Justin Matchett, president of the Nunavut Teachers’ Association, says he is not surprised by the high rate of violence reported in a recent survey of union members. (File photo)
Nunavut teachers continue to encounter violence at school, union survey suggests
Three-quarters of teachers who responded to Nunavut Teachers’ Association survey say they have violence at school in the past year
Eighty-seven per cent of Nunavut teachers who responded to a union survey have witnessed violence at school and 76 per cent have dealt with violence or experienced it personally during the past school year, a Nunavut Teachers’ Association suggests.
“I’m not totally surprised” by the results as difficult as they are to take, association president Justin Matchett said Thursday.
From May 10 to 24, the union surveyed its 886 members, including teachers, principals, vice-principals and teaching assistants, about violent incidents at Nunavut schools during the current school year. Thirty per cent responded, Matchett .
Nunavut’s Education Department has its own reporting system, which it implemented 18 months ago in collaboration with the teachers’ union.
However, Matchett previously told Nunatsiaq News he believes that system’s data under-represents the prevalence of violence in schools.
The Education Department’s data — starting from October 2022 when the reporting system came online to March 31, 2024 — indicates there were 137 incidents of student-on-teacher abuse or assault.
Information from the Education Department’s reporting system does not distinguish between cases reported and cases experienced, while the teacher’s survey does.
Violence in schools continues to go unreported according to a survey by the Nunavut Teachers’ Association which found that over 51 per cent of respondents had not reported incidents of violence in their schools. (Image courtesy Nunavut Teachers’ Association)
In the department’s reporting system, one incident may be reported more than once.
The union’s report found 38 per cent of teaching professionals who responded to the survey had experienced physical violence.
“Fifty per cent of our respondents said they had experienced violence but hadn’t reported it,” Matchett said.
The union’s report offered various reasons why incidents might be under-reported.
One possibility is “feeling that it was addressed by the principal, or a feeling that support would not be provided. More than half of teachers who responded to the survey expressed they felt unsupported in dealing with violent incidents at school,” the report said.
One member shared: “I have reported in the past and nothing has come from it. I have stopped reporting because I am clearly on my own when it comes to my safety and keeping my students safe.”
The report quoted several teaching professionals, but did not include their names.
The union’s survey takes a broad view of what constitutes violence.
It can include verbal abuse, discrimination or harassment, so the finding that 76 per cent of the respondents to the union’s survey have experienced violence does not necessarily mean physical violence only.
However, the survey report does break down the larger category of violence to sub-categories like student-on-teacher physical violence experienced, 38 per cent; or student-on-student physical violence experienced at nearly 50 per cent.
The Education Department has received the union’s report and is reviewing it, said Matthew Illaszewicz, director of stakeholder engagement, in an email Friday.
“The 2023-24 statistics from our online violence and harassment reporting system will be available in July,” Illaszewicz said.
Matchett said he isn’t blaming the Department of Education for violence in schools, adding the issue is not unique to Nunavut.
Illaszewicz agreed, saying “we are hearing about [violence in schools] across Canada, as we work to address it there is also opportunity to identify best practices from other jurisdictions.”
Efforts to reduce violence are ongoing but “there is more work to do,” he said.
“We need to build on our current efforts and collaborate” with the broader community to provide a safe school environment.
Matchett acknowledged work is ongoing, including training teachers in de-escalation.
“You can’t just [lay] blame, we’ve got to get together and think of a solution. The Department of Education can’t solve this problem on their own,” he said.
Enforce the law. Verbal or physical, assault is assault. Period. Press charges, make them count. Zero tolerance works. Hand-slaps/scolding only enables perpetrators and encourages copy-cats. The data is irrefutable.
When there are no penalties for violence and no penalties for truancy, what can you expect? Violence in the classroom? 10 hours of monitored garbage clean-up. Truancy? Next day student must arrive an hour early and leave an hour late while doing math.
Take away meal programs and expect attendance to drop to maybe 5% — which would be good for the kids and the parents of the kids that actually care about their education.
Oh the irony if you’re a rez survivor.
Probably, but also utterly unrelated to the issue.
Nothing to do with the issue. But, of course, that’s going to be offered as the excuse.
