Chapter Twenty-one

The role of teachers can be examined from two perspectives: professional and union.  This chapter examines both teachers as professionals and the professional role of teacher associations.  Considerable attention is given to ethical principles and to codes of ethics and of professional conduct.  The final topic to be examined is that of teacher licensing. 

There has been some debate over the years as to whether teaching really is a profession.  Certainly elementary and secondary school teaching has become much more professionalized over the past two or three decades than it ever was before.  Some authors classify it as a semi-profession, whereas others distinguish secondary school teaching from elementary school teaching and classify the former as a profession and the latter as a semi-profession.  This distinction has little to recommend it in Canada but may be valid in those countries where, for example, secondary teachers are educated in universities and elementary teachers are not. 

Rich (8-11) lists seven characteristics of a profession.  A profession:

• 1.  requires a high degree of general and systematized knowledge,
• 2.  requires a long period of specialized intellectual training,
• 3.  is characterized by work that is essentially intellectual,
• 4.  provides a unique social service,
• 5.  controls its standards of entrance and exclusion,
• 6.  develops and enforces a professional code of ethics, and
• 7.  grants practitioners a broad range of autonomy. 

No occupation fulfils all of these criteria completely.  Teaching would seem to rate very high on the third point, high on the first and fourth points, high on the sixth point in most provinces, medium on the second and seventh points, and low on the fifth point.  These ratings are, of course, open to debate. 

Teaching stands out in several ways on the above criteria.  Its mission, the transmission of knowledge, is intellectual by nature, but that mission is unspecialized enough that it can be entrusted to the family during an individual's first five years of life.  The only low rating that teaching receives is for the control of entrance to and exclusion from the profession.  Provincial governments have not been willing to entrust teacher organizations with control of the supply of teachers.  Instead the provinces have kept close control of certification requirements and, by logical extension, of the suspension and cancellation of teaching certificates.  Two important exceptions to this rule are the colleges of teachers in British Columbia and Ontario that control certification in those provinces.  In no province have teacher organizations been able to limit the supply of teachers.  As a result, teachers have not experienced the income benefits of supply limitation, but neither has society had to pay the costs of artificially induced teacher shortages. 

Teacher organizations have already been discussed in chapter 12 as organizations supporting education, and all teacher organizations in Canada have been named.  We focus here on the professional activities of teacher organizations.  It is important to recognize that, although membership is compulsory in most teacher organizations, they are democratic in nature.  They normally have an elected president and executive that direct a small staff of professional and non-professional employees. 

Teacher organizations represent the interests only of teachers and only in their role as teachers.  This fact goes a long way in explaining their behaviour.  Teacher organizations do not represent children, school trustees, or society, nor do they attempt to act in these groups' interests.  They do not represent teachers as taxpayers, citizens, or parents.  Teachers are represented not as whole persons but as teachers. 

A very important function of all teacher organizations is lobbying governments, particularly provincial governments but also, to a lesser extent, school boards and the federal government.  This lobbying occurs in areas of direct interest to teachers, including pensions, certification requirements, curriculum reform, and working conditions.  Teacher organizations are active during provincial elections, sensitizing teachers to issues related to education and keeping them well-informed.  Some perform a similar role for the public. 

The issue of hours of work and preparation time provides an example of the orientation of teacher organizations.  They invariably prefer shorter school days and years and more preparation time for teachers.  This reduces the time during which the student has contact with teachers, makes teaching less onerous, and may improve the instructional efficiency of the remaining contact time.  The overall effect is difficult to judge.  But most parents and probably most trustees would prefer more, rather than less, contact time. 

Teacher organizations prefer that more money be spent on education.  As such, they are representing the views of their membership as teachers rather than as taxpayers.  This is perfectly rational since teachers and the teaching profession receive a large share of the benefits of public commitment to education but pay only a small proportion of school taxes, which are collected over a broad tax base.  Taxpayers as a group tend to be less enthusiastic about increasing financial support for education than are teachers. 

The related functions of professional development and inservice education are major ones for teacher organizations.  Many of them have suborganizations called subject councils or specialist councils that are involved in inservice education in their particular subject areas and in curriculum reform.  These councils represent subject areas such as mathematics and reading, levels such as elementary and early childhood, and special functions such as school administration and special education.  They frequently sponsor workshops and conferences and are a major source of curricular improvement. 

