Chapter 12, Organizations Supporting Education

Every province and territory has at least one teacher association, and some have more than one. They exist by virtue of provincial teaching profession acts or similar statutes. Teachers in public elementary and secondary schools but not those in private schools are required in many provinces to belong to an association. Other provinces permit teachers to opt out. Teacher associations serve two broad functions that might be termed union and professional. These two functions are discussed in more detail in the final two chapters of the book. The following subsections describe the structure of associations within provinces, and table 12.1 shows this graphically.

Unitary Organizations

The following teacher associations are the only ones in the provinces and territories indicated by their names: Alberta Teachers' Association (ATA), Federation of Nunavut Teachers (FNT), Manitoba Teachers' Society (MTS), Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association (NLTA), Northwest Territories Teachers' Association (NWTTA), Nova Scotia Teachers' Union (NSTU), Prince Edward Island Teachers' Federation (PEITF), Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation (STF), and Yukon Teachers' Association (YTA). The association, Educatrices et Educateurs francophones du Manitoba, is not independent but operates as a francophone section of the Manitoba Teachers' Society.

Table 12.1
Provincial and Territorial Teacher Associations in Canada

Province or Territory	Associations
Yukon	Yukon Teachers' Association
Northwest Territories	Northwest Territories Teachers' Association
Nunavut	Federation of Nunavut Teachers
British Columbia	British Columbia College of Teachers British Columbia Teachers' Federation
Alberta	Alberta Teachers' Association
Saskatchewan	Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation
Manitoba	Manitoba Teachers' Society
Ontario	Ontario College of Teachers Ontario Teachers' Federation Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association L'Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens
Quebec	Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers Centrale des syndicats du Québec
New Brunswick	New Brunswick Teachers' Federation New Brunswick Teachers' Association L'Association des enseignantes et des enseignants francophones du Nouveau-Brunswick
Prince Edward Island	Prince Edward Island Teachers' Federation
Nova Scotia	Nova Scotia Teachers' Union
Newfoundland and Labrador	Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association

Among these organizations, the territorial ones have voluntary membership; Alberta and Saskatchewan have compulsory membership; and Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland have assumed membership with an opting-out provision.

British Columbia

At one time British Columbia would have been listed as a province with a unitary organization, the British Columbia Teachers' Federation (BCTF), but this was radically altered in 1987 by the passage of the Teaching Profession Act and by important amendments to the Industrial Relations Act and the School Act. Membership in the BCTF is voluntary, but membership in the College of Teachers is mandatory for all persons teaching in the public schools of the province, including principals, vice–principals, and some other administrators. Teachers at the board level may unionize and bargain collectively under legislation that is not specific to the profession, may form an association with limited bargaining powers under the amended School Act, or may choose not to organize. In practice, most bargaining at the board level is done by locals affiliated with the British Columbia Teachers' Federation. The membership of teachers in these locals may be made compulsory by the collective agreements that are negotiated. Principals and vice–principals are excluded from teacher bargaining units and from the BCTF but have formed their own association. In school districts they are considered to be members of management. The College of Teachers controls the profession, including certification and discipline, but is not a part of the union apparatus. In spite of this, the organization of subject and specialty councils has been left to the BCTF (Glegg).

Ontario

Ontario was the second province to create an independent organization, a college of teachers, to control entrance to the teaching profession. The Ontario College of Teachers Act was passed in 1996. All Ontario public-sector teachers must be members in good standing in order to hold a valid Ontario teaching certificate. The College controls certification and has the power, formerly held by the minister of education, to cancel certificates. It is therefore responsible for dealing with teacher misconduct.

Ontario has five other teacher organizations. Under the Teaching Profession Act, membership in one of these, the Ontario Teachers' Federation (OTF), is mandatory for all teachers in the public sector. Under the by-laws of the OTF, each member must belong to one of the four affiliated organizations, the identity of which is determined by denomination, level of teaching, and language.

Teachers who teach in the French language to francophone students are required to belong to L'Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (AEFO). This applies at the elementary and secondary levels in both public and separate schools but does not apply to teachers of French as a second language.

In public (as opposed to Roman Catholic separate) schools enroling anglophone pupils at the elementary level, teachers must belong to the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario. This organization is new and replaces two separate organizations, one for men and one for women, that no longer exist.

In public (as opposed to Roman Catholic separate) schools at the secondary level, teachers who teach anglophone students must belong to the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF).

Teachers employed by Roman Catholic separate school boards to teach anglophone students must belong to the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA).

