Brock is grateful for the ongoing support for practice teaching opportunities provided by associate teachers in our neighbouring school boards in Southern and Southwestern Ontario.

The Teacher Education Program schedules over 90 practicum days in these school boards during the program.  While teacher candidates are required to complete a minimum of 80 days of practicum for certification requirements, the Teacher Education Program schedules 90+ days to benefit teacher candidates and/or to attend to any extenuating circumstances. In addition to successfully completing placements in required divisions and teachables, teacher candidates must complete all scheduled practicum days to be considered successful in the program.

When securing placements, the Practicum Office is unable to accommodate placement requests for a specific geographic location, school, and/or associate teacher. If a teacher candidate makes his or her own placement, that placement will be cancelled. Similarly, if school administrators contact the office and ask to have a specific teacher candidate placed in their school, these requests will not be considered.

Once a placement has been confirmed by the Placement Officer, it is the teacher candidate’s professional responsibility to accept that placement. Transportation to and from the placement school is the responsibility of the teacher candidate. Teacher candidates can anticipate driving up to 60-90 minutes to reach their placement location.

A full list of policies related to practicum can be found in the Teacher Education Program Handbook.

A practice teaching area is the geographic region/school board in which your practice teaching experiences will take place. Brock has two campuses and each campus is associated with specific practice teaching areas. Once assigned to a school board, teacher candidates remain in the same board for all three of their practicum placements.

Brock normally places teacher candidates in the following school boards:

Out-of-Region Placements

Teacher candidates will be placed in the same school board for all three placements unless a teacher candidate requests and qualifies for an Out-of-Region (OOR) placement for the final placement (Block 3).

An Out-of-Region placement is a practicum placement in a publicly funded, English speaking Ontario school board other than our neighbouring school boards (i.e., Out-of-Region placement requests will not be granted for any of the school boards listed above). Out-of-Region placements are granted based on highly successful completion of course work and the first two practicum placements.

Applications for Out-of-Region placements will open during the fall term for those students in their final year of the program.

For Technological Education students, practice teaching blocks will occur province-wide, in or near each student’s school board of choice, based on the availability of a suitable placement. No Out-of-Region option is available for Tech Ed students.

Vulnerable sector checks are required to enter a school. All students – without exception – are required to have obtained an up-to-date vulnerable sector check prior to starting their placement, in order to begin their practice teaching.

Vulnerable sector checks must be:

• no older than six months prior to the first visit to a school. Therefore, for a placement beginning in November, the VSC should not be dated any earlier than June;
• the original copy and;
• issued through your local police service.

Each school board has specific Health & Safety training requirements for teacher candidates who practice teach in their schools. The practicum office will share this information with teacher candidates as the placement start date approaches. All training and mandatory paperwork is required to be completed in advance of entering a school on the first day.

Still have questions?

Consult the Teacher Education Program Handbook for more details.

Reach out to your Practicum Advisors and Practicum Instructors. These are the instructors from Brock who prepare you for your practicum and support you while attending your practicum school.

Need specific health related accommodations for your practicum? Please contact Student Accessibility Services (SAS) to have your medical accommodation reviewed and assessed.

If further assistance is needed, please contact foepracticum@brocku.ca

Preparing for your first teacher role, or any new role in the field of education, takes preparation. Teacher candidates will receive updates about activities this year, but be sure to consult these resources:

• Teaching specific career workshops. Every year multiple workshops are scheduled exclusive to teacher candidates. These are noted in the professional develop schedule for your program.
• School board information. In 2020/21, 23 school boards provided information sessions to Brock teacher candidates. Brock students can join the School Board information site to register for this year’s slate of presentations. Directions for joining are found on the professional development schedule for your program.
• Career Education– Link to this PDF to view the wide range of services including drop-in resume review and interview preparation here
• Brock’s CareerZone is the online career tools and job board and is here/
• Apply-to-Education is an application portal used by many, but not all, school boards in Ontario. The ATE provides information about the services they provide. Link here.
• QECO 2020-2021 Faculty Presentation
• Presentations provided to BEd students by Career Education Staff:
  • The Teaching Resume
  • Job Search for Traditional & Non-traditional Teaching RolesResume statements 2019

The Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) “is an arm’s length government agency that contributes to the quality and accountability of Ontario’s publicly funded education system for K-12. As an evidence-based research-informed organization, EQAO is focused on empowering educators, parents, guardians, stakeholders and the public at large with the insights and information needed to support student learning and improve student outcomes.” (https://www.eqao.com/about-eqao/). All education students are encouraged to learn more about this organization via exploring the links below.

• EQAO Website: https://www.eqao.com/
• Recent EQAO Presentation to Brock Faculty of Education (Passcode: ?A2EF$dB)
• OSSLT Practice Test
• Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics Sample Test
• Primary Assessment Sample Test
• Junior Assessment Sample Test

Optional Courses

Optional courses are courses taken in addition to program requirements. Students elect to take optional courses for many reasons including professional learning, enjoyment, building a unique resume, preparing for placement. Most optional courses are delivered online and generally have 18-hours of instruction. They are non-credit but they are listed on the Brock transcript. They show as successful or unsuccessful. Please select the button below to see the current offering of course and for additional information.

