Member Survey 2008
(Illustration)

2008 Member Survey Results

survey conducted by COMPAS Inc
Illustrations by Huan Tran

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 overall 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.

Wording and order of questions may have been modified for brevity and presentation. For original questions, methodology and full results, please refer to the report available on our web site.


Professional designation

Many professions have designations, like CA for chartered accountant, RN for registered nurse, PEng for professional engineer and very recently ECE for Early Childhood Educator.

1. To what extent would you support a professional designation for teachers if the process were the same as it is to become a member and the cost to the College were minimal?

2. Please score the following reasons to support a professional designation for teachers.

  MEAN a strong reason in favour   NOT a strong reason in favour DNK
signals that the profession has particular knowledge and skills distinct from other occupations 4.2 53 27 9 4 7 1
reinforces that teachers are equal to other professionals 4.1 50 24 14 4 8 1
shows that teachers take pride in being qulaified professionals 4.0 50 22 14 4 9 1
helps improve public recognition of the profession 3.9 41 27 17 7 8 1
helps parents differentiate between teachers and other education providers like early childhood educators and teaching assistants 3.7 38 25 18 8 11 1

3. Are there any other reasons to support a professional designation for teachers?

A
to increase recognition of teachers as professionals
B
to increase recognition of the education and expertise teachers achieve
C
to increase the level of respect and credibility of the profession
D
there are no advantages / do not support
E
to help align or increase salaries
F
other
G
no other reason / don’t know / no response

For details concerning reasons for support or lack of support, read the text of this article and visit us online for explanations offered by members.

4. Please score the following arguments against teachers having a professional designation on a five-point scale where five means this is a strong reason against and one means the opposite.

  MEAN a strong argument against   NOT a strong argument against DNK
would not be a good use of my fees 2.8 19 11 23 15 29 3
would not provide an advantage to me 2.7 17 11 25 15 31 1
would make no difference to the profession or its members 2.7 16 12 24 18 29 2
might not appeal to some College members who are not classroom teachers 2.6 11 12 27 17 28 5
would encourage greater public scrutiny of the profession 2.5 11 12 25 20 31 2
might create friction between teachers and other education workers 2.4 11 13 18 20 37 1

5. Are there any other reasons to oppose a professional designation for teachers?

A
concerns about cost
B
would not increase recognition or respect for teachers
C
could cause resentment or damage public perception of teachers
D
redundancy; teachers are already certified and/or are graduates of teachers’ college
E
no disadvantages / support the designation 
F
other
G
no other reason / don’t know / no response

Professional advisories

Professional advisories provide guidance to members in understanding complex issues that are relevant to the maintenance of their professional status.

6. To what extent was the recent advisory on Additional Qualifications helpful to you?

7. Are there other themes or subjects for a professional advisory that would be useful to you?

  all CLASSROOM TEACHERS NON-CLASSROOM 1–4 YEARS 5+ YEARS
  % % % % %
professional development (including mentorship, career advancement and finding new employment) 37 37 38 60 31
classroom management / health and safety in the classroom / bullying 15 15 15 16 15
curriculum subjects / Special Education 13 14 9 13 14
updated information on government regulations / legal issues pertaining to the profession 8 8 9 4 9
communications with students, parents and co-workers 4 4 9 4 5
retirement planning 2 3 0 2 3
curriculum planning 2 3 3 0 3
other 13 20 18 7 23
DNK / no opinion 51 52 50 55 50

Additional Qualifications

8. Do you plan to take any AQ courses within the next two years?

A
Yes
B
No
DNK
/ no opinion

9.  If yes, which course are you most likely to take?

  %
Special Education 25
reading 12
English 7
mathematics 4
Principal’s/Supervisory Officer’s Qualification Program 4
five subjects at three per cent each* 15
four subjects at two per cent each** 8
13 subjects at one per cent each 13
11 subjects at less than one per cent each 13
other 2
DNK / no opinion 6

*three per cent each: computers, French, guidance, religious education, intermediate education

**two per cent each: co-operative education/specialist, science, primary, physical/health education, childhood education, dramatic arts, visual arts, history, librarianship, individual and society, family studies, music, writing, literacy, Masters/PhD, professional development, orientation.

