Minutes of Council Meetings

Minutes of the Special Meeting of Council of the Ontario College of Teachers, held on Friday, February 20, 2004 in the Council Chambers, 121 Bloor Street East, Toronto

Table of Contents

1. Call to Order/Welcome

2. Agenda

3. Business

4. Notice of Motion

5. Adjournment

Present: Bernard J. Adam, Paul Brazeau, Jackie Breithaupt, Donald Cattani, Ernie Checkeris, Janet Cornwall, Ted Coulson, Suzanne De Froy, Pauline Demers, Rosemary Fontaine, Gordon Hough, Nancy Hutcheson (Vice-Chair), Marilyn A. Laframboise (Chair), Diane Leblovic, Elayne McDermid, Larry Mongeon, Harry Mulvale, Iain Munro, Janet Ouellette, Elizabeth Papadopoulos, Jennifer Pitt, Patrick Slack, David Somer, Rick Victor (from 9:50 a.m.), Anne Vinet-Roy, Hilda Watkins, Lila Mae (Lou) Watson, W. Douglas Wilson (Registrar and Chief Executive Officer)

Present by Teleconference: Martin Kings (from 10:05 a.m.), Karen Mitchell (from 10:05 a.m.)

Regrets: Patrick Daly, Normand Fortin

Presiding Officer: Douglas McCarthy

Guests: Caroline Zayid, McCarthy Tétrault

Staff: Peter Alexander, Margaret Aubé, Kim Bauer, Philip Carter, Rosemary Gannon, Myrtle Herzenberg, Richard Lewko, Brian McGowan, Charlie Morrison, Katherin Platt, Shirley Rodricks

1. Call to Order/Welcome

Marilyn Laframboise, Chair, called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m. and welcomed all present. The Chair brought greetings from Lyn Voorhees, Executive Secretary to Chair and Council, who is recovering from surgery. She informed Council that due to a family emergency, George Merrett was not able to be present at this meeting. She introduced Douglas McCarthy and provided biographical details of his extensive experience as a presiding officer.

It was moved by Steering, and

CARRIED,

That Council appoint Douglas McCarthy as a Presiding Officer of Council.

Roll Call Vote:

The Chair advised the members that the agenda had been revised to include an overview presentation regarding the development of the Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession and the Professional Learning Framework along with a Notice of Motion regarding bylaws amendments.

The Chair noted that she had called the meeting as a result of a discussion she had had with the Minister of Education on December 15, 2003. At that time, the Minister had asked for advice about what the College had learned about professional learning. The Minister of Education had indicated that the government was planning to repeal the legislation relating to the Professional Learning Program. These intentions were confirmed in a letter dated December 19, 2004 from the Minister. She noted that Council had not taken a position on the Professional Learning Program and believed it appropriate that Council provide advice to the Minister with respect to professional learning.

2. Agenda (GC20040220-2)

It was moved by Steering, and

CARRIED,

That the revised Agenda for the February 20, 2004 Special Meeting of Council be approved.

Roll Call Vote:

3. Business

3.1 Overview Presentation re Development of the Standards of Practice and Education and the Professional Learning Framework (GC20040220-3, -4)

The Registrar spoke to the slide presentations relating to the development of the Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession and the Professional Learning Framework. A question and answer session followed.

3.2 Professional Learning — Advice to Minister of Education (GC20040220-5)

The Chair spoke to the report and answered questions.

It was moved by Steering, “That Council approve the report “Professional Development for Ontario’s Teachers — Advice to Minister of Education” (GC20040220-5) and the recommendations contained therein, and that the Registrar be directed to forward the report and the recommendations to the Minister of Education.”

It was moved by Iain Munro and seconded by Suzanne De Froy, “That Council amend the recommendations contained in GC20040220-5 by substitution to read:

“The Ontario College of Teachers, knowledge, experience, research and consultation lead us to advise the Minister of Education that effective professional learning for Ontario’s teachers must respect these principles:

1. Professional learning must be based on the Professional Learning Framework for the Teaching Profession
2. Professional learning expectations for Ontario teachers should be aligned with the Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession and the Ethical Standards for the Teaching Profession
3. Professional learning for teachers is a shared responsibility. Therefore there is a commitment to ensure that:
   • equitable access to professional learning opportunities be supported, encouraged and expanded
   • information on a wide variety of ongoing educational opportunities continue to be made available for the benefit of College members
   • a variety of sources continue to be important contributors to professional learning
   • opportunities for job-embedded professional learning be significantly expanded
   • co-operation at the local level among groups offering professional development opportunities be encouraged
4. Sustained, dedicated, financial and human resources must be devoted to professional learning.