This will not help us recruit awesome teachers! What are you doing Justin? We need inspirational teachers who can handle and inspire the students and your scare tactics will not help us recruit the teachers we need! There’s a massive world-wide teacher shortage. In the USA they have metal detectors. Is this what you want in Nunavut schools? You need to look at the big picture!
I prefer this way. NTA should not lie to people. We need those who embrace challenges and feel like they can make it better. But first, this mantra: We need competent local teachers! In Nunavut, all the energy should be put into education. We deserve it!
Inuit can(?) become teachers too. No?
Why would someone be willing to Nunavut, the most violent place in Canada? To get assaulted by students & parents?
So rather than shed light on a situation that needs attention and correction you’d prefer that no attention be drawn to it, by the association created to represent the impacted teachers? The big problem is thing s ring swept under the rug and as a teacher (I assume) you’d prefer to sweep this under the rug? If I missed the sarcasm, excellent job.
This scan, not survey, is a joke. It was taken over a two week period. The survey sample is too small to be statically significant. It pandered to people who wanted to fill in the survey rather than being a random selection. If you know anything about surveys, this scan has so many spurious findings that the journalists who reported on it should be ashamed of themself. The NTA should work with the GN to address violence in the schools rather a bunk scan that’s not worth the paper it’s printed on.
Raise your damn kids so they can get a real education and not the high school kindergarten it is now.
What percentage of Nunavut teachers speaks Inuktitut?
What percentage of inuktitut speakers decide to become qualified teachers?
Sikkituu,
Inuit boards have been in charge of Inuit language in schools for over 40 years, the blame
Is not with southern people but Inuit people who pick their own relatives for positions
they cannot do.
No wonder so many Inuit children give up.
People are not banging down doors to teach in Nunavut. You want all the non-Inuktitut speaking teachers to go elsewhere? Sure! Then you can teach all the kids.
Also, your comment has zero to do with the article. Just like your comment on the the article about the nature tours. Besides these and similar pointless comments, what do you personally do to promote and encourage the use of Inuktitut?
What percentage of InuIt are qualified teachers? University educated. Not special Ed.
Same percentage as university educated InuIt teachers. Not special Ed
Kids and teens bully kids who are smart or less fortunate. When it comes to teachers facing violence. Some parents didn’t discipline their kids and are raised spoiled.
My Oh My!!😱
What a surprise. Nunavut students are violent? GASP!! Shocking.
Let’s blame something or someone.
Enforce the law. Verbal or physical, assault is assault. CCC Section 226
Kids take after their parents seeing and watching everything at home…
Do you realize these are children you are trying to throw in jail? The DEAs have numerous levels of discipline (including expulsion for periods and permanently) that I know are taken in my community.
There is a lot more to this problem than just throwing them in jail.
Discipline from DEA? That sounds scary and ominous. NOT!!
Expulsion is a vacation.
Boot camp, 10 months a year as a start.
Next: Two years boot camp….
“Scared straight”?…😱
We had parents in our time ! Where are the parents ts of this generation? Smoking and chasing a high that is nowhere to be found. Baby boomers had disaplined upbringing but Not this generation. Time for the military to start a recruiting draft of these kid in every Nunavut community and send them off to a real school where they can be taught respect. Not like they are going to end up in the front lines of any war but in the schools where they can be payed attention to.
Canada’s army /navy need to start drafting these kind of kids ….regardless of their nature, they can be taught what respect is and what a meaningful lifestyle is ,all the while ensuring Canada’s northern sovereignty with the future of this generation.
You’re seriously blaming NTA for this? Schools are NOT places where students and teachers should be scarred to go.
Draft the damn kids. Teach them about the criminal code. Where are the cops ? They should be involved in the classrooms. We need the army and navy drafting these kids that are violent and ignorant about respect.
It’s the usual….”You think you know everything just because…” and they(bullies) start swinging.
Savage.
What percentage of Inuit are teachers?
English and French are the operational languages of Canada.
this whole decentralization theme that has been put forward by politicians is a failure. forget building big brand new schools in every remote community. forget trying to educate the ignorant masses, one out a thousand might make it to a college education. look for the motivated focused student and try and move that one person forward. let the rest stay on the land. and those that are violent….remove them from the school. for good. its like an infection that spreads to other people.
How does Justin have anything to do with this topic?
