December 1997

College Bulletins
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New appointments to Council
Council Approves Bylaw Change
Council Approves Two Key Regulatory Changes
New Professional Misconduct Regulation Sets Clear Rules
1998 Membership Fees
Membership and Service Fees
Highlights of the Ontario College of Teachers Brief on Bill 160
Information Sessions Link College to Providers

Sudbury Principal-Teacher Joins Council

A new member is on board representing the northern Ontario elementary school system on the College’s Council. The latest recruit to Council is Jean Hanson, school principal and teacher at Sudbury’s Lansdowne Public School.

Runner-up to Nancy Hutcheson in the first Council election, Hanson was automatically appointed to the position after Hutcheson moved away from the area she represented last summer.

"I am delighted to join the Council," says Hanson. "I hope that I can help my fellow teachers, particularly in the north, feel that the College is their organization, and I hope that I can help the College find the shared interest between the public and teachers. You really don’t have to dig down to realize that we all want an education for Ontario children that is second to none."

Hanson learned she would sit on Council two weeks before the September meeting. She was astounded by the "wagonload" of material to sift through and the complexity of the issues to consider.

"These are important times for the profession in Ontario and there are numerous critical issues to deal with," says Hanson. "It is also overwhelming to see the quantity of tasks that arise from building a professional organization like the College from the ground up."

Jean Hanson will replace Nancy Hutcheson on the College’s Discipline Committee.

Jean Hanson

Jean Hanson is the principal of Lansdowne Public School in Sudbury. She has been a classroom teacher, a special education consultant and an instructor for Nipissing University.

She holds a Supervisory Officer certificate as well as an MEd and several additional qualifications.

During her sabbatical year in 1993, she examined the restructuring of education in Great Britain and published Learning Together: Building Collaborative Cultures in Our Schools. She also co-authored Working Together: School Councils.

Hanson has served as chair of the provincial PAR committee of the Federation of Women Teachers’ Associations of Ontario and was part of her federation’s leadership cadre for the Common Curriculum: Making It Yours.

New Public Appointee to Council Is Well-Known Educator

Stan Shapson, dean of education and professor at York University, joins the College’s Council as public appointee. Before joining York University in 1990, Shapson was associate dean at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.

Shapson brings in-depth experience of the teaching profession and particular interests in ethnocultural issues to Council. He is the current president of the Canadian Association of Deans of Education.

"The College of Teachers tackles education issues of great importance for the future of public education in Ontario," says Shapson. "Lending my voice to representing the public on Council is a privilege, and a responsibility I am eager to take on."

Shapson replaces Pierre Calvé, Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa, who stepped down for family reasons.

Calvé reiterated his support however for his colleagues on Council and his commitment to education. "It was a great honour to have been selected and to serve, even if briefly, on the Governing Council and I do intend, as soon as I return to my academic duties, to continue serving Ontario education to the very best of my abilities," he said.

Stan M. Shapson

Stan M. Shapson is a professor and dean of the faculty of education at York University. He was formerly associate dean and director of professional and undergraduate programs and professor at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.

Shapson’s main academic interests include teacher education, program development and evaluation. He has been actively involved in collaborative programs with school boards, field-based programs for teachers and the development of teacher education programs addressing linguistic and ethnocultural diversity.

He has also published in a variety of publications and directed large-scale studies funded by the federal and provincial governments. His research and publications have also received awards from organizations such as the American Educational Research Association and the Canadian Journal of Education.

Shapson received a PhD in Developmental Psychology from York University in 1973.

Council Approves Bylaw Change

In the future, the College’s Executive Committee will have the authority to appoint one or more elected members to replace an elected committee member who has been suspended. The appointment will last as long as the suspension is in effect.

Council adopted the change to bylaw 2, the College’s general bylaw, at the September 11-12 meeting at the request of Discipline Committee chair George Merrett and Harry Mulvale, chair of the the Investigation Committee.

Previously, section 7.03 of bylaw 2 prevented committee members under suspension from participating in the work of the committees but had no provision to replace them.

College bylaws set out the administrative procedures that govern the day-to-day activities of the College.

Council Approves Two Key Regulatory Changes

The College would be required to hold by-elections to fill Council vacancies under amendments to regulations approved at the September 11-12 Council meeting.

Council members George Merrett and Harry Mulvale proposed the changes to sections of Regulation 72/97 under the Ontario College of Teachers Act dealing with filling vacancies for elected teachers on Council and the College’s authority to request information from teachers’ organizations.

The changes to Regulation 72/97 must be approved by the Ontario cabinet before they take effect.

Currently, if an elected member vacates his or her seat six months before the expiry of the member’s term of office, the runner-up in the election is offered the seat. The process trickles down the list until a candidate accepts the seat. If no candidate from the election lists accepts, an alternate eligible candidate can be appointed.

Council members agreed that going down the list of election candidates to fill a vacancy may not be the right scenario to ensure that teachers are well-represented. Discussion focused on the amount of time left on Council’s term of office, the cost of by-elections and ensuring that the new members truly represent their constituents and are knowledgeable about the issues of the College.

After a wide-ranging debate, Council approved changes to the regulation, which would now read, "If the seat of an elected member of Council becomes vacant more than six months before the expiry of the member’s term of office, Council shall fill the vacated position through a by-election."

Council also approved changes to section 26 of Regulation 72/97, which deals with the College’s authority under the Ontario College of Teachers Act to request information from various teachers’ organizations.