Many teacher organizations publish periodicals, reports, and handbooks and sometimes operate their own printing shop.  A typical teacher organization will publish a handbook for its members that gives the history and policies of the organization.  It also publishes at least one general-purpose periodical for its members and may publish periodicals for the specialist councils. 

Some of the most important aspects of teaching professionalism for classroom teachers are contained in the codes of ethics and codes of professional conduct that teacher associations have adopted.  Not all Canadian teacher associations have them, but, even in the absence of a code, the principles they embody represent worthwhile guides to practice.  Ethical codes contain two types of statements: broadly worded positive exhortations representing general principles and more specific rules that forbid certain types of behaviour.  Statements in codes are frequently organized according to the object of the ethical principle involved in the statement: students, colleagues, employers, and the profession.  Most of the principles in this chapter come from such codes. 

Teacher organizations are able to enforce their codes by virtue of powers given them under teacher profession acts.  Alleged violators are investigated by the organization and, if found guilty, may be reprimanded or denied the privileges of the organization.  Teacher organizations are unable to dismiss teachers from their employment or cancel their licences to teach, but, in serious cases, the latter course of action can be recommended to the minister of education in most jurisdictions and to the College of Teachers in British Columbia. 

Ontario is exceptional in that the ethical principles that apply to members of all teacher associations are contained in a series of regulations under the Teaching Profession Act, the act that creates the Ontario Teachers' Federation.  Regardless of association membership, all Ontario teachers are members of the Ontario Teachers' Federation and are subject to these regulations. 

Some codes contain provisions specifying the professional responsibilities of teachers and requiring that these not be delegated.  The “Code of Professional Conduct” of the Alberta Teachers' Association provides an example (Alberta Teachers' Association, 1). 

2(1) The teacher is responsible for diagnosing educational needs, prescribing and implementing instructional programs and evaluating progress of pupils. 

(2) The teacher may not delegate these responsibilities to any person who is not a teacher. 

3 The teacher may delegate specific and limited aspects of instructional activity to noncertificated personnel, provided that the teacher supervises and directs such activity. 

The exception in section 3 should cover the use of paraprofessionals in the classroom and the occasional use of outsiders, such as firefighters, to teach one class in their area of expertise. 

Provisions similar to these are often found in collective agreements rather than in codes of ethics, in order to permit their enforcement against the employer.  Boards have an incentive to employ resources that are less costly than teachers; hence, the ability to enforce these clauses against the board makes them far more effective.  These provisions operate to protect the profession against unqualified practitioners and sometimes against qualified ones employed by the board in lower paid teacher aide positions. 

The more specific treatment-rights provisions resemble those in human rights codes, as illustrated by the following example from the statement of “Professional Rights and Standards of Practice” of the British Columbia Teachers' Federation. 

2. Social Responsibility
(f) interactions with students, parents and colleagues, and other members of the educational community are conducted in an ethical manner free from discrimination with regard to gender, age, race, nationality, religion, socio-economic status, physical ability, mental ability, marital status or sexual orientation. 

This clearly applies to relationships with students, but also applies to interaction with their families.  In the classroom it involves both the process of teaching and the material that is taught.  Some other teacher associations have similar clauses but not all include sexual orientation as a forbidden basis of discrimination. 

The “Code of Ethics” of the British Columbia Teachers' Federation spells out a more general treatment requirement. 

1. The teacher speaks and acts toward pupils with respect and dignity, and deals judiciously with them, always mindful of their rights and sensibilities. 

Similar provisions in other codes require that pupils be treated in a just and impartial manner, that they not be restrained from independent action in the pursuit of learning, that they not be denied access to varying points of view, and that they not be exposed to intentional embarrassment or disparagement.  Teachers are not to undermine the confidence that students or teachers have in students.  Some codes contain a positive requirement that teachers be mindful of the health and safety of students. 

Confidentiality provisions are almost universal in codes of ethics for teachers.  The Alberta Teachers' Association's code requires that (Alberta Teachers' Association, 1):

5 The teacher may not divulge information about a pupil received in confidence or in the course of professional duties except as required by law or where, in the judgment of the teacher, to do so is in the best interest of the pupil. 

