In my last inquiry blog, I explored the structure of BC’s education system with the goal of understanding the overall structure, hierarchies, and general responsibilities. Today, I come with questions that I have since formed. I believe that researching this information is vital to all educators, including new teachers, as understanding the broader system which we are (or are going to be) a part of should help us to better understand our roles, responsibilities, and to generally have a better understanding of how to make an impact at every level.
What key legislation and policies has the BC Ministry of Education and Child Care created?
From the ministry’s page on legislation and policy, we can see that there are four key legislative acts that form the Manual of School Law K-12: the School Act, Teachers Act, Independent School Act, and First Nations Education Act. Alongside these, there exists a huge number of policies that fall under either “Public school policies” or “Independent school policies“. According to the ministry, “The overall objective of education policies is to provide regulated learning standards that promote student success and achievement in B.C. Policies come from legislation or from decisions made by elected officials.
While I have deemed that knowing that these acts and policies exist and where to access them is sufficient for the purposes of this inquiry, it is worth noting that they do contain lots of useful information about the aims of the ministry as well as about our rights and opportunities as educators. An example of such useful information is that, according to Chilliwack Teachers’ New Teachers Handbook, the School Act requires school boards to hire teachers who: hold certificates of qualification and who are members of the teacher regulation branch, unless nobody who meets these requirements is available and the job is for 20 or less consecutive days.
What are the Professional Standards for BC Educators?
The professional standards can be found here:
- Educators value the success of all students. Educators care for students and act in their best interests.
- Educators act ethically and maintain the integrity, credibility and reputation of the profession.
- Educators understand and apply knowledge of student growth and development.
- Educators value the involvement and support of parents, guardians, families and communities in schools.
- Educators implement effective planning, instruction, assessment and reporting practices to create respectful, inclusive environments for student learning and development
- Educators demonstrate a broad knowledge base and an understanding of areas they teach.
- Educators engage in professional learning.
- Educators contribute to the profession.
- Educators respect and value the history of First Nations, Inuit and Metis in Canada and the impact of the past on the present and the future. Educators contribute towards truth, reconciliation and healing. Educators foster a deeper understanding of ways of knowing and being, histories, and cultures of First Nations, Inuit and Metis.
Teachers must maintain these professional standards in order to ensure student safety and well-being, and to maintain their Certificate of Qualification – the legal permission to teach in BC.
Who gets on the various Boards’ of Education?
According to this article by the British Columbia School Trustees Association, a member of a Board of Education is called a school trustee, and they are individuals from various walks of life who are democratically elected by other citizens. To be a school trustee, one must be at least 18 years of age, a Canadian citizen, a B.C. resident for at least 6 months, and not be ineligible under the School Act or any other legislation or policies from being elected.
Here is the School Trustee Election Procedures in British Columbia document by the Ministry of Education and Child Care: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/administration/legislation-policy/legislation/schooltrustee/school_trustee_election_procedures.pdf
How are the goals of the district implemented at the same time as those of the Ministry of Education and Child Care? Do they conflict?
The goals of these two bodies do not usually interfere with one another, not because there isn’t friction, but because their relationship is hierarchical. The Board of Education and Superintendent must subordinate to legislation, policies, and funding provided by the province.
Essentially, the Ministry of Education and Child Care define the overarching framework (including educational standards and curriculum), while the districts are responsible for creating policies that adhere to these standards while reflecting local aspirations.
Looking forward
As my investigation moves further down the BC Education System “hierarchy”, it has become clear to me that the corresponding roles and relationships are more “key” to the success of early-career teachers who are transitioning from teacher-education. As such, the roles of professional organizations, the Principal, Vice Principal, support staff, and other teachers, along with their respective relationships to new teachers, deserve to be explored in more depth. As such, I plan to look at each of these things individually in coming blog posts.
While sifting through documents in my pursuit of a comprehensive understanding of the entire education system here in BC, I have found many useful resources specifically designed for new teachers, such as TTOC “kits”, that I also intend to learn from and inquire about in future blogs.
Lastly, the importance of a definition for “success” as it pertains to my overarching question has not been lost on me, and this is what I intend to explore in my next blog.
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