This substitute teacher says she's being forced to leave N.L. to get full-time work
Samantha Hicks, a teacher from Newfoundland's Codroy Valley, says she's leaving the province because it's too difficult to land a full-time position in the province. (Submitted by Samantha Hicks)
A substitute teacher from the Codroy Valley says Newfoundland and Labrador's hiring practices are forcing her to leave the province for a job in the Northwest Territories.
Samantha Hicks told CBC News in a recent interview she's tired of hearing about a shortage of teachers in the province. The problem is with the way the provincial school district hires teachers, she said.
"I know they're doing things to change the way that they hire … but I just feel personally that other things need to be looked at, and experience and whatnot should really be accounted for," said Hicks.
Hicks expressed her frustration in a Facebook post in late April, saying she's been a substitute teacher in the province for 10 years but can't get a permanent job because applicants aren't considered for positions outside their main "teachable," or area of expertise — in Hicks's case, physical education.
"There are so many experienced teachers in N.L., teaching multiple subjects throughout their career. But you cannot get a permanent position unless it's your main teachable," she said in her post.
She has another teachable — English — and a lot of corresponding classroom experience with it, but because it's not her "major," she said, she can't get a permanent job teaching it.
She says the province needs to changes its hiring practices to make it easier for teachers to secure full-time positions.
"So many people are in my shoes," she said.
The Education Department declined an interview with CBC News. A statement from spokesperson Lynn Robinson said the department couldn't comment on Hicks's case specifically. Teachers are hired on the basic criteria of competence, suitability and qualifications, said the statement.
"Permanent positions are offered to individuals with the appropriate expertise," wrote Robinson.
A better option
Hicks says she is now heading for the Northwest Territories to teach grades 5 and 6 in a full-time position with two years of probation. She says she felt the N.W.T. was better accounting for her experience and providing her a better pathway to permanency.
"I really want to go somewhere where I know I can further my career," she said.
She says the Northwest Territories have more to offer educators than in Newfoundland and Labrador. She says they have incentives for going to an isolated community, opportunities for professional development, and will help further her education.
"They have what I need right now," she said, "I can take my experience and continue to learn."
Finding stability
Hicks has jumped around teaching English, physical education and math.
"It's great because you learn so much and get so much experience."
However, she says it's important for students to have consistency in the classroom — and it's important for teachers too.
Hicks says she knows other teachers struggling to find full-time work, and says it would be better for the province's education system to have more permanent teachers.
"I'm just ready for my own classroom … so I can go into work every day and build on myself as an educator with my own environment and my own students."
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