Systemic issues affecting the integration of internationally educated and trained teachers in western canada

Clea Schmidt¹

Jon Young

David Mandzuk

Winnipeg, Canada

Internationally educated and trained teachers (IETs) wishing to resume their careers in their new contexts can encounter significant challenges. These difficulties may include inaccessible or incorrect information about certification processes and employment, misconceptions in the K-12 field about linguistic and cultural limitations of IETs, and discriminatory hiring and workplace practices. Critical ethnographic research conducted in Manitoba, Canada has explored systemic issues affecting the integration of IETs into the K-12 school system and revealed the perspectives of certified IETs, K-12 school administrators, and school division hiring personnel. Findings suggest the need for anti-racist teacher education work at the local and systemic level to ensure system readiness for recognizing the strengths and attributes IETs offer K-12 schools and communities.

In the Western Canadian province of Manitoba, an academic and professional bridging program strives to meet these dual objectives and help highly qualified teachers from other countries integrate into their profession upon immigration to Canada. This paper shares insights emerging from this context where critical ethnographic research has considered the initial impact of the IET Pilot Program and explored broader systemic issues that affect the integration of IETs into the K-12 school system. Authors first provide an overview of the IET Pilot Program and the provincial policies informing its development. Then, the authors outline some of the main challenges facing IETs seeking to resume their teaching careers. Finally, the paper analyzes some of the key issues that have emerged during the research documenting the perspectives of particular IET stakeholders, namely, certified IETs, school administrators, and hiring personnel.

In 2006 the Manitoba government renewed its immigration agreement with the federal government and set as its target 20,000 new immigrants to the province annually (Manitoba Labour and Immigration, 2006). This policy built on a well-established priority of attracting skilled workers to Manitoba. In 2004, the Philippines, Germany, India, China, Ethiopia and Korea served as the six main source countries of newcomers to Manitoba. Among these new arrivals a significant number of experienced teachers who wish to resume their careers in Manitoba seek K-12 certification annually. In 2005, 152 applications were made for provincial certification from people educated outside of Canada, and by 2006 the number of applications rose to 225.

Since the late 1990s Manitoba has had some of the longest certification requirements in Canada (Gaskell, 2006). Permanent professional certification requires applicants to have a Bachelor’s degree and a Bachelor of Education that together total 150 credit hours of coursework, including 60 credit hours of professional preparation, 24 weeks of student teaching, and specific courses in major and minor teachable subject areas that vary according to specialization in early/middle or senior years. International credentials are assessed in terms of their equivalency to these requirements in order to receive Permanent Certification and applicants may receive Provisional Certification if they have 120 credit hours of course work along with the other credit hour requirements and supervised student teaching experiences. With a provisional certificate teachers are allowed to work while they complete the outstanding requirements of permanent certification.

In 2005, of the 152 people applying for Manitoba certification with international credentials, 25 were granted permanent certificates, 41 were granted provisional certificates, and 86 were denied certification. With roughly 83% of applicants denied full certification, the need for academic and professional bridging programs stems in part from the differences between international certification requirements and those of the province of Manitoba. Additionally, the IET Pilot Program at the University of Manitoba also focuses on a number of other integration issues such as orientation to the local school system, employment supports, and professional development for stakeholders in the field.

Equity and Representation

A third important influence on the IET Pilot Program is the province’s commitment to education that is inclusive of multiculturalism and diversity, and a general recognition that the teaching force in Manitoba does not adequately represent the range of ethnic and cultural diversity reflected in the student populations in K-12 schools (Manitoba Education Citizenship and Youth, 2006).

In addition to all of the general challenges facing newcomers to Canada, IETs attempting to resume careers in Manitoba face the two major hurdles of certification and employment. While certification is a requirement of employment it is not on its own any guarantee of employment. Over the years the four faculty members involved as the core implementation team of the IET Pilot Program have found three broad sets of experiences among IETs:

1. 
   The successful IET: For some applicants, primarily from the USA but also other English-speaking, usually commonwealth countries such as the UK, Australia or South Africa, certification (permanent or provisional) may be granted immediately and, particularly if their subject areas are in high demand (e.g., sciences, French), they may be successful in getting jobs in the public school system.
   
