“
Managing challenges is especially impor-
WE ALREADY KNOW WHAT WORKS. ONTARIO’S PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS HAVE BEEN DELIVERING CREATIVE, COMPASSIONATE AND EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTION FOR DECADES. BUT WE CANNOT CONTINUE TO MAKE IT WORK WITHOUT STRUCTURAL CHANGE.”
tant for racialized and systemically margin- alized students, including many Black stu- dents, who face additional barriers such as implicit bias and disproportionate disciplin- ary responses. Over the last decade, I have seen a rise in racial slurs and discriminatory language from students toward their peers and even other education staff, with little to no consequences. With large class sizes, it’s very difficult to build strong relationships with all students and families, which are es- sential to recognizing and addressing micro- aggressions or harmful language.
TEACHER BURNOUT IS A SYSTEMIC ISSUE
Ontario’s teacher shortage didn’t appear out of nowhere; it’s a direct consequence of a sys- tem that demands more while giving less.Te workload of managing a class of 32 students is enormous. Planning, assessing, reporting and coordinating day-to-day logistics are just the beginning. Tere have also been major changes to the Language and Mathematics curriculums with very few professional de- velopment opportunities provided to review
20 ETFO VOICE | FALL 2025
and discuss implementation. Technology has also changed significantly, with many boards using new platforms for reporting, atten- dance, field trips and expense tracking, again with little to no support for learning to navi- gate these tools. As a Junior-Intermediate teacher, the
strain is immense. With no hard caps on class sizes in these grades, our classes oſten exceed 30 students. (Kindergarten, with its own unique challenges, is a topic that deserves its own article.) In 2023, the government created mandatory, non-evaluative mental health literacy modules for grade 7 and 8 stu- dents. Tis was another responsibility given to classroom teachers with no extra time to complete, in addition to guidance and high school transitions. Professional development opportunities,
which are essential for staying current with educational best practices, in some schools have become inaccessible unless teachers can find their own classroom coverage, which is increasingly difficult amid staff shortages. Schools are relying more heavily on non- certified emergency staff, leaving permanent educators to pick up the slack and train on
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
