Vision + Framework
The foundations of the Faculty of Education's teacher preparation programs are:
Reflection
Professional development is a process of reflection-in-action. Teacher preparation has been strongly influenced in recent years by Schon's research on how professionals engage in problem solving (thinking-in-action). In Canada, Clandinin and Connelly extend this idea in both an approach to research on teaching and a perspective on professional knowledge that values the experience of the practitioner. These influences have led to increased use of journals, portfolios and other personally meaningful records of experience and reflection as the significant drivers of professional development.
Praxis
We learn to teach through guided practice. While Kurt Lewin claimed that: "There is nothing so practical as a good theory," the Faculty of Education would also assert that "There is nothing so theoretical as good practice." The interchange between reading and discussions about research and theory with observations and opportunities for practice are at the heart of the Faculty of Education's field experience program. Students begin their placements in the first week of school, return for three weeks in mid-Fall and finish off the term with another three week placement. Online discussions during the practicum period further support the interplay of ideas and experience that constitute our view of praxis.
Constructivism
Learning is a process of constructing personal meaning. Our teacher candidates are encouraged to see learning not as information recall but as the development of new understandings that will be exercised in practice. Cognitive psychologists advocate "anchored instruction" and "situated cognition" as ways to increase retention of learned concepts and skills by increasing the similarity between the learning environment and the environment in which the new learning will be used. The Faculty of Education uses case-based teaching, laboratory instruction, micro-teaching, problem-based learning and simulations as methods to ensure that teacher candidates acquire new knowledge and understanding in ways that have clear links to their future professional practice.
Technology
Teachers make wise use of the tools available to them. Our teacher candidates learn to integrate technology into their classroom practice and to use technology to support their own professional learning. By integrating technology into their teaching practice, teacher candidates model for students how technology supports learning. Communication technologies provide teacher candidates with a network of support that connects them to university services, their peers and the faculty in their program. Discussion forums in this network support teacher candidates in their classroom work, their field experiences and in their period of initiation to teaching.
Working with our partners in the school boards, the professional associations, the teachers' federations, the Ministry of Education and the Ontario College of Teachers, we hope to use these foundations to build the basis for a lifetime of professional development for our teacher candidates.
