Bachelor of Education Course Overview & Descriptions

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the foundational knowledge underpinning education from socio-cultural, philosophical, ethical, and historical perspectives with a focus on developing a scholar-practitioner identity within a developing scholarly community. Through large group contexts, seminars and immersive experiences in the field, this course is designed to orient students to the journey of professional and intellectual growth and development as a teacher, to develop a shared language to begin to conceptualize a scholar-practitioner identity, and to cultivate capacities for engaging with others as professionals in learning community contexts.

The purpose of this course and seminars is to provide teacher candidates foundational knowledge to critically analyze, interpret and synthesize to assist them to develop their pedagogical stance. Units of study will explore theories of learning and development, diversity in education, literacies in action, and numeracies in action. This module/course will introduce teacher candidates to core concepts including: child/youth development, cognitive and social/emotional development, social and cultural aspects of diversity related to learning and identity development (e.g., forms and funds of knowledge), indigenous education, aims of education, literacies theory and practice, and teaching and learning numeracy.

This course fosters thinking pedagogically, reasoning through dilemmas, investigating problems, and organizing, analyzing, and assessing student learning to develop and to enact curriculum across assessment and instructional design, social studies, literacy and English language arts, and additional languages teaching and learning, while taking into account Indigenous knowledge and perspectives. Integrating theory and practice, an added dimension of this course considers the knowledge of the historical, legislative, organizational, philosophical, legal, and moral issues that have influenced the shape of the modern school. As curriculum may be a matter of moral and political debate, this course will examine educational policy, educational law, and the impact of additional language teaching and learning on decision-making in curriculum. The overall objective of the course is to create historically and politically aware educators who create inclusive, engaging, and democratic communities of inquiry.

This course examines the education of the whole person as a central aim of schooling in a liberal democracy. The course will assess both the justification of the concept of an education of the whole person as well as the policies and practices that would enable that conception. This will include, but not be limited to, dimensions of well being such as physical, emotional and intellectual wellbeing. In particular, students will be expected to develop and critique innovate approaches to the promotion of well being in educational settings.  For example, current curricular goals in Physical and Health Education (PHE) and Drama are built around the “whole child” (i.e., physical, cognitive, and affective domains). Further, students will come to understand how the concept of well-being requires culturally-sensitive approaches that respect differences within diverse societies, including First Nations and minority cultures.

This course enables students to develop opportunity, knowledge and skills to create learning environments where STEAM – Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics – is the primary structure for, or of, learning. As an instructional approach this course explores inductive learning, metaphor, analogy, higher level thinking and critical thought through the integration of content areas so that learning is enhanced, teaching is enriched fostering curricular connections across disciplines. Students will explore orientations to curriculum content and the impact different professional, political, social, psychological and governmental perspectives have on curriculum, teaching, and learning. This block is designed to extend students’ ability to examine how democratic educational practices relate to learning as situated, individual, social, and constructed through meaning-making processes. Dispositions toward inquiry, critical reflection, creativity, and innovation will be fostered as part of the emergent professional identity of an educator that emphasizes their importance to the formation of democratic citizens.

Foundational pedagogical knowledge and practice will be explored through school-based inquiry.  With a focus on literacies and numeracies in action, teacher candidates will work with mentor teachers in weekly school visits and then complete a minor practicum. Mentor teachers will take the lead in planning and curriculum enactment while the teacher candidate observes, works with individuals or small groups, and conducts teaching responsibilities as deemed fitting.

Working collaboratively in a school context, mentor teachers and teacher candidates co-plan, co-teach and co-assess.  Insight into the significance of personal practical knowledge by engaging in dialogue, observation, and reflection concerning why the mentor teacher orients practices in particular ways, using specific strategies, resources, and lesson sequences.

Community Field Experience is designed to complement teacher candidates’ school-based practicum experiences with experience in an alternate or additional setting and varied theoretical understandings and pedagogical perspectives. After the completion of the Year One Formative (School-based) Practicum, teacher candidates complete a 4-week community-based field experience in their choice of local, regional or international settings.

A comprehensive inquiry project is an integral part of the Community Field Experience and is intended to enable students to extend their acquired knowledge of educational theory and practice, and to further examine the foundation and structure of their own educational knowledge and beliefs.

Extended immersion in a school community, co-planning/co-teaching/co-assessing with mentors and other colleagues and, with demonstrated competency, assume the lead in planning and curricular enactment with the support of mentor teachers.

The Summer Institute in Education provides teacher candidates with the opportunity to complete elective courses that focus on personalized professional learning goals. Options will be provided based on the needs and interests of the teacher candidates.