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Big Top Classroom

Teaching on tour with Cirque du Soleil

by Mireille Messier

Full Article

State of the Teaching Profession 2006

College members reflect on teaching and learning today, compared to when they were in school

by Brian Jamieson

Full Article

Survey Results

Full Article

Best Laid Plans

From field trips to extracurricular explorations, preparation counts

by Leanne Miller

Full Article


State of the Teaching Profession Survey Results

Survey conducted by COMPAS Inc.

Question wording presented below has been modified for brevity. For complete questions and results see the full report, available on our web site.

Methodology: Professionally Speaking commissioned COMPAS Inc. – a public opinion and customer research firm – to conduct a representative sample survey via telephone of more than 1,000 teachers during July. The results are deemed accurate to within 3.1 percentage points 19 times out of 20.

Rounding: Due to rounding rules concerning survey results, percentages for some questions may not add up to 100 per cent.


How education has changed

Compared to when you were in the grade or grades you are teaching today, how would you compare:

    Better back then Better today  
  MEAN 5 4 3 2 1 DNK
students' respect for teachers 3.9 35 30 23 8 3 1
parents' respect for teachers 3.8 32 30 24 9 3 2
student behaviour and social skills 3.7 27 32 27 9 4 2
the quality of family life for students 3.7 27 32 26 8 4 3
respect for education in society 3.6 25 26 28 14 5 2
violence among students 3.5 26 26 27 12 7 2
basic spelling skills 3.4 19 25 35 11 6 3
basic writing skills 3.4 13 23 33 19 10 3
basic math skills 3.0 12 18 35 19 11 5
teacher-parent relations 3.0 11 22 35 19 10 3
basic reading skills 3.0 10 19 38 18 12 3
conflict between ethnic or recial groups at school 3.0 10 16 32 16 12 14
teachers' devotion to their craft and profession 2.7 5 10 46 24 11 3
the quality of the facility you work in 2.5 8 13 29 22 26 2
the quality of teaching in your school 2.4 4 11 30 29 22 5
the quality of textbooks and other resources 2.3 7 9 21 26 35 2

What are the most important changes in what teachers do that parents should be aware of but are not?

  1. work outside the classroom
  2. social work/parenting
  3. curriculum
  4. teaching/assessment strategies
  5. dealing with students' individual needs
  6. other

DNK (do not know/no opinion)

(pie chart)

Do you feel parents' understanding of their childs' classroom experience is guided by memories of their own classroom and school experience?

MEAN 3.8

(pie chart)

Should the College do more to imform the public about teachers' work?

MEAN 4.1

(pie chart)

Student success factors

Score each of the following as helpful or harmful to student learning and education:

    Very helpful Very harmful  
  MEAN 5 4 3 2 1 DNK
school sports or clubs 4.3 54 31 11 3 2 *
the Internet 3.1 11 25 39 17 8 1
part-time jobs 2.9 6 16 45 22 8 3
student travel time to and from school 2.8 6 10 49 25 8 2
TV 2.5 2 7 42 34 14 *
computer games 2.4 4 9 30 36 21 *
pressure to have sex 2.0 2 4 24 27 38 5
pressure to take drugs 1.7 2 3 16 23 54 3
family stress or breakdown 1.6 3 4 7 23 63 1

* greater than zero and less than 0.5

Of the students from different ethnic/multicultural backgrounds, which of the following, if any, best describes the relationships among them?

  All Elementary School Students Secondary School Students Other*
a lot of mingling and integration 42 50 27 38
a mixture of mingling and also standing apart 30 28 36 28
a lot of ethnic or cultural separation but no real conflict 12 8 19 13
a lot of ethnic or cultural separation and some suspicion and conflict 5 3 9 6
a lot of suspicion and some hostility 3 2 3 4
a lot of hostility 1 1 1 1
don't know or no opinion 7 8 5 10

* Other includes principal/vice-principal, supervisory officer, directors of education, faculty of education professor, seconded staff and occasional teacher.

Of the students you taught in 2005-06, what percentage:

  %
were below grade level in reading 27
had special needs or required extra accommodation or compensating strategies 26
were identified as Special Education students 20
had limited language proficiency 19
enrolled in your class after the start of the school year 9
were in your class at the start of the school year but were no longer in your class by the end of the year 7

Score the following in terms of helping your students to be successful in school.

    Very helpful Not very helpful  
  MEAN 5 4 3 2 1 DNK
better study habits 4.6 67 26 5 1 * *
better sleeping habits 4.6 66 26 5 1 1 *
better eating habits 4.5 57 32 10 1 * *
more exercise 4.4 56 32 10 2 1 *
more parental involvement with the student's education 4.4 56 30 12 1 1 *
more time with family 4.4 50 36 12 1 * *
more time with teacher 4.1 41 34 20 3 2 *
more parent/teacher communication 4.1 40 34 22 3 1 *
more choice in course selection 3.7 24 32 29 8 3 4

* greater than zero and less than 0.5


Teachers and parents

Rate your school on the following:

