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The World of Teaching In any field of human endeavor, programs of improvement are successful to the degree that they are understood, accepted, and applied by those who have the ultimate responsibility for implementing them. Changes in education, no matter how sweeping, profound, or ideal, are barren unless they bring about changes in the classroom; their effectiveness is determined almost entirely by the teacher. A school system may have a dedicated, responsible board of trustees, excellent buildings, modern courses of studies, abundant resources, and inspired supervisory personnel, but will still be ineffective without good teachers in the schools. These agents of education can contribute greatly to the success of pupils and good teachers but cannot compensate for poor instruction. As a nucleus unifies the parts of a cell and guides its growth, so a teacher unites and guides a group of individual pupils. Sir William Osler observed that "no bubble is so iridescent or floats longer than that blown by a successful teacher." In numerous submissions to this Committee, individuals and groups interested in educational changes in Ontario have stated that improvements in education will depend largely on better selection and education of teachers and on their continuous professional development. Various royal commissions on education in recent years have also supported this position. In Ontario, in 1950, the Hope Commission stated that "The teacher is the keystone of the educational arch: in the final analysis the fulfilment of educational aims rests with him." The Cameron Commission in Alberta in 1959 reported that "The Commissioners have recommended that certain modifications be undertaken within the present curriculum and the administrative structure that supports it. But these changes alone will not overcome any educational deficiency. The keystone is the teacher." The Chant Commission in British Columbia stated in 1960 that "in the end it is in the operation of the schools that the effective philosophy of the school system is revealed." More recently, in 1965, the Parent Commission in Quebec observed that "the training and improvement of teachers lie at the heart of educational reform." These conclusions of royal commissions support the viewpoint of the teachers of Ontario, who state in their professional pamphlet, Why Teach: "In the final analysis, the quality of the education provided for any people is dependent on the calibre of the educators themselves. [Teaching] is a difficult and noble art, demanding consummate skill, inspired insight, enthusiastic zeal, and dedicated devotion." It is not only in our own time that the significance of the role of the teacher has been emphasized. The words 'teacher' and 'master' have been synonymous through many centuries, and history has accorded to only a relatively few philosophers and religious leaders the title of 'great teacher.' In any society, the teacher is both the builder and guardian of the nation. In a democratic society, how ever, an even greater responsibility is given over to teachers. If the strength of democracy lies in the strength of each individual, and in his ability to make and participate in making decisions, sharing resources, and carrying out individual responsibilities, then the force which constantly generates individuals with democratic attitudes and ideals is both the creator and the protector of democracy. This force may be strengthened by responsible politicians, alert news media, and an active citizenry, but the force itself is made up of those teachers who create a compassionate and democratic climate for young people, and who provide their students with the desire and ability to become informed, to think critically and creatively, and to speak and act in a courageous and responsible manner. The democratic classroom is both the incubator and the cradle of democracy, and the teacher is its parent and guardian. The Teacher's Changing Role
Traditionally, the teacher's task was to inculcate - to impress upon the student's mind the mastery of a limited body of facts and principles, mainly through rote learning; the emphasis was on the memorization of facts. Later, the teacher became a person whose work was to instruct. In this role the teacher added the mastery of skills and the understanding of ideas to the earlier emphasis on memorization. Rote learning was replaced by a variety of techniques, mainly employing question and answer, but also including discussion and physical activity. The teacher continued to be the central figure in the teaching-learning process. The modern professional teacher is a person who guides the learning process. He places the pupil in the centre of the learning activity and encourages and assists him in learning how to inquire, organize, and discuss, and to discover answers to problems of interest to him. The emphasis is on the process of inquiry as well as on the concepts discovered. A number of factors have worked together to bring about these changes in the image and role of the teacher. Because all these factors will continue to affect education throughout the foreseeable future, a recognition of their effects may contribute to a continuing shift in the status and role of teachers. The nature and pace of change in scientific discovery, technology, communication, and social values have had an inescapable influence on the children who attend our schools. Some teachers have adjusted to, or made positive use of social change; others have resisted it; but none can ignore or deny its existence. This change is manifested in the activities of pupils and teachers through a greater inclination to question, discuss, and criticize; to challenge the significance or relevancy of traditional disciplines; to demand a share in curriculum planning; to relate traditional problems to current matters; and to identify and assert individual needs and interests in the planning of school experiences. Further, growing awareness of the uniqueness of each child, and a better general understanding of child development, have shifted the focus from the teacher and the class to the individual pupil and his teacher. The interests and needs of the individual child are becoming to an increasing degree the basis of the curriculum. Concern for physical, social, moral, spiritual, and emotional development has been added to the school's traditional interest in academic proficiency. This evolution has added the responsibility for counselling to the role of the teacher. A better understanding and application of learning theory has meant changes in classroom methods, and the emphasis has shifted from teaching to learning. A greater variety of new techniques, audio-visual tools, textbooks and resource books, and new flexible procedures for organizing classes have all broadened the variety of pupils' learning experiences. More attention to pupils' interests, more freedom for discussion and experimentation, and a more permissive and friendly classroom atmosphere have altered the climate for learning. Research in education, while unfortunately not always finding its way into the schools, has nevertheless motivated outstanding teachers in many centres and thus has influenced changes in teaching practices. The presence in both classrooms and administrative posts of increasing numbers of teachers with university education and post graduate and research experience has accelerated changes in both school organization and teaching methods. A much broader influence has been the array of high quality in-service programs, provided by teachers' federation groups, local boards, the Department of Education, and other agencies. These have been attended and supported by the majority of Ontario's teachers. Perhaps the most fundamental factor in creating the new role of the teacher is his increased interest in the aims and objectives of education. As never before, teachers are reflecting on the aims of education in a complex modern society, and are attempting to provide an education consistent with these aims. A great number of teachers are now formulating and expressing their personal philosophy of education. More attention is being given to helping pupils solve problems of concern to them, and less to the memorization of specific facts. The focus is more on how to learn and think, and less on what to know and remember. Education is becoming a process, rather than a thing. With the emergence of the new role of the teacher, new problems
are arising to join the teacher's traditional concern for intellectual
competence, security, and economic recognition. The modern teacher
displays interest In professional competence and recognition, in
independence and interdependence, and in responsibility and autonomy.
These concerns are expressed in such questions as: How can the most
capable young people be recruited for teaching? Are we truly a profession?
How can I exercise a greater degree of autonomy in the curriculum
for my pupils? Why must our profession be characterized by the vast
hierarchy of authorities between the teacher responsible for educational
practice and the minister responsible for educational policy? In
view of the eulogies delivered to teachers as a professional group,
why are we so obviously on the lowest level of educational agency
with the least share of policy-making authority and the lowest economic
status? How can I obtain research findings related to my everyday
problems? How can I obtain special help with particular pupils in
my care? How can I have my views represented in new courses of study,
ETV programs and schedules, and other matters? How can I develop
a pupil-centred inquiry program when my competence may be determined
by my pupils' success on system-wide tests of specific content?
