New Education
Minister Visits College
The
new Minister of Education’s tour of the College on August 10 provided Council Chair
Donna Marie Kennedy and Registrar Margaret Wilson with an opportunity to brief Janet Ecker
on a wide range of College issues.
During the session, the minister confirmed that
she would meet with Council during its November meeting and promised to meet twice-yearly
with the College Chair, Vice-Chair and senior administration.
College officials reminded Ms. Ecker that
regulations governing Council elections and the extension of the current Council's
authority were still being considered by the government, and requested a timely response
that would ensure new elections can be held on a reasonable timetable that will ensure
high levels of participation by College members.
The new minister indicated that the government
intended to consult with the College on how to expand the current program of criminal
record screening and would work with the College on this issue.
College officials asked the Minister of
Education to ensure that Cabinet gave timely approval to the regulation requiring
applicants trained in a language other than English or French
to pass a language test. They also reminded her that, although the
government had announced teacher testing a number of times, the College had not yet
received a formal referral from Queen’s Park and that further delays in sending the
issue to the College would make it very difficult for the College to respond to the
timelines in the government’s announcements.
College officials also asked Ms. Ecker to
consider amendments to the Education Act and to the Ontario College of Teachers Act to
transfer authority to the College to grant Letters of Permission. This responsibility
currently rests with the ministry.
"The meeting served as an opportunity to
get to know each other better," said Donna Marie Kennedy. "The minister saw
first hand, and in detail, the work we do and the tough decisions we face. We had a good
exchange of views and I hope that will lead to greater understanding."
Richard Lewko and Sandra Brooks
demonstrate the College’s membership records system for Minister of Education Janet
Ecker.
College officials briefed the new minister on a
wide range of issues. From left to right: College Vice-Chair John Cruickshank, Chair Donna
Marie Kennedy, Registrar Margaret Wilson, Executive Co-ordinator Richard Lewko, Deputy
Registrar Joe Atkinson, Carolann Moisse of the ministry’s policy branch, Minister of
Education Janet Ecker and her Chief of Staff Denise Cole.
Sterling
Campbell Joins Council
|
The College Council has a new member
representing the Northern Ontario secondary school sector. Sterling Campbell, who came
second in the Council elections in 1997, has agreed to fill a vacancy created by the
resignation of Michel Gravelle.
Campbell teaches English and Law at Sudbury Secondary School in Sudbury. He was certified |
to teach
in Ontario in 1973, having earned a BA in political science and film studies from Wayne
State University in 1971. In 1985, Campbell was awarded an MA from Central Michigan
University. He is a former city councillor of Sudbury and was MPP for Sudbury riding from
1987 to 1990.
"We appreciate the support of Sterling Campbell in stepping in to
fill this position," said Council Chair Donna Marie Kennedy. "We are looking
forward to welcoming him to the Council and working with him over the coming months."
During the two years that Michel Gravelle served as Northern Ontario
secondary representative, he was a member of the Executive Committee and the Investigation
Committee and chair of the Registration Appeals Committee.
"Michel will be sincerely missed by his colleagues on the Council and
by the many staff members at the College who were privileged to work with him over the
past couple of years," said Council Chair Donna Marie Kennedy. "We all
appreciate the commitment of time, energy and support he made to the College and his
practical, realistic approach to so many of the challenges that we faced in our first
couple of years. We wish him all the best in his future work in education." |
Well-Known Durham Educator
New Manager for Standards of Practice and Education
|
Doug Wilson has joined the College as
the new manager of the Standards of Practice and Education Unit. Wilson comes to the
College from the Durham District School Board where he was a principal and superintendent
of education.
Wilson will oversee the work of staff, including program officers, whose principal focus
will be the ongoing development of a |
number of
documents central to the teaching profession in Ontario. "The first of those
documents – the Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession – has been
approved, in principle, by the Council," says Wilson.
Wilson will oversee the work of staff, including
program officers, whose principal focus will be the ongoing development of a number of
documents central to the teaching profession in Ontario. "The first of those
documents – the Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession – has been
approved, in principle, by the Council," says Wilson.
"The College has a tremendously
well-developed consultation process that has stood it well with the membership. The
College developed the process with the Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession,
and we are using the same methodology in developing the ethical standards and the
professional learning framework documents."
