Ontario considering change to length of teachers’ college, documents suggest

By Allison Jones The Ontario government is considering shortening the length of teachers’ college in order to address a worsening shortage of educators, documents obtained by The Canadian Press suggest. A freedom-of-information request on teacher supply and demand came back with research and jurisdictional scans the Ministry of Education conducted last year on the supply issue and the length of initial teacher education programs. Highlighted in the summary of the document on teachers’ college are findings that longer programs do not make better teachers. “There is little evidence that the amount of course work in ITE (initial teacher education) makes a difference in teachers’ effectiveness when they enter the profession,” the document says. Real in-class experience, however, does appear to make a difference. “Literature research shows that teachers who complete…

This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription – Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.
Register
Already a member? Log in here

Add Your Voice

Is there more to this story? We'd like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Contribute your voice on our contribute page.