How can we adjust our school organization to provide for team teaching,
field trips, individual timetables, non-graded classrooms, and continuous
student progress? The increasing number of such questions, posed
by teachers individually and collectively, offers ample evidence
of their changing function, and adds new importance to their role
in achieving the aims of education. The Teacher at Work Planning The most effective type of long-range planning is done when a group of staff members work together under the leadership of their principal, to prepare a set of attainable objectives and experiences geared to the interests and abilities of the pupils in the school and to the resources of the school and the community. With a somewhat less experienced staff, long-range planning may involve guidelines provided by supervisory personnel. A third approach to long-range planning, and one which makes the least demand on professional maturity, is the use of a detailed course of study prescribed by others. Regardless of the method of planning employed, the teacher must decide on the goals to be pursued during each phase of the program; the major units of study to be undertaken; the means by which progress may be evaluated; the books and other resources that may be required; the means through which pupils' interests may be determined and developed; the organization for large group, small group, and individual study; and the methods by which the pupils may involve themselves in the day-by-day planning of their curriculum. Once long-range plans have been formulated, each teacher or teaching
team accepts responsibility for short term and day-by-day planning.
Such planning is geared to a pace that the individual child can
sustain. The design for the day-by-day program makes allowance for
flexibility. This is most readily achieved by dividing the day into
large blocks of time, thereby permitting diagnostic and remedial
work, and individual and group activities at the time when the need
is greatest or when interest is at a peak. Only if both the long-term
and the day-by-day planning are thorough and flexible can the teacher
be an effective manager, setting and adjusting the stage for learning. Organization of Learning Areas The organization of schoolroom routines should be regarded as a co-operative activity of teachers and pupils, operating within the general organization of the school. The establishment of routines should be an exercise in democracy in which pupils establish and maintain as many as possible of their own 'rules,' evaluating and revising them as conditions demand. This exercise provides for the development of self-discipline and responsibility.
In establishing the atmosphere for learning the professional teacher remains sensitive to the interests and problems of pupils, and allows the direction or pace of the lesson to change as the situation demands. He realizes that for an individual child the sequence of steps in the lesson may be less important than a word of praise or kindness, or a sign of recognition or reassurance; indeed, such actions are themselves part of teaching 'method.' A teacher may actually be teaching very well when he is apparently doing little more than observing pupils at work; he does not believe that effective teaching demands constant activity on his part. The growing interest in integrated instruction through team teaching is leading teachers more and more to a flexible pattern of teaching that employs a wide range of techniques, from formal lessons to individual study or research activities, with flexible patterns of classroom or school organization to accommodate most effectively the various techniques and the special capabilities of the members of the teaching team. The co-operative planning of learning experiences necessitates greater attention to objectives, both immediate and long-term, and in turn leads teachers to adapt classroom procedures to meet these objectives. The modern teacher establishes objectives consistent with his philosophy of education; he views teaching procedures in terms of pupils' experiences; and he attempts to relate experiences on the one hand to attainable objectives, and on the other hand to the student's individual interests and stage of development.
The professional teacher regards teaching aids as tools for learning, and not as crutches to compensate for ineffective instruction. In general, the more competent the teacher, the greater the variety of teaching aids employed, and the more effective the use that is made of them. In recognition of the need to involve each child as deeply as possible, designers and technologists are beginning to put in practice the teachers' request that tools for learning be designed so that individual pupils may use them when their special interests demand. From earliest times, enterprising teachers have observed the effectiveness of real objects in stimulating interest and encouraging observation and discussion. With the advent of printing and photography, flat pictures became popular teaching aids, and probably continue to outnumber all other teaching tools combined. Picture files are recognized parts of the modern class room and school library. Bulletin boards reveal day by day the variety of pictures relating to almost every current topic in the curriculum. During the past few years numerous technological tools for communication have found a place in the various learning areas. Teachers have adapted practices to make use of radio, films, film slides, filmstrips, sound recordings on tape and records, programmed instruction, overhead projection, educational television, and other audio-visual materials. Teachers are not only using ready-made materials, but are also mastering the tools that produce and project them, to provide educational materials of first-hand interest for their pupils. The Committee was pleased to observe the extent to which pupils are engaging in the use of modern tools of communication, in playing or projecting the material for individual or class use, and sometimes in recording material which they are producing as part of their school experience. The professional teacher compares the advantages of each new technological tool with those of the equipment he is currently using, and also recognizes the disadvantages of certain learning tools. He adapts his teaching to take maximum advantage of the strengths and compensate for the limitations of each tool. The new role of the professional teacher places increased emphasis on several of his responsibilities. Teaching is a search-for better attitudes rather than for additions to a bag of tricks; for the best means of making school a valuable experience for all children. Today's teacher must be concerned more with the development of the child than with the conveying of information; he must be more concerned with how a pupil learns, thinks, and acts than with the particular facts he has mastered.
Co-ordination and Co-operation
Teachers should welcome the parents' natural interest in the welfare, progress, and achievements of their children, and should attempt to provide parents with an assessment or report of each pupil's progress. Excellent attempts are under way to report achievement in descriptive rather than numerical terms, and to report on adjustment to school as well as on achievement and on the development of skills and attitudes. More and more, parent-teacher interviews are replacing formal report cards. The interview permits the parents and the teacher to exchange information about the pupil, and to examine samples of the pupil's school work. It establishes a professional relationship which in turn contributes to confidence and a better understanding of the co-operative responsibility of the parents and of the teacher in providing for the security, welfare, and development of young people. In the opinion of the Committee it is time to challenge the value of making all reports to parents rather than to the students themselves. In keeping with suggestions elsewhere in this report related to providing for students' development of responsibility, consideration should be given to reporting directly to students as well as to parents. Depending on the degree of responsibility attained, the decision concerning reporting to their parents might eventually be left to students. Such practices would stimulate a dynamic student involvement in the process of evaluation.