Doug Wilson replaces Linda Grant, who is now the
co-ordinator of the Professional Affairs Department. |
|
Laura Sheehan Named New Manager
for Accreditation Unit
Laura Sheehan has been appointed manager of the Accreditation
Unit, which supports the work of the Council in reviewing and accrediting providers of
pre-service and in-service teacher education programs. |
Sheehan joined the College in 1997 as a program officer in the Accreditation
Unit. Before that she had worked as a classroom teacher, a curriculum consultant and
executive assistant to the director of education of the Durham Catholic District School
Board. Sheehan has also taught in the pre-service and in-service teacher education
programs at York University.
Sheehan and the six other staff of the Accreditation Unit face two major
tasks – completing the pilot phase of developing an accreditation process for
pre-service teacher education and initiating the development of a similar process for
in-service programs.
"I'm very much looking forward to collaborating with members of the
College, the present providers and the public on developing this process," says
Sheehan. "We'll also be working closely with the Standards of Practice and Education
Unit who will be revising the guidelines for Additional Qualification courses. These
guidelines will become an important component of the accreditation process."
Sheehan has been acting in the position of manager of Accreditation since
January 1999. |
Language
Proficiency Testing Delayed
The College of Teachers has delayed plans to require
applicants educated in languages other than English or French to provide proof that they
are fluent enough in one of Ontario’s official languages of instruction to be
effective teachers.
The decision to postpone was made because the Ontario cabinet had not
given the necessary approval to the regulation required to implement the change. The draft
regulation had been approved by the College Council in May.
The College made the decision to delay implementation in mid-October
– well after the target date for the College to print next year’s registration
guides and begin informing potential applicants of the requirements for certification for
the 2000 membership year.
The College had consulted widely with the teaching profession and groups
representing a broad range of immigrant communities and received strong support for the
initiative to link clear expectations of language competence with a streamlined
application process for teachers trained outside Ontario.
New Design for
College Web Site
More icons and colorful graphics are making the College’s
web site easier to navigate and more attractive.
The refreshed look, launched in October, makes the site even more
user-friendly with added icons and easier links to the hundreds of pages on the site. The
improved graphics are more attractive and colourful but remain easy to load for people
using older browsers.
After visitors to www.oct.ca have chosen the language they prefer
– English or French – they now go directly to the What’s New page where
they can get up-to-date information on current issues for the College. Or they can decide
to visit the College’s departments – Professional Affairs, Investigations and
Hearings, or the College Library for example – by simply clicking on the icon on the
left of every page. As well, visitors can now move between
the English and the French sites simply by clicking on the appropriate icon displayed on
every page.
"The web site has proven to be a valuable communications tool for the
College with close to 200,000 hits since it was launched in 1997," said College
Registrar Margaret Wilson. "We use it to consult members and exchange information
with jurisdictions around the world. And teachers are calling us to use in the classroom
stories that we have published in Professionally Speaking and are posted on our
site."
Discipline Panel
Decisions
A panel of the College Discipline
Committee has ordered summaries of four recent disciplinary cases to be published in Professionally
Speaking.
Member: Name Withheld Pending
Decision
Interim Decision: Certificate of Qualification suspended.
A panel of the College’s Discipline Committee held a public hearing on September 27
into allegations of professional misconduct against a 15-year veteran teacher from Central
Ontario. The teacher did not attend the hearing but was represented by his defence
counsel.
The allegations of professional
misconduct against the teacher included failing to maintain the standards of the
profession, abusing a student physically, sexually, verbally, psychologically or
emotionally, contravening a law which is relevant to his suitability to hold Certificates
of Qualification and Registration, contravening a law that may put at risk a student under
his supervision, failing to comply with the Education Act, performing acts or omissions
that would be regarded by members as disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional and
engaging in conduct unbecoming a member.
The panel heard evidence that the member engaged in an inappropriate
sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student. He also bought gifts for the student and
suggested on one occasion that he would alter the student’s marks.
The teacher is currently serving an eight-month sentence for sexual
exploitation.
The defence counsel representing the teacher agreed that the conduct
constituted professional misconduct but requested that the teacher be allowed to make
representation before a penalty was decided.
The panel found the teacher guilty of professional misconduct and ordered
his Certificate of Qualification suspended. The penalty will be determined in a discipline
hearing to be held at least 30 days after the release of the member from jail or at a date
to be fixed by the College Registrar. The suspension will appear on the College’s
public registry with the mention of the penalty to be decided at a later date.