Other codes require that such information be divulged only through professional channels.  Modern codes make an exception for the reporting of suspected child abuse, now legally required by every province.  Even without the exception, these reporting requirements take precedence over codes of ethics. 

A conflict of interest occurs when a professional interest clashes with a private one.  As a consequence, professional objectivity is compromised and professional performance may suffer.  The existence of a conflict of interest situation raises a suspicion of unprofessional performance.  In any profession, conflicts of interest are avoided to ensure both professional practice and the appearance of professional practice. 

All professions have potential conflicts of interest specific to the profession, and teaching is no exception.  Conflicts of interest can occur with respect to pupils, colleagues, or the employer. 

The two archetypal conflicts of interest involving pupils are dealt with specifically in the Alberta code (Alberta Teachers' Association, 1). 

6 The teacher may not accept pay for tutoring a pupil in any subjects in which the teacher is responsible for giving classroom instruction to that pupil. 

7 The teacher may not take advantage of a professional position to profit from the sale of goods or services to or for pupils in the teacher's charge. 

Some other codes are stricter with respect to tutoring, by forbidding the tutoring of one's own pupils for pay regardless of the subject.  Campbell gives some applications of the above principles: “The case of a teacher using his professional status to sell encyclopedias to parents is a classic example of stretching the Code beyond its limits. . . .  The example of fund-raising campaigns for schools leading to rewards for the organizers is beyond the pale.  Students do the leg work and the teacher gets the trip.” (5).  Both of these examples involve a clash between the pupil–teacher relationship and private profit or gain.  In general, conflicts of interest with respect to pupils involve teachers exploiting their positions of authority and influence over pupils. 

Many of the ethical principles governing relationships with colleagues do not involve conflicts of interest, but there is one recurring and frequently unavoidable conflict that teachers have to learn to live with.  It is the teacher who is also a parent and has a child in the same system, school, or even class in which the parent teaches.  The role of parent comes into conflict with the role of teacher or staff member. 

A conflict of interest arises when a husband and wife are on the staff of the same school.  Some large boards forbid this, whereas others allow it but do not permit one spouse to have a reporting relationship with the other spouse.  In the latter case, a principal's teacher-spouse would have to teach in a different school.  Neither rule is very attractive to small boards or those operating in sparsely populated rural areas.  In some isolated situations, husband-and-wife teams are encouraged. 

There are few conflicts of this type involving teachers.  Occasionally the spouse of a teacher will be a school board member, but this creates a conflict more for the spouse than the teacher.  Engaging in non-school activities for profit during schools hours creates a conflict in the use of time and is explicitly forbidden by some codes. 

Another possibility is the purchasing-agent conflict of interest.  Many codes do not deal with this, but the code of the New Brunswick Teachers' Association does (New Brunswick Teachers' Association, 39–41). 

It shall be unethical . . .  (l) For a teacher to accept personal gifts which would not directly benefit the school program, from companies servicing the needs of schools or student extracurricular activities. 

The “Code of Ethics” of the National Education Association (of the United States) requires that the teacher “not accept any gratuity, gift, or favor that might impair or appear to influence professional decisions or actions” (Rich, 148). 

The problem is that acceptance of personal gifts may influence the purchase decision or professional decisions more generally.  The stricter codes for purchasing agents prevent the acceptance of any gift from a potential supplier, including drinks, meals, and even small mementos such as pins and pens.  Teachers, because they control small budgets, frequently find themselves not being pursued by salespersons with offers of free drinks and meals and therefore have little opportunity to violate this ethical principle. 

Codes of ethics contain detailed provisions for preventing one teacher from undermining another and for preventing conflicts between teachers from harming the profession or its image.  The following series is from the Alberta code (Alberta Teachers' Association, 1). 

12 The teacher does not undermine the confidence of pupils in other teachers. 

13 The teacher criticizes the professional competence or professional reputation of another teacher only in confidence to proper officials and after the other teacher has been informed of the criticism. 

14 The teacher, when making a report on the professional performance of another teacher, does so in good faith and, prior to submitting the report, provides the teacher with a copy of the report. 

