Learning Activity 8.2
For my podcast, I chose to focus on the problem of the lack of professional development discussion opportunities for small program teachers.
Unit 8
Learning Activity 8.1
As a teacher at Coquitlam Open Learning, the problems I face at work are unique to an online setting. Here are three issues that I was dealing with before I went on maternity leave.
- Implementation of New Curriculum
Since I teach mathematics for grades 10 through 12, implementation of the new curriculum for these course are scheduled for September 2019. While there is still a lot of time until then, this still poses a challenge for online teachers because in September 2019, the entire online course must be developed and ready to go. Unlike classroom teachers who can develop their unit and lesson plans as the school year progresses, online teachers must have everything ready to go at the beginning of the school year because students need to be able to access the whole course upon registration. This is a huge time commitment and with 200+ students in my courses, it is hard to find time to develop new courses. Another challenge that this creates is that there will be students who will be midway through the course. Since we are not bound by semesters and the school year like a “regular’ high school, students can complete their course anytime within a 10 month period. We will need to find a way to transition students under the old curriculum into the new curriculum without disrupting their progress. - Student Academic Integrity
One of the biggest challenges in online learning is ensuring student academic integrity. Since we do not work with the students face-to-face in a classroom and because our student loads are so big, it is difficult to ensure that students are completing their own homework. Furthermore, there have been problems with cheating during testing even though students must write tests in testing sessions supervised by online teachers. For example, when I first started my position at Coquitlam Open Learning, our principal discovered that there was a tutoring agency in Coquitlam that had copies of our tests and was distributing them to their clients. - Lack of professional development and interaction Coquitlam Open Learning is a small program consisting of only 8 teachers where each teacher is generally responsible for one subject area. As such, I am the only mathematics teacher in the program. Because of this, I do not have the opportunity to discuss topics such as teaching practices, the new curriculum, etc., with other math teachers. A few years ago when I was teaching at a large high school, I often spoke to my mathematics department head and received advice from her regarding classroom management and different activities I could do in the classroom. It is isolating sometimes to not have someone in the same subject area to talk to, especially with the new curriculum being rolled out.
Unit 8 Activity 2: Women in the Workplace
Teaching is oftentimes already seen as a predominantly female profession. In fact, the majority of my colleagues are female so inclusion is not really an issue. However, vice-principal and principal positions are often seen as male dominated even though the majority of teachers are female. I have always wondered why there are so many female teachers, yet such few female administrators. My department head is a female teacher who has taught in the district for over 20 years. We had a discussion about this once and she shared her opinions with me.
First, a lot of becoming an administrator is about networking and having the right connections. Since principalships have been mostly male dominated, it is hard for female teachers to move up and make the right connections and relationships. As well, many female teachers at some point in their lives will take maternity leave. While this may only be for a few years, it does create a break in the teacher’s career and slows down the pace of advancement. Furthermore, when opportunities come up during a teacher’s maternity leave, she is unable to take advantage of them because she is not eligible to apply for the available positions.
The Coquitlam School District has a mentorship program where administrators and experienced teachers in leadership positions mentor younger teachers and give them professional advice on career advancement. I believe that it would be beneficial to have a mentorship program specifically for female leaders mentoring female mentees. Female teachers face obstacles and paths that are completely different from their male counterparts so it could be more advantageous for a female mentee to be led by a female mentor.
Unit 8 Activity 1: Women in Leadership Case Study
The case study that I choose is Case 15.3 Pregnancy as a Barrier to Job Status in Northouse’s book.
Having recently given birth to my baby daughter, I can identify with the struggle that Marina is facing. When I first found out I was pregnant, I was hesitant to tell my principal as well. As a new teacher, I am potentially laid off every year in June and it is up to the principal to request me back the following September. However, I felt that if my principal knew that I was pregnant and would be going on maternity leave in November, there was a high chance that he would not request me back to my position in September. Luckily, there were no lay-offs this past year in my school district and I was guaranteed my position back in September.
Marina potentially faces losing her job because of her pregnancy. While there are laws that protect pregnant women from losing their jobs, there are ways that organizations and companies can work around this. In Canada, employers are required to offer women returning from maternity a position that offers the same salary, but it does not have to be the position that the women originally had before their maternity leave. I have heard horror stories where women come back to completely different jobs and ultimately make the decision to leave because they have essentially been forced out. I have also heard of organizations going through “restructuring”, which relieves them of the obligation to offer women their jobs back.
When I told my principal that I was pregnant, he awkwardly said “This is congratulations…right?”. My situation is different from Marina’s because as a teacher, I am protected by a union. The principal has very little say in my advancement. Marina’s boss, Roy, should have been more supportive when Marina told him about her pregnancy by reassuring her that her position would be safe. Just as a decent thing to do, he should have congratulated her.
