SONIA HENRI, Valleyfield Junior School
The campaign to organize parents and com- munity was not an easy one for us. There were many challenges, especially because our school is in the heart of Ford Nation. Many in the community had supported Doug Ford in the election and teachers knew they risked offend- ing parents in asking them to stand up against this government. Nevertheless, we persisted. We organized teams to speak with par- ents so members felt more comfortable. We mapped the workplace and identified the strengths of the staff. We were fortunate to have members on staff who speak the same language and share a culture with many in the community. These members reached out to parents and could put parents at ease and make conversations easier. Teachers who had formed good relation- ships with guardians and their children were able to focus on common ground and team members tailored their appeal to the needs of particular families. For example, a typi- cal exchange might go like this: “Hello you’re Daniel’s mother! He’s in Kindergarten with Madame H. The provincial cuts will continue to have a negative effect on class sizes. Do you know that Daniel is in a class of 33 students? How do you think the proposed cuts will impact his learning, with more children and fewer supports?” When speaking to parents of students in French Immersion, the discus- sion turned to talk about the board’s proposed cancellation of bussing since so many students were bussed into the school.
With these experiences under our belts, we began to plan for the June 6 Walk In event. To reach out to our community, teachers spoke with a few parents who were picking up their children after school and asked them to spread the word. Teachers who were not comfortable speaking were able to participate by helping with the preparations and set up of the events. They volunteered to take on others’ supervision duties so they could be available to leaflet. Others helped to print and copy materials to distribute. For the actual Walk In event, teachers orga- nized three teams. This activity allowed teach- ers and parents to build solidarity. We learned that organizing with parents and guardians isn’t a quick venture, that we needed to divide the workload and work over the long term.
ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ FEDERATION OF ONTARIO 31
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