Taking AQ courses

Teacher candidates are not eligible to take AQ courses until after program completion as per OCT requirements. While there are some exceptions, the earliest most candidates would be eligible for Additional Qualifications courses is May. For those students who apply to take AQ courses in advance of the completion of your requirements, you will be admitted in April after the official completion of your program. Also see the Centre for Continuing Teacher Education (AQ) website.

The Ontario College of Teachers licenses, governs and regulates Ontario’s teaching profession in the public interest. It was created by the Ontario College of Teachers Act to:

• issue, suspend and revoke teaching certificates
• set ethical standards and standards of practice
• investigate and hear concerns and complaints about members
• accredit teacher education programs and courses.

All publicly funded school teachers and administrators in Ontario must be certified by and be members of the College. (from OCT.ca)

We recommend students subscribe to the OCT YouTube Channel to stay informed of professional bulletins and OCT directives. See https://www.youtube.com/user/OCTvideoOEEO.

SEXUAL ABUSE PREVENTION PROGRAM

As of January 3, 2022 all Ontario Certified Teachers, applicants, and re-applicants are required to complete an online sexual abuse prevention program. The program is being offered at no cost and will be available on January 3, 2022.

For additional information, please visit the FAQ page and also not the following:

• College members can access the program by logging into the Members Area.
• Applicants can access the program by logging into the application status page if your application has been submitted.

How to complete your application

1. Watch this video which shows you screen by screen how to navigate the OCT website, link here
2. Download, read and refer to the guide that pertains to your program:

• • General P/J, J/I, or I/S link here
  • Technological Teacher Education link here

3. How to order transcripts (or does Brock do this for me)? You must order your transcripts. Brock does not do this for you. A fee applies. Be sure to select the option to “Hold until degree conferred”. Have the transcripts sent directly to the OCT.

• • • Brock Transcripts: Order transcripts through my.brocku.ca student portal. Please click on the Brock DB Menu. Under Student Access, click on TranscriptRqst.
    • Non-Brock transcripts: Order through the Office of the Registrar for that institution.
    • All transcripts will be issued electronically via MyCreds.

Report from the Faculty

Report from the Faculty is a report sent after convocation, about mid June, from Brock to the Ontario College of Teacher. It includes the name and OCT number of TCs who have successfully completed the academic and practicum requirements for OCT membership. Being on this report is a requirement of OCT certification. The 3-step process below gives Brock permission to include you in the Report from the Faculty. We need this information to be directed by you to complete the degree audit and share the successful completion with the OCT. If you do not complete the three steps above, we do not have your permission to share, and you will not be included in the Report.

Three simple steps for the Report from the Faculty:

1. On your mybrocku.ca portal select Demographics> Student Profile.
2. Look for the Collections tab and select OCT-Collection (Ontario College of Teachers Registry Number Collection).
3. Enter your 6-digit OCT account/member number.

If you miss the May 15 deadline, your name can be forwarded to the OCT at a later date, but only if you contact the Records office (records@brocku.ca) to advise them that you have updated your information. Once advise, the update to OCT is not sent immediately and can take several weeks. Note: the OCT anticipates receiving and processing Brock’s submission in June.

“The Ontario Teachers’ Federation (OTF) represents the approximately 160,000 teachers in Ontario’s publicly funded schools. It is the unifying voice safeguarding their profession, pensions and public education.”
Link the OTF website to learn more: https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/.

Affiliate Day: Each year, OTF Affiliates provide a day of learning for Brock teacher candidates. Below are resources from the 2021 workshops and presentations:

• OSSTF General presentation
• OSSTF Classroom Management for Occasional Teachers
• OSSTF Managing Conflict
• ETFO Resources
• OECTA Assessment & Evaluation for Elementary Students Workshop

Applying for work in Ontario? First visit https://www.osstf.on.ca/news/labour-action-2015/green-pink-letters.aspx
“OSSTF/FEESO may, during the course of negotiations for a new or renewal collective agreement, issue an Information Bulletin advising current and prospective members of difficulties arising in the bargaining process. An Information Bulletin issued on pink paper – a “Pink Letter” – typically advises members against applying for or accepting employment with the employer identified in the bulletin. Failure to abide by this directive is a violation of Bylaw 2.4.4.5 of the Constitution and Bylaws of OSSTF/FEESO.
Green/Pink Letters: Information for TCs applying to Ontario School Boards”

Brock University Teacher Candidate Liaison Council (TCLC)

The Brock TCLC provides representation for Teacher Candidates at Brock University. We act as a connection between Teacher Candidates and the Faculty of Education at Brock as well as developing community partnerships between the university teacher candidates and various community organizations. In the Teacher Education program, each cohort is represented by one or two TCLC members from the same cohort to ensure smooth communication between the students and the council.

Through the year we:

• Encourage teacher candidate personal and professional growth
• Support our communities through philanthropy
• Provide/organize additional professional development
• Support and advocate for teacher candidates and their education
• Liaise with Brock Faculty of Education
• Foster community between Teacher Candidates and across teacher education programs (socials, gala, study nights, etc)
• Provide opportunities for teacher candidates to participate in professional teaching organizations (OSSTF, ETFO, OECTA)

Watch for contact information and social media links in September!