Across the world education experts are asking: “What do teachers need to keep current in today’s context?” Research also shows that systemic, ongoing teacher professional development is more effective than traditional one-time workshops.
Angie told us on November 22, 2011:
“I think that one of the best ways to support the unique abilities of our students is to support the unique abilities [of] our teachers…allow them to continue to enhance their professional growth and have the respect for their professionalism that they know what their professional growth should look like.”
and
Cori Robertson told us on January 10, 2012:
“I feel the idea behind B.C.’s new Education Plan, student-centred learning, while benefitting students, will need to provide extensive training and resources to practicing teachers.”
How can professional development days be linked to the unique needs of teachers?
Summary to date:
Here’s a summary of what you’ve said so far. Click on the links beside each theme to read supporting examples.
- Greater focus on use of technology (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
- More opportunities to collaborate with colleagues (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
- Better communication with parents/community about Pro-D (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
- Autonomy over Pro-D (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
- Correcting misconception that Pro-D is a paid day (1, 2, 3, 4)
- Concern from some people that Pro-D days aren’t well spent (1, 2, 3, 4)
- Alternatives to Pro-D days (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
Please leave a comment below if you’d like to contribute to this topic.
I’m a professional working in a corporate setting and understand the importance of professional development. However, it needs to be effective and it doesn’t seem to be now.
I would recommend first that PD days be clustered together to allow for greater learning/networking opportunities i.e. 3 day conference for regional PD and another conference a the local level. That would make it easier for parents to manage the non-instructional days and make the PD more effective.
A regional conference that offers presentations by other teachers, specialists, academics etc. Teachers should choose their classes from many options depending on what is relevant to them. A few teachers from each region should get paid trips to attend PD conferences in other regions for better networking and the opportunity to spread improvements.
The second conference at the local or school level can focus on matters important to that school or district.
Course selection for each teacher and attendance should be recorded. This is a normal process for other professionals and professional associations. It allows employers/professional associations to keep track of matters of interest to the profession, and to make sure that professionals are getting training. My profession fines people for failure to attend training and if the failure persists the person is suspended.
I think we need to treat teachers like the professionals they are and give them the opportunity to have meaningful PD, networking and the obligation to take advantage of both.
Hi Angie,
Could you tell me what “professional growth” could mean, in your saying:
“allow them to continue to enhance their professional growth and have the respect for their professionalism that they know what their professional growth should look like”?
I think that what is offered on Pro-D days should be decided between principles and teachers of each school or district. They need to be talking to do that! Things the teachers say they want to get more info on can be worked into the scheduled days. I also think that if a teacher doesn’t show up to the Pro-D day they shouldn’t get paid for that day.
The problem I have with dictated pro-d is that corporate N.America seems to find it’s way in too easily. All it takes is one speaker from Australia, or the head of a major computer company, to suggest a better way (usually a “cheaper” way) that gets the attention of politicians, and then ends up being pushed on educators. If we are to go to dictated pro-d, then it needs to involve many choices and come from the fields of Child Psychology, Educational Psychology, brain research, & sociology….not from corporations or accountants.
A very successful model of professional development is TEACHER TO TEACHER workshops, sessions, sharing, conferences, on going collaboration, presentations, mini sessions etc. Older or more experienced teachers have a lot to offer their younger or less experienced colleagues, and it works the other way too! Younger teachers have fresh ideas and expertise that older teachers need to be inspired by. Either way, it is “teacher to teacher” in a collaborative process that is truly sustainable, truly inspiring, very cost efficient, is on-going in its very nature, and we know it works. Of course this model needs support. Teachers should be released from their work from time to time to be able to prepare presentations or workshops for their colleagues, and should be encouraged to stretch themselves this way. The BCTF has been modeling this method for decades, both in union-themed workshops, and through the many PSAs which offer cutting edge professional development. The thought that teachers need to be lectured to by prominent keynote speakers or inspirational speakers, decided by administrators or ministry officials, is offensive to professional teachers.
