Strengthening Our Commitments to Truth and Reconciliation: Engaging Teacher Candidates and School Advisors in ReconciliACTION Projects in the Classroom – Dr. Jan Hare, Melanie Nelson and Christabel Shaler
Dr. Jan Hare described the genesis and process of this powerful and sustainable process for supporting teacher candidates and their school advisors in implementing Indigenous Ways of Knowing in classrooms. She described how the process started as face-to-face meetings in November at the First Nations House of Learning, with school associates and teacher candidates learning and talking together in facilitated dialogue. As the teacher candidates moved to practicum, Melanie Nelson, an Indigenous teacher and PhD candidate in School Psychology, described how she had supported the group with detailed weekly resources, and assisted individual teachers and teacher candidates with resources related to the themes they were doing in classrooms. Christabel Shaler, a secondary teacher candidate who recently completed her practicum, explained how she and her school advisor had used the resources, the support of the project, and her contact with Melanie to enhance her teaching First Peoples English 11 during practicum.
In-Situ Co-Learning: Developing Teacher Candidate/ In-Service Teacher Communities of Practice – Dr. Leyton Schnellert, Donna Kozak and Susanne Maguire
Dr. Schnellert and colleagues from UBC-O (Donna K.) and UBC-West Kootenay Rural Teacher Education Program (Susanne M.) shared many examples of in-situ university-school district collaborative inquiries that form the basis of two UBC teacher education programs that are mobilizing local school districts as sites of co-learning for teacher candidates and inservice educators. Constant interchanges between university-based courses in methodology and theoretical perspectives take place through frequent opportunities for place-based and place-conscious learning in school and other contexts. More info: https://education.ok.ubc.ca/programs/bed.html and http://teach.educ.ubc.ca/bachelor-of-education-program/wktep/
Districts, Schools and Teacher Education Programs as Partners in Mentoring – Kevin Fadum, Liz Kloepper, Angus Wilson, Tashi Kirincic
Four District leaders led a conversation with roundtable participants exploring the ways districts can effectively support the mentorship of teacher candidates and bridge the learning between the practicum experience and the early years of teaching. The importance of the mentor in shaping the professional attitudes of inquiry, collaboration and critical reflection was a central theme of this session. Recruiting strong mentors and providing them opportunities to develop specific mentorship skills are ongoing challenges. Current factors influencing mentor development are: lack of TTOC’s, overloaded teachers, and limited funds for university/district mentor learning sessions. Working with district partners however, particularly those districts with robust mentorship structures, suggested ways teacher candidates can be included in broader communities of practice that connect the practicum and ongoing learning.
Critical Mentoring: Promising Practices in Guiding Teacher Candidates – Helena Bryn-McLeod, Monika Tusnady and Kerri Wallin, Kelsey Lee, Jack Neu, Jeff Steudel, Lawrence Jakoy and Joel Herman
Two current teacher candidates and their respective School Advisors and UBC Faculty Advisors participated in a panel discussing factors that enhanced their practicum experiences leading to overall success. Salient points included:
- Pre-practicum meetings and planning opportunities between teacher candidate and school advisors
- Opportunities to gain rapport with students prior to the extended practicum
- Extra lengths taken to make teacher candidate feel welcome in the school/staff community
- Encouraging the teacher candidate to find their own teaching styles and not emulate their school advisor(s)
- Providing curriculum supports and resources for planning out lessons
- Availability for debrief of lessons; looking at mistakes as ‘learnings,’ and encouraging risk taking
- Available for support without micro managing teacher candidates
- Setting up conditions for mutual respect.