Before I left on my maternity leave, my principal hired a replacement teacher to take my position and had her come in for two days of training. Roy could do the same with Marina. I think it would be unfair to Marina’s colleagues if they had to distribute Marina’s work among themselves. This would also make Marina’s position obsolete if her coworkers could manage without her for three months. The best thing for Roy to do is to try to hire a replacement employee for this time.
In order to improve the situations of pregnant women in this organization, the company should consider giving Roy sensitivity training and educating him on appropriate reactions and behaviors. As well, the human resources department should be more diligent in ensuring that the rights of pregnant women are protected.
Response to Sadie Thompson’s Light From Many Lamps Post (Week 8)
This is my response to Sadie Thompson’s post Light from Many Lamps, Part 7 or 8.
Hi Sadie! I agree with you that it is possible to fully live in a day-tight compartment. Reflecting on past experiences and planning for the future are important parts of personal and professional growth and development. Like you, I believe I worry more than the average person. I often dwell on mistakes I have made in the past more than I should, especially when I cannot change them. I also sometimes worry unnecessarily about the future about things that are unlikely to happen anyways.
In my opinion, I think that living in a day-tight compartment is not simply just not reflecting on past experiences or planning for the future, but rather to remove the negativity and regret when thinking about the past and future. We should look to the past as a learning experience but not to dwell on what we could change. We should prepare for the future but not worry about improbable or negative outcomes.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
Response to Rob Tegelberg’s Light from Many Lamps Post (Week 8)
This is my response to Rob Tegelbery’s post Light From Many Lamps 4: Will Durant.
Hi Rob! Thank you for your insightful and reflective post on this story! I wrote about the same one and discovered even greater insight after reading your post!
I really appreciated your reminder that only Christ can provide us with true, everlasting happiness. While I have been taught this in Sunday school and in church for many years now, it somehow escaped me as I wrote my reflection on how my baby daughter is everything that I have ever dreamed of. In the busy-ness of everything that comes with having a newborn baby, I had forgotten to always put all my hope, trust, and faith in Christ…oops! Thank you so much for this important reminder!
Light From Many Lamps – Will Durant (Post #4)
Will Durant: Gladly I surrender myself to love and parentage
As a new mother, I was drawn to Will Durant’s passage where he writes about finding joy in his family life (as cited in Watson, 1988, p. 245-246). Durant speaks of the happiness he discovered through other experiences in his life, but that the happiness was fleeting. However, he eventually found true lasting happiness with his wife and young daughter (as cited in Watson, 1988, p. 245-246).
I have never doubted that for me, my happiness would come from my husband and my daughter. However, what really resonated with me in Durant’s passage is when he writes “Today I have neglected my writing…Was it not the final purpose of my toil that I should be free to frolic with her, and spend unharassed hours with the one who had given her to me?” (Durant as cited in Watson, 1988, p. 246). Since giving birth to baby Macey three weeks ago, I have been trying to find time to complete my coursework for the two courses that I am taking. As I sit here at my desk reading and writing, I am trying to balance and rock Macey to sleep. Some days I feel frustrated that I cannot get my work done like I used to be able to, and even when I do, the quality of my work does not compare to what I used to be able to produce. Other days, I feel guilty that my coursework takes time away from time that I could be spending with my daughter. Durant’s message reminds me that ultimately, I need to focus on what really matters. While my professional development is important to me, my family will always come first. I should not feel frustrated when Macey takes me away from my work because she will always be a priority over my schooling. However, I should not feel guilty about spending time on my coursework either because ultimately, my self-improvement and development will benefit her in the long term since it will make me a more well-rounded parent and it will create opportunities for our family in the future.
As I navigate through the first few weeks of parenthood and realize its parallels to servant leadership, I am realizing how complicated leadership really is. Previous to giving birth to Macey, I saw servant leadership as very black and white and that decision-making was easy as long as one abides by the ten characteristics of servant leadership (Northouse, 2016, p. 227-229). However, I now understand leadership is not as straightforward as it seems. I want to create a better future for Macey by completing my graduate degree and opening doors for myself professionally. However, I need to balance this with the fact that Macey needs me to be present right now. As a servant leader in this situation, I need to have the foresight to understand that some sacrifices are necessary in order to have long term success but I also need the awareness to understand that my present actions have a lasting impact on Macey’s development and happiness (Northouse, 2016, p. 228).
If there is one thing I agree completely with in Durant’s message, it is that “if I do as well as I can the tasks for which life has made me, I shall find fulfillment, and a quiet lane of happiness for many years” (Durant as cited in Watson, 198, p. 246). Even at only three weeks old, Macey is already my pride and joy! She is all of our (me and my husband) dreams come true!
Here is a picture of Macey sleeping while I speed-type this assignment like a maniac before she wakes up for her next feeding!
References
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Watson, L. E. (1988). Light from Many Lamps. New York: Simon and Schuster.