If a school is going to be forward thinking and purchase tech devices, then it is only logical to me that the teachers be extensively trained on the device prurchased, ie. SMARTboards, IPADS, laptops, macbooks, walkmen and eight-track players etc.
Entirely agreed. A bit more emphasis on teacher education, together with ongoing support from the employer and the Ministry, would go a long way.
I find that ongoing professional development days are the most useful. For example, workshops that are broken into 5 day small segments that build on a topic. I also enjoy “networking” with other teachers at the same grade level. This way we can share ideas and assess our own teaching. Pro-D days that are used for planning, reporting or time with your own staff are also valuable for team building.
I have no problem with accountability and the “College of Teachers”…oops…”Teacher Council”…(I keep forgetting that teachers are not professionals, so they don’t need a College, they need a “Council” to regulate them) keeping track of the Professional Development that teachers do as part of maintaining their Certification. However, the suggestion that teachers are not capable of deciding their own Pro D is offensive. Teachers got the six “non instructional days” added to the school calendar in 1976 with no increase in pay and no decrease in instructional time, so that they could engage in this Pro D. That is like all the mechanics in a chain of shops going to their employer and asking for 6 Fridays a year off to take courses to remain current in the new automotive technologies (a need the mechanics identified), and agreeing to work 6 Saturdays a year to make up for it. After years of doing this, the employer then tells those mechanics that they must now take courses on how to better up sell additional work to the customer (a need the employer identifies). The mechanic no longer gets the additional training they think they need, but the mechanics must continue work those Saturdays to make up for the days they miss taking those courses the employer wants them to take. That just doesn’t seem right.
Teacher’s Pro D Days: Maybe BC Teachers should have to follow the model the BC Medical Professionals do(Paramedics/Nurses/Doctors/etc).
For example, BC Paramedics need 20 “CME” credits to maintain their yearly license (CME is continuing medical education credits). Many of the courses are paid for by the USER (no tax dollars being wasted) and are required – you don’t obtain your 20 yearly continuing education credits, you don’t have a job.
I see a lot of complaining from ppl about Teacher’s taking Pro D days for ‘leisure’ activities. A model, like the one above, would force accountability, allow Teacher’s to choose what courses interest them and would help ensure Teacher’s are actually learning something to pass on to our kids. It’s a win-win situation for tax payers, teachers & kids.
I’m a teacher in the K-14 system.
Full disclosure:
It’s true teachers sometimes use professional development days to catch up on marking.
On the other hand, we also do a lot of professional development on our own time: planning, professional reading, buying supplies, working out new ideas, attending conferences on weekends or over the summer.
Most professional development time I believe is time and provincial money well spent. Teachers are in general a very creative lot and a little bit of down (non-performance) time with a little bit of information and a little bit of inspiration can really stimulate the ‘right brain’ and lead directly to better teaching and learning.
I don’t oppose a little accountability – such as requiring teachers to draw up an individual plan for the year’s pro-d and presenting it to the school admin.
But I do think that dictating what teachers should do with their pro-d time would be counter-productive. Teachers have a high degree of intrinsic motivation and want to do a good job of educating the youth of BC. They have a pretty good idea of what pro-d they want or need. Treat them like creative professionals. Let them choose. By all means hold them accountable for the time, but let them choose.
If a far greater use of technology is to be achieved, there needs to be a drastic increase in the support of teachers who will be implementing it. I want to learn more about technology and how to effectively use it in my classes, but there needs to be more funding and time dedicated to training teachers how to use technology, and more funds dedicated to the purchasing, implementation, and upkeep of technology.
As someone working in the tech sector, government should not be purchasing any technology without free training allowances. With the scale of technology purchase there should be free initial training and support for all teachers and administrators. If not, then the government is not efficiently purchasing technology.
The following conditions may need to be fulfilled if professional development is to be effective:
1. The teacher selects, engages in and evaluates the outcome of the developmental focus.
2. Performance assessment data inform the selection of the development focus.
3. Performance data is derived from self assessment instruments and peer and student
feedback.
