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The Work Life of Alberta’s Teachers
As Alberta’s teachers prepare for collective bargaining, the issue of teachers’ work life has come to the forefront. Indeed, concerns about hours of work have topped the list of almost every bargaining unit in Alberta. Surveys tracking teachers’ daily lives have, in some cases, found work-time commitments of more than 60 hours a week—well above the already high 52 hours a week recorded in earlier studies. Teachers are genuinely concerned about the time needed to ensure that their students receive top-quality instruction in school.
This is not, however, just an instructional time issue; it relates also to assignable time—assigned tasks that do not involve teaching. Since 2007, virtually every school board in the province has expanded its school year for teachers and assigned them additional tasks, such as supervising, posting marks online, completing summaries of lessons, developing individual education plans for more and more students and mandating professional learning activities. Completing these tasks is time-consuming and reduces the time available to focus on the teacher’s main responsibility: teaching.
There has been parallel growth of tasks in the work lives of school and central office administrators, as well.
With renewed interest in transforming public education, the Alberta Teachers' Association believes this is an opportunity to establish standards for both instructional and assignable time and to establish limits for school and central office administrators. This would be an important first step as we move toward greater personalization of learning. Limits on teacher time must be established—teachers cannot deliver professional services 24/7. Accordingly, if we’re to travel down the transformation highway (and we believe there’s merit in the journey), we need to place reasonable restrictions on hours of work, especially assignable time. The focus needs to be on creating time for teachers to plan and prepare their lessons and assess student progress—tasks that are absolutely essential.
In the decade ahead, teaching quality will define school jurisdictions around the world, and Alberta teachers need time to ensure that their teaching is as good as it can be. Restrictions on instructional and assignable time will help them focus on their professional teaching practice—diagnosing student learning needs, planning and preparing lessons, and completing student assessment. Of course, these restrictions won’t produce a 35-hour workweek, but they will provide greater ability to focus on instructional priorities and teaching quality, and will address growing concerns about recruitment and retention of teachers. The same is true for school and central office administrators.
Transformation of education could bring other changes to teachers’ work life. Classroom teachers should have a greater role in the development of curriculum—the detailed program of studies should be replaced with a core curriculum, and teachers should have the authority to develop curriculum appropriate to the school and its community. The science curriculum, for example, would look different in Fort McMurray (oil) and Taber (agriculture), and the result would be programs that are a lot more engaging for students. Student assessment would need to be different, too, and a higher value placed on assessment by teachers. Devolution of authority would require variations to school and system leadership, and the focus would need to support the teacher to meet student needs. Support services would need to be integrated to make services readily available in all schools. Transformation will mean increased personalization of learning and increased use of technology (being mindful of what we know about students’ and teachers’ physiology and psychosocial limits).
Today’s work life issues facing Alberta’s teachers must be addressed. Teachers can’t deliver around the clock; reasonable limits on work must be set. And when limits are in place, teachers will be better able to focus on teaching quality, which will be the prime driver in public education systems in the decade ahead, and to meet their professional and instructional obligations. Teaching quality will also affect educational transformation, which also encompasses changes in curriculum, assessment and leadership. Together these changes will ensure that Alberta’s public education system continues to be one of the best in the world.
