Monday, March 17, 2014

A look at resolutions at the BCTF convention

A look at resolutions at the BCTF convention

Dean Recksiedler
Classroom
THINKSTOCK PHOTO

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – It’s Spring Break for the kids, but not for their teachers.
Instructors are in Vancouver for the BC Teachers’ Federationconvention and they have some interesting ideas.
Some seem a little political, like organizing workshops to bring teachers and parents together so they understand each other better. Critics would say such a resolution would likely be in the hopes of getting moms and dads to back union demands, come contract negotiation time.
The Surrey Teachers’ Association wants to end the concept of students bringing their own tablets to school to work on. It says the philosophy creates a digital divide between the have and have-nots.
A pitch from the Vancouver Elementary School Teachers’ Association targets letter grades. The association argues “non-graded assessments can help students learn that are not focused on getting A’s or the highest percentage.”
While the experts have been pushing for the end of letter grades for some time, many parents in school districts like Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows whose kids are getting “anecdotal evaluations” don’t like them.
Other resolutions that could come up include condemning the use of educational materials from the oil and gas industry and insisting school districts use only wireless routers that can be turned off over fears of potential radiation exposure.

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