Brock partners with Ontario College of Teachers on new teacher training programs

November 21, 2006

Source: Brock University
http://www.brocku.ca/webnews/displaystory.phtml?TEMPLATE=template.html&sid=1555

Most would agree that building strong communities and a strong economy requires a strong education system. Soon, local beginning teachers and seasoned educators will work together with Brock University and the Ontario College of Teachers to improve teacher practice, confidence, and knowledge necessary to create the type of classrooms where learning can thrive.

Over an intensive two-day period, beginning teachers will critically reflect and write about dilemmas encountered in practice. Later, seasoned teachers will join the group and discuss these dilemmas. In their roles as mentors, they will provide strategies and comment on the skills needed to negotiate those issues using the Ontario College of Teachers' Ethical Standards for the Teaching Profession and the Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession.

"We expect immediate and longer-term benefits for these teachers and their schools as a result of this workshop. Both the new teachers and the mentors will walk away from these sessions with a better understanding of these two sets of standards that are critical for teachers to work through issues. Plus, school boards will be provided with a new mechanism - the case-based inquiry process we are modelling during the workshops - to enhance their own New Teacher Induction Programs (NTIP)," says Assistant Professor Lorenzo Cherubini of Brock's Faculty of Education and a lead researcher on this project.

This is a unique, action-oriented, and practical approach to teacher induction. Patricia Goldblatt and Deirdre Smith from the College of Teachers, and the editors of Cases for Teacher Development, will be co-facilitating the workshops with Brock faculty.

Teachers from Grand Erie District School Board, Halton Catholic District School Board, Halton District School Board, Hamilton Catholic District School Board, District School Board of Niagara, and Niagara Catholic District School Board are participating in this program.

The Ontario College of Teachers is the self-regulating body of the teaching profession. The College's involvement with Brock University's Faculty of Education, along with teachers from district school boards of Grand Erie, Halton, Hamilton, and Niagara, creates a strong partnership of experience to support new teachers.

Professors Joe Engemann, Julian Kitchen, and Joanne Graham of the Faculty of Education at Brock are also working on this collaborative research and will be acting as joint facilitators and researchers. The workshops will be held at the Hamilton Campus of Brock University on Nov. 22, 23, Dec. 7, and Jan. 25, 2007.

For more Information about this project, please contact Lorenzo Cherubini, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education, at 905-547-3555, ext. 3603; e-mail: Lorenzo.Cherubini@brocku.ca