Improving Teacher Education Programs

In this paper, the authors review current practices in pre-service teacher education. They suggest that radical improvements are possible and that, if practiced, would help mediate many of the pressures young teachers face. To do so, the authors: 1) outline the experiences of young teachers to consider how teachers might thrive in a difficult vocation; 2) share recent research in the area of in-service teacher professional learning (including their own) as a way to inform teacher education programs; and 3) to use these research findings to suggest possible changes and improvements to pre-service teacher education programs. Synthesizing the research, the authors generate a “To Do List” of activities they believe should become part of pre-service education programs. They believe such instruction can become essential career foundations for teachers that would help build Master Teachers, would help stem the exodus from teaching, and would help our teacher education programs begin to educate teachers for the wellness of long and healthy career

Successful Community Building in Alternative-Delivery Graduate Programs

This session discusses research that shows how community is created and enhanced in the University of Alberta Masters of Educational Studies (MES) graduate program. This hybrid program uses both on-line and face-to-face delivery. The discussion outlines findings from both open-ended survey results and collected notes from students

Why Professors Hate Their Jobs: A Critique of the Pedagogy of Academic Disengagement

This article explores reasons why many academics “hate” their jobs. The authors explore the current state of the academy and focus upon its values, culture, and possibilities. They contend that the academy fosters a pedagogy (defined broadly) of disengagement, and ask: Why might these feelings exist? What possibilities for edification exist? How might we move towards these possibilities? Both pragmatic and philosophical are explored and the authors make seven suggestions that might help more fruitfully engage academics in their work. These suggestions include changes to our language, values and worldviews, norms, and the way we create and use artifacts