Your question is better aimed at PJ and Pamela Gross. The buck stops with them.
Justin Matchett, NTA President
As a Nunavut teacher, and parent, I must express my deep disappointment and concern in the leadership of Justin Matchett and in my NTA colleagues for electing him as President. This interview demonstrates that the current NTA President:
1. Has a poor grasp of mathematics – 30% of NTA members responded to the survey, which means 75% of those that responded indicated their witnessed or direct experience of violence, NOT 75% of Nunavut teachers (a fact that also points to sloppy journalism and poor Math skills in the writer of this sensationalist article);
2. Is remarkably disloyal to us as NTA members – did he stop to consider that given the worldwide teacher shortage (I’m being actively recruited by New Zealand, Australia and the UK!) inaccurately reporting about our schools will further challenge and hinders recruitment efforts which will not help our teacher vacancy rates which will further challenge those of us working in schools and covering off vacancies and remaining unassisted by vacant support or leadership positions? Thanks for continuing to make my job harder, Mr. Brilliant President.
3. Is an ostrich with his head firmly in the sand (to be polite) – given the evidence-base on student violence nationally and internationally – just look south of the border Mr. Blinkers, or read the WHO reports on youth violence and peer bullying;
4. Is either dishonest or ignoring the reality of sample bias (5% margin of error, puhleeze!!) in not mentioning the complex and multiple variables that impact the incidence of violence in schools: ( do your research Mr.P and journalist!!);
5. Is shockingly unprofessional as a teacher and as a teacher leader – offering no solutions or collaborative actions to improve our schools and teachers’ job conditions other than making childish and tired utterances that are nit conducive to positive change for NTA members or the students they are paid to teach and serve .
I hope the next NTA President is not Mr. M. I hope it is a solution-focused, collaborative leader with demonstrated chops in making our schools safer places for everybody – kids and adults alike. Unity, not division would be a good basic step one.
Right there with you Arnaq. CBC reported the same story first, so good job Nunatasiaq for reporting this as then I have a forum to respond. It would appear Matchett demonstrated the biggest challenge with educational leadership in Nunavut, promoting the newest thing and total ignorance of the fundamental causes of the dysfunction. Willfully blind with no suggestions on what to do.
Also, great job doing the math, I have a former colleague who will have also noticed those issues, though all the journalists and union people did not. So much more to say, so little time…
Before accusing someone else of having a poor grasp of mathematics, perhaps you should look up how statistics work before complaining how someone else uses it. For a teacher, I am very unimpressed with someone making that sort of uneducated mistake.
Should have an Inuit as president. Get rid of the east coast club at the NTA and stop buying everyone that works at the office golden rings. Have an honest vote where every vote from every school can be seen. Only the NTA office sees the real tally so they can choose whoever they want as president. Also, how did John Fanjoy get his job? He was hired by the people who hired him. All one big east coast club that are happy to be out of the classroom.
Somebody’s insecurities are showing…not to mention racism, xenophobia and paranoia. Also “He was hired by the people who hired him” 🤣
East Coast folks, or Inuit, the people who work there are more than happy for not being in a classroom. This is the actual problem. Why does nobody want to be in those classrooms? As long as you dream of a 100% Inuit NTA, it will not solve the violence problem in the classroom nor change the “country club” reputation of the NTA. At least, they try to help when you call them; they answer emails, and they are showing up to work. It sounds basic, but you don’t get that often at the GN! We definitely need more Inuit at the NTA; I just don’t see what is going to change if the communities don’t address the violence first. It’s everybody’s problem.
After crunching all the numbers from this story and conducting 30 minutes of research on violence in schools across the country, I have come to determine that I cannot come to an informed decision I need to read the entire report in full before I jump to any conclusions and read up on other school jurisdiction reports as well.
Just a few stories I have read
1 in 2 Alberta teacher’s have witnessed student on student bullying/violence, published April 2024
In Saskatchewan over the past 5 years 35% of teachers from all grades have experienced violence .
In Ontario 7 out of 10 teachers have experienced physical violence on the job. Published Nov 2021
Published September 2023 Student violence on teachers is a growing concern (across the country)
I have come to conclude that violence in schools across the country is coming a problem.
