Ontario College of Teachers – 2010 Annual Report

Professional Practice

Standards of Practice and Education Committee

The Ethical Standards for the Teaching Profession and the Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession establish the core ethics of teaching and guide teachers’ professional practices.

Standards describe in a transparent way for members of the profession and the public the foundational values, knowledges and professional practices of the teaching profession.

The Standards of Practice and Education Committee advises College Council on the development, implementation and review of the ethical and practice standards and the professional learning framework which helps to maintain the standards. Committee activities include:

• integration of the standards within teacher education and professional practice
• communication and education of the standards
• dissemination of standards-based research and resources
• policy development related to Additional Qualification (AQ) course guidelines
• policy development and implementation related to the standards.

Teacher Education: AQ Course Guidelines

In 2010, the committee reviewed 60 AQ course guidelines that help support teacher education and leadership development in a number of ways.

Several thousand members of the profession, educational partners and the public were involved in the consultation – through meetings, online questionnaires and teleconference focus groups – and the writing processes that informed the development and validation of these AQ course guidelines.

The Ethical Standards for the Teaching Profession and the Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession remain the foundation for these policy documents that guide and support the enhancement of educators’ professional knowledge and practice in Ontario.

In 2010, the College developed AQ course guidelines related to the following areas of focus:

• Deaf or Hard of Hearing Education
  • Qualification for Teaching Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing – ASL/LSQ Communication or for Teaching Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing – Aural and Oral Communication Program
  • Aural and Oral Communication
  • American Sign Language
  • Langue des signes québécoise
  • Preschool Education for Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
• Technological Education
  • 20 AQ course guidelines related to broad-based technological education

The committee also supported the introduction of 64 new AQs in technological education. The new courses will be designed to provide additional professional enhancement opportunities for teachers who are already qualified in technological education. Development of these qualification guidelines will be a major undertaking for the committee in 2011.

• Specific Curriculum Areas
  • Computer Studies
  • Business Studies – Information and Communication Technology
  • Business Studies – Entrepreneurship
  • Family Studies
  • Guidance and Career Education
  • Kindergarten
  • Mathematics
  • Arts
  • Health and Physical Education
• Teacher Practice
  • Integration of Information and Computer Technology in Instruction
  • Use and Knowledge of Assistive Technology
  • Teaching Students Who Are Blind
  • Teaching Students with Behavioural Needs
  • Teaching Students with Communication Needs (Autism Spectrum Disorder)
  • Teaching Students with Communication Needs (Learning Disability)
  • Teaching Students with Communication Needs (Speech and Language)
  • Teaching Students with Intellectual Needs (Developmental Disability)
  • Teaching Students with Intellectual Needs (Giftedness)
  • Teaching Students with Multiple Needs
  • Teaching Students with Physical Needs
  • Teaching in a French Immersion Setting
  • Occasional Teaching
• Teacher Leadership
  • Supervisory Officer's Qualification Program (SOQP)
  • Action Research
  • Associate Teacher

Aboriginal Teacher Education

The College is developing and revising 21 AQ course guidelines related to aboriginal teacher education as a result of the review of the Teachers’ Qualifications Regulation.

This revised regulation includes 11 new aboriginal language courses, two additional courses specifically focused on First Nations, Métis, Inuit (FNMI) cultures, traditions and ways of knowing and eight courses with name changes to convey a different and more inclusive orientation to each course.

An external AQ course guideline advisory committee, comprised of representatives from various Aboriginal Teacher Education Programs in Ontario, continues to help guide the development processes for these teacher education policy documents. Elders and senators from FNMI communities have also contributed to the conversations related to these AQ guidelines.

Provincial conversation symposiums on Aboriginal teacher education were held in 2010 with the valuable collaboration of members of the Aboriginal Teacher Education Program at Nipissing University and the director of the Tungasuvvingat Inuit community centre in Ottawa.

Elders, educators and students participated in discussions that will help inform the development of AQ course guidelines related to Native studies.

The committee also participated in a number of educative sessions to inform their work in reviewing AQ course guidelines related to Aboriginal teacher education. These sessions focused on FNMI cultures, traditions and knowledges.

For example, the first Canadian research Chair in Métis Studies of the University of Ottawa led a professional learning session on Métis history, culture and traditions.

The committee members also received an overview of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples facilitated by an international indigenous rights worker and a representative from the Chiefs of Ontario.

