Democratizing Teacher Education: Sharing Governance and Promoting Interdisciplinarity Within a Community of Learners

TitleDemocratizing Teacher Education: Sharing Governance and Promoting Interdisciplinarity Within a Community of Learners
Faculty/College/UnitEducation
StatusCompleted
Duration2 Year
Initiation04/01/1999
Completion03/31/2001
Project Summary

Our goal is to enhance and sustain an innovative, one-year program of studies for prospective elementary teachers. This initiative, called a Community of Inquiry in Teacher Education (CITE), is in its third year providing a conceptually coherent program for a cohort of 39 students. CITE encourages: (a) participation by community members (instructors, faculty advisors, graduate researchers and students) in all aspects of program design and implementation; and (b) integration of all curriculum areas within and across two distinct learning contexts (campus and school sites). We believe these objectives, detailed in our initial proposal for TLEF funding, honour the three critical attributes of learning upon which CITE was founded: Learning is personally constructed, socially mediated, and inherently situated. We have created spaces for shared governance by establishing regular community meetings with all CITE members. Our students meet weekly in both whole-group and inquiry-group sessions to discuss and monitor their learning. Results are folded back into program design through student representation at weekly meetings. Thus, our students are far more autonomous and responsible for their own learning than is the case for those in the regular teacher education program. Similar meetings are held with our teacher partners in schools.

Our integration efforts attempt to overcome traditional curricula boundaries with instructors designing cross-curricula assignments and program “learning folios” in which students develop integrated themes. Aspects of instruction common to all coursework include: collaborative inquiry, critical thinking, and authentic assessment based on criteria constructed with students. Central in our efforts to integrate program components is our emphasis on technology enhanced instruction. We use WebCT, a web-based instructional tool, for cross curricula linking to extend learning. Students have participated in electronic forums on social and political issues and they have created web pages for presenting children’s literature. Students will extend their understanding of mathematics by experimenting with Hyperstudio. Tools such as these enable us to broaden the community interaction by, for example, engaging in electronic community discussions with our teacher partners, teacher educators in other universities, and other education experts.

Funding Details
Year 1: Project YearYear 1
Year 1: Funding Year1999/2000
Year 1: Project TypeSmall TLEF
Year 1: Principal InvestigatorInge Andreen
Year 1: Funded Amount22,900
Year 1: Team Members

Inge Andreen, Curriculum Studies, Faculty of Education

Year 2: Project YearYear 2
Year 2: Funding Year2000/2001
Year 2: Project TypeSmall TLEF
Year 2: Principal InvestigatorAnthony Clarke
Year 2: Funded Amount23,750
Year 2: Team Members

Anthony Clarke, Curriculum Studies, Faculty of Education / Centre for the Study of Teacher Education
Linda Farr Darling, Curriculum Studies, Faculty of Education
Harry Hubball, Curriculum Studies, Faculty of Education
Heather Kelleher, Curriculum Studies, Faculty of Education
Barbara Leigh, Curriculum Studies, Faculty of Education
Gaalen Erickson, Curriculum Studies, Faculty of Education / Centre for the Study of Teacher Education
Jane Wakefield, Language Education, Faculty of Education
Steve Oldenburg, Former Student, Community of Inquiry in Teacher Education (CITE)
Kathy Pantelo, Former Student, CITE
Jessica Williams, Former Student, CITE
Adam Gibbons, Student, CITE
Dale Carrothers, Student, CITE
Mark Agius, Student, CITE
Jane Mitchell, Ph.D. Student, Faculty of Education
Steve Collins, Ph.D. Student, Faculty of Education
Pamela Essex, Master's Student, Faculty of Education
Sylvia Wilson, Master's Student, Faculty of Education