4. Performance data addresses competencies underlying the Professional Standards.
5. Programs and resources required to promote competency development are readily available.
6. Engagement in focused professional development (for active teachers) is a component of
on-going certification.
Pro D Days , I know of teachers that use Pro D Days for ski
trips and trips out of town NOTHING to do with the job.
Waist of time and another day off with pay
We need a revolution in education and our present government if they did it right could be the heroes and save the day – scratch the last 30 miserable years and start with a clean slate – start restructuring down to the school level, have school self government! Alberta is #1 in education in Canada because they have had the voucher system for 10 years – Alta is holding up the standards world wide and only Alta! I am sic of yelling until I am blue in the face when is someone going to listen to the parents, we are not even considered in this mess – insulting to our intelligence – we demand better education!
http://www.facebook.com/groups/334730563235111/
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/BCTF+bold+plan+action+include+full+scale+walkout/6338172/story.html#ixzz1prqTqueq
If there was ever perfect timing to step in and change education once and for all is now!
FCPP – Frontier Centre for Public Policy
http://www.fcpp.org
The Frontier Centre for Public Policy is an independent, western Canada based pu…See more
I just viewed the government advertisement broadcast on CTV which suggests that teachers are not capable of determining the professional development best suited to their practice. As an educator, I feel my professionalism has been disrespected, and as a British Columbian, feel sickened knowing that my tax dollars are being used to further put down and devalue B.C.’s teachers. Like most teachers, I strive daily to provide the best for each my students. I reflect. I study. I consult with other professionals. I spend hours of my “off time” (Summer/Spring breaks, weekends) trying to better my practice. To suggest, like this ad does, that I use my Pro-D inappropriately is offensive, and serves only to promote the impression that teachers do not care about their kids. The money spent on producing this television ad could have been much better spent on ensuring that there are enough textbooks and novels in every school for every student just like there used to be back in the 20th Century.
You might be interested in related comments here(1), here(2), here(3) and here(4).
I agree Leah. I felt the exact same way when I watched the new version of those tv ads. It is insulting and it made me apprehensive to even share my ideas in the presence of such political bias.
I love a lot of the ideas in the BCedplan, but this idea that teachers are currently wasting Pro-d days concerns me.
If you want an education system where students lead their own education, you can’t turn around and take away that ability from the teachers. Allow teachers to choose pro-d experiences that they feel are best, and you will automatically be meeting the needs of each unique teacher.
However, some teachers do feel like one-off seminars or conferences are a waste of their time. Why not give them the option of taking longer more intensive courses in the summer in exchange for Pro-d days off throughout the year?
School belongs to parents and their kids, the ones who are paying for it, the ones it was designed for!
Students will be able to access any course anywhere in the world – ‘make school different’
We want handmade education – NO MORE FACTORY STYLE
Fear is used to ensure that no one stretches too far, questions the status quo or makes a ruckus
< http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/docs/StopStealingDreamsSCREEN.pdf
< http://www.sethgodin.com
Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/life/teachers+consider+illegal+strike+with+next+move+announced+Wednesday/6330896/story.html#ixzz1po3re5tB
I believe that professional development is critical for teachers. Autonomy is also critical. A teacher must have a say in what he/she wishes to pursue. Professional Development topics should not be mandated. Most teachers take their professional development seriously and few limit their pursuit to just 5 days a year. Please stop advertising false messages that professional development is not now used appropriately by teachers. I respectfully suggest that the BC Liberals stop using negative advertising immediately – and get back to negotiating. That would be saving us all a lot of much needed costs.
Some thoughts:
What I don’t want to see if the mandatory 100 hours of Pro-D per year I had to fulfill when I taught at a public school in Singapore. The IT-related courses (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) were mandatory despite the fact that I did not have a working computer in any of my classrooms. I only used a school computer eventually to stay in contact with my family via email and to send marks to the MOE. A course I took at a university Saturday mornings was less helpful than the Education courses I took at SFU and presented nothing new. I could literally snooze my way through it and still be the “star pupil”.
