Reports: eVote 2009 | Minister Lauds College Accomplishments | Registrar Brian McGowan Announces His Retirement | Council Meeting | Council Approves Professional Designation for Teachers | Council Sets Budget for 2009 | College Sets Annual Fee for Next Three Years | New Council Members | Qualifications Renamed or Discontinued | Regulation Changes Facilitate Hiring of Supervisory Officers | Minimizing Barriers to Entry | Atkinson Scholar Update | Investigations | Dispute Resolution | Hearings
Professional designation

Council approves professional designation for teachers

The College is developing a plan to implement a new professional designation for Ontario College of Teachers members in good standing after Council voted to introduce the designation.

At its September meeting, Council approved proposals from the Quality Assurance Committee:

  • granting a professional designation of the Ontario College of Teachers to all members at their initial registration and its continued use so long as the member remains in good standing with the College
  • specifying “Ontario Certified Teacher” or the abbreviation “OCT” in English and “Enseignante agréée de l’Ontario” or “Enseignant agréé de l’Ontario” or the abbreviation “EAO” in French as the name of the designation
  • trademarking the designation under federal legislation
  • asking the Minister of Education to amend the Ontario College of Teachers Act to limit the use of the designation to College members in good standing and to make it an offence to misuse the designation, with fines of $2,000 and $5,000 for first and subsequent misuses.

The Registrar will provide ongoing updates on implementation at Council meetings and through Professionally Speaking.

Council’s Quality Assurance Committee reviewed research from consultations with members, education stakeholders and members of the public in response to the idea.

The research included specific questions in the annual members’ telephone survey in July, focus groups in four Ontario locations, invitations to 37 education stakeholders to provide input and an online survey sent to 25,000 randomly selected College members. In all, more than 5,000 College members responded.

National market research and public consultation firm Angus Reid Strategies was engaged to provide independent oversight to the focus groups and the online survey of members. Council’s Editorial Board approved the questions in the members’ survey for Professionally Speaking.

The research showed significant support for a professional designation for Ontario teachers among teachers and the public:

  • 66 per cent of the telephone survey respondents expressed support for a professional designation for teachers
  • 87 per cent of focus group participants felt the same
  • 80 per cent of the 4,201 members who answered the electronic survey supported the notion.

Among responses from stakeholders, only one expressed strong reservations about the proposal. The majority of stakeholders supported the idea and the rationale behind it.
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