Years ago when I first came to Canada, it was very difficult for foreign-trained teachers to get into teaching. The timing was not right for me either because the whole country was just slipping into recession. Traditionally, teaching profession has been perceived as a more secured profession; therefore, many people were trying to get into teaching during the tough time then. It was almost impossible to get into any Faculty of Education to become a teacher. At the time, the Ontario government did not allow foreign universities to set up camps in Canada either. So, the admission to any Faculty of Education was just like winning a lottery. It was even more difficult for me, a new immigrant who got a degree in English Language from a foreign university in Taiwan. My English was no better than any other students who just finished their university education.

I got my degree from Fu Jen Catholic University. I was an ESL teacher at Fu Jen Adult Continuing Education for a few years. I also taught children English for many years as well. During the daytime, I had a full time job working for a manufacturer/exporter. For a few years before I came to Canada, I was involved in designing and broadcasting on a children’s radio program, Po Po and Co Co Time, teaching English on the air in Taiwan. (My voice was the character, Co Co.) Basically, I was an experienced English teacher in Taiwan without the paper of an Education degree. The irony is that English langue may be a hot commodity in Asia, but in the western world, everyone speaks English here. My language ability made my transition to the life here a bit easier. I was able to communicate without much difficulty, but it certainly did not equip me with an employable “Canadian profession” in a new country.

My husband told me that if I had difficulty finding a job, I could just stay home and be a regular housewife, and he would support me. I, of course, dismissed this idea right away because I simply could not see myself as a stay-at-home housewife for the rest of my life. (Now I sometimes regret my quick decision then and wish that I could just stay home. My husband said it is too late to change my mind now. I dug a hole seventeen years ago, and now I am in it too deep. Hahahaa. That’s too bad!) Life was a drastic change for me then, from being a professional who used to work seven days a week in Taiwan and love every minute of it to being a housewife who sat at home all day long in Canada.

We discussed about the idea of my becoming an elementary school teacher in Canada before I even landed in Canada. So, after we got married, we had no doubt that I should follow the direction and just prepare myself to pursue a teaching career. Immediately, I looked into the possibility of getting into a Faculty of Education, or so called a teachers’ college. A teacher in Ontario requires dual degrees, including a degree in Education. To apply for the Faculty of Education, the applicant needs to have at least a post secondary university degree. With completion of the Bachelor of Education, the candidate then will be qualified to apply for a teaching certificate, a license to teach in Ontario. Each province has their own accreditation process.

I landed in Ontario in late October. The deadline for the university application was in December. It was impossible for me to get all the paperwork ready and take the TOEFL test in time before the deadline. No university would take in a student who did not even have the paper of landed immigrant status. It was quite expensive to study as an international student. So, while waiting for my application in the coming year, I decided to go back to school for free to kill time, high school that is!

I took high school credit courses such as Family Management, Canadian History, Canadian Government and Canadian Law. At first, the adult high school requested that I should start from Grade 9 Math and Language because I had not converted my university transcripts to Canadian equivalencies yet. Then they told me that I had to start from Grade 9. So, I did. I finished Grade 9 math and moved on to Grade 10 math in one day. (Hahahaha.) By then, they finally agreed to let me take these credit courses. I did not need these high school credits; however, these courses actually helped me get to know Canada better, and in a way, they prepared me to be a better teacher later on. I stayed at the high school for a term.

Once I had submitted my application for immigration and got the TOFEL test done, I was able to take some part time university courses. I had nothing else to do but I did have plenty of time at hand. My husband suggested that I should visit those universities that offered training programs for teachers. There were only three universities remotely close to me that offered Pre-Service Education Program. Each university was about one to two hours of driving distance from where I lived. Canada is such a big country that it is extremely difficult to rely on public transportation to move around, especially in a small city outside Toronto.

I decided to pay one of the universities a visit and made an appointment with the admission officer. My in-laws were quite happy to drive me there. My father-in-law used to the chairman (trustee) of our local Board of Education, so he was familiar with the education system. Both of them were very excited about me getting into teaching. The trip, however, turned out to be my first taste of discrimination and road block in Canada.

The university I decided to visit had a satellite campus about half an hour of driving distance from me, which made it a very attractive school of choice. Years ago, it was not easy to spot a Chinese or an ethnic minority in a small town or a small suburban city. The admission officer at the main campus was very polite to receive me and my in-laws, maybe a bit too polite at first. Without even checking into the paper that I brought along with me, he immediately told me that I should try the other universities; he politely rejected the idea of my application to their university. In fact, he kept telling me subtly that I should try to go to the University of Toronto instead. He said I would have a better chance with the University of Toronto because U of T would accept “more people like me”. Of course, I did not figure it out what he meant (ethnic people like me) and why he kept saying that I would have a better chance at U of T.

U of T is a renowned university and definitely a better ranking university than the one I visited. My father-in-law was very puzzled by his comment because U of T was definitely a more reputable university. So, why I would have a better chance there, but not at this particular university? Of course, dumb me, I didn’t know about the universities ranking. I was simply crushed by his blunt rejection. My father-in-law actually got a little bit agitated by the officer’s beating around the bush attitude. He started to question the officer and asked him to take a look at my paper to see what I needed to upgrade myself in order to be “qualified” enough to be accepted at his university. Right then, the officer finally opened my file folder to look at my transcripts and calculated my marks. He concluded that, judging by my marks, I should have no problem getting into their university, but the application process was very competitive so he couldn’t guarantee…. We left shortly after. On the way back, I was sitting quietly in tears in the back seat. My in-laws were very upset with the subtlety of his rejection without any ground.

It is not easy for people to understand institutional discrimination until they have been through it themselves. My first lesson learned in Canada: I have to work harder than average Canadians in order to prove myself and to show others that I am just as qualified and as capable as my professional counterparts.

(To be continued)

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