Quebec

Quebec has two separate associations based on language. For anglophones, there is the Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers. The much larger Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ), serves francophone teachers, but not teachers exclusively. It also represents non-professionals in the education sector, college teachers, and workers in recreation and social affairs, among others. Within the CSQ there is a sub-organization called the Fédération des syndicats de l'enseignement (FSE) that represents teacher groups only. Quebec teacher organizations can be distinguished from those in all other provinces and territories in that they tend to be much more union than professional. For example, they do not have codes of ethics as do the teacher organizations in other Canadian jurisdictions.

New Brunswick

New Brunswick has three teacher organizations: the New Brunswick Teachers' Association (NBTA), L'Association des enseignantes et des enseignants francophones du Nouveau-Brunswick (AEFNB), and the New Brunswick Teachers' Federation (La Fédération des enseignants du Nouveau-Brunswick). The existence of two associations representing the two different language groups conforms to the statutory designation of every school district as being first-language English or French and to the division of the Department of Education into separate linguistic components. The anglophone and francophone associations concern themselves with professional matters but are joined into one federation for the purpose of collective bargaining.

All public school teachers in the province must belong to the federation and to one association of their choice. Generally speaking, teachers from anglophone boards join the New Brunswick Teachers' Association and those from francophone boards join L'Association des enseignants francophones du Nouveau-Brunswick. Complications arise with francophone teachers working for anglophone school boards, often in French immersion programs, who split their choices between the two associations. The two associations have different specialist councils and different arrangements for professional development.

National Organizations

The following list of national organizations covers only those of major significance to elementary and secondary teachers plus several other exemplary ones. The CEA Handbook (Canadian Education Association) lists the Association of Canadian Bible Colleges, Canadian Association of Youth Orchestras, Canadian Bureau for International Education, and Society for Indian and Northern Education among more than 100 others.

Canadian Education Association

The Canadian Education Association (CEA), which was formed as the Dominion Educational Association in 1891, is one of the oldest education organizations in Canada. For many years it was the only national organization of its kind, which gave it an essential role in one of very few federations in the world without a federal ministry, department, or office of education. Its members and supporters consisted primarily of professional educators, many of whom were from provincial ministries of education. Its early history was marked by gaps and setbacks as it searched for its role. In 1918 the name was changed to the Canadian Education Association. In 1967 when the Council of Ministers of Education was formed, the CEA lost one of its reasons for existing, but it has continued to exist and to receive substantial support from provincial governments.

The CEA performs a number of unique services on a national scale. From its office in Toronto, it organizes national conferences in various parts of Canada as well as an annual short course held in Banff, Alberta. Its research and publication activities include numerous reports on a variety of research topics, and a newsletter.

Council of Ministers of Education, Canada

The Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) was formed in 1967 by the provincial ministers of education to facilitate consultation and co-operation among provinces in educational matters. The council, consisting of the 10 provincial ministers of education, meets twice a year. It has a permanent office in Toronto with a staff of about 25. An Advisory Committee of Deputy Ministers assists the council and provides support. Decisions of the council are not binding on any province. In the absence of any federal office of education, the council performs an important role in conjunction with the federal government in international organizations and conferences concerned with education. The council also collects statistics on various aspects of education and sponsors interprovincial research of interest to the provinces. Examples of the latter include its metric guides for schools and its research on secondary level student transfers among provinces. In recent years it has taken a leading role in interprovincial and international testing programs. Many provinces are suspicious of federal involvement in education and the Council of Ministers of Education assumes functions that must be discharged at a national level and that might otherwise fall to the federal government by default.

Canadian Teachers' Federation

The Canadian Teachers' Federation (CTF), formed in 1920 and located in Ottawa, has as members most provincial and territorial teacher organizations. It acts as a lobbying organization at the federal level and is active internationally in aiding teacher organizations and teachers in third–world countries. Provincial associations liaise with each other and discuss common problems through the CTF. It compiles Canadian statistics related to teacher welfare and education and it lobbies the federal government to improve the condition of both, within the scope of federal jurisdiction. Members include the provincial teacher associations in those provinces with just one, the two New Brunswick associations but not the federation, the Ontario Teachers' Federation on behalf of all Ontario teachers, the Protestant association from Quebec, and the two territorial teacher associations. The largest Quebec association by far, the Centrale de l'enseignement du Québec, is not represented directly or indirectly.

The Canadian Teachers' Federation is governed by an annual general meeting held in July, to which each member association sends a number of delegates determined by its own membership. Policies are debated and passed and the executive is elected at this meeting. Between annual general meetings, the federation is managed by its executive and a board of directors consisting of the executive and directors appointed by the member associations.

