News and events

  • CUPE Job Action Updates for Teacher Candidates

    Friday, October 04, 2019 | Posted by

    The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) confirmed that job action will begin across the province on Monday, September 30 and they will be on strike on October 7, 2019. CUPE members include custodians, maintenance staff, office administrators, clerical staff, early childhood educators (ECE), educational assistants (EA), and information technology technicians.

    At this time, each School Board is reviewing the job action directive from CUPE provincial to its members to determine the impact these will have on schools, to learning and working, and to safety in schools for students, staff and teachers.

    Boards are committed to providing our school communities with additional details on the job action as soon as they can. Please monitor the web site of your school district for its decision on whether schools remain open during the CUPE job action.

    Undergraduate Concurrent Education students involved in school‐based experiential learning placements and Teacher Candidates who begin structured experiences on Wednesday October 9, 2019 and practicum as early as the week of October 21, you need to be aware of the following specific issues:

    1. If a school district closes its schools, you are not to report to the school.
    2. If schools remain open, teaching staff are expected to be in attendance. Teachers’ contracts oblige them to report to work during job action by other bargaining units, unless they are absolutely unable to do so, in which case they need to report this to their administrator.
    3. Teacher Candidates are expected to attend schools if they remain open. If you are absolutely unable to attend, please report this to your Associate Teacher and to the Brock FOE Placement Office.
    4. If you are at a school during the CUPE job action, please be respectful of the rights of CUPE members and the normal practices for crossing any lines.
    5. As a teacher candidate, you need to be clear in your role within the school and you should not be performing a role that would otherwise be the direct responsibility of a CUPE worker.

    If you need clarification about the specific roles performed by the ECE or EA in your school/classroom, ask for guidance from your Associate Teacher or Practicum Advisor.

    The Faculty of Education Placement Office will endeavor to keep you informed of the status of specific school districts through periodic emails and our website updates.

  • Teacher Education Information Sessions

    Thursday, October 03, 2019 | Posted by

    A female teacher candidate tutors a child in math

    Brock Teacher Education – BEd – Information Sessions

    Learn more about Brock’s Consecutive Teacher Education Program (BEd), including:

    • Program overview
    • Admissions requirements
    • Admission timeline

    Register online today or just join us on:

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  • New book compares socioeconomic inequality and student outcomes

    Friday, September 27, 2019 | Posted by

    Louis Volante

    Faculty of Education Professor Louis Volante has edited a new book comparing socioeconomic inequality and student outcomes across several Western industrialized nations, including Canada.

    Socioeconomic Inequality and Student Outcomes was a collaborative venture between Volante and his three co-editors: Sylke Viola Schnepf from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre in Italy, John Jerrim from the Institute of Education at the University College London in England and Don Klinger from the University of Waikato in New Zealand.Read more

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  • Education grad celebrated for leadership in Ontario schools

    Friday, September 27, 2019 | Posted by

    Manny Figueiredo accepting the Faculty of Education Distinguished Graduate Award at Brock University.

    For 24 years Manny Figueiredo (MEd ’01) has made significant contributions to publicly-funded education in Ontario.

    The Faculty of Education graduate was celebrated for his leadership and achievements during Brock’s Homecoming festivities. Figueiredo received the Faculty of Education Distinguished Graduate Award at the Alumni Recognition Reception on Sept. 21.Read more

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  • Arts Matter conference sparks creativity at Brock’s Hamilton campus

    Tuesday, September 24, 2019 | Posted by

    Brock Teacher Candidates drawing during a visual arts workshop at the 2019 Arts Matter Conference

    From green screen masterpieces to boomwhacker symphonies, Brock’s Hamilton campus was buzzing with creativity Wednesday, Sept. 18 during the annual Arts Matter: Integrating the Arts Across the Curriculum conference.

    Now in its ninth year, Arts Matter brought together 100 of Brock’s teacher candidates from the Concurrent Teacher Education and Consecutive Teacher Education programs to participate in hands-on dramatic arts, music, dance and visual arts workshops facilitated by educators who are experts in teaching the arts.Read more

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  • Education students help local kids master reading and math

    Thursday, September 05, 2019 | Posted by

    Staff of the Brock Learning Lab in 2019

    Amid the excitement of class photos, extracurriculars and new supplies, the back to school season can be daunting and stressful for students who find reading and math challenging. Student volunteers and interns from the Brock Learning Lab are helping local students from Grades K-12 by offering literacy and numeracy tutoring.Read more

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  • Brock helps alumnus along unconventional learning path

    Thursday, September 05, 2019 | Posted by

    As a teenager, Joel Ward (MEd ’02) hated school.

    His life at the time was rocky. He was expelled from high school and ran away from home at 16.

    Ward’s relationship with education began a far cry from where it is today, as he starts his retirement after a successful career as an educator and senior administrator in the post-secondary stream.Read more

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  • Education prof takes deep look at important Canadian educator

    Friday, August 30, 2019 | Posted by

    Lissa Paul recently published a book tracing the journey of Eliza Fenwick (1766-1840) from being a promising writer at the centre of radical London in the late 1700s to running a school in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

    Brock University’s Lissa Paul has spent countless hours examining archives in four countries to track down information on a woman who died nearly 180 years ago.

