Two pieces of good advice
“Most students don't really like to waste the day; they find it boring. Good occasional teachers keep students on task” (p.6). I think it’s a good advice to place ourselves in the students’ shoes and to offer them the best course that we can even though it might not be exactly what they are used to: Good occasional teachers “provide fresh approaches to a subject”.
Whether you choose one school or many, your own subject or many, it is best to be available as often as possible at first, both to build up your confidence, and to get established” (p.16). After reading this Survival Skills for Occasional Teachers, I do believe that if we begin as an occasional teacher, we have to be flexible and make ourselves as available as possible in order to demonstrate how good we are and be called again in the future.
Help for Occasional Teachers
My particular concern about occasional teaching
As I have no experience as an occasional teacher (or as a teacher!) in Canada, I don’t have many pressing concerns. However I heard of other’s experiences and the most difficult part seems to be the insecurity of employment. Furthermore, not everyone can deal with not knowing what you do on the next day or is able to adapt if something was already planned for that day. I indeed understand that an occasional teacher’s schedule must be very flexible and I am not sure this would be easy to manage with a young family life.
It seems the first thing to do is to get out there and make yourself known. This system is very strange to me as my positions in France were always assigned to me without me having to look for them. First impressions do matter if you want to be called again and accumulate working days. The Survival Skills for Occasional Teachers, by the OSSTF, was very interesting as it made me comprehend better what is expected of an occasional teacher.
However it only approaches once the issue of needing childcare to make yourself available. The only solution they give is to remind us that “you can always turn down an assignment when it is offered” (p.16). But this doesn’t help making a good first impression. There is hope though: “Because of the flexible time schedule, occasional teaching is a good choice for someone with school-age children. Daily hours and holidays will be the same, and if there is sickness or a family emergency, the occasional teacher can choose not to work” (p12).
My chosen division
The Aggregation, diploma allowing me to teach in France, enables me to teach Visual Arts from grade 6th to 12th as well as in college and university. In Canada, Teachers qualified to teach in the Intermediate and Senior divisions require two subject specialties and are certified to teach Grades 7 to 10 and Grades 11 to 12. Thereby, to obtain an equivalence to teach in Ontario, I must choose a second teachable, French as Second Language, ABQ course I will take later on.
Two surprising facts found in
Survival Skills for Occasional Teachers (OSSTF)
“You'll find yourself a little off-balance to discover you're teaching Vocal Music, and you can't even carry a tune” (p. 3) “Options to Consider: Many schools, all subjects” (p. 15). “Realize that although occasional teachers might be highly qualified in their own subject area, they might feel very ill at ease with the subject matter assigned” (p. 5). I can’t help but find it very strange that a board could ask (allow) you to teach a subject you are not specialized in. I couldn’t see myself teaching Music or English!
We don’t have occasional teachers in France to cover for short period of time (one day or two). A regular teacher will only be replaced if the board is made aware of a long illness. Although I am not sure that sometimes, if the teacher is not qualified, the course does not look like daycare, I find it impressive how flexible the system seems to be in Ontario.