Boy, so disappointed after Matchett’s experience in Kitikmeot you’d think he’d stand up for teachers. Kitikmeot, namely (But then again, is this article accurate?), First hand experience of a narcissist executive director of KSO that many of us were put through the stress and left. The disappointment in the entire department for letting it go on and on and on and on and on. Such low attendance, even in elementary! Lots of teachers on stress leave. Lots of teachers quit. Even her own bff superintendant! What gives?! Ultimately, this falls on GN top level PJ and Pamela. Someone is protecting her!!!! At the cost of the future of the Kitikmeot.
One of the Kitikmeot schools has had 17 administrators in 23 years, that number might be up to 20 now in 25. There is no stability, no continuity, and no longer any sustained academic classes. A few of the former commentators places this on the union, a very insightful comment connected some of this dysfunction to the current executive director. Both of these agents have helped limit any chance the students have in gaining a meaningful education. But, ulitmately, the parents and community can no longer be pawns in this game and must take positions for change. Watch how many teachers are willing to commit to there community and raise their own children there. That number is getting smaller and smaller.PJ and Pam, where would you send your children to go to school? I would not recommend the Kitikmeot,
This not only a problem in Nunavut’s schools, where it happens to be particularly problematic. It all starts with teachers failing to impose structure and expectations in Grade 1 and pre-school. This stems from the ruinous child-centred approach to education that really took off in the 1960s when children no longer had actually to learn anything. Rote-learning and discipline became forbidden even for learning timer tables.
Some time ago an Inuit father told me he was, fortunately and of course unusually, able to move his daughter from her Grade 3 class in Apex to another school. He said the Inuit teacher was totally ineffective at teaching and so incompetent at keeping order that he feared for his daughter’s safety.
I think the time has come to consider a number of issues, the instability of homes is connected to the instability of teacher retention and the complete mess that is educational administration.
Stop providing senior high in the communities, or at least outsource the more academic classes. Accept the reality that the rest of the students are doing a non academic program and take all the pressure off the teachers to expect any completion in line with southern standards. Just accept that if you actually have 22 graduates it is irrelevant if any can move on to southern post secondary programming, Arctic college will be a Dream for most and unattainable for anyone if not provided in their community.
What you want to encourage is community employment and responsibilities that will strengthen the next generations, force the adults to talk about their addictions and the affect on their families while there is still time to make them healthy and successful.
This is a bigger issue than teachers seeing violence, those kids have grown up with that way to solve problems, why would they be different in school?
Finally, perhaps stop hiring any southern, non Inuit teachers. They are not respected, gone, before anyone can remember their name and quickly discover that all the money in the world will not make up for a colonized system that makes it very hard for kids to succeed in a southern educational standard. Nunavut needs to provide an education that is good enough. Let the community decide what that looks like.
None of the teachers, Inuit or non Inuit that I knew. The language is not celebrated by those who can speak it, why would you expect thst to transfer to the school. This will be the last generation of speakers unless those who can dedicate their language to the grandchildren,
Sad but true
Inuktitut is dying fast in our little corner of the igloo.
More like “Spanglish” now. Mixing English and Inuktitut. What do we call it…”In-glish”?
How bout “Inu-glish” ?
need to work together here in remote places elders needs to be present and in charge of directing good behavior, i am a parent/care giver and i have heard /seen different situations and always need to hear both side so story instead of assuming. e need to work with our children as child/ren see child/ren do .accessibility and creating is always good places to start as mental health is a priority especially for the educator .
Nunavut has a crack problem deal with that first 🤔
Ouch. Compounding the school violence is the ongoing class war. The Globalist class throw as many monkey wrenches into the system as they can, forever wars, centralized power, authoritarian militarized police, division as much as possible on every issue. And this as corruption is rampant, as in the most corrupt country the Ukraine being showered with money as it’s population is decimated. Only worsening things is the bought off news corporations that promote it all.
And if you understood any of that, thank a Social studies teacher.
Sad that the millions granted by Quebec to Nunavik to promote the language is not being used. It seems to disappear into a black hole.
oh how the tables have turned. imagine 40 years ago, this story would have been the other way around. no one whos graduated in the last 20 years know what corporal punishment is. This was a time when teachers were allowed to hit students. when i first moved to Nunavut then, in grade 6 i witnessed a teacher and a principal beat a student to the point he could not walk. he crawled to the washroom from class and began screaming and crying for half an hour. he was beaten that bad….yeah…the tables have turned.