It was requested that the second point be amended by replacing the word “should” with the word “must”. This was accepted as a friendly amendment.

It was requested that the opening paragraph be amended to read: “The Ontario College of Teachers advise the Minister of Education that effective professional learning for Ontario’s teachers respect these principles.” This was accepted as a friendly amendment.

It was requested that the opening paragraph be further amended by replacing “Ontario’s teachers” with “members of the Ontario College of Teachers”. This was accepted as a friendly amendment.

It was requested that the lead in sentences to the third point be replaced with the following lead in sentence: “The provision of professional learning opportunities for teachers requires a commitment to ensure that:” This was accepted as a friendly amendment.

It was requested that the third point be further amended by removing the words “for teachers”. This was accepted as a friendly amendment.

It was moved by Rick Victor, seconded by Ted Coulson, “That Council approve the amendment to the amendment motion by the addition of the following nugget to the third point:

• induction programs must be made available to new and experienced teachers.”

It was moved by Don Cattani, seconded by Janet Ouellette, and

CARRIED,

That Council call the question on the above motion.

Roll Call Vote:

A vote was taken on the amendment to the amendment motion, but it was

LOST,

That Council approve the amendment to the amendment motion by the addition of the following nugget to the third point:

• induction programs must be made available to new and experienced teachers.

Roll Call Vote:

It was agreed that in order to be consistent, point number 4 would be amended as follows:

4. Professional learning must be supported by sustained, dedicated, financial and human resources

It was moved by Harry Mulvale, seconded by Bernard Adam, and

CARRIED,

That Council call the question on the amendment motion.

It was determined that a roll call vote was unnecessary as a two-thirds majority had been attained for calling the question.

A vote was taken on the amendment motion, as amended, and it was

CARRIED,

The Ontario College of Teachers advise the Minister of Education that effective professional learning for members of the Ontario College of Teachers respect these principles:

1. Professional learning must be based on the Professional Learning Framework for the Teaching Profession

2. Professional learning expectations must be aligned with the Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession and the Ethical Standards for the Teaching Profession

3. The provision of professional learning opportunities requires a commitment to ensure that:

   • equitable access to professional learning opportunities be supported, encouraged and expanded

   • information on a wide variety of ongoing educational opportunities continue to be made available

   • a variety of sources continue to be important contributors to professional learning

   • opportunities for job-embedded professional learning be significantly expanded

   • co-operation at the local level among groups offering professional development opportunities be encouraged

4. Professional learning must be supported by sustained, dedicated, financial and human resources.

Roll Call Vote:

It was moved by Suzanne De Froy, seconded by Iain Munro, and

CARRIED,

That Council approve the deletion of pages 1 to 8 and the bibliography from document GC20040220-5.

Roll Call Vote:

The Chair assured the members that copies of the Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession, Ethical Standards for the Teaching Profession and the Professional Learning Framework would be included in the submission to the Minister of Education to provide the necessary background information required for professional learning.

A vote was taken on the main motion, as amended, and it was

CARRIED,

That Council approve the recommendation in the “Professional Development for Ontario’s Teachers — Advice to Minister of Education” (GC20040220-5) and that the Registrar be directed to forward the recommendation to the Minister of Education.

Roll Call Vote:

4. Notice of Motion

4.1 Bylaw Amendments - Wordmark/Logo (GC20040220-6)

The following Notice of Motion was read into the Minutes:

That Council approve that section 2 of the bylaws of the Ontario College of Teachers be amended by substitution as follows:

2.01 The seal shall be the seal of the College.

2.02 A printed facsimile of the College seal may be used to designate official pronouncements or decisions of Council when such is authorized by the Registrar or the Chair.

2.03 The official visual identity of the College shall be depicted by the College’s icon and word mark.

5. Adjournment

The Chair thanked Douglas McCarthy for participating in the meeting as the presiding officer.

The meeting adjourned at 12:05 p.m.