we cannot speak for ourselves; they teach us powerlessness. Union leaders are too often mere mouthpieces skimming off teachers’ paychecks.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-kirk-edgerton/teachers-unions-issues_b_1856371.html
I think the parent/public side of our polarized education system would love to see some teacher co-ops. But, you can be sure the teacher union side of this polarity would block and argue against the kind of professional dream Edgerton talks about.
He is a young teacher, refreshing to read about, still out there helping young people, and one we should hear more from instead of these “old fogeys” who cling to old styles and structures! With fresh eyes, with teachers offering up new models, and with diversity and choices and a lot less bureaucracy we could get somewhere. Instead we have strikes, parents with skimpy report cards, minimal extra curricular activities children and youth need, squandered tax funds, and a whole lot of frustration and disappointment.
Disruption Exhaustion
Collective bargaining face-offs are expected when earlier behind-the-scenes negotiations fail. Then it becomes threat time. You — agree — or we force a settlement, says the government. No — we won’t — and you’ll face disruptions that will cause the electorate to cry for “Peace at any cost!”, says the teacher union side.
Polls, that magical instrument, are supposed to measure the degree of suffering the citizens will tolerate.
But exhaustion, impatience, dismay and disgust may set in if this manufactured disruption is allowed to continue.
The citizens may start counting up their losses. They may see a fragile democracy endangered when public servants’ civil disobedience turns to willful insubordination. Parents, who generally enroll their children into government schools, may think twice about their choice when Progress Report Cards are deliberately not providing vital information by which to advocate or make exit decisions. January is a time when some parents are known to change schools for their kids.
One can wonder if disempowering parents is not actually a long-term goal of teacher unions?
Will the Ontario Liberal Education strategy of “brinkmanship” work?
The Ontario Education Deadline looms and only 65 of 469 school bargaining units have reached deals in compliance with Bill 115. Most of the Ontario unions to have complied are within the English Catholic school boards.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario-reaches-tentative-deal-with-union-representing-school-support-staff/article6798996/
Education Minister Louise Broten is now on the spot. Stay tuned for a Queen’s Park media conference on January 3, 2013 when the Minister will announce her next step.
Government’s Power To IMPOSE or DEPOSE
Yes, a government can impose “solutions” on its populace — with all kinds of damages resulting — at the same time, accruing the taint of being “totalitarian”. Maybe the circumstances do warrant this in Ontario during this government-teacher union stand-off.
Or the Ontario government could do what New Zealand did over 30 years ago — pull the rug out from the whole centralized system and devolve the task of educating the young to the smallest units — the schools themselves.
See the story here: School Choice, Kiwi-Style http://www.fcpp.org/publication.php/176?print=yes
*** “New Zealand’s government had created a massive, unresponsive educational system where parents had little or no influence. The system was failing to meet acceptable achievement levels. There was outright bureaucratic capture, and little or no performance accountability. The system consumed 70 cents of every education dollar, with only 30 cents spent in the classroom.”
*** “Comprehensive reform in New Zealand reversed the top-down style of governance. All Boards of Education have been eliminated. Boards of Trustees have been established for each school. Parents of the children at that school run for election to boards, which are unpaid positions. The Trustees deliver accountability directly into the hands of the parents. The Board of Trustees makes all spending decisions, and has full responsibility for what happens at their school.”
RESULTS:
– New Zealand scores equally to Canada in international student achievement scores.
– More of the education dollar reaches the classroom, smaller class sizes, less waste.
– On the international Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) — out of 176 countries — New Zealand scores at the top. Canada scores 10. Corruption is defined as “the misuse of public power for private benefit” — using these concepts to identify and track corruption — Bribery, Cronyism , Kleptocracy , Economics of corruption, Electoral fraud, Nepotism, Slush funds, Plutocracy, Political scandal.
http://www.transparency.org/cpi2011/results
I bring up this last point to underline the value to civic society (the public good) that people’s self-management of their institutions brings. It produces a transferable skill and attitude that impacts all of society — which it has after 33 years of practice in school-based management in New Zealand. Of course, factions are even now trying to undermine this model of governance, but hopefully this will be resisted in favor of the greater good.
New Zealand decided to “get tough with teachers” within 2 years they had a serious teacher shortage problem and were begging teachers to come to NZ.
There is this idiotic view on the right that teachers and other workers yearn to be free of unions. It is nonsense. In free secret votes they endorse union positions, strikes etc by massive majorities.
The Canadian middle class was built by unions.
Premier Bill Vander Zalm in BC made membership in BCTF voluntary believing a massive number would want to leave. Within 3 months BCTF had signed up 95% of teachers where it remains today. The 5% tend to be “Dutch Reform” who have this religious view that unions demand loyalty that should go to God.
Having worked in New Zealand and BC
as teacher, researcher, and teacher evaluator, with kids in the latter system, evidence supports Doug on this one.