    For many years, the Faculty of Education professor has been drawn to the story of Eliza Fenwick (1766-1840), an educator and author who Paul believes helped shape Canada as we know it.Read more

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  • International educators build ESL skills at Brock

    Friday, August 16, 2019 | Posted by

    For the past four weeks, instructors from China have been developing new teaching skills at Brock University that they hope to apply in classrooms back home.

    Run by Brock’s Continuing Teacher Education program, the professional development initiative welcomed 11 English as a subsequent language (ESL) educators from Minjiang University in Fujian, China, to study at Brock over the course of a month.Read more

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  • Education professor continues family work to carry on Mandela legacy

    Wednesday, July 17, 2019 | Posted by

    A child uses new educational materials as they tour the Mandela: Struggle for Freedom exhibit at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg.

    For Brock University’s Dolana Mogadime, educating others on Nelson Mandela’s legacy is more than just part of her job. It’s in her blood.

    Originally from South Africa, the Associate Professor in Brock’s Faculty of Education came to Canada at the age of seven. Her great-grandfather, Henry Selby Msimang, was a founding member of a political group that became the African National Congress, later led by Mandela. Her mother, Caroline Goodie Mogadime, was recognized by the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) for her contributions to Canada’s anti-apartheid movement.

    On Thursday, July 18, the world will celebrate the 101st birthday of Mandela, a global icon of peace and equality who played a central role in ending apartheid in South Africa. This year’s Nelson Mandela International Day also marks the beginning of the Nelson Mandela Decade of Peace, as declared by the United Nations.

    Dolana Mogadime, Associate Professor in Brock University’s Faculty of Education

    Dolana Mogadime has been working with the CMHR in Winnipeg to honour Mandela’s goals for human rights education through several projects connected to the exhibition Mandela: Struggle for Freedom, which opened last year. Mogadime is the CMHR’s inaugural Visiting Scholar and contributed to the development of a series of new educational materials for teachers and students who visit the exhibition.

    “For myself as a person, I think it’s about going full circle,” Mogadime said of her work with CMHR. “It is about being born in a country and leaving, like many other immigrants do, to come to Canada as a dream of a nation where we can be fully human as we were denied in our own countries.”

    The CMHR’s approach to this work was inspired by a 2017 report prepared by Brock’s Human Rights Task Force, which made recommendations to promote and protect human rights at Brock and create a culture that is safe, welcoming and inclusive.

    Earlier this year, the University signed a Memorandum of Understanding to formalize its collaboration with the CMHR.

    Brock President Gervan Fearon said the efforts of Nelson Mandela and others like him shaped the world as we now know it.

    “Across the world, we celebrate the freedom and opportunities available while acknowledging there is still work to be done and efforts needed to maintain progress previously achieved,” Fearon said. “Nelson Mandela International Day reminds us to seek opportunities to contribute to positive change for the advancement of human dignity, equity and development as well as to address the human conditions of those imprisoned. I believe we can all find common ground in promoting and taking action in support of these themes.”

    Fearon applauded Mogadime’s work with the CMHR.

    “It’s a good example of how Brock University faculty and staff are taking important steps toward building a Canada and world that reflects the principles of Nelson Mandela International Day.”

    In addition to the educational materials prepared for the Winnipeg museum, Ontario children and teachers will also benefit from self-guided programs and teacher guides when the exhibition comes to Toronto’s Meridian Arts Centre (formerly the Toronto Centre for the Arts) from October to January. The exhibition offers a sensory experience of imagery, soundscape, digital media and objects, including a replica of Mandela’s tiny prison cell that transforms into a digital theatre when visitors walk inside.

    “The materials provide a way to anchor students’ thinking and a way to respond to what they’re emotionally going through as they’re visiting the exhibition,” said Mogadime. “We needed to be able to guide students through that.”

    The educational materials provide a way for teachers to prepare students and guide them through challenging conversations.

    “Like Mandela, we believe education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world for the better,” said CMHR President and CEO John Young. “We are pleased to have had this opportunity to work with Professor Mogadime and Brock University to add value for teachers and students who will experience this powerful exhibition as it begins travelling to new venues this fall.”

    In addition to the exhibits, the museum and Mogadime plan to bring lessons about Mandela’s legacy to classrooms across Canada through resources for educators. Working with a Teaching Nelson Mandela advisory committee at Brock, Mogadime is developing curriculum materials for Grades 2 to 12.

    She believes all students should learn about people like Mandela who have struggled to further human rights around the world.

    “Once you engage with and understand the human story about human rights, you can understand your own story and your own rights,” she said, pointing out that South Africa’s story parallels Canada’s history of colonialism and the oppression of Indigenous peoples.

    Anneke McCabe, a member of the Teaching Nelson Mandela advisory committee at Brock, said she hopes the curriculum materials help students see the value in becoming defenders of human rights.

    “I hope the learning experiences through the exhibition and the lessons guide students to become critical thinkers who are curious about what they can do to make a change,” said McCabe, an elementary school teacher and PhD candidate in Educational Studies at Brock.

    The advisory committee includes Mogadime (Chair), Anneke McCabe (Senior Advisory Member), William Ankomah, Zach Rondinelli, Sheri Lehn, Craig Marlatt, Lyn Trudeau, Rachel Urovitz, Liz Walmsley, Anver Saloojee, Yvan Brochu, Sally Hooper and Oscar Koopman.

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