Teachers need to autonomously choose their Pro-D activities. No interest = little or no learning = a waste of time. [see above]
There’s no use in offering IT-related courses without providing (1) easy access to the technological tools (2) ongoing support after the initial sessions (3) maintenance and care of the technological tools.
Teachers need more time to work collaboratively. I have so much to learn from my colleagues, their interests and their experiences, but so little time to get together with them.
More time and attention needs to be given to the learning needs of ELLs (formerly ESL learners) because they are not going to go away. This is particularly true in urban areas. More northerly areas of the province may want to focus more on the needs of ESD (English dialect) learners. No language or dialect is superior; however, proficiency in standard English is needed for schooling and in many workplaces in BC .
BCTF PSA conferences, newsletters and websites are great! The Teaching to Diversity website (created after the major cuts ten years ago) is a great place to start when trying the meet the needs of ELLs, Special Education learners and learners requiring LA.
I was recently taking my son to Tofino to visit his Aunt and who did I see but his teacher. I said “is it not a PD day” she said yes – we are having a meeting on the ferry. I said, “what” she said, “we are meeting on the ferry before we go fishing”?? SERIOUSLY
Well what about when they had a PD DAY at a dude ranch playing games – I read in vcr sun as Mr. Abbot was disappointed ! Well I guess! Sickening!!!
Do you know a perfect system with no bad apples? http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/cheat-lie-break-the-law-chances-are-youre-rich/article2351690/ The question where can you pick the most bad apples?
There are bad apples everywhere. There is a net-zero policy, but this is taking place: http://northerninsights.blogspot.ca/2012/03/adventures-in-not-net-zero-land.html !
AM I the only one who is confused?
Don’t believe everything you read. I’m a student teacher who was assigned to that school after the incident, and I was originally concerned about these accusations. I did some independent research and learned that Vancouver Sun completely misrepresented that Pro-d Day. The focus of the day was team building. There were some “games” played, but it was all done in a pedagogically sound way.
I listened with interest the other day as Mr. Abbot demanded an apology from a Member of the House for seeming to besmirch the competency of his lawyers. Yet his Ministry finds it necessary to air commercials which besmirch teachers and their ability to decide for themselves what professional development should look like. Does the government dictate to lawyers how they should conduct their professional development? The answer to the question “How can professional development days be linked to the unique needs of teachers?” is to leave it in the hands of teachers. ProD committees work hard to provide relevant professional development.
PD days should be going towards trying to figure out how to ensure parents that their childs well being is the most important thing in education!
Parents join a grass routes movement – BOYCOTT PUBLIC 2012 – go to fb page http://www.facebook.com/groups/334730563235111/
I would love to see all our kids pulled from that cess pool called public education – BOYCOTT and sue for the money you have to spend on tutors! Join a class action law suit to pay for childcare and tutors until this mess up gets cleaned up and our kids well being is the first priority – the union/system only cares about their very existence not your child!
If we all stand together in numbers we will win because WE ARE RIGHT!!!
PD days need to be used to learn the warning signs of depression/bullying in students!
Our kids are at risk – another school shooting in France today 4 dead. Every time we drop off our kids in the morning at school we are risking their safety and wellbeing. Your child practically has to be wired tapped so you have proof of any wrongdoing or abuses! How much more are we mothers going to take? It is the women that start revolutions! Lets start by demanding the voucher system so we have choice and where we are assured our kids will be safe!
