Master of Teaching Program Experience
A Collection of Artifacts Demonstrative of My Course Work & Learning from Year 1
The University of Calgary's Faculty of Education Tower & Block
As my biography suggested, my arrival to the profession of teaching was not one born of meticulous planning or life-long desire. Rather, I arrived at what I now know is my life's calling by recognizing and acting upon deeply engrained desires of life-long learning, my naturally friendly and personal disposition, my creative and artistic talents, and my desire to better society in a real and tangible way. The Master of Teaching Program in the University of Calgary's Faculty of Education has empowered me to bring together my natural talents, formal education and personal background in a way that has enriched my experience with education and teaching as an academic discipline and profession.
Following are brief excerpts / descriptions of each component of the MT Program as stated in the Education Students Handbook for year 1, as well as a collection of course work from my first year in the MT Program. This work is a selection of what I feel to be my best academic work from the program, and demonstrative of my growth and learning with respect to the teaching profession. Examples will be available as PDF files, and will be categorized by the course they were drawn from.
Following are brief excerpts / descriptions of each component of the MT Program as stated in the Education Students Handbook for year 1, as well as a collection of course work from my first year in the MT Program. This work is a selection of what I feel to be my best academic work from the program, and demonstrative of my growth and learning with respect to the teaching profession. Examples will be available as PDF files, and will be categorized by the course they were drawn from.
Lecture Series - Semester 1
Instructor: Dr. David Jardine
The weekly lecture is related to the primary theme of the semester Learners & Learning, with a focus on the historical structure of schooling and learning, and how teachers might go about integrating inquiry-based learning into their own work, as well as into the work of their students. The lecture series featured several insights into the complexity of the teaching profession, and introduced some of the current conversations, theories, and ideas in education. As the only lecture styled course of the program, many of the concepts introduced serve as the underpinning for the work completed in other classes. There were no assignments from the first semester lecture, however the concepts and ideas introduced did influence the work done in other classes.
Professional Seminar - Semester 1
Instructor: Dr. John Friesen
The Professional Seminar offered an opportunity to further explore the profession of teaching, by allowing opportunities to articulate and theorize the experience of becoming a teacher. Consistent with the semester theme, the professional seminar emphasizes the qualities, conceptions, and multiple "identities" beginning teachers bring to the profession. Further, the seminar allowed for the cultivation of a personal teacher identity by making sense of and critically examining cultural and historical teaching identities. The content of the seminar varies from class to class, but thematically remains the same. In my professional seminar, Dr. Friesen introduced the cultivation and examination of teacher identity through the examination of the book, The Courage to Teach by Parker J. Palmer. The seminar had 2 major assignments. The first was a biography of learning, which was used to write the personal background page of this website, and the second was an independent inquiry paper that provided for an opportunity to explore some element of the teaching profession or education by and large. Given my interest in and passion for the arts, my independent inquiry paper centered on the role of the arts in education - specifically focusing on the value and necessity of the arts in education. My inquiry paper, as well as a PDF of my assessment by Dr. Friesen can be viewed by clicking on file located below.
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Case Inquiry Tutorial - Learners and Learning & Teachers and Teaching - Semester 1
Instructor: Dr. Cecille DePass
The Case Inquiry Tutorial serves a means to understand and explore the often contradictory realities, identities, and issues at play in a classroom. By exploring the multiple perspectives of the classroom environment, one becomes both critically informed and practically able to address them. Effective case work depends on participation in the challenging and supporting of theories, developing concepts and ideas, speaking and listening, and the act of observing and being observed. Collectively, the aim of the case class was to build on teaching and learning relationships to establish productive learning communities with our future students and colleagues. One of my case journal entries can be viewed below.
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Lecture Series - Semester 2
Instructor: Dr. Brent Davis
The lecture series in the second semester of year one offered a brief but broad perspective on the vibrant, rapidly evolving field of educational research. The lecture series was divided into three modules. The first centered on historical, societal, and cultural beliefs about knowledge. The second dealt with differing perspectives on learning, and the third with conceptions of teaching. Within these three distinct modules, lectures were designed to incorporate a wide range of perspectives from all over the current and historical field of education, but were clearly linked to lecture's required text, Engaging Minds: Changing Teaching in Complex Times. The text was written by Dr. Davis, and was co-authored by Rebecca Luce-Kapler and the Dean of the University of Calgary's Faculty of Education, Dennis Sumara. The lecture series included three assignments which corresponded to the three modules noted above. The first assignment aimed at awakening the norms that shape our existence by identifying a scene from a popular controversial television shown that "crossed the line" or "went too far". Assignment 2 asked to identify a prominent educational claim/assertion/stance/assumption with which you profoundly disagree, and to get inside it to understand the truth of it. The third and final assignment was directed towards creating and interpreting a visual metaphor of teaching. The three assignments for the semester are located below for viewing.
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Curriculum Inquiry for Secondary Social Studies - Semester 2
Instructors: Dr. Diane Gereluk (Curriculum A) & Dr. Marie Farrell (Curriculum B)
Consistent with the theme of semester 2, the Curriculum Inquiry for Secondary Social Studies Seminar's focus was on developing an understanding of curriculum, familiarization of the Alberta Program of Studies, differing strategies and approaches to teaching, and an examination of critical perspectives on the cultural and contextual influences exerted on how knowledge is created and constructed in the school environment. The overarching goal of the two-part seminar is to link the study of curriculum with field experiences as to develop creative ways of constructing meaningful learning experiences related to the required learning expectations. Following the inquiry model of the MT Program, a curriculum mapping exercise, a unit planning exercise, and an independent paper focusing on some element of social studies were used to meet the above goal. PDF's of these assignments are available for viewing below.
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Field Inquiry Seminar - Semesters 1 & 2
Instructor: Prof. Greg Long
As a bridge connecting university study with the experience of being in a school as a new teacher, the Field Inquiry Seminar or "field experience" is one of the most important components of the MT program. Through inquiry, a thorough and systematic investigation of the classroom is conducted two days per week in both semesters, with a one week long immersion week included in semester 2. The aim of the field experience is to foster a deeper and more tangible understanding of the concepts of learning, teaching, curriculum, and the day to day procedure of life in a school. One of the most profound themes of the seminar is exploring the relationship between teacher, student, and curriculum, and is met through guest speakers, class discussion, educational philosophy, and engaging in inquiry as much as possible. On the proceeding page, a more thorough examination on my field experience will be undertaken, and will include excerpts from my journal responses and examples of involvement within my partner school. Further, the next page will demonstrate the 5 Key Learnings as outlined in the Education Students Handbook. Below are an image exploring the central theme of semester 2 and an activity / assignment from semester 1 which put into practice connecting the Alberta Program of Studies with Bloom's Taxonomy and Gardiner's Multiple Intelligences.
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