2. 
   The uncertified IET: For many internationally educated teachers Manitoba certification constitutes a major barrier. With 128 of the 152 internationally educated applicants denied permanent certification in 2005, these teachers received a written assessment from the provincial certification branch identifying perceived gaps in their preparation, and components required to receive permanent certification. Often these requirements are specific in terms of whether they relate to IETs’ teachable subjects or professional coursework but tend to be vague in terms of specific courses or course content. Manitoba Certification’s rationale for not specifying particular courses stems from the assertion that faculties of education are better positioned to match appropriate courses to IETs’ backgrounds and career aspirations. Further, in light of faculties’ different course offerings, mandating particular courses could be construed as the provincial government inappropriately favouring a particular university or faculty over another. Prior to the launch of the IET Pilot Program in 2006, IETs satisfying coursework to meet certification requirements were often placed into whichever courses were made available by each university at times that were workable for the teacher. (For more information on a self-directed program for practicing teachers, see the Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Education Program, University of Manitoba). Therefore, a major purpose of the IET Pilot Program has been to construct a comprehensive curricular approach for IETs that includes relevant courses and appropriate supports, and which recognizes the unique characteristics of each teacher’s background, experiences and career aspirations.
   
3. 
   The certified, unemployed IET: The third type of IET experiences fairly common in Manitoba involve individuals who complete coursework in one of the province’s Faculties of Education and successfully meet the requirements of certification but remain unsuccessful in getting a permanent job as teachers in the school system. These individuals may find positions as either substitute teachers or educational assistants, or work outside of the school system altogether. While the reasons for this phenomenon may vary, and it is important to note that certification does not guarantee employment for anyone regardless of whether they are internationally- or Canadian-educated teachers, four issues seem particularly salient to the success of IETs: (i) demonstrated successful teaching in Canada; (ii) English language proficiency; (iii) employment search skills and networks; and (iv) system readiness. The IET Pilot Program attempts to address each of these areas through its 16-month program comprised of the following elements: (i) university coursework required for Manitoba certification, (ii) an orientation to the Manitoba curriculum, (iii) in-school placements, (iv) mentoring by experienced teachers in Winnipeg schools, (v) employment search skills, and (vi) language development. Eight internationally educated teachers representing five countries, a range of language backgrounds, and a variety of professional experiences completed the first intake of the IET Pilot Program in May 2007, with a second cohort due to launch in September 2007.
   

Experiences with the first cohort of the IET Pilot Program and growing concerns around IET integration in K-12 settings in Manitoba prompted comprehensive research to 1) determine the initial impact of the IET Pilot Program, and 2) explore systemic issues affecting IET integration. In particular, this study recognizes that while considerable information has been gleaned about challenges facing immigrant professionals (e.g., Reitz, 2005), few studies have given voice to IETs’ concerns directly. Furthermore, it was deemed crucial to document the views not just of IETs but of other stakeholders involved in the process of IET integration, to contribute to understanding of some of the challenges at a systemic level.

A critical ethnographic methodology informed the research. Critical ethnography, according to Quantz (1992), is consciously political research with an emancipatory and democratic outlook. To be critical, the research "should participate in a larger critical dialogue rather than follow any particular set of methods or research techniques" (Quantz, 1992, p.449). For this reason, critical ethnography can lend itself to a variety of approaches that include aspects of narrative, life history, and case study research. As Goldstein (2002) elaborates,

While the work of traditional or naturalistic ethnography is to describe a culture or way of life from the point of view of those who are living it, critical ethnographic research attempts to get beyond people's daily assimilated experience to expose the way power reproduces itself in every day interactions. (p. 1)

The current study examined the initial impact of the IET Pilot Program and systemic issues affecting IET integration to promote more equitable treatment for IETs in Manitoba and other diverse contexts. In doing so, the political nature of the research emerges in the way authors challenge how IETs have traditionally been excluded from the K-12 system.

To this end, between December 2006 and June 2007, data of the following types was collected from the stakeholders identified in the chart below.

A number of salient issues have emerged thus far with systemic implications related to the integration of IETs in K-12 settings. The findings may be categorized according to four interconnected issues: access to correct information, perceptions around language and culture, discrimination, and advocacy in the K-12 system.

In focus groups and interviews with certified IETs, they discussed at length how and from whom they obtained information about re-certification and job employment processes. A common experience appeared to be discussing matters with relatives or acquaintances from the same country, regardless of whether these individuals had direct experience or information about teaching in Manitoba. Thus, it appeared that in many cases inaccurate information was being shared. For example, one IET from Russia reflected: “I heard from somebody that you cannot work here as a foreigner”, despite the fact that immigrants to Manitoba are mainly being recruited on account of their labour skills.

