vote for

Marilyn Ricketts-Lindsay

For BCTF EC Member at Large

Ours is a profession that is characterized by diversity. We organize and unite in defense of a fully-funded public education system that embraces both urban, rural and remote learners and teachers, meets students where they are, and recognizes that a one-size-fits-all approach will never address the challenges of inclusion, equity and social justice.

I’m delighted to run for Member at Large in my 21st year of teaching, in a remote community in Nunavut, in the Lower Mainland, and in Adult Education. I’m deeply committed to growing my contributions to my union, to public education, and to the teaching profession.

My relational and communicative approach to doing this work will be very helpful in my duties. Anti-racism and anti-oppression issues are not always well received making it imperative to listen to the concerns of individuals with an openness that will help them feel at ease in discussing these challenging topics.  I will endeavor to share the research and theory in a format that invites dialogue in a safe environment without judgment or critique. This approach is essential for progress because it is based on the understanding that although we all have biases, we’re all at different stages of our learning journey.

About Me

I am a teacher committed to my profession.  My relationship to teaching is inherently connected to my union, my colleagues, and my students, and I humbly submit my name for your consideration for the Executive Committee because my broad and deep experience in and outside of the workplace is unique and important. I believe experience matters, and I feel that mine is a strong and diverse foundation towards a member-centered, engaged union leadership.

The rallying cry I hear most urgently in public education now is the need for fully funded schools, responsive to student needs, and resolution to the unreasonable workload all teachers are currently facing.  Our working conditions are the cornerstone of schools, and it is only by addressing the inadequate protections we and our students face, that we can defend and protect public education.  It is my commitment that if elected, I will support and contribute to a culture that prioritizes our working conditions and our students’ learning conditions.

In my schools, my local, at provincial events, I listen to teachers.  I understand their experiences of untenable working conditions and the harmful cycle that results when instruction and support is interrupted by the teacher shortage, lack of adequate funding, and insufficient collective agreement provisions.  I will work to prepare our union for a round of bargaining where we address our inequitable and stagnant working conditions through strength and solidarity.

I bring experience teaching in remote, rural, urban, Learning Support, and Adult Education to the role of Member at Large.  As an immigrant and a Black woman, a parent and an active union member, I bring much needed intersectional representation to reflect the diversity of our membership.  And as a collaborator, an advocate, and a colleague, I bring passion, creativity, and relational care that is grounded in the lived experiences of teachers, and the tireless defense of public education.

Teacher Workload

I am a Learner Support teacher in Surrey with specialized training in special education. When I tell colleagues that union work is the most engaging work of my twenty-year career, they ask me why. I tell them that I get to collaborate with a group of knowledgeable and passionate educators who care deeply for students. The work augments my pedagogy and challenges me to advocate for students and teachers in defense of public education. I am acutely aware of the value of a fully funded education and its benefit of creating equitable outcomes for underprivileged and marginalized students. I know that improvement in working conditions for teachers is essential for a viable public education system and when teachers’ working conditions deteriorate, students are negatively impacted. My eclectic experience, from growing up in the Caribbean to teaching in northern Canada, brings value to the leadership role on the executive committee. Finally, as a Black educator and a parent, I will bring an intersectional and anti-oppression lens to table discussions. I am eager to advocate for BC teachers, giving voice to members who want representation that can truly relate to their experiences.

Experience

Provincial:

• BCTF AGM Delegate
• BCTF Local Representative – BCTF Representative Assembly
• BCTF Bargaining Conference Delegate
• Professional and Social Issues BCTF Facilitator
• Anti-Oppression Educators (AOEC) PSA Member
• CTF AGM Delegate
• Tri-National Conference Delegate

Local:

• STA Executive, Racialized Member at Large
• Local Representative
• Social Justice Contact for Surrey
• International Solidarity Chair
• Resolutions Committee
• Environmental Justice Committee
• Political Action / Public Relations Committee
• Members of Colour Committee
• Social Justice Directory
• Surrey Teachers Advocating for Refugee Students Committee

Staff Representative

Endorsements