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Jetgirly
Joined: 17 Jul 2004
Posts: 741
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 Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 1:41 am Post subject: |
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| I was not, by any means, treated like a professional by my employer (the school) or our clients (the companies that hired us) when I taught Business English for a chain school in Italy. However, we were definitely "pimped out" by our school (as I mentioned in my original post), in that we were strongly encouraged to go out with students because then they would recommend the school to their friends and other companies, we were advised against declining dates with students because it would be bad for business and we were chastised if we didn't get enough gifts from our students (also if the students didn't bring the secretaries Christmas gifts that were "sufficiently expensive"). It was fun (most of the time) when I was twenty-one and fresh out of university, but after a while I wanted to work in a more professional environment. I came back to Canada, got a second degree, moved into the public school system and now have to abide by literally HUNDREDS of laws, codes of conduct and administrative regulations. In fact, a lovely new law was just passed this morning! |
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jdl
Joined: 06 Apr 2005
Posts: 632
Location: cyberspace
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| Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 2:10 am Post subject: |
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Ah yes, the HRCs. Macleans just had a 'go round' with them. As a friend of mine use to say, "Sometimes we become so open minded that our brains fall out".
Reading Ezra Levant on this issue is entertaining. |
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Chancellor
Joined: 31 Oct 2005
Posts: 1337
Location: Ji'an, China - if you're willing to send me cigars, I accept donations :)
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| Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 4:28 pm Post subject: |
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| Jetgirly wrote: |
| I came back to Canada, got a second degree, moved into the public school system and now have to abide by literally HUNDREDS of laws, codes of conduct and administrative regulations. In fact, a lovely new law was just passed this morning! |
Teachers in government indoctrination centers (public schools) have no business discussing anyone's sexual proclivities or discussing religion in the classroom. Just stick to the subject you're supposed to be teaching! You are an arm of the government: your opinions have no place in the classroom.
Frankly, I'm glad to see the government of Alberta stand up for the rights of parents for a change. |
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Chancellor
Joined: 31 Oct 2005
Posts: 1337
Location: Ji'an, China - if you're willing to send me cigars, I accept donations :)
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| Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 4:34 pm Post subject: |
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| jdl wrote: |
| If we regard ourselves as a professional group perhaps a look at the codes of ethics and conduct of other professions could be enlightening. What do lawyers, doctors, health care professionals, therapists, counsellors et al have on the subject of 'client relationships' that may bring some perspective. |
Agreed.
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| Of course some would argue that we are neither a profession nor professional and therefore have no need for such codes. I guess it comes down to how we regard ourselves and acting accordingly. |
Some might suggest that the only "professionals" are doctors, lawyers/judges and scientists - and that teachers aren't "professionals" because to become a teacher doesn't require the same level of education and training. |
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Jetgirly
Joined: 17 Jul 2004
Posts: 741
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| Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 11:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Chancellor wrote: |
| Jetgirly wrote: |
| I came back to Canada, got a second degree, moved into the public school system and now have to abide by literally HUNDREDS of laws, codes of conduct and administrative regulations. In fact, a lovely new law was just passed this morning! |
Teachers in government indoctrination centers (public schools) have no business discussing anyone's sexual proclivities or discussing religion in the classroom. Just stick to the subject you're supposed to be teaching! You are an arm of the government: your opinions have no place in the classroom.
Frankly, I'm glad to see the government of Alberta stand up for the rights of parents for a change. |
But I do stick to the subject I am supposed to teach- Health! I teach ESL Career and Life Management (provincially mandated) and we integrate the health curriculum into that class as well. The health portion is divided into three units (by the provincial government), one of which is HUMAN SEXUALITY. Our government-mandated curriculum says students must "examine a range of behaviours and choices regarding sexual expression"! That's a direct quote from the curriculum! Fulfilling my responsibilities as per the School Act (implementing the curriculum) will cause me to violate this new law. I'm perfectly happy to do as I'm told, but it's not fair to put me in a situation where doing my job causes me to break the law AND not doing my job causes me to break the law. Similarly, my students have been fundraising for schools in Afghanistan this year. They selected that cause themselves. This is connected to our Social Studies curriculum, which is ALL about the value of democracy, active citizenship and taking part on a local and global level. How can we talk about the Taliban without some direct instruction on Islam? The students see a picture of women in Afghanistan ten years ago and ask, "Ms. L, why are all the women covered by that black cloth?" I can't respond to that question without providing simple, direct information about Islam (obviously without generalizing!). Where does teaching students what people of a religion believe end, and perceived proselytising begin? I'm a pretty hardcore atheist, but I think (and our government-mandated curriculum supports) that learning about different belief systems is important. If I teach the students about Aztec gods (as per the curriculum), I'm in violation of this bill. If I leave out that part of the curriculum, I violate the School Act. Will I still be able to let my students stand up and share information about their culture with the class when a school day falls on Eid, or Rosh Hashanah, or Durdevdan?