Such a program should include individual and group guidance with respect to opportunities in the overall school program; this is especially important in the diverse curriculum recommended in this Report. The other aspect of the program should be a counselling service that provides a one-to-one relationship for dealing with individual problems and goals, and leads to increased maturity in self-direction. It is the opinion of the Committee that, of the two, counselling should be the predominant service to students, and that some of the traditional aspects of guidance, and in particular vocational guidance, should receive relatively less attention. The way of life today tends to widen the gap between many of our young people and their parents. Understanding and acceptance sometimes are lacking in both the home and the community. In his search for a sympathetic person, the youngster often turns to an understanding and compassionate person; in many cases this is a teacher. Similarly teachers and parents often seek assistance from each other in their desire to understand and help young people. The accelerated tempo of change in society has created a greater need than ever for teachers with the qualities mentioned above. A perceptive teacher can no longer remain on the periphery of a child's world; he must be involved in it, if he is to be of service. The empathic teacher applies, consciously or unconsciously, the basic principles of counselling. During the pupil's early years in school, counselling should be carried on by the professional who knows him best - his classroom teacher. At this stage, when the pupil's curriculum is related to his individual interests, the teacher may provide individual counselling as an informal and natural part of the general assistance and guidance given to each pupil. For this service to become effective, more attention to preparation for counselling must be given in teacher education in both the pre-service and in-service phases. At the senior levels of learning, many aspects of the program, such as study habits, career planning, course selection and the like can be handled effectively in group situations by the homeroom teacher, or by a teacher who knows the student through teaching him in one of his subject areas. It is suggested that this same teacher be assigned to a group of students for more than one year, with provisions, of course, for rearrangement where incompatibility may occur. He must have some background in guidance and counselling but need not be a specialist. In addition to the group procedures mentioned above, he might also handle individual counselling, except for difficult or complex problems. In each school or school system there should be some full-time counselling specialists, with responsibility for handling difficult problems, including serious home problems, economic difficulties, and severe problems of an emotional and social nature. These specialists should keep up with trends in guidance and counselling and give leadership and assistance to teachers. Where there are several smaller schools in an area, an itinerant specialist in counselling may work with the principals, and through them with the teachers. In those cases where the specialist assists students directly, he should know as much as possible about each student concerned. Every counsellor must be able to establish rapport, and be willing to remain in the back ground and listen to the student, but be capable of stepping in at the strategic moment. Good counselling can take place only when there is mutual respect between the student and the teacher. Because many teachers come from a 'middle-class' background, this mutual respect is sometimes difficult to achieve. The teacher should understand the home backgrounds of the pupils in his care, and should strive to support and gain respect in the student for the positive values in his home. In particular, the teacher should guard and nurture, in children of immigrant families, an appreciation of the rich cultural heritage of their ancestors. The teacher lives in the world that now exists but keeps his sights focused on the future. He wages no battle of the generations with his students, but honors and respects them as they are and allows them the dignity he desires for himself. Although he may not totally approve of the present world he knows that mere disapproval is both useless and negative. His effort is to turn the present to educational advantage. The enthusiasm, the concerns, the social problems, the fears and even the anger of young people can, with good teaching and counselling be directed to the attainment of worthwhile educational goals. Today's teacher finds himself in a profession which in recent years has gained new respect, autonomy, security, and recognition. However, both for practising teachers and for young students who are considering teaching as a career, there are a number of professional considerations and problems that need to be resolved before teaching can rank with other recognized professions and before it can attract an adequate number of the most capable young people. Some of these considerations find expression in questions such as the following: How quickly will a university program of teacher education become a basic requirement for all teachers? When will teaching truly become a profession with the status, recognition, and salaries granted to other professions? Can the most able and dedicated teachers expect to receive opportunities, recognition, and remuneration in keeping with their abilities and contribution in the schools? Will teachers as professionals be given, and will they accept and make effective use of, a greater degree of autonomy? Will the role of supervisory, consultative, and administrative personnel become one of service to teachers and pupils rather than one of directing and inspecting them? Can the teacher expect to be freed from many non-professional tasks which could be handled by school assistants? Will teachers be given a greater voice in the development of curricula and in the preparation, selection, and use of teaching aids and other resources? Although some of these matters are currently under study, there remains a need to give them the serious attention that they deserve. In view of the key position of the teacher in the educational process, the resolution of these professional considerations may have an influence on the improvement of education even greater than the proposed new developments in curriculum.
In spite of the limitations imposed upon them, the staffs of the colleges of education and of the teachers' colleges have given dedicated service in preparing the thousands of young men and women who enter teaching each year. They have been capably aided by many associate teachers under whose leadership student teachers engage in practice teaching. Finally, we must acknowledge the good service rendered in the schools by most of the young teachers who have started their professional preparation under the difficult conditions which have persisted for the past twenty years. The overwhelming body of public opinion now favors improvements in teacher education. This reform has been strongly urged by numerous organizations which have presented briefs to this and other provincial committees, by the teachers' professional organizations, and by the staffs of the teacher education institutions, as well as by the press and other segments of the public. While most Western countries, and a number of the Canadian provinces, have come to require two or more years of education beyond secondary school for prospective teachers, Ontario has continued to demand, for elementary teachers, only one such year after Grade 13. For teaching academic subjects at the secondary school level the traditional requirement has been one year of professional education beyond the attaining of a bachelor's pass degree or honors degree. However, for several years the majority of teachers entering the secondary schools have not had the year of professional education but have had only two summers of professional preparation. This alternative, originally introduced because of an extreme shortage of teachers, has meant severe limitations in classroom observation and practice teaching, in the study of methods and of the foundations of education, and in other experiences considered essential to a sound program of teacher education. Plans are now under way for terminating this limited program of teacher education. As stated earlier, there has been in recent years a growing appreciation of the value of education, and a redefinition of the role of the teacher, both contributing to the growing conviction of the public that many of our elementary teachers are younger and less prepared academically than they should be, and that too many secondary school teachers have had an inadequate period of professional education. There is also much complaint that teaching at both the elementary and secondary levels fails too often to attract enough of the ablest graduates of our secondary schools, and that students are too often admitted to teacher education who lack a standing that would permit them to enter or continue a university program leading to any of the other major professions. The quality of the programs of teacher education has also faced considerable criticism, often well founded. Conducted too often in antiquated buildings, the program frequently is based on an inflexible schedule carried on in a traditional way, with limited experimentation. Even in the newer buildings, facilities are generally overcrowded, to the extent that in some instances shifts have been employed. The lack of time and facilities has too often prevented or hampered the use of experimental approaches and plans for specialization, even when these were keenly supported by the staff. The pro grams of the colleges often reflect the central Depart mental control, a condition which has been characteristic of teacher education in this province, and which on the one hand has maintained a respectable minimum standard and on the other hand has deterred the development of autonomy and flexibility in the programs. In 1966, the Minister's Committee on the Training of Elementary School Teachers, under the chairmanship of C. R. MacLeod, Director of Education for the City of Windsor, presented its report to the Minister of Education. The MacLeod Committee submitted 47 recommendations concerning major changes in teacher education, and proposals for means by which they should be implemented. The most fundamental of the proposed changes had to do with the locations and duration of teacher education. The Committee recommended that: a) the program for teacher education be provided by the university; b) the program be of four years' duration leading to a baccalaureate degree and professional certification; and c) elementary and secondary school teacher education be offered within the same university. (It should be noted that the designation of levels of education as 'elementary' and 'secondary' are not in keeping with the views expressed in the present Report.) The Provincial Committee on Aims and Objectives has studied the recommendations of the MacLeod Committee, and its members have also visited a number of teachers' colleges and the colleges of education, and have held discussions with many of the administrative heads and staff members of these colleges. As a result of its studies, the Committee gives whole-hearted support to the major recommendations of the MacLeod Committee and also supports most of the proposals concerning the details and plans for implementation of these recommendations. The present Committee also urges that priority be given to the implementation of these recommendations and that early consideration