In another instance, information about salary classification and its impact on IETs’ ability to get hired was discussed. One IET from India went so far as to discourage universities from offering additional qualifications to IETs:

“[Employers] are only looking at how much they have to pay, and my classification is hurting my job finding…No matter what courses [IETs] have to take, please do not give them any additional degrees and make them worse.” (certified IET from India)

This suggestion that IETs with advanced degrees and high salary classifications would be disadvantaged in the hiring process was echoed in data collected from an immigrant-serving agency. However, discussions with hiring personnel in the school divisions contradicted this information, suggesting that divisions were interested in hiring the best teachers and salary classification did not influence the hiring process.

Perceptions around language and culture

The cultural and linguistic differences IETs offer the Canadian education system have long been regarded from a deficit perspective (Thiessen, Bascia, and Goodson, 1996). Focus groups and interviews with administrators and school division superintendents revealed an awareness of this tendency and spoke of the need to examine pre-conceived assumptions about IETs’ language abilities. One administrator challenged the notion that language presents the huge barrier schools often assume:

“There are misconceptions for mentor teachers and even administrators like myself who have some assumptions about what kinds of problems could arise if a teacher[’s] language isn’t what we deem to be at a certain level, and that it really doesn’t create a barrier in the classroom.” (School administrator involved in the IET Pilot Program)

During an interview another administrator felt she had over-emphasized the valuable learning that IETs can experience when they come to Canada, and instead emphasized a more reciprocal stance:

“I think I’ve probably overstated that [IETs] can come from their culture and learn about our teaching practice and how classrooms are here...it’s a reciprocal relationship, because there’s a lot of things we can learn from other educational structures and places.” (School administrator involved in the IET Pilot Program)

Discrimination

Virtually every IET participating in the research could recount issues of discrimination they had experienced as newcomers to Canada, and many had explicit examples of discrimination pertaining to their experiences in the K-12 system. As one example, an IET reflected on her first temporary teaching position in Manitoba and how her Indian clothing had been deemed inappropriate workplace attire:

“I was called by the administrator and I was told that I should be wearing appropriate clothes for [the] workplace…I was wearing my Indian clothes, and that was not considered appropriate.”

School administrators and superintendents also offered compelling perspectives about issues of discrimination in the school system. In particular, issues of accent discrimination were discussed as an important issue needing attention:

“But one aspect we’re missing and [we’re] silent on is some of our prejudices, and we have prejudice around accents. And superintendents need to be brought on board why this is an important issue, you know because it reflects the diversity in our communities and so on, but they also have to be armed with knowledge about how they share that with the community more broadly. Because we are the ones that get comments from the community, ‘well, how can [students] pass that math course, you know they can’t understand the teacher’, or that kind of thing. You know we have to work on understanding of that” (School division superintendent)

Advocacy in the K-12 system

Documenting the perspectives of administrators and superintendents involved in the teacher hiring process revealed additional key insights about advocacy that is needed at the school division level to facilitate the integration of IETs in the system:

“We really have to look at how the population of our school and our teachers reflect the population of our community…we really need to be reflective so that kids see themselves in the world that they’re in everyday.” (School administrator involved in the IET Pilot Program)

Implications

The data explored in this paper raises questions about how best to ensure accurate information is distributed to IETs before or upon their arrival to Manitoba. IETs require precise information about what steps are involved in the certification process and what factors are likely to impact their chances of getting employed. Misinformation around advanced qualifications serving as a detriment to employability could have negative consequences for IETs who may be encouraged to underrepresent their worth to the education community.

The notion that issues of language and culture should be explored from the perspective of difference rather than deficit is not new. The fact that a number of school administrators and superintendents recognized this viewpoint is encouraging; the challenge remains in aligning equity-oriented philosophies and policies with practices. The tendency to blame IETs for communication breakdown in the classroom, or to assume the existence of misunderstanding where in fact none may be present, is still prevalent in many K-12 settings.

Issues of discrimination and advocacy emerging from the findings highlight the need for anti-racist education and teacher education amongst field partners to ensure that issues of system readiness are addresses alongside bridging initiatives such as the IET Pilot Program.

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