How about the government restore the counsellors that they took away by stripping the Teacher’s contract in 2002? Back then, schools had ratios of about 1 counsellor to 350 students. That means that a school of 350 kids had 1 full-time counsellor for all 5 days. Now, schools have ratios of 1 counsellor to over 1000 students! That means that a school of 350 kids would only have a counsellor for 2 days per week. The counsellor would have to work in other schools for the other 3 days. Teachers can identify students who have self-esteem/depression/bullying issues, but the counsellors who can help them are so overworked with cases that they cannot see many needy kids in a timely manner (or at all!). And how is a teacher supposed to help the child, who needs time to talk one-on-one, when there are 27 other children in the class? How is one to get any privacy or a decent chunk of one-on-one time on a weekly basis? (which is often what they need…many issues cannot be solved within one 15-minute private conversation!) My heart breaks for these kids that fall through the cracks due to government indifference.
School counsellors used to be able to come into the classroom to hold anti-bullying workshops with kids or assist with self-esteem groups. Now they are run off their feet trying to resolve the latest crisis case. They don’t have time!
Let’s face it. This government is all about saving money. If they really cared about the kids, they would HIRE BACK ALL THE TEACHERS THEY GOT RID OF for the last 10 years! Counsellors, Learning Support Teachers, Librarians….the list goes on. If they really care, they would restore those ratios that they stripped and truly listen to the BC Supreme Court when it said that the BC Government was illegal for stripping those. Instead the government is ignoring the Court order. The court says “Guilty!” and the government says “I’ll just rewrite the law! Too bad!”
Meanwhile, all these kids are falling through the cracks. Teachers have had it with having to do more with less. They do not want to see children lost in this system. They want to see ALL children succeed, to reach their true potential. But they also realize that the emotional needs ARE important, as a child cannot learn if they are emotionally upset/depressed….and so this is why teachers are finally fighting back!
Please listen to us.
Totally agree here! I hear the letter grade “F” in the word efficiency! Efficiency at the expense of whom? If we have a few trains crashing, who cares! As long as MOST of them reach their destination and that OVERALL we get more bang for the buck! IN some ways, I feel for them! They have been squeezed by the Federal governments of the past who downloaded many services to LOOK better and to balance the books, by cooking the books! Everybody got squeezed after the crash of 2008 even more! At the same time, you’ve got a Translink system that is rampant with nepotism (probably prevalent elsewhere) where they cannot even find way to collect fines imposed on fare evaders! Maybe we should pay them a little trip in 3rd World countries to see how they manage THAT! But, I digress! In a totally unrelated story, so it would seem, did you hear about the private hospital cleaning company in Ontario that was diluting cleaning agents to make an extra buck (eventually FOR shareholders)! It will take a few suicides to indicate these pencil pushers that we have hit the bottom of the efficiency curve! In the MEANtime, THEY will die … gress!
Hear, hear!
I cannot believe that the government which has offered me zero opportunities for PD in 10 years now wants to take control of it. The best pro-d I have ever received has happened when I go to the Drama Teacher’s Conference hosted by the DRAMA PSA which is a subgroup of the BCTF. If they want to take over Pro-D then I sure hope I get a say in what I get to do and not just take stuff that the govt thinks I need to know.
I think professional development has many parts. One part is to help teachers continue to be excited about their learning journey as teachers. The only person who can identify what that is, is the teacher him/herself. As a Special Education teacher no one can tell me what I need to learn, better than I can. The biggest challenge is trying keep up with the quantity of information that I need to know. The other part, is mandated, universal changes in the curriculum and/or process and needs to be supported with additional funding, time and facilitated by master teacher leaders.
Copied from another post: Yes, the answer, if education is to happen at all sensibly, is to break the centralizing empires and devolve down to the smallest level, the local school.This was done in 1989 in New Zealand when the government did an audit and found 2/3 of the school dollar never reached the classroom.There are now 2460 school boards, with a majority of parents on the board with the principal and teachers. They hire/fire/budget, etc. They ensure school safety and have fabulous professional development programs for development of trustee competence.AND, New Zealand usually ranks FIRST as the LEAST CORRUPT nation out of 180 countries ranked. I attribute this public perception of accountability to the fact that two to three generations have now gone through self-government of schools!Yes, BC needs a radical change of operating model in education. Full voucher program! Remove the middle-layers which just suck the money!See this research
http://www.fcpp.org/publication.php/176
Spoken like a teacher looking for a 15% pay increase, good luck with that Joyce and you should know that most British Columbian families (2 incomes) make less than presumably (you)!
