TEACHER STRIKES: HOW MUSEUMS ARE RESPONDING

Muse News | Michelle Wright

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Ontario teachers have been without a contract since August 31, 2019, and even after months of negotiations there are few signs of progress. Between the work-to-rule campaigns and the rotating strikes everyone is feeling the impact. Today’s article will take a specific look into the impact this has had in the museum world, and how museums have responded.

Teachers on strike, February 21, 2020, St. Catharines, Ontario. Photo courtesy of Hillary Kerr.

Ontario’s French-language school boards (AEFO) also announced a work-to-rule campaign starting January 23, 2020 followed by The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) on February 3, 2020. This means that teachers will only undertake their scheduled teaching and supervision duties and not participate in any extracurricular actives, including field trips. The lack of school trips to museums has severely impacted several museums that rely on that income for the year. Institutions have reached out to boards not under this campaign, for example the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa reached out to other boards and have been fortunate enough to not suffer substantial losses. Other museums, like Ottawa’s National Arts Centre, are forced to wait it out due to the nature of their programming. Museums are trying to provide extra services, both to help out the community with thousands of children needing care and to generate revenue.

The Ministry of Education agreed to provide parents with a credit of up to $60 when strike actions close schools or school-based childcare centres, however there is a need for parents to provide care for their children during these days. The City of Toronto says that it will not be able to provide alternate childcare options, but some museums across the city are stepping to the plate, some of the museums on the list include, the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), the Ontario Science Centre, the McMichael Gallery, the Toronto Zoo, and more. Many of these one-day camps, as they are being called, are also offering early drop-off and/or late pick-up options, making museums even more of a help to parents.

HAPPENING NOW:

Thousands of teachers surround Queen's Park Circle protesting the Ford government during a provincewide strike.

More details here: https://t.co/SX4dJawDqP pic.twitter.com/OQ5pMKcJje

— CTV Toronto (@CTVToronto) February 21, 2020

The Science Centre admits that the program was a bit of a scramble to put together, but they were determined to provide students with a fun-filled science education. Lorrie Ann Smith, the director of education said, “It will be a full day of science adventure and excitement, so we will be doing interactive science experiments, maybe see an IMAX movie and we will go to the planetarium.” It was most-likely a scramble for other museums too, but through their hard work many are going above and beyond to provide an alternative fun and safe learning environment. Afterall, there is a reason these cultural institutions are one of the highest field-trip destinations for schools; museums provide an alternative learning method and have been proven successful tools of education for many students across all boards.

The Ontario Science Centre. Source.

Many other cultural institutions have been able to set up similar programs, but with no end in sight to the teacher strikes, it is hard to say exactly what will happen next.