be given to establishing the Implementation Committee described in Recommendation 29 of the MacLeod Report. In discussions with teacher educators the Committee found general acceptance of the belief that there should be no single avenue to becoming a teacher. There is merit in both the concurrent and the consecutive paths outlined in the MacLeod Report, and recommended in the programs of the proposed faculties of education within universities. For a limited number of competent, mature persons the internship plan is appropriate and should be retained. During its study of teacher education programs, the Committee found a marked disparity in the facilities and provisions between the teachers' colleges and the colleges of education. While both programs are financed, directly or indirectly, by the Department of Education, it is obvious that the degree of financial support differs sharply for elementary and for secondary teacher education. The ratio of students to staff is much greater in the teachers' colleges than in the colleges of education. The facilities and equipment in the teachers' colleges are limited in type and number in comparison with the colleges of education. Staff salaries in the colleges of education are significantly higher than those in the teachers' colleges; the distinction extends even to the payment of associate teachers (sometimes called critic or practice teachers), who receive about twice the remuneration for similar work if their service is related to student teachers from the colleges of education. While differences in facilities and financial support also appear to exist among different teachers' colleges and between the two existing colleges of education, the great distinction in this respect is between institutions preparing elementary teachers and those attended by their secondary school counterparts. In keeping with the concept of a continuous curriculum from K to 12, the Committee recommends not only that teachers for all levels be educated in the same faculty of education within each university but also that student teachers preparing for teaching at the various levels be treated as one group in each faculty for the study of all subjects except those designed for specialization in specific curriculum levels, particular subjects, or other special areas. From its observations and discussions with college staffs, the Committee believes that with improved facilities and lower student-staff ratios, the program in the proposed faculties of education of the universities could benefit from the general application of many of the best features and practices of programs now in existence in various institutions. These include an emphasis on child centred programs and child development approaches, and extensive use of various procedures such as group discussions, seminars, team-teaching sessions, television and other aids, individual and group projects analysis of research findings, field trips, and so on. The focus should be on the processes of learning rather than on the processes of teaching, and on the understanding of child development rather than on the mastery of subject content. Each faculty of education should be given an increasing degree of autonomy so that both experimentation and a variety of programs can be encouraged and developed. In recognition of the need to attract into teaching not only more of our young people, but also a greater pro portion of the most capable students, the Committee urges that a program of recruitment be undertaken cooperatively by the Department of Education, trustees' organizations, the Ontario Teachers' Federation, and the faculties involved in teacher education. Selection committees have existed for some years in the teachers' colleges and colleges of education, but the major function of these has been to recruit and interview rather than to select. For selection to be effective, special committees with representation from the four bodies named in the previous paragraph, should be empowered to assist in recruitment, to interview and select students for teacher education, and to make a recommendation on each applicant to the faculty of education concerned. Additional details concerning proposed programs of instruction, recruitment and selection procedures, and other matters concerning teacher education appear in the Recommendations in this Report.
The involvement of teachers in further education will, and must, continue. The announced plan of eventually requiring baccalaureate standing for all new teachers will create a determination among thousands of our present teachers to bring their own academic position at least to this level. For all teachers there will continue to be a need to keep abreast of, and sometimes at the frontiers of, developments in research and technology. In view of the existing involvement of the members of the profession in their continuing development it probably is unnecessary for this Committee to describe in detail the many plans whereby this may be carried on. Instead, the Committee believes that it should recognize the desire of teachers that a proper climate for continuous development be established, that opportunities for further education be made available to all teachers, and that a coordinated plan be developed for integrating and recognizing the various courses and conferences arranged by the universities, faculties of education, the Department of Education, Ontario Teachers' Federation, local boards, and others. In plans for the continuing education of teachers particular attention must be given to opportunities for those in rural and remote areas. Every teacher has the responsibility to follow many informal routes by which he may keep up to date with new knowledge and improve his competence. As he strives to improve his performance in the classroom, the teacher probably never reaches the limit of his potential. Perhaps the most effective improvement results from consultation, discussion, and demonstration in association with a department head, principal, consult ant, or teaching team, particularly when related to problems identified by the teacher himself. Service on curriculum committees, attendance at professional conferences sponsored by the five teachers' federations, the Ontario Educational Association, and other groups, participation in teacher exchange programs, and visits to demonstration classes and 'lighthouse' schools all encourage the sharing of worthwhile ideas and experiences. Private reading and travel further expand the teacher's horizons. Participation in action research, attendance at research seminars, and the study of reports on research findings make him aware of trends and innovations. An improved attitude and climate for informal professional development would lead to broader and more effective participation in conferences, seminars, and inter-school visits. School boards should recognize such activities as part of a teacher's work, and should be pre pared to make provisions that will enable him to participate when necessary during the school day, and to share expenses for attending conferences. Such arrangements should be available for all teachers, with priority for those most in need of the service that these opportunities can provide. In every part of the province there should be experimental and demonstration schools, staffed by highly competent teachers, and accessible to all teachers of an area, for observation and participation during regular school hours. Opportunities should also be available to enable all teachers from time to time to update their background in specific dimensions of the curriculum, in particular the areas of special education and counselling. The problem of the gap between research and practice, and the teacher's concern about not having ready access to research findings that would be useful to him could in part be resolved if appropriate educational authorities, working with research organizations, would issue digests summarizing research findings in Ontario and elsewhere and describing their applications to and implications for instruction. The motivation for participating in the various informal patterns of continuous development will continue to be the teacher's interest in updating his professional background; he does not expect extrinsic recognition of these activities. The more formal courses for academic and professional development will be offered by the proposed faculties of education, other faculties of a university, school boards, the Department of Education, and other institutions and agencies. Because these courses require large expenditures of time, effort, and money, it is only reasonable that they be properly recognized for purposes of improved certification and salary. At present, there is no system for integrating academic and professional courses; as a result the young teacher is uncertain whether to enroll in approved Departmental summer and winter courses designed primarily to improve his teaching competence, or to take university courses that grant credit toward an academic degree. The teacher who plans eventually to obtain a degree actually imposes on himself a penalty of lost time and salary if he allows participation in professional courses to precede or compete with his degree program. In several provinces of Canada and in most parts of the United States it is possible to include a number of professional courses in a degree program. A serious study needs to be made to determine ways of providing credit toward a university degree for certain well-established professional courses, and of upgrading or strengthening other courses so that they may be similarly accredited. Of course, a large part of this problem will eventually be eliminated by the introduction of the proposed university program of teacher education. The Committee approves the continuance of professional certificate courses for an interim period by the Department and by school boards, and recommends that the proposed faculties of education also offer such courses and eventually assume the major responsibility for them. A more consistent pattern of such courses is needed to overcome the fact that in certain subjects or divisions the teacher may take a series of as many as four courses leading to a supervisor's certificate, while in others only one or two courses are available and no equivalent certificate can be obtained. Although at tempts have been made to meet the demand for courses in various parts of the province, it is obvious that teachers in or near large cities have many advantages in selecting and attending courses. The same condition applies to academic courses offered by the universities. For the purposes of integrating and co-ordinating the academic and professional courses for teachers, and of making them available to more teachers, a committee of teachers and university and Departmental officials should be formed, to study the problem, formulate an integrated overall design for both professional and academic courses, and make recommendations to the profession and to the agencies and institutions concerned. One of its interim functions would be to encourage the Department and the universities to provide courses in appropriate centres throughout the province, and to encourage school boards and other agencies to provide suitable courses. It is suggested that the universities give greater consideration in their degree programs to the needs and background of particular groups of teachers. For example, in planning a degree program for teachers of technical subjects, some consideration should be given to providing courses that recognize their interests and practical background, with greater flexibility in demands for languages or other disciplines generally not included in their earlier education.