Just an idea – I think the teachers should take back the power and run the schools themselves, have no interference from the suits ‘up top’ wasting all the money – start a grass roots assoc/ fire your union they are just using you for your money – there are 41,000 of you and you can turn it around to where ‘you see’ education reform – you need to be your own bosses – women can rule the world! Working for the government is never going to work it hasn’t in 30 years – you should all privatize and do the job you were meant to do and what you love and not waste of more nickle that should be in the class – I will join the association and so would alot of other parents! Just an idea!
teachers and teaching assistants need to learn to be nicer to special needs students.
The money needs to go to updating the system in training in technology. Teachers need supported and made to feel important to us and the money should be in the classroom!
I need to clarify my position – I totally think all the money saved by eliminating the school districts and the union should go into the classroom where it belongs – the teachers have nothing to do with this mess – it’s the bureaucracy draining all the money! That is what I am against – teachers are being brainwashed by the union as it is only using them for their own very existence! Just imagine if the teachers had the power of the money that each child in BC is entitled for education. How do we get to in society that it is not celebs that should be worshipped but teachers, doctors, nurses, why can’t we be like Finland where teachers do not feel this way – I don’t think it is going to be safe for the kids to go back to class next week with being in the middle of such bad blood and resentment. The redundant bureaucracy is taking your money teachers nothing else and we can’t just keep adding to this stinking pot until it gets fixed and it is not the teachers that fouled the pot but the dead layers of redundant school districts, that are a waste!
It makes sense if all the teachers use the professional day as a day to learn and advance thier skills for education instead of using the day as just another holiday that asually is connected to a long weekend where they can enjoy extended holidays. A previous gov’t found out that many teachers were on a non working island holiday not connected to education before .Make this absolutley mandatory , if you are allowing profesional days. Today there are too many weeks broken up by so called pro days. THE STUDENTS ARE LOSING OUT TO THIS GAMESMANSHIP of the BCTF. CORRECT THIS
I was a teacher for 36 years and NEVER used a professional day as a holiday. There were many relevant and stimulating topics presented, both locally and at the provincial level, that inspired me to go back to my classroom and try new ideas. Where does the idea come from that these days have not been relevant until now? There was ALWAYS a commitment by all teachers at my school (where I taught for 25 years) to participate in those days to improve their practice.
The great majority of our teachers are capable, dedicated and effective. How can we get beyond the restriction that anyone that identifies a weakness or an opportunity for improvement in our overall system is accused of disrespect for these fine professionals? Example: I wonder why I see many teachers on the local ski hill on pro-D days? I think that is a valid question when my taxpaying dollars are supposed to be getting the best value in education outcomes!
Looking for other comments regarding this question?
Just click the “« Older Comments” link near the top left corner of the first comment on each webpage, or in this case you can simply click here.
Just curious: Has anyone been having trouble finding the old comments?
I did, especially after the page number links on each webpage disappeared and after the search function stopped working properly. So I thought it would be helpful to others to point out the “« Older Comments” link just above the first comment on each page.
I hope it helps
There are related threads here, here and here.
Does anyone else find it interesting that at a time when we are trying to make learning more relevant to students by allowing more choice in what and how they learn we are simultaneously looking at removing that from teachers’ learning? We need to have one philosophy, based on substantial research, about what motivates and facilliates authentic learning and then apply it to all. This seems as ironic as education students being directly instructed in unversity education courses not to directly instruct once in the classroom (though many universites are now looking at this). There is always room for change but choose a philosophy and keep initiatives aligned with it across the board.
The government’s ad insinuating that teachers do not use their professional days for professional development and that we are unable to independently determine our needs is profoundly insulting. Individual teachers are the only ones who know where their skills may need development. Government interference in this area in the past has resulted in a huge waste of time and resources. The wagging finger of elitist ministers should be directed at those who leave the world a poorer place than they found it. Find a mirror.
