Slow and Local: A Re-vision of Teacher Education in Ontario

Modern life has created a culture of speed and standardization, especially in the business world. Education is not immune to this culture and, in an effort to prepare teacher-candidates for modern classrooms, pre-service programs in Ontario (and elsewhere) seem to have adopted a business mentality,...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Elizabeth ASHWORTH
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nipissing University 2014-07-01
Series:Journal of Unschooling and Alternative Learning
Online Access: https://jual.nipissingu.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/2014/06/v81153.pdf
Description
Summary:Modern life has created a culture of speed and standardization, especially in the business world. Education is not immune to this culture and, in an effort to prepare teacher-candidates for modern classrooms, pre-service programs in Ontario (and elsewhere) seem to have adopted a business mentality, creating overstuffed classes, overfull timetables, and over-stressed future educators. This article critiques current pre-service program practices and presents slow living and terroir as guiding concepts for revising teacher education. It includes a context for program revision, inspirational observations made in French schools, and recommendations for pre-service programs based on those observations. As well, a model for a two-year consecutive teacher education program is presented, informed by the concepts and observations discussed.
ISSN:1916-8128