More teachers entering the system, fewer retiring
After eight years of teacher shortages, Ontario’s problems are over, says the Ontario College of Teachers.
Due to an increased supply of newly qualified teachers and a drop in retirement rates, new teachers are having trouble finding work, a new report states.
In 1997, the college, a licensing body for the province’s teaching professionals, first cautioned of a shortage of teachers due to a spike in retirement among teachers who were hired in the ’60s and early ’70s. That warning prompted Ontario to fund 10,000 extra spaces over five years in Ontario’s faculties of education.
“We’re pleased to say that government and teacher response to the situation helped to attract the high quality teachers Ontario’s students required,” stated Doug Wilson, the college’s registrar. “But our most recent Transition to Teaching study now indicates that many newly certified teachers are struggling to find full-time work.”
It seems now that new teachers are finding it more and more difficult to find full-time work, with many finding full-time employment only by their third year of teaching, the report indicates. Internationally trained teachers are having even less success in finding full-time teaching positions.
However, Jon Staple, director of economic and member services for the Canadian Teachers Federation, is skeptical of the claim that the “teacher shortage in Ontario is over,” as states the headline in the college’s press release.
“With respect to the college the headline is not a proper representation of what is actually happening in Ontario,” said Staple.
It’s difficult to recruit qualified people in certain areas of specialties such as math, science, French as a second language, and special education, he said, adding that there has always been an oversupply of qualified teachers in the English programs and social studies.
He noted that the teacher retirement rate is still higher than it has ever been, and has only recently begun to level. Today especially, it’s difficult to recruit people for leadership positions.
Furthermore, the supply and demand for teachers is cyclical, depending on government policies.
The teacher staffing situation in Ontario is also of great concern to the rest of Canada. Ontario has about half of the teachers in the country and supply and demand problems in the province will be felt elsewhere.
Shortages remain across the country, particularly in remote areas, he said. Talk to someone from a northern or more isolated part of Canada about the difficulties in finding qualified teachers, and one wouldn’t be left with the impression that the end of a teacher shortage is near, Staple said.
He admits that school boards, teacher organizations, and governments have become sensitive to the supply and demand for teachers, introducing programs that provide a better apprenticeship for smoother entry into the force. “Yes, it is improving,” says Staple, “yet in some jurisdictions it will be considerably more difficult. Governments must focus on strategies to give us more graduates into the specialty fields.”
Jinni Sims, president of the British Columbia Teachers Federation, said government cutbacks have made it difficult to judge the teacher supply situation in the province.
The province has had much difficulty in recent years due to underfunding of public education. This has created a loss of more than 2,600 full-time jobs over the last three years, representing a total loss of almost eight per cent of B.C.’s teaching force.
This huge loss of service has resulted in overcrowded classrooms and a shortage of librarians. It has also made the teaching profession less attractive. There is not the same number of people advancing into teaching positions as there has been in previous years because the learning conditions for teachers and students are not as fulfilling as years past, said Sims. There are also concerns in British Columbia of experienced teachers leaving, and a lack of mentor programs existing to help new teachers ease in to the profession.
Likewise in Alberta, Dennis Theobald, a political affairs officer for the Alberta Teachers’ Association, said that the teachers’ shortage in Alberta is hard to judge but far from over. The shortage tends to vary geographically and in subject area, and there is an acute shortage in particular subjects such as French, which in turn undermines the province’s goal to make the second language a compulsory subject in schools.
There are also problems finding teachers specializing in science and math, partly due to the fact that the same skills needed for teaching science and math are also in high demand for industrial work. While Calgary and Edmonton don’t have problems finding teachers, the tight labour market in Alberta presents a problem in other parts of the province.
Overall, there is much concern regarding the pool of teaching applicants in Alberta. The job of principal is becoming less and less attractive over time due to the changes in policy and bureaucracy. The role of principal has much more to do with administration work and budgeting in recent years than in the past. People place more value in being an instructional leader than a principal and therefore leadership roles are becoming tremendously hard to fill.
