Anyone who has attended school in the past 25 years has probably been taught by a University of Alberta faculty of education graduate.
More than 60 per cent of the elementary and secondary school teachers in Alberta are U of A education graduates.
The education faculty dates back to 1942, when it became the first faculty of education in Canada, with one degree program, 12 courses and three full-time professors. It is now one of the largest faculties in Canada with nine undergraduate degree programs and a wide array of graduate programs.
There are more than 125 full-time professors, 64 support staff and 130 full- and part-time sessional instructors, as well as 3,400 undergraduate students and 800 graduate students.
Many faculty of education alumni have become deans of faculties of education, as well as presidents of universities or colleges, nationally and internationally.
Education dean Dr. Fern Snart is a U of A alumnus who has risen to academic prominence. Snart has a BA in psychology from Brandon University, an MA in clinical psychology from the University of Saskatchewan, and a PhD in education psychology from the University of Alberta (1979).
Dr. Snart has been an educator and administrator since 1980; her resume includes terms as associate dean (undergraduate student services) and associate dean (academic). Snart was appointed dean of education in 2005.
One area of focus in recent years has been fostering the development of an aboriginal teacher education program within the faculty of education.
“We have graduates now who are all teaching through their home communities. The most important thing in the success of aboriginal children is having aboriginal teachers in those classrooms.”
A new challenge is also part of a new initiative that will link the faculty of education with medical teaching on campus.
The dean of medicine and vice-dean recently invited education faculty officials for talks about continuing medical education.
“They were hoping to collaborate with us. We’ve been on several hiring committees over there, but most importantly I am co-chairing a committee that is putting together a master’s degree in health sciences education.
“It will be an interdisciplinary program. People will come into the faculty, but they will be medical professionals who want to teach,” Snart explains.
The combined program is projected to start in the fall of 2009.
Another challenge for the faculty of education is developing global awareness among teachers.
“Last summer for the first time ever, we took a group of 18 undergraduate students and taught a course on global citizenship education,” which included visits to a Liberian refugee camp and a Ghana village. “They came back and forever will be better teachers.”
The faculty of education has been funded for a global citizenship curriculum initiative, developing a curriculum that suits each faculty’s needs to promote awareness of global citizenship in their students.
“The profession of teaching has become so complex and so important in the world that every teacher needs to understand how deeply a student’s culture affects their orientation to learning.
“Our challenge is to be responsive to our society, Alberta and Canadian. We need to help our graduating teachers have a much better sense of citizenship.”
Learn more about the faculty of education:
Source:http://www.canada.com/