10. If yes, how do you plan to take the course?

A
as an online course
B
as a traditional in-class course
C
as a blended course with distance education and face-to-face instruction
D
as a correspondence course
E
undecided
DNK
/ no opinion

11. To what extent are each of the following sources of information about AQ courses valuable?

  VERY VALUABLE   NOT VERY VALUABLE DNK
colleagues or friends who have taken a course 52 27 12 4 3 1
the web site for the university offering the course 36 27 22 7 5 3
colleagues or friends who have heard about a course 28 28 26 11 6 2
ads in Professionally Speaking magazine 18 27 28 15 10 2
the College web site 19 23 26 15 13 5

12.  Please score each of these ways that AQ information on the College web site could be made more useful to members.

  definitely more useful   definitely NOT more useful DNK
include information on where courses are offered 58 26 10 1 2 2
include feedback from members who have taken a course 43 30 16 4 5 2
advertise the information so more members know about it 43 29 17 4 4 2
include more information on changes to AQ courses 41 33 16 3 3 3

13.  Please score the importance of these factors, which may affect whether teachers choose to take an AQ course.

  very important   NOT very important DNK
quality of instruction 67 24 6 2 1 1
the assignments and activities reflect my own teaching assignments 61 25 10 2 1 1
quality of materials 55 30 9 3 2 1
the course is offered through online learning 39 30 18 7 6 1
the course is offered in a traditional in-class setting 27 29 25 11 8 1
the course is offered as a correspondence course 23 26 27 11 11 3
affinity for the organization that offers the program 18 29 32 11 9 2

Environmental and facility priorities

The College’s office lease in Toronto is coming to an end and Council is considering the purchase of a College-owned facility in order to stabilize long-term costs to College members.

14. What do you think is the most important factor for the College to consider in looking for a new headquarters?

A
keeping costs down / no increase in member fee
B
location / accessibilty to members
C
moving out of Toronto
D
do not support purchase of building
E
having a satellite office
F
other
DNK
/ no opinion

15. Please rank each of the following criteria to be considered in developing a new office space.

  MEAN very important   NOT very important DNK
energy efficiency 4.5 62 27 8 2 1 #
stabilization of long-term facility costs 4.4 57 30 8 1 2 1
accessibility to members 4.3 62 18 9 5 6 1
environmental sustainability 4.3 54 30 11 2 2 1
accessibility to public transit 4.0 49 22 13 8 7 1
ownership and member equity in a new facility 3.8 29 33 23 5 7 4
proximity to other education partners like unions and Ministry of Education 3.5 24 27 27 10 11 2

# indicates less than one per cent.

16. Thinking specifically of environmental priorities, which of the following opinions is closest to your own?

A
develop the new office space to meet LEED certification, the green-building rating system that requires its buildings to reduce their negative environmental impacts and be sustainable
B
invest in environmentally and energy-conscious materials only to the extent that these materials reduce operating costs over the long term
C
invest in environmentally and energy conscious materials, irrespective of their cost
DNK
/ no opinion

Annual membership renewal

 

17. Which of the following statements most closely describes the purpose of the annual renewal process?

The renewal package contains your:

A
current qualifications and status
B
licence to teach in Ontario
C
membership in the College
D
certification as a teacher
E
registration as a teacher
F
teacher qualifications
DNK
/ no opinion

18. Please indicate how important it is that the information in your renewal package, which includes a statement of your current qualifications and status:

  MEAN very important   NOT very important DNK
is accessible via the College web site and can be printed at home 4.4 70 14 9 3 4 1
is mailed to you annually 3.3 37 12 16 11 24 1

19. To what extent do you use your wallet-size membership card for each of the following purposes?

  MEAN Often   NOT Often DNK
to provide easy access to your membership number 2.6 17 13 16 14 39 1
as proof that you are a member of the teaching profession 2.4 15 11 16 14 44 1
to confirm good standing in the profession 2.0 11 8 12 11 58 1
to confirm payment of the annual fee 2.0 11 7 11 11 59 1
as a discount card 1.9 5 8 13 16 58 1

20. How important is it that the College continue to mail a Certificate of Registration, which is suitable for framing, to new members?

MEAN very important   NOT very important DNK
3.1 29 15 16 10 29 2

 

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