The Alberta Teachers’ Association has always maintained that teachers, who bring the curriculum to life everyday in their classrooms, should be at the forefront of curriculum development. While the Association, and some teachers, have been consulted on this curriculum draft, we believe that our involvement must go beyond consultation by involving teachers more directly. The Alberta Teachers’ Association continues to review and analyse the draft K–6 social studies curriculum and encourages teachers to provide their feedback. Given the busy nature of this time year and upcoming spring breaks in many school divisions, the ATA has asked for an extension of the draft consultation period. The Alberta Government has agreed to extend the deadline to April 2. The new draft social studies curriculum is better than the 2021 draft; however, further improvement is still required. Teachers may want to consider the following, as well as public statements from others (here and here), when reviewing the draft and providing feedback. Good curriculum should
WORTH KNOWING The Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA) and the Association have recently agreed on changes to the list of all matters (LAM) that came out of bargaining dates held in January and February. The final version of the LAM is available here. This completes the first phase of the central bargaining process. The 2024 central table matters survey closed on March 1, 2024. The mandate creation process is now under way. It will culminate with Provincial Executive Council (PEC) creating and approving the initial proposal. The survey received 19,799 responses (14,679 complete, 4,893 partial and 227 disqualified responses). This is a significant increase in the response rate from the 2020 round of central table bargaining, where we saw about 16,000 responses between the two surveys. The Central Table Bargaining Committee (CTBC) has been hard at work analyzing the data from the responses. The main report from the survey tool generated a document of over 3,100 pages. The next step in the mandate creation process is for the CTBC to review the information and determine whether what teachers said in the survey has been accurately articulated in the reports. This will be completed using several engagement opportunities. Below is a list of the initial opportunities. 1. Telephone town hall (TTH) (Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 7:00 PM, for approximately one hour)—At this session, the draft goals and priorities gleaned from the survey will be shared with members in attendance. Members will have an opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback. More information about the TTH will be shared with members as soon as possible. Please save the date and the time. 2. District representatives (DRs) and table officers—Once the draft goals and priorities are shared, members should provide feedback to their elected officials. PEC decides what is included in the initial proposal. 3. Teacher Welfare Committees (TWCs)—Once the draft is out next week, TWCs are welcome to use the document at their meetings to gather feedback. That feedback should be shared with the DRs and the Teacher Employment Services (TES) staff officer assigned to the bargaining unit. 4. Focus groups—Respondents to the survey were asked if they wished to be included in a focus group to provide further feedback. Over 3,000 respondents indicated that they were interested in participating. While that number is too large to have a functioning group, we will connect with members who expressed interest to ensure that the group is as diverse and representative of Alberta’s teachers as possible. Those who did not previously sign up for focus groups through the survey will be given another opportunity to express interest during the TTH. 5. Bargaining Advisory Committee (BAC)—The BAC, while not a decision-making body, comprises TWC chairs from each of the 61 bargaining units across the province and is used to provide feedback to the CTBC. At the Collective Bargaining Conference in April, the BAC will meet to review the feedback they have received and view potential draft language to be included in the initial proposal. The BAC is a direct link back to the CTBC from the field and provides the necessary context and perspectives from members. 6. Webcasts—Using the feedback from previous engagement opportunities, the CTBC will hone and fine-tune potential initial proposal language and present it in webcasts, planned for later in April or early May. Members will have an opportunity to share their feedback on the draft language with their TWC chairs and members of PEC in advance of final approval of the initial proposal. Members are encouraged to take advantage of the engagement opportunities that best meet their needs to ensure that their opinions are heard. Below is a timeline for the next steps in the central table negotiations. WORTH SHARING
The list of all matters (LAM) is now finalized and is available here. Almost 20,000 members completed the central bargaining survey, and work is ongoing to analyze the results. Many engagement opportunities will be provided in the coming weeks and months to allow members to provide feedback. The first is a telephone town hall, scheduled for Wednesday, March 20, 2024, at 7:30 pm. More access information is coming soon, but members are encouraged to save the date. #WEAREAT In a recent Alberta Teachers’ Association survey of members, 52 per cent of teachers said they have experienced bullying or violence in their work environment at some point since the beginning of this school year. The aggression occurred in person 95 per cent of the time, and in 60 per cent of the cases, the violence was perpetrated by students in the teachers’ own classrooms. A 2018 Canadian Teachers’ Federation meta-analysis of seven member organizations found that up to 94 per cent of teachers had reported or experienced violence at some point in their career, mostly within three years of the study.