*first year winter courses were authorized
Certification During the interim period, it is suggested that an advisory board on teacher certification assume this function; this board should include representation from the teachers' professional organization, institutions responsible for teacher education, trustees' organizations, and the Department of Education. As teacher education becomes a university program, the responsibility for certification should be shared by the university and the teachers' professional organization, with the university granting the degree or diploma signifying the type of preparation, and the teachers' professional organization, operating through a body to be called the College of Teachers of Ontario, issuing the license permitting the qualified graduate to teach. As the responsibility for certification is removed from the advisory board, this body should take on new responsibilities as a board of referral to work jointly with the universities and the professional organization in solving problems that may arise in the co-ordination of their new roles, and as a body to evaluate the qualifications of teachers educated elsewhere. Teachers from other provinces and other countries are making important contributions to Ontario education. The proposed advisory board should review the qualifications of teachers from other jurisdictions and make recommendations to the professional organization, based on the qualifications and experience of the individuals concerned. In general, of course, Ontario credit should be granted for equivalent qualifications. The plan for evaluating teachers' qualifications should be extended to include alternate means of entry into teaching, whether undertaken in Ontario or not, and should be extended also to include programs for nursery school teachers. In cases where a recommendation cannot be granted by the advisory board, or a license cannot be granted by the professional organization, the reviewing body should describe the means by which the person concerned may improve his qualifications and thereby eventually obtain a license to teach. Although the Committee recognizes the value of a variety of routes for entry into the profession, it recommends that there be one basic professional qualification for all teachers, and that as soon as possible the requirement for the basic qualification be an acceptable university degree including or followed by the equivalent of at least a year of professional education. The basic qualification should be endorsed for one or more of the various age groups, or subject areas, or other types of specialization. In keeping with the emphasis on child development, every effort should be made to give at least as much significance to specialization in the various levels or divisions of the school program as in special subject areas; the teacher who specializes in the teaching of young children deserves as high a status as her colleague who teaches a particular subject to older pupils.
The service network in the province includes several thousand people in addition to those who are actually teaching. The largest group of these people have moved from a background as classroom teachers to positions as directors, superintendents, inspectors, consultants, co-ordinators, supervisors, remedial teachers, principals, and vice-principals. In the past, the role of these people was, in most instances, directive rather than supportive; but as the teacher grows in professionalism, the role is changing. The teacher more and more is filling his rightful place as the key agent in education, with the co-operation and support of this network of non-teaching personnel. Another part of the educational network that is perhaps not as well known is staffed by ancillary personnel, most of whom have not served as teachers. Although these persons tend to remain in the background of the educational scene, they nevertheless play a vital role in education. This group, depending upon the size and the needs of the community, may include psychiatrists, psychologists, doctors, social workers, general counsellors, attendance counsellors, nurses, secretaries, business administrators, caretakers, and school assistants. This list is not exhaustive, but will serve to indicate some of
the kinds of persons and services that can and should play a supportive
role in education. Properly administered, this network can do much
to serve some of the needs of children, to assist the teacher, and
to place him in his rightful role of a professional whose primary
responsibility is to provide each pupil with the best learning experience. Careers It should be possible for each teacher to serve in the position where his individual interests and talents enable him to make the most useful contribution. This Committee sees a need for recognition of the teacher as the vital agent in education, and for appreciation of teaching as a significant career in itself. No longer should a teacher have to leave the classroom to advance in his profession. In the future it must be recognized that it is within the school, in working directly with children, that one is giving the highest level of professional service. How ever, higher status for teachers, and a better retention of excellent teachers in the classroom will be achieved only when the teacher is allowed to move from the fringe to the heart of professional decision-making, and when educational planning becomes a product of consultation among equals rather than of direction by superiors. In allocating teachers to various positions, consideration should be given to posting more men teachers to work with pupils in the early years of school. Again, in selecting teachers for supervisory positions, consideration should be given to appointing women teachers as well as men; the ability and potential of the teacher should be the criteria used in deciding where a teacher can make the best contribution, in keeping with the principle of equality of opportunity for both sexes.
Many factors that have stood in the way of the full recognition of teaching as a profession in past years have disappeared or are rapidly disappearing. Today, teachers have attained, or are attaining, the qualifications and attributes necessary for the establishment of a true profession: social and legal status; a university education, or its equivalent, for all members; a dedication to the service of others; and a level of remuneration in keeping with the status, preparation, and service rendered. These are the tangible attributes basic to any profession; but in a profession there is something more a spirit or sense of duty and responsibility. To make teaching truly a profession, its members must strive to help it satisfy the criteria outlined above. The demand in any profession for an advanced level of education implies that one goal of the profession should be excellence; for teachers this means excellence both in depth of understanding and in daily performance. Legal recognition of the profession denotes the offering of a service to the public on the one hand, and the acceptance of recognized rights of the professional on the other. The enthusiasm and dedication with which the obligation to serve society is discharged underlie the spirit and character of the profession. This spirit can exist among teachers as a professional body only when the majority of its members have a vital enthusiasm which permeates the whole group. In reporting the viewpoints of himself and others in an article entitled "What is a Profession?", in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (1961), Alan A. Klass writes: "Every calling has its mile of compulsion, its daily round of tasks and duties, its standard of honest craftsmanship, its code of man-to-man relations, which one must cover if he is to survive. Beyond this lies the mile of voluntary effort, where men strive for excellence, give unrequited service to the good, and seek to invest their words with a wide and enduring significance. It is only in this second mile that a calling may attain the dignity and the distinction of a profession. "Herein exists the area of the conscience of the individual member of a profession, his own personal and private sense of dedication to society. It is in this subtle area of private endeavor that a profession, in its totality, achieves greatness. Sometimes it is called professional spirit. It is the result of the association of men and women of superior type with a common ideal of service above gain, excellence above quality [sic], self-expression beyond pecuniary motive, and loyalty to a professional code above individual advantage." It is important that all teachers be aware that they belong to a profession, that they are a vital part of that profession, and that its future lies with them. As teachers become more professionally minded, it is both natural and proper that they should have more control over matters that concern them as professionals, such as curriculum, work load, recruitment, teacher education, certification, postgraduate education, and administrative procedures. They must come to realize that just as educational programs and practices continually evolve, so also should the level of professionalism of teachers, for professionalism is not a static concept; it is a developing dynamic function that offers a worthy challenge to the teacher.