Among the patters that might be helpful to analyze in Paul’s question include
– the history of ministers of education in many jurisdictions in which the portfolio often does NOT go to strong politicians. John Robarts and Kathleen Wynn in Ontario might be considered exceptions
– the need for teachers to better define- for the public- the demands of being a “profession” organized as an “association / federation / union” and to do a better PR job
– a libertarian philosophy prevalent in 1813 is not appropriate for the complex world of 2013
If – “- a libertarian philosophy prevalent in 1813 is not appropriate for the complex world of 2013.” represents a libertarian philosophy – If true, why then would the education and government authorities enacted compulsory laws, truancy laws, and other legal legislation to control what will be and what will not be considered a common education in a school?
If the education system truly expressed a libertarian philosophy, it would have no need to enact legislation throughout the years to maintain political power, authority over the actions or non-actions of parents, students and the taxpayers. In reality, the very beginnings of the public education system was based on an entirely different set of political philosophy tenets to transformed society into working collectively for the economic goals of the government, and as well to bring social change that reflect the values of the leading political and economic powers of the day.
As the years have rolled by, not much has change within the structure concerning parents, students and the taxpayers. But within the structure, the education stakeholders have consistently erode the individual rights of the students, parents and taxpayers, in favour of the collective rights of the education stakeholders within the K to 12 education system. The collective rights to control all aspects of delivery and content of education services to the students,they serve, enacted by the Education School Acts and other related legislation.
Starting in the 1950s, a small movement of higher social and education status Ontario parents started to become more active in inserting their rights to advocate for their children’s education. Advocating for their children who had obvious learning problems, but at the time, medical science had no names for the growing learning and behaviour problems of their children. By the 1960s, children like myself who had major speech delays, children who had not developed verbal speech, children with attention deficit problems, and other children with various invisible learning problems without names were for the first time being admitted to the regular public education schools. The forefront runners that should have transformed learning, special education services, pedagogy practices, and general education policy, did not transformed education for the best interests of the students and their education.
By the 1970s,and through to the present day of 2013, the education stakeholders have obtained increasing political and social powers over all things in education, by maintaining the status-quo of the education model structure, and more importantly fought any changes of the legislation education acts that would transferred political and authority power to parents and taxpayers. As in the original Ontario education act, legal authority was necessary for the education stakeholders to delivered education services, as it is today in 2013. What has change from the days of the first Ontario education act, is that there is a disconnect between the public and the education stakeholders. A disconnect on values and philosophies of what a public education model should look like. The world has change dramatically from the 1800s, and yet the very foundation of the Ontario public education model reflects the the 19th century values of the education philosophies based on delivery of education services reflecting the core values of the education stakeholders and government. In other words, the public education system has always had the final say in all things in education, by their legal authority and as such, the education stakeholders have over the years maintained and increased their authority at the expense of education quality, the individual rights of parents, and in the end the taxpayers.
To which leads to the present day fight in Ontario – ” We had a choice to make: a pay raise for teachers and continuing with bankable sick days that could be cashed in upon retirement, or focus education funding on the classroom. We can’t do both. So, we chose the classroom.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/dalton-mcguinty-we-are-putting-ontario-students-first/article4513249/
The clash of individual rights versus the collective rights. The clash of who will maintain the final say over all things in education. In another way of putting it, is this quote from SEAC paper – in 1957 – “The next year of her schooling might have shown even more development, but Ruthie got caught in a swirl of events that even her parents didn’t quite follow. S.S.#12 was closed in June, along with all the other one room schools in the township. Students were now to be bused to a brand new central school. Ruthie’s teacher got married that summer and moved to the other end of the province. At ‘Central’, the school inspector told the staff in primary/junior that no one was obligated to take in Ruthie but if anyone volunteered, she would be admitted. There were no takers. Ruthie never went to school again.”
http://www.seac-learning.ca/unit1.htm
That could have been me in 1959 John, but I had the support of the influential and powerful within the public school board and outside of the public education system. In 2013, it is highly unlikely a child such as myself would become proficient in reading, writing and numeracy due to the power and authority tussles of the education stakeholders. A child today would be unlikely to received a Orton-Gillingham method in the inclusive classroom, as it was a strange site to behold in my grade 1 classroom. Quite the controversy erupted, but no one was arguing over the successful outcomes, and the grade 1 teacher became famous in her own right, tutoring children in the 3 Rs, long after she retired. But where was the controversy? At the school board and the Ontario education ministry level because in part, extra funding was provided to cover for the costs of a speech pathologists, and other related training for the classroom teachers. Throughout 17 years, I had to endured the education bureaucrats of the local school board and the Ontario Ministry of Education. Taking all their stupid tests, listened to them pattered on about things that I really had no understanding, because I was just a kid. With the help of my parents, the school and a superintendent provided the best education services within the working knowledge of learning, pedagogy and cost-effective parameters. The outcome, I received a quality education that serve my best interests and prepared me to navigate adulthood. At the very least, I did not need remediation services in the 3 Rs in my adulthood, except for the occasional volunteer or hired person, to edit my work or the professor who could not read my handwriting. I was not assigned to the discard pile, as Ruthie was in 1957, nor was I assigned a label as it is today in 2013, for children who have learning struggles in acquiring an education.
