Annual Learning
Plan

The OCT Competencies

Domain

Commitment to Pupils and Pupil Learning

Professional Knowledge

Teaching Practice

Leadership and Community 

Ongoing Professional Learning

Competency

  • Teachers demonstrate commitment to the well-being and development of all pupils. 
  • Teachers are dedicated in their efforts to teach and support pupil learning and achievement. 
  • Teachers treat all pupils equitably and with respect. 
  • Teachers provide an environment for learning that encourages pupils to be problem solvers, decision makers, lifelong learners, and contributing members of a changing society. 
  • Teachers know their subject matter, the Ontario curriculum, and education-related legislation. 
  • Teachers know a variety of effective teaching and assessment practices. 
  • Teachers know a variety of effective classroom management strategies. 
  • Teachers know how pupils learn and the factors that influence pupil learning and achievement.
  • Teachers use their professional knowledge and understanding of pupils, curriculum, legislation, teaching practices, and classroom management strategies to promote the learning and achievement of their pupils. 
  • Teachers communicate effectively with pupils, parents, and colleagues. 
  • Teachers conduct ongoing assessment of pupils’ progress, evaluate their achievement, and report results to pupils and their parents regularly. 
  • Teachers adapt and refine their teaching practices through continuous learning and reflection, using a variety of sources and resources. 
  • Teachers use appropriate technology in their teaching practices and related professional responsibilities. 
  •  Teachers collaborate with other teachers and school colleagues to create and sustain learning communities in their classrooms and in their schools. 
  • Teachers work with professionals, parents, and members of the community to enhance pupil learning, pupil achievement, and school programs. 
  •  Teachers engage in ongoing professional learning and apply it to improve their teaching practices. 

Annual Learning Plan 2023

Professional Knowledge

Competency: Teachers know their subject matter, the Ontario curriculum, and education-related legislation.

Reasoning

Throughout my time at in the B.Ed. program, I’ve become interested in how school funding works at the province, board, and school levels. The Ministry of Education claims that each student in Ontario has an equal opportunity for success, but survey after survey determines that that is simply not the case. Students from more affluent neighbourhoods and schools have clear advantages when it comes to academic success and funding for extra-curricular activities, new technologies, etc. I want to learn more about where funding disparities come from and how they could be addressed. I am always being told to treat students equitably, but I’m not sure what that means in the face of a funding system that treats students inequitably before they even enter the classroom.

Plan

I plan to read through parts of the Education Act that specifically have to do with school funding. I also want to read through the Education Funding Technical Paper 2022-2023 to get a more detailed understanding of how the “funding formula” actually works. Finally, I intend to look at the research done by People For Education concerning inequitable outcomes for students across the province.  

Timeline

Realistically, this will be a longterm project of mine, but I would like to have a more solid understanding of the situation and possible solutions by the end of the summer 2023. 

Professional Knowledge 

Competency: Teachers provide an environment for learning that encourages pupils to be problem solvers, decision makers, lifelong learners, and contributing members of a changing society.

Reasoning

I am currently working on a side project to create a NGO organization called The Wandering Academics, which would operate in secondary schools in the form of interconnected extra-curricular chapters. The purpose of the organization is create a culture of learning to foster a love of learning and to create self-motivated lifelong learners and lifelong teachers. The organization will support teachers in this goal by providing them and their chapters with educational content and materials to facilitate transformative educational experiences for students and teachers alike. The chapters will be connected through the larger organization to facilitate virtual events and to contribute to a quarterly newsletter.      

Plan

I currently have a working website which I am slowly creating content for. As a next step, I need to start to develop recruitment strategies to try to build a team of like minded teachers and educational workers with the skills to grow the organization. The development of an NGO business plan would follow.    

Timeline

This will be a longterm project. In the next 1-2 years, I would like to have a basic team together and try to have some chapters running in high schools. In 3-5 years, I would hope to be running my own chapter after securing a permanent contract position.

"The road to wisdom? - Well it's plain and simple to express:

Err
and err
and err again
but less
and less
and less."

Contact

rogerwilkinson@hotmail.com