The modern curriculum demands that curriculum control be centred in the classroom. In spite of this demand, many teachers find that courses of study, time tables, specific textbooks, standard report cards, system wide examinations, and many other determinants and controls on the curriculum are prescribed by authorities who cannot possibly understand the program in each classroom for which these factors are prescribed. Until teachers have a large measure of autonomy and a share in policy-making, the modern curriculum cannot become a reality. Through the years, as educational systems have become larger, various hierarchies of administrative personnel have been allowed, or even encouraged to assume control. As more and more administrative and supervisory levels become established, policy-making moves farther and farther away from the classroom. Our society recognizes in many occupations a gradation of roles which crystallize into a series of hierarchies, each with higher status, more policy-making power, and supervisory responsibility over positions lower on the scale. In a typical work team in industry, some of the levels, in descending order would be directors, research engineers, professional engineers, technologists, technicians, craftsmen, machine operators, and laborers. The same system of gradation seems also to be applied, at least in the eyes of many, to the educational team, and includes such descending levels as superintendents, supervisors, principals, vice-principals, consultants, department heads, and classroom teachers. At least two differences exist between the typical work team and the educational team, both of which suggest that the concept of ascending hierarchies of status and decision making power should not apply in education. First, all the administrators in the educational team are teachers by profession and should be placed in specialized roles not to direct the teacher, but to assist him. Secondly, and even more important, the classroom teacher is not the counterpart of the laborer on the work team; at times he performs functions of each of the levels of the work force; he is both a professional and a technician; he is a director, a planner, and an engineer in the educational work team. Unfortunately, the educational system itself often equates the classroom teacher with the laborer on the working team. The more the levels of gradation, the farther policy-making is removed from the classroom. Instead of the pupil being the focal point, he is often forgotten, lost in a maze of policies, procedures, memoranda, reports, and surveys that filter down to the classroom, usurping teacher energy and time that belong to the pupil. It is not surprising that in this process teachers lose much of their initiative and enthusiasm, and learn to place emphasis on the disciplinary, custodial, and recording functions that comply with instructions from the central office. Enthusiastic young teachers learn quickly to submit to the operational doctrine by which schools are run. Lip service is often given to the child-centred curriculum, but in the machinery of education the system, the school, and the organization of the school often take precedence over the best education of the pupil. It is ironical that the very system which was set up to assist the child frequently loses sight of him and of his teacher. The time has come to turn the spotlight again on the pupil and his teacher, to scrape away the moss of administration or redirect its services to assist the teacher. It is time to heed the observation of Dr. James Paton in his book, Education 5A: "The professionalization of teaching will not be complete when all classroom teachers, elementary and secondary, have university degrees. The fully qualified teacher must act, and be treated, like a professional person who is capable of exercising initiative and responsibility, and not like a piece-worker who requires, or is given, whether necessary or not, constant supervision and inspection." Instead of being suppressed or directed by layer upon layer of supervision and inspection, the teacher should operate in an atmosphere that makes it abundantly clear that he is a key person in the teaching team. He, with his principal and colleagues, should be given the major responsibility for education in their school. Most of the decisions that relate to the school's program should be made by the teachers in an atmosphere of discussion and consultation. With the achievement of this goal, the various levels of outside supervision should gradually either disappear or develop into new patterns of service to the teacher. This Committee agrees with Dr. Paton's observation of four major ways in which growth in professional autonomy and improvement of teaching effectiveness may be stimulated: 1. An atmosphere of professional equality in the school, embracing
young and older teachers alike, and permeating the relations of
principals, consultants, and classroom teachers; Rights and Responsibilities The structure of the system and of the school itself should be a democratic one-one where the teacher has freedom, not one that is so rigidly bound by rules and regulations that he feels his freedom is being questioned. The teacher's loyalty to the system will be conditional upon the degree to which the system and the individual school serve to make it possible for him to do his best work. The system that meets the professional needs of its teachers will usually have the highest teacher morale. The teacher works within the terms of reference and general policies accepted by society, which are ultimately expressed through the office of the Minister of Education. The Minister, then, is the responsible agent for education for society at large, and the teacher is the responsible agent to the group of citizens whose youngsters are in his care. It is essential that communication between these two responsibilities be direct, clear, and unbroken. The voices of the teacher and of the Minister must reach each other without being filtered through layers of administration. Similarly, it is important that there be avenues for communication between the teacher and his board. Teaching can be a lonely task and a teacher shut away in a classroom all day may be a lonely person to whom problems tend to loom larger than they actually are. Because teacher dissatisfaction strikes hardest in the classroom, at the heart of education, it behooves both school boards and the teaching profession to strive toward greater mutual understanding through effective communication. Too often the only communication between the board and the teachers relates to salary considerations. In such a periodic and limited system of communication it is not surprising that some sections of the public believe that salaries represent the area of greatest interest to teachers. While teachers feel they have a right to salary commensurate with the contributions they make, they are quick to point out that there are many things, often more important than salaries, that they would like to discuss with the board and that have a direct relationship to the quality of their work. Some of these matters are: class size; instructional load; provision of school time for preparing lessons, marking tests and exercises; released time for in-service activities; and placement within the system. It is worthy of note that recent proposals for the enlargement of the area served by single boards of education have caused concern to numerous teachers on two grounds: that the teacher will lose his feeling of identity and recognition as the board becomes larger and farther removed from his local community; and that in applying its proper responsibility of serving all parts of the larger unit the board may transfer him to distant corners of its jurisdiction without considering factors that may influence his own choice of school or community. Improvement in such areas of concern may have greater impact on the improvement of teaching than salary increases. Recognizing both the legal authority of boards and the educational competencies of teachers, the two groups should view the consideration of matters of mutual concern as a joint responsibility, and should establish a climate for open-minded discussion as a background for reaching decisions advantageous to the school and to the profession.
The Ontario Teachers' Federation has an excellent record of achievements to its credit: in making recommendations for the better education of youth; in providing for professional development of teachers; in initiating curriculum projects; in striving for improved teacher qualifications; in gaining for teachers a stronger voice in educational policy-making; and in promoting the image, status, and welfare of teachers. Much of this success is the result of the dedicated interest of members, delegates, and executive officers. Also contributing to the effectiveness of the Federation is its basis of membership; only in certain provinces of Canada does employment as a teacher in a publicly administered school carry with it statutory membership in the teachers' professional organizations. The development of the Federation underlies its major problem today. Prior to 1944, there were five autonomous voluntary groups, each serving the teachers of a particular sex, level, or phase of the Ontario school system. The Teaching Profession Act, l944 united the five groups into a loosely-knit organization, the Ontario Teachers' Federation. Within this unit there continued to be disunity because each affiliate retained its former membership and most of its former autonomy, and continued to represent teachers of one particular sex, level, or phase of education. While the central organization has had many achievements, the special interests of the various affiliates have often remained paramount, and these groups have not submerged their individual loyal ties for the common good of education. The one reason that the separate groups have been able to act as effectively as they have is that the educational system itself was stratified, with the various affiliates representing the teachers of different divisions. The Committee advocates a unified system of education from K to 12. In the face of this, it is hoped that the Federation and its affiliates will re-evaluate their present organization. It is difficult to visualize the complete and successful integration of the present elementary and secondary levels by teachers whose loyalty is to a specific division or level. A unified federation will be essential if the professional organization is to assume a position of leadership in the new curriculum. Similarly, an integration of the various affiliates into a single, unified teachers' association will be essential if the proposed College of Teachers of Ontario, acting on behalf of the entire teaching profession, is to assume and perform the important task of licensing teachers. The major interests of the Federation have always been the child, the quality of work done in the class room, and the welfare of teachers. These interests will continue, but in addition the Federation should in the future place more emphasis on assisting its members toward acceptance of greater professional responsibility. The success of this new emphasis will determine the degree to which teaching is accepted as a profession. The degree of acceptance of the professional status of teachers will in turn determine the extent to which the Federation shares in the forming of policies concerning teacher recruitment and selection, teacher education and certification, patterns of administration, educational research, and autonomy of teachers. In the opinion of the Committee, the affiliates of the Federation should endeavor not only to become unified into a single federation, but also to make this a truly professional organization. Some segments of public opinion have for many years associated the Federation mainly with salary campaigns. The time has come for the Ontario Teachers' Federation and its present affiliates to make it clear to the public that while professional salaries are in fact important in attracting, rewarding, and retaining good teachers, salary considerations are not the main reason for the existence of the organization; rather, the Federation exists to assist its members to become professional persons working toward the best education of young people. In a previous section concern was expressed about the teacher's loss of autonomy in the hierarchical structure of education. The Federation must also be certain that it truly represents the interests and views of the teacher, and that it does not become so centralized in its policy making that it becomes yet another of the external bodies directing the teacher or limiting his freedom.
