December 2008, Issue 3
The Public Interest
Thank you for your interest in news from the
Ontario College of Teachers.
In this issue :
College Council supports use of professional
designation for teachers
Most of Ontario's regulated professions, including nurses, engineers
and chartered accountants, have designations – acronyms next
to their names to signify their professional status.
Most of those asked in recent online and telephone surveys and in
face-to-face focus groups whether teachers also deserved a professional
designation supported the idea.
Accordingly, Ontario teachers, certified by the Ontario College of
Teachers, will soon have OCT - Ontario Certified Teacher - or EAO -
Enseignante agréée de l'Ontario or Enseignant agréé de
l'Ontario in French - next to their names.
During its September meeting, College Council approved granting a
professional designation to all College members upon registration and
for as long as they remain in good standing.
The designation recognizes the discrete knowledge and skills that
teachers have that distinguish them from those in other occupations.
It also signifies that professional ethics and practice standards guide
the work of Ontario's teachers.
The College is seeking to trademark the OCT and EAO designations now. A full launch
will occur in 2009. Watch for more information in the new year.
Top
of page
You can access Discipline Committee decisions
from our library
As part of its mandate to serve the public interest, the College publishes
summaries of its Discipline Committee decisions on its web site and
in the College's official publication Professionally Speaking.
The summaries provide a synopsis of decisions affecting College members
who have been found guilty of professional misconduct by a quasi-judicial
tribunal. Each three-person Discipline Committee panel includes elected
and appointed members of Council. Elected members are teachers who
have been elected by their peers from across Ontario. Appointed members
have been appointed by the provincial government to represent the public.
In most cases, the summaries include the member's name, registration
number, details of the misconduct and the penalty imposed by the committee.
By law, the College is bound to report these matters. You can request
a copy of the full decision by e-mail to library@oct.ca.
You can see the online
versions of the decisions on the College web site.
Top
of page
What teachers are learning
You probably have a good idea what your children are learning in school.
Are you curious about what teachers are learning to make them more
effective in the classroom?
The College accredits courses and programs that teachers can take
to earn additional qualifications in subject areas and topics such
as special education or inclusive classrooms.
The College recently added more than 60 new courses and programs
to additional qualifications. A list of all additional
qualifications, including the new
courses and programs added this year, is available on our web site.
We also issued a professional
advisory to our members about the role that additional qualifications
play in a teacher's ongoing learning.
Once a member completes an additional qualification, it appears on
their record, available at Find
a Teacher.
Top of page
Public participation in College
governance
College Registrar Brian McGowan has just issued the call for nominations
for the election of 23 teacher members on the College Council.
Teachers, elected by their peers, form the majority on the College's
ruling body, but the public also plays a significant role in College
governance. Alongside the 23 elected members sit 14 members of the
public appointed by the provincial government. Public appointees to
Council serve with elected members on an equal footing.
Council serves as the College's board of directors and is responsible
for the College's policy governance. No Council or committee meeting
can go forward without the presence of at least one public member.
No discipline hearing takes place without at least one appointed
member of Council sitting on the three-member hearing panel. No teacher
education program in Ontario is reviewed without the involvement of
at least one public member.
If you would like to be considered for appointment to the Council,
you can contact the Public
Appointments Secretariat to register your interest.
Through the College web
site you can access information about the election and
Council members, committees and
Council meetings that
are open to the public.
Top of page
Public Interest E-news
Questions? Thoughts for future issues? Please
send a note to info@oct.ca.