What actions are available to teachers who have been victims of student aggression? Aggression can take various forms, including verbal, physical and emotional. Physical aggression by a student toward a teacher may or may not constitute assault. A variety of factors are considered, including the student’s age, the student’s background, and the nature and intent of the physical contact. Where assault is suspected, a teacher has the right to call the police. Whether or not physical contact by a student constitutes assault, teachers have a legal right to work in a safe and caring environment. In addition to physical aggression, teachers can be subject to other forms of aggression, such as microaggressions, rude and disruptive behaviour, and intimidation. Students who exhibit severe behavioural issues that make teachers vulnerable to harm require special supports and, in some cases, programming considerations. A coordinated effort is required to ensure that the teacher is not harmed. This can include a modified placement, an effective program or behavioural plan, a response plan that involves the parents, support from an educational assistant, and possible disciplinary action. Legislation provides authority for actions that school and school division leaders need to take in order to ensure the safety of the school environment. Teachers have the legislated right to suspend a student from a class for one period. Principals can suspend a student for up to five days, after which time the student returns to school or is subject to expulsion. Section 33 of the Education Act imposes obligations on a school division to ensure that each staff member is provided with a welcoming, caring, respectful and safe learning environment. Occupational health and safety legislation also imposes obligations on employers and on supervisors to ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of employees. More specifically, it holds the expectation that no employee is subjected to harassment or violence at the work site. A teacher who believes that the action of a student constitutes harassment should consider whether a harassment complaint to the school division is appropriate. School and school division leaders must lead courageously in responding to student aggression. Fear of parent backlash is no excuse for lack of action. Although most parents are engaged in their child’s education and support their child’s teacher, 69 per cent of teachers in the Association’s survey reported that students or parents in their school community have made negative references to sexual orientation and gender identity, and 63 per cent reported prejudicial comments related to race. In the survey, teachers identified the importance of implementing concrete solutions, including establishing consistent and fair student discipline protocols, prioritizing teacher and school leader safety, providing inservice support to teachers in addressing aggressive behaviour, holding parents accountable, creating a school atmosphere where teachers and school leaders are comfortable reporting and managing aggression, providing appropriate specialized programs and accommodations for aggressive students, and addressing understaffing and overcrowded classrooms. WORTH SHARING Teachers should be involved in crafting solutions to student violence in schools and should support one another in taking action. A teacher who suffers harm should immediately report the incident to the principal; document the incident within the school; seek medical intervention where necessary; consider whether the student’s placement and programming are appropriate; engage the school, the division and the parents; and consider whether authorities (such as the police or child welfare) should be involved. #WEAREATA The Public Education Collective Bargaining Act (PECBA) governs collective bargaining for teachers in Alberta. PECBA dictates what can be bargained, centrally and locally, along with the timing of the negotiations. First, the Alberta Teachers’ Association, through its Central Table Bargaining Committee (CTBC), and the Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA) must decide on what items can be bargained and at which table (central or local). This initial phase in the bargaining process, called list bargaining, will start in the weeks ahead. The next phase is matters bargaining. This is where the CTBC negotiates with TEBA on central items, such as salary, classroom complexity (composition and size), time (assignable and instructional) and benefits. To help the CTBC, teachers complete a central needs/matters survey. This, along with other connection points (such as focus groups and local meetings), allows the bargainers to more fully understand teachers’ needs and expectations for the upcoming round of bargaining. The 2024 round of central bargaining will be the fourth time we have used the PECBA model. As a result, and with what we learned from the last round of list bargaining, which required arbitration to complete, the CTBC has a good idea of the main items likely to be discussed at the central table. The CTBC is asking members to complete the 2024 Central Matters Survey now. Provincial Executive Council will use this information to finalize the initial proposal for central bargaining. To access the survey, go to https://surveys.teachers.ab.ca/s3/Central-2024-Bargaining-Survey or scan the QR code. The survey will be open from Monday, January 29, 2024 to Tuesday, February 20, 2024 at 4:30 PM. The survey is anonymous, and we strongly encourage you to answer the questions fully to ensure that your needs are accurately articulated during central matters bargaining, which is likely to commence in the spring. The survey will take you 20–25 minutes to complete, depending on the options you choose and the amount of detail you provide for the open-response questions. If you have questions about the survey, please contact Teacher Employment Services. Your input and advice are greatly appreciated. WORTH SHARING With the 2024 round of central bargaining coming soon, bargainers need to understand what teachers are looking for. Please complete the 2024 Central Matters Survey at https://surveys.teachers.ab.ca/s3/Central-2024-Bargaining-Survey by February 20 at 4:30 PM. Your voice matters. Complete the survey and have your say! #WEAREATA When teachers in Alberta bargain their collective agreements, it’s done through two separate but connected stages. It’s a unique and complicated process that can cause a great deal of confusion for many members.
For that reason, the Alberta Teachers’ Association is creating a series of videos that explains the bargaining process in a clear, concise manner. “Unfortunately, confusion about the negotiation process often leads to disinterest and disengagement,” said Sean Brown, the ATA’s associate co-ordinator for Collective Bargaining. “These videos will help teachers follow the process and get involved.” Titled Bargaining Basics, the video series is being produced in 10 instalments.
As the videos are completed, they will be added to a playlist on the Association’s YouTube channel, which already includes the first two video instalments. The ATA’s January school mailing will include a brochure further detailing each of the videos and their content. “These collective agreements impact our members on a daily basis,” Brown said. “Many of the benefits we enjoy today were hard-fought gains from previous negotiations. We need the involvement of the entire membership to make sure those gains don’t start to slide.” Brown says one of the most valuable assets negotiators can bring to the bargaining table is the support of the full membership. “We need engaged members who know what they want and, more importantly, how to get it. Hopefully this video series will help us achieve that.” The Bargaining Basics video series is being produced in both English and French. How to view To view the videos, go to the ATA’s YouTube channel and look for the Bargaining Basics playlist. |
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Updates from ATA ProvincialArchives
May 2024
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