"Sign of the Times": Protests and Post(er)s

This past week, my union featured prominently in my activities. On Thursday, April 4, I attended my first ETT (Elementary Teachers of Toronto) steward meeting. On Saturday, April 6, I attended the Rally for Education at Queen's Park.

April 4, 2019 - ETT Steward Meeting

What can you do? Plenty!

At my school, the steward job was unfilled. Our ward's executive officer spoke to us at lunch and told us that it was important to have union representation at the school level. I like the solution that our school staff devised - three of us volunteered to share the role for this year and next year. After that, another three people have signed on to be the shared reps, and we even have the year after that penciled in with three people. That way, no one feels "trapped" in the role, and no one is alone with the responsibilities.

As part of the new school union team, I went to the steward meeting and I have to tell you that I felt extremely supported. My supply coverage was handled promptly, we were well-fed, and we were given resources to facilitate the meetings and conversations that need to happen at our schools. I did not feel that my time was "wasted" at all during the day - it felt informative and productive. Sam Hammond, president of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) came and addressed the group in the afternoon, providing some helpful context as well as some words of encouragement to fire us up! The bonus was that I was able to see many colleagues and teacher friends at the meeting!

Me with one of my York U Fac of Ed friends, Vicki!

Teacher-librarian stewards rock!

A special call-out goes to Yolanda B'Dacy, the vice-president of ETT. She is so poised and professional, and despite being such a huge, influential figure in our union, she made a point to say how pleased she was to meet me (me! a newbie steward!) in person because she's one of my Twitter followers. Her attention is a huge honour and privilege. Our union executive does not act like they are above us; they are with us, alongside us.

One of the activities we had in the morning was to make posters for the rally. A few things helped me with this task that I should probably mention, maybe to help inform future steward meetings and sign making blitzes. One was my media literacy background. When making media, creators must consider the intended audience. Who do we hope reads this sign? That's why, when someone at our table suggested we use the phrase "Am I next?", I questioned if that would be the most effective slogan. Teachers are already seen as self-centered; the focus of our signs, if we want to appeal to the general public as well as those with a stake in education, should be about the students. Here are some of the examples of the signs that were created during our ETT meeting. The first two photos are of signs that I helped to make.

The second helpful resource for me was Sylvia Duckworth and her sketch-noting tutorials. I bought her book and have been practicing the use of another font to vary the look of my posters, and it's working. Thanks Sylvia!

The third helpful resource for me was the words of Peter Skillen. Peter has made some wonderful posts on Facebook analyzing the current situation in education in Ontario. I'm paraphrasing some of what he's said, but he wants to encourage educators to take the "high road" in this fight, and not stoop to insults or name-calling. Peter drew attention, for instance to people who are highlighting the Minister of Education's prior job experience with a goat co-operative. I believe that this is a tricky balance to maintain, because visual and verbal humour, especially on hand-made signs, are very catchy and have news media appeal - but we must be wary of looking elitist or mean-spirited. Peter is no fan of the recent decisions impacting Ontario education, but he has posted links and facts countering the current government's narrative that Ontario students are failing in math. His exact words were:

Let's find a way to object and differ while retaining our dignity.

The Toronto union stewards were not the only ones planning and taking action. On the very day we met, students across the province walked out of class. My high-school-aged son was at a retreat that day, but despite hearing that a walkout was not "school-sanctioned", the retreat organizers made the schedule flexible so that students could attend the protest. My son checked it out, but I haven't heard much about it from him.

April 6, 2019 - Rally for Education

My view of the protest

In 2012, I attended the protest against Premier McGuinty's Bill 115 at Queen's Park. I also went down to Queen's Park in 1998 to protest Premier Harris' policies. (I have the photos from both events to prove it.) In 2019, I traveled again to the lawn of the Ontario Legislative Assembly to make my concerns known about the disturbing recent decisions made impacting education in Ontario.

Couldn't get a good shot of my t-shirt, so here it is post-rally

Rallies and protests can be odd things. Should we be joyous or incensed? Happy or mad? Who is it for? Who sees it and what exactly do they see? Does it make a difference?

The mood does swing between a sense of hope and optimism that things can change for the better and fury that the current provincial government seems to prioritize cost-saving over adequate funding. Once again, I was delighted to see friends from all over the province in attendance, like fellow dHL team member and TL, Amanda Williams-Yeagers and a face I haven't seen in ages - my friend Lori McCannell, who now works for OECTA (Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association). Big, big thanks go to my friend and fellow TDSB teacher-librarian Jackie Dixon who picked me up from home (and I made her wait 30 minutes longer for me than she should have - shame on me!) and commuted with me and her two young children to attend the rally. It was energizing to see so many people who care about education in one place - so I guess that the rally is just as much for us and solidarity as it is for news media awareness and for politicians to pay attention.

As some of the signs said, size matters. This is true for class sizes and protest rally sizes. Even if none of the MPPs or Ministers were present that day, they could not ignore the large crowd of people that arrived from all over the province to make their displeasure known. This is just the first step that many of us must continue to take to try and ensure that our students aren't in crowded classrooms, with fewer teachers and ridiculous restrictions and requirements. Wish us all luck!