Teachers' role in full-day preschool plan debated

The Ontario government is under pressure from several groups as it chooses between expanding the role of teachers in kindergarten classes and enlisting cheaper, early-childhood educators in its attempt to implement full-day learning at preschool.

Currently, most children in junior and senior kindergarten stay in school for half a day.

Premier Dalton McGuinty has pledged to spend $500 million on full-day learning in the next two years, a key recommendation of a June report prepared by the government's special adviser on early childhood education, Charles Pascal.

The McGuinty government, which has so far not detailed how it plans to achieve that goal, is expected in the coming weeks to reveal its plans to implement the proposal.

Pascal's report said children who have attended full-day programs before Grade 1 fare better academically and have better social skills. Pascal, a former deputy minister of education, suggested that teachers spend 2½ hours a day with children, with trained early-childhood educators taking over for the rest of the day.  

Given the harsh economic climate in Ontario, enlisting early-childhood educators — who earn significantly less than teachers — could save the government a fair bit of money.

Unions push for full-day staffing

But the province's elementary teachers' unions are pushing for teachers to be present in the preschool classroom for the whole day.

Sam Hammond, the president of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario, said he's not opposed to having teachers share a classroom with early-childhood educators.

"It's not at all a turf war," he said. But he maintained that teachers would have to be present for the whole day.

"Teachers are trained specialists and they understand the whole school curriculum," said James Ryan, president of Ontario's English Catholic Teachers Association. "And they're better able to ensure that students can make the transition from kindergarten into Grade one and into subsequent years."

Eamonn Nolan, a teacher and the father of two children who've been through a full-day kindergarten pilot project where teachers and daycare workers share the classroom, told CBC News the distinction is lost on his children.

"My kids in kindergarten can't differentiate between the two. They see all of them as their teachers and love them all," he told CBC News.

Quick action urged

On Tuesday, more than 100 groups representing a number of health, education and child development organizations signed an open letter to McGuinty, urging him to act quickly and adopt all of the proposals in Pascal's report.  

"There's been no announcement yet about their acceptance of the report," said Andrea Culver, spokeswoman for the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care.

"What we have to do is open the doors to the schools, offer full-day programs and help support the children from infants to four [years of age] in their youngest years. It makes sense."

The premier has said the plan likely won't be fully implemented in three years as recommended because of the faltering economy, and that he doesn't know how much it will cost.

Pascal's other recommendations include moving services like daycares into schools for what's described as the "seamless day."

The report also suggests that classes before and after the traditional school day be provided if a group of 15 or more families get together and requests them.

Government officials would not comment on the other recommendations, but said they are considering all options for staffing full-day kindergarten.