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:
- Providing false
information or documents to the College
or any other person with respect to the
member’s professional
qualifications.
- 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.
- Permitting,
counselling or assisting any person who
is not a member to represent himself or
herself as a member of the College.
- Using a name
other than the member’s name, as set
out in the register, in the course of his
or her professional duties.
- Failing to
maintain the standards of the profession.
- 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.
- Abusing a
student physically, sexually, verbally,
psychologically or emotionally.
- 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.
- Contravening a
term, condition or limitation imposed on
the member’s certificate of
qualification and registration.
- Failing to keep
records as required by his or her
professional duties.
- Failing to
supervise adequately a person who is
under the professional supervision of the
member.
- 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.
- Falsifying a
record relating to the member’s
professional responsibilities.
- Failing to
comply with the Act, the regulations or
the bylaws.
- Failing to
comply with the Education Act or the
regulations made under that Act, if the
member is subject to that Act.
- Contravening a
law if the contravention is relevant to
the member’s suitability to hold a
certificate of qualification and
registration.
- 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.
- An act or
omission that, having regard to all the
circumstances, would reasonably be
regarded by members as disgraceful,
dishonourable or unprofessional.
- Conduct
unbecoming a member.
- 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.
- 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.
- Failing to
co-operate in a College investigation.
- 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.
- 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.
- Failing to
respond adequately or within a reasonable
time to a written inquiry from the
College.
- Practising the
profession while the member is in a
conflict of interest.
- 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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