Are We Ever Truly Retired ?
BY DR . S . BURKE
In the winter 2014 , ATA Magazine , Ihor Kruk points out in his article , “ Under A Microscope ,” that one decision of the Supreme Court of Canada stated that ‘ teachers wear their teacher hat 24 / 7 .’ This decision puts teachers ’ conduct under scrutiny all day , every day . But what about when teachers retire ? Are we still subject to the Code of Professional Conduct or are we now ‘ just citizens ’?
This question arose for me after a particularly hot educational issue sparked a conflagration in our small community . Many people wanted me , as a retired teacher of the district , to speak out on the issue ; and , believe you me , I was dying to do so . However , upon reflection , I wondered just what my ethical responsibilities were regarding the local school , the district , and the profession . Could I give a public response to the issue ? Would my remarks be viewed as the opinion of a private citizen ? Or would they be interpreted as a teacher speaking out ? In the end I did not express my opinion , either publicly or privately .
But that choice still bothers me . I felt I had a great deal to offer in the way of information and experience on the subject . Was I letting my community down by not speaking out ? Privately , my family dealt with it by withdrawing my grandchildren from the local education district and placing them in another one . I suppose , in a way , that too was a non-verbal demonstration of what my opinion was .
Common sense and moral responsibility tell us that as retired teachers we have to be careful of what stories and opinions we express about our teaching experiences . Many of our stories and opinions are humorous , some are sad , and some are very political about the inner workings of schools and educational districts . If you live in a very small community as I do , you rarely get to share any of these stories because the people involved are still present and , even when a story is edited to remove names , people can guess who was involved . Common sense aside , am I bound by an
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