Today, as it was in 2001 when my youngest child entered grade 1 – the public education system model and its structure, coupled with the legal education acts have in fact placed further restrictions on the individual educational rights of students, parents and taxpayers to benefit the collective right of education stakeholders. As for the students who don’t fit the typical learning norm, things have not change much since Ruthie’s times in 1957. Now they have earned the right to have a desk, a set of books in the inclusive classroom, but they have not earned the right to received a quality education that best serves their needs and reaches their full academic potential. How can they, because it would interfered with the collective rights, the authority lines of the education stakeholders and play havoc with the salary structures, and more importantly their authority over what will be and what will not be part of education services within the legal parameters of the ‘unchanging’ education acts.
The Moore ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada, is required reading for one and all. It displays in full black and white, what the education stakeholders agendas are, the underlying education philosophies, and the value systems fighting to maintain the status-quo based on the values of the 19th century legislation Education School Act and the accompanying amendments to 2012, that reflects the collective rights of the education stakeholders over the individual rights of the teachers, the students, the parents and the taxpayers.
John states – ” – the need for teachers to better define- for the public- the demands of being a “profession” organized as an “association / federation / union” and to do a better PR job.”
True, but how does the latest example coming out of BC squared up with the above statement, where the teachers’ unions will used all their political and social capital to fight on behalf of a suspended grade 4 educator, and stood on the sidelines earlier in 2012, remaining silent watching a high school educator get the boot by the school board, for the crime of imposing zeroes on students work.
“A Grade 4 teacher has been suspended for using a YouTube video of cross-dressing bikini models to spark a classroom discussion on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues.
Joe Winkler was suspended with pay this week after six parents at Brentwood elementary school complained about the “sexualized nature of the behaviour of the actors” in the clip, which features men in bikinis and wigs lip-synching Bette Midler’s rendition of the Mele Kalikimaka Christmas song as they frolic on a tropical shoreline.”
http://www.theprovince.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Vancouver+Island+teacher+suspended+showing+Grade+students/7728460/story.html
What is really of importance, and should be highlighted are the justifications that are used by the education stakeholders, to over ride the individual rights of students and parents. The grade 4 teacher’s statement – ” “When I found the video, I thought it would be an excellent way of introducing the children to transgender issues,” Winkler wrote in an email to parents.
Read more: http://bc.ctvnews.ca/teacher-suspended-for-showing-kids-drag-queen-christmas-video-1.1086418#ixzz2GpmFuyMI
Yes the public education world has become a complex knot of completing values and belief systems. But why should a state education come at the expense of the individual rights of the students, the parents and the taxpayers, so the public education stakeholders can play political games, social engineering projects of questionable education value, and rule the roost of what will and will not be taught to public education students?
Doug speaks the truth, but what both Doug and John will not acknowledged the starring roles of the education stakeholders, and how each have contributed to maintain the original authority and power structures of the legal legislation of the education act and the ensuring amendments to serve their best interests over the best interests of the students they served and by extension the public. In the light of 2013, the very same educational stakeholders are reaping what they have sown over 100 years ago, when the education stakeholders crossed the line starting in the 1970s, to fully politicized the education system in shaping the values and belief systems of the education philosophies that works best to serve the interests and agendas of the education stakeholders. To do that, the education stakeholders had to restrict the individual rights inside and outside of the public education system, for common collective goals of vagueness, steeped in legal language that maintains the gatekeepers at the access gates of where the educational services and by extension, the education quality each student will received.
It is where the complexity begins and end, within the public education system, and not as John has suggested, within the political realm of strong leadership. To which strong leadership is another buzz word among the education stakeholders that is used often to described what is needed in a slate of reforms. Strong leadership for what? It certainly has not been to improve education outcomes of students from where I am standing. Just my own experience regarding my child is a testament of the education stakeholders who were quite happy to keep my child at the bottom of the academic standings, and more than happy to contributed to increase the percentage of lost academic potential to be addressed at some point, in the adulthood lives of the students at their own expense, receiving lesser levels of education quality dictated by the political processes and goals of the education stakeholders’ collectives.
Question raised above
“If – “- a libertarian philosophy prevalent in 1813 is not appropriate for the complex world of 2013.” represents a libertarian philosophy – If true, why then would the education and government authorities enacted compulsory laws, truancy laws, and other legal legislation to control what will be and what will not be considered a common education in a school?”
Answer
The events of which you speak happened more than half a century later as a result of the growing pains of public education, not in 1813.
In 1813 there was no public education system, schools for the rich or for the religious.
Any public system- schools, medicine, trade, defence, law enforcement-has tensions.
Broten must make a decision re imposed contracts. Both the Liberals on one hand and OOSTF and ETFO know,the stakes are high. If an OECTA style deal is imposed, there will be further illegal,strikes and extracurriculars are likely toast for 2 years. Why would the teachers rather have an imposed contract than negotiate the catholic deaal?
The answer lies with these facts. An imposed deal means the government must wear the consequences. The teacher leaders did not buckle nor “sell out”. The teachers will continue to hate the Liberals who must face an election in the spring with all teacher effortss behind the NDP.
