The president of the P.E.I. Teachers’ Federation says her message to educators this year is to “keep the head up” and to continue to do good things for students.
Bethany MacLeod says the federation’s annual convention last week served to remind the 2,200 teachers, staff and education students who participated, that resilience is a crucial trait for those responsible for educating the next generation.
“The working conditions of teachers have changed dramatically over the last few years … you have (English as an additional language) students, you have students with varying needs and one teacher’s responsible for, sometimes in primary grades, 28 to 30 kids.”
The theme for this year’s convention was RISE – resilient, innovative, spirited educators.
“We just see that class composition and the diverse needs in our classroom that exist. As we’ve said to government many times, we’d just love to see more support in the classroom.”
During the two days of professional development at the Delta Prince Edward, participants heard from George Couros, Waneek Horn-Miller and Stu Saunders.
Couros, a leading educator and speaker on innovative student learning, spoke to the teachers Thursday morning.
On Friday morning, educators heard from Horn-Miller, a former Olympian in water polo who has played a key role in the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women.
“She empowers our communities to overcome adversity and helps us turn reconciliation – justice, healing and dialogue – into a cornerstone of our national institutions,” said a PEITF news release.
The last keynote of the conference, Friday afternoon, came from Saunders. He has delivered speeches on the topic of leadership since 1991, the release said.
“We say it every year, but really, I heard it from so many that they just felt it was one of the best yet,” said MacLeod, who has been chosen as the next president of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation.
“They’re able to collaborate and meet with their fellow teachers and they just really enjoyed themselves this year. It was a great time.”
