When she’s not teaching three days a week in the Peel DSB, Betty Knight helps build schools in Sierra Leone.

---

Betty Knight, OCT, is a 2004 graduate from York University’s Faculty of Education and an occasional elementary teacher with the Peel DSB. Although fairly new to the profession, she’s not new to the workforce – for many years she was a law clerk at a downtown Toronto law firm.

After securing two long-term occasional (LTO) positions in 2005, Knight is hooked on teaching. “I should have done it years ago,” she says.

Knight’s mantra is, “You can change the world – not the whole world, but the part you touch.” This mother of three university students wanted to mark her 50th birthday in 2008 by doing something that embraced the United Nations development goal of access to universal primary education for boys and girls alike.

After much discussion with the relief agency CAUSE Canada, she decided to help build a school in Sierra Leone and rehabilitate another that had fallen into disrepair as a result of the 11-year civil war that ended in 2002.

By February 2009 Knight had raised $30,000 to accomplish her building goals and fund a program to provide breakfast and lunch for the 400 students at the two schools.

In February this year Knight returned to Sierra Leone for several weeks, with her husband, to facilitate workshops on teaching mathematics and help with teacher training. Teachers in rural schools tend to be community volunteers rather than university-educated professionals. Her longer-term goal is to help provide teacher support to five schools in this rural region.

In 2010 Knight received a humanitarian award from the ETFO (Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario) for outstanding service to education and the community. When she supply teaches in Mississauga elementary schools she enjoys sharing her experiences with students. When appropriate, she uses PowerPoint to show students the schools she helped build and how education can be different in another part of the world.

Knight is teaching three days a week in the Peel DSB this year, mainly at two elementary schools. She does not want an LTO.

“New teachers and those who have been educated in other countries are finding it difficult to get jobs today,” she says. “I do not feel it’s appropriate for me to take LTOs. New teachers need those to build careers and make a decent living. I am blessed to be able to work part-time.”

As a choice

While for teachers new to the profession, occasional teaching may be a route to a full-time position, for others it’s a choice to work part-time, sometimes after they’ve retired.

Bob McRoberts, OCT, retired from the York Region DSB in June 2009 after teaching for 33 years, the last 22 as head of the math department at Dr. G.W. Williams SS in Aurora.

This year, McRoberts is eligible to supply for 95 days without affecting his pension. In September 2012, when rules change, he will be eligible to teach 50 days in a school year.

McRoberts says, “I enjoy this type of work and being paid for it. I never planned to retire and completely stop working with young people.” In addition to occasional teaching for the York Region DSB he tutors high school math students in the Aurora area and works part-time in York University’s pre-service program.

Other teachers, like Lucie Charbonneau, OCT, begin occasional teaching while in pre-service programs. Charbonneau will finish the alternative bachelor’s program at the University of Ottawa’s Windsor campus in April 2011. She began teaching in March 2010 with a Transitional Certificate of Qualification and Registration and is currently on a full-time contract at école élémentaire catholique Saint-Jean-de-Brébeuf in London, teaching computer studies, social studies, mathematics and kindergarten.

I do not feel it’s appropriate for me to take LTOs. New teachers need those to build careers and make a decent living.

She says, “Since I replace several teachers, I appreciate the fact that I am learning various teaching styles. This helps me forge my own style. For me, supply teaching is important because it opens your mind to what goes on in a school before you find a teaching job.

“The hardest thing,” she says, “is the challenge of establishing a routine. It’s not your own class; you have to follow another person’s routine.”

Teachers choose to work part-time for a variety of reasons. Patricia Van Asten, OCT, is on the daily elementary occasional list with the Upper Grand DSB. “It’s been a fantastic opportunity to be at home with my two young children, yet to keep a foot in the education door,” she says.

Although she is pleased with the amount of work she is getting, Van Asten is concerned that teachers newer to the profession are struggling to find enough work to earn a living.

“There just aren’t enough jobs out there for everyone,” she says, “and it’s very difficult to get onto boards’ occasional-teaching lists.”

