The Professional Development (PD) Day on February 16, 2024 will be a Board-wide PD day. The TTBU Professional Development Committee offers the following options if members wish to incorporate it as part of their day. Please note that the schedule for the day will be from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Unless otherwise noted, workshops will be delivered in-person at John Polanyi CI, 640 Lawrence Avenue West (near the Lawrence Avenue West subway stop, plenty of parking).
REGISTRATION IS OPEN AND HAS BEEN EXTENDED. For some workshops spaces are limited as noted in their description, and/or require a minimum number to run.
For more information contact Executive Officer Mark Kissel at mkissel@osstftoronto.ca.
Welcome & Introductions Time: 9:00 am to 9:15 am
Toronto Teachers’ Bargaining Unit President Michelle Teixeira, along with the members of your executive and the District Dismantling Anti-Black Racism/Intersectional Oppression Officers (DABRIOs) will welcome you to the Professional Development day activities and provide a brief overview of on-going issues in our Bargaining Unit.
Presented by the TTBU Executive
Working with Workers: Past, Present, and Future Time: 9:15 am to 10:30 am
This workshop will provide a brief history of low-income earners in Toronto, their struggles to attain better working conditions, and challenges to organize together. Will work to better understand the ongoing issues facing gig and low-income earners today to better inform teachers view of our learners in their classrooms and support their families outside of them.
Presented by Deena Ladd, Workers Action Centre & Pam Frasche, Justice for Workers
Cultivating, Sustaining, Protecting and Celebrating Black Excellence Time: 9:00 am to 11:30 am
Stories of Black Excellence are still playing in “limit Edition.” We have so many stories from deficit lens that whenever we tell stories from asset-based or strength-based narratives, it comes as a surprise in those spaces. Though resisted, suppressed, excluded, ignored, suffocated, and maligned in many spaces, Black Excellence has continually resisted and flourished – often like a plant growing in concrete. In this presentation I examine the need to acknowledge, honour, establish and preserve Black excellence within our self and spaces we occupy. The role of community and organizations in sustaining and protecting Black excellence will also be examined. Throughout the presentation a brave conversation about the barriers within the workplace and ways we must work intentionally to eradicate anti-Black racism and foster inclusion, access, and growth will also be fostered.
Presented by Dr. Andrew B. Campbell (Dr. ABC), OISE/UT & OSSTF DABRIOs
Health & Safety in the Workplace Time: 10:30 am to 11:30 am
OSSTF Toronto Teachers’ Bargaining Unit Health and Safety Inspectors will provide participants with knowledge and understanding of their rights and responsibilities under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, along with practical tools to keep themselves and their students safe in their working environment.
Presented by TTBU Health & Safety Inspectors Denis Da Ros, Eitan Laufer, & Soma Srivastava
LUNCH Time: 11:30 am to 1:00 pm ON YOUR OWN EVERYONE
Panel Discussion with D12 DABRIO Officers (Leads) Time: 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Addressing the nature of the “work” to dismantle Anti-Black Racism and intersectional Oppression in OSSTF Toronto, the need for self care and wellness, empowering/involving racialized members, building allyship and solidarity.
Presented by OSSTF District Dismantling Anti-Black Racism/Intersectional Oppression Officers
Disarmament Education Workshop (VIRTUAL) Time: 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
This transformative workshop intertwines the crucial elements of gender, peace, and disarmament education, presenting a unique opportunity for educators to acquire tools, resources, and expertise. The workshop will feature Nobel Peace Prize recipient Sestuko Thurlow, Japanese–Canadian nuclear disarmament campaigner and Hibakusha who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. Our goal is to equip attendees with the knowledge and skills needed to seamlessly integrate institutional disarmament education into their local contexts. This will involve interactive discussion on subject matter in the nexus of nuclear disarmament, nonviolent conflict resolution, Indigenous justice, and climate justice. Through engagement, education, and empowerment, we aspire to contribute to the creation of a more peaceful, sustainable, and just world. Join us in this collaborative effort to shape the future by educating and inspiring the next generation. Additional speakers include, president of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War Canada, Dr. John Guilfoyle, Curriculum Coordinator and Music Education specialist Sandy Webster Worthy and Peace Advocate and Student Avinashpall Sighn.
PARTICIPANTS WILL BE PROVIDED WITH A VIRTUAL LINK
Walking into Retirement with a Plan & Mid Career—Managing your Money for Financial Comfort (Back to Back Workshops) Time: 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Walking into Retirement: Do you think you will have enough savings to live the kind of retirement lifestyle you want? Here we’ll shed some light on what their finances could look like in retirement, in order to uncover potential income gaps, and then propose solutions to fill them in. Managing Your Money: This workshop will provide a brief history of low-income earners in Toronto, their struggles to attain better working conditions, and challenges to organize together. Will work to better understand the ongoing issues facing gig and low-income earners today to better inform teachers view of our learners in their classrooms and support their families outside of them.
Presented by Educators Financial Group
