transformation · teacher education to support teacher candidate confidence and competence in meeting the needs of learners with exceptionalities. Dick Holland emphasizes the role

S c h o o l / U n i v e r s i t y P a r t n e r s h i p s

I N I T I A L T E A C H E R E D U C A T I O N P R O G R A M

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Edited by

Carol Rolheiser

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formation

Published by the Ontario Institute for Studies in Educationof the University of Toronto (OISE)

This document was edited by Carol Rolheiser

Editorial and Production TeamHeather Berkeley and Dawn Martin

DesignTracy Choy, BTT Communications

Copyright © 2007

Ontario Institute for Studies in Educationof the University of Toronto (OISE)252 Bloor Street WestToronto, OntarioM5S 1V6416-923-6641

www.oise.utoronto.ca



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Edited by

Carol Rolheiser

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TABLE OF CONTENTSSchool/University Partnerships: Transformation of Teacher Education 1Editor: Carol Rolheiser

■ Strengthening Arts-Based Learning: Advising the Arts 3Hilary InwoodLeslie Stewart Rose

■ Preparing Teachers to Meet the Needs of Learners with Exceptionalities 6Jackie EldridgeTerry BorczonJo-Anne Wolfe

■ Portfolios in Practice 9Dick Holland

■ Developing a Psychology Curriculum for Today’s Students 12Xi ChenHazel McBride

■ Building Teacher Capacity to Respond to Child Abuse 15Katreena ScottJennifer Root

■ Promoting Equity, Diversity, and Social Justice School-Wide 18Julian KitchenElizabeth SmythSue ThompsonJim Lemoire

■ Mentoring Teacher Candidates in an Inductive Literacy Model 21Krista Walford

■ Men Who Choose to Teach in the Elementary Division: From Preparation to Induction and Beyond 24Larry SwartzJim Giles

SCHOOL/UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIPS: Transformation of Teacher Education 1

School/University Partnerships:

Transformation ofTeacher Education■ EDITOR

Carol Rolheiser

In 2007 the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University ofToronto (OISE) celebrates the 100th anniversary of studies in education atthe U of T. As Dean Jane Gaskell notes in her opening message in OISE’s

centenary publication,

Whether engaging in research, shaping public policy, disseminatingknowledge through outreach and publication programs, registeringstudents, writing term papers or preparing the next generation ofeducators, the people of OISE have been transforming and inspiringour understanding and our practice of education, one step at a time…

(2006, p.iv)

Teacher education at the University of Toronto has been, and is, a transformationalprocess. We have been involved, over a passage of 100 years, in making changesthat work at the deeper levels of beliefs, practices, policies, and structures that arefocused on high quality outcomes. The outcomes, in this case, are new teacherswho by virtue of experiencing a thoughtfully designed teacher education program,are transformed in the process. Our goal is that our graduates create a solidknowledge base, and develop a set of skills and dispositions that will serve themwell throughout their careers. In addition, a high quality teacher educationprogram should not only produce change for the teacher candidates, but shouldalso lead to transformation for all participants—university instructors, field-basedpartners, and students. That is what OISE strives for in our partnership work.

Transforming teacher education, however, is a challenging task, and demands newways of thinking about teaching and learning. Strong field partnerships have beenand will continue to be a high priority for the OISE teacher education program.The wisdom of field practitioners and the knowledge of university researchers andinstructors can be combined to create more diverse and successful ways ofimpacting the learning of students.

This publication is OISE’s fourth in a professional series focused on the role ofschool/university partnerships in the reform of teacher education. In each issue we

OBJECTIVES OF THIS PROJECT

• Contribute to the growing knowledge base about best practices in teachingand teacher education

• Build bridges between host schools and field partners and OISE’s initialteacher education program

• Improve the learning experiences of students in classrooms, associateteachers in host schools, and teacher candidates and instructors in OISE’steacher education program

■ OISE Teacher Education Program and Host Schools/Communities in the Greater Toronto Area

have highlighted innovative changes in ourprogram. We have discovered that partnershipscreate fertile ground and allow us to focus onimportant institutional goals, such as thefollowing one outlined in the OISE/UTAcademic Plan (2004): “to ensure that teachereducation at OISE/UT is of the highest quality,integrating the best professional knowledge withawareness of scholarship in the field” (p. 11).

In this publication, university and field-basedpartners demonstrate the many levels oftransformation that occur in the development ofvibrant teacher education programs. A numberof articles take a look inward at our currentteacher education program, focusing on whatneeds to be added or what needs to be refined toprepare teachers for the challenges facing themin today’s classrooms. Hilary Inwood and Leslie

RESEARCH PARTNERS

transformation …

1. a complete change, usually intosomething with an improvedappearance or usefulness,

2. the act or process of transformingsomebody or something.

—Encarta World English Dictionary

2

Stewart Rose explore the powerful role that arts education can playin the teacher education curriculum, especially when teachercandidates have opportunities to work with arts-based masterteachers. Jackie Eldridge, Terry Borczon, and Jo-Anne Wolfe focuson the need for increased special education programming in initialteacher education to support teacher candidate confidence andcompetence in meeting the needs of learners with exceptionalities.Dick Holland emphasizes the role authentic assessment plays as heanalyzes the Teacher Education Seminar portfolio, an assignmentthat is not only relevant to candidates’ learning at OISE, but alsoone that will help them in their growth as teachers during theirsearch for employment and in their first years of induction. Xi Chenand Hazel McBride survey both teacher candidates and experiencedteachers in partnership schools in order to make suggestions in therevision of the psychological foundations curriculum so that ithelps candidates with the “real” stuff—exploring topics such asclassroom management and motivation in greater depth.

This issue also features a number of articles that take a look outwardat our profession and explore ways that we can improve what we do.Katreena Scott and Jennifer Root, for example, pilot a programfocused on the improvement of professional education for new andexperienced teachers to better recognize and respond to child abuseand neglect. Julian Kitchen, Elizabeth Smyth, Sue Thompson andJim Lemoire explore how school-wide equity-focused professionaldevelopment for teacher candidates and associate teachers can assistin the examination of curriculum and instructional practices so thatall educators can become more equity-oriented in their teaching.Krista Walford emphasizes the role that mentorship can play insupporting growth for both beginning and experienced teachers. Theteachers profiled in her article are supporting students’ literacylearning through the use of a new instructional strategy (PictureWord Induction Model). Finally, Larry Swartz and Jim Giles focuson the professional lives of male elementary teachers, and note howthe emergent understandings from the participants might help in therecruitment and retention of males in the profession.

While the articles in this publication profile diverse projects andideas, what is common to them all is the compelling role thatpartnering plays. Through different stakeholders coming togethernew ideas for teacher education can be explored and improvementsmade. It is only with such inward reflections on our currentprogram, combined with outward views of what is important in ourprofession, that transformation will continue.

REFERENCES Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto.

(2004). Academic Plan 2004–2009. Toronto, ON: Author.Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto.

(2006). Inspiring Education: Celebrating 100 Years of Studies in Education at theUniversity of Toronto. Toronto, ON: Author.

SCHOOL/UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIPS INITIATIVE

The OISE School/University Partnerships initiative is one of manyrecent innovative projects in our teacher education programfocused on building bridges between our field partners and theuniversity. Initiated during the 2002–2003 academic year, itprovides awards of up to $2,000 to OISE initial teachereducation instructors in recognition of exemplary projectsintended to support and extend school/university relationships.The awards are given by OISE but supported through theSchool/University Partnership Fund. This Fund is madepossible through the generosity of our broader communityassociates—committed partners who care about qualityeducation. The partnerships featured in this publicationrepresent the results of our fourth round of projects.

What types of projects are considered?• Projects that can make a difference—for students in

schools, for teacher candidates and associate teachers, and OISE instructors working in initial teacher educationpartnerships.

• Leadership projects—covering a range of areas, includinginnovative instruction, the use of technology, assessmentprograms, co-curricular opportunities, equity, diversity, and social justice initiatives, curriculum implementationmodels, community links, etc.

Who selects the grant recipients?A committee made up of OISE administration, instructors,and field representatives make the final selection of awards.

Which factors are considered when funding projects?• Potential benefits to students, teacher candidates, associate

teachers, and OISE instructors• Clarity and strength of overall research questions and

designs• Degree of direct collaboration between OISE

instructors and teacher candidates, associate teachers,and students in schools in order to strengthenschool/university partnerships

• Enhancement of the capacity to learn and teach in schoolsand OISE

• Encouragement of inquiry in teacher education• Innovation and creativity of the project• Feasibility and transferability of the project to other

settings• Clear, concise, persuasive presentations

CAROL ROLHEISER is the Associate Dean,Teacher Education, Ontario Institute for Studies inEducation of the University of Toronto. She is acommitted leader in school district/university

partnerships, concentrating on instructional and assessmentinnovation, teacher development, school improvement,leadership, teacher education redesign, system reform, andmanaging educational change.


Advising the Arts:

Strengthening Arts-BasedLearning■ PROJECT CO-ORDINATORS

Hilary Inwood, Leslie Stewart Rose

THE PROJECT IN BRIEF The Advising the Arts conference, JumpstART, built on the strengths ofthe arts education components of the initial teacher education program atOISE by developing relationships between six arts-based associateteachers, our teacher candidates, and our arts instructors. Establishing andstrengthening these relationships better integrated the expertise of arts-based associate teachers into the initial teacher education experiencethrough workshops, practica, and internship placements. The project hasincreased awareness of arts education both in the initial teacher educationprogram and in our partner schools, and has extended our teachercandidates’ learning in the arts by giving them opportunities to work witharts-based master teachers.

Arts education plays an important role in elementary students’ learning. Itdevelops and deepens their literacy skills, supports creative problem-solvingand critical thinking abilities, and helps build cultural knowledge (Eisner,

2002; Goldberg, 2001). Arts education should therefore be a fundamental part of the preservice experience to provide teacher candidates with the expertise theyneed to implement meaningful arts education in their future classrooms. Centralto the successful implementation of an arts focus is the collaboration amongteacher education instructors, associate teachers in partnership schools, and teacher candidates themselves (Langdon, Weltzl-Fairchild, & Haggar, 1997).

This research project aimed at improving such collaboration in the OntarioInstitute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE) programby developing relationships between our arts-based associate teachers, our teachercandidates, and our arts instructors. By establishing and strengthening theserelationships, we were better able to integrate the expertise of our associateteachers into the program, offering a greater array of talks, workshops, practica,and internship placements. Our motivation was to take a step towards improvingarts-based learning in the initial teacher education program, and to build asupport network to continue to develop arts-based learning in our program infuture years.


• To build new partnerships and foster the sharing of expertise betweenOISE arts instructors and associate teachers in elementary schools

• To expand the range of arts education learning opportunities for ourteacher candidates by collaborating with our associate teachers to build anarts focus

■ Vivian East, J.B. Tyrrell Senior Public School ■ Jackie Gaistman, Faywood Arts-Based

Curriculum School ■ Juliet Hess, Glen Shields Public School ■ Rayma Hill, Parkdale Junior & Senior

Public School ■ Diane Jamieson, Howard Junior School ■ Anne Werbitsky, Nelson Mandela Park

Public School

STAGES OF THE PROJECT■ STAGE ONE: Advising the ArtsThe project began in September 2005 with asearch for six arts-based teachers in our partnerschools. Three elementary visual arts teachersvolunteered, as did three music teachers. The“team” completed a questionnaire about theirprevious experiences as associate teachers, andthen participated in a focus group on campus onthe challenges of arts-based learning in theinitial teacher education program. They agreedto lead workshops at a spring arts conference forour elementary candidates and assisted in theearly stages of its planning.

■ STAGE TWO: Activating the ArtsThe team returned to campus in March 2006 tolead workshops alongside OISE arts instructorsat JumpstART: Activating Education Through the Arts, anarts education conference offered to elementaryteacher candidates at OISE. Energizingperformances by two elementary studentgroups—Segome, a group of Ghanaiandrummers from Glen Shields P.S. and TheDetentions, a rock band from Nelson MandelaPark P.S.—celebrated artistic learning andjumpstarted the daylong conference that offered32 workshops. Candidates were invited to providefeedback informally and formally via an onlinesurvey. The associate teacher team was alsoinvited to complete a post-study questionnaireon their involvement in the research project.

RESEARCH PARTNERS

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■ STAGE THREE: Analyzing the ArtsThe focus group, associate teacher questionnaires, and teachercandidate surveys provided rich findings. Data from thequestionnaires and focus group were thematically analyzed; data from the teacher candidate survey were quantitatively analyzed for correlations and statistical significance.

■ STAGE FOUR: Advancing the ArtsThis research project brought immediate benefits to the initialteacher education program. We used the profile of arts-basedlearning and heightened awareness of the need to improve arts-basedlearning within the program. Teacher candidates were invigorated by their contact at the conference with the associate teacher team,OISE instructors, and artists—helping to increase their feelings ofcompetence in arts-based teaching. Some members of the associateteacher team took on teacher candidates for internship placements in the spring for the first time, and all have expressed a desire toparticipate more fully in the initial teacher education program in the future as workshop leaders, guest speakers, and research partners.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSISOur data collection methods—a focus group, questionnaires,informal feedback, online survey—allowed us to focus on fourresearch questions:

1. What are the attitudes of arts-based associate teachers towardstheir practicum responsibilities and the initial teacher educationprogram? How can these be improved or strengthened?

