As of Jan. 1, 2023, teachers and teacher leaders have a new code of professional conduct that does not include section eight of the previous code. This section enabled teachers to protest a teaching assignment for which they were not qualified.
In relation to school authorities
8 The teacher protests the assignment of duties for which the teacher is not qualified or conditions which make it difficult to render professional service.
With the new code in place, teachers must still be mindful to protest assigned duties for which they are not qualified to teach or where conditions of the assignment make it difficult to render professional service.
So, how does one go about protesting a teaching assignment? As with most professional relationships, it is always best to have a conversation with your school leader first. If you have stated on your resume or curriculum vitae that you taught Science 7 in the past, it may be difficult to protest teaching it again even though you had no preservice training in the subject. Thus, be careful what you write on that resume.
If, in fact, you are not qualified to teach the subject area, it is important to speak to your school leader immediately. The longer you leave things to fester, the more difficult it may become to do scheduling changes. Further, having two university-level science courses may not make you an expert in teaching high school sciences. You need to be very clear with any school leader of your level of competency in your subject specialization.
The other issue you may need to protest is conditions that make it difficult to render professional service. Having 30 academically inclined students in your English 30 class may make for a lot of marking, but having 15 kids in a Grade 5 class with multiple learning needs and no aid may be even more challenging. Some education experts have said “if you aim for the outside pins, you’ll be sure to get them all.” The problem with some class complexity is that those pins are in different lanes. For assignments such as this, it is once again important to have that conversation with your school leader.
If your problem is still not resolved after a conversation, it may be necessary to express those concerns in writing to your school leader. This is extremely important if your principal decides, down the road, to move to an evaluation on you. It will be more difficult for a school leader to be critical of someone who raised concerns well in advance.
If you ever find yourself in this predicament, be sure to reach out to ATA Teacher Employment Services. A staff officer will be able to help you create speaking points for a meeting with your school leader or edit a draft that you wish to submit so that your protest is documented. ❚
ATA Staff Officer
