The Alberta Teachers’ Association

New Campaign Highlights Value of Public Education

The Alberta Teachers’ Association’s latest public relations campaign, The Face of Education, is designed to remind people that public education exists to serve our children, and that the ATA is “the face” of public education.

The campaign’s objective is to increase public awareness that the Association is a strong advocate for public education. We do this by highlighting that the needs of teachers and students are the same if we are to create optimal conditions for learning.

This campaign, developed based on the results of extensive polling and focus groups, will continue to use a variety of media to reach the public, such as television ads, movie theatre pre-roll, print ads, grocery ad bars, magazine and billboard ads and radio. The campaign also includes a heavy online presence. This campaign will also include an opportunity for people to support public education—in Alberta, public education refers to public, separate and francophone schools—by signing a pledge for public education at www.IBelieveinPublicEd.ca.

2learn Continues to Grow

The 2Learn website is now in its second year as part of the Alberta Teachers’ Association; the website’s curated collections of educational resources continue to grow. There are many 2Learn pages, or resource collections, that are valuable to Alberta teachers.

The Student Sites are filled with curricular resources with interactive or media elements, such as videos and virtual explorations. These sites can be accessed from the main 2Learn site and are organized by grade level, subject and curriculum outcome.

The Enjoy pages and Special Editions are also very popular 2Learn features. Enjoy Pages are filled with curated resources and media relating to specific themes and seasons. The Special Editions are collections of resources on topics of current interest and importance. The resources in these featured collections are chosen to meet the needs of teachers and students in their classrooms. In addition to the theme-based collections described above, educators can explore other 2Learn pages that curate teaching resources about digital literacy, inclusion and digital creation.

Watch for some exciting changes coming to 2Learn this fall. Visit www.2Learn.ca to read the latest news and access featured resources.

Growth Planning Tools Available

September and October are growth planning season.

The Professional Development program area of the Alberta Teachers’ Association has resources to help teachers and school leaders with the growth planning process. The Association’s website contains sources of evidence and growth plan templates as well as a revised and updated version of the comprehensive digital, interactive tool entitled Reflection on My Professional Practice.

The tool helps teachers and school leaders reflect on the knowledge, skills and attributes of their professional practice as related to the competencies outlined in the new Teaching Quality Standard (TQS) and the Leadership Quality Standard (LQS).

To access all resources related to growth planning, visit www.teachers.ab.ca. Click on My ATA>Professional Growth Plans.

Specialist Council Membership Has Benefits

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 a step toward increasing professional development opportunities for teachers throughout Alberta and a way of promoting 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. Each council is operated by volunteer teacher members who contribute their time, talents and enthusiasm to plan and implement programs and activities for the councils. Specialist councils organize annual conferences, produce publications, maintain websites and offer regional workshops and seminars.

For more information, visit the ATA website (www.teachers.ab.ca) and click on For Members and then on Professional Development.

New ATA Publications Available

Breaking the Silence: A Guide for Sexual and Gender Minority Teachers in Alberta
The Alberta Teacher’s Association is committed to fostering understanding and acceptance of sexual and gender minority (SGM) teachers and works to protect the conditions of professional practice for all members. This guide was written to help break the silence that still surrounds the experiences of SGM teachers in schools. It is a source of information and support for SGM teachers who have questions or concerns about matters related to their employment.
(PD-80-40 2018 04)

Off-Campus Education in Alberta: Current Realities and Future Prospects
This study explores select off-campus coordinators’ (OCCs) responses to questions about their employment experiences, administrative responsibilities and working conditions. The report raises awareness about the important role of OCCs and emphasizes their often inconsistent and nonformalized positions in Alberta schools.
(COOR-101-14, 2017 12, 64 pp)

We The Educators
This literature review works to provide a balanced view of the standardisation, personalisation and privatisation of learning to inform an analysis of the converging fields of educational technology and datafication. It is part of a larger project, “We the Educators” (www.wetheeducators.com), which brings the concepts explored in this research to life through video animation in English, French and Spanish.
(COOR-124, 2017 04, 20 pp)

Respectful Schools Online Toolkit

A new online toolkit is available to help teachers and principals create respectful school learning environments through human rights education.

Developed by the Alberta Teachers’ Association in collaboration with various partners, the Respectful Schools Online Toolkit provides curriculum-related activities, lesson plans and resources that help teachers demonstrate concepts like fairness, equity and inclusion.

The toolkit was developed due to a 2015 amendment to the School Act that added a requirement that school boards, students and parents contribute to a “welcoming, caring, respectful and safe learning environment that respects diversity and fosters a sense of belonging.”

The toolkit contains resources, articles and real-world best practices related to human rights and human rights education. It’s available at respectfulschools.ca.

Students Challenged to Develop Green Initiatives

The Climate and Environment Student Action Challenge is back for the 2018/19 school year, and it’s up to you to take action! Alberta students from kindergarten to Grade 12 can apply for up to $1,000 from Alberta Environment and Parks to make their environmental action projects a reality.

The Student Action Challenge asks Alberta students to develop initiatives or projects that promote healthy environments and ecosystems or reduce carbon emissions. The program encourages stewardship in Alberta youth as they gain hands-on experience tackling environmental issues that directly impact them, their schools or their communities. Plan a project for the school year, make it happen and share your results with Alberta.

For more information or to apply for a grant visit aep.alberta.ca. The deadline to apply is Oct. 31 at 4:30 p.m.