    Strongly agree Strongly disagree  
  MEAN 5 4 3 2 1 DNK
Your school does a good job of encouraging parent involvement. 4.1 41 35 15 6 2 2
The physical condition of your school building is welcoming to parents. 3.9 37 31 17 8 6 2
Your school involves parents in decisions at the school that affect their own children. 3.9 32 33 23 7 2 2
Parents feel that the school does a good job of encouraging parent involvement. 3.9 27 39 22 7 2 4
Your school contacts parents only when there is a problem with their child. 2.6 9 17 21 23 28 3

How many parents:

  %
attend parent-teacher conferences 58
collaborate when told their children are struggling in school 54
make sure homework is done 45
involve their children in educational activities like reading with them, taking them to museums, etc. 37
participate in school fundraising projects 35
go on school field trips 22
participate in school councils 14

Overall, teachers give their education training a failing grade when it comes to preparing them for dealing with parents. When requested to give a grade to their faculties of education in preparing them to work with parents, teachers gave an average score of 45.

Score education training for preparing you to work well with parents on a 100-point scale.

  Score
Mean 45
under 35 53
35-49 43
50+ 45

Sex and age of consent

The federal government has introduced legislation that would increase the age of consent from 14 to 16, making it a criminal offence for an adult to engage in sexual activity with a person under 16 years old.

To what extent to do you agree with this legislation?

MEAN 4.5

(pie chart)

Council election

As you may know the Ontario College of Teachers will be holding Council elections this fall.

Will you vote?

  1. definitely will
  2. likely will
  3. likely will not
  4. definitely will not

DNK (do not know/no opinion)

(pie chart)

Career Plans

Considering how your career might develop over the next five years, rate the likelihood of you:

  A B C D * DNK
becoming a department head or divisional leader 12 23 14 42 7 2
becoming a school principal or vice-principal 5 13 17 61 3 2
becoming a board consultant or working for the Ministry of Education 3 23 21 50 2 2
working as a supply teacher 13 12 9 54 12 1
moving to a private school 2 12 13 69 2 1
leaving teching for another occupation 4 11 15 68 1 1
retiring 13 6 5 67 10 0
taking a parental leave, sabbatical or other leave 12 17 11 55 3 2
  1. very
  2. somewhat
  3. not really
  4. not at all

* Respondent already holds this position or higher.


Satisfaction and stress

How much confidence do you have in the following:

    A lot of confidence Very little confidence  
  MEAN 5 4 3 2 1 DNK
the job you are personally doing 4.5 59 32 6 1 * 2
the school you work in 4.3 45 36 12 2 1 4
the teaching profession as a whole 4.1 29 51 17 2 * 1
the quality of Ontario's education system 3.8 16 51 26 5 1 1

* greater than zero and less than 0.5

Thinking about stress in your work, how often do you feel really stressed?

  1. all the time
  2. a few times each week
  3. about once a month
  4. a few times a year
  5. once a year or less often
  6. never
(pie chart)

How much satisfaction do you get from each of the following elements of teaching:

    Very satisfiied Very dissatisfied  
  MEAN 5 4 3 2 1 DNK
seeing your students do well in courses 4.8 80 16 3 * * 1
feeling that your job is meaningful 4.7 74 20 5 1 0 *
helping students prepare for success in adult life 4.7 73 21 5 * * *
imparting knowledge 4.6 68 26 5 1 * *
working collaboratively with colleagues 4.4 58 31 8 2 1 *
adding to your subject-matter knowledge 4.4 56 34 9 1 1 *
adding to your teaching skills 4.4 56 33 9 1 1 0
participating in extracurricular activities at school 4.2 44 34 15 3 2 2
receiving thanks from parents of students 4.0 44 27 18 7 3 1
receiving public recognition 3.3 20 23 32 15 9 1

* greater than zero and less than 0.5

How stressful do you find each of the following aspects of teaching?

    Very stressful Not at all stressful  
  MEAN 5 4 3 2 1 DNK
time constraints 3.8 32 29 23 10 5 1
parents blaming you for their child's underperformance 3.6 34 22 19 13 8 3
school politics 3.3 23 23 26 18 9 2
teacher performance appraisal 3.3 22 23 25 16 13 2
students who come from dysfunctional homes 3.3 16 29 28 18 8 1
getting appropriate resources and materials 3.1 13 24 31 20 11 1
government educational policies 3.1 13 22 34 19 10 2
preparing students for exams / EQAO assessment 3.0 12 19 29 20 12 8
maintaining order and discipline in the school 2.9 10 19 31 26 13 1
teaching students with special needs 2.8 9 20 28 26 16 1
maintaining classroom order and discipline 2.7 5 18 32 28 17 1
parents with concerns about their child's progress 2.7 5 18 32 28 17 1
school board 2.6 8 13 31 23 22 3
parent-teacher interviews 2.6 6 17 26 28 20 2
teaching students new to Canada for whom English or French is a second language 2.6 6 16 24 22 20 12
interaction with other teachers in your school 1.9 3 8 15 27 47 *

* greater than zero and less than 0.5

Would you advise someone about to enter university to consider teaching as a career?

  1. yes
  2. no

DNK (do not know/no opinion)

(pie chart)

How satisfied are you with teaching as a career?

MEAN 4.3

* greater than zero and less than 0.5

(pie chart)