As a career beginning

Jeff Sawa, OCT, is one of the teachers Knight and Van Asten are talking about. Today he supplied in a Grade 7 class at Sts. Martha and Mary Catholic School in the Dufferin-Peel Catholic DSB.

“It was a great day,” he says. “I was fortunate to get a class that I was familiar with and enjoy teaching. It is so important to develop and maintain a rapport with students.”

Sawa earned his graduate diploma in education from the University of Queensland Australia in 2007, and has been looking for a full-time position since returning to Canada.

He says he was lucky to hand in his resumé at the right time and land a full-year LTO at De La Salle College, an independent, co-educational Catholic school in Toronto, in 2008–09.

For me, supply teaching is important because it opens your mind to what goes on in a school before you find a teaching job.

Over the last two years Sawa has added senior law and junior qualifications to his intermediate and senior basic qualifications and is getting work at both elementary and secondary schools in the Dufferin-Peel Catholic DSB.

Paul Bastien, OCT, began teaching in 2008 after completing a BEd and hopes to teach math. He has had LTOs and is now working as a daily supply teacher, mostly at école secondaire catholique Béatrice-Desloges in Orléans, near Ottawa.

“You’re always learning,” says Bastien. “You have the opportunity to see how each teacher operates. It’s always new, stimulating and interesting.

“The attitudes and behaviour of the students change drastically when they are with a teacher who is not their regular classroom teacher; that makes the job rather hard. For instance, you can have two or three students in the same class who may have different special needs, and you don’t always have this information. Sometimes it takes a while before you can find the approach that is right for them.

“Sometimes occasional teachers replace teachers who are on sick leave because of burnout and have to take over in the middle of a semester. In these cases, it can be a real challenge to connect with the class.”

Francophone reality

Just like their anglophone counterparts, the French-language school boards make use of a management system for occasional teachers, frequently through a centralized, computerized program at the board level. However, the French-language schools do not experience the same reality as the anglophone schools.

“The pool of occasional teachers varies greatly depending on the region,” explains Colinda Morin-Secord, OCT, President of the Association des directions et directions adjointes des écoles franco-ontariennes. The eastern region, for instance, benefits more from qualified occasional teachers, while in the southern, southwestern and northern regions, the reality is altogether different.”

Principals and vice-principals often face situations necessitating up to 10 or more calls before their schools’ occasional teacher requirements can be fulfilled. “When we’ve exhausted the lists of qualified occasional teachers, we turn to retired teachers and to unqualified individuals,” admits Morin-Secord. “Sometimes we have no occasional teachers at all when teachers are away attending professional development activities,” she adds.

Looking for occasional teachers

Most Ontario DSBs have fewer students and schools than they used to. The York Region DSB is one of the few boards that is expanding.

Pamela Kennedy runs the team that manages the board’s hiring, supply and LTO work. She estimates that the board added 300 elementary and 150 secondary teachers to its supply lists last fall.

“And we still need elementary teachers with French and music qualifications,” she said in early November. “We have way too many P/J-qualified teachers. We are looking for J/I qualifications.”

The York Region DSB has about 1,400 elementary and 500 secondary teachers on its supply list. The time spent waiting depends in large part on the individuals. Kennedy says, “We are looking for teachers with solid classroom-management experience. They are the ones getting the LTOs and the part- and full-time positions. We want new teachers who are experienced at managing groups or classrooms of young people. An eight-week practicum alone is not enough.”

Steve Bewcyk, OCT, is principal at York Region’s Markville SS in Markham, a community high school with about 1,400 students. He appreciates how difficult it is to secure a full-time job these days.

He estimates that the greatest majority of unsolicited resumés he receives every year are from applicants with English, history or social-science qualifications. Far fewer applicants have math, science or communications-technology qualifications.

“I advise people seeking to enter the profession to obtain qualifications in high-needs areas, such as French and technological studies,” Bewcyk says. “That’s one way they can separate themselves from the crowd.”

I know my teachers will look after our occasional teachers.

