Reporting mandates, new leeway in using federal aid, and the chance to make it a school-quality indicator all raise the issue’s profile.
Skills shortages1 have regularly been identified as one of the top 10 barriers to competitiveness in Canada by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, costing the Canadian economy billions in lost GDP annually.2 There is now a rare consensus about skills
needs and challenges in this country, across the demand and supply perspectives.3 An aging population will only
exacerbate the problem in the coming years, especially for the most in-demand professions in the
skilled trades and STEM-based occupations (where STEM refers to science, technology, engineering
and math).
With this report the Canadian Chamber of Commerce focuses on the role of the education-to-employment transition in mitigating or aggravating the skills gaps. Specifically, this report addresses the ways in which all stakeholders, including government, employers, workers, education providers and students, will need to adapt and collaborate to improve the efficiency of
the labour market.
In this article, we describe a teacher education program that attempted to deal with a teacher quality agenda by changing both the content and mode of operation of a pre-service teacher education program. We first describe the program and its differences from the standard BEd model, and then comment on research conducted into the program. We conclude the article with the proposal that robust, syndicated partnerships between schools and universities are the most likely arrangement to foster significant changes in teacher education.
The ways in which a new university, the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), was represented in local, regional, and national newspa- pers highlight the difficulties of identity creation for organizations. Drawing on theories of organizational identity and supplemented by interviews with UOIT’s founding members, a qualitative analysis of newspaper articles about UOIT
published between 2001 and 2004 demonstrates that the words and phrases used in these articles played an important role in establishing an im- age of UOIT that continues to impact its identity. These news reports also illustrate the complex relationships that existed between UOIT and its geographical, educational, and political contexts. Although UOIT was founded as a four-year
baccalaureate degree-granting university, it was linked with its well-established neighbour, Durham College, with which it shared land and services. As a result, UOIT was viewed by some as no more than a “community college with ivory tower pretensions.”
La représentation de l’Institut universitaire de technologie de l’Ontario (IUTO) dans la presse locale, régionale et nationale met en évidence les difficultés de création d’une identité corporative. Une analyse qualitative des articles sur l’IUTO, publiés entre 2001 et 2004, étoffés par des entretiens avec les membres fondateurs de l’IUTO, démontre, en s’appuyant sur les théories
de l’identité organisationnelle, que leur contenu a joué un rôle important dans la définition de l’image de l’IUTO qui affecte encore son identité. Ces reportages illustrent aussi les relations complexes entre l’UOIT et son cadre géographique, éducatif et politique. Bien que l’IUTO soit une université décernant des baccalauréats de quatre ans, il est lié à son voisin bien établile Collège communautaire Durham, car il partage avec lui les terres et les services. En conséquence, on considère parfois l’IUTO comme rien de plus qu’un « collège communautaire enfermé dans une tour d’ivoire ».
This paper seeks to offer a comprehensive vision of a strategy to address the multiple barriers that face groups of people who are currently underrepresented in Ontario’s post-secondary education system. This paper seeks to give an over- view of the groups that are currently underrepresented, and to explore the barriers they face, including but not limited to: financial, informational/ motivational and academic barriers. We seek to acknowledge that the complex and multi-faceted nature of barriers that effect access require a holistic package of interventions, that address the unique needs of individuals and communities.
Student participation in applied research as a form of experiential learning in community colleges is relatively new. Ontario Colleges today participate at different levels with different numbers of projects and faculty involved. A few colleges in Ontario are more established in doing applied research including having basic infrastructure for research and having defined in which disciplines they will conduct research. This study took place in a college with a more established applied research program with the study goal of hearing and listening from the students and their teacher/research leaders as to their perceived benefit from the research program. The findings showed that the students found the program very beneficial and that student learning in areas considered important for the workplace was occurring that would not have been possible in the regular classroom.
If instructors desire students to gain a deeper understanding of the content and begin thinking like experts, then they need class time for active, collaborative learning. In the flipped classroom, primary knowledge acquisition occurs before class, which
creates space for students to practice applying the information of the discipline with their peers. Team-based learning is an effective in-class, instructional-strategy that (1) assesses and enhances student content acquisition from pre-class study, and (2) uses the majority of class time for activities that enable them to discuss, take-risks, and make mistakes while developing their
expertise.
First Nations, Inuit and Métis have long advocated learning that affirms their own ways of knowing, cultural traditions and values. However, they also desire Western education that can equip them with the knowledge and skills they need to participate in
Canadian society. First Nations, Inuit and Métis recognize that “two ways of knowing” will foster the necessary conditions for nurturing healthy, sustainable communities.
It has been well documented that the nation’s public colleges, universities, community colleges, and career training centers significantly boost the economic mobility of students who pursue and complete degrees and credentials after high school. The skills students acquire at these higher-education institutions lead to jobs that pay a wage premium in a modern economy. However, for many students, families, and society as a whole, decreasing state investments and increasing student-loan debt is threatening the value of a public postsecondary education—that is to say, the idea that a degree or credential beyond high school will deliver on the promise of a higher standard of living. To make sure that higher education attainment leads to improved outcomes for graduates, it is crucial that national policy choices ensure that public colleges remain affordable for
low- and moderate-income Americans and student-loan debt does not overly burdened graduates as they prepare for the workforce.
On any given day in America, roughly 1.4 million college students between the ages of 18 and 22 – or more than 1 out of every 8 American undergrads – will drink alcohol, according to new data from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Once a fourth-grade teacher, I recently began my work as an elementary assistant principal in another district. Based on my research and what I have experienced so far, I'd like to offer five ways for a rookie administrator to successfully navigate his or her new position.