A negotiated deal sets off internal recriminations. It aslo disipates the hatred towards the Liberals. It kinda says “its over”. It isnt over until the Liberals are defeated.
There is a very high price for treason. A PERMANENT 3rd place fir the Grits is the objective.
A Libertarian Philosophy Helps Stomach The Misery
Imagine that “brinkmanship”, “rattling of sabers”, withdrawing of extra curricular services are such “normal” tactics used by militant teacher unions to advance their economic and political agendas. What is that if not downright bullying?
Subsidiarity is one of the main principles of libertarianism. This has application to both personal philosophy and governance responsibilities.
Here is a definition for both spheres of behavior:
***** subsidiarity
1. (Christianity / Roman Catholic Church) a principle of social doctrine that all social bodies exist for the sake of the individual so that what individuals are able to do, society should not take over, and what small societies can do, larger societies should not take over
2. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy in political systems) the principle of devolving decisions to the lowest practical level
That is why I keep bringing up the model of New Zealand having devolved to school-based management where each individual school is governed by its own board of directors. I was able to present this case reasonably well on a Globe and Mail story and was delighted that so many people agreed — giving my two comments the top scores. Not bragging, just showing there IS an appetite for fresh ideas.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/ontario-teachers-deadline-passes-quietly-as-union-looks-to-brotens-next-move/article6824548/comments/
The present government education system is a painful relic of former days. Modernization is urgently indicated.
Of course, the ultimate libertarian, individually responsible, thing to do in education is to home educate your children.
Today (3 January 2013) Ontario Education Minister Louise Broten imposed the Teacher Contracts and then announced the repeal of Bill 115:
http://www.cbc.ca/hamilton/news/story/2013/01/03/hamilton-broten-announcement.html
Will it work to quell the teacher labour revolt? Highly unlikely, given the initial union response to the turn-of-events.
What a mess!
As I raised above, what does an analysis of the patterns over the past 40 years say about these claims
– the history of ministers of education in many jurisdictions sees that the portfolio often does NOT go to strong politicians. John Robarts and Kathleen Wynn in Ontario might be considered exceptions
– the need for teachers to better define- for the public/perhaps themselves- the demands of being a “profession” organized as an “association / federation / union” and to do a better PR job
– the desire / wish / dream that reporters and pundits, even commentators on blogs, would recognize the complexities of it all?
The history of non democratic societies rests in a fruitless desire for simple solutions to complex problems. Otherwise, they would be rich and stable.
Oil economies are a minor and perhaps temporary exception and even here stability is illusory.
THe OISE Truth Squad did not like Margaret Wente’s latest column on Why Teachers Unions are Obsolete (Focus – Jan. 12, 2013). Indeed, it prompted the OISE truthers to submit this Letter to the Editor (January 14, 2013):
“Union impact
Re Teachers’ Unions Are Obsolete (Focus – Jan. 12): Virtually all of the high performing countries on international assessments (Japan, South Korea, Finland, Canada, Australia, Germany, New Zealand) have strong teacher unions, while others (e.g. Singapore) have very favourable salaries and working conditions for teachers. Countries with weak teacher unions and poor working conditions (e.g. the U.S.) have lower achievement levels. There is no evidence that strong teacher unions are inconsistent with high quality education.
Facts In Education panel: Ruth Baumann, Ron Canuel, Gerry Connelly, Michael Fullan, Kathleen Gallagher, Avis Glaze, Sue Herbert, Bill Hogarth, Ben Levin”
Comment:
Breaking News: The OISE Truth Squad has now expanded to include Ron Canuel, President of the Canadian Education Association.
Dear Paul, I truly wish that we not commit the “genetic fallacy” of accepting or rejecting a claim based on who makes it.
Rather ironic John – The OISE gang responding using the identical teachers’ unions’ talking points. The identical tactics to ignored the valid points of what Wente brought up in her article, and not the first one either and won’t be the last. From Europe to the Commonwealth countries to United States. the public teachers’ unions are fighting tooth and nail to keep the status-quo, that has necessitate dragging the other education stakeholders to defend the teachers’ unions, to protect their livelihood and ultimately to maintain the status-quo of the public education system monopoly across the span of education.
As Wente has pointed out, “The old industrial model of education, which was explicitly designed to produce a steady flow of reliable workers for the industrial age, is completely unsuited to the world we live in now.
Almost every aspect of our lives has been transformed since grandma went to school. Yet the education industry is remarkably impervious to change. Kids still go to school at fixed times and sit through a series of fixed class periods where information is chopped up into “subjects.” As Salman Khan, the brilliant founder of the Khan Academy, observes, instructional practice has barely changed since the late 1800s. There are too many interests invested in the way things are. “Any effort at change is smothered under the vast weight of educational orthodoxy,” he writes in his new book, The One World Schoolhouse. The main aspects of the system are “inertia and resistance to new and threatening ideas.”