As changes in curriculum are placing greater emphasis on the role of the teacher, the time has come to take another look at the principles underlying salary policies. Excellent teachers are needed because excellence in education depends chiefly on them. Although promotions to supervisory and administrative positions will and should continue to be made from the group of the most competent teachers, the Committee believes that we cannot afford to lose so many of our best teachers to administration. At the present time, the higher the administrative level, the greater the prestige and salary. It is only natural at present for the best teachers to be lured to administrative positions, because, unfortunately, the classroom teacher seems to have less of everything: prestige, recognition, salary, autonomy, and time for planning. This Committee believes that we should pay the outstanding teacher at least as much as a principal. In terms of their relative service to education, outstanding teachers are penalized in salary if they are not willing to leave the classroom and go into administration. The Committee recommends that ways be found to pay such teachers in keeping with the contribution made. It is not prepared to recommend any one particular method of determining the value of a teacher; rather it is suggested that a serious study be made co-operatively by the Department of Education, school boards, and the Federation, to determine various ways by which excellent teachers can be encouraged to remain in the class room. At present several school boards employ methods of recognizing and rewarding excellent instruction and leadership in the school system, as well as additional responsibilities. It is important that any such methods provide for additions to the established salary schedule, and not be used as a device for establishing lower basic salaries for the main body of teachers. Many boards of education are to be commended for establishing parallel salary schedules which provide equal salaries for similar qualifications and experience regardless of the grades taught by the teachers concerned. These boards recognize the value to the pupil of highly-qualified, experienced teachers from the time he enters school until he graduates. The policy of providing equal or parallel salary schedules for teachers regardless of grade assignment is consistent with the development of a continuous curriculum from K to 12, and will eliminate one of the factors that in the past hindered the transfer of teachers to grade levels where they could make the best contribution to the school system. One of the objectives of a revised plan of salary schedules must be the attracting of the most suitable young people to the profession. To be in line with business and industry, minimum salaries must be more competitive. Young people cannot be expected to enter the profession solely for the love of teaching or from a sense of duty. They have a right to expect salaries comparable to those earned by their peers in the business and professional world, and that reflect their contribution to society. If people are to make a career of teaching, salaries will have to reflect public confidence in them. There will also need to be larger increments leading more quickly to higher maxima. If higher minima are paid, there should be less need for an increment during the probation period; an increment during this period suggests that approval has been given to a young teacher before a decision is made concerning his tenure in the system. In any study of salaries, some consideration should be given to bringing salaries in rural areas more in line with those of larger centres. This could provide some incentive for teachers to move more freely from one system to another. Today when employers in almost every industry are demanding higher qualifications, it is almost inconceivable that there are teachers so highly qualified that many boards will not hire them. Unfortunately, highly qualified teachers often find they must go to the larger centres if they are to receive salaries commensurate with their qualifications. With the enlargement of the area supporting a school system, and with proposed additions in provincial grants, every school system should be able to employ well-qualified teachers. In the years ahead we should expect rapidly increasing numbers of teachers with bachelor's degrees, and a reasonable number with master's and doctorate standing. The growing professionalism of the teacher, the greater involvement of teachers in curriculum groups, and the growth in communication among teachers, administrators, and school boards on many aspects of education will reduce the preoccupation with salary considerations, that is interpreted in most press reports of teacher-board meetings. However, salary improvements and professional growth will, and should, continue to go hand in hand.
At present, about a third of a teacher's day may go to clerical and other non-professional tasks, and an hour or more may be spent on work that could be done by technicians and by automated devices. The teacher may find that he is spending less than half his time on the professional duties for which he has prepared himself and which represent his greatest potential contribution to his pupils. One of the most effective ways of reducing the non professional duties of the teacher, thereby permitting him to devote his time to professional tasks, is the employment of school assistants and technical assist ants, to whom some of the clerical, supervisory, and technical duties that teachers otherwise assume may be allocated. The qualifications and duties of these non professional assistants should be outlined by only a minimum of legislation and regulation; they should be assigned to a school rather than to an individual teacher; and their duties should be determined by the principal and staff in keeping with the needs of the school and the abilities and experience of the assistants. At the primary level, assistants could work with a team of teachers, relieving them of routine duties, the keeping of certain records, some aspects of supervision, assembly and dismissal, distribution of materials, and so on. At more advanced levels some of these tasks would be replaced by assistance with routine checking of books, marking tests, supervising seat work, and preparing and arranging materials and laboratory equipment. A year or two of work as a school assistant would be valuable background for many young persons considering entry into teaching as a career. With the introduction of television and other audio visual aids on a large scale, there arises a need for a school technician - an assistant who would have in addition to other duties the responsibility for maintaining, delivering, and setting up equipment, ordering audio visual materials on requests from teachers, taping and playing television programs, and so forth. The services of a school technician in a large school, or in several smaller schools, which would share his services, would not only release teachers for professional duties but could also ensure a better economic return for the large budgets spent on audio-visual apparatus and materials, by proper inventory and maintenance, by more efficient ordering and operation, and by a greatly increased utilization by the teachers who would be spared the mechanical aspects of using modern communications media in their teaching areas. As the demand for school technicians and other assistants increases, and as their needs are better described, it is reasonable to expect that one or more of the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology would establish a one-year program of training for these positions. This Report employs the term 'school assistants' rather than 'teachers' aides' in describing the persons who would assist teachers with non-professional tasks. There are two reasons for this: such persons should be assigned to a school and not to a teacher; and they are not assistant or substitute teachers and therefore are not professionals. Nevertheless, in the life of the school they should be closely associated with the professional staff. While they would not receive professional remuneration, they should receive salaries that reflect their training, experience, and the services rendered. In many communities there are adults who give dedicated service as volunteer workers in hospitals and various service institutions. Similar volunteer workers could provide valuable assistance in schools, if encouraged to do so. The role of each volunteer would relate to his particular interests and activities. Much professional, clerical, and library experience that could be utilized to give service to the school and satisfaction to the volunteer is currently unused. The recruitment and encouragement of groups of volunteers could provide a new impetus for many Home and School and Parent-Teacher Associations. There are in most communities various professional and technical experts whose specialized and up-to-date knowledge would make them valuable resource persons whose services on a part-time professional basis might be utilized in the curriculum. Some of the areas in which such persons could make significant contributions are vocal and instrumental music, ballet, art, drama, introductory psychology, science, economics, politics, oral French, and a wide range of commercial and technical topics. Serious study should be given to ways of making use of resource persons who could enrich the curriculum with their specialized knowledge and abilities.