Audience response systems (ARS) are electronic applications in which a receiver captures information entered by students via keypads or hand-held devices. Students’ responses can be displayed instantly, usually in the form of a histogram. Professors typically use ARS to increase student interaction and for formative assessment (to measure students’ understanding of material during a lecture; Micheletto, 2011). In some cases, audience response systems have also been used to pose real research questions and follow an interactive sampling approach (not to be confused with experiment data collection). For example, imagine that a research study concluded that females respond more quickly to red stimuli than do males. An interactive sampling session in the classroom would present students with coloured stimuli, and the instructor would ask students to respond, as quickly as possible and using the ARS, when they see the red stimuli. The instructor would then display the students’ responses and compare the students’ data to results from the published research study. Barnett & Kriesel (2003) propose three criteria that classroom interactive sampling should meet if it is to stimulate discussion among students:
When it comes to gender parity in the corner office, Canadian colleges are in front of their university counterparts. In fact, almost a third of college presidents are female, while just one in five top university executives are women. “We are very proud of our numbers,” says Denise Amyot, president of Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan)—the first female to hold this position in the association’s 40-plus years. “We have quite a few women. It’s just amazing.”
Thirty-eight of the 127 member colleges of CICan have a female in charge, compared to just 19 of Universities Canada’s 97 member institutes (30 per cent vs. 20, respectively).
Vision
The post-secondary destination of choice for internationally acclaimed, career-focused education
that is essential to an inclusive, prosperous and globally competitive Ontario.
Mission
Colleges will lead educational innovations and advance public policy reforms to build the
advanced workforce required to support new economic investments, rewarding careers and strong
communities throughout Ontario.
COLLEGES ONTARIO
Fuelling Prosperity: Colleges Ontario’s strategic plan 2015-18
Our Values
■ Student success: We promote inclusive college programs and services that will enable all
qualified students to graduate to meaningful careers.
■ Learning and teaching excellence: We drive an innovative learning environment that focuses on
best practices and delivers the high-quality, relevant education required by students and the
labour market.
■ Responsiveness: We are responsive to our communities and to the needs of the labour market.
■ Collaboration: We act as one voice on critical issues in higher education while recognizing and
respecting each other’s unique differences.
■ Strong stewardship: We are committed to excellent stewardship of public resources.
Although research on Canadian higher education has advanced considerably over the past few decades, the opportunities for university level study of higher education in Canada are still quite limited . Only four universities offer higher education programs; only one has a higher education department; and only a handful of other institutions offer even a course in higher education. The number of students enrolled in higher education programs in Canada is about 200, compared to about 6,000 in the United States; the number of faculty about 15 compared to 700 in the U.S.
Canada’s colleges, institutes and polytechnics stimulate innovation, enhance curriculum and produce highly skilled, innovative graduates through applied research partnerships with firms and community organizations. Closely linked with regional public and private enterprises, colleges play a central role in advancing innovation.
In its 2012 economic survey of Canada, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recognized that Canadian “colleges are becoming proactive in directly meeting the needs of small businesses in areas of problem solving, process innovation and technical skills.” In 2011-12, more than 24,000 college students and 1,700 faculty and staff collaborated with 4,586 companies across 524 research areas.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors affecting the success of First Nations learners in education in Canada and the types of initiatives required to support the successful transition of First Nations learners to post-secondary. A description of First Nations peoples and a brief overview of the historical context of education for First Nations in Canada will assist the
reader in understanding the reality of First Nations communities and schools, and the impacts on First Nation learners. It is these experiences that prompt the design, development and delivery of specialized programs and services required to assist First Nations students with their transitions to post-
secondary education.
Post-secondary education is effectively a requirement to succeed in today’s labour market. Unfortunately, while the demand for education has increased, public funding has failed to keep up. Public funding shortfalls have resulted in a significant growth of costs that have been downloaded onto individual students, namely in the form of high tuition fees. From 1990 to 2014, national average tuition fees have seen an inflation-adjusted increase of over 155%. In Ontario, tuition fees have increased over 180%.
For most students—often having spent little time fully active in the workforce—funding their education has become increasingly difficult. Many students must now take on significant levels of debt to pay for their education. Students requiring a Canada Student Loan now graduate with an average debt of over $28,000.
Relying on debt to finance education means the full impact of high tuition fees is delayed until after graduation—when it is then compounded by interest. This impact is now exacerbated by the effects of the Great Recession and the rising trend of precarious, and even unpaid, employment. The broader effects of high levels of student debt on both the individual and the general economy are now becoming obvious:
In 2010, there were almost 1.2 million students in degree programs on Canadian campuses: 755,000 undergraduates, 143,400 graduate students studying full-time, and an additional 275,800 students studying part-time. Fifty-six percent of university students were women, and 10 percent were international students. The number of full-time university students has more than doubled since 1980, and part-time enrolment is up 16 percent. In 1980, there were 550,000 full-time and 218,000 part-time university students
on Canadian campuses. Clearly, universities have experienced tremendous growth over the last 30 years.
This article represents a conceptual history of the concept of school development and its relationship to related concepts of school effectiveness, school improvement, implementation, organizational development, learning theories, system reform and so on.
It is not an empirical review or a detailed chronological account. Rather, it is a ‘thought piece’ on the philosophy and practice of education reform in terms of where we have come from and where we are today. I have drawn heavily on my own work in which I have chronicled and contributed to this broad education improvement field since 1975.