15 The teacher does not take, because of animosity or for personal advantage, any steps to secure the dismissal of another teacher. 

·      ·      ·

20 The teacher submits to the Association disputes arising from professional relationships with other teachers which cannot be resolved by personal discussion. 

Section 12 deters teachers from criticizing other teachers in class or elsewhere in the presence of students.  Sections 12 to 14 prevent criticism of teachers from within the profession in ways that could be very damaging to the profession.  The prior notice requirements of sections 13 and 14 act, on the one hand, to discourage frivolous or malicious criticism and, on the other hand, to give the targeted teacher an opportunity to mount a timely defence.  Professions and professional associations benefit from unity within the profession, and all these clauses operate to encourage unity and mitigate disharmony. 

The Code of Ethics of the British Columbia Teachers' Federation contains a provision governing criticism of teachers by teachers. 

5. The teacher directs any criticism of the teaching performance and related work of a colleague to that colleague in private and only then, after informing the colleague of the intent to do so, may direct in confidence the criticism to appropriate officials who are in a position to offer advice and assistance. (See note below). 

·      ·      ·

NOTE: It shall not be considered a breach of Clause 5 of the Code of Ethics to report reasonable grounds for suspecting child abuse to proper authorities according to legal provisions and official protocol requirements. 

The note to clause 5 of the code, added in 1990, makes an exception for legally required reports of suspected child abuse. 

In a British Columbia Court of Appeal case (“Re Cromer . . .”), a teacher who was also a parent appealed a lower court confirmation of a finding by the British Columbia Teachers' Federation that she had violated section 5 (above) of its “Code of Ethics”.  Cromer, the appellant, had children in another school in the same district in which she taught.  She attended a stormy public meeting at her son's school during which the counsellor's sex education program was criticized by parents.  During the latter part of the meeting Cromer, told the counsellor publicly that she should not be a teacher if she treated children the way she treated parents and that she had been abusive to parents and had told them that they were failures.  The counsellor complained to the federation, which found that Cromer had violated the code. 

Cromer's appeal against this decision, based on the freedom of speech provisions of the Constitution Act, 1982, was dismissed at trial and by the Court of Appeal.  Cromer argued that she spoke as a parent, but the court countered, noting that (290–291):

I do not think people are free to choose which hat they will wear on what occasion.  Mrs. Cromer does not always speak as a teacher, nor does she always speak as a parent. 

·      ·      ·

. . . if Mrs. Cromer's comments had been directed to the subject-matter of the meeting, that is, the teaching of aspects of human sexuality as part of the guidance programme for grades 7 and 8 and the handing out of the lists of questions to grade 8 students, then I would have considered that the public interest in letting her speak out should have overridden the Code of Ethics, to the extent that anything she might have honestly said on that subject-matter could be regarded as a criticism of Ms. Sauve.  But Mrs. Cromer's comments were not directed to the subject matter of the meeting. . . .  They are entirely personal criticisms of Ms. Sauve as a teacher. 

Cromer's public criticism was unethical regardless of whether it was true or false.  Had Mrs. Cromer not been a teacher she would have been beyond the reach of the “Code of Ethics” and protected by her right to freedom of speech. 

In a case more recent than Cromer but very similar, the Alberta Court of Appeal took a different position with respect to teachers who are also parents (“Eggertson . . .”). 

The appellant and her husband attended “Meet the Teacher” night at their children's school on September 26, 1997.  The purpose of the occasion was to afford parents and teachers an early opportunity to meet and exchange information about the students.  During a discussion with their children's new teacher, the appellant made a comment to the effect that the children did not learn a thing from their teachers the previous year. 

The school principal convened a meeting at the school on October 9, 1997 for the purpose of dealing with the concerns expressed by the appellant and her husband about the academic progress of their children.  The appellant and her husband, the children's current teacher and two other members of the teaching staff were present.  Neither of the previous teachers attended.  The appellant made a comment at that meeting to the effect that her son had learned nothing the previous year.

Four months after the statements were made, and shortly after the appellant had the children removed from her responsibility, the current teacher formally complained to the ATA that the appellant's critical comments about the children's teachers the previous year constituted unprofessional conduct.

