Welcome to Teachers At Risk
An honour
-
Edublog AwardsOct
23
Challenging academically at-risk high school students academically and professionally.
Filed Under The way I see it | Leave a Comment
Last Friday, I looked at my students in my special education learning strategies class and thought once again there has to be a better way. I think students who are academically at risk are not being served well by the existing learning strategies program or by the new alternative student success program the board implemented. Most kids hate the learning strategies class and don’t take the student success program seriously. I’ve heard them talking about both programs. We really need to do something different to meet the needs of kids. These disengaged kids have to stay in school until their 18.
What to do? I thought the learning strategies class would the needs of students who are academically at risk because it would teach them strategies that would make organizing, test taking, essay writing, reading and the other 3 r’s easier and then they could do their best. That doesn’t seem to be happening for many students. Why? Many students aren’t interested in the 3 r’s the school system wants them to learn. We need to change things for students to make their school experience more meaningful to them. How?
I think the Strategic Actions and Innovations for Learning (SAIL) program might begin to meet the needs of many of the disengaged students I see. The program was initially designed for lower functioning special needs students but I see it working for students who have average intelligence but are disengaged from school. The SAIL program challenges kids in two ways- academically and professionally. Students are part of an intership that places them into different positions in school, local business and other spots in the community. I see it like similar to our existing co-op program but beginning in grade 9.
The SAIL program fosters a sense of higher achievement in the classroom using strategies similar to the ones I teach in the learning strategies class but the program also fosters a greater sense of community outside the classroom. I like the internship part linked to the academic part. Kids can work in the community and see the need to master the 3 r’s as well as other work habits. I think that when kids see they really do need to know certain things and need to have specific work habits, they will be more open to learning
It would be interesting to see some data on how the SAIL program works. Does anyone know more about the SAIL program? I hope it works as well in practice as it does in theory. The student success programs I’ve seen work better in theory than in practice.
Oct
2
Ontario College of Teachers and school boards need to do more to protect students from teachers’ criminal behaviour
Filed Under "At-risk" students, Behaviour Management, maintaining a safe, SOS for Teachers, The way I see it | 6 Comments
The Ontario College of Teachers and school boards are supposed to protect students from teachers who engage in criminal behaviour that does not respect teacher/student boundaries. Is OCT doing enough? Are school boards doing enough? I don’t think so and here’s why. Kevin Donovan, a Toronto Star staff reporter, reveals that a Toronto high school teacher who
- sent a message to a female student telling her how he dreamt of preforming oral sex on her;
- invited four female students to his room and they cuddled on his bed while on a field trip to England :
- invited a female student to come over to “spoon”or cuddle while his wife was away.
received a 30 day unpaid suspension from the Toronto District School Board and a transfer to Toronto’s Adult Education Centre while the Ontario College of Teachers completed its investigation. The OCT suspended the teacher for 12 months and then advised him if he took a “boundary violation” course he could go back into the classroom. Presumably, the teacher did take the “boundary violation course” because the OCT now says he is a member in “good standing” and can teach again. The Star could not determine if and where the teacher is teaching now.
I must confess, I don’t have much forgiveness in my heart when it comes to teachers who take advantage of their students in this way. Especially, when a teacher does it repeatedly. I want to ask questions like
- Where is the teacher’s common sense?
- Why was the teacher hired in the first place?
- Where is the mutual respect teachers and students ought to have for one another?
- How can we be sure the violations don’t happen?
Donovan also tells us that the criminal back ground check that all teachers have to have isn’t worth much. In fact, these criminal background checks can give a false sense of security. He notes that all but one of the teachers who sexually assaulted, abused or exploited young students over the last ten years had clean records before they were convicted. Sometimes teachers will give false information in order to hide a criminal record. Some of these teachers go on to conduct themselves inappropriately and not respect teacher/student boundaries. Even Michael Salvatori , OCT’s registrar, maintains that relying on a criminal background check of teachers isn’t enough to ensure that individuals are of good character.
What more can we do to make sure individuals are suitable to be teachers? In a report dated 2000, retired Judge Sydney L. Robins suggested that each school board needs to do a complete background check on individuals. This background check needs to include a detailed interview with a teacher before hiring. What do you think the system should do to protect students from the criminal actions of teachers?
You can read more on this topic here and here at the Toronto Star. I’d like to thank Kevin Donovan and the Toronto Star for making us aware of the deplorable situation. Things need to change.
Update:
Canadians for Accountability Blog has taken the OCT to task for it’s lack of transparency. I encourage you to read the article. I wasn’t aware of the issues involved. The grassroots needs to get involved here. I’m going to ask how I can help bring about the requisite transparency.
Photo of stop sign thanks to doublegrande
Subscribe to stay up to date. Teachers at Risk is informative. It's free.
-
-
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
