Gerry McLoughlin has been living in Canada since 1994 where he works as a high school teacher.
What brought you to Canada?
Shortly after graduating I moved to Canada. My girlfriend at the time was Canadian and it seemed like a good opportunity. I have been living in Canada since 1994 and am married (to a different woman) and we have two boys.
I have been teaching at a high school, Westmount Collegiate Institute, here for 17 years. The school is in a well-to-do suburb of Toronto and the students, for the most part, are respectful and eager to do well.
What is the educational system like in Canada?
In Ontario high schools there are no state examinations like the Irish Leaving Certificate. Instead there is continuous assessment, whereby all of the assignments that students complete count towards their final grade. Throughout their four years of high school, they must complete 30 credits in order to graduate. Each credit takes a semester. The most important credits are the ones earned in grade 12 (equivalent of Leaving Cert year) as the marks for those determine what third-level courses students can get into.
But in a continuous assessment system with no centralised assessment system, how can you really determine whether curriculum standards are being maintained equally? Many small private schools give inflated marks. Many students, even good students, take advantage of this “pay for marks” system and pay for key courses such as English and Maths. At these schools, average students can get way above-average marks. However, it would be unfair to paint all small private schools with the same brush. The private school that I got my first job at as a teacher had excellent standards.
The ministry of education produces curriculum documents for each subject and these documents are used by management (principals, vice-principals) to set standards.
Were your Irish qualifications accepted in Canada?
When I first came here I had to apply to the ministry of education to have my HDipEd qualifications ratified. This process took six months. During that time I worked as a short-order cook.
I landed a job at a small private school Braemar Academy, run by a Scottish woman Sheila McDonald. She had been living in Canada for 40 years and was a great friend to me. As the classes were small (7-10 students) it was an ideal place in which to cut my teeth teaching in the Ontario school system. After two years, I got a job as an evening schoolteacher at a public school. And then the evening school principal got me an interview for a full-time job in the school board that I am still working for.
The transition from class size of 10 to 30 students was a pretty big one but I had all my courses fairly well planned out. Organisation was key.
Would an Irish teacher find it very different over there?
Based on my own experience I would see very little difficulty for teachers from Ireland teaching in Canada and vice versa. In Ontario, teachers are evaluated every five years based on criteria set up by the Board of Education and evaluated by the school management.
For the evaluation, a teacher must present daily lesson plans, and long-term unit and course plans to the management. After this, the principal or vice principal will sit in on an actual class to observe. Then, based on the paperwork and the class observation, the administrator will determine whether the course is being taught according to ministry standards and guidelines.
A teacher may then pass or fail. If he fails, he has to be evaluated again in six months. If he fails a second time his employment can be terminated. As with many things in life, the stringency with which these evaluations are administered varies according to who is doing the evaluating.
Did you find it difficult to settle in Toronto?
I came to Canada at a time when most people are getting serious about life, getting a job and getting married. I don’t know if that process would have been any easier for me in Ireland than it was in Canada but I think it would. For one thing, in Canada I didn’t have the proximity of my parents and two sisters or my friends for support; I was also making the transition from living in a small city, Galway, to the sprawling metropolis of Toronto. I’m glad I was young, optimistic and energetic at the time.
What do you enjoy about living in Toronto?
As I’ve found my place in Toronto I’ve come to appreciate the diversity here and the arts – all the best the world has to offer – and the food. Because of its diversity Toronto has a huge variety of cuisines from around the world. From the goat roti at Vena’s, the delicious sweetbreads at Black Hoof, to lamb kebabs, duck poutine and Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches, I love it all.
To escape from the city heat, we drive to my mother-in-law’s cottage, about two hours north of the city. When the weather is good, it is like another home for us. Over the years I’ve come to love summer evenings, enjoying a sundowner on the dock, watching the sun go down and enjoying the company of family and friends. In Ireland, on the bog, there was the plaintive cry of the curlew. Here, on the lake, there is the eerie cry of the loon.
There is so much to see in Canada as well. Last summer we went to Newfoundland and enjoyed the beauty of that North Atlantic Island, roughly the same size as Ireland yet with about a fifth of its population. As many of its inhabitants are descended from Irish immigrants, its culture has a strong Irish feel. Remarkably, in many villages all over the island it is often impossible to tell the difference between their accents and an Irish accent. The music especially has a strong Irish feel.
The previous year we drove far up into Quebec, which is about 15 times bigger than Ireland, to a fjord off the St Lawrence estuary. The beauty is breathtaking. We went whale watching in the estuary and, only for my wife whose French is good, communication would have been very difficult and in many cases not possible.
In the harsh Canadian winters we usually drive to Florida. We love every part of the experience: The drive, the motels, the sun and the beach. Great friends who happen to live close to us and great brew pubs, which brew their own beer for sale on the premises, and restaurants in our neighbourhood in the West End of the city make life very enjoyable.
Do you ever feel homesick for Ireland?
When I came here first, I would feel homesick quite a bit but now between annual trips home to see my family, and talking regularly to them on the phone, I am happy here. The Irish connection is important to me and I regularly meet my good friend Seán Dunlop, who is originally from Dublin, and various other Irish friends. The garage I go to is owned by a GAA fanatic from Dublin.
Even though Toronto is now my home and I love it and all my great Canadian friends and colleagues, I could still easily move back home. I took a year off work in 2008-2009 and loved it.
Unfortunately though, the work wasn’t there, so we moved back. On my first day back in Toronto, I got off the subway at Bloor and Yonge (more or less the centre of Toronto) and just walked down Yonge Street. As much as walking around Galway when I had gotten home in 2008 had felt like being at home, so too did walking down Yonge street.