Yes the education stakeholders are too invested in keeping the status-quo. Where the education heavyweights earlier in March, 2012 walked in the Supreme Court of Canada, and declared to the court, 50 percent of all students will never reach average reading levels, as one of the reasons why the public schools should never expected to educate dyslexic students at the levels of the average non-dyslexic students. But not to be outdone, the BC teachers’ union came in whipping out the card of small classes and defending the pedagogy rooted in the 19th century knowledge base, based on a mixed bag of Marxist, and other political/social ideologies that essentially expand and maintain the 19th knowledge base to protect the public education stakeholders and their monopoly on all things in education.
The OISE gang, responding to Wente’s article but not a word from this set of esteem members of the education class, on the Moore ruling. Of course, the OISE gang along with the rest of the education gurus in Canada have a lot of explaining to do, concerning their advance pedagogical theories based on 19th century knowledge, and outcomes of students. If the public education system, was the the health system, most of the students would be sick, riddled with disease, and where treatment of learning deficits, all are given an aspirin, and told not to come back because the education gurus, with their small army of education consultants have made it so. Its all the fault of the external SES variables, and one would have a hard time in the papers, books, studies, research and the statements of the OISE gang that its not all about the external SES variables.
So the OISE gang cherry picks the data, that conveniently bolsters the case for strong unions to the one outcome of higher achievement on the macro-scale. After all, at the micro-scale, higher achievement would not be the case, regardless of working conditions. What is not in the minds of the education stakeholders, is education quality. Never has been, because education quality would get in the way of not serving the best interests of the education stakeholders. As Wente concludes, ” Other fields have been revolutionized by new technology and new ideas, which have driven down costs, unleashed creativity, and dramatically improved results. Why can’t education do the same? Why can’t teachers be liberated to be far more effective than they are? The answer is obvious. Public education is a monopoly, which means it doesn’t have to change. The dead weight of bureaucracy and tradition repel innovation. The teachers’ unions aren’t entirely to blame for this, of course – they’re just part of a bigger problem. Their entire reason for being is to preserve the status quo. That’s why you can expect more strife at the schools – and hardly any talk at all about better ways to educate your kids.”
Last time I check John, the OISE gang have done no favours for the public and the tax purse. Nor have the teachers’ unions. Nor have the bureaucratic school boards or even the ministries of education resplendent with education degrees all bowing down to the altar of the 19th century knowledge dressed up in fancy finery of the 21st century, to maintain the status-quo of delivering the minimum basic level of an education, using the dated instruction methods rooted in the 19th century education theories. All in the name of maintaining their political power and health pocketbooks, at the expense of the public they serve.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/teachers-unions-are-obsolete/article7252472/
All of the folks listed in the letter to the editor are not connected to OISE.
If there is an OISER gang, I am not in it.
And Wente offers assertions but not evidence.
The letter was responding to her because, that was the topic.
But then
to the true believer no evidence is needed
and to the cynic
no evidence is ever enough
Connected to the OISE one way or another.
Research Supporting Practice in Education
RSPE
All names and some more are there.
http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/rspe/Facts_in_Education/Facts_in_Education_Panel.html
Note the bios, but three are missing. Took a few minutes to track them down.
“Ruth Baumann
Ruth Baumann has been a teacher, union leader, administrator for more than thirty years. She had an early interest in adolescent literacy, and was a teacher and department head of special education in the Toronto public schools. Following several years as an elected officer with the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, Ms. Baumann joined the professional staff of the Ontario Teachers’ Federation, which represents all of the teachers employed in the publicly funded schools of Ontario.
From 2003-2007, Ruth was the chief administrative officer of the Ontario Teachers’ Federation. While at OTF, Ruth was responsible for policy and government relations and for managing large scale professional development programs for teachers.
Ruth is currently the Chair of the Curriculum Council of the Ontario Ministry of Education, which provides strategic advice to the Minister on issues relating to the K-12 curriculum.
Since 2007, Ruth has combined work in education research with increasing community involvement. Ruth was Field Director for the evaluation of secondary school student success programs conducted by the Canadian Council on Learning for the Ministry of Education. Ruth was responsible for organizing visits to 53 secondary schools across Ontario, where her team conducted over 300 focus groups and interviews with students, teachers, parents and administrators. More recently, she has participated in research on literacy improvement programs and teacher hiring and assignment.
Ruth has a Master of Arts in education with a focus on adolescent literacy and a Bachelor of Arts in sociology.”
Bill Hogarth, Retired Director of Education, Education Consultant – was the tougher one to track down. To which I suspect his education consultant fees are at the high end, which leaves the Toronto School Board, paying out another set of consultant fees that rivals in the expensive agreements concerning the the Toronto Trades Councils, with $3000 for one wall electrical outlet.
“The new year brings a new challenge to former public school board director Bill Hogarth.
Instead of basking in the success of having led a large school board to the top in the province, Mr. Hogarth has been called out of retirement, this time to lend a hand to another, not-so-successful board.
Toronto District School Board needs help with its capital deficit and cost overruns and Mr. Hogarth and another former York Region colleague are the ones to do it, according to Education Minister Laurel Broten”
http://www.yorkregion.com/news/article/1560870–bill-hogarth-called-to-toronto-s-aid
It probably be cheaper to hire him to replace Spence. But I doubt that even him could not set the Toronto School Board on the right track, and not when the OISE rules the roost, and having all others performing trying to turned the OISE education theories into working models, to increase education funding, without ever having the bother to being held accountable to the public tax purse, and their claims by having to take their word.
