A few months ago I was asked by one of my students how old I was and when I told her, she said you must be the oldest teacher at this school.
I laughed and said I probably was but I still loved teaching and getting up and going to work. The next day as I was driving to work I heard the radio announcer asked "Do employers discriminate against older workers? As I was driving to work and I thought the answer is obvious to me.
Of course they do. I cannot speak for all employers but I will speak about my experiences in education, teaching in the largest school district in BC.
The District refused from about 2002 to about 2006 give or take a few months to hire older teachers who had retired, back as Teachers on Call until the union grieved the policy as age discrimination. So for a short time after the ruling and the need for qualified Teachers on Call in areas such as Science, Math, Computers, Learning Support and English as Second Language, the district hired a few retired teachers.
From what I understand, this change of policy by the district lasted about two years and then the freeze on hiring older workers went back into effect, the district does not discriminate, they do other things like ignoring applications by older workers, or they find other ways of discouraging older workers from working
This is part of a trend started in the US with the removal of Tenure for teachers. "Tenure protections were created in the early 20th century to protect teachers from arbitrary or discriminatory firings based on factors such as gender, nationality or political beliefs by spelling out rules under which they could be dismissed after a probationary period. The changes are occurring as states replace virtually automatic "satisfactory" teacher evaluations with those linked to teacher performance and base teacher layoffs on performance instead of seniority. Politically powerful teachers' unions are fighting back, arguing the changes lower morale, deny teachers due process, and unfairly target older teachers". (Source: USA Today)
The prevailing attitude in my district of administrators to older teachers appears to be"These people are over the hill." Most of the Administrator in my district, I think, believe that younger teachers have more energy, work harder, and contribute more to their schools than older workers.
Given the choice between an older and a younger worker, with equal qualifications the administrator would hire the younger teacher. One of the reasons is that younger teachers are more willing to do what they are told to do without queston, older teachers will question the administrators decisions.
The employer along with the government, in its latest round of bargaining is trying to strip the union of the right for teachers to be considered for transfer based on seniority, and the removal of tenure for teachers. This position is put forward because of the attitude of the admin that older teachers are not worth having on staff.
Rather than embrace the experience of the older worker, senior management and administrators in my district, at least discount and devalue their older workers.
As I have left the profession, I am sad for my colleagues who are in their late forty's and early 50's who will be coming up against the age discrimination that exists in education--at least in my district.
I suspect that the attitude of our senior management and our administrators is one shared by most employers in BC not just in education. The fact is that many older workers face challenges in staying at work, and if they are not working, they face many challenges in overcoming challenges of attitude many employers have.
The Boomers have never shied away from fighting discrimination and bigotry, and I suspect the battle to end age discrimination will be hard fought. There are many other battles that will have to be refought, at least in Canada. With our current government, the social progress we have made over the years are being slowly dismantled as Harper tries to turn Canada back to the 40's.
I laughed and said I probably was but I still loved teaching and getting up and going to work. The next day as I was driving to work I heard the radio announcer asked "Do employers discriminate against older workers? As I was driving to work and I thought the answer is obvious to me.
Of course they do. I cannot speak for all employers but I will speak about my experiences in education, teaching in the largest school district in BC.
The District refused from about 2002 to about 2006 give or take a few months to hire older teachers who had retired, back as Teachers on Call until the union grieved the policy as age discrimination. So for a short time after the ruling and the need for qualified Teachers on Call in areas such as Science, Math, Computers, Learning Support and English as Second Language, the district hired a few retired teachers.
From what I understand, this change of policy by the district lasted about two years and then the freeze on hiring older workers went back into effect, the district does not discriminate, they do other things like ignoring applications by older workers, or they find other ways of discouraging older workers from working
This is part of a trend started in the US with the removal of Tenure for teachers. "Tenure protections were created in the early 20th century to protect teachers from arbitrary or discriminatory firings based on factors such as gender, nationality or political beliefs by spelling out rules under which they could be dismissed after a probationary period. The changes are occurring as states replace virtually automatic "satisfactory" teacher evaluations with those linked to teacher performance and base teacher layoffs on performance instead of seniority. Politically powerful teachers' unions are fighting back, arguing the changes lower morale, deny teachers due process, and unfairly target older teachers". (Source: USA Today)
The prevailing attitude in my district of administrators to older teachers appears to be"These people are over the hill." Most of the Administrator in my district, I think, believe that younger teachers have more energy, work harder, and contribute more to their schools than older workers.
Given the choice between an older and a younger worker, with equal qualifications the administrator would hire the younger teacher. One of the reasons is that younger teachers are more willing to do what they are told to do without queston, older teachers will question the administrators decisions.
The employer along with the government, in its latest round of bargaining is trying to strip the union of the right for teachers to be considered for transfer based on seniority, and the removal of tenure for teachers. This position is put forward because of the attitude of the admin that older teachers are not worth having on staff.
Rather than embrace the experience of the older worker, senior management and administrators in my district, at least discount and devalue their older workers.
As I have left the profession, I am sad for my colleagues who are in their late forty's and early 50's who will be coming up against the age discrimination that exists in education--at least in my district.
I suspect that the attitude of our senior management and our administrators is one shared by most employers in BC not just in education. The fact is that many older workers face challenges in staying at work, and if they are not working, they face many challenges in overcoming challenges of attitude many employers have.
The Boomers have never shied away from fighting discrimination and bigotry, and I suspect the battle to end age discrimination will be hard fought. There are many other battles that will have to be refought, at least in Canada. With our current government, the social progress we have made over the years are being slowly dismantled as Harper tries to turn Canada back to the 40's.
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