A packed Air Canada Centre listens to Doctor Chris Spence, Director of Education speak at the TDSB Believe It! Professional Development Conference on September 1, 2010.JENNIFER ROBERTS
Corporate executives do it. Salespeople do it. Why shouldn't teachers listen to motivational speeches? The Toronto District School Board spent $127,000, some of it raised privately, to bring 20,000 teachers, support staff and administrators together on Wednesday at the Air Canada Centre, the home of hockey's Maple Leafs. The cynics were out in force, of course, but the message - that teachers make a big difference in the lives of students - seemed to hit home. One teacher said she had taught in four countries and never seen anyone brave enough to bring people together, as school-board director Chris Spence, a former professional football player, had done.
It was a salute to teachers, and it should resonate across the country as classes resume for 2010-11. Teaching matters; the quality of instruction is the number-one factor in closing the learning gap between rich and poor. The professional development days that arise this academic year can only benefit from this appeal to the idealism with which most teachers started their careers. Other school boards shouldn't be prevented by cynicism from emulating the example set by Mr. Spence and the TDSB. Telling teachers they are a vital resource seems a good way to ask them to go the extra mile.