The complaint to the Alberta Teachers' Association was accepted and Eggertson was found guilty of professional misconduct under section 13 of the ATA code, quoted above.  Her appeals were rejected by the Professional Conduct Appeals Committee (PCAC) and by the court of first instance but these decisions were reversed by the Court of Appeal.

In its decision, the Court of Appeal relied heavily on wording in the Alberta School Act and in the policies of the Calgary Board of Education (C.B.E.) ensuring that parents would be involved in the education of their children and that they could discuss the personal and educational growth and the academic needs of their children with their children's teachers. 

The PCAC implied a parent - teacher may only criticize his or her child's present or former teacher by following the procedure fixed by s. 13.  That would place parents who are also teachers at a disadvantage in communicating with their children's teachers and discourage the free and candid exchange of information and ideas between parents and teachers which is recognized by the School Act and the C.B.E. as a vital part of the education process.

The decision did not accord adequate weight to the parental rights of the appellant as established by the School Act and the orders and regulations made pursuant to it, or to the regulations of the C.B.E.  The appellant's status as a parent required a balancing of her parental rights with her professional obligations as a teacher and member of the ATA rather than the strict and literal approach taken by the Committee and the PCAC.

With these words the Court of Appeal reversed the earlier decisions and upheld the parental rights of parents who are also teachers.

An earlier Nova Scotia case (“Busche, Re”) involving a teacher who wrote two letters to the editor of a Halifax daily newspaper opposing a political position taken by the Nova Scotia Teachers' Union (NSTU) illuminates the boundaries to the application of this type of clause.  These letters were written in response to letters written by other teachers supporting the position of the union on some proposed provincial legislation affecting teachers.  The opposing teacher referred to a statement made in one of the supporting letters as “a misleading half-truth” and labelled other statements in the letters as “double-talk”.  After being reprimanded by the NSTU for making “defamatory or disparaging remarks concerning another teacher” contrary to the NSTU code of ethics, the teacher appealed to the Nova Scotia Supreme Court.  In ruling in favour of the teacher, the court determined that to violate this ethical principle the remarks must concern the other teacher as a teacher (“Busche, Re” 169). 

In my opinion, that article does not refer, and was not intended to refer, to remarks concerning another person who happened to be a teacher, if the remarks did not concern the conduct of that other person as a teacher.  Many teachers enter the field of politics at the municipal, provincial and federal level.  If one such politician referred to statements and actions of another such politician, with regard to public affairs, including matters relating to education, it is inconceivable that the first teacher could be charged with a breach of the Code of Ethics, merely because some body considered that the remarks were defamatory or disparaging with respect to the other politician. 

Even though this case was adjudicated before the fundamental freedom guarantees of the Constitution Act, 1982 came into effect, the court felt that teacher codes of ethics could not impair the right of teachers to speak freely in the political arena, even when the issue was one on which the teachers' union had an official position.  The teacher in this case was not a politician; she was simply expressing a political opinion. 

Working conditions are generally dealt with in collective agreements, but some codes contain related ethical principles, as the following sections from the Alberta code indicate (Alberta Teachers' Association, 1). 

8 The teacher protests the assignment of duties for which the teacher is not qualified or conditions which make it difficult to render professional service. 

·      ·      ·

16 The teacher recognizes the duty to protest through proper channels administrative policies and practices which the teacher cannot in conscience accept; and further recognizes that if administration by consent fails, the administrator must adopt a position of authority. 

Operation of section 8 could be triggered by a teacher being assigned to teach a subject that he or she was not qualified to teach.  The teacher is then obligated to protest the assignment, but is not ethically obligated to refuse it. 

Teachers may be obligated to take a position on education policies as the following section from the regulations under Ontario's Teaching Profession Act indicate. 

15.(1) A member shall,
(e) present in the proper manner to the proper authorities the consequences to be expected from policies or practices which in his professional opinion are seriously detrimental to the interests of pupils. 

Several code provisions deal with ethical behaviour toward employers, which, for most teachers, will be school boards.  In applying for a job, the teacher is not to misrepresent professional qualifications or experience, make false statements, or fail to disclose material facts of relevance to the employer.  Teachers must adhere to contractual obligations to employers, including those obligations contained in collective agreements.  Two sections from the Alberta code illustrate this (Alberta Teachers' Association, 1). 

