Redeemer noted in Professionally Speaking
Distinct teacher education program discussed in article relating to new two-year program
2 min. read
January 31, 2014

The Teacher Education program at Redeemer has a few unique features: Although privately funded and distinctly Christian, it is publicly chartered by the provincial government and accredited by the Ontario College of Teachers; its graduates become Ontario Certified Teachers are qualified to teach in separate Catholic, public and Christian and other private schools; and unlike the two-semester teacher education programs that are standard at most other universities in Ontario, Redeemer’s program has, since its inception, been a three-semester program. That last distinction has meant that Redeemer’s teacher education program will have easier time transitioning to the enhanced four-semester program that has been announced recently by the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) and the Ministry of Education. The program enhancements will begin September 2015. Dr. Deani Neven Van Pelt, Redeemer’s director of teacher education, talked about Redeemer’s professional education program in Professionally Speaking, (December 2013, p. 45), the magazine of the OCT. “We’ve always held a position that the formation of a professional teacher does take longer than eight months,” she is quoted in the article “… and the program has been designed that way.” The expanded program at Redeemer has meant that for over a decade education students have completed more education courses and more days in practicum placements than almost all other teacher candidates in the province. In our already expanded program, candidates are prepared for long term participation in the education field by becoming deeply rooted in foundational aspects of teaching and learning, knowledgeable in the pedagogy of the breadth of subjects across the Ontario curriculum, and extensively experienced in a number of classroom settings in a variety of educational systems—all before graduating. Van Pelt sees the recognition of Redeemer’s program in Professionally Speaking as an acknowledgement of its unique position in Ontario’s teacher education landscape. “We’re being noted for our distinctives, distinctives that we intend to continue building upon and further strengthen as we design our four-semester teacher education program,” she says. The article points out that in Ontario there is an “oversupply of teachers—both the unemployed and underemployed.” Yet even in this climate, employment of graduates of Redeemer’s program are encouraging: for example, 6 months after graduating, 60% the 2013 B.Ed. graduates had found full time teaching employment and only 8% were unemployed, and 2.5 years after graduating, 92% of the 2011 B.Ed. graduates had full or part time employment in teaching or teaching-related positions. “The demand for our graduates is rewarding, and an indication that our graduates are being recognized and welcomed by administrators in all types of school boards, both within the province and beyond,” notes Van Pelt.

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