2. What types of expertise can arts-based associate teachers bring toenhance student learning on campus?

3. Is this project an effective means of increasing the number ofarts-based associate teachers for elementary practicumplacements?

4. Is a one-day Arts Education Day an effective means of increasinginitial teacher education students’ exposure to arts education oncampus?

■ Data from the Associate Teacher Team Three key strands emerged from the data collected from theassociate teacher team.

1. Challenges of Arts-Based Practicum PlacementsThe first strand was an acknowledgement of the challenges oftaking on teacher candidates for arts-based placements. The teamrecognized the benefits of taking on teacher candidates inpractica; they found it to be “mutually beneficial” as theycontinued to learn about teaching through the process. However,they also acknowledged that arts-based teaching positions areoften itinerant or part-time in nature, making it difficult tocommit to a full-time practicum placement in one school. Teammembers with full-time positions recognized that learning aboutthe arts at the elementary level is often ad hoc, making it hard topromise a concentrated experience in arts education. A fewmembers of the team saw shortcomings in the current system ofbecoming associates at OISE as selection relies on theirprincipal’s recommendation. These teachers asked for a moredirect means of becoming involved in practica, and for a strongersystem of support such as initial training on campus and ongoingprofessional development for mentors.

2. Continued Collaborations A second strand evident in the data focused on university/schoolcollaborations. While their attitudes towards OISE were positiveor at least neutral at the outset, all of the teachers expressed adesire for more collaboration between their school boards and theinitial teacher education program once the project had finished.Driven by a desire to exchange professional knowledge withuniversity educators and teacher candidates, they wanted to play agreater role in teacher education beyond that of associate teacher;most felt that they had expertise and experience that could beshared through workshops, lectures, or classroom visits.

3. Building Community A desire for stronger professional learning communities was thethird strand that emerged. The associate team enjoyed theopportunity to meet others through their involvement inJumpstART, and the research project Advising the Arts, andexpressed an interest in future opportunities to meet with otherassociate teachers. They saw this professional learning communityas a means of sharing ideas about mentoring and teaching, ofacting as a curriculum and problem-solving resource, and as away to continue their own professional learning. They did,however, acknowledge time as the limiting factor in theirinvolvement, and recognized the need for paid release time toparticipate. Some members of the team noted that this type ofproject was a good first step and they would willingly be involvedagain. One wrote: “Thank you for the opportunity to be part ofthe OISE arts conference. It was a fantastic experience…it reallywas a pleasure to be a part of the day!”

■ Data from Teacher CandidatesData collected via an online survey from 75 teacher candidates shedlight on the value of the conference in particular, and on the state ofarts-based learning in the program in general. Attitudinal dataclearly showed that our candidates understood the importance ofarts education in elementary classrooms, but lacked confidence intheir ability to teach the arts. Candidates requested that instructiontime in arts education be increased, particularly in drama and dance.One candidate adamantly pointed out that “we need more! [Thearts are] enjoyable, practical and can be integrated with any subject,and are extremely relevant for life, careers, and so much more—sowhy not focus more on it at OISE?”

JUMPSTART: ACTIVATING EDUCATION THROUGH THE ARTS

Dance, drama, visual arts, musicIn March 2006, more than 350 OISE students attended afull day of workshops and instruction in discipline contentand pedagogy to inspire our teacher candidates’ classroompractice. Thirty-two workshops were led by OISE faculty,Toronto District School Board (TDSB) instructional leaders,TDSB and York Region District School Board (YRDSB)teachers, private school teachers, Arts for Childreninstructors, and TDSB students.


Satisfaction with the arts conference was high, reflected in bothformal and informal feedback from teacher candidates. Onecandidate wrote: “I just wanted to say that I thought the two[workshops] that I attended were fantastic. Both artist-teachers werevery well prepared and approachable. I definitely got some goodresources to use in the classroom.” Most felt strongly that it shouldbe offered again in the future, scheduled earlier in the year, butextended over two days to allow for participation in moreworkshops. As one candidate commented: “I definitely think itshould be repeated, but the problem is that a one-day conferencejust isn’t enough. I’d love to have a full week where you are justsaturated with art and art integration.” Many candidates indicatedthat the conference increased their confidence in teaching the arts, making the conference a valuable addition to the teachereducation program.

IMPACTThis project has been instrumental in building relationships, andbeginning a dialogue around arts education within teacher education.The associate teacher team indicated a keen interest in becomingmore involved in teacher education by hosting teacher candidatesduring practica and internships, as well as by contributing to classeson campus. Two associates commented on the impact the projecthad on their students who had performed at the conference; theysaw their involvement as an authentic and remarkable learningexperience. One teacher wrote: “The kids had an absolute blastteaching adults. They were so excited about it and kept coming upwith more things we could teach. They don’t get many opportunitieslike that to show what they know. Really, it was the students whoran the workshop. I know it will be something they will remember.”

Certainly the JumpstART conference offered a forum to share expertiseand information, ask questions, and network with colleagues.Workshop leaders from both inside and outside the initial teachereducation program indicated how they benefited professionally frompreparing for and presenting at the conference. They enjoyed meetingour teacher candidates and felt they had had a positive effect on theirdevelopment. So much so that some indicated a desire to becomemore involved in teacher education at OISE in the future.

The teacher candidates benefited from a day of arts enrichment,learning from and connecting with master arts educators. Throughthe conference, arts instruction time increased from 24 to 28 hours,and teacher candidates voiced a strong recommendation for morearts education in the initial teacher education program through artsclasses, integration in other subjects, and practica experiences. Whatremains unclear, however, is the effectiveness of a one-day conferencein relation to more instruction hours in the regular arts classes orthrough integration in other subject areas; studies in future yearsmay help to ascertain this.

OISE instructors also felt the positive impact of this project. Weextended our professional network, revisited our own curricula withthe guidance of our peers, and took steps to generate a list ofassociate teachers in the arts to support practicum placements. Theproject generated a new energy that now surrounds arts-basedlearning and we are reaping the benefits. We hope this interest willfuel the program so that it can continue to improve the arts-basedlearning experiences of our candidates and associate teachers in thecoming years.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHER EDUCATION■ Associate teachers:

• Provide a wider range of mentorship support for new andexisting associate teachers

• Involve associate teachers in initial teacher education in avariety of ways—beyond practica placements

• Invest time and resources in strengthening relationships withassociate teachers

■ Teacher candidates:• Ensure that teacher candidates in the arts receive arts-based

practica experiences • Consider creative ways to increase instruction time for arts

education in the initial teacher education program in order toimprove candidates’ confidence in teaching arts education

NEXT STEPS AND NEW QUESTIONSAs a result of this project, we are considering creative ways tocontinue to improve arts-based learning in OISE’s initial teachereducation program. We are planning another conference and havesecured funding for an arts integration pilot project. We haveexpanded our list of arts-based associate teachers for practica and internship placements, and will take a more proactive role in promoting their involvement. And, we hope to implement thenext stage of this project in the next academic year by building a new set of relationships with associate teachers who runextracurricular arts clubs, allowing our candidates to participate in arts-based service learning projects to develop their teaching skills and contribute to the cultural life of their school communities.Each of these undertakings are driven by their own set of questionsand challenges, but ultimately should result in a noticeableenhancement to arts education in initial teacher education at OISE.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSWe would like to thank the six associate teachers who collaboratedwith us on this project, the workshop leaders who generously gavetheir time to JumpstART, and the energy, risk-taking, and artisticexpression of our teacher candidates, each of whom continue toinspire us in our ongoing learning in arts education.

REFERENCES Eisner, E. (2002). The arts and the creation of mind. New Haven: Yale University

Press.Goldberg, M. (2001). Arts and learning. New York: Addison Wesley Longman.Langdon, P., Weltzl-Fairchild, A., & Haggar, J. (1997). Co-operating teachers:

Concerns and issues. Canadian Review of Art Education, 24(1), 46–57.

HILARY INWOOD is a lecturer in art education atOISE. Her research focuses on visual artseducation and developing ecological literacythrough the arts.

LESLIE STEWART ROSE is a senior lecturer atOISE. Her teaching and research interests focus onarts education and on ways of preparing teachersto work in inner-city contexts.

Preparing Teachers to Meet the Needs of Learners with Exceptionalities ■ PROJECT CO-ORDINATORS

Jackie Eldridge, Terry Borczon, Jo-Anne Wolfe

THE PROJECT IN BRIEF This research project explored the need for increased special educationprogramming in initial teacher education. We examined teacher candidateconfidence and competence in meeting the needs of learners withexceptionalities. We learned that teacher candidates would benefit fromincreased special education infusion and that partnerships with allstakeholders could be strengthened through increased course work,field experiences, and faculty involvement in the provincial New Teacher Induction Program. It is our intention that this research will raise awareness and inform and transform future special educationdirections.

Research conducted at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of theUniversity of Toronto (OISE) by McBride and Giannotta (2004)demonstrated that 53 percent of teacher candidates do not feel adequately

prepared for teaching children with exceptionalities. They feel the demands ofmeeting the needs of every child are preventing them from being successfulteachers. Grady (2003) proposes that knowledge for teacher candidates should beorganized in real-life experiences that provide a context for the information, andthat upon completion of the learning experience teacher candidates should havethe knowledge and ability to apply it to differing situations.

STAGES OF THE PROJECT■ STAGE ONE: Identifying the NeedsIn May 2005 we surveyed 35 graduating teacher candidates to gain informationabout their confidence in meeting the needs of students with exceptionalities.

■ STAGE TWO: Diagnostic AssessmentIn September 2005 we surveyed 31 Greater Toronto Area (GTA) Catholic optionteacher candidates in order to assess their level of prior knowledge about specialeducation.


• To ascertain the needs of beginning teachers and field partners in meetingthe needs of students with exceptionalities

• To identify the needs of current OISE teacher candidates in the area ofspecial education

• To increase our teacher candidate level of knowledge about specialeducation through an additional 12-hour special education course

■ Selected first year teachers(graduates: GTA Catholic option*)

■ 2004–05 GTA Catholic option teachercandidates

■ 2005–06 GTA Catholic option teacher candidates

■ Selected principals from the GTA Catholic option partnership schools

RESEARCH PARTNERS

■ STAGE THREE: ActionFrom October 2005 to March 2006 Dr. JackieEldridge taught a 12-hour special educationcourse to the 31 candidates. This was over and above the regular special educationprogramming that all OISE teacher candidatesreceive. This course covered topics such asidentification, placement, programming,assessment, evaluation, and consultation with stakeholders.

■ STAGE FOUR: Field Partners’ InputWe surveyed seven administrators andinterviewed five GTA Catholic option graduatesto determine the readiness of these neophyteteachers with regard to meeting the specialeducation challenges in their induction year.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSISThe methodology for this study includedqualitative data collection from anecdotalcomments on our principal survey, as well astaped responses from our GTA Catholicgraduates focus group. Additionally, we collatedquantitative data using a Lickert Scale. All datawere transcribed, and analyzed, and severalthemes were identified.

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* NOTE: The Greater Toronto Area Catholic optionis a cohort of the Elementary Teacher EducationProgram at OISE—referred to as the GTACatholic option. There are 65 primary, junior, andintermediate teacher candidates in this option.


■ ThemesMore Specific Special Education Programming in Initial Teacher EducationAll participants surveyed were adamant about the need for morespecific special education programming in an initial teachereducation program. Beginning teachers and principals stated that apracticum experience in special education is essential to thedevelopment of teachers who face the demands of challengingclassrooms. One first year teacher said, “there’s so many things youdon’t know…and you don’t want to sound like you don’t knowanything. But the reality is that you don’t know a lot” (Focus group,2006). Another participant proposed that initial teacher educationwould benefit by “having some days where you’re actually in aninternship or a practicum or something involved with Special Ed. It should be part of the practicum evaluation that you’ve had some sort of necessary experience with Special Ed.” Severalparticipants suggested that a paid residency year following theirfaculty experience would strengthen the practice of new teachers so that they could learn “on the job” (Focus group, principal survey, 2006).

Direct Special Education Instruction to Increase ConfidenceWhen we surveyed the teacher candidates in the fall of 2005–06using a scale consisting of Very Familiar, Moderately Familiar,Familiar, Somewhat Familiar, Unfamiliar, we found that 81 percentof respondents rated themselves between unfamiliar to somewhatfamiliar with special education policies and procedures. However,after the 12-hour course 84 percent increased their confidence level to between moderately familiar and very familiar. Even with the 12-hour course, teacher candidates still felt they needed more information.

Ongoing Professional DevelopmentWhen we interviewed the graduates of our program it was evidentthat they experienced a strong correlation between their lack ofspecial education course work at the university and their actualclassroom experience. They felt frustrated and concerned that theywere not meeting the needs of the students in their classes. All fivenew graduates participating in the study felt that they could learn allof the other parts of the job through experience and professionaldevelopment but that special education was the main issue for them.As one person said, “That’s the biggest of everything in being ateacher” (Focus group, 2006). Focus group participants representingthree GTA Catholic Boards noted that they did not receive anyprofessional development for special education, as new teachers, but did attend professional development for other subject areas.Neophyte teachers reported that they felt somewhat familiar withthe terminology of exceptionalities and where to access assistance as a result of instruction at OISE. They noted, however, that theirclasses “fell short” when it came to preparing them for the day-to-day experience with students. This finding reflects McBride andGiannotta’s (2004) research and was confirmed by the focus groupdiscussion and principal survey results.

Mentorship/Induction All participants surveyed indicated that mentorship in specialeducation should be included in induction programs. Beginningteachers confirmed that they required mentorship and support from administration and special education teachers on staff(Focus group, 2006).

The Ministry of Education and Training (2006) states that effectivementoring programs over the beginning years of a teacher’s career are vital to improve new teacher retention and development forbeginning teachers. The New Teacher Induction Program willprovide a variety of supports for new teachers including professionaldevelopment and training in areas such as instructional strategiesthat address the learning and culture of students with special needsand other diverse learners.

IMPACTOur research has confirmed our concerns that teacher candidatesrequire considerable focused preparation in the area of specialeducation. We anticipate that this research will inform initial teachereducation and induction programming. When teachers are notprepared they may develop negative attitudes about the challengesthey are facing, especially with respect to students. Our researchsupports the work of Collins and White (2002), which suggeststhat effective special education training is necessary to thedevelopment of confidence and competency in beginning teachers.The increased exposure to special education instruction through the 12-hour course enabled the 2006 graduates to feel moreconfident and better prepared to meet the challenges of dealing with students with exceptionalities. We anticipate that thisconfidence level will transfer into their first year of teaching andtherefore positively impact their practice, ultimately benefiting their students.

COMMENTS FROM TEACHER CANDIDATES

“I feel much more confident than I did at the beginningof this year, but will find hands-on experience mostuseful in continuing to increase my confidence.”

“The overall program here is good, you get a sense ofthe whole. The in-class seminars teach about specialeducation, but we need to see it in practice in aclassroom setting. What we really need is to see it…it’sgot to be hands-on, it’s got to be in front of us..”

COMMENTS FROM PRINCIPALS

“…teacher candidates need additional training, specificallyin the areas of accommodations vs. modifications,programming for students with exceptionalities, and how to deal with special education students, resourceteachers, parents, etc. They need to know where toaccess help.”

“…the best way to seek help is through a mentor onstaff.”

“…teachers should have practicum experience involvingspecial education students who are identified. Perhapsthis can be done with the host teachers.”

“…a mentor with special education background andresponsibilities should be provided whenever possible.”

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IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHER EDUCATIONIn light of our research we believe that increased special educationprogramming at faculties of education is required. This finding is supported by the Ontario College of Teachers (2006), whichrecommends that the definition of programs of professionaleducation in regulation be amended to require special education as a core component of initial teacher education program. As well, we recommend that faculties of education devote atleast a portion of the practicum or internship experience to special education.

In keeping with the recommendation of the Ontario College of Teachers (2006) we strongly urge the inclusion of a specialeducation course, such as the one taught this year to the GTACatholic option, as a core component of initial teacher education.“To meet the expectations they now face, teachers need a new kind of new preparation—one that enables them to go beyondcovering the curriculum to actually enable learning for students who learn in very different ways” (Darling-Hammond & Bransford,2005, p. 2).

NEXT STEPS AND NEW QUESTIONSWe have seen many benefits from this project that we will continueto support and expand. We are looking at ways to continue thisresearch with the 2005–06 candidates as they move through theirfirst year of teaching. This work is supported by additional fundingthrough the School-University Partnership Initiative. We feel that itis critical to understand whether the additional special educationcourse work will result in different experiences from those of lastyear’s graduates. Our research will include establishing an electronicconference for the 2005–06 graduates to enable them to stayconnected with our GTA community. We are hoping to assign ateacher education program assistant (graduate student) to monitorspecial education questions and address issues on this conferenceline. As part of this proposed conference extension, we intend tokeep track of our beginning teachers as they meet their ownchallenges with students with exceptionalities. These graduates willalso be part of our continued research by completing surveys andtaking part in an end-of-first-year focus group similar to the one we held this year.

We are also recommending assigning a specific faculty member toteach a core course in special education. While not within the scopeof our research, we strongly recommend that a paid “teachingresidency” year be part of the New Teacher Induction Program, aprecedent which has been set by the University of California at LosAngeles (Oakes, 1996, p. 8).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSWe gratefully acknowledge our teacher candidates, GTA Catholicoption graduates and principal participants.

REFERENCES Collins, L. & White, G. (2002). Leading inclusive training programs for all special

education students: A pre-service training program for principals. Final report.Bethlehem, PA: Lehigh University.

Darling-Hammond, L. & Bransford, J. (Eds.) (2005). Preparing teachers for achanging world. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Grady, R.T. (2003). An interpretation of Dewey’s experiential learning theory.Journal of Education for Teaching, 27(1), 29-31.

McBride, H.E.A., & Giannotta, L. (2004). Developing a special educationcurriculum guide. In C. Rolheiser (Ed.), Research into practice. Toronto: OISE.

Ministry of Education and Training (2006). Bill 78 Education Statute LawAmendment Act. Toronto: Author.

Oakes, J. (1996, Winter). Making the rhetoric real. Multicultural Education, (4)2,1–10.

Ontario College of Teachers. (2006, Summer). Preparing teachers for tomorrow:Teachers’ qualifications review, options & implications. Toronto, ON: Author.

JACKIE ELDRIDGE is an assistant professor at theUniversity of Ontario, Institute of Technology. Herresearch interests include special education,mentorship, and issues of equity, diversity, andsocial justice.

TERRY BORCZON and JO-ANNE WOLFE are co-coordinators of the GTA Catholic Option inthe Elementary Teacher Education Program, OISE.Terry and Jo-Anne are strong advocates for quality teacher preparation for today’s diverseclassrooms.

Our research supports the work ofCollins and White (2002), which suggeststhat effective special education trainingis necessary to the development ofconfidence and competency inbeginning teachers.


Portfolios in Practice■ PROJECT CO-ORDINATOR

Dick Holland

THE PROJECT IN BRIEF In this research project the investigator interviewed field-based personnelfor feedback on the Teacher Education Seminar portfolio, which isrequired from all secondary preservice candidates. The portfolioassignment was designed not only to be relevant to teacher candidates’work at OISE but also to help them in their growth as teachers, duringtheir search for employment, and in their first years of induction. Theproject collected data from teachers, administrators, and board ofeducation personnel. Findings included validation of our portfolio processand product from key personnel in the field, as well as from ourgraduates; all this in the context of suggestions for modification andimprovement that will help make the portfolio process even stronger.

In this research project the investigator interviewed 26 field-based personnel for their feedback on the Teacher Education Seminar (TES) portfolio—an assignment that is completed by all preservice candidates taking this

compulsory course. From the beginning, the portfolio assignment was designed to be one that is not only relevant to the teacher candidates’ work at the OntarioInstitute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE), but also one that will help them in their growth as teachers, during their search foremployment, and in their first years of induction (e.g., Barton & Collins, 1993;Lyons, 1998; Rolheiser & Schwartz, 2001; Wolf & Dietz, 1998). The projectcollected data that are helping the Teacher Education Seminar instructors bringthis assignment in line with present needs in the field. A mixture of personalinterviews and focus groups were used to ensure a range of responses in partnerboards from key people involved in teacher recruitment and professionaldevelopment.

STAGES OF THE PROJECT■ STAGE ONE: Project InceptionThe project grew out of conversations at OISE and in the field. At OISE therewas strong support for this portfolio assignment among staff and teacher


• To investigate how partner secondary schools and boards view the teachercandidate portfolio assignment in OISE’s Teacher Education Seminar

• To invite our partners to provide input into the improvement of theportfolio process and its products

• To strengthen partnerships through structured consultations

■ Officials, principals, and teachers in the Toronto District School Board, the Halton Board of Education, and the York RegionDistrict School Board

candidates, but there was also a sense thatcandidates were not totally clear on theusefulness of the teacher portfolio; anobservation others have also noted (e.g.,Anderson & DeMeulle, 1998). In the field,teachers and administrators reacted well tocandidates’ portfolios, but wanted to be part ofthe planning and testing of these significantinstruments of assessment. They also wanted tobe part of the process of helping teachercandidates understand the use of theirportfolios in both hiring and ongoingprofessional learning.

■ STAGE TWO: Project DesignOut of those twin needs—the planning anduses of portfolios—came a research projectdesigned to promote collaboration with ourfield partners and to investigate the possibilityof improvements to the process and to thedesign of our Teacher Education Seminarportfolios. Permission, documentation, andethical review processes were then pursued tolaunch the project.

■ STAGE THREE: Project ImplementationSenior board officials involved in hiring andteacher recruitment were approached in sevenpartner boards and key contacts were madewith administrators in all boards. When thetime came to confirm arrangements at theboard level, it was established that three boards

RESEARCH PARTNERS

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would participate. Interviews were set up with administrators inthose three boards. Teacher focus groups, comprised of graduates ofthe OISE preservice program, were arranged by email and telephone.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSISDuring late winter and spring 2006, personal interviews (boardpersonnel, two from two boards; principals, two from two boards,three from a third board), and two focus groups (first group, nine;second group, eight) were conducted with personnel at three partnerboards. One focus group was held at OISE and the other datacollection took place in schools and board offices. Theseconversations yielded a large collection of data that were codedaccording to themes and distilled into important conclusions for theinitial teacher education program at OISE and, in particular, theprocess and design of the portfolio assignment for the TeacherEducation Seminar course.

IMPACTThis research project revealed four key findings:

■ Perception of Board PartnersThere has been a real appreciation among board partners at all levels

(teacher, administrator, and board official) of the outreach by OISEto include them as partners in research and in the continuing reflectionon the initial teacher education program. The field partners feelparticularly appreciated being consulted on something that they feltinvested in—namely, the development of a professional portfolio.

■ Validation of Portfolio Design and ProcessThere has been a validation of OISE’s portfolio design and process,which we know from the literature was a good one (Wade &Yarbrough, 1996; Wilcox, 1996; Zubizaretta, 1994), but whichneeds constant reflective re-examination, especially in the contexts ofhiring, board priorities, and developments in new teacher mentorshipand induction.

■ Suggestions for ImprovementDespite the validation of our portfolio process, there were somesuggestions for improvement that we believe will help make it one of the most responsive and relevant assessment and professionaldevelopment instruments in teacher education in Ontario.

■ Benefits to Teacher CandidatesAn unexpected benefit of this research was highlighted by two

before their enrolment at OISE, from the practicum,and from their OISE classes—with a definite stress onthe first two areas. All of the teachers in the focusgroups revealed that this was how they hadconstructed their portfolios.

• Two-thirds of the board and administrator respondentssaw practicum reports and letters of recommendationas important additions to portfolios; all of the teachercandidates included these, although a majority (64 percent) said that this was not stressed by OISE instructors.

• All of the board and administrator participants wereuncomfortable about the move to electronic or digitalportfolios, but admitted that they were helpful in thedistribution of materials to interview committees andin being able to review material outside of theinterview process.

• There was a suggestion that teacher candidatescontinue to construct portfolios in a basic paperformat, but that they also make electronic versions in a PDF format for any interview committee thatmight prefer that format.

• All board and administrators valued and wanted to hirereflective practitioners, but 62 percent admitted thatthey had no real mechanism for assessing reflectivepractice in dealing with portfolios and, in particular, didnot have time to read the reflections that teachercandidates wrote with their artifacts.

• Over 80 percent of the teachers in the focus groupsasserted that the their reflections were rarely asked for after the OISE “assignment” (the exception,interestingly, being two independent schools).

Current Design—Positive Feedback• All participants expressed support for the portfolio

process.• At the end of their OISE year, some recent graduates

had thought their portfolio might not be relevant oncethey started “real teaching.” However, they found theyhad continued to use their portfolio.

• Administrators at the school level asserted that theportfolios were important (35 percent) or very important(21 percent) in their hiring employees.

• Respondents liked added innovations, such as anannotated “Personal Web site” list, an “ExtendedBiography,” and montages of participation certificates.

• One board official and three administors commentedthat the evolution of portfolios—from a traditional prosestyle to a more Internet-informed presentation—hadsome disadvantages; however, those are outweighed bythe advantages—primarily the ease of reading.

Current Design—Suggestions for Improvement• Three respondents felt that the artifacts and required

entries should include evidence of the demonstrated use of current assessment methods, and they alsohighlighted the value of seeing evidence that theteacher candidates had engaged in classroom students’assessment of them as practice teachers.

• Board officials lamented the fact that they did not havemore time to integrate the portfolios into the hiringprocess; however, all but one said that this is somethingthat their board needed to address.

• Over 75 percent of the board and administratorrespondents wanted to see a blend of experiences andentries that included work done by teacher candidates

PORTFOLIO RESEARCH DATA: Recommendations and Implications


different interview participants. One expressed it diplomatically, theother more emphatically—the chances of our OISE teachercandidates being hired by a particular board increase when there isongoing conversation between board personnel and faculty membersabout our assessment instruments.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHER EDUCATIONUseful information emerged from the research interviews and focusgroups. Recommendations and implications that surfaced from thesedata will be taken to the Teacher Education Seminar group ofinstructors for further discussion and consideration. Some ideas will immediately and directly affect the design of the portfolioassignments that are given to every teacher candidate; while othersare questions and possible directions that need to be considered for the future.

It is important to realize that although the creation of a portfolio issomething that is expected of every OISE teacher candidate, thecontent and design criteria differ from instructor to instructor orinstructional teams, or from cohort to cohort, though most use theStandards of Practice as criteria to guide and structure the design.As such, some of these suggestions by interviewees were related totheir desire to have some standard expectations of all teachercandidates.

NEXT STEPS AND NEW QUESTIONSThe findings of this research will be presented to the team ofTeacher Education Seminar instructors. We will work together todecide what changes need to be made in the process and design ofthe portfolio assignment, and to then implement the changes. Onegoal is to find a way to institute this collaborative consultation with

the field on a more regular basis. On many levels this has been thegreatest benefit of the project and something that all three partnerboards would like to continue.

One of the biggest questions for the future is our engagement with electronic or digital portfolios. Our research shows this is a development that has both advantages and disadvantages and needs to be explored in greater depth. Literature on this topic(e.g., Milman, 2005), indicates definite benefits to moving in thisdirection. We also need a second-step consultation with our partnerboards to help us understand the implications of this move forshort-term goals, such as hiring, and longer-term goals, such as the impact on reflective practice.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThe author wishes to thank all of the interview and focus groupparticipants for the time and thoughtful reflection that they sharedwith us at busy times of the year and to assure them that results oftheir participation will help inform our next revisions to the OISEteacher candidate portfolio.

REFERENCESAnderson, R.S. & DeMeulle, L. (1998). Portfolio use in twenty-four teacher

education programs. Teacher Education Quarterly, 25(1), 23–31.Barton, J., & Collins, A. (1993). Portfolios in teacher education. Journal of Teacher

Education, 44(3), 200–211. Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board. (2002). Senior and school

administration appraisal policy and procedures. Author. Lyons, N. (Ed.). (1998). With portfolio in hand: Validating the new teacher professionalism.

New York: Teachers College Press.Milman, N.B. (2005). Web-based digital teaching portfolios: Fostering

reflection and technology competence in preservice teacher educationstudents. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 13(3), 373–396.

Paulson, F.I., Paulson, P.R., & Meyer, C.A. (1991, Feb). What makes a portfolioa portfolio? Education Leadership 48(5), 60–63.

Rolheiser, C., Bower, B., & Stevahn, L. (2000). The portfolio organizer. Alexandria,VA: ASCD.

Rolheiser, C. & Schwartz, S. (2001). Pre-service portfolios: A base forprofessional growth. Canadian Journal of Education, 26(3), 283.

Wade, R.C., & Yarbrough, D.B. (1996). Portfolios: A tool for reflective thinkingin teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 12(1), 63–79.

Wilcox, B. (1996). Smart portfolios for teachers in training. Journal of Adolescent& Adult Literacy, 40(3), 172–179.

Wolf, K. & Dietz, M. (1998). Teaching portfolios: Purposes and possibilities.Teacher Education Quarterly, 25(1), 9-22.

Zubizaretta, J. (1994). Teaching portfolios and the beginning teacher. Phi DeltaKappan, 323–326.

PORTFOLIOS:Common Understandings

A portfolio is a purposeful collection of learner [student]work that exhibits the learner’s efforts, progress, andachievements in one or more areas.

The collection must include learner participation inselecting contents, the criteria for selection, the criteriafor judging merit, and evidence of learner self-reflection.

—F.I. Paulson, P.R. Paulson, & C.A. Meyers, 1991

Portfolio assessment is a valuable tool for buildingbridges and creating partnerships with many audiences,or stakeholders, resulting in better learning opportunitiesfor all learners.

—C. Rolheiser, B. Bower, & L. Stevahn, 2000

A portfolio is a deliberate collection of work, exhibits,artifacts, and reflections which document experiences,efforts, progress, abilities, and achievements over adefined period of time. It is an authentic representationof the depth, breadth, and growth of learning.

—Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board, 2002

DICK HOLLAND is a preservice instructor at OISEand a teacher with the Toronto District SchoolBoard. He has worked in Ontario schools as ateacher, school leader, author, and curriculumconsultant. His research interests are in the field ofglobal education.

Developing a PsychologyCurriculum for Today’s Students ■ PROJECT CO-ORDINATORS

Xi Chen, Hazel McBride

THE PROJECT IN BRIEF This paper describes a study that analyzed the curriculum of thePsychological Foundations of Learning and Development (EDU3500).curriculum at OISE. The purpose was to provide a guideline for curriculumdevelopment. A survey designed by Chen and McBride (2005) was givento teacher candidates to identify the strengths and weaknesses of thecurrent curriculum and teaching practices. A similar survey (Chen &McBride, 2005) was given to teachers from our partnership schools. Focusgroups were conducted in participating schools to discuss the role ofpsychology in teaching and methods of applying psychological theories.By promoting evidence-based research in education, this project will havea significant impact on candidates in the initial teacher education programby improving curriculum and teaching. It will also inform professionaldevelopment and in-service courses for practicing teachers.

Educational psychology foundations courses were developed in the early 20thcentury to upgrade the status of teacher education by establishing ascientific basis for professional programs (Shulman, 1990). Courses in

educational psychology typically include topics such as human learning andcognition, human development (including cognitive, affective, and personalityaspects of development), motivation, measurement, individual and groupdifferences, research on teaching, social and cultural factors, special populations,and classroom management (Shuell, 1996). Great variations exist in the extent to,and manner in which, these and related topics are addressed across differentcohorts and teacher education programs. The assumptions were that concepts andtheories can be learned first, and then retrieved and applied when a practicalproblem is encountered (Anderson, et al. 1995). These assumptions have beenincreasingly questioned and criticized by educational psychologists and teachereducators because the transfer from theory to practice is far from automatic (e.g.,Berliner, 1992; Peterson, Clark, & Dickson, 1990). Consequently, there has beenmuch debate about the goal of educational psychology courses, in particular,about how to strike a balance between theory and practice.


• To determine the minimum set of knowledge and competencies required inpsychology for elementary and secondary school teachers

• To analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the current curriculum• To refine the current curriculum based on the research findings

■ Queen Alexandra Senior Public School■ Silverthorn Junior Public School■ Woburn Collegiate Institute■ Lorna Jackson Public School ■ Centennial Senior Public School ■ Brampton Centennial Family of Schools

RESEARCH PARTNERS

EVIDENCE BASED RESEARCH IN EDUCATIONThere is a new emphasis on using evidence-based research in education. At the 2004International Teacher Education conference inToronto, several speakers, including Dan Fallon,Director of the Carnegie Corporation andNorbert Pachler, of the Institute for Education,London, England, emphasized the importanceof basing instruction in teacher education onevidence-based research. Traditionally ineducation, we have depended more on expertbased practice. Expert practice is based onexperience rather than research. For example,when a teacher is faced with an instructionalquestion they tend to think back andextrapolate what has been learned in othersimilar situations or there may be a teacher inthe school who is seen as an “expert” on aspecific topic, who is then consulted. In a reportby the American Council on Education (1999),a review of hundreds of articles in peer-reviewed journals found that more than halfof the reports read were forms of anecdotalcase studies, in which the evidence for qualityteaching was either a self report or some otheridiosyncratic description.

Educational psychology curriculum in initialteacher education programs has traditionallybeen based on a theoretical frameworkdeveloped by experts. There has been little, if any, research designed to investigate how,

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and if, such a curriculum meets the needs of teachers. This project isintended to fill this gap. The results of this research will inform andimprove on OISE’s initial teacher education program.

STAGES OF THE PROJECT■ STAGE ONE: Reviewing the ResearchWe studied the research literature regarding teaching psychology toteacher candidates. We reviewed a broad range of educationalpsychology textbooks and curricula in use by North Americanuniversities. We then analyzed the information and used it todevelop two surveys. One was designed to be used with our OISEteacher candidates and a second similar survey was designed to beused with teacher educators (Chen & McBride, 2005).

■ STAGE TWO: Conducting the SurveyEach of the surveys were distributed to teacher candidates at OISEand experienced teachers at our partnership schools. The surveysconsist of three sections. Section One collects demographicinformation including program, age, gender, background inpsychology, and teaching experience. Section Two requiresparticipants to rate whether they think a concept or theory is helpful and/or will likely be helpful for their teaching. SectionThree asks open-ended questions about course content, coursedelivery, and the role of psychology in teaching.

■ STAGE THREE: Holding Focus GroupsWe scheduled a series of focus groups in the participating schools.The focus groups allowed for discussion of the role of psychologyin teaching, the methods of applying psychological theories inteaching, and the challenges faced by teachers.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSISOne hundred surveys were analyzed from teacher candidates atOISE. In our sample, 48 percent of the participants were in the I/S (Intermediate/Secondary) program, 19 percent were in theJ/I (Junior/Intermediate) program, and 30 percent were in the P/J(Primary/Junior program). Of the participants, 76 percent werebetween 20 and 30 years of age, 13 percent were between 30 and 40 years of age, and 5 percent were above 40 years of age. Femalescomprised 74 percent of the participants; 26 percent were males.Only 5 percent of the participants had an Early ChildhoodEducation (ECE) degree. Prior to their enrolment in the preserviceprogram, 28 percent of the participants had previous teachingexperience. Their average teaching experience was under one year.There was a very wide range in their psychology backgrounds with76 percent having little background: 50 percent never having taken a psychology course, and 25 percent having taken 1–2 courses; 11 percent were psychology majors.

Thirty-three surveys were collected and analyzed from teachers inour partnership schools. (See Table 1) The teachers had an averageof 13 years teaching experience, and the grades taught ranged fromkindergarten to Grade 12. Their average psychology background was1–2 courses, with 3 percent having no background in psychology,and 12 percent being psychology majors. The students and teacherswere asked to rate, on a five-point scale, how helpful the theoriesand concepts covered in the course were for their teaching. Bothteacher candidates’ and experienced teachers’ responses in SectionTwo were coded into numerical values: 5–strongly agree, 4–agree,

3–undecided, 2–disagree, and 1–strongly disagree. For example, on a scale of 1–5 an average score of 4.47 indicates that this topic was considered to be very helpful, while a score below 3.00 would indicate that the topic was not helpful.

Table 1. Mean Responses (Standard Deviation) to Course Content.

TeacherTopic Candidates TeachersCognitive Development 4.09 (.68) 4.18 (.66)Personal, Gender, Social,

and Moral Development 3.92 (.66) 4.32 (.58)Human Diversity 4.17 (.67) 4.30 (.54)Learning Theories 4.27 (.58) 4.21 (.55)Motivation 4.41 (.55) 4.47 (.53)Classroom Management 4.46 (.85) 4.47 (.63)Classroom Teaching 4.28 (.69) 4.05 (.72)Grand Mean 4.23 4.29

Results show that teacher candidates were positive about thepsychological foundations curriculum. All of the seven topics received3.90 or above, indicating that candidates agreed that the topics werelikely to be helpful for their teaching. The most preferred topics wereClassroom Management and Motivation, whereas the least preferredtopic was Personal, Gender, Social, and Moral Development. Thesub-topics under each topic usually received similar ratings to that of the topic. The only exception was Personal, Gender, Social, andMoral Development. The rating of Social Development was 4.20. It was significantly higher than 3.92, the overall rating. This finding suggests that the candidates were more interested in Social Development than the other three sub-topics.

Teacher candidates were also asked to rank the helpfulness of thetopics. The topics, from most helpful to least helpful, were:Classroom Management, Motivation, Classroom Teaching, LearningTheories, Human Diversity, Personal, Gender, Social, and MoralDevelopment, and Cognitive Development. This finding was largelyconsistent with Table 1. The consistency suggests that the survey hadgood reliability.

Similar results were found in responses from teachers. The teachersalso rated Classroom Management and Motivation as the two mosthelpful topics. Interestingly, teachers gave Personal, Gender, Social,and Moral Development and Human Diversity higher ratings thanthose of teacher candidates, and gave Classroom Teaching a lowerrating than those of teacher candidates. This would suggest that years of teaching experience increases their repertoire ofinstructional techniques and knowledge and therefore learning about teaching from a course becomes less relevant to practicingteachers. On the other hand, the realities in the schools have madethem realize that Personal Development and Diversity are two veryimportant issues, almost as important as Classroom Managementand Motivation. Overall, the teachers’ average rating (4.29) washigher than teacher candidates’ average rating (4.23), which confirmsour initial hypothesis that psychological foundations becomes moreuseful as teaching experience increases.

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IMPACTCurriculum development has been a continuous effort among thepsychological foundations instructors at OISE. Our findings suggestthat our teacher candidates find the current topics in our coresyllabus useful. However, they would like to see ClassroomManagement and Motivation covered in greater depth. In addition,it was found that 75 percent of our candidates had little or nobackground in psychology, while 10 percent had majored inpsychology. Meeting the needs of all candidates, while relatingtheory to practice and placing educational psychology within aclassroom context, will continue to be a challenge that will requirefurther research, investigation, and experimentation.

The least preferred topics were Expert Teachers, and Personal,Gender, and Moral Development. Many candidates have indicatedthat since it takes many years of experience to become “expertteachers” they did not find this topic directly relevant to them asnew teachers. As a result, we have reduced time spent on this topicin our curriculum. At OISE the topics of Gender and PersonalDevelopment are usually part of the School and Society course andMoral Development is covered in the Religion course (for thosecandidates taking this course); therefore, candidates may have foundthese topics redundant. It is interesting that they rated SocialDevelopment higher. It may be that they thought that socialdevelopment more closely impacts the classroom environment. As a result, we are expanding the time spent on social developmentand reducing the time spent on gender development and moraldevelopment, which are covered extensively in other courses.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHER EDUCATIONIt is estimated that close to 50 percent of new teachers leave theprofession within the first five years (Darling-Hammond, 2003).Two areas of difficulty often mentioned by these new teachers aremotivation and classroom management. These are also the two areasof difficulty most often mentioned by our teacher candidates.Designing curriculum to better meet the needs of candidates with astronger emphasis on these topics, may help new teachers be betterprepared to teach in classrooms and lead to a reduction in thenumber of new teachers leaving the profession.

Another area that we investigated was the teacher candidates’previous training in psychology. The survey shows that 76 percenthad little background in psychology, 50 percent had never taken apsychology course before, 25 percent had taken 1 or 2 courses, and11 percent were psychology majors.

Given the wide range of prior knowledge of psychology possessedby our teacher candidates, the question that remains is how to designan educational psychology curriculum that meets the needs of thiswide range of learners.

NEXT STEPS AND NEW QUESTIONSWe will continue to conduct the focus groups at our partnershipschools and analyze the data collected. This information, along withother data, will be disseminated to the psychological foundationsinstructors at OISE, as well as to our partnership schools.

Preliminary results of this study have been presented at severalconferences, including The American Educational ResearchAssociation conference (AERA) in San Francisco in April 2006, the International Teacher Education Conference (OISE) in May2005, and The Canadian Society for the Study of Educationconference (CSSE) in London, Ont. in March 2005.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSWe would like to thank all those who participated in this research—teacher candidates, teachers, administrators, and psychologicalfoundations instructors. We would also like to thank the sponsors of the School/University Partnership Initiative.

REFERENCESAmerican Council on Education. (1999). To touch the future: Transforming the way

teachers are taught. Washington, DC: Author.Anderson, L.M., Blumenfeld, P., Pintrich, P.R., Clark, C.M., Marx, R.W., &

Peterson, P. (1995). Educational psychology for teachers: Reforming ourcourses, rethinking our roles. Educational Psychologist 30, 143–157.

Berliner, D.C. (1992). Telling the stories of educational psychology. EducationalPsychologist 27, 143–161.

Darling-Hammond, L. (2003). Keeping good teachers: Why it matters, whatleaders can do. Educational Leadership, 60(8), 6–13.

Peterson, P.L., Clark, C.M., & Dickson, W.P. (1990). Educational psychology asa foundation in teacher education: Reforming an old notion. Teachers CollegeRecord, 91, 322–346.

Shuell, T.J. (1996). The role of educational psychology in the preparation ofteachers. Educational Psychologist, 31, 5–14.

Shulman, L. (1990). Reconnecting foundations to the substance of teachereducation. Teachers College Record, 91, 300–310.

XI CHEN is an assistant professor in theDepartment of Human Development and AppliedPsychology, OISE. She teaches PsychologicalFoundations of Learning and Development andgraduate courses in literacy and statistics. Herresearch interests are in the areas of literacy,bilingualism, and curriculum development.

HAZEL MCBRIDE is a senior lecturer in SpecialEducation in the Department of HumanDevelopment and Applied Psychology, OISE. She teaches Psychological Foundations ofLearning and Development.

PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT

Psychological Foundations of Learning and Development is arequired course in the Initial Teacher Education program atOISE. There are 36 hours of instruction allocated to cover abroad range of topics in educational psychology. Curriculumdevelopment has been a continuous effort among psychologicalfoundations instructors and a core syllabus has been developed.The instructors are part of a Professional LearningCommunity that generates pedagogically reflective discussions.This research will contribute to ongoing curriculumdevelopment and improvement.


Building Teacher Capacity to Respond to Child Abuse■ PROJECT CO-ORDINATORS

Katreena Scott, Jennifer Root

THE PROJECT IN BRIEF Teachers represent the largest referral source to child welfare agencies inCanada on the identification of child maltreatment. Consequently,providing education on recognizing and responding to child abuse andneglect is critical for today’s teachers. This project reviewed the existingresearch on early teacher knowledge of child maltreatment, responded toteacher-perceived barriers to reporting child abuse and neglect, andinformed best practices for educating professionals to appropriatelyrespond to at-risk children. A series of four educational workshops weredeveloped and piloted with teachers at Oakridge Junior Public School,Toronto District School Board. Participating teachers provided feedbackfor improving the workshops and completed surveys to gauge change intheir knowledge of child abuse and neglect. This study contributed toongoing efforts to improve professional education provided to new andexperienced teachers on child maltreatment.

Teachers play a vital role in the identification of child maltreatment, withschool personnel representing the largest referral source to child welfareagencies in Canada (Trocmé et al., 2002; 2005). As teachers represent a

professional group which most often holds the best knowledge of a particularchild, unreported concerns may have deleterious consequences for a child (CCJS,2005), or represent a missed opportunity for early intervention. Moreover,qualitative evidence from teacher candidates suggests that early teachers feelunprepared to deal with emotional and behavioural challenges likely to bepresented by children who have been maltreated (Kenny, 2004).

Through a year-long series of educational workshops, this partnership providedparticipants with the opportunity to increase their ability to competently identifyand respond to cases of child abuse and neglect in the classroom.


• To gain a better understanding of the learning needs of teachers aroundissues of child abuse and child abuse prevention in schools

• To create four short professional development workshops for teachers thatwould enhance their ability to recognize and respond to child abuse andneglect

• To offer workshops to teachers and gather feedback on their impact • To consider results of this project for improving initial teacher education

■ Teachers, support staff, and administrators at Oakridge Junior Public School, Toronto District School Board

■ Scott Research Lab (OISE), membersLaura-Lynn Stewart, Katherine Barotas, and Colin King

STAGES OF THE PROJECT■ STAGE ONE: Identify Learning NeedsWe met with the administrators at OakridgeJunior Public School in the Toronto DistrictSchool Board to talk in general terms abouttheir learning needs, questions about childabuse, and child abuse prevention in the school.We engaged them in a conversation aboutteachers’ understanding of child abuse, theirreporting requirements, how a child who hasexperienced abuse may present in the classroom,and how teachers can support each other, andbe supported by their school, when they make areport to child protective services.

This discussion also brought to light additionaltopics to be covered, including the intersectionof cultural understandings of child abuse,access to information about child abuse fornewcomer communities, and maintainingpositive relationships with parents following a report to child protective services. Ourunderstanding of the learning needs ofteachers was also informed by a review ofexisting research on early teacher knowledge of child maltreatment, teacher-perceivedbarriers to reporting child abuse and neglect,and informed best practices for educatingprofessionals to respond appropriately to at-risk children.

RESEARCH PARTNERS

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■ STAGE TWO: Workshop DevelopmentFour workshops were developed in collaboration with members ofthe Scott Research Lab:• Workshop 1: Identifying Child Abuse and Neglect• Workshop 2: Responding to Child Abuse and Neglect:

Reporting Requirements• Workshop 3: Understanding Obstacles to Reporting• Workshop 4: Creating a School Environment Conducive to

Promoting the Safety and Well-Being of All Children

The knowledge gained during these workshops was cumulative innature and allowed for each workshop to be further customizedprior to delivery. Teaching staff were able to inform howinformation was presented (e.g., case studies, role-playing, etc.) tobest suit their styles of learning and information retention.

■ STAGE THREE: Workshop DeliveryThe four workshops were offered during the 2005–06 academicyear. Each workshop was held at the school, during the lunch hour.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSISWe evaluated the impact of our work using both questionnaire dataand feedback forms. Prior to the first workshop and following thelast workshop, a 13-item questionnaire (Educators and Child AbuseQuestionnaire) was given to participants—including teachers,support staff, teacher candidates, and school administrators(N=53). In addition, at the conclusion of each workshop, wecollected feedback from teachers about the relevance and usefulnessof information presented, as well as any suggestions they had for improvement.

There are three notable findings from our research. 1. We discovered that prior to attending the workshops, the

majority of teachers had received only 1–2 hours of prior

training in the area of child maltreatment. Moreover, there was adirect impact of the amount of training received. Teachers whohad received only 1–2 hours of training were least confident intheir knowledge and skill in recognizing and responding to childmaltreatment. Teachers who had had more professional trainingwere more skilled and confident.

2. We were pleased to note the teachers were satisfied with theworkshops. Generally speaking, teachers reported that as a resultof attending the workshops they increased their knowledge aboutchild abuse and felt more informed about their role in reportingand responding to child abuse in the school. Examples of themean response of teachers across all four workshops are shownin Table 1.

Finally, analysis of data from the questionnaire administered beforeand after the series of workshops showed that teachers madesignificant gains in their ability and confidence in recognizing childabuse and neglect. Specifically, attending the child abuse preventionworkshops led to an almost 2-point increase on a 12-point scalegauging teacher knowledge in this area.

IMPACTThis partnership offered the opportunity for partners to greatlyimprove their understanding of child maltreatment and how they areimpacted as school personnel. Specifically, awareness about reportingrequirements and strengthening relationships between parents andteachers greatly improved.

This partnership also offered insight into the training and educationneeds of teacher candidates. Our findings will be helpful in creatingopportunities for teacher candidates to learn about child abuse andneglect in curriculum and course materials.

Evaluation of Workshops: Teacher Satisfaction

(1=strong disagree 2= disagree 3=neither agree nor disagree 4=agree 5=strongly agree)

The workshop was a good way for me to learn this content 1 2 3 4 5

^4.17

This workshop further informed my reporting obligation as a teacher1 2 3 4 5

^4.52

The content further informed me about building relationships with parents1 2 3 4 5

^4.43

The content further informed me about what is needed to make children feel safe and comfortable to talk to teachers about child maltreatment1 2 3 4 5

^4.27

I will be able to use what I learned in this workshop1 2 3 4 5

^4.39

TABLE 1.


IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHER EDUCATION■ Teacher candidates: Gauging the self-reported knowledge of teachers provides anunderstanding of how much training and information teachersreceive during preservice training. Based on our findings andexperience, we can recommend that child abuse prevention educationbe more widely incorporated into preservice education.

■ Curriculum development:The research conducted during this partnership has the potentialto influence curriculum development. In addition to providingteachers and school personnel with greater knowledge about childmaltreatment, this partnership provided an opportunity to furtherdevelop and refine one of the related studies courses at OISE,“Child Abuse and Its Appearance in the Classroom.” By connectingwith teachers already working with Toronto schools, the curriculumfor this preservice course can be further refined and updated toreflect the challenges and barriers to detecting and reporting childabuse within Toronto’s diverse classrooms. Using knowledge gainedfrom experienced teachers will ensure OISE’s preservice educationprogram remains current, relevant, and able to best prepare teachercandidates for the realities of teaching.

NEXT STEPS AND NEW QUESTIONSThis partnership was successful and met the identified needs of theteachers. The methods and workshops that we developed were

appropriate for this level of intervention, but raised questions about how this strategy could meet the needs of other schools and teaching personnel who need ongoing, accurate informationabout child abuse, and their role as teachers in preventing andreporting child abuse.

These questions should guide future work related to providingteacher education about child abuse:• How can experienced teachers and preservice teachers continue

to receive current information and training about child abuse?• Can teacher candidates play a role in bringing this information

to their schools?

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSWe sincerely want to thank the teachers, support staff, andadministrators at Oakridge Junior Public School for theirenthusiasm and commitment to this partnership. Also, we extend our gratitude to the presenters from the Scott Research Lab who carefully developed the workshop content andpresentations. For more information on the Lab, visithttp://home.oise.utoronto.ca/~scottlab/people.htm

REFERENCES Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics. (2005). Family violence in Canada: A statistical

profile, 2005. Ottawa: Statistics Canada; Cat. No. 85-224-XIE, 2005.Kenny, M.C. (2004). Teachers’ attitudes toward and knowledge of child

maltreatment. Child Abuse & Neglect, 28(12), 1311–1319.Trocmé, N., Fallon, B., MacLaurin, B., Daciuk, J., Bartholomew, S., Ortiz, J.,

Thompson, J., Helfrich, W., & Billingsley, D. (2002). 1998 Ontario IncidenceStudy of reported child abuse and neglect (OIS 1998). Toronto, ON: Centre ofExcellence for Child Welfare, Faculty of Social Work, University ofToronto.

Trocmé, N., Fallon, B., MacLaurin, B., Daciuk, J., Felstiner, C., Black, T.,Tonmyr, B., Blackstock, C., Barter, K., Turcotte, D., & Cloutier, R. (2005).Canadian incidence study of reported child abuse and neglect–2003: Major findings.Ottawa, ON: Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada.

KATREENA SCOTT is an associate professor in the HumanDevelopment and Applied Psychology Department at OISE.

JENNIFER ROOT is a research officer at the Scott ResearchLab. She was previously a program coordinator with theMinnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse, University ofMinnesota. Jennifer has worked in the violence preventionand anti-violence against women movement for the pasteight years.

COMMENT FROM PRINCIPAL

“The partnership between OISE and Oakridge Junior PublicSchool for the 2005–06 school year was optimally timed.The sessions provided staff with a forum to explore furtherthe indicators for abuse, our school’s reporting policy andhow to respond more appropriately to disclosures orconcerns that our staff have about child abuse. Thepresenters, lead investigator, and the program manager werecollaborative, well organized, and informed about the currentand best practices. We certainly appreciated the workshopsand feel more confident about our role as educators in theidentification, response, and documentation around childabuse. We also realize that it is important to keep updatedand aware of case law related to child abuse and to share,review, and communicate this information to staff on anongoing basis. Thank you.”

—Nadira Persaud, PrincipalOakridge Junior Public School


“It’s always important to have workshops like this to keep upto date and fresh.”

“[I] gained confidence and knowledge about the reportingand recognition of child abuse.”

“We must be aware and responsible for our students. We maybe their only safe adult to disclose to.”

Promoting Equity, Diversity and Social Justice School-Wide■ PROJECT CO-ORDINATORS

Julian Kitchen, Elizabeth Smyth, Sue Thompson, Jim Lemoire

THE PROJECT IN BRIEF The promotion of equity, diversity, and social justice was identified as a priority by both OISE’s Secondary Program 1 and University ofToronto Schools. Together, we developed an introductory workshop based on shared needs as teacher education partners. Teachers andteacher candidates were asked to critically examine their curriculum and instruction practices. Based on their analysis, they were encouragedto become more equity-oriented in their teaching. The teacher candidatesexamined how issues of diversity and equity were addressed in theircurrent and future practices. They explored how issues of diversity and voice can be systematically integrated and addressed within curricular settings.

There is a heightened awareness across North America of the importance ofteaching diverse learners in inclusive, democratic classrooms (Banks, et al.,2005). Increasingly, teachers and teacher candidates need to develop the

knowledge, skills, and attitudes to implement curriculum and instructionalpractices that demonstrate sensitivity to issues of equity, diversity, and socialjustice (Gay, 2000).

Students and teachers at University of Toronto Schools (UTS), a culturally diverseGrade 7–12 school for students of high ability, identified equity and diversityissues as school priorities. There was an increasing recognition that individualefforts were insufficient to deal with these complex issues. An equity committeewas established to begin the process of developing a school-wide response tounconscious, conscious, and institutional inequities.

The promotion of equity, diversity, and social justice is also one of the sevenbroad principles that underpin the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education ofthe University of Toronto (OISE) Initial Teacher Education program. This issue iscentral to the School and Society (SAS) course and a major theme in the TeacherEducation Seminar (TES). Field-based interdisciplinary projects were already well


• To heighten awareness of equity issues and develop social justice teachingskills through introductory workshops

• To critically analyze classroom and school environments using research-based approaches to equity, diversity, and social justice

• To foster collaboration between teachers and teacher candidates indeveloping curriculum and instruction informed by a heightened awarenessof equity, diversity, and social justice

■ University of Toronto Schools■ Secondary Program 1 (SPI: Students of High

Ability), Initial Teacher Education, OISE■ Equity Committee, University of Toronto

Schools (James Campbell, Anand Mahadevan, Maureen McCarthy, Nicola Townend, Vince Danetta, Susie Choi, Dorothy Davis, Philip Marsh, Sue Thompson, and Jim Lemoire)

RESEARCH PARTNERS

established in one of our cohorts, SecondaryProgram 1(SP1). In the year before this study,the field-based interdisciplinary project shiftedto TES and SAS, with equity, diversity, andsocial justice emerging as central themes.

This school/university partnership projectemerged from a shared commitment to infusingequity work into teaching and teacher education.

STAGES OF THE PROJECT■ STAGE ONE: Identifying Shared NeedsIn May 2005, UTS expressed an interest inbecoming more involved in teacher education atOISE. Around the same time, the UTS EquityCommittee was seeking to heighten awareness ofequity issues. In conversations with SP1instructors, it became clear that their concernwith equity was congruent with the increasedemphasis on equity issues at OISE. A proposalwas developed around three themes: 1) researchon equity needs at UTS; 2) the development ofnew and modified curriculum units developed byUTS teachers in collaboration with SP1 teachercandidates; and 3) the development of resourcesfor use in OISE’s teacher education program andin the school.

The team identified critical first steps for bothteacher candidates and teachers. As a result, anequity facilitator skilled in linking equity issuesto the personal identities of educators was hired.We hoped that this facilitated session would

18


generate shared understandings and commitment. From this base, weplanned to encourage the generation of meaningful equity projectsby teachers and teacher candidates. Participants were encouraged tofollow through on their initial interests. The partnership grant fromOISE paid for the introductory workshops, while the UTSadministration provided supply teacher coverage.

■ STAGE TWO: Equity WorkshopsIn September 2005, equity consultant Annemarie Schroer conductedthree bias awareness workshops titled “From the Inside Out.”One was a full-day session for 14 teacher candidates at UTS and 20 UTS associate teachers. This was followed by two, two-hoursessions for the remaining 16 teacher candidates in SP1 and forother teachers at UTS. Following the success of these workshops,UTS arranged an additional two, two-hour sessions for its teachingand office staff.

Participants were encouraged to reflect on their experiences andmake empathetic connections to the experiences of individuals andgroups who are different and, at times, marginalized in our schoolsand in society. The importance of recognizing and celebratingdiversity, ensuring equitable treatment, and promoting social justicewere then considered. In the full-day session, teachers and teachercandidates met in pairs or subject groups to begin planning ways ofmodifying curriculum and instruction to better address equity issues.

■ STAGE THREE: Examining the School and Classroom Environment

Teacher candidates in SP1 voluntarily committed 10 days toclassroom observation, in addition to the required 10-weeks ofpractica. Equity was one of the lenses through which they viewedthe UTS classrooms during their field experiences.

At the same time, UTS teachers observed their own classes throughan equity lens. In many cases, teachers and teacher candidates sharedtheir observations and perceptions. Often, this informed practiceduring the practicum and beyond.

■ STAGE FOUR: Teaching for Equity, Diversity, and Social Justice

All OISE teacher candidates are required to take the School andSociety course. The course explores schooling in a context of social,

political, and economic forces and broader educational goals that have shifted over time. Among the topics explored are socialclass, sexuality, religion, gender, race, culture, and ethnicity. Theapplication of equity principles in the classroom is also a core theme of TES.

For each issue, a group of four teacher candidates selects a topic andguides the class through an interactive, 50-minute seminar. Theyexplore the historical and philosophical roots of the issue; howgovernment and school system policies are shaping currentdiscussions and practices; what is actually happening in the schoolsrelevant to this issue; how research is informing/driving policy andpractice; and how this knowledge can inform their future. Teachercandidates then write individual papers that fulfill courseexpectations in both SAS and TES.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS■ Equity WorkshopsBefore and after the full-day session, participants were asked torespond in writing to the following question: “What do youconsider when preparing for a lesson?”The post-workshop responsesrevealed a heightened awareness of equity issues in 90 percent ofparticipants. Generally, comments suggested that teachers andteacher candidates added several equity considerations to their lists.For example: “Who is not here?;” “How can I make sure all mystudents can access this material?;” “What unexamined biases do Ihave?;” and, “How do I get student input?”

■ Teacher Candidate Equity ProjectsThe interdisciplinary equity project was the main source of data onthe project’s impact on teacher candidates. Each teacher candidatewas required to write a 2,000-word essay in which an equity issuewas identified and analyzed within the context of a school in whicha practicum experience is taking place/has taken place. Theassignment asked the following of teacher candidates: a) Describe the setting in which the chosen issue is analyzed. b) Situate how the issue is addressed within the provincial/board

level policies and local setting. c) Report, through observational techniques, how the issue is being

addressed at a school level. d) Analyze the extent to which the issue is being addressed at a

classroom level. e) State three recommendations for professional development for

the staff. f) Reflect how, as a teacher in that school next September, this

issue could be addressed in one of the courses they may be teaching.

■ Associate Teacher ReflectionsUTS teachers were encouraged to reflect in writing on theirexperiences as associate teachers and their progress towardsdeveloping more equitable classrooms.

IMPACT■ Equity WorkshopThe “From the Inside Out” workshop was an effective introductionfor teachers and teacher candidates to equity, diversity, and socialjustice issues. Initial defensiveness among participants quicklydissipated as the facilitator worked in a manner that was respectful

Reflections on “From the Inside Out” workshops,September 2005

“Much of the progress we have made, particularly in relationto equity-related concerns and issues that have affected ourschool community, has been built upon the groundwork laidin the fall.”

—Administrator

“My feelings of inadequacy and powerlessness with anti-gaystudents surprised me. As a new teacher, I will look towardsmy mentors and administrators to guide me though whatappears to be some very sensitive and volatile issues in theyears to come.”

—Teacher candidate

20

of the participants’ experiences and which encouraged them todraw on their experiences to understand better the experiences of others.

One associate teacher wrote, “I found Annemarie Schroer’s processesquite effective for acknowledging bias, while also providing asupportive framework for becoming proactive in trying to eliminatepersonal bias from curriculum and instruction.”The workshopprompted the teacher, together with his teacher candidate, toexamine their experiences and consider the implications ofinstitutional discrimination. Over the course of the first term, theyexamined their curriculum through an equity lens and developednew units of study.

■ TeachersTeachers identified the equity partnership as an important initiative.UTS associate teachers reported feeling energized by newinstructional strategies, fresh perspectives, and the appreciationshown by the teacher candidates.

One teacher said he appreciated, “the opportunity to workcollaboratively with a teacher candidate to perform a ‘gap analysis’of my visual arts curriculum with an equity lens.”Together with his teacher candidate, he devised a framework for students tounderstand the concept of institutional and systemic discrimination.The support of administration, which was manifested in funding for supply teachers and additional professional development, wascritical to facilitating progress towards equity goals.

■ Teacher CandidatesThe assignments prepared by the teacher candidates reflected howparticipation in the Equity and Diversity workshops impacted ontheir current and future practices. They were aware that issues ofdiversity and voice need to be systematically integrated andaddressed within curricular settings. Also, they cited strategies that could be used in a number of subject areas. All teachercandidates stressed the importance of following up on theirexperiences in the workshop with ongoing support and professional development.

They observed that the road to equity is a long one and that muchmore work needs to be done. One teacher candidate stated, “Eventhose teachers who self-identified as gay or lesbian did notnecessarily agree on how gay and lesbian issues should be addressed.”While policy may highlight good general directions, it may not beappropriate to every teacher’s repertoire.

Others observed that the unique ethnocultural and religiousconditions of each school must be taken into consideration. Somenoted challenges that must be faced when community values comeinto conflict with equity policies.

In addition, the group exploring teachers’ ethnocultural identitiesobserved that creating awareness among the teachers is as importantas creating awareness among the students. They felt this was an areain which they would need ongoing support through the professionaldevelopment resources available through the Ministry of Education,the school boards, and Additional Qualification courses.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHER EDUCATIONThe equity workshop has two implications for teacher education.First, opportunities for teacher educators to experience professionaldevelopment alongside associate teachers strengthen relationshipsand foster connections to classroom contexts. Second, theworkshop’s impact attests to the importance of foregroundingequity, diversity, and social justice in both university and schoolcontexts.

The richness of the teacher candidate propects attests to theimportance of authentic equity assignments that link theory topolicy to classroom practice. Most however, chose to focus on theirfirst-term UTS experiences rather than their second-termexperiences at other schools. This signals the importance ofsequencing courses so that the rigorous study of theory and policyin SAS takes place in the same time frame as the workshop andpracticum experience. We think that the impact of the workshop,practicum experiences, and OISE coursework would have beenheightened if SAS had been timetabled in the first term.

NEXT STEPS AND NEW QUESTIONSThe project was an initial step in a plan to promote equity, diversity,and social justice at UTS. Teachers’ recognition of difference andtheir commitment to alleviating inequities seemed to increase as aresult of this project and the work of the equity committee. Still, weare “aware of the dangers of the mere acknowledging of differencewithout responding to difference” (Dei, 2003, p. 3). In the comingyears, the equity agenda at UTS will shift towards responding morecritically to differences and inequities.

REFERENCESBanks, J., Cochran-Smith, M., Moll, L., Richert, A., Zeichner, K., LePage, P.,

Darling-Hammond, L., Duffy, H., & McDonald, M. (2005). In L.Darling-Hammond & J. Bransford (Eds.), Preparing teachers for a changing world:What teachers should learn and be able to do (pp. 232–274). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Dei, G.S.F. (2003). Communicating across the tracks: Challenges for anti-racisteducators in Ontario today. Orbit, 33(3), 2–5.

Gay, G. (2000). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research and practice. New York:Teachers College Press.

JULIAN KITCHEN was the coordinator of SP1at the time of this project. He is presently assistantprofessor, Faculty of Education, Brock University.

ELIZABETH SMYTH is associate professor,Department of Curriculum Teaching and Learning, OISE.

SUE THOMPSON is the subject coordinator forphysical education at UTS.

JIM LEMOIRE is an art teacher at UTS.


Mentoring Teacher Candidates in an InductiveLiteracy Model■ PROJECT CO-ORDINATOR

Krista Walford

THE PROJECT IN BRIEF This project extended research introduced in the first round of school-university partnership projects (2002) that showed the benefits of placingteacher candidates with associate teachers who had participated inprofessional development focused on powerful instructional strategies andled by OISE faculty. The second stage of this project extended our focuswith common approaches to helping new teachers by zeroing in onsupporting associate teachers in their mentorship role. This third stage ofthe project engaged 22 associate teachers and 66 teacher candidates infull-day workshops on the Picture Word Induction Model (PWIM).Participants were trained in the effective use of this inductive model.Associate teachers were also supported with mentorship strategies.Students were highly engaged during the lessons. All participants in thestudy planned and delivered more lessons using the model because of itspowerful impact on student learning. Teachers found that by thinkinginductively, students were making important connections to languagestructures such as syntax, and phonetics and grammar structures.

The Picture Word Induction Model (PWIM) is a teaching strategy thathelps to develop literacy skills. It has been used widely in Australia formany years as a means of developing understanding, building vocabulary,

and acquiring reading and writing strategies. In Canada, PWIM has beenimplemented very successfully in Alberta and British Columbia with students fromKindergarten to Grade 12. A PWIM lesson begins with the introduction of avery engaging picture. The picture is usually large and is linked to current learningcontent or interests of the students. The teacher begins the lesson by askingstudents to look at the picture and think about what words the picture remindsthem of. Then they form a list by brainstorming all the words the picture hasbrought to mind. This is followed by an analysis, categorization, discussion,concept attainment, and the introduction of writing strategies and other literacystrategies. The picture is designed to engage and capture the interests of thestudents and also to develop their vocabulary through the ensuing discussion. The


• To explore and develop mentorship strategies for associate teachers in thearea of literacy, K–Grade 8

• To examine the impact of the introduction of the Picture Word InductionModel (PWIM) on literacy instruction

• To look at the qualitative experiences of our associate teachers and teachercandidates as they gain new knowledge in a collaborative and inclusiveenvironment

■ Dr. Barrie Bennett, OISE■ Dr. Jackie Eldridge, OISE■ Joanne Myers, York Region District School

Board■ Associate teachers and administrators,

York Region District School Board■ Doncrest Elementary Option, initial teacher

education, OISE

teacher then takes that vocabulary andincorporates it in reading, writing, and/orinquiry strategies.

Armitage Village Public School in the YorkRegion District School Board (YRDSB), hasmade extensive use of PWIM as a teachingstrategy. Teacher Joanne Myers leads the school’sinitiative. Like many teachers and researchersbefore her, Joanne discovered that PWIMimproved learning for all children and especiallyEnglish language learners (ELL), students atrisk, and primary students. Mrs. Myers has beena partner with the Ontario Institute for Studiesin Education of the University of Toronto(OISE) for many years and in this project servedas our workshop presenter.

STAGES OF THE PROJECT■ STAGE ONE: Common Language,

Common StrategiesThe initial stage of this project began in 2002,the first year of the Doncrest Option, one ofthe elementary cohorts at OISE. Drs. Eldridgeand Bennett received a school-universitypartnership grant to conduct the initial stage ofthis study looking at the effectiveness of placingteacher candidates with associate teachers whohad been inserviced by OISE faculty memberson similar instructional approaches (based onapproaches in Bennett & Rolheiser, 2001). Theresearch looked at the impact of collaboration

RESEARCH PARTNERS

22

between school staff and their university partners who are learning,improving, and integrating the same skills, strategies, and tactics.The inquiry clearly indicated that common language and commonstrategies are critical in an effective partnership and that feedback ismore valuable and applicable when they are in place (Eldridge &Bennett, 2002).

■ STAGE TWO: Focus on MentorshipAs a result of the information collected in stage one, and ourongoing need to refine and improve our practice, we extended theprevious research with our field partners by creating the second stageof this project—the mentorship of associate teachers. Stage Twoengaged nine associate teachers in two half-day workshops in whichthey were trained in effective mentoring strategies. In addition,associates were provided with the opportunity to further expandtheir instructional repertoire, in turn increasing their confidence asrole models for our teacher candidates. We also wanted ourassociates to develop relationships with each other that werecollaborative and committed to teacher growth. Associate teachersfound this support to be very effective and asked for additionalassistance with research-based instructional strategies for literacy and numeracy.

■ STAGE THREE: Mentorship of Teacher Candidates byAssociate Teachers in PWIM

Literacy is critical for a student’s success. The demand on teachers tohave all students reading, writing, and orally communicating at gradelevel is very high in Ontario. Teachers are expected to use a universaldesign approach to develop and understand the best instructionalstrategies. PWIM allows for such an approach. We invited ten associateteachers to attend a full-day workshop on PWIM, along with 63teacher candidates. Associate teachers were expected to learn the newmodel, and in the week following the workshop, to mentor teachercandidates in groups of three while they taught a collaborativelyplanned PWIM lesson. Response was overwhelming. By the day of the workshop our list of ten mentor associates had more thandoubled. The principals in our partner schools supported their eagerstaff with extra supply teacher coverage and funding for the project.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Data were collected through post-surveys of the participants in thestudy. We received 25 anonymous surveys out of a possible 60. Weconducted informal interviews and held a focus-group session with15 participants (two associate teachers, 13 teacher candidates). Weanalyzed lesson and unit plans of teacher candidates following thePWIM workshop to see if PWIM had been utilized or integratedinto their teaching practice. During the workshop sessions, theresearchers made observational notes and examined anecdotalcomments from workshop note submissions by the associate teachersand teacher candidates. The surveys, lessons, unit plans, artifacts, and observation notes were examined and analyzed for patterns,commonalities, and any changes over time. As we examined the waysin which associate teachers and teacher candidates viewed the use of PWIM, we noticed some interesting trends:

■ PWIM as a Literacy ToolIn the survey, all respondents indicated that that they would mostlikely use PWIM as a literacy tool again. Ninety percent of thesurvey respondents indicated that they would use PWIM in allsubject areas to assist in communication, knowledge, and inquiry.

When unit plans and subsequent lesson plans of teacher candidateswere examined, 85 percent had implemented a PWIM lesson orseries of lessons during their practicum. During a focus-groupsession, one intermediate associate teacher said that she would use PWIM weekly as part of her current events discussions. All the associate teachers indicated on their surveys and subsequentfocus-group sessions that PWIM had noticeably impacted theirstudents’ learning.

■ Strengthening MentorshipsWe asked participants to indicate if they felt schools benefit fromthese types of school/university partnerships in which associateteachers, administrators, and teacher candidates work and learntogether. Eighty-five percent of the survey respondents indicatedthat they felt that their schools would most definitely benefit fromthis type of experience.

Interestingly, when asked if teacher candidates benefit fromschool/university collaborations, 92 percent of respondentsindicated that they definitely benefit.

COMMENTS FROM ASSOCIATE TEACHERS

“My school really benefited from this project with PWIM. Ipresented the strategy to my colleagues and now everyonewants to use PWIM. The teacher candidates have beeninstrumental in helping other teachers on staff plan theirPWIM lessons.”

“I love this model of PD. I was able to learn a new strategyfor my students while also working with great teachercandidates. They [the candidates] ‘forced me’ to implementthe strategy right away and then reflect on its effectiveness.”

“This partnership was great for teacher candidates tonetwork with other teachers and administrators. Plus, theyget the opportunity of visiting more classrooms. They wereable to take risks in trying out PWIM in an evaluation-freeenvironment since they weren’t with their own associateteacher.”


“This felt like more of a partnership with the associateteacher. We taught the lesson as a team, rather than as amentor observing and critiquing a student-planned lesson. Itwas especially great because we got to go through theexperience of the lesson design process with a veryexperienced teacher.”

“I felt more comfortable because I was sharing ideas andlearning together with associate teachers. I wasn’t just askingfor ideas.”

“This teacher welcomed my questions and encouraged me tocontact him during practicum. It was great to know I hadmore than one associate who would help me. I think he’llhelp me next year too!”


McCann, Johannessa, and Ricca (2005) believe that new teachersbenefit from a broad network of contacts with peers and externalresource people, as well as former associate teachers. As such, webelieve this particular school/university partnership project supportsthis belief. Given that many of our candidates will take positionswith YRDSB, we feel that we facilitate a stronger induction programwhen the process begins in the preservice year, while they arelearning and before they are hired. Mentors are “investors,” in ourschool system, not just tenants in our preservice program.

■ Implementation of New Strategies Takes TimeIn our survey many of the respondents indicated that they wantedmore workshops on strategies that they could learn about, plan, andreflect upon together. They also appreciated the opportunity toexpand the associate teacher/teacher candidate relationship to agroup situation. McIntyre and Hagger (1996) noted two factorsthat limit the benefits of mentoring: the quality of the matchbetween mentor and mentee, and limited time. Shank (2005) foundthat time allows for mentors and mentees to engage in spontaneousconversations and collaborative problem solving. This relationship iscalled a “flow of collaborative energy” (2005, p.17). By providinganother opportunity for partnership and more time, we were able toexpand our mentorship of teacher candidates and increase thebenefits. It is our intention to continue to provide professionaldevelopment for our associates so that our partnership and thementorship of future teachers will continue to be strengthened.

IMPACTWe found that this mentorship project benefited all stakeholders.The pupils in our partner schools were able to experience a newinstructional strategy as their teachers and our teacher candidatesplanned, delivered, and reflected on a lesson together. As such, thechildren could see the group effectively communicating and workingclosely in an inclusive and enabling culture to benefit studentlearning. Our teacher candidates were mentored by well-informedand supportive associates who had a clear vision and well-definedgoals for the reciprocal relationship. All the associate teachersindicated that they experienced professional growth from learning in a supportive community of mentors and teacher candidates whoshared similar goals for student learning, especially in the area ofliteracy. In addition, the YRDSB benefited by having their teachersbecome more skilled in literacy and mentorship strategies.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHER EDUCATION This research project helped solidify our school/universitypartnership with YRDSB. We were able to link initiatives in ourteacher education program with YRDSB’s emphasis on studentliteracy achievement. We helped to develop a collaborativecommunity of associate teachers who will continue to be leaders forother associate teachers and for teacher candidates.

Mentor teachers play a pivotal role in the development of teachercandidates. By supporting the mentorship process, faculties ofeducation can assist in the induction and retention of new teachers.Frykholm and Meyer (1999) propose that mentors provide teachercandidates with support and learning experiences they will need todevelop the belief structures and habits of practice that will lead tocontinued powerful teaching and learning.

NEXT STEPS AND NEW QUESTIONS This research project has created many benefits that we will continueto develop and expand. The value of PWIM as an instructionalstrategy was very evident. PWIM engaged all students fromK–Grade 8 in the literacy lessons. It also helped students understandlanguage structures such as noun/verb agreements, and phonemicawareness for the younger grades. We will continue to offerprofessional development sessions on PWIM to associate teachersand teacher candidates in the coming years. We also want to look atother instructional strategies that associate teachers and teachercandidates can explore together.

Many administrators continue to ask that our teacher candidates and associate teachers be given information and support regardingtechnology tools to enhance literacy instruction. We offered aconference in February 2007 to YRDSB associate teachers andteacher candidates from both elementary and secondary panels onthe “use of technological tools to enhance student development.” Sixworkshops, conducted by the YRDSB Instructional Technologyteam of consultants, explored using the “smartboard” for PWIMand other literacy lessons, video streaming software, blogging withstudents, podcasts, as well as other software that develops literacyskills for elementary and secondary students. The conference waspreceded by mentoring workshops for associates and followed byreflection sessions for both associates and teacher candidates. Wayneet al. (2005) believe that a next step in the mentorship process is formentors to focus on improving new teacher instruction rather thanjust providing moral support. We will continue to move towards thisnext step with a technology and literacy focus.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSWe sincerely want to thank the 22 associate teachers and theiradministrators for supporting this project. We also want to thankMr. Kyn Barker and Dr. Lyn Sharratt for providing administrativesupport and continued guidance in the development of our strongschool/university partnership.

REFERENCESBennett, B., & Rolheiser, C. (2001). Beyond Monet: The artful science of instructional

integration. Toronto: Bookation Inc.Eldridge, J. & Bennett, B. (2004). Instructional intelligence. In C. Rolheiser

(Ed.), Research into Practice (pp. 9–10). Toronto, ON: OISE/UT.Frykholm, J. & Meyer, M. (1999). Encouraging innovation in an age of reform.

In M. Sherer (Ed.). A Better Beginning. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.McCann, T., Johannessen, L., & Ricca, B. (2005). Responding to new teachers’

concerns. Educational Leadership, 62(8), 30–34.McIntyre, D. & Hagger, H. (1996). (Eds.) Mentors in schools: Developing the profession

of teaching. London: Kogan Page.Shank, M. (2005). Common space, common time, common work. Educational

Leadership, 62(8), 16–19.Wayne, A., Youngs, P., & Fleischman, S. (2005). Educational Leadership, 62(8),

76–78.

KRISTA WALFORD is a coordinator in preserviceeducation at OISE, Doncrest Option. She isstrongly committed to supporting new teachersand in advocating for teachers as leaders in theeducation system.

Men Who Choose to Teach in the Elementary Division: From Preparation to Induction and Beyond■ PROJECT CO-ORDINATORS

Larry Swartz, Jim Giles

THE PROJECT IN BRIEF This project provided the opportunity for a team of elementary maleteacher candidates enrolled in the OISE Central Option Cohort (2006) toconsider gender issues in the teaching profession. Participants had theopportunity to share their backgrounds that prepared them for theprofession, to explore the goals and challenges of being a classroomteacher, and to discuss their views about being a male elementary teacher.Teacher candidates were partnered online with graduates of OISE’sCentral Option (2005) to build a dialogue around some issues connectedto being a beginning male teacher. It was agreed that the issues andchallenges that male elementary teachers face are not all that differentfrom their female counterparts. An essential finding of the project,however, confirmed that one-to-one correspondence with someone whohas “been there,” (a strong proponent of this project) is a significant—andnecessary—mode of support and mentorship during the induction years.

This project was designed to investigate, through the action research process,the professional lives of male elementary teachers. The focus of thisresearch project invited participants to consider the life and role of males

who chose to work in the elementary division. Each teacher candidate, throughaction research, developed a focus question to consider and then gathered research,developed an action plan, collected data and shared their findings in writing andthrough discussion. The men in this project inspected their journey as learnersprior to entering the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the Universityof Toronto (OISE) Initial Teacher Education program, during the program, andwere led, through partnerships, to consider their own futures as beginningteachers. In this way, the participants were engaged in action research byarticulating, uncovering, and challenging their assumptions about the life of a maleelementary teacher in order to consider ways to build support as they enter theprofession. A focus group of nine male teacher candidates enrolled in the CentralOption, one of the elementary cohorts at OISE were invited to partner, throughemail and in seminars, with nine male teachers working in the Greater Toronto


This research was framed by three key questions:• How are males who choose to enter the profession prepared for working in

the elementary division?• What are the strengths and challenges of males working in the elementary

division?• How can males who choose to work in elementary classrooms best receive

support during their training and induction into the profession?

■ Nine male elementary teacher candidates: Central Option Cohort, OISE

■ Nine male elementary teachers in their inductionyear of teaching: Toronto District School Board, Toronto Catholic District School Board, York Region District School Board, Halton District School Board

■ Male elementary associate teachers: Toronto District School Board & Toronto Catholic District School Board

RESEARCH PARTNERS

Area schools. These partners were “beginningteachers,” newly graduated from OISE’s CentralOption, and hired to teach in the primary orjunior division. The project was intended touncover assumptions about the lives of men whochoose to teach in the elementary division, buildsupport for male teachers during their trainingyears, and build partnerships between OISE andhost schools. The project emerged from thesignificant educational issue of recruiting maleteachers in elementary classrooms and retainingthese teachers in the profession.

STAGES OF THE PROJECT■ STAGE ONE: Embarking on the ResearchWhen the Action Research project was introducedinto the Central Option early in the program,the male teacher candidates enrolled in theprogram were invited to embark upon thisresearch initiative. This year in Central Option,there were 26 males in the class of 65. Theoriginal plan was to invite only five men to jointhe project due to the intense focus of theinquiry. Because there were more men in theprogram than anticipated, and because matcheswith first year teachers were found for allinterested teacher candidates, the project movedforward with a group of nine male teachercandidates.

The teacher candidates met to share theirbackground, their preparedness for teaching andthe challenges they felt they faced entering the

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profession. During this focus group the teacher candidates sharedthe background experiences that prepared them for entering theprofession and discussed the challenges they faced entering theprofession. They completed a questionnaire for a second meeting,which provided the opportunity to share their views of malesentering the profession. This discussion was led by one of theproject co-ordinators, Jim Giles.

■ STAGE TWO: Building PartnershipsEach male teacher candidate was then matched with former Central

Option teacher candidates who were in their first year ofteaching. Some of these beginning teachers had full-time jobs in the classroom, some had the role of Long Term OccasionalTeachers or Supply Teachers. Email addresses were provided to all participants. The teacher candidates were invited to introducethemselves, to build communication and to ask questions, shareconcerns, and tell stories about their learning and teachingexperiences.

A meeting was arranged with the teacher candidates to discuss theaction taken, to discuss their successes and challenges aboutcommunicating with a first-year teacher and to share reflections.Only one participant did not receive a reply from his partner. As agroup, we brainstormed questions that we might ask our partners.

■ STAGE THREE: Deepening the Research/Dialogue as DataIn the second semester, teacher candidates and first-year teacherswere encouraged to continue online dialogue. Participants were also provided with research articles which offered relevant theoryabout males who choose to enter elementary and were providedopportunities to read case studies of male teachers (Weist, Olive, &Oberchain, 2003; Oyler, Jennings, & Lozada, 2001). These articlesprovided a foundation for reflection at another meeting.

Another strategy to build partnerships in the project was havingeach of the male teacher candidates placed in a classroom with amale associate teacher in the elementary division. This provided thecandidates the opportunity to observe practice in a classroomconducted by male teachers, as well as a context to build dialoguebetween two male teachers as they consider gender issues in theprofession. Some participants were able to interview their associateteachers. Others were able to discuss their research with theirassociate teacher.

A meeting was organized involving all participants. The teachercandidates met with their first year partners with whom they hadbeen communicating online throughout the year. One teacher wasunable to attend. Participants discussed issues of support andmentoring, views of male identity in the elementary classroom andschool culture, and stories from the classroom. A transcription wasmade of those conversations.

■ Stage Four: Sharing the ResearchTeacher candidates had a further chance to explore or reflect on theissue by preparing a research paper identifying questions, sharingdata, reflecting on the data, and considering future implications.Each candidate also had the opportunity to share research in aseminar with other teacher candidates in the Central Option.

A final meeting of the teacher candidates was organized and thisconversation was tape-recorded and later transcribed. This meetingprovided the opportunity for the candidates to summarize theirfindings and to consider the success of the project, and theimplications for further research.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSISThis project involved a variety of data collection, including:• Questionnaire:

Theme: Why I wanted to be a teacher

COMMENTS FROM TEACHER CANDIDATES“I think this research helped me to become aware of a lot

of issues that maybe I should have been more aware ofand worried about. But now that I’ve been able to thinkabout it and write about it, I’m not worried any more.”

—Simon B.

“Being paired with an associate who was male, to seewhat his experiences were like, really helped me to makethe transition to becoming a teacher a little bit easier.”

—Ian S.

“It was fantastic to hear other people’s perspectives andstories. If there is a crisis with men and teaching I think wehave to find ways of attracting more men. I’m not surethat this is being addressed.”

—Nathan W

“I was excited about the research because it was wakingup a series of issues that I hadn’t really thought too muchabout. I saw the research as a real opportunity to workthrough my own identity…But what I’m most happy about,is that now that the issues were opened up through thecorrespondences and conversations, the concerns aboutbeing a male teacher have been reduced. It’s nice to havehad the research to deal with those concerns.”

—Adam W.

“I enjoy research flat out. A lot of the facts and themesabout male teachers was a shock to me. A teacher is justa teacher. It’s only ever been that. My dad was a teacherand so were his friends and none of this stuff everoccurred to me, so it was overwhelming to hear aboutsome problems guys might have to think about justbecause they are guys.

—T. J.

“I think the research has to be put into perspective.Having more male teachers seems to be hitting oneaspect of diversity, and that is gender. This research gaveus a chance to get information and share our personalviews. It’s important to look at all kinds of diversity.”

—Alex Z.

“For the future, I think it’s going to snowball because youonly have to look at the OISE figures of male elementaryteachers going up. The more males children can see in theclassroom, the more acceptable it’s going to be to be inthis profession as a male.”

—Dave B.

• Transcript of Conversation #1: Meeting with teacher candidatesTheme: Considering the role of males in teaching

• Transcript of Conversation #2: Meeting with teacher candidatesand first-year partnersTheme: Considering the challenges of being a first year teacher

• Transcript of Conversation #3: Meeting with teacher candidatesTheme: Considering the impact of this research

• Samples of email correspondence between project participants• Inquiry projects submitted by each teacher candidate, which

included surveys, interviews, and email transcriptions. Examplesfrom the inquiry project include: Why is it wrong for a maleteacher to provide support and caring for a student, but okay for afemale teacher?; Males in elementary and the roles they model;How males are perceived as teachers in the classroom byprimary/junior students.

IMPACT The project paid close attention to a significant educational issueregarding those who choose to enter the profession and might bechallenged to remain in the profession. The design of the projectallowed us to work with teacher candidates, individually and in avariety of group contexts to uncover some assumptions about malesin the elementary division. This project allowed candidates toconsider their assumptions, values, and practices. This project alsoprovided the opportunity, as an OISE instructor, to build a bridgebetween Initial Teacher Education and induction, and to support theprofessional growth of male teachers over a period of time.

This project allowed teacher candidates to discuss issues andconcerns with instructors, with host teachers, with peers, and withthose who had encountered the journey of teacher education. Byraising questions and building communication, both online and inperson, the participants were empowered to support others at thesame time as they were receiving support from those who hadsimilar needs and concerns. The first year teachers were given acontext for reflecting on their practice, while at the same timeproviding a context for those who were being mentored to bementors for others. By inviting graduates from the program toparticipate, the research provided a context for staying connected tothose with whom we had previously worked.

An outgrowth of this research was that other associate teachers—both male and female—in Central Option Host schools sharedinformation, stories, and advice to support male candidates whowere directly involved in the research. Moreover, the projectsupported collaborative school/university partnerships since itdirectly linked the initiatives of OISE’s Initial Teacher Educationprogram to the partner school communities. The findings of thisproject will assist the further development of the elementaryprogram through mentoring initiatives, and additional strategies for encouraging partnerships.

Not only did this research provide a deliberate framework tosupport teachers during their preparation year of Initial TeacherEducation, but it was also a chance to stay connected to those whohad been in the program.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHER EDUCATIONIf recruiting males in elementary classrooms and retaining them inthe profession is an issue for today’s education system, then this

research project provides evidence and voice to a group of men whoare learning and continuing to learn about teaching. By embarkingon the research project, the project coordinator, along with each ofthe participants, offered opinions, stories and considerations topromote excellence in the preparation and induction of teachers.The project will therefore have an extended impact in the field as I,along with the participants, share information uncovered in thisproject through discussion, reports, and professional writing.

NEXT STEPS AND NEW QUESTIONSUpon completion of the research, the teacher candidates suggestedthat they would be willing to be part of the future research bysliding into the role of first year teachers who support teachercandidates. It is hoped that the inquiry will be moved into a phasetwo initiative, Inductees as Mentors, with the following goals:

• To support Ministry of Education Initiatives: New TeacherInduction Program (NTIP, 2006)

• To offer the opportunity for new teachers to serve as mentors forteacher candidates

• To strengthen the continuum of beginning teacher education byhaving teacher candidate participants (2006) become inductionmentors (2007)

• To help inductees share their journey of being mentored anddeepen their reflection

• To gather further data on the views of male teachers throughtranscription, email communication, and videotaped conversations

• To collect anecdotes to support views offered by participants• To inform and prepare teacher candidates (2007) for the New

Teacher Induction program• To inform the Initial Teacher Education program by sharing the

research, the stories, and the process with colleagues

REFERENCESGaskell, J. (2005, March 7). Looking for Mr. Chips. Macleans, 51.Wiest, L.R., Olive, M. & Obenchain, K.M. (2003). Men’s perceptions of their

experiences as K–2 teachers. Equity and Excellence In Education, 36(1), 82–95.Oyler, C.G., Jennings, T., & P. Lozada, P. (2001). Silenced gender: The

construction of a male primary educator. Teacher and Teacher Education 17,367–379.

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LARRY SWARTZ is the Co-coordinator of theCentral Option, Elementary Teacher Education,and Principal of Dramatic Arts, ContinuingEducation, OISE.

JIM GILES is a teacher in the Toronto DistrictSchool Board and respected for his work withteachers to promote arts-based learning andequity and social justice issues.

More men in schools could begin tochange all kinds of things about the waysthat boys are in the world.

—Jane Gaskell, Macleans (2005, p.51)

Celebrating 100 years of studies in education at the University of Toronto 1907-2007

The 100th AnniversaryDuring 2007 the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE) will host the 100th anniversary of studies in education at the University. OISE and its antecedents: Faculty of Education, University of Toronto (FOE); University of Toronto Schools (UTS); Ontario College of Education (OCE);

The Institute of Child Study (ICS); College of Education, University of Toronto (CEUT); Faculty of Education, University of Toronto (FEUT); Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE); and

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT), will gather together to participate.

The Centennial BookThe Centennial Book, titled Inspiring Education: Celebrating 100 Years of Studies in Education at theUniversity of Toronto, retraces the origins of OISE and its antecedents through pictures and stories. Priced at $24, the book is available to order online (www.100years.oise.utoronto.ca), in theEducation Commons (main floor library) at OISE, 252 Bloor St. W. and at the University of TorontoBookstore. 10 percent of book sales will go towardsThe Centennial Legacy Scholarships, to support students in need and to continue the tradition of excellence in education for the next 100 years.

The Centennial Open House andReunion Saturday, May 5, 2007 OISE will open its doors to alumni, retired facultyand staff, the University and our community neighbours to showcase research initiatives in eachdepartment and to reconnect alumni with formerprofessors and classmates. Departmental open houseevents will be held throughout the afternoon beginning at 1 pm.

Teacher Recognition ProgramConvocation June 2007 OISE will celebrate elementary and secondary school teachers in conjunction with the June 2007Convocation. Designed to recognize teachers who have had a profound impact on students, the program builds on the idea that educators“stand on the shoulders of great teachers who came before” them.

The Centennial Lecture SeriesWednesday, November 7, 20072007 Jackson Lecture Speaker, Professor Rosemary TannockCanada Research Chair, Special Education and

Adaptive Technology, OISE and Hospital forSick Children

The Centennial Celebration PartyOn Saturday, November 17, 2007 at the Royal Ontario Museum, OISE will host an anniversaryparty as a wrap-up to the full year of centennial celebrations.

The Centennial Archival Project OISE will showcase its remarkable heritage in a series of archival displays including photographs andartifacts from the past. These will be located in theEducation Commons (main floor library) of OISE.

March to April 2007: Our Research, andPioneering Women

May to August 2007: Curriculum, and Buildings

September to November 2007: OISE around the World

A Century of Inspiring AlumniAs part of the Archival Project, OISE will celebrate alumni—accomplished leaders who have contributed to the world of education, literature, politics, the arts and communities. The Inspiring Alumni exhibit will feature portraits and stories of some of our outstanding alumni, celebrating their excellence.

OISE invites you to share your stories of exceptionalalumni. Email [email protected]

Get involved. We’d like you to be a part of the 100th Anniversary celebration.

www.100years.oise.utoronto.ca

www.oise.utoronto.ca



transformation of teacher education

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transformation · teacher education to support teacher candidate confidence and competence in meeting the needs of learners with exceptionalities. Dick Holland emphasizes the role