9 The teacher fulfills contractual obligations to the employer until released by mutual consent or according to law. 

10 The teacher provides as much notice as possible of a decision to terminate employment. 

Some codes specify that contractual obligations include both written and oral contracts. 

On occasion, teacher associations find themselves embarrassed by breaches of these provisions committed by teachers seeking their first teaching positions—individuals who may not yet be members of any association and who have not come under association influence.  A teacher seeking a position sometimes accepts an early offer for fear of not obtaining a job, and then accepts a later, more attractive offer and breaks the original contract either explicitly or by simply not showing up on the first day of classes. 

A teacher who accepts a position has a legally binding contract of employment.  If the contract is broken, the employer can sue the teacher for breach of contract, but this rarely happens.  Courts are unlikely to award either specific performance, forcing the teacher to assume the position, or enough monetary compensation to justify the legal costs of the suit.  For an association member, breach of contract can also be treated as a violation of the code of ethics if it contains a contractual obligation clause.  Available sanctions include certificate suspension.  In practice, adherence to teaching contracts has become an ethical and moral issue—one that must be addressed initially by faculties of education and later by teacher associations. 

A teacher who accepts a position and is then offered a more attractive position has the ethical option of contacting the board with which the contract is held and requesting to be released from that contract before accepting the more attractive position.  When faced with a requested release from a contract of employment, a board may prefer to try again for a longer-term commitment rather than to retain an unenthusiastic teacher for one year.  But there is no guarantee that the board will feel this way, and in the absence of a release, the only legal and ethical thing for the teacher to do is to turn down the second offer and fulfil the requirements of the contract. 

Codes of ethics contain both positive and negative provisions designed to protect and promote the teaching profession.  The code of the National Education Association requires that teachers not assist a person who is unqualified, in respect to character, education, or other relevant attribute, to enter the teaching profession.  The code of the New Brunswick Teachers' Association requires that teachers “endeavor to maintain public knowledge of their profession by improving and maintaining favorable public relations” (New Brunswick Teachers' Association, 39–41).  The following two sections are from the Alberta code (Alberta Teachers' Association, 1):

18 The teacher acts in a manner which maintains the honour and dignity of the profession. 

19 The teacher does not engage in activities which adversely affect the quality of the teacher's professional service. 

These clauses are general enough to obscure exactly what acts might constitute a violation and, as such, they create enforcement difficulties for associations with these and similar clauses. 

Compliance with the above sections can be separated into compliance on and off the job, with the latter being the more difficult of the two.  Community scrutiny of teacher behaviour off the job could be described as an occupational hazard of teaching, especially in small communities.  Teachers have been criticized for holding part-time non-teaching jobs both on the grounds that they should be preparing for the next day's classes and that it tarnishes the image of the profession.  Professional associations have decided, probably wisely, not to attempt to control the private lives of teachers.  An association is more likely to find itself defending a teacher whose employment is threatened because of behaviour unrelated to teaching or the school.  Teachers charged with or convicted of serious offences pose a particularly difficult problem for associations. 

Most codes of ethics, having been developed by associations or federations of teachers, contain clauses to protect the organizations from uncontrolled representation and public criticism by teachers.  The issue of the recognition of the teacher organization by teachers may also be covered, although it is usually settled in the legal sense by teaching profession legislation or collective agreements. 

The final clause of the “Code of Ethics” of the British Columbia Teachers' Federation deals with the representation issue. 

10. The teacher, as an individual or as a member of a group of teachers, does not make unauthorized representations to outside bodies in the name of the federation or its local associations. 

Such representations could embarrass the organization and cause disunity.  Teachers making representations in good faith for an increase in time and money resources for their subject area may come into conflict with teachers of other subject areas if the effect of the recommended changes would be to shift resources away from these other subject areas.  Subject and specialist councils frequently lobby with respect to their own curricular area, but this is done only through the larger organization.  There is always the chance that a group of teachers may take a position inconsistent with the organization's position. 

The code of the New Brunswick Teachers' Association deals with the issue of criticism of staff (New Brunswick Teachers' Association, 39–41). 

It shall be unethical . . .  (h) For a teacher or group of teachers to criticize the Association, the Directors, Executive or Administrative Staff except within the membership of the Association. 

