Monday, May 30, 2011

Teachers' work to rule campaign begins

CTV Saskatchewan - Teachers' work to rule campaign begins - CTV News

The Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation launched its work to rule campaign Monday, despite the decision to return to the bargaining table Sunday.

Starting Monday teachers will not participate in extra-curricular activities until further notice, which could have an impact on graduation ceremonies.

So my question is, why should we expect any different from teachers normally? To put it another way, why aren't all those "extra-curricular" activities codified into the teaching contract?

At what point in history was it decided that a school should have sanctioned teams, that those teams need to be supervised by teachers, and that that supervision by teachers is unpaid labour? How about school clubs?

It's only fair that teachers be paid for that time if it isn't truly voluntary, but I will be honest - I don't support paying ALL teachers for the voluntary activities of a few.

Similarly, when did it become standard practice to do field trips for all classes every year? How about ski trips? Provincial championships for sports? All of these things are secondary to the educational experience, and arguably not necessary to achieve good results, and yet these are things that are paid for using voluntary labour and the taxpayer who has to fund it to make sure that everything is "fair".

If these activities aren't truly voluntary, then again, I don't support paying ALL teachers for the voluntary activities of a few.

If the teachers were to negotiate a per club/activity/sport incentive I would be all for it. If teachers were to drop the idea that a class trip outside of the city and spanning more than the school day, than I would be good with that too. The problem is that they had been dangling these activities in front of students for the better part of a school year and then blaming the government when these activities get cancelled. That's not negotiation, that attempted blackmail, and it's why I think the teachers have already lost.

2 comments:

  1. I have another question. Why is there a grade 8 grad? It's just grade 8. The students aren't finished; they are just switching schools.

    ReplyDelete