Although Canada produces approximately 18,000 new teachers every year, there has been surprisingly little systematic study of their preparation. This first baseline study of teacher education in Canada attempts to fill that gap, providing an overview of programs across 56 institutions and data obtained from surveys of representative samples of recent graduates, school principals and education faculty members. The research examines program structures, content emphasis and usefulness, perceptions of teaching knowledge and skill, the practicum experience, and the transition into the teaching profession. The results, by presented by regions and stakeholder groups, pose important questions for further study. The research was conducted between February 2007 and February 2008 by Robert Crocker and David Dibbon of Memorial University, working with a professional survey firm and a panel of experts.

Highlighted Findings

Structure
Teacher education programs across Canada differ markedly in structure and duration. A larger proportion of teacher education graduates have taken consecutive than concurrent programs. The most common program length for concurrent programs is eight semesters. Two-semester consecutive programs are the norm in Ontario, while consecutive programs in most other jurisdictions are usually either three or four semesters. A majority of principals and faculty members expressed a preference for concurrent programs for elementary teachers, and were evenly divided on preferred structure for secondary teachers. Principals and faculty members were in strong agreement that elementary teachers should be prepared as generalists. Close to half of both groups felt that secondary teachers should be subject specialists, with most of the remainder preferring generalists with a strong subject concentration.

Content
There were significant variations among respondent groups on their views of program content, the degree of emphasis given to various areas, and their perceptions of quality. Relatively few (about 13%) graduates gave overall “excellent” ratings to their teacher education programs, while about half gave “good” ratings. Graduate ratings of program content showed significant discrepancies between emphasis (lower) and usefulness (higher) in areas such as classroom management, using assessment, motivating students, teaching special needs children, and dealing with parents and the community. There were large discrepancies in principal ratings of usefulness of program content and graduate preparedness in these areas. While the rankings of importance of content areas by principals and faculty did not differ substantially, there was a tendency for principals to give relatively higher ratings to matters of practice and for faculty to more highly rate foundational theory.

Teaching Knowledge and Skills
Principal and faculty ratings of areas of graduates’ teaching knowledge and skill showed similar patterns to those for content. Few principals gave “very well prepared” ratings to any of these areas, with ratings being lower for some of the areas perceived to be of greatest importance. More faculty members than principals gave the highest preparedness rating, and several domains rated by new graduates as “very useful” received low scores on emphasis in their programs. From this it would appear that greater emphasis should be placed on areas such as teaching students with disabilities or special needs, classroom management, child and adolescent development, computer technology and motivating students to learn. Overall, there appears to be support from all three groups, for an increased focus on the more practical, technical aspects of teaching.

The Practicum
The practicum is a major source of variation in teacher education programs, with respect to length, number and duration of placements, timing, and supervision and evaluation. The median practicum length is 13-20 weeks. This varies substantially by region, with Ontario generally having the shortest practica and Quebec the longest. Graduates gave higher overall ratings for quality of supervision to cooperating (supervising) teachers than to university supervisors. Most graduates in the West (71%) and Quebec (70%) reported receiving five or more visits from a university supervisor during the practicum, while those in Ontario and the East generally experienced fewer visits. Graduates cited the need for more classroom experience, as did a majority of principals, but close to 74% of faculty members believe the practicum length to be about right.

Preparedness for Teaching
Most principals (73%) and faculty members (66%) rated new graduates as “fairly well” prepared for teaching, as did 60% of the graduates. “Very well prepared” ratings were awarded by 19% of faculty, 15% of principals, and 14% of graduates. Graduates were more positive in their ratings of preparedness in areas of teaching knowledge and skills than either principals or faculty members. Few principals considered graduates “very well prepared” in content areas that are closest to school and classroom practice.

Collaboration with the School System
While faculties of education and the school system are inextricable partners in the preparation of teacher candidates, the survey found evidence of a disconnect. About two-thirds of faculty members perceive collaboration with the school system as strong or very strong, while a similar number of principals consider it to be weak or very weak.

Summary

Although teacher education has attracted modest attention in Canada as a public policy issue, these findings call for collective dialogue and further inquiry. While the diversity of programs may be a strength, there is an absence of comparative evidence on their efficacy. Ratings of preparedness of new teachers are lukewarm, with common agreement that greater emphasis on teaching practice is needed. It is also clear that areas of content, knowledge and skill that are highly valued in the field are not being emphasized as strongly in teacher education programs as they might be. There is a need for mutual efforts on the part of the school system and faculties of education to increase communication and collaboration on program design and delivery and how best to support new teachers entering the profession.

The final chapter of the report makes a number of recommendations for strengthening teacher education in Canada. These include undertaking large scale, longitudinal and comparative research, developing a common vision for teacher education which articulates core content and competencies, finding better ways to support and mentor novice teachers, and developing stronger models of collaboration between faculties of education and the school systems they serve.

June 2008

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