Post-secondary institutions across the province have some work to do in order to live up to their core values of equity and diversity within teacher education programs, say Brock researchers.

That was the overarching message from a new report, released in June, that examines the changes in application, admission and acceptance rates of self-identifying underrepresented groups in Ontario’s new four-semester teacher education programs.

Brock Education Professor Julian Kitchen and researcher Michael Holden (MEd ’15) prepared the report for Ontario’s Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development. Funding for the study, Where Are We Now? Equitable Representation in Ontario Teacher Education, came from the Ontario Human Capital Research and Innovation Fund (OHCRIF). 

Researcher Michael Holden helped to prepare a report on equity and diversity for Ontario’s Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development.

Kitchen says the 224-page report has a lot of potential in continuing an important and timely conversation about righting a balance of equity and access in teacher education programs for various groups, including first-generation students, students with disabilities, students of Aboriginal descent and other racialized minorities.

Kitchen says the challenge of attaining equitable representation in teacher education emerged in their 2016 report Evolving Practices: Admissions Policies in Ontario Teacher Education Programs. This prompted Kitchen and Holden to delve more deeply into equity in admissions.

“There is a genuine concern by education faculties around issues of equity, diversity and social justice, and they have not been satisfied that they are getting enough students from diverse groups,” Holden says. “With the first graduates of the four-semester program ready to teach in schools, this is a good time to get a clearer picture of the situation.”

Kitchen and Holden emphasize in the report that the issue of equitable admission is significant in the bigger picture of Ontario’s education system given the important role a diverse teaching force has in supporting student outcomes and teacher retention.

As part of their data collection, they looked at policies and tracking processes of self-identified minorities at universities. They found, not to their surprise, many gaps in practices from university to university. One of their key recommendations focuses on improving monitoring processes that are consistent throughout the system.

Kitchen and Holden also conducted hours of interviews with university faculty, administrators and stakeholders, and with teacher candidates who identified with diverse groups.

“The interviews with the teacher candidates were very revealing,” Kitchen says. “They had mixed perceptions. They felt there was not enough of them in the program. They also felt isolated and didn’t feel as engaged or included and said the university could do more to welcome them.”

Overall, the report’s recommendations emphasize the need for stronger collaboration of teacher educators, university administrators and government policymakers in addressing issues of equity and diversity.

“Our study is important because it identifies the current state of information and how universities need to meet challenges now and in the future,” Kitchen says. “We are not judging anyone because everyone has work to do. This report feeds into the conversation and assists universities as they develop new policies and practices. There are no easy solutions to this complex issue.”