Focus on the Field - BONUS Conversations: Recent Episodes
Alberta Teacher Practicum Working Group
Full conversations from the Focus on the Field series. Join teacher educators, researchers, preservice teachers and their mentors as we explore current issues, challenges and opportunities surrounding this core component of learning to teach.
We've heard throughout this series about the importance of communication. Jeff Turner is a Sessional Instructor at the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary. He also acts as a university advisor for student teachers and mentors in the teacher education program.
In this conversation, we explore the importance of strong, honest and open communication throughout the practicum experience. Some great insights and strategies!
Connor Kopp is a recent graduate from the teacher education program at the University of Lethbridge. Dawn Burleigh was Connor's faculty consultant/mentor. In this conversation, Connor and Dawn share insights and perspective on the teacher education practicum, the importance of mentorship and the journey into the teaching profession.
Jerry and Jo-Ann Saddleback are educators and elders from Treaty 6 Territory. They joined me to talk about the Teaching Quality Standard and, in particular, how educators might approach Competency No. 5: "A teacher applies Foundational Knowledge about First Nations, Métis and Inuit for the benefit of all students"
Elders Jerry and Jo-Ann share important information about their community's view of child development, the importance learning from elders and knowledge keepers and understanding the protocols around approaching elders and knowledge keepers.
Jason Schilling is the current president of the Alberta Teachers' Association (ATA). In this episode, Jason places the Teaching Quality Standard (TQS) in the context of his own teaching career, but also reflects on the importance of the TQS for professional learning and conversations.
Paul McLeod is Assistant Superintendent, Human Resources for St. Albert Public Schools in Alberta. He has intimate knowledge of Alberta's Teaching Quality Standard and, in this conversation, reflects on the development of the TQS, what it means for individual teachers and how it has changed the way that educators talk about their work in Alberta.
A very passionate conversation!
Francine Zhou Yuheng is a newly-minted teacher and graduate of the teacher education program from University of Alberta. In this conversation about Alberta's Teaching Quality Standard, Francine speaks enthusiastically and thoughtfully about what the TQS has meant in her teacher education program and how she views the Standard as she moves into her career.
Laura Morel is an experienced Cooperating Teacher with the Calgary Catholic District School Board. In this episode, we hear about the practicum experience from the perspective of the mentor teacher. We talk about what it's like to welcome another adult into the classroom, the important school-university partnership and we finish up with some advice for new mentor teachers.
Dave Halase is a Practicum Advisor at St. Mary's University, Alberta. In what is, arguably, the most entertaining conversations to date, Dave offers some rather poignant insights on what it takes to make a smoother transition between the teacher practicum experience and full-time practice.
When we spoke to Jay Wilkins, he was just finishing up his teacher education program at St. Mary's University in Alberta. In this conversation, Jay shares his experience, his insights and even some advice he has for students just about to embark on the teacher education journey.
Dominique Tardicella is a Preservice Teacher at St. Mary’s University, Alberta. She talks from her perspective as a student in a teacher practicum, including her insights on struggles that she and her peers have faced, the spaces between her original expectations of the profession and the realities that she experienced on the ground and more.
Some great advice to new teacher candidates and mentor teachers alike!
Dr. Kathryn Crawford is Assistant Professor at Ambrose University in Alberta and works closely with pre-service teachers on their path into the profession. In this conversation, we talk about the practicum experience as an identity journey, why students struggle and what her research is revealing about learning to be a teacher.
For more information about Dr. Kathryn Crawford: https://ambrose.edu/profile/kathryn-crawford-edd
Gail Maitland serves as Practicum Advisor at St. Mary’s University, Alberta. She brings a wealth of experience in education and, in particular, supporting teachers in their practicum to this lively and honest conversation.
Dr. Patricia Danyluk is a teacher educator and researcher at the Werklund School of Education in Calgary, Alberta. Dr. Danyluks' research interests include teacher education, critical service learning, community engagement and reconciliatory pedagogy. She has seventeen years of experience working with preservice teachers during their practicum experiences.
For more information about Dr. Patricia Danyluk: https://profiles.ucalgary.ca/patricia-danyluk
Lisa Taylor is PhD Student and Sessional Instructor at the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary. She is also Chair of the Alberta Teacher Educators of Physical and Health Education (ATEPHE) and Editor of The Runner: The Journal of the Health and Physical Education Council of the Alberta Teachers' Association. All of these perspectives are woven into our conversation about wellness in the teacher practicum.
Shannon Kell is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at Mount Royal University,. Her many years of Specialization in the area of Health and Physical Education, as well as her involvement in a course on teacher wellness at MRU, allows her to bring a rich perspective to our conversation on wellness in the teacher practicum.
Jennifer Turner is Superintendent of Alberta's Fort McMurray School Division. She carries a rich systems level perspective to our conversation about wellness in the teacher practicum.
Jodi Harding-Kuriger is a Sessional Instructor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta. She brings many years of passionate involvement with Alberta's Health and Physical Education community to this conversation about wellness in the teacher practicum.
Leslie Robertson in an Instructor in the Department of Education at Mount Royal University. Her many years of experience as an elementary educator, an administrator and someone who is passionate about the arts comes shining through in this conversation about wellness in the teacher practicum.
Chris Fenlon-MacDonald is a Specialist in the area of school improvement for the Calgary Board of Education. Part of that portfolio involves helping school administration and staff build cultures of wellness. His insights are very valuable in this conversation about wellness in the teacher practicum.
Shirley Cardinal is Land Language Relationships and Culture Consultant for theMeadow Lake Tribal Council in Saskatchewan. Shirley speaks from the heart in this conversation about wellness in the teacher practicum.
Megan Wilson is a Preservice Teacher at the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary. She is also VP, Wellness for the Education Students Association at the University. She brings both of those perspectives to this conversation on wellness in the teacher practicum.
In this series of conversations, we discuss the work teacher education, the dynamics of mentorship and some of the challenges and opportunities for greater connections between theory and practice.
In this episode, Lorelei Boschman, Education Coordinator, Medicine Hat College, Alberta.
In this series of conversations, we discuss the work teacher education, the dynamics of mentorship and some of the challenges and opportunities for greater connections between theory and practice.
In this episode: Heather Provencher, Field Experience and Practicum Coordinator at Mount Royal University.
In this series of conversations, we discuss the work teacher education, the dynamics of mentorship and some of the challenges and opportunities for greater connections between theory and practice.
In this episode, it's Sharon Pelech, Interim Assistant Dean of Field Experiences, University of Lethbridge, Alberta.
In this series of conversations, we discuss the work teacher education, the dynamics of mentorship and some of the challenges and opportunities for greater connections between theory and practice.
In this episode, Stephanie Radomski, Field Experience Coordinator at Concordia University Edmonton, Alberta.
In this series of conversations, we discuss the work teacher education, the dynamics of mentorship and some of the challenges and opportunities for greater connections between theory and practice.
In this episode, Roberta Baril, Field Experience Lead, University of Alberta.
In this series of conversations, we discuss the work teacher education, the dynamics of mentorship and some of the challenges and opportunities for greater connections between theory and practice.
In this episode, Laurie Hill, Associate Professor, Practicum Coordinator, St. Mary’s University, Alberta.