Gerry Connelly, Co Director Education Sustainability Development Academy, York University
Gerry Connelly
Co-Director, SEdA
Adjunct Professor-Leadership Development
Office of Research nd Field Development
Faculty of Education, York University
“SEdA offers a comprehensive program for leaders in education across Canada. The program aims are to inspire, create and support a culture of sustainable development in all aspects of the education system. SEdA has a national and international group of advisors who are leaders in ESD to provide advice and ideas on current and successful practices around the world.
The Academy’s program was designed by faculty at York University’s Schulich School of Business, the Faculty of Education, the UNESCO Chair on Reorienting Teacher Education to address Sustainability and the NGO, Learning for a Sustainable Future. The development process included ongoing collaboration with education leaders in school systems as well as business leaders who are champions in this area. Grants from Environment Canada and Suncor Energy Foundation funded the development of the program ”
http://www.yorku.ca/seda/whatisseda.html
How that one for apples. A program being funded by federal tax dollars and one of the hated collective group of private companies – the Suncor Energy Foundation. I wonder how the teachers big on the unions and their hatred towards private dollars of big energy companies squares with their desire of climbing the professional ladder, taking courses finance largely by private dollars,and then lecture to other teachers at the school level the evils of private corporations and the threat they represent to the public education system and the status-quo. However, can any one tell me how the Education Sustainability Development Academy, relates to the education quality and deliver of education services. Would not the would be education leaders, be better spent studying and learning the best practices for students’ learning.
I can’t wait for the next set of indoctrination where Canadian students from K to 12 will learn sustainability practices that has everyone protecting the backside of the public education, while the parents are lining up happily paying the costs of the tutoring, and picking up the tab for the teachers and their rising salaries attending all the training sessions and teacher development.
Back in August, and since about 2010 – this OISE team are determined to correct the erroneous facts. The team is called “Facts in Education”
In 2010 – http://factsineducation.blogspot.ca/2010/01/oise-experts-will-test-reporters-on.html
And in August – The Facts in Education panel would like to respond to this article. http://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters/article/1247816–facts-in-hudak-column-wrong
However it be a full time job, so it appears a notice goes out every three to four months keeping within the parameters of protecting the teachers’ unions. After all they have to do their bit….to protect the status-quo…..
hardly an “OISE gang”
reminds me of the conspiracy theories from the European middle ages, not to mention
‘guilt by association”
are they also members of the trilateral commission or
free masons
or
opus Die?
any serious reading of Fullan’s work is not a testament to any “status quo”
just because you assert it to be so does not mean it so so
I know Ruth Bauman, a very real and humane human being
Ben Levin- highest levels in two provinces in education
evidence counts examine the roots of what they say
not
who you purport them to be
sound irrational sad to say
“any serious reading of Fullan’s work is not a testament to any “status quo”
Not when you put it within the above context…..However, Fullan, and the others at RSPE – Research Supporting Practice in Education’ (RSPE) is a program of research and related activities aimed at learning more about building strong linkages between research, policy and practice. We call these efforts Knowledge Mobilization (KM).
RSPE is headquartered at OISE/University of Toronto and supported with core funds from the Canada Research Chairs program. Ben Levin, Canada Research Chair in Education Leadership and Policy, is the principal investigator working with academic colleagues and graduate students (see OISE KM Team).”
http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/rspe/index.html
Is it sheer coincidence that Fullan’s life work, his books have been focused on change theory, adapted to the public education model, without changing the structure based on the 19th century model. A paper, ” Change theory or change knowledge can be very powerful in informing education reform
strategies and, in turn, getting results – but only in the hands (and minds, and hearts) of people who have a deep knowledge of the dynamics of how the factors in question operate to get particular results. Ever since Chris Argyris made the distinction between ‘espoused theories’ and ‘theories in use’, we have been alert to the problem of identifying what strategies are actually in use (see Argyris, 2000, although he made this distinction much earlier).”
Click to access 13396072630.pdf
Is it sheer coincidence that change theories and the subsets of change theories has morphed the global education community into a cohesive group of networks, sharing knowledge, within the networks and sub-networks to facilitate information sharing lateral and vertically. One of the global network system and a Canadian network system that operates at the highest levels at the global and national education system levels – “Lorna Earl, Director, Aporia Consulting Ltd. and President of the International Congress of School Effectiveness and School Improvement” The second one is operating at the global level, and is of great interest. http://www.icsei.net/
Two top Canadian education gurus were keynote speakers at the last conference in January of 2013.
Michael Fullan,Professor Emeritus OISE/UT and internationally know author and consultand on system change. He is invited to speak on the general theme of alternative systems for school effectiveness and improvement.
and – Marlene Scardamalia, Professor OISE/UT, Director of the Institute for Knowledge Innovation and Technology. She will address to 21st Century learning skills pedagogy and assessment.