First Nations, Métis and Inuit (FNMI)

The committee’s work on FNMI AQ course guidelines supports the direction from the following College Council recommendations:

1. Revise AQ course guideline names including the term Native or Aboriginal to include distinct and appropriate recognition of FNMI histories, cultures and traditions.
2. Explore the development of AQ course guidelines that reflect an in-depth learning of FNMI histories and cultures, as well as the creation of new AQs in Métis, Inuit and other First Nations languages.
3. Investigate the development of new FNMI educative resources such as digital stories, or the adaptation of current educative resources for FNMI audiences (for example, incorporating specific visuals, symbols or language references). Any new resources will be based on the ethical standards and standards of practice that support and enhance initial and continuing teacher education programs and courses.

Voices of Wisdom (Visual Narrative)

The College produced a visual resource that would resonate with FNMI communities as well as convey significant educative information about these communities to Ontario teachers. This resource, Voices of Wisdom, will support teachers in creating more inclusive spaces in their classrooms and schools for FNMI perspectives and experiences.

Elders from FNMI communities share their teachings and perspectives in this visual narrative which is intended to help integrate the standards within initial and continuing teacher education programs and courses.

It would also help AQ providers address some of the course expectations related to the inclusion of FNMI perspectives within hundreds of AQ courses that are available for teachers in Ontario.

Standards Education

Standards education continues to be a significant strategy for disseminating, communicating and implementing the standards.

Teacher education sessions (initial teacher education, AQ courses and principal’s qualification programs) and school board educative sessions continue to be effective forums for facilitating awareness, understanding and integrating the standards and educational resources.

Educational institutions continue to invite the College to provide educative and research support related to the standards. The College works with these institutions to help support effective approaches that integrate the standards within teacher education and professional practice.

In 2010, the College facilitated 51 educative sessions involving over 1,000 participants including teacher candidates, teachers, internationally educated teachers and school leaders.

Standards-Based Research

Standards-based research contributes to the scholarship of teaching and illuminates the relevance of the standards for the enhancement of the teaching profession.

The College’s scholarly articles and papers on the standards have received high praise at many teacher education research conferences including the American Educational Research Association (AERA), and the Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE).

The Power of Narrative to Inform Public Policy: Re-conceptualizing a Principal’s Qualification Program was presented at the annual meeting of the AERA. This paper describes the research process used to develop the policy document for the new Principal’s Qualification Program (PQP).

The highly collaborative and democratic policy development processes employed by the College were identified by scholars from the United States as being exemplary and the vision of educational leadership that is conveyed in the PQP was also identified as exceptional.

The standards-based research article Developing Leaders Using Case Inquiry was published in 2010 in the Scholar-Practitioner Journal. The article explores the collaborative efforts of the College and a provincial principal’s organization to support leadership educational development based on the standards.

Exploring Leadership and Ethical Practice

Les Presses de l'Université Laval published the leadership book Exploring Leadership and Ethical Practice through Professional Inquiry/Explorer les pratiques déontologiques et le leadership par le questionnement professionnel. The book was developed by the College and the Catholic Principals’ Council of Ontario (CPCO) and is intended to support the ongoing development of ethical leadership within the daily practices of educators.

It will also help to encourage the use of the ethical standards as an educative framework for enhancing ethical knowledge and practice. This resource has been used within teacher education courses and programs to support the integration of the ethical standards.

Standards Self-Reflective Tool

A self-reflective tool was developed as requested by educational partners to support educators in reflecting on the standards within professional practice. The significance and relevance of the standards are reinforced for College members through the use of this professional learning resource. This resource can be applied in various contexts like teacher education, reflective practice, Aboriginal learning, learning communities, leadership development and induction.

Teaching Resources

The College’s teacher education initiatives capture the attention of educators and educational scholars outside Ontario, influencing the evolution of teacher education in other parts of Canada and other English-language and French-language jurisdictions.

For example, teacher education programs in Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Afghanistan, Australia, China, England, Finland, France, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Netherlands, Pakistan and the United States are using the three resource kits that the College has developed to deepen understanding of teaching’s ethical standards and standards of practice.

The College’s two standards-based books are also being used as teacher education curriculum and pedagogy throughout North America.

The College’s resource kit Learning from Experience: Supporting Beginning Teachers and Mentors and a standards self reflective tool continue to be used in various contexts like teacher education, reflective practice, learning communities, leadership development and induction.

They continue to significantly influence and support teacher education and leadership development nationally and internationally.