SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT

BC College of Teachers faces criticism

A report on the B.C. College of Teachers has been submitted to B.C. Education Minister MacDiarmid. According to Vancouver Sun reporter Janet Steffenhagan:

 “MacDiarmid hired Don Avison, a lawyer and former deputy education minister, to conduct the review after a majority of the college’s councillors, most of the former registrars and all of the major education stakeholders, except the B.C. Teachers’ Federation (BCTF), expressed concern about the college’s independence and whether it is capable of acting in the public interest.”

The Minister has yet to comment or make the results of the review public.  Could it be that to some stakeholders the College appears to be taken over by the B.C Teachers’ Federation?  Has the same happened to the Ontario College of Teachers? Interesting reading from the 2004 Ontario Ministry of Education discussion paper about Revitalizing the College of Teachers:

“Our commitment is to have a clear majority of College board members composed of classroom teachers….“Having a College that is fully de-politicized is a precondition for its success. This means the practice of running slates and or federation-sponsored campaigns would have to be discontinued. Instead, candidates would be qualified individuals not currently in union leadership positions. This could be achieved by explicit agreement or by non-conflict definitions such as those adopted by the College of Nurses. At the same time, teacher acceptance for the College would benefit if there were open discussion of real or perceived conflict in the roles of the College and the federations, since the federations also carry out professional functions for their members.”

So, stakeholders, is the reality meeting the ideal?