A historic turnover in the teaching profession has begun. There is no doubt that worldwide demand for teachers is on the rise and will continue to increase over the next decade. Yet many new teachers leave the profession, stating reasons such as low salaries, lack of professional opportunities and career advancement, and heavy workloads. The present study examined the concerns (in-school, external and personal) of elementary and secondary school teachers. The purpose of this research was to determine if teachers in Quebec, Canada, have concerns similar to teachers in other countries where studies are more common. This study also examined if there were any differences related to teachers' stages of teaching, level of education, and gender. Four hundred and fifty-seven teachers (335 females and 120 males) from five school boards in Quebec participated in this study. The five school boards represented urban, suburban, rural, large and small English-language boards. The instrument designed for this study was a questionnaire based on the teacher concerns identified in the literature. The questionnaire, named the Public School Teacher Concerns Questionnaire, has seven sub-scales and 64 items. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of respondent thinking reveal similar concerns regarding eight factors (37 items) derived by factor analysis: student characteristics and behaviour, teacher/administration relationship, student behaviour (non-academic), material and temporal resources, teachers control of day-to-day activities, professional development and opportunities, status of profession, and degree of non-teaching duties. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are offered.

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This inquiry focuses on Qallunaat (non-native) teachers' perceptions of their lived experiences teaching and learning in the arctic region of Nunavik, Quebec, Canada. Academic underachievement of Inuit children and high drop out rates in northern schools are a great concern for every community. An important contributing factor to the lack of academic success of Inuit children is the high turnover rate of Qallunaat teachers. Social distancing, isolation and cultural dislocation are major problems that many southern teachers find difficult to confront. Through a year-long Action Research Project in Nunavik focusing on eight Qallunaat teachers, I used a narrative inquiry to explore these teachers' shifting perceptions of their experiences as they attempted to adapt to their Inuit host community. Data confirms that without appropriate preparation and support, Qallunaat teachers perceive that they face overwhelming challenges educating Inuit youth and building relationships with Inuit community members. During my work in this northern community, I observed how these teachers seeking direction within such significant cross-cultural tensions, were confronted with profound existential issues. I examined why their southern perceptions and their northern experiences made them question some fundamental values that are at the core of their identities. I used an interdisciplinary dialogical post-colonial framework to situate these Qallunaat teacher voices in the educational contexts of Nunavik. By listening to these teachers, I began to understand how conflicts in identity arose when teachers' attitudes did not match their perceptions of their positionings in their host community. Methods included formal and informal conversations, individual and group interviews, photovoice and journals. I found that Qallunaat teachers can contribute to the North if they learn to position themselves as compassionate observers and listeners. Through dialogue, Qallunaat teachers can create shared spaces to better understand the particular needs of Inuit community members and consider alternatives and solutions. I provide recommendations to the Kativik School Board that might better prepare and support Qallunaat teachers. This study has direct implications for policy regarding pre-service and in-service education for educators within the Kativik School Board, Quebec Ministry of Education and the McGill Faculty of Education.

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In this study a model of collective bargaining is proposed in which collective bargaining is considered as an ongoing process with component activities recurring periodically. The eight component activities identified are: (1) influential variables, (2) perception and evaluation of the influential variables, (3) bargaining power, (4) prediction, (5) negotiation, (6) mechanism of dispute settlement, (7) feedback loops, and (8) the collective agreement. / In addition to the model, an evolution of collective bargaining by teachers in the CEGEP sector of Quebec is presented. This is achieved by descriptive case studies of the first four rounds (1967-1980) of collective bargaining in this sector. The data for this study has been acquired through a review of the literature, documents of the parties concerned, newspapers and interviews. / The model is used to analyse the four case studies. From the analysis it is concluded that collective bargaining in the CEGEP sector of Quebec has become highly centralized and politicised. This has contributed to numerous labour conflicts both during the negotiations and during the term of collective agreements. Recommendations are proposed to help resolve some of the problems encountered. The major recommendations include a labour relations board for the public sector and the division of bargaining issues into provincial and local levels. For the negotiations at the provincial level it is proposed to allow the parties to negotiate a mechanism of dispute settlement and a bargaining calendar with compulsory mediation. Also, it is proposed to base the acquisition of the right to strike and lockout on the refusal of the mediation report by one of the parties. For the negotiations at the local level, a system of permanent negotiation is proposed.

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