Bewcyk says he’s inundated with requests to volunteer at his school. He is at times frustrated with individuals who “suddenly realize they need volunteer experience on their CV.”

“I’m looking for individuals who have a lifelong passion for working with children or adolescents,” he says. “People who have volunteered at youth organizations and community centres or who have coached or tutored.”

Bewcyk believes that doing an excellent job in an LTO position is one of the best ways someone can secure a full-time job.

“When I see someone teaching successfully in my school, see that they fit in with my students and my staff and my school’s culture, that’s the person I want to hire. References and teaching reports do not always make a teacher stand apart.”

What does teaching successfully look like to Bewcyk?

“When I walk into a classroom, I get an immediate sense that students are engaged, that learning is taking place and that students are being taught by someone who is personable and current, maybe even tech savvy.”

And the opposite? “Someone who is just putting in the time to get through the day.”

Evelyne Lacelle, administrative assistant at école secondaire catholique Béatrice-Desloges, like Kennedy, looks for “someone who is able to manage a classroom, maintain classroom discipline, take over the work left by the teacher and make sure the students do the work they are asked to do.”

Lacelle’s school, part of the Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est, uses the board’s data bank to create a preferred list. Lacelle says, “Since the occasional teachers we have here are always the same, the students get to know them almost as well as if they were regular teachers. The task becomes easier for the occasional teachers because they are able to forge links, and they have the respect of the students.”

Cindy Horvath, OCT, principal of Glenforest SS in the Peel DSB, has conducted a great many interviews with potential occasional teachers. Besides the appropriate qualifications, Horvath looks for someone who will do a good job. In her opinion that means someone who:

• is accessible and available when needed, ideally the night before, when the vice-principal calls to review the assignment and expectations


• is dressed for the role of a professional teacher


• takes attendance accurately and gets it to the office in a timely manner


• delivers the lesson plan as written by the classroom teacher


• follows the rules and protocols of the school


• lets the main office know if there is an issue


• takes the time to get to know other department members, especially the head.

“I want them to have a good day and I want to know if they have a bad day,” she says.

Part of the team

Horvath and her new vice-principal, Daphne Perugini, OCT, have taken a structured and pedagogical approach to managing occasional teachers. Their school of 1,400 students and 121 staff has three or four occasional teachers every day.

At the start of the school year, Perugini interviewed many teachers on the school’s priority list, as well as a few on the board’s occasional list who had appropriate qualifications. When teachers let her know of their absence in advance, she calls those priority occasional teachers. If they are available, she reviews the assignment and her expectations with them.

“It’s a lot of work up front,” says Perugini, “but it pays huge dividends for our students, teachers and administration.” She rarely lets the automated Peel Absence Management System assign the school’s occasional teachers.

I just have to wait until I am moved to the A list from the board’s B list, and since this is where I want to teach, I’m prepared to wait.

“For the most part, I know who is coming into our school to teach each day, and I am confident they are qualified and capable of doing an excellent job. I treat them as professionals and tell them they have an opportunity to practise the profession they have trained for.”

The benefits of her approach are threefold, Perugini explains. Occasional teachers feel accountable for the time they spend with students, and the classes go smoothly for both the students and the occasional teacher. “Equally important,” she says, “our teachers get peace of mind knowing they have a qualified teacher covering their classes.”

“Our students are doing meaningful, engaging work,” she says, “so there are fewer classroom-management issues. We don’t see occasional teachers sending students down to the office, and I don’t have discipline issues to deal with. That’s definitely worth the up-front work.”

As well, Perugini says of the occasional teachers, “They become part of our community, cultivate relationships with students and department heads and get opportunities to teach.”

Fitting in

Occasional teachers cite some frustrations, including differentiated work, not having enough work, a teacher buddy, seating plans or information about students’ allergies or lockdown and fire-drill procedures.

At Sts. Martha and Mary, a JK to Grade 8 school, principal Keith John Carey, OCT, is proud of the information booklet he has put together for occasional teachers. It includes the school’s procedures and policies about supervision, on-call time and planning time, a school map, and names and phone numbers of key staff in the school, including the head secretary and custodian.