Member: Martin
Lewis Hungerford
Decision: Certificates
of Registration and Qualification revoked.
A panel of the College’s Discipline Committee held a public hearing September 28 into
allegations of professional misconduct against Martin Lewis Hungerford, 50, of Oshawa.
Hungerford was a teacher for the Durham District School Board, formerly the Durham Board
of Education. He was certified to teach in 1980.
The allegations of professional
misconduct against Hungerford included contravening a law which is relevant to his
suitability to hold Certificates of Qualification and Registration, failing to comply with
the Education Act, performing acts or omissions that would be regarded by members as
disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional and engaging in conduct unbecoming a member.
The panel heard evidence that Hungerford was found guilty on June 9, 1999
of the charge of possession of a controlled substance, crack cocaine, for the purpose of
trafficking under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. The panel heard that a police
expert at the criminal trial testified that the form and quantity of cocaine found
indicated it was intended for trafficking.
Hungerford also had a criminal record that spanned 18 years, from 1980 to
1998, for convictions such as theft, possession of stolen property, possession of
narcotics and breach of recognizance.
In a statement of facts submitted to the panel, Hungerford admitted that
his behaviour constituted professional misconduct. His defence counsel asked the panel to
consider the circumstances of the case and the implications for Hungerford and impose a
maximum suspension of two years with conditions upon re-instatement.
However, the College counsel argued that Hungerford’s recent
conviction and the extensive media coverage it received, as well as his past criminal
record, required the panel to revoke his teaching certificate in the public interest.
The panel found Hungerford guilty of professional misconduct and ordered
his Certificates of Registration and Qualification revoked. The decision of the panel will
appear on the College’s public registry.
The three-member panel that
heard the following cases ordered publication of the findings of the hearing in the public
interest. The panel also ordered that the names of the members not be published.
Member: Name
Withheld
Decision: Acknowledgement and undertaking between the College and the
member.
The College held a public disciplinary hearing on September 27 into allegations of
professional misconduct against a member of the College.
The allegations of professional
misconduct against the teacher included failing to maintain the standards of the
profession, failing to comply with the Education Act, contravening a law which is relevant
to his suitability to hold Certificates of Qualification and Registration, contravening a
law that may put at risk a student under the member’s supervision, performing acts or
omissions that would be regarded by members as disgraceful, dishonourable or
unprofessional and engaging in conduct unbecoming a member.
The panel heard evidence that the teacher resisted arrest by a police
officer and was involved in an altercation with that uniformed officer. The teacher was
charged with and convicted of assaulting a police officer with intent to resist lawful
arrest and sentenced to three months’ imprisonment.
Evidence was presented at the hearing that the behaviour was
uncharacteristic of the teacher and medical experts advised that the member did not
present a risk to re-offend.
The panel accepted an undertaking between the member and the College,
requiring the member to report any criminal charges for two years and the member’s
principal to report any incident to the College. The member also has to inform the College
about where he is working during that period.
The panel withdrew the notice of hearing issued to the member and
indicated that the charges of professional misconduct will be withdrawn if the member
complies with the terms of the agreement.
Member: Name Withheld
Decision: Certificates of Registration and Qualification revoked
A panel of the Discipline Committee held a hearing on September 28 into allegations of
professional misconduct against a member of the College.
The allegations of professional
misconduct against the member included failing to maintain the standards of the
profession, failing to comply with the Education Act, contravening a law which is relevant
to his suitability to hold Certificates of Qualification and Registration, contravening a
law that may put at risk a student under the member’s supervision, performing acts or
omissions that would be regarded by members as disgraceful, dishonourable or
unprofessional and engaging in conduct unbecoming a member.
The panel heard evidence that the 29-year old teacher was using e-mail to
communicate with students in an inappropriate manner. In another instance, the teacher
used an Internet chat line to elicit personal information from a 14-year-old girl using a
false identity and to attempt to seduce the student. The teacher also called the
student’s home to attempt to arrange a meeting and tell her about his sexual desire.
In one instance, he followed the student home.
The panel found the member guilty of professional misconduct and ordered
his Certificates of Registration and Qualification revoked. The decision of the panel will
appear on the College’s public register.