Members of the Council argued – sometimes vigorously —that the College’s authority under the Act may jeopardize the confidentiality of members’ records. Council decided the issue with a recorded 18-10 vote to limit College’s authority to request information from:

  • the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board
  • the Ontario Teachers’ Federation
  • l’Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens
  • the Federation of Women Teachers’ Associations of Ontario
  • the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association
  • the Ontario Public School Teachers’ Federation
  • the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation.

New Professional Misconduct Regulation Sets Clear Rules

The teaching profession made a major commitment to self-regulation with the approval of the College’s new misconduct regulation.

The regulation is designed to ensure clarity and protection for teachers and the public in decisions on professional misconduct issues. It details a range of infractions that can be considered as professional misconduct – from providing false information on professional qualifications and failing to maintain the standards of the profession to abusing a student physically, sexually, verbally, psychologically or emotionally.

In proven cases of professional misconduct, a College member could face discipline ranging from a reprimand to the revocation of his or her certificate in extreme cases.

College Chair Donna Marie Kennedy points out that the vast majority of teachers already meet or surpass the requirements of the regulation. "The regulation actually reflects what teachers hold as their day-to-day standards of conduct," says Kennedy.

Registrar Margaret Wilson said the profession’s willingness to hold its members to a high standard of conduct was an important argument during the debate on Bill 160. "The public and the government clearly agreed that the profession’s commitment to high standards should not be undermined by replacing certified teachers with non-certified instructors.

"The College is a professional body that ensures accountability to students, parents and the public."

The College’s Discipline Committee and Investigation Committee, which are made up of elected teachers and public appointees, prepared the misconduct regulation that was approved by Council at the September 11-12 meeting. The regulation is made under the Ontario College of Teachers Act.

The Ontario College of Teachers Act gives Council and the provincial cabinet authority to make regulations. This regulation, approved by Council at its September 11-12 meeting, defines professional misconduct for College members.

The Ontario College of Teachers and its committees will rely on these definitions during investigations and hearings into complaints about misconduct of members.

Regulation Made Under
The
Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996

Section 1

The following acts are defined as professional misconduct for the purpose of subsection 30 (2) of the Act:

  1. Providing false information or documents to the College or any other person with respect to the member’s professional qualifications.
  2. Inappropriately using a term, title or designation indicating a specialization in the profession which is not specified on the member’s certificate of qualification and registration.
  3. Permitting, counselling or assisting any person who is not a member to represent himself or herself as a member of the College.
  4. Using a name other than the member’s name, as set out in the register, in the course of his or her professional duties.
  5. Failing to maintain the standards of the profession.
  6. Releasing or disclosing information about a student to a person other than the student or, if the student is a minor, the student’s parent or guardian. The release or disclosure of information is not an act of professional misconduct if,
    i. the student (or if the student is a minor, the student’s parent or guardian) consents to the release or disclosure, or
    ii. if the release or disclosure is required or allowed by law.
  7. Abusing a student physically, sexually, verbally, psychologically or emotionally.
  8. Practising or purporting to practise the profession while under the influence of any substance or while adversely affected by any dysfunction,
    i. which the member knows or ought to know impairs the member’s ability to practise, and
    ii. in respect of which treatment has previously been recommended, ordered or prescribed but the member has failed to follow the treatment.
  9. Contravening a term, condition or limitation imposed on the member’s certificate of qualification and registration.
  10. Failing to keep records as required by his or her professional duties.
  11. Failing to supervise adequately a person who is under the professional supervision of the member.
  12. Signing or issuing, in the member’s professional capacity, a document that the member knows or ought to know contains a false, improper or misleading statement.
  13. Falsifying a record relating to the member’s professional responsibilities.
  14. Failing to comply with the Act, the regulations or the bylaws.
  15. Failing to comply with the Education Act or the regulations made under that Act, if the member is subject to that Act.
  16. Contravening a law if the contravention is relevant to the member’s suitability to hold a certificate of qualification and registration.
  17. Contravening a law if the contravention has caused or may cause a student who is under the member’s professional supervision to be put at or to remain at risk.
  18. An act or omission that, having regard to all the circumstances, would reasonably be regarded by members as disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional.
  19. Conduct unbecoming a member.
  20. Failing to appear before a panel of the Investigation Committee to be cautioned or admonished, if the Investigation Committee has required the member to appear under clause 26(5)(c) of the Act.
  21. Failing to comply with an order of a panel of the Discipline Committee or an order of a panel of the Fitness to Practise Committee.
  22. Failing to co-operate in a College investigation.
  23. Failing to take reasonable steps to ensure that requested information is provided in a complete and accurate manner if the member is required to provide information to the College under the Act and the regulations.
  24. Failing to abide by a written undertaking given by the member to the College or an agreement entered into by the member with the College.
  25. Failing to respond adequately or within a reasonable time to a written inquiry from the College.
  26. Practising the profession while the member is in a conflict of interest.
  27. Failing to comply with the member’s duty under the Child and Family Services Act.

Section 2

A finding of incompetence, professional misconduct or a similar finding against a member by a governing authority of the teaching profession in a jurisdiction other than Ontario that is based on facts that would, in the opinion of the Discipline Committee, constitute professional misconduct as defined in section 1, is defined as professional misconduct for the purposes of subsection 30 (2) of the Act.

 

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