Of course Lorna Earl is the president of ICSEF, and director of Aporia Consulting. “Aporia Consulting Ltd. is a research and evaluation firm specializing in the education domain. Dr. Steven Katz and associates offer services in the three broad areas of capacity building, program evaluation and applied research, and facilitating organizational change.”
http://www.aporia.ca/index.html
Back to the Facts in Education Panel of Canadian Experts in Education – is part of the sub-networks to filter information vertically down the pipeline of the education system model, that more often then not, are the present views of thinking at the global level. Spent a few hours and could spend days tracing, following the links to the end point on how new pedagogy practices entered the classroom. To even a more surprising revelation, the favourable discussion of the top tier education gurus on vouchers and charter schools. However the Canadian education gurus are focus on curriculum, teacher development, practices and for some reason the rising failing rate of high school students in courses, and the costs. Would like to read that study, but I suspect it will show up sometime in 2013 and if not 2014.
Networks within networks and at the top – the OISE being fully in charge of education direction. Within the top networks in Canada, such as the RSPE the people all have connections to OISE and have worked at OISE in some capacity, and if not is working at the top networks and sub-networks of Fullan’s creation called Knowledge Mobilization. Part of his Change theory adapted for the public education system.
“Research evidence in education has the potential to improve schools and school systems yet studies show that research use by practitioners remains limited. The field of inquiry known as Knowledge Mobilization (KM) examines the ways that connections between research, policy and practice can be strengthened.”
http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/rspe/What_is_KM_/index.html
Under Practical KM Projects – the subset of networks. Rather interesting to find this one – Research for Parents – “The primary goal of this project is to get relevant research into the hands of parents by embedding “Research Findings for Parents” in Elementary School Newsletters. This project arises from a partnership between the Canadian Education Association and OISE’s Research Supporting Practice in Education (RSPE) program at the University of Toronto.”
http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/rspe/Practical_KM_Projects/index.html
The title should be Research for educators, to pacified and pulled the wool over the eyes of parents. Here is the site, and the subsystem networks connected to KM. http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/rspe/researchforparents/
For issue 10 – “Ontario Ministry of Education: This site provides tips on a variety of ways parents may help their struggling children. [website]
Special Needs Opportunity Window: This link provides web based resources and community organizations that support parents whose children may have special needs.[website]
People for Education: This site provides tip sheets to parents on various ways that they can help support their child in school. The tip sheets are offered in 19 different languages. [website]”
On the question of – CAN WE ACCURATELY PREDICT A STUDENT’S FUTURE SUCCESS?
Click to access cea-2011-foe-predict.pdf
It matters a great deal John, on the work, the actions, the voices of educators connecting it to outcomes. In education, bottom line are the outcomes of students. There has been a shift within the global education networks in the direction of increasing close shop mentality, controlling the access gates of education knowledge, through the use of the system networks within the change theory parameters. Outcomes of students are not the focus. The focus is on the teaching practices, curriculum, and all other aspects of education within the hands of the people with the appropriate degrees in education and fields. Outsiders are kept at a distance, being fed information from the networks according to their level of expertise. At the bottom levels of the public education model, the structure based on the 19th century confronts the change theorists of the OISE types. It is where, in the last link on ‘Can we accurately predict a student’s future success’ is a clever example of hiding the realities and pulling the wool over parents’ eyes. “. Canadian data shows that more than 40 percent of students scoring at the bottom reading level at age 15 were in
post- secondary education at age 21. Research also shows that the accuracy of predictions about students declines over time; that is, one year’s achievement predicts the following year’s quite well, but is less
accurate in predicting achievement 3 or 4 years later.”
What they won’t tell parents – two years in college taking grade 10, 11 and 12 courses to obtain a grade 12 diploma that allows the student to enter a post-secondary institute. Feel good hope, with a carrot to entice the parents and accept it is a viable option for their children.
The above is just a small slice of the whole networks within networks of the public education system. On many fronts the OISE gang can maintain the directions and what will and will not be in education by controlling and managing the changes that occurs within any dynamic system. The public education system is no exception, and who better than the Canadian education gurus of the OISE types to manage the changes.
One of the changes was the closure of the Canadian Council of Learning. New network popped up shortly after the closure, under the OISE gang called Directions: Evidence and Policy Research Group. “This decision resulted in the closure of CCL’s Vancouver-based Research & Knowledge Mobilization Directorate. Keen to continue the high quality applied research for which the Directorate was known, the research staff and its Director formed Directions Evidence and Policy Research Group, LLP.”
http://directions-eprg.ca/whoweare/history
The Partners and Associates – http://directions-eprg.ca/whoweare/people
Note Ruth Bauman’s name. Real busy person.
Of course the web site is outdated and not really meant for the public. Their real work is to provide education research and products to their clients.
http://directions-eprg.ca/what-we-do/clients
Systems within systems, networks within networks, to control the agenda and direction in all aspects of the public education model, and in so doing, it prevents changes to the structural model of the 19th century education model, that does not work serve the best interests of the education stakeholders. However within the next 10 years, in Canada the OISE might very well indeed loose control, due to rapid changes outside of the education system, and court rulings that has declared, equality of education outcomes, and if not, it will be declared discrimination. Equality of education opportunities will be in for a drastic remake in the next 10 years, and so will the pedagogy practices, training, social justice policies, equity policies and other general education policies that controls who will or will not access the gates of educational opportunities.