Canadian Society for the Study of Education

The Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE) differs from the other organizations discussed here in that it draws its membership mainly from universities and concerns itself with research, publication, and the university teaching of education. The CSSE has an office in Ottawa with a small permanent staff. It publishes the Canadian Journal of Education and organizes a conference each year at a Canadian university in conjunction with the Learned Societies. The CSSE is structured around suborganizations representing specific academic interests including curriculum, teacher education, comparative and international education, educational research, educational psychology, educational foundations, and educational administration. CASEA, the Canadian Association for the Study of Educational Administration, brings together professors of educational administration and some practising educational administrators from across Canada.

Canadian School Trustees' Association

The Canadian School Trustees' Association (CSTA) is a non-profit organization of provincial trustee organizations, school boards, and provincial organizations of school boards. It has representation from all provinces and territories except Yukon, which has neither school boards nor trustees. The CSTA has a head office in Ottawa with a small permanent staff. It is governed by a board of directors elected at an annual conference held somewhere in Canada. It represents its membership at the federal level and acts as a lobbying organization on federal issues affecting public education. The CSTA has lobbied on copyright, federal sales taxes on school board purchases, and language training for immigrant children, among other issues (Kent, 1).

Learning Disabilities Association of Canada

The focus of the Learning Disabilities Association of Canada (LDAC) is well described by its name. It promotes the welfare of children and adults with learning disabilities as well as lobbying governments at all levels to further this end. Through its Ottawa head office and provincial and territorial offices, it encourages public interest in learning disabilities and the learning disabled.

The association recognizes the term learning disabilities as being generic and as being associated with other types of problems but makes some important distinctions to prevent the term from becoming a catch-all. “Learning disabilities are not due primarily to visual, hearing, or motor handicaps, mental retardation, emotional disturbance, or environmental disadvantage although they may occur concurrently with any of these.” (Learning . . .). But learning disabilities may be manifested by problems “in any of the following areas: attention, memory, reasoning, coordination, communication, reading, writing, spelling, calculation, social competence, and emotional maturation.” (Learning . . .).

The Learning Disabilities Association of Canada publishes a periodical entitled National as well as a collection of books and pamphlets related to the field.

Canadian Parents for French

Canadian Parents for French (CPF) is a nation-wide voluntary organization with a head office in Ottawa. Since its inception in 1977, the CPF has been promoting the teaching of French in schools . Paradoxically, it is primarily anglophone and is devoted almost exclusively to the teaching of French as a second language. Neither Quebec francophones nor the large francophone minorities in Ontario and New Brunswick identify with it. Canadian Parents for French has a research and publishing program which provides information of use to parents interested in French instruction, particularly French immersion, for their children. It lobbies at the federal, provincial, and school board levels.

A court case in Saskatchewan (“Canadian Parents . . .”) determined that CPF does not automatically have status before the courts as a representative of parents promoting French instruction. In this particular case CPF petitioned a court to compel a local school board to abide by a statutory requirement respecting the implementation of a French immersion program. It lost both at the Queen's Bench and Court of Appeal levels, not because of any lack of merit in the petition, but because it did not have the status to bring the petition to court. Canadian Parents for French had no specific statutory right to do so and did not have a direct interest in the content of the petition. Had it been brought before the courts by a parent with a child being denied an immersion program by the board, it would have succeeded.

Junior Achievement

Strictly speaking, Junior Achievement is an international organization since it is active in both Canada and the United States, but its impact is primarily at the school level. Junior Achievement offers high school students the opportunity to gain business experience through operating their own very small businesses under the guidance of adult volunteer advisers who are frequently in business themselves. Although each business continues for less than a year, the students typically manufacture and sell some product such as handicrafts or cooking. They initially sell shares in their business and end up by liquidating the business and paying a dividend to the shareholders. All such Junior Achievement businesses keep financial records. Students gain experience in many phases of business, helping them to appreciate the problems and rewards of private enterprise and possibly helping them to make future career choices.

International Organizations

Several of the international organizations described below are specialized agencies of the United Nations. The two that are not directly affiliated with the United Nations frequently work with the United Nations' agencies. The United Nations is of major international significance in education because of its specialized agencies including UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and UNICEF (the United Nations Children's Fund). It is also the source of most of the international statistical data available on education.

World Confederation of Organizations of the Teaching Profession

The World Confederation of Organizations of the Teaching Profession (WCOTP), located in Morges, Switzerland, has national or subnational teacher organizations from more than 100 countries as its members. It promotes the welfare of teachers and of the profession throughout the world. It co-operates closely with the International Labour Organization, a United Nations affiliated organization also located in Switzerland, for the purpose of protecting the rights of teachers as workers. WCOTP also maintains a working relationship with the Council of Europe, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. The Canadian Teachers' Federation is a member representing its constituent teacher organizations.

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was created in 1946 as an intergovernmental organ of the United Nations. UNESCO is governed by a biennial general conference of delegates from all of the approximately 150 member countries and by an executive board representing about one-third of the membership, which meets several times per year. The permanent secretariat, located in Paris, France, is headed by a director-general.