I believe the teachers need to keep current in technology – they are so behind – the schools need to train all the teachers how to facilitate “Khan Academy” http://www.khanacademy.org/ where all the kids could be getting world class education – the money that is saved by eliminating alot of ‘dead wood’ or redundancy in the bureaucracy could go into the classroom which would look like a computer for every student. Avid is still being taught in the schools (long hand note taking for univer/college)What a waste of time – where in the world is long hand note taking – it is all technology in the classroom so get with the program!
Hi Joyce,
I agree Khan Academy’s videos are a great resource (for Math especially). There are 2 concerns though:
1. It is illegal in BC to put student data (names, ages, etc.) on a server located outside of Canada. This means the assessment tools in Khan academy cannot be used by BC students until privacy laws change. The videos can be used though.
2. The vast majority of the videos for English, Socials and even Science are not relevant as BC’s curriculum is so different from Californa’s (I.e. Canadian confederation, etc.).
Thanks, Devon. Does anyone happen to have more info or links regarding item 1 from Devon’s post (above)? What law(s) make it illegal to put BC student data on a server outside of Canada?
OIPC is where you want to look. Here is a general outline:
http://www.oipc.bc.ca/news/2012Releases/CloudComputing_Announcement.pdf
If you want more information:
http://www.oipc.bc.ca/pdfs/public/CloudComputingGuidelines(February2012).pdf
Research for Post-secondary issues in BC with the privacy law:
http://www.bccampus.ca/assets/Content/Whitepapers/Background-Paper-Privacy-and-Ed-Tech.pdf
Hope this helps!
Awesome! Thanks, Devon
Teachers are behind in technology because the schools are. The computers in the classrooms I’ve worked in take 15 minutes just to boot-up and are basically useless for anything beyond taking attendance and simple word-processing.
Using online videos are great, but only if you have a good computer, reliable internet access, and a projector.
Why should a teacher go to a pro-d day to learn about the latest technology when they don`t even have reliable access to the technology of 10 years ago?
Government you need to finalize the ‘divorce’ once and for all!
Please pass this BC ED Plan to all your friends.
This will be the only opportunity for the government to take back it’s power – it has never been done in 30 years! We the people need to ‘occupy the union’! Parents are fed up with the system and it is not fair to our kids! All the money is being wasted on all the bureaucracy – the School Districts and the union! Just imagine what that amount of money could do in the classroom where it belongs and where it should have been all along for the past 30 years, if these were eliminated? The school districts and union is redundant. The schools should be handed over the keys to the school, to operate and run like independent schools. I suggest the government gives the schools the keys and say ‘hear you go’ do a good job or you will loose customers! Be done with them!!!!
Joyce . . . Your tax dollars do not pay for anything ‘union’. The BCTF is funded by teachers and union fees deducted from their monthly salaries. Teachers, too, are fed up with the bureaucracy and are fighting to get more education dollars into the classroom.
As a professional nurse I must take courses in order to keep my registration in the association current. Many jobs have to keep updated with new changes but this is not done always on work time. Students should have the class time and teachers should have to take the time in the summer in order to keep updated. I know many teachers and the summer is used for vacations mainly.
I would like to see a list of all the PD days so we as parents know what learning is taking place – those PD days should be accountable. What about the PD day spent playing games at the dude ranch! I would like to see how many days were devoted to bullying and their moral obligation to our children being safety and their wellbeing! Bullying needs to be illegal!
Eden Wormer: Last words of tragic schoolgirl, 14, who hanged herself after ‘relentless bullying’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2112933/Eden-Wormer-Last-words-tragic-schoolgirl-14-hanged-relentless-bullying.html
Schoolgirl Eden Wormer, 14, pictured, hanged herself after enduring two years of relentless bullying by her female classmates, according to her family and friends.
Please speak up ‘What does Ed Reform’ look like to you?
