I spoke to local teacher Kelly Undershultz following the court ruling rejecting the Alberta Teachers Association’s bid for an injunction. She shared how she and other teachers are feeling about the results of that and the current classroom landscape.
What’s your name and occupation?
Kelly Undershultz, Mathematical Queen. Oh, I’m sorry, that’s not correct. Teacher at McNally High School.
With the ATA losing the bid for an injunction, what does that mean going forward for teachers?
It means frustrations in our jobs with our students in all ways. Trying to move forward feels like it’s impossible. It’s disheartening and it makes it hard to move forward or think about the future, because in the moment it just feels like nothing’s changing. No one’s listening and we’re still faced with the same things that we’ve seen for years past with no real light at the end of the tunnel.
On Friday [March 13th], Alberta’s education minister said he’s pleased with the decision, saying, “I’m glad students will be able to stay in the classroom. That’s where they need to be. That’s where they belong. They’re the ones who are going to pay the price if there’s continued labour disruption.” How do you feel about that statement?
I agree. Of course, it’s wonderful to have students in the classroom. I’m a teacher, that’s where I want to be, too. That’s why I chose it. So I want to be in the classroom and yes, that’s where we want them to be for all of their learning needs. As for them being the ones that are, I don’t know if they were solely affected by it. But obviously it affected us emotionally, mentally, and physically for not being in the building for our time in October. It was a trying time and we feel empathetic towards the students, but it affected thousands of teachers in a totally different way. Teachers not knowing day to day, if we’d be back in the schools, if there would be money coming into our bank accounts. How much time was I missing, how much was I going to have to alter for the remaining part of the year? It was a really stressful time. So it was really difficult on teachers as much as it was for the students. We would all love to just be in the classroom.
The next hearing for the ATA will happen in September. How do you think classroom conditions will look by then?
In September? I don’t anticipate my classroom is gonna look much different. I don’t think by September, there’s gonna be enough change for me to notice, or be able to pinpoint or say, “Wow, look at all these things that have changed.” I feel like if there is anything, it will be quite small, but may not be the things that I was hoping for change on. So I still anticipate having classes of 38 students. That’s the most I’ve personally had so far, it’s possible it could go up, but I’m hoping that will go down. As for the complexities in my room, I don’t know if that can be addressed that quickly. And what kind of supports would, you know, come into the room with them to help me? I don’t know if that can happen so quickly. We’re in the finishing part of the year. Schools are extremely busy at this time, trying to get ready for next year, thinking about enrolment, thinking about programming, all kinds of changes. It’s that September will come very quickly.
Many Albertans seem very concerned for students when discussing the strike and the effects of the strike. But do you think students are also struggling in schools facing these conditions?
Yeah, and that’s why teachers didn’t teach for that period of time. Somebody has to stand up for them. We’re the ones that see it every day, in our classrooms. We’re the ones that feel like we’re working against brick walls and trying to get someone to understand what every day these kids are getting too little of or too much of because it’s such a challenge in our rooms. And so yeah, we’re the ones that see it. So, we know, and that’s why we fought.
More updates and information from the Alberta Teachers Association can be found at https://teachers.ab.ca/news
Photo Credit: Ivan Aleksic from Unsplash