As teachers, just as in any career field, it is always important to know who your boss is, who has influence on the decisions made upon you, and where to go if you want things changed. The ladder of influence and decision making for Education is long, with teachers and staff being close to the bottom. Above them are the principals and vice principals, who are superceded by the Superintendent. The Superintendent is influenced by the School Division and School Board, and on the top rung of the ladder is the Provincial Government.
It is important for teachers to see ourselves as a part of a large team of people, in which every member is doing their best to ensure that our students receive the best education available to them. Each and every member of this team has a very specific job; some are in charge of finance, others in charge of hiring, and some in charge of educating the students. None of these are more important than the others, and in fact each position relys on each other in order for it to exist. If there were no teachers to instruct the students, the curriculum would not have a purpose, and if there was no one in charge of hiring teachers, there would be no one for teachers to apply to in order to gain a job.
The Provincial Government is responsible for the Education Act, which states that teachers must attend all meetings called by the principal, and the curriculum. I believe this is important, as all the students from the Province of Manitoba should be recieving a similar education, so that they all possess the same skills and are at the same educational level when they attend the Provincial universities and colleges. Teachers are the people that can see first hand how the students are handling the curriculum, so they should be able to have a strong voice in case any alterations or revisions need to be made. Even though the curriculum and the Education Act supercede all factors of Education, each rung is given a responsibility that allows each School Division to differ and be a little unique. Each board is responsible for creating its own policy manual, and each division is responsible for making its procedures manual.
I believe that each teacher should have a voice on how money is being spent on teaching resources in their school, as they have first hand knowledge of the resources that can help their students learn to their potential. This information works its way up the ladder by being passed on to the principal, who reports it to the Superintendent, who brings it up with the School Division. Every person at each level of the Governance ladder has different experiences and knowledge, which will lead them to their own opinion. All these opinions must be valued, and points weighed, in order for the final decision to be made.
School Board members are elected officials, who take on the position of ambassadors for their community. These people are not teachers, but they are often the parents, grandparents, or neighbours of the students we are teaching. It is important for them to represent their ideas and opinions on what should be happening in our schools, as they bring in the community values perspective. I believe its nice to have someone not in the school community sitting on the school board, as they can have an "outside looking in" opinion on how our school is functioning. As teachers, we often only have one perspective of the school, and it is valuable to gain knowledge of another opinion.
Our system of Governance for Education is set up like a ladder, but we must remember that the sides of the ladder connecting the rungs extend from the very top to the very bottom. Just as these sides connect all the rungs together, every member in the Education ladder is also connected. Each of us has our own responsibilities, but it is important to share our thoughts and listen to those on the different rungs. Just as messages can be passed down the ladder, they can also be passed up. Every person in our Governance team has the best interests of one group in mind, our students, and it is important to put all our knowledge and opinions together to create the best learning experience for each and every one of them.
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