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Goals
To provide opportunities for the development of future teachers and
potential leaders who can effectively demonstrate that their
teaching, learning, and leadership styles are consistent with current
thought, and with the Standards of Practice for the Teaching
Profession as outlined by the Ontario College of Teachers,
1999.
To provide opportunities for pre-service teacher candidates to
develop and to demonstrate in a variety of situations a personal
philosophy of teaching and a belief system that engenders a dynamic,
humanistic and democratic environment for all learners.
Professionalism
It is very important before
embarking on the reading of this syllabus that it is understood by
all that this course as part of our professional learning program in
the OISE/UT Toronto East Option is guided by and will reflect the
standards of practice outlined in Standards of Practice for the
Teaching Profession, Ontario College of Teachers, 1999.
Engaging in ongoing professional learning is recognized in the
Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession as part of
what it means to be a teacher in Ontario. The College of
Teachers, through the accreditation process for Ontario faculties of
education, ensures that pre-service programs are designed to support
the standards of practice. Pre-service candidates are required to
engage in professional learning defined through the standards of
practice.
Professional learning is at the heart of teacher professionalism. The
content of the professional learning may vary. The rationale and
resources for learning may vary. The way in which members of the
College engage in learning may vary. The constant will be that the
programs included in the professional learning framework are directly
linked to the Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession.
Through this framework, the Ontario College of Teachers meets its
legislated mandate to provide for the ongoing education of
members of the College. (Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996,
Part II Subsection 3. (1) paragraph 6)
School
and Society EDU3508: The Course
This course will
help teacher candidates to develop a critical awareness of the
intersections among schools, classrooms, communities, and society
within the changing context of the learning environment. The course
addresses the varieties of students who enter the classroom in terms
of their diverse social origins, cultures, identities, and social
status. The course helps new teachers understand the ways in which
their professional work (inside and beyond the classroom) helps
prepare these diverse students to be active participants in a
changing society. It engages participants in an examination of the
purposes of education, education policy, and of teachers
responsibility to work productively with school colleagues and other
adults to achieve equitable access, experiences, and outcomes for all
students.
Although this course has a body of knowledge to be
covered, the order of presentation will flow from the
perceived and expressed needs of the collective student body. A major
aspect of this course is to develop skills and attitudes that will
guide us as teachers, learners and leaders. Through personal and
group activity we will enhance our skills as questioners,
investigators, summarizers and reporters to co-create a body of
knowledge that exceeds the expertise of any one individual. It will
be our challenge to find ways to impart this knowledge to our group
and to others. To guide us we will examine and use the image of
the learner implicit in classrooms today and first introduced
by the Ontario Ministry of Education in Issues and Directions, June
1980.
The
Image of the Learner
Recognizing the diversity of individual abilities and
interests, the Ministry views the learner as an active participant in
education, who gains satisfaction from the dynamics of learning. The
concept of the learner as a mere processor of information has been
replaced by the image of a self-motivated , self-directed
problem-solver, aware of both the processes and uses of learning and
deriving a sense of self-worth and confidence from a variety of
accomplishments. This learner is guided by values consistent with
personal religious-ethical beliefs, cultural traditions and the
common welfare of society.
The image also reveals a methodical thinker who is capable of
inquiry, analysis, synthesis and evaluation, as well as a perceptive
discoverer capable of resourcefulness, intuition and creativity.
Lest it be thought that this image of the learner is too idealistic
or valid only for students in advanced stages of cognitive
development, it should be noted that in the educational system of
this province even young children and older ones with learning
disabilities are perceived as moving towards this image; in other
words, it applies to all learners potentially. The point is that the
kind of education provided for the learner envisaged here is quite
different from what would be provided for a learner who was
envisaged, for example, as requiring a strictly regimented program
comprised largely of information to be assimilated or a reluctant
learner who had to be coerced and directed at each step towards the
acquisition of knowledge. Thus, the very goals of education flow from
the image of the learner for whom the education is being
provided.
This image of the learner relies as much on the process as the
content of learning because it is through the process that young
people become lifelong learners who have, as C.P. Snow says,
the future in their bones as well as the past in their
heads. The inquiring mind and the contemplative spirit can carry them
into the uncertain and possibly threatening future with confidence,
resourcefulness and integrity. (Issues & Directions, June
1980, page 3).
Stop asking me if were almost there !
Were nomads, for crying out loud !
Course
Description
Content
and concepts that will be covered in the course:
Your mother and I thought you understood, Billy, that our love for you was highly conditional on your doing well in school.
Reading List
Required:
Whats Worth
Fighting For Out There? Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan, OPSTF
Toronto, 1998.
The Quality School:
Managing Students Without Coercion. William Glasser, M.D. ,
Harper Collins, 1992.
Suggested:
In Search of
Understanding: The Case For Constructivist Classrooms, Jacqueline
Grennon Brooks and Martin G. Brooks, ASCD, 1993.
Affirming Diversity Through Democratic Conversations. Victoria
R. Fu and Andrew J. Stremmel, Prentice Hall New Jersey, 1999.
Change Forces: The Sequel. Michael Fullan, Falmer Press,
1999.
The Disciplined Mind: What All Students Should Understand.
Howard Gardner, Simon and Schuster, 1999.
The Abilene Paradox and Other Meditations on Management. Jerry
B. Harvey, Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco, 1996.
Assignments
Portfolio
(Please
see East Option Cross-Course
Assignments)
Personal
Creativity Project
You will develop and
present a creative work of art around a given theme. This work will
be presented in class.
Presentation date:
December 7,8, 2000.
10% of your final grade.
Collaborative
Creativity Project
You will participate in an
Inquiry (Research Project) that will inform both pre- service and
in-service teachers about the creative process. This assignment will
involve the use of technology in its preparation and
dissemination.
Due Date: TBA
10% of your final grade.
Inquiry
Projects
These projects will be
investigative in nature, on topics as assigned and in those that you
would like to pursue for your own professional growth.
It will involve the use of technology to complete the sharing of your
knowledge with your colleagues.
Due Dates: TBA
10% of your final grade.
Professional
Participation
(Please
see East Option Cross-Course
Assignments)
Reflective
Journal
(Please
see East Option Cross-Course
Assignments)
The Tone of
Teaching.
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Questions
One of the purposes of
this course is to assist you to wisely reflect upon questions and
challenges that you will face as a teacher. Another is to begin to
construct a personal body of knowledge around such questions and to
develop ways that this information can be shared with others.
Questions such as: