Finland, a way forward

Finland is considered to have the best educational system in the world and it has not had labour unrest with its teachers in 30 years, according to Dr. Pasi Sahlberg, a renowned educator who has written a book about the Finnish school system.  In a recent radio interview (http://www.cbc.ca/thesundayedition/shows/2013/02/17/finnish-schools/),  a comment made by Dr. Sahlberg caught my attention:

"You will not find in any of the high performers (school jurisdictions) that there is a confrontation between teachers and the government. ... It indicates that things will not get better  (for student achievement) this way because a fight against teachers is never a good idea ... at least if the international evidence is concerned." 

In other words, the research shows that in jurisdictions where there is teacher labour unrest, students will lose.

At one time, Dalton McGuinty and his government seemed to understand this in their own way but instead of encouraging teachers with good education and respect as they do in Finland, the McGuinty government's tack increased teacher compensation while devaluing their work.  Curriculum became arduous and prescriptive while instructional methods became standardized.  At a Toronto education conference in September 2010 attended by senior Ministry of Education officials and the premier himself, I heard remarks that left me with the impression that Ontario's educational gains were somewhat disappointing for the government. If you're interested in reading more on this topic, see my opinion piece in The Ottawa Citizen, http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/oped/McGuinty+micromanaging+larger+education+issue/7728905/story.html.  

Still little stays constant in politics for long.  Most politicians seem to have thick skins and perhaps this is a necessity in the world of dog-eat-dog politics.  I have watched some good politicians consumed by the political process.  But the thick skin with an ego to boot can become a fatal flaw if a politician begins to believe the rhetoric of his staff, consultants and party functionaries and I suspect this is at the root of the observation by various writers over the centuries that 'power corrupts.'  It's not unusual for politicians to begin to believe they have the answers and they end up conflating the party's or government's well-being with the well-being of the citizenry.

I believe this is what happened in the lead-up to the Kitchener-Waterloo by-election.  With the passage of Bill 115, a majority of government members showed themselves willing to scapegoat teachers in return for majority government.  Here is what Premier Kathleen Wynne said in an interview with the Toronto Star editorial board on January 15: 

"Those of us who argued that collective agreements should be negotiated, and that that was possible given our relationship, never dreamt that we would need to use legislation. But when some of the tacticians saw that maybe this could be something that could be used in a byelection, for example, it spiraled into a worse conflict. It was a tactic that didn’t and couldn’t work. It ran counter to our brand and it can’t happen again."

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/2013/01/15/ontario_liberal_leadership_candidate_kathleen_wynne_i_want_to_be_the_social_justice_premier.html 

While Premier Wynne may want to ensure that it can't happen again, the others around her who dreamt up Bill 115 are most assuredly less convinced.  To guarantee that teacher unrest in our schools ends and real negotiations become a reality once again, these others need to be convinced too and will only be convinced when it becomes obvious that there is no other way forward.

There are only two outcomes possible at this time: either the restoration of teachers' labour rights or a decade lost to labour unrest in our schools.  Premier Wynne has acknowledged the government's mistakes and that is a good first step.  Now the Premier needs to make the case for the restoration of labour rights to her colleagues if she hopes to save her government and restore the Liberal Party brand.  To do this, Premier Wynne is going to need our insistence and the persistence of strong teachers' unions.


Thank you for staying with me on this rather long journey.  Let me emphasize that the views expressed in this blog are my personal views only.  

This has been a very gratifying experience and I am flabbergasted that there are almost 10,000 pageviews.  I am now going to take a few days off.  It turns out that it's a lot of work to write a blog!  If you have an idea for a topic, please send me your thoughts in the comments box below.

Have courage,
Pam