TORONTO, ON - Jun 08 2010 - It is a pleasure to be part of this panel this afternoon.
Many of you may be asking, “Why is the Vice President of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation at a conference for early childhood educators and talking about the Early Learning Program?”
OSSTF is a trade union which represents 60,000 members in Ontario. Our diverse membership includes secondary teachers and job classifications representing various professions including early childhood educators, social workers, speech and language pathologists and educational assistants to only name a few. Our members work in both English and French public and separate elementary and secondary schools and board work sites and in universities.
Prior to becoming a full-time release officer for OSSTF, I worked as a Child and Youth Worker in the Windsor area. My experience, like many of our members, is in the elementary school system.
Dr. Pascal’s research concluded that the skills and experience of two professions, specifically a certified teacher and a qualified Early Childhood Educator are essential to delivering high quality early education to Ontario’s children.
The teacher-ECE team model for the delivery of JK and Kindergarten is well known to OSSTF. OSSTF has represented ECEs since 1990. Our experience in Greater Essex proved that the combined expertise of these two professionals, a teacher and an ECE, provided a diverse and unique combination of knowledge, work experience and skills that made the programs a success.
The teacher-ECE team provides a learning environment that is based on a proactive approach which results in early identification, assessment and intervention to address the special needs of many of our early learners. The needs of our youngest learners provide many challenges—including an increase in English as a second language students, students with mental health issues and students at risk. Early Childhood Educators have extensive training in child development, assessment and play-based learning for early learners.
The preamble of Bill 242 states:
“The full day learning program will require collaboration among teachers and early childhood educators to provide high quality and effective play-based education to support enhanced learning and cognitive, emotional and social development for children.”
Bill 242 clearly suggests both professionals are required to provide the desired enhanced program. For this reason, we must ensure that the use of the ELP team, and the inclusion of an ECE as part of the team is not subject to a class size threshold. Early learning classes that may be smaller should not be robbed of the team approach for this program.
OSSTF has lobbied the government hard on this issue. We have recommended that in situations where a school has small numbers in the JK and SK registrations, the board should be required to combine the students to ensure the teacher/ECE team is in place.
Sections of Bill 242 indicate the ELP team will not run on a teacher first, and an ECE as an enhancement. OSSTF believes the program will lose both effectiveness and credibility if it is not run by the ELP team from the outset.
We must ensure the government moves ahead with all the pieces of Dr. Pascal’s vision of two professionals delivering a comprehensive early learning program. The ELP team cannot be done in a piecemeal way or in year 1 of this important 5 year plan.
Based on my experience, as one of the first Child and Youth Workers hired in the early 1980s in the Windsor Board, I can speak firsthand about the challenges and rewards you will experience as a professional group finding your place in the educational environment. As a CYW, I had worked in residential settings for several years where CYWs had a clear role and were respected for their expertise. When I moved to the elementary school setting, I found my first year was spent teaching others what I could offer in an educational setting. This was an important part of building a working relationship with the principal and the teachers I worked with. Building programs together to meet the needs of at risk students was a rewarding experience. As we learned to understand how our two professions could work together, we developed a working relationship based on mutual respect that benefitted us professionally and the students we worked with educationally. ECEs who have the opportunity to work as a part of an ELP team will have the same opportunities and challenges. I envy the opportunity you are being given.
In our submission to Dr. Pascal, OSSTF highlighted several points we believe will be critical to the success of this program. I want to speak to two of them:
- The relationship between the teacher and ECE is critical to the success of the Early Learning Team. We recommend that the ECE should not report to the teacher, but instead should report to the principal. The team must be a partnership to be effective and any hierarchy would preclude a true partnership. We were pleased to see this recommendation as part of Dr. Pascal’s report and in Bill 242.
- Our youngest learners must have access to a broader group of professionals to address their special needs as they are identified, including EAs, social workers, and language support. The ELP team will require this support in order to preserve their respective roles and the Early Learning Program.
1. How is your organization preparing its members for the Early Learning Program?
- Our members are the ECEs and special education professionals who work with our youngest learners. They are ready and excited to be part of this program.
- We have educated our members about the importance of Dr. Pascal’s vision and why we must all ensure our youngest learners get the best start they can.
2. What kinds of professional learning resources can your organization make available to support the effective implementation of full day early learning?
- Our ECEs working in kindergarten classrooms are developing resources and training for ECEs.
- Included in the resources will be information on how to transition from a daycare setting to an educational setting and how to develop an early learning team that respects the role of both professions.
3. Any recommendations to college and university training programs on how to adapt to a new policy framework?
- I believe the teachers and ECEs working in year 1 will be able to provide colleges and universities with specific recommendations for courses that will need to be developed to prepare ECEs and teachers for their new role in education.
- College/University placements for ECEs in education should be with ECEs who are working as part of the Early Learning team and not in classrooms without and ECE.
Closing
The strength of Dr. Pascal’s report is the blueprint it provides for creating strong integrated education and childcare programs for children of all ages, from 0-12. The McGuinty government is to be, and has been, commended for appointing Dr. Pascal and giving him the mandate to develop such a vision. But with these recommendations in hand and ready to be acted on, it is now the governemnt’s responsibility to provide strong and consistent leadership and funding to ensure all the care elements of that plan are put in place and a solid foundation is established for children’s success in schools.
As ECEs, your profession has an important role to play in creating the full-day learning plan. Your qualifications and specialized skills will provide a new perspective on early learning education.
OSSTF is looking forward to acting as a source of information and support to Dr. Pascal. OSSTF is both familiar with and knowledgeable about building cooperative and mutually beneficial working relationships between teachers, ECEs and other professionals who work in our publicly funded schools and we are excited to be part of making this vision a reality.
- Sandra Sahli, OSSTF Vice President
OSSTF/FEESO, founded in 1919, has 60,000 members across Ontario. They include public high school teachers, occasional teachers, educational assistants, continuing education teachers and instructors, psychologists, secretaries, speech-language pathologists, social workers, plant support personnel, attendance counsellors, and many others in education.
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