Hello Fellow Travellers,
Heads down, one foot in front of the other, get to work safely, spend the day doing the work we are trained for, seek support when needed, leave after dismissal of students, get home safely, continue the work at home – both for the next work day and to support precious people in our lives and if there’s time – ourselves. Sounds familiar doesn’t it. That is how busy we have been lately. Do we even remember a time when it was different?
Knowing the Work By Doing The Work
“Oh, you’re a teacher!” is a statement that comes across differently when people who hold other jobs, and are unfamiliar with what you and I do everyday. Add to it in the underfunded aspects of our students’ learning needs and it would be a very interesting conversation.
People outside the lived realities of educators don’t always know the actual conditions in which we do our work everyday. The image that is formed in people’s minds about what teachers do, can be from what they remember as students or have heard from here and there.
Unless you do the work, you don’t know the work.
Accurate Information is Important
In times when more and more people are busy that micro information that snowballs into rhetoric, it is important to talk about the actual situations. It is very important for ETFO members to review regularly and understand what the issues are that impact our students’ learning conditions and our working conditions.
It is very important to inform ourselves so that we know the issues.
Therefore, I want to bring back into view an article written by our colleague and ETFO member shared below. Although it was published in the Spring 2023 issue, it is still very relevant.
Supporting the Special Education needs of Ontario Students | ETFO Voice
It is important to focus on some key points of this article especially at this time so that we are all aware of what matters and why. If you have not read this piece yet, please do so now.
The article opens with this statement “Special education is meant to be a portable and adaptable service that follows students through their educational journeys. When our special education systems suffer cutbacks, so do our students’ educational trajectories.”
Here, the author explains that Special Education resources in Ontario are stretched thin and difficult to access although the need for them is high and dire. Related realities of insufficient funding of social welfare programmes, in sufficient staffing and longer wait times are listed as some key causes.
The article also highlights the reality of greater mental health needs of students resulting in “students experiencing overwhelming anxiety, which sometimes manifests as severe behaviours that can put themselves or others in harm’s way. In some cases, this can result in explosions of physical and verbal aggression. In other cases, the behaviours present as emotional withdrawal and disconnect.”
The lack of resources that can strengthen the learning that can strengthen the foundational years is a reality that is felt by students and educators alike.
What stands out in this article is the way that the author highlights how political decisions impact people personally and professionally and shape the experiences of students, families and educators.
When ETFO members are expected to take on more and more demands due to the confluence of ever increasing needs and ever decreasing funding, there is a problem – a big one.
“To place additional demands on us while also stripping us of resources is to rob our students of a safe space. An ideal environment for students – especially our most vulnerable – isn’t simply a matter of putting up nice posters and having access to cutting edge technology. We are the environment.”
Courageous Voices
Sometimes, due to the busy pace of our lives and the many things that take up time, or because you have just joined the profession, it may seem as if something is a new problem or a small problem or one that will go away.
It is only when we stop and think – “Wait a minute. Colleagues have been talking about this for a long time” – do we see that the relentless underfunding and scarcity of resources is a steady march through the years. And someone has spoken up or written about it.
I often return to articles authored by ETFO members long after the first reading because of the impact they have had on strengthening the experiential aspects of members’ professional practice.
In a world where we are told regularly not to believe what we see and hear, rather to normalize inequities, it is very important to stay informed.
The old, old game of divide and conquer is always waiting in the wings, fangs bared and can whisper convincingly that the family should do more or educators should do more while absolving completely those in power who make decisions that impact students and their families as well as educators who work in partnership with them.
I invite you to engage with the topic of Special Education through ETFO Voice
Read, consider writing, and always speak up – well informed voices that believe in socially just outcomes through public education can collectively influence change.
Stay informed, stay alert and stay active in the work of our union
As Amrita Kaul, the author of the piece shared above, says in conclusion: “Despite all these challenges, to be an education worker is to be inherently optimistic for the future because we believe in the many possibilities our students can and will create for the world.”
With You, In Solidarity.
Rashmee Karnad-Jani
