Beginning a new year gives us an opportunity to look ahead to the future.

For the Faculty of Education, this will be a year of transitions in several key areas.

Renewing and developing programs

The Department of Educational Studies is developing a new Bachelor of Educational Studies program for students interested in learning and teaching in non-school environments such as non-for-profit, for-profit, government and post-secondary organizations.

The Department is also exploring the development of a professional education doctorate (EdD) to respond to domestic and international demands for high quality, professionally-focused programs for educational leaders.

Our existing Bachelor of Education (BEd) programs are undergoing their periodic review by the Ontario College of Teachers. During this process, we have reflected on the ways the Initial Teacher Education Program, mandated by the province and implemented in 2015, continues our tradition of exceptional teacher education and responds to the diverse learning needs of children in our K-12 systems.

Building capacity with new tenure track faculty positions

We will be hiring three new tenure track faculty positions. These will support Faculty renewal and help set the direction of our programs over the next ten to twenty years. The new positions are an opportunity to re-affirm our commitment to faculty equity and diversity while ensuring our programs and research reflect the needs of educators today and tomorrow.

Refocusing internationalization efforts

This process includes multiple connected elements. Some of these elements are already in place and others will be rolled out in the upcoming academic year. These initiatives include:

• Ensuring that the experiences of the Faculty’s international students continue to be positive and result in MPCE and MEd ISP graduates becoming enthusiastic ambassadors for our Faculty in future years
• Encouraging increased engagement between local and international students to the benefit of both and expanding programs that lead to international students engaging in the local community.
• Developing professional development modules for international teachers and educational leaders that can be offered on-campus or abroad.
• Creating options for short-term (one week to a month) and longer-term (a semester or more) study and research abroad opportunities for our students.
• Infusing international content into our course offerings as appropriate.

All the best for the New Year.