The BC Teachers strike is an important and controversial issues in the province. Many parents, children, and teachers have been affected and continue to suffer from a lack of resolution of the bargaining issues.
As BC students, it is important that you become familiar with the issues.
Therefore, I have compiled several listening activities and a reading to help you become more familiar with the issues in general.
Why Listen?
One of the best ways to improve your reading, as well as your cultural and background knowledge of what is going on around you is to follow one issue over several days or weeks.
Both vocabulary and information will frequently repeated. This will help you build up your vocabulary - especially as it applies to the issue. As well, it will help your listening since you will already be familiar with some of the information, and therefore realize you don't need to listen to every word.
Listening # 1
Students out of School for Second Week
Students out of School for Second Week
If you don't have the appropriate flash, activate it.
Comprehension Questions:
Answer the questions on a separate piece of paper and be prepared to discuss them in class.
1. How long is the strike likely to continue for?
2. How many children are out of school due to the strike?
3. Why are the children out for a second week?
4. What is binding arbitration? What does it mean?
5. When did the BCTF (BC Teachers Federation) make the offer of binding arbitration?
6. Why did the government refuse binding arbitration refuse? eo.
7. What is likely to happen next? Have any new talks been scheduled at the bargaining
table?
8 What does the expression "across the board mean?"
Answer Key for all three videos at the bottom of the page.
Answer Key for all three videos at the bottom of the page.
Listening #2
Teachers Propose to End Strike with Binding Arbitration
Comprehension Questions
Answer the questions on a separate piece of paper and be prepared to discuss them in class.
1. What does the expression give something/someone the "cold shoulder" means
2. What is binding arbitration - in more detail?
3. Who makes the final decision in "binding arbitration?"
1. What does the expression give something/someone the "cold shoulder" means
2. What is binding arbitration - in more detail?
3. Who makes the final decision in "binding arbitration?"
4. Name two specific actions the BCTF (teachers' union) prepared to do if the province
agrees to binding arbitration?
5. What has been the provincial government's response so far? ( according to this video)
6. When did the government last accept binding arbitration?
7. Who were they negotiating with at that time?
8. What was the result of that "binding arbitration"?
9. What is the response of one parent?
Listening #3
Digging into Class Composition
Digging into Class Composition
Comprehension Questions
Answer the comprehension questions. then read the article below for some answers and more information.
1. What is the main issue in the labour dispute?
2. What do you think the expression "cut to the bone" means?
3. What are teachers unable to do because they've been cut to the bone?
4. According to the government how many ELL ( English Language students - second l
language) are in the schools? What is the percentage?
5. According to the government, how many special needs are in the schools? What is the
percentage?
6. What does the union say about special needs students?
7. Why has the government pooled these students in with regular classes?
8. What does the union want?
9. What do the teachers think it will cost ?
10. What does the government think it will cost?
11. According to the union how much money has been saved each year when it illegally stripped teachers righ5ts to negotiate class size and composition.?
12. What do they say about the kids?
READING: Class Size and Composition
from CBC News.ca
Read the following story which includes some of the information on the video as well as additional information that will help you understand the issues.
If you ask B.C.'s 41,000 striking teachers what the most important issues are in the ongoing contract dispute, many will tell you it's class size and composition.
“In the old days we use to care about the individual students more,” says Peter Hill, an education instructor at UBC and a high school teacher at University Hill Secondary.
“You can't do that if you're cut to the bone. You have to teach to this great mass of kids in front of you.”
Hill and his colleagues say they’re teaching increasing numbers of students who are English Language Learners, formerly known as ESL, or who have special needs. These needs range from learning and mental health challenges to physical disabilities
“If you have two or three, that’s do-able,” says Hill.
But four or five students with special needs in a class is more likely, he says, adding some elementary school teachers have nine or ten of these students in their classroom.
Government seeking efficiencies
But the provincial government is painting a different picture. The Ministry of Education says about 10 per cent of B.C. students have special needs. Another 11 per cent are ELLs.
However, their numbers are averaged from across the province so they don't necessarily reflect what teachers are facing in individual classrooms
The ministry admits that 24 per cent of classrooms have four or more students with special needs — a figure that doesn't include ELLs.
But they say it’s more efficient to group them together with an educational assistant — also known as a teacher’s aide — who provides extra help to students in regular instruction, career programs, aboriginal education, and special education.
The government says there are 9,374 educational assistants(counting full-time equivalents) — an increase of 60 per cent compared with 2005/06.
But the BCTF also points out the number of specialist teachers — a group including teacher-librarians, counsellors, special education teachers, English language learning teachers, and Aboriginal education teachers — has decreased by 20 per cent between 2001 and 2012.
According to the BCTF, approximately five per cent of classes have more than 30 students.
But the ministry says it’s less than two per cent, or 1,067 classes overall, an 88 per cent drop from 2005/06.
Further it says two-thirds of these students are in subjects like band, drama and gym where larger numbers are beneficial and intentional.
Where is the money?
Another discrepancy between the two sides is the cost of funding class size and composition. The union and the government’s estimates are $500 million apart.
“Let's get the numbers nailed down,” says BCPSEA chief negotiator Peter Cameron. He says that If the two parties can’t agree, they should go to a third-party to get the exact figures.
Even if the numbers do get nailed down, there's still a debate over whether the money should be spent. The government says it just can't afford what teachers want.
Teachers point out that when government illegally stripped their right to bargain on this issue a decade ago, they started saving around $300 million a year, and kids deserve to have some of that put back into the system.
Class composition fast facts
- Total students: 558,985
- Decline in students since 2001: 11.7 per cent
- ELL students: 61,395
- Special needs students: 57,242
- Total classes: 68,020
- Classes with education assistants: 20,368
- Classes with four or more special needs students: 24 per cent
1. What else did you learn from the article that you didn't learn from the video?
2. Was it useful? Why?
3. Did it help you understand the issues any better? How?
Answer Key to all three news stories