However, all of that aside, I think this goes back to professionalism. Would I have cared about any of this in Italy, when I was making eleven euros an hour, not receiving benefits, not paid for classes that students cancelled at the last minute and working on a temporary contract that was renewed every year (because the school closed for August, nobody was ever considered permanent)? Probably not. However, I am treated like a professional in Canada- by students, parents, my employer and the community in general- and therefore I will act like one. I would have acted like one in Italy for $60 an hour, full medical and dental, access to resources, professional development opportunities and RESPECT.  |
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Chancellor
Joined: 31 Oct 2005
Posts: 1337
Location: Ji'an, China - if you're willing to send me cigars, I accept donations :)
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| Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 8:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Jetgirly wrote: |
| Chancellor wrote: |
| Jetgirly wrote: |
| I came back to Canada, got a second degree, moved into the public school system and now have to abide by literally HUNDREDS of laws, codes of conduct and administrative regulations. In fact, a lovely new law was just passed this morning! |
Teachers in government indoctrination centers (public schools) have no business discussing anyone's sexual proclivities or discussing religion in the classroom. Just stick to the subject you're supposed to be teaching! You are an arm of the government: your opinions have no place in the classroom.
Frankly, I'm glad to see the government of Alberta stand up for the rights of parents for a change. |
But I do stick to the subject I am supposed to teach- Health! I teach ESL Career and Life Management (provincially mandated) and we integrate the health curriculum into that class as well. The health portion is divided into three units (by the provincial government), one of which is HUMAN SEXUALITY. Our government-mandated curriculum says students must "examine a range of behaviours and choices regarding sexual expression"! That's a direct quote from the curriculum! Fulfilling my responsibilities as per the School Act (implementing the curriculum) will cause me to violate this new law. I'm perfectly happy to do as I'm told, but it's not fair to put me in a situation where doing my job causes me to break the law AND not doing my job causes me to break the law. Similarly, my students have been fundraising for schools in Afghanistan this year. They selected that cause themselves. This is connected to our Social Studies curriculum, which is ALL about the value of democracy, active citizenship and taking part on a local and global level. How can we talk about the Taliban without some direct instruction on Islam? The students see a picture of women in Afghanistan ten years ago and ask, "Ms. L, why are all the women covered by that black cloth?" I can't respond to that question without providing simple, direct information about Islam (obviously without generalizing!). Where does teaching students what people of a religion believe end, and perceived proselytising begin? I'm a pretty hardcore atheist, but I think (and our government-mandated curriculum supports) that learning about different belief systems is important. If I teach the students about Aztec gods (as per the curriculum), I'm in violation of this bill. If I leave out that part of the curriculum, I violate the School Act. Will I still be able to let my students stand up and share information about their culture with the class when a school day falls on Eid, or Rosh Hashanah, or Durdevdan?
However, all of that aside, I think this goes back to professionalism. Would I have cared about any of this in Italy, when I was making eleven euros an hour, not receiving benefits, not paid for classes that students cancelled at the last minute and working on a temporary contract that was renewed every year (because the school closed for August, nobody was ever considered permanent)? Probably not. However, I am treated like a professional in Canada- by students, parents, my employer and the community in general- and therefore I will act like one. I would have acted like one in Italy for $60 an hour, full medical and dental, access to resources, professional development opportunities and RESPECT. |
If you're an ESL teacher, why are you teaching health? What kind of system is your government running up there? And, no, teaching about sexual proclivities doesn't need to be included in teaching about human sexuality in general (as for that part in the curriculum about behaviors and choices, homosexuality is supposedly neither a behavior nor a choice; the gay rights activists insist they were born homosexual). As for teaching religion, the question about the woman in the black outfit is easily answered with one word: modesty. You really don't have to teach about any religion when talking about the Taliban (what the Taliban has to do with teaching children how to speak English, I don't know). Besides, what the new law actually does is affirm the right for parents to pull their children from classrooms in which teachers discuss sexual orientation, sexuality, or religion. So, you won't be violating the new law if parents are pulling their children out of your classroom - unless you're one of those teachers that insist on forcing their opinions on students regardless of what their parents want and you don't inform the parents ahead of time that you're going to be talking about such controversial subjects. |
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johnslat
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 13859
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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| Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 8:59 pm Post subject: |
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Dear Chancellor,
" . . . homosexuality is supposedly neither a behavior nor a choice; the gay rights activists | | |
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