<i>Professionally Speaking</i>The Magazine of the Ontario College of Teachers
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Upfront

From the Chair

Registrar's Report

Changing Times

Nominations

Candidates

Council Members

eVote 2006

Changing Times: What's changed in the last month? | Election Calendar | Election Call | Call for Nominations | Changes to College Governance | Why the Council election matters to you

election matters

Why the Council election matters to you

Nominations are now open for you and your colleagues to put forward candidates for the election of 23 new Council members.

Think about who to nominate. Think about running yourself.

The College of Teachers is your College. Its members are people like you – working hard in classrooms, schools and school boards around the province to encourage and stimulate students to learn.

As directors of the board of the profession’s governing body, Council members regulate the profession in the public interest. You can bring classroom and school-based experience to the Council table where policies and priorities are set and decisions are made to continuously improve the teaching profession.

During the term of the next Council, members of the Accreditation Committee will influence the classroom readiness of new teachers who will work alongside you in your school for years to come through decisions that affect the preparation they receive in pre-service programs.

Council members are key figures in how the College responds to complaints about individuals.

College members like you who are elected to Council serve on the Investigation Committee to determine if a complaint is dismissed or referred to a hearing.

Others serve on the Discipline or Fitness to Practise committees to determine whether or not a member is guilty of professional misconduct, is incompetent or incapacitated and whether the member will be allowed to continue in the profession.

The first Standards of Practice and Education Committee developed practice and ethical standards that are now widely used in Ontario’s education system. The current committee conducted a review and revision of the standards during the past year, and the next committee will ensure that our revised standards continue to enhance the quality of teaching in Ontario.

When the provincial government announced a New Teacher Induction Program for beginning teachers, it laid out a plan that owed a lot to recommendations that the College Council made to the Minister of Education.

When Professionally Speaking drops into your mailbox, you receive a magazine whose overall editorial policy and content has been reviewed and approved by the Editorial Board, a committee of Council.

Decisions you may be asked to make as a member of the next Council will range from whether the College should purchase its own building to what qualifications teachers of the future will need in order be certified in Ontario and whether the College will accredit newly established teacher education programs.

You will take part in discussions on what role the College should play in advancing teacher professionalism and what it should be doing to build respect for educators. And each year you will – either as a member of the Finance Committee or as a member of Council – decide on the annual budget and the membership fee that supports the College’s work.

These are all important topics for every member of the College. Many of these issues you debate with your colleagues on a regular basis. We hope at least one of them will move you to take part in this election.

It’s your College. The election gives you a number of ways to participate – run, nominate or vote. You owe it to yourself, your colleagues and the teaching profession to play your part.