Teacher perspectives on safety policies and procedures in Ontario public schools

This thesis was completed and submitted at Nipissing University, and is made freely accessible through the University of Toronto’s TSpace repositoryIn Ontario, the Ministry of Education’s highest priority is student achievement and a safe school environment is one of the most important factors influencing the quality of student learning. Safety policies and procedures assist teachers, as implementers, to achieve Ministry objectives yet little is known about how educators use policies to keep students safe. This qualitative study explores how elementary and secondary schoolteachers from publicly funded school boards across four regions in Ontario, Canada, effectively respond to safety policies. Data was collected electronically from interviews and journals and the results introduce a contemporary understanding of a safe school. Findings from the study identify implications for professional practice and offer recommendations for stakeholders including, establishing a common vision, safety standard and high quality collaboration. In education, the point of safety-related policies is to raise school safety standards to the highest level. Teachers’ perspectives profoundly influence how safety policies and procedures are used and how teachers keep students safe.M.Ed