While the Ontario teachers’ strikes may be a nuisance in the short term, education experts say it’s important to look at the long-term consequences that the unions’ job actions will have.
According to Sue Winton, an education professor at York University, the elementary school curriculum is laid out in a way that doesn’t prescribe learning outcomes based on the actual time spent in the classroom.
The high school curriculum is set up similarly, she added, in the sense that there are certain expectations that students should have the opportunity to achieve.
“Given the flexibility of the curriculum … I’m not concerned,” said Winton, who specializes in education policy.