HomeMy WebLinkAboutHead of Ontario’s secondary-school teachers’ union vows to defend educators teaching new sex-ed curriculum - Globe & Mail - 08/16/2018 - Globe & Mail - 08/16/20188/17/2018 Head of Ontario's secondary -school teachers' union vows to defend educators teaching new sex -ed curriculum - The Globe and Mail
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Head of Ontario's secondary -school teachers' union
vows to defend educators teaching new sex -ed
curriculum
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The head of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation vowed to defend
educators who teach aspects of the current sex -education curriculum this fall,
standing alongside his elementary-school counterpart after the provincial
government said it would be replaced with a version that dates back 20 years.
The updated curriculum, rolled out in 2015, discussed issues such as consent, online
safety and gender identity, and union president Harvey Bischof said many teachers
feel "trapped" between their obligation to follow the Ministry of Education's
direction and "their ethical imperative to keep students safe."
"We will defend to the hilt any member who, in the good faith exercise of
professional judgement, strays outside the outdated confines of the 1998 curriculum
in her or his students' best interests," Mr. Bischof told the audience.
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8/17/2018 Head of Ontario's secondary -school teachers' union vows to defend educators teaching new sex -ed curriculum - The Globe and Mail
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Ontario's Progressive Conservative government said that after it reinstates the 1998
curriculum it will consult parents on how to update it.
When the the most recent curriculum was rolled out three years ago, it was hailed
by educators as a necessary step because it dealt with topics that children face. But
opponents, especially social conservatives, have labelled it age -inappropriate for
young children, zeroing in on its lessons on gender identity and same-sex marriage.
They argue that parents should be the ones to provide such information.
The government has indicated that consultations on a new curriculum - part of
wider health and physical -education studies - will begin in September. With a little
more than two weeks left till school starts, school boards say they are still waiting
for direction from the Ministry of Education on what to teach.
Todd Smith, the government's House Leader, said that the Ford government has
been clear with teachers that they are expected to teach the 1998 sex -ed curriculum.
Mr. Smith would not say what consequences there would be, if any, for teachers
who choose to use the newer curriculum in classrooms.
"We fully expect our teachers to be professionals and to teach the same curriculum
that was taught in 2014," Mr. Smith told reporters at Queen's Park on Thursday
morning. (The 2014 sex -ed curriculum was the same one used in 1998).
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8/17/2018 Head of Ontario's secondary -school teachers' union vows to defend educators teaching new sex -ed curriculum - The Globe and Mail
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"They understand the situation that we are facing in the province right now, that we
have to have this consultation, and there will be a new health and physical -
education curriculum coming in the near future after we go and talk to the parents,"
he said.
Mr. Smith conceded that the sex -ed curriculum has become a "hot -button topic for
both sides" since Mr. Ford was sworn -in on June 29 and quickly moved to fulfill a
campaign promise to halt the changes introduced by the previous Liberal
government. There have been protests on the grounds at Queen's Park against the
government's move.
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8/17/2018 Head of Ontario's secondary -school teachers' union vows to defend educators teaching new sex -ed curriculum - The Globe and Mail
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Ontario's largest teachers' union says it will defend educators who use updated sex-
ed curriculum
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