The Alberta Teachers’ Association

Need help with your Professional Growth Plan?
In Alberta, every teacher employed by a school system must develop and implement an annual plan for professional growth that outlines the PD activities the teacher intends to undertake in that year. The requirements for an annual teacher professional growth plan are outlined in the Teacher Growth, Supervision and Evaluation Policy of Alberta Education. The ATA has developed self-paced online tutorials to help teachers with their plans. Visit the ATA website (www.teachers.ab.ca) and click on For Members and then on Professional Development and Professional Growth Plans. For more information about TPGP, supervision and evaluation, contact Association PD staff at 780-447-9400 (in Edmonton) or 1-800-232-7208 (elsewhere in Alberta).

Join a specialist council today—it’s free
As a benefit of ATA membership, active members are entitled to join one specialist council of their choice each year at no cost. Specialist councils are an integral part of the Association’s activities. Granting members automatic membership in a specialist council is an innovative step toward increasing professional development opportunities for educators throughout Alberta and a way to promote the professional expertise of teachers in curriculum and specialty areas. Regular membership is restricted to active members of the ATA and to associate members who are ineligible for active membership as specified in ATA bylaws. Regular members are entitled to all the benefits and services of council membership including the right to vote and hold office. For information on joining a specialist council, visit the ATA website (www.teachers.ab.ca) and click on For Members and then on Professional Development.

A Guide to Alberta’s 28th Legislature now available
A Guide to Alberta’s 28th Legislature is the most comprehensive publication available on the operation of Alberta’s legislature and government. The three-ring binder format allows for updates. To order a copy, e-mail distribution@ata.ab.ca.

Resource promotes safe and caring discussions
The PRISM Toolkit for Safe and Caring Discussions About Sexual and Gender Minorities helps teachers promote safe and supportive classroom discussions about sexual minorities and gender variance. PRISM is an acronym for “Professionals Respecting and supporting Individual Sexual Minorities.” The PRISM toolkit provides opportunities for teachers to explore sexual orientation and gender variance. For information and access to resources, visit the ATA website (www.teachers.ab.ca) and under For Members, click on Professional Development and then on Diversity, Equity and Human Rights.

Work-life balance of teachers is focus of study
The Situation for Alberta Teachers is the fourth report stemming from the 2011/12 National Study on Balancing Work and Caregiving in Canada, authored by work-life balance experts Linda Duxbury (Carleton University) and Christopher Higgins (University of Western Ontario). It compares the results from a sample of 2,462 Alberta teachers with national findings from 25,000 employed Canadians and highlights unique work-life challenges for Alberta teachers. The study found that teachers in Alberta exhibit high work overload, high work-family conflict and are significantly less likely to have any forms of workplace flexibility. The 2011/12 National Study on Balancing Work and Caregiving in Canada: The Situation for Alberta Teachers is available online at http://bit.ly/110iPDd.

Resources for Teaching Somali and South Sudanese Children
The Canadian Multicultural Education Foundation and the Alberta Teachers’ Association, with funding from Alberta Culture and Community Services, have released two new resources for teaching immigrant children: Teaching Somali Immigrant Children: Resources for Student Success and Working with South Sudanese Immigrant Students—Teacher Resources. Many children from recent immigrant families face special challenges in school—cultural, linguistic and social. Those challenges become their teachers’ challenges. These two resources have been developed by teachers and community resource people with the assistance of a professional development consultant. The booklets are available free of charge on the Canadian Multicultural Education Foundation website (www.cmef.ca).

New ATA Publications Available
Featured here are only a few of the Alberta Teachers’ Association’s newest publications. Additional publications are featured on the ATA website (www.teachers.ab.ca). To order a copy of a publication, send an e-mail to distribution@ata.ab.ca.

Creating Possibilities, Balancing Priorities—The 2012 Professional Development Survey
An ATA Research Report: November 2012
This study reports the results of research the Association undertook during the 2011/12 school year on teachers’ perspectives of professional development activities and opportunities across the province. (PD-86-25 2012 11, 31 pages)