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From the Chair

Collaboration, Consolidation and Co-operation The new Council Chair sets some targets for the second College Council.

 

By Larry M. Capstick

I hope you will take a few minutes to read the short biographies of the newly-elected members of the College Council, which you can find starting on page 36 in the Blue Pages. On behalf of all the members of the College's second Council who have been newly elected, re-elected or acclaimed by teachers across the province, I want to thank College members for your support and the confidence you have placed in us.

It's a great honour to be chosen as the second Chair of the College Council. Our first Council consisted of 31 individuals who each brought a unique perspective and commitment to our discussions. Over time we grew together, both with one another and with the staff of the College. We were led by two very dynamic individuals — Donna Marie Kennedy and Margaret Wilson — who between them managed to get us off on the right foot. Establishing Canada's largest self-regulating professional body from scratch was a daunting undertaking and no one could have anticipated how far we have come.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Where do we go from here?

We must continue to work collaboratively in the best interests of public education in Ontario. We must continue to be inclusive in our consultation and work with everyone who is interested in education in this province — classroom teachers, parents, the ministry, the federations, the faculties of education, students and a wide range of other individuals and organizations.

The College must continue to define itself and its role. As an organization, we are not yet four years old and it's clear to me from my discussions with teachers that we must continue to clarify what the difference is between a professional organization and a self-regulating organization.

TIME TO CONSOLIDATE

From a practical point of view, I believe the College has reached a point where we must consolidate some of the work we have accomplished.

As well, we have to deal with the very practical issue of finances. The first major challenge for the second College Council will be to deal with the suggestions from the last Council's Finance Committee about the financial operations of the College and membership fees.

These debates will require co-operation and not confrontation if we are to move forward. The College has an important role to play in the future of education in this province and in the future of Ontario's educators. We are the body through which teachers govern ourselves in the public interest. My opinion has been and will continue to be that the public interest and that of the profession ought to be one and the same. It's clearly in the public interest to have the best and brightest graduates of our education system see teaching as a noble profession and one they want to pursue.

NAME AND SHAME

I spent two weeks in late August visiting family and friends in England. While I was there, I unfortunately witnessed the release of the results of the A-level examinations — nation-wide testing in individual subject areas. It was unfortunate because the media in Britain use the results in a "name and shame" exposŽ of results by school and grade without regard to any external factors or variables. I found one newspaper's approach particularly significant. The paper did a survey of these graduates and analyzed their probable destinations.

Understandably, students with the highest number of A-level results were preparing for professional careers dentistry, medicine and law. Technological graduates with A and B-level results were gravitating toward computer studies programs. Most revealing was the fact that the majority of students enrolling in education programs had scored C-level grades or less.

NOT HERE

That doesn't happen in Ontario, and we don't want it to. Britain's education system has undergone significant change in the past decade. When I read those results, I decided to dedicate myself to ensuring that education and educational studies remain a first class for our graduates. This will be a challenge for each and every person interested in public education in Ontario.

 

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