That’s a good thing that things have changed for the better and adults are no longer hitting kids in the classroom. That’s progress and really in no way relevant to the current problem at hand.
Now if we could get parents to stop beating their kids at home and beating each other perhaps children wouldn’t echo that behaviour in the classroom. Children absorb everything around them and mimic what they see.
Parents are smokers, kids are smokers, parents stay up all night. Kids stay out all night. Parents don’t attend work, kids skip school. Parents beat each other, kids show violence twords authority figured.
It’s certainly not rocket science as to what is happening and why Nunavut kids are so unsuccessful statistically. Parenting is simply the worst in Canada.
So how do we fix all that. Now that is a difficult one. How do you show a child they don’t want to grow up to be like their parents, or how do you show a child they’re on track to be like their degenerate parents if they don’t change. Kindness and programs for them go a long way but often gets erased by all the time spent at home around the real issue, the parents
A tough one to be sure. A good spot though is stop having children so young and to stop having them if you’re not financially secure. Social welfare and child tax credits is not financially secure.
Doubt it will be liked. But, maybe a specialized school program that promotes education and Canadian/European ways of life while diminishing the connection between children and their crippling parents.
Check out all the stories from across the country.
Violence in schools is on the rise across the entire country..
7-10 teachers in Ontario have have experienced work place violence for one example.
Schools are experiencing challenges due to the involvement of younger parents, aged 20 to 40, in school-related matters. These parents may inadvertently support their children’s negative behavior in school, leading to bullying and harassment. It’s common for parents to side with their children, which only makes the situation worse. This creates a cycle in which children feel they can act with impunity because their parents will always support them.
For instance, there are cases where parents demand public apologies from organizations like Sport Nunavut even though their children are causing disruptions. Instead of supporting the teachers’ decisions, some parents unreasonably defend their children. I know of a situation where a parent demanded an apology for their child, despite the child being the one causing trouble in the classroom by being disruptive.
In addition, some support staff members lack the necessary qualifications to effectively assist teachers and students. These staff members may also make excuses for not showing up to work, such as claiming sickness or lack of childcare, when in reality, they may have been out gambling or hungover.
Moreover, there are instances where southern teachers are burdened with listening to personal problems from local staff members and their households. This lack of professionalism contributes to high turnover rates as teachers leave for other schools.
Inuit communities need dedicated principals and supervisors who are committed to their work and willing to further their education to better serve the students.
There are complaints about southern hires. Instead of complaining, individuals could further their education, obtain teaching certificates, and take education leave. Educational leave is paid and available for SSAs to easily pursue further education.
A free online ChatGPT/AI detector flagged this comment as generated by AI. I asked ChatGPT to read the statement and tell me what question it would have been asked to generate this answer. The reply was “”What are some challenges faced by schools in relation to parental involvement and support staff qualifications? Can you provide examples?”
Bring back the traditional way of discipline all over the country.
To the teachers of Nunavut: You have no one to blame but yourselves. In the 90’s, you all had the chance to support the creation of an activist teachers’ union, which would have fought to support both teachers and students. Instead, you all were complicit in the philosophy that there never would be an “expletive” none of it, and you all insisted that the teachers of Nunavut would always and forever be under the umbrella of the NWTTA, right up 11:59 March 31, 1999. Your new professional association then proceeded to support the gutting of your severance package and vacation travel benefits, hire former superintendents of education as your executive directors and continuing the practical of voting themselves into office, as they said the old boys clique. The Federation of None-of-it Teachers, otherwise known as the F’n T, never has had the interests of teachers or students at heart. why should they, your president makes 150% of your salary.
Interesting story, but let’s be real. How many of today’s teachers were around in the 90s and have anything to do with the scenario you’ve laid out? When you say “blame yourselves” it seems a bit meaningless.
East Coast Club alright, must be nice to travel on business class to east coast.
This article is under “Arts and Culture”… We need an “Education” section in this paper. We need to talk about this every day. I will be more than curious to learn about the Pamela Gross team’s projects. We need to know the plan to fix our school, and we need to participate. The future of this territory starts in these classrooms.