Leadership Opportunities

So you don’t want to be the next president of the Association or work at provincial office, but you are interested in opportunities that will allow you to further develop your leadership skills, expand your knowledge and understanding of the Association and the education system, influence policies, and make a difference for your fellow members. We provide opportunities for members to develop leadership skills and take on leadership roles within their schools, local units, or at the provincial level.

Provincial Committees

Provincial Committees provide opportunities for teachers to contribute their expertise, be creative, and develop new interests, while serving the needs of members. Small teams work on projects of their choice that can be completed within the school year. For example, the Professional Development Committee administers the Young Authors Awards and the Educational Aid Committee has been granting money to teacher and community organizations worldwide for more than 40 years. Getting involved can be an opportunity for you to bring forward your ideas and concerns, and get the Association working for you.

Applications for committees are accepted from March 7 – May 1.

Project Overseas

Would you like to assist teachers in a developing country? Are you interested in learning more about global education issues? Do you see yourself volunteering in Africa or the Caribbean? If you answered yes, Project Overseas might be for you!

Project Overseas is a joint venture of the Canadian Teachers' Federation (CTF) and its provincial and territorial affiliates, including the Association. CTF sends volunteer teachers to developing countries, mostly in Africa and the Caribbean, to conduct professional development in-service for their colleagues in those countries. Destinations are based on requests from the Teachers’ Unions Overseas, so be prepared to be assigned to any destination. Projects range from two to four weeks in July and August, following an orientation session in Ottawa in early July.  CTF requires that applicants be Canadian citizens, and have at least five years teaching experience in Canada. Previous overseas experience is considered an asset but not a necessity.

PD Writing Teams

The Professional Development Steering Committee allocates monies to the creation of project teams, the implementation of approved projects, and the management and operation of a curriculum conference.

Our PD Writing Team projects provide opportunities for members to write and develop curriculum documents and classroom resource materials. Project teams work on their projects at the OECTA Provincial Office in Toronto for a maximum of four days in July or August. A member of OECTA’s provincial staff co-ordinates each project team. Writers must be active OECTA members.  The deadline for applications to be a writer is January 1

• Resource Development Protocol & Timeline Procedural Steps for 2015-16
• PD Steering Committee Project Team Proposal Application Form 

AGM Delegate

At the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in March, more than 600 voting delegates representing more than 50,000 members conduct the business of the Association, elect officers to the Provincial Executive, pass resolutions to guide the Provincial Executive and Council of Presidents and amend the constitution. OECTA members may participate in the meeting as delegates.

If you would like to begin the process of becoming an AGM delegate, speak to your unit president.

Health and Safety Chair

Every unit has a health and safety representative to serve teachers in their local area. This person may be a member of the unit executive, or an assigned teacher representative. The Association holds yearly regional workshops and seminars for health and safety chairs.

Speak to your unit president if you are interested in the role of health and safety chair in your unit.

Association Representative

Association representatives are members who volunteer as OECTA’s local unit representatives in schools. Sometimes also referred to as "staff reps," they have an important leadership role, representing the Association and its services to every member. "Indispensable," "a vital link to members," "essential," and "extremely valuable" are some of the words used by unit presidents to describe the important role of the Association representative.

As the "eyes and ears" in schools for local units, the Association representatives are responsible for, among other things: answering members’ questions about the collective agreement and benefits; helping members deal with issues concerning their administrators, colleagues, students, and parents; distributing OECTA unit and Provincial Office materials; bringing teachers’ concerns back to the unit executive; and acting as a witness/recorder if asked to attend a meeting with a colleague and the principal or vice-principal. Read the Association Representative Handbook for more details on the roll and responsibilities of this position.

Speak to your unit president about how you can get involved as an Association representative in your school.

OECTA also offers a workshop entitled Roles and Duties of Staff Representatives, which reviews the roles and duties of staff reps with particular emphasis on the Association's legal obligations under the Ontario Labour Relations Act.  Speak to your unit president about having this workshop provided to all the staff representatives in your unit.