Due to an increased supply of newly qualified teachers and a drop in retirement rates, new teachers are having trouble finding work, a new report states.
In 1997, the college, a licensing body for the province’s teaching professionals, first cautioned of a shortage of teachers due to a spike in retirement among teachers who were hired in the ’60s and early ’70s. That warning prompted Ontario to fund 10,000 extra spaces over five years in Ontario’s faculties of education.
“We’re pleased to say that government and teacher response to the situation helped to attract the high quality teachers Ontario’s students required,” stated Doug Wilson, the college’s registrar. “But our most recent Transition to Teaching study now indicates that many newly certified teachers are struggling to find full-time work.”
It seems now that new teachers are finding it more and more difficult to find full-time work, with many finding full-time employment only by their third year of teaching, the report indicates. Internationally trained teachers are having even less success in finding full-time teaching positions.
However, Jon Staple, director of economic and member services for the Canadian Teachers Federation, is skeptical of the claim that the “teacher shortage in Ontario is over,” as states the headline in the college’s press release.
“With respect to the college the headline is not a proper representation of what is actually happening in Ontario,” said Staple.
It’s difficult to recruit qualified people in certain areas of specialties such as math, science, French as a second language, and special education, he said, adding that there has always been an oversupply of qualified teachers in the English programs and social studies.
He noted that the teacher retirement rate is still higher than it has ever been, and has only recently begun to level. Today especially, it’s difficult to recruit people for leadership positions.
Furthermore, the supply and demand for teachers is cyclical, depending on government policies.
The teacher staffing situation in Ontario is also of great concern to the rest of Canada. Ontario has about half of the teachers in the country and supply and demand problems in the province will be felt elsewhere.
Shortages remain across the country, particularly in remote areas, he said. Talk to someone from a northern or more isolated part of Canada about the difficulties in finding qualified teachers, and one wouldn’t be left with the impression that the end of a teacher shortage is near, Staple said.
He admits that school boards, teacher organizations, and governments have become sensitive to the supply and demand for teachers, introducing programs that provide a better apprenticeship for smoother entry into the force. “Yes, it is improving,” says Staple, “yet in some jurisdictions it will be considerably more difficult. Governments must focus on strategies to give us more graduates into the specialty fields.”
Jinni Sims, president of the British Columbia Teachers Federation, said government cutbacks have made it difficult to judge the teacher supply situation in the province.
The province has had much difficulty in recent years due to underfunding of public education. This has created a loss of more than 2,600 full-time jobs over the last three years, representing a total loss of almost eight per cent of B.C.’s teaching force.
This huge loss of service has resulted in overcrowded classrooms and a shortage of librarians. It has also made the teaching profession less attractive. There is not the same number of people advancing into teaching positions as there has been in previous years because the learning conditions for teachers and students are not as fulfilling as years past, said Sims. There are also concerns in British Columbia of experienced teachers leaving, and a lack of mentor programs existing to help new teachers ease in to the profession.
Likewise in Alberta, Dennis Theobald, a political affairs officer for the Alberta Teachers’ Association, said that the teachers’ shortage in Alberta is hard to judge but far from over. The shortage tends to vary geographically and in subject area, and there is an acute shortage in particular subjects such as French, which in turn undermines the province’s goal to make the second language a compulsory subject in schools.
There are also problems finding teachers specializing in science and math, partly due to the fact that the same skills needed for teaching science and math are also in high demand for industrial work. While Calgary and Edmonton don’t have problems finding teachers, the tight labour market in Alberta presents a problem in other parts of the province.
Overall, there is much concern regarding the pool of teaching applicants in Alberta. The job of principal is becoming less and less attractive over time due to the changes in policy and bureaucracy. The role of principal has much more to do with administration work and budgeting in recent years than in the past. People place more value in being an instructional leader than a principal and therefore leadership roles are becoming tremendously hard to fill.