Besides the main office in Paris, UNESCO has regional offices throughout the world as well as three major affiliated centres: the UNESCO Institute for Education in Hamburg, Germany; the International Institute for Educational Planning in Paris; and the International Bureau of Education in Geneva, Switzerland. The first two were created by UNESCO to serve special purposes, whereas the third predates UNESCO by 21 years and only became an integral part of UNESCO in 1969.

UNESCO's major thrust is that of education in developing countries. It funds and manages projects dealing with many different aspects of education, sometimes by itself and sometimes in co-operation with other agencies, including the United Nations Development Program and the World Bank.

United Nations Children's Fund

The acronym UNICEF stood for the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund when the agency was formed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1946. In 1953 the name was shortened to the United Nations Children's Fund but the original acronym was retained. UNICEF assists developing countries in promoting the health, welfare, and education of children. It has also become involved in supporting teacher education as an indirect means of promoting the education of children. Canadian teachers often come into contact with UNICEF through its fund–raising activities.

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development

IBRD stands for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, but the organization is better known as the World Bank. It was created in 1945 and has its headquarters in the American capital, Washington, D.C. The World Bank lends money to developing countries to promote economic development. Originally these loans were concentrated on physical infrastructure, including electrical power generation, transportation, and irrigation, among other areas, but more recently education projects have been funded.

The World Bank now has a large project analysis and research staff, part of which is devoted to the education sector. It has become one of the most influential institutions doing research on the role of education in the economic, social, and political development of the less–developed countries.

Conclusions

Organizations supporting education range from small, private, special interest groups that lobby governments at the federal, provincial, or local level, to large provincial teacher associations. Provincial teacher organizations have a greater impact on teachers than any other private organizations. They, along with school boards and provincial ministries of education, have enormous influence on what goes on in the classroom.

Several national organizations are important although education in Canada is largely provincial; and some of the international ones are important enough to reach into Canadian classrooms.

Questions for Thought and Discussion

Bibliographical Notes

The handbook of the Canadian Education Association contains the names, addresses, and phone numbers of a large number of educational organizations within Canada. It includes miscellaneous national and provincial organizations as well as provincial ministries of education, school boards, faculties of education, universities, colleges, and even periodicals. The names of senior officials of many organizations are included. It is reissued at the beginning of each calendar year.

Information on individual organizations can often be obtained from the organizations themselves. International organizations are covered in many encyclopedias including the International Encyclopedia of Education (Husen and Postlethwaite), and these frequently suggest other references.

Bibliography

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Canadian Education Association. (2000). The CEA Handbook: 2000. Toronto: author.

“Canadian Parents for French-Saskatchewan v. Weyburn School Board” (Court of Appeal). (1986). Saskatchewan Reports. 44: 120–122.

“Canadian Parents for French-Saskatchewan v. Weyburn School Board” (Court of Queen's Bench). (1986). Saskatchewan Reports. 42: 105–107.

Canadian Teachers' Federation. (1995). Speaking for Teachers 1920–1995. Ottawa: author.

“Changes in B.C. (Teaching Profession and Labour Relations)”. (1987 05 29). Spectrum. Edmonton: Alberta School Trustees Association. 7,5: n.p.

Fernig, L. (1985). “UNESCO: Educational Programmes”. Husen, Torsten and Postlethwaite, T. Neville (eds). (1985). 9: 5336–5341.

“Founding and evolution of the Council”. (1981 07). Liaison. Toronto: Council of Ministers of Education, Canada. 6,2: n.p.

Glegg, Alastair R. L. (1992). “Five Years of Teacher Self–Governance: The British Columbia College of Teachers”. Journal of Educational Administration and Foundations. 7,2: 46–61.

Husen, Torsten and Postlethwaite, T. Neville (eds). (1985). International Encyclopedia of Education (1st ed, 10 volumes). Oxford, England: Pergamon Press.

Kent, William. (1988 06). “A year of growth and change for CSTA”. Canadian School Trustee. 2,4: 1.

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Nason, Gerald. (1965 Spring). “The Canadian Teachers' Federation: A study of its historical development, interests, and activities from 1919 to 1960”. Ontario Journal of Educational Research. 7,3: 297–302.

Reynolds, Larry A. (1987 04). “The constitutionality of mandatory membership in the teachers' association”. Canadian School Executive. 6,10: 3–9.

Stewart, Freeman K. (1956). The Canadian Education Association: Its History and Role. Toronto: University of Toronto.

Stewart, Freeman K. (1982). The Canadian Education Association 1957-1977. Toronto: Canadian Education Association.

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Chapter Twelve

Organizations Supporting Education

Provincial Teacher Organizations