In addition to the books, supplies, and audio-visual devices which belong in each classroom, pupils and teachers should have access to three resource centres which provide tools for learning for the entire school: these are a library, an instructional materials centre, and an audio-visual centre. The library will remain as the major resource centre, making available books, periodicals, tapes, filmstrips and other readily-catalogued materials; small study and viewing carrels will provide opportunities for individual and small group reading and discussion, and transmission of selected radio, tape, and television programs. The instructional materials centre should provide for central ordering and storage of routine supplies and for duplicating of seat work, tests, and school-produced lesson aids. The audio-visual centre should provide central storage, maintenance, and distribution of recording and projection equipment, that cannot be provided in each classroom, and should have an efficient system for ordering films, tapes, and other materials not usually stored in each school. In the future there will be a need for teachers and pupils to have a greater share not only in the utilization of teaching tools, but in the production of learning materials, including films, film slides, television and sound tape programs and transparencies for overhead projectors. The study of some of these as forms of communication will also enter the curriculum. Centrally located resource centres will be required in each region, county, or major city, where pupils and teachers can select from a wide range of materials and can also have a part in production of certain audio-visual materials. Opportunities to produce films and television programs already exist in some areas, and screen education is being introduced in a few centres. The technological revolution in the school poses a number of considerations for teachers. The problem of obtaining and maintaining suitable equipment and materials is gradually being overcome by larger audio visual budgets and the appointment of audio-visual coordinators; the addition of school technicians can be expected to turn the teacher's concern away from the 'hardware' to the educational content of the programs and materials. The problem for the teacher of selecting appropriate materials, particularly in film and television, from the many production sources would be relieved by constantly updating film catalogues and by issuing a single master television schedule integrating the program schedules of the several producing agencies. With the increased emphasis on the education of the individual, there arises a need for greater flexibility in the selection and use of teaching materials. With some materials, such as television programs and films, it will be some time before each student can select his own materials at the time he needs them. However, it is possible to work toward this goal by having more tapes and films in schools, and by moving closer and closer to the classroom level the processes of production and distribution. As stated elsewhere in this Report, the Committee believes that the future growth of television production agencies should be away from a central Departmental agency and toward regional, county, and eventually local production. The future use of television tape recorders will make it possible for the selection and playing of programs to be completely flexible, and geared to the curriculum demands of the school, the class, and eventually of the individual. It is essential that teachers participate in decisions concerning the design and purpose of technological tools for learning, and participate actively in planning, producing, and evaluating instructional materials. There is always a danger in film and television production that the technical team may dominate the production; the educational content must be in the control of the teachers working in co-operation with the production team. The development of new forms of communication will make new demands on teachers as professionals to keep up to date with technology as it relates to education. Teachers should be expected to keep abreast of such developments, just as a doctor is expected to use modern techniques and medical discoveries. There will be a need for a continuous program of in-service courses in utilizing and producing audio-visual materials. Encouragement should be given to local teachers' groups to assist in the growth of local and regional television and film production agencies. Computers and programmed instruction systems have not as yet made their impact felt in most schools. The ways in which computers and various 'teaching machines' can contribute to education should be under constant study by educators. It well may be that computers will eventually serve the pupil's individual needs for educational materials more effectively than any existing material or resource centre. The probable value of computers appears to be so profound that the Committee suggests that a provincial committee composed of interested and competent scientists, technologists, and educators periodically assess, describe, and recommend ways in which computers can contribute to education.
The latest, and potentially most far-reaching, of the plans to make maximum use of the special resources of each teacher has been called 'team teaching'; this in general is a system whereby two or more teachers, some times with school assistants, plan for, teach, and co-operatively evaluate two or more class groups of students within a flexible timetable, with facilities for organizing them into groups of various sizes, depending on the particular learning experience. From the student's point of view, team teaching tends to provide a greater variety of experiences, more skillful presentation and more effective organization of some aspects of the lesson, greater opportunity for discussion, and greater attention to his individual requirements. For the teacher, this plan tends to provide more time for preparation, more communication with colleagues, a more co-operative atmosphere, and greater opportunity to make use of special skills. It also lends itself to long range planning, careful analysis of objectives, more use of films, television and other tools for learning, and presentations by persons in the community who can relate their background to topics under study. At the elementary level most patterns of team teaching have several teachers with classes at the same level working together in one large room or learning area. This large area, which is in effect a 'school within a school,' has a completely flexible timetable, with the children grouped and regrouped on the bases of interest, ability, subject, or activity. The teaching team meets daily to organize the program, but also confers informally many times each day in dealing with specific aspects of the program. The choice of teaching responsibilities may be extremely flexible; the teacher may serve as co-ordinator for a particular activity, interest area, or ability group on either a temporary or continuing basis. Although some of the aspects of this kind of team teaching can be adopted in almost any school, its wide spread acceptance will necessitate, in the design of new schools and the modification of existing ones, larger areas, preferably with movable partitions to accommodate the various types of grouping employed. In the intermediate and senior years, team teaching makes even greater provision for large- and small-group instruction. While various patterns occur, teaching teams at these levels are usually concerned with only one subject area, although their operation should increasingly take them across traditional subject lines. In one part of the learning experience one of the teachers presents a point of view or a body of knowledge to a group of 100 to 150 students. This experience frequently employs audio-visual aids, a presentation by a visiting specialist, or a prepared panel discussion, but most often takes the form of a well-organized presentation by the specialist teacher. Depending on the nature and purpose of the lesson, the large group is then divided into smaller groups; these groups may include about 30 pupils for individual study, or, more commonly, about 15 pupils for the discussion of topics raised in the large group presentation. Besides providing pupils with opportunities to discuss content and not merely absorb it, the small-group sessions enable teachers to identify and stimulate interests, to get to know individual pupils, to measure individual progress, and to encourage all pupils to have an active part in the lesson. The extension of team teaching in the senior years will demand greater flexibility in timetabling and a closer liaison among subject areas. Large blocks of time for a group of related topics or subject areas will permit the teaching team to adjust the timetable to the procedures to be employed. Within the overall timetable there should be opportunities for the team members to confer and to plan their co-ordinated phases of the program. While team teaching, if poorly planned, may tend to emphasize unduly the large-group presentation or lecture, and as a result become subject-centred rather than student-centred, it provides as no other pattern of organization the opportunity for group planning, for integration of subject areas, and for small-group discussions with students. At the same time it places teachers in a consultative role designed to find and use better ways of using the talents and resources of the teacher and the community. By directing the co-ordinated attention of teachers toward the individual student and his learning experience, and by demanding and recognizing special competence in teachers, new patterns in the organization of instruction may contribute, more than any other proposed educational change, to the achievement of that professional status which has long been the aspiration of teachers and which is the brightest hope for the students in their care. Continued on Next Page |
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