There needs to be PD days where they learn “When are our children going to be safe”?
Eden Wormer: Last words of tragic schoolgirl, 14, who hanged herself after ‘relentless bullying’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2112933/Eden-Wormer-Last-words-tragic-schoolgirl-14-hanged-relentless-bullying.html
Schoolgirl Eden Wormer, 14, pictured, hanged herself after enduring two years of relentless bullying by her female classmates, according to her family and friends in Vancouver Washington!
Bullying needs to become illegal in our school system and 75% BC School Districts do not have up to date bullying policies! There is a ‘duty of care’ to keep our children safe!
There needs to be accountability – the school districts not having proper policies and the culture being so negative – there needs to be a total reformation – after 30 years it is not going to happen – let the schools run themselves – it is about time give it up to them – go to a voucher system where taxpayers/parents have a choice and satisfaction. Nobody in 30 years has been able to do this – I am counting on Mr. Abbott to be the one that has the chutzpah to get back the taxpayers/parents power from a union! Just think of the money that could be going into the classrooms if the union and school districts were eliminated – where it belongs with the best interests of the children – they are all that matter!!!
Like you, we believe every child in B.C. deserves to feel respected and accepted, regardless of their gender, race, culture, religion or sexual orientation. Bullying in our schools, on our playgrounds, online or anywhere else for that matter is just not acceptable.
Our strategy is about providing a safe school environment for our students, and ensuring school districts in B.C. have consistent approaches to addressing bullying.
This is about prevention and intervention – we must support a bully free British Columbia, and ensure the proper resources and policies are in place to do this. Part of this strategy includes a training program for school-based teams on positive safe schools culture (anti-bullying) and threat risk assessment that are scheduled to begin in the fall.
Moderator Mike – 75% of the school district do not have up to date policies on school bullying – in 2007 the ministry ordered a ministrial order by law for school district to upgrade policies. My SD’s policy is still dated 2001. They didn’t even bother to change the date let alone the policy – there is not one mention of the word bullying in our sd’s policy and this is the norm across the province! Who is going to change this?
Your ideas are not connected. No school district, teacher, or parent wants to increase bullying or stand in the way of eliminating bullying. How will reforming the system / voucher schools address the issues you have brought up in any way? How would destroying the union (a perfect example of the bullying you want to eliminate) do anything to eliminate the problems you have brought up?
Let the schools run themselves? What does that even mean? How would that improve anything?
Choice and satisfaction don’t always go together. Choice is also sometimes not what’s best. Sometimes, it’s better when people have their choices made for them.
Thanks for your rant. It was a perfect example of what happens when too many voices are at the table.
Hi Loren,
I agee that this is an urgent matter and schools have a role to play. However, a huge issue is the cyber bullying that occurs when students are out of school. Do you have any suggestions on how to monitor student online activity outside of school time? Should schools be responsible for this? If so, are we willing to allot funds to schools for the staff, training and time to police and follow up on cyber bullying (which does bleed into the school and vice versa)? Or do we hold more parents accountable for their children’s behavior? What would this look like? Thank you for starting the dialogue on such an important issue.
We need to hire TA/CT to facilitate KHAN ACADEMY in every school in the province – supply every student with a computer and sit back and enjoy world class education – think of the money we could save if the SD’s were eliminated – all that money to go into the classroom!! not into the unions and SD’s dead woods pockets – We need to have the voucher system and become #1 in education – http://www.khanacademy.org/
If you are interested in checking out where Canada ranks internationally in education right now, please check out these two sites. The first is a video that introduces the agency that ranks countries’ education systems and the second is their website with country rankings.
What is PISA?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1I9tuScLUA&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Country Rankings:
http://www.pisa.oecd.org/pages/0,2987,en_32252351_32235731_1_1_1_1_1,00.html
Just think what teachers, parents and students would be able to accomplish without a dysfunctional relationship between the BCTF, BSPSEA, and Ministry of Education! I hold all 3 of these organizations responsible for this mess we’re in.