There is an important distinction between the membership of a teacher organization and its staff.  The membership consists of teachers and some administrators who are the employees of school boards.  Although most professional staff members of teacher organizations have had teaching experience, they are non-teacher employees of the organization.  They are not legally bound by any code of professional conduct or ethics, although, as a practical matter, it is more important that they abide by such codes, to the extent that they are relevant, than it is for an individual classroom teacher.  Association employees do not come under the collective agreements under which teachers work.  Thus a code provision governing criticism of other teachers would not be effective in preventing public criticism of the organization or its employees.  With provisions like these, teacher organizations hope to present a united front to the outside world and to handle all criticism of members and staff by teachers within the organization itself. 

A positive protective provision in some codes requires that teachers accept service to the organization as an obligation or a professional responsibility.  Teacher organizations have executives elected from among the membership who are responsible for directing the employed staff, and the members of the executive at this level may be paid by the organization.  But most of the work of the organization at the board and school level must be accomplished by volunteer local executive members and individual teachers. 

All Canadian jurisdictions place restrictions on who can teach.  To teach, one must have a teaching certificate, licence, or credential, three terms describing the same authorization.  In Canada a teaching certificate is earned through post-secondary education taken at a university or at a college under university supervision.  Some other countries train teachers in separate institutions called teacher training colleges or normal schools, and, in fact, this was the pattern in many Canadian provinces early in the century.  Although universities educate teachers, it is the provinces that license them in most provinces. 

There is no common licensing standard for teachers across Canada, but there is enough commonality that teachers educated in one province can usually obtain certification in others.  Interprovincial teacher movement, once very common, declined dramatically in the era of teacher surpluses but is now on the increase.  Interprovincial agreements on certification facilitate this. 

In recent years, numerous bilateral and multilateral interprovincial agreements have been concluded which spell out the criteria for awarding one province's teaching certificate based on qualifications and certification obtained in another province.  Although these agreements differ from province to province, as they must, given differences in the certificates themselves, there are certain common elements.  Generally speaking, if an applicant from one province applying to another possesses a teaching certificate, a university degree, and has successfully completed a teacher education program; that applicant will be able to receive immediately, at a minimum, an interim certificate in the receiving province.  If a permanent certificate is not immediately awarded, the applicant will be informed of the requirements to have the interim certificate made permanent. 

The number of different certificates, their names, and their significance vary considerably from province to province.  Some award an interim or provisional certificate of limited duration that can be made permanent after a defined period of successful teaching. The Atlantic provinces all award certificates identified with a whole number that corresponds roughly to the number of academic years of post-secondary education.  The lowest certificate now awarded is called a certificate four, although certificates one, two, and three were awarded at one time.  The highest certificate is a six, seven, or eight, depending on the province.  Teachers with certificate levels lower than certificate four are still permitted to teach in all four Atlantic provinces.  Ontario awards one certificate, the Ontario teacher's certificate (OTC), which is associated with a teacher's qualification record card containing detailed information on subject and specialist qualifications. 

Special provision is made in many provinces for the certification of vocational and technical teachers.  Technical school training, apprentice training, and certification as a journeyman may be recognized for teacher licensing purposes.  Credit is sometimes given for work experience in a trade. 

Most provinces have an arrangement to issue temporary licences to unqualified persons in an emergency.  These have various names including interim certificate, letter of standing, letter of permission, and local permit.  The use of temporary licences is especially common among substitute or supply teachers. 

Teaching has become increasingly professionalized in recent decades and has all the characteristics of a profession in varying degrees.  Teacher organizations promote and protect professionalism by several means, including codes of ethics and codes of professional conduct.  These are developed and enforced by teacher associations and federations.  Professionalism has also been promoted by restricting entry to the profession through provincial teacher certification requirements. 

Members' guides and members' handbooks from teacher organizations, some of which are cited here but most of which are not, provide much useful information on policies and activities of teacher organizations and on codes of ethics and professional conduct.  The “Code of Ethics” of the (American) National Education Association is contained in Rich as an appendix.  Provincial certification requirements are summarized in the Canadian Education Association publication.  Gauvin discusses the problems of interprovincial recognition of teaching certificates.