It be a nice change, to see policy where the standard fare that all or most students at the end of grade 3 will be at average or above reading levels. Student outcomes will take a front seat, compared to where it is now, at the back of the bus, being harassed by the education stakeholders to stay in the back.
So John, far from being a conspiracy theory, take the coming months and explore the top echelons of the public education system. And how in the year 2005, the global education conferences were discussing and studying an area that was not the reality, and in 2008 it became the reality for every teacher. Trace what networks and systems were used. Did it go through the Ministry of Education? Or were the subsystems used to go through the school boards? As I mentioned earlier, lots of talk in the last half of 2012 and has continued so far on charter schools, vouchers and alternative education avenues other than the public school. Or you can take the more mundane approach, by following the topics of operations and delivering of education. One can’t help not to think, the troubles of the TDSB, was deliberate with the goal of wholesale change of trustees and their relationships and authoritative lines between the trustees and the school board staff.
“The Toronto District School Board is providing rent-free office space to the skilled trades union recently accused of overbilling the board for maintenance and repairs, the National Post has learned.”
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/01/15/toronto-district-school-board-giving-free-office-space-utilities-to-skilled-trades-union-recently-accused-of-overbilling-the-board/
Meanwhile, the school board are charging an arm and a leg to the Boy Scouts, more for the faith based youth groups and any other community group that wishes to used the school facilities.
“Bill Hogarth, one of two members of the province’s assistance team and the former director of the York Region District School Board, said although the PwC report is “the blueprint,” for the team’s work, he thinks savings can still be found outside union contracts.
“Structurally, they [the board] can’t continue to do things the way they have been doing them,” Mr. Hogarth said.”
Ah – one of the OISE gang firmly cemented in the sub-networks of the OISE network system. Time will tell, but the key word is ‘structurally’. and Hogarth is not talking about the trustees.
But it sure looks like the keeping of the status-quo within the parameters of the directions and agendas of the OISE and its sub-systems and networks.
I plead for proof against the claims of the “gang” who wrote the letter to the editor bout the Wente column. Personal attacks on people are no ore, and no less than that.
Defensiveness Is One Finger Pointing Out & Three Pointing Back
Did the Tower of Babble disintegrate, implode, get bulldozed? I can’t remember.
Hmm, OISE now stands accused of mystification and defensiveness. Does it deserve the charge of being a self-interested gang fiercely defending its turf, hiding behind the cloak of “education”?
Well — just like the Theresa Spence public tantrum now turned 180 degrees around to examine her own accountability — so too will happen with this public defense of teacher unions by those high level gurus who benefit from the system as is.
Let’s just select one “champion” from this “gang” — Michael Fullan — a self-identified “charlatan”.
Let’s look at the many meanings of charlatan — swindler, quack, snake-oil salesman, pretender, imposter, phony . . .
See this 2004 Globe & Mail article praising Fullan but where he himself “makes light of his mystique “People only call me a guru because they can’t spell charlatan” ).
What’s happened to all that “babble” he imposed on England?
Founder of the Society for Quality Education, Malkin Dare, has produced one of her trademark commentaries on the plight of Premier Dalton McGuinty. It’s well worth reading in the Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/malkin-dare/ontario-teachers-unions-mcguinty_b_2472935.html
Alas, poor Dalton. When he ran out of Goodies in that Bag, he found out how deep that teachers’ union loyalty ran. Only as deep as the current contract and its benefits package. Yes, he bungled the policy implementation, but it indicates just how fickle teachers’ unions can be in the current environment. It happens before every “regime change” in Ontario.
This Is Typical “Producer Capture”.
For people in policy positions or in government “producer capture” is a well-known term. It is the general public that doesn’t really appreciate how insidious this is. The public seems to only want “labour peace” and more-or-less reliable services.
It’s really a form of blackmail or a case of inmates running the asylum.
This is how it is described:
** “ . . . the process whereby the goals of an organisation reflect the interests and prejudices of its employees (the producers) rather than those it is supposed to serve (the consumers, customers or citizens).”
** “public services – sheltered from the disciplines of competition or profit – [are] prone to producer capture. This insight contributed to some of New Labour’s most important public service reforms. It also legitimised rhetoric critical of public employees.” http://www.matthewtaylorsblog.com/public-policy/voluntary-sector-immune-to-producer-capture/
How to get this information out beyond our cynical reformers here is the challenge.
Perhaps someone could do an RSA Animate production like Ken Robinson on “Changing Education Paradigms.” Or Salman Kahn can do one like he did on Capitalism/Socialism. Something visual, multisensory.
It’s pathetic that governments — who DO have the power to do something about this — DON’T. It’s really government failure to curb teacher union greed and capture.
Who can describe this in 3-D so more people can see the deceit in all this?