A few years ago a Coquitlam teacher teaching on call wanted to join a Provincial Specialist Association but wasn’t sure which one to join. There were a lot of great options, but as a TTOC and teacher who found herself in and out of temporary contracts in a variety of subject and grade levels, she wasn’t sure where she belonged. She decided to reach out to other teachers about creating a new PSA specifically for new teachers and TTOCs. It took a long time to organize because creating a new PSA was not easy; it required 100+ interested members, specific goals and objectives and a lot of paperwork. Two years later, here we are, with the help of a small group of dedicated teachers from across the province, the British Columbia Early Career Teachers’ Association [BCECTA] was created for new teachers and TTOCs.
Our goal is to support the work of early career teachers and teachers-teaching-on-call by means of special services, resources, networking, and advocacy, while working toward appropriate and accessible professional development opportunities to meet the unique and diverse needs of new teachers. We also want to build a culture of belonging to a Provincial Specialist Association early in a teacher’s career.
We hope that you will join our new BCECTA group and share us with your colleagues and friends who might be interested in joining as well.
To learn more please visit us through Twitter, Facebook and our website or email us at psac77@bctf.ca.
Amanda Long