It also provides information on keys, photocopying, seating plans, computer access, emergency and lockdown procedures, EpiPen and other medical procedures, and procedures for students with special physical, medical and learning needs. Allergy lists come with student pictures for easy reference. The booklet also summarizes safe-schools information from Bill 157 about reporting and responding to incidents.

Carey tries to connect personally with occasional teachers at the start and end of their day to ensure they are familiar with the school and its expectations and to find out how their day went.

He expects regular teachers to provide detailed lesson and seating plans as well as student health information, and each must have an emergency lesson plan on file in case of a last-minute absence.

When occasional teachers arrive at Sts. Martha and Mary, the head secretary greets them, shares the booklet and the teaching assignment, lets them know about washroom and staff room locations and answers questions. Although there is no formal buddy system, there is a strong culture of what Carey calls “from-the-heart caring.”

“I know my teachers will look after our occasional teachers,” he says. In return, Carey expects occasional teachers to fulfill the duties of the teachers they are replacing and to use professional judgment to resolve conflicts or issues with students.

When classroom teachers know they are going to be absent the next day, it is their responsibility to register the need for an occasional teacher with the board’s automated system. As with most boards, the Dufferin-Peel Catholic DSB’s system has each teacher’s timetable, so it automatically searches for occasional teachers with appropriate qualifications and experience.

Elementary principals, with the assistance of head secretaries and secondary vice-principals, can review and select occasional teachers if they know teachers are going to be absent for scheduled events, such as in-service training.

“The pre-selection allows a sense of continuity for students and the classroom teacher,” Carey says. “If we can have the same occasional teacher for all six of Miss Smith’s absences during the school year, that supports our goal of ensuring quality teaching and learning opportunities for both teachers and students.”

Living the occasional life

Jeff Sawa, who teaches occasionally at Carey’s school, needs at least three days of work each week to earn a basic living, yet he’s finding it hard to get that many days at the Dufferin-Peel Catholic DSB.

“Some weeks I get three or four days of supply work, and others I only get one teaching day,” comments Sawa. “It seems I just have to wait until I am moved to the A list, from the board’s B list; and since this is where I want to teach, I’m prepared to wait.”

Lucie Baptista, manager of teacher personnel at the board, explains how the two lists work.

All newly hired occasional teachers are on the B supply list. They are switched to the A list when they have a year of teaching experience. The switch date is August 31, so if a teacher’s name is added after September 1, they stay on the B list for two years. The automated system calls the A list first and moves to the B list only when all suitable A-list candidates have turned down a daily supply job.

“That process is part of the collective agreement with our teachers’ unions,” Baptista explains. “Similarly, the agreement caps the number of teachers who can be on the lists, to ensure those on it get some regular teaching work.”

Although enrolment is down in the Dufferin-Peel Catholic DSB, this board remains a popular place to teach, and the board did hire 150 elementary and secondary permanent teachers this year thanks to regular retirements and resignations. Anyone qualified to teach in the province, whether on the two occasional lists or not, is eligible to apply for permanent positions as well as for the estimated 600 to 800 LTO positions that come available over a typical year.

In addition, Baptista says her board received thousands of applications this year to get on its supply list. She estimates that 900 applicants were interviewed and 100 were added to the B list.

“A lot of our former students want to work here,” says Baptista.

So does new teacher Jeff Sawa. In the meantime, he takes every opportunity to practise his profession.

Advice from students at Glenforest SS

• Introduce yourself right away and explain why our teacher is away; put your name on the board.


• Tell us how you are qualified to teach us.


• Ask us to be quiet during announcements.


• Be firm but nice; do not yell at us.


• Interact with us; walk around the classroom – don’t hide at the teacher’s desk.


• Make an effort to get to know us; try to pronounce names correctly; play a game when you take attendance. (For example, as you call out names, have students reveal their favourite food, animal, computer game or band – something age and subject appropriate.)


• Tell us how much time is left to complete work that needs to be handed in.