The Exit Requirements for the Year 2 EDPR3000 and EDPR4000 practicum courses reflect the Faculty of Education Undergraduate Degree-Level Expectations that ask "students to engage with global realities and issues with an awareness of how their work as teachers is connected to the project of living well together" (https://edu.yorku.ca/undergraduate-degree-level-expectations-udles/).
The practicum placements are a major source of curriculum in the sense that they bring Teacher Candidates face to face with concrete situations and allow the Teacher candidate to make sense of the foundational theories of learning in a collaborative mentoring environment.
The underlying assumptions of this approach are that teaching can be considered as a form of problem solving and that Teacher Candidates learn best within cohesive academic and practical situations that facilitate the opportunity to engage with learning in multiple ways, which lead the learner to inquire, deconstruct, analyze, implement, reflect upon, revise and wrestle with new understandings in meaningful ways.
The daily expectation is active engagement with the work of the classroom for 100% of the day.
Specific classroom activities may include
- Co‐teaching with the Mentor Teacher.
- Working with small groups/individuals.
- Co‐planning with the Mentor Teacher and fellow Teacher Candidates.
- Independent planning and facilitation of student learning to demonstrate the ability to plan, differentiate, initiate, sustain, culminate, and assess student learning in an inclusive classroom environment.
- Lesson Study with Mentor Teachers and fellow Teacher Candidates.
Prior to each EDPR3000 and EDPR4000 Teaching Blocks, all Year 2 TCs will:
- Prepare a unit plan for the block experience, including an overview of the unit, a list of overall learning expectations, learning goals and success criteria, a culminating task, the lesson sequence and sample lesson or day plans.
As the culmination of their Year Two experience, Teacher Candidates will:
- Create a professional portfolio that supports the interview-for-hiring process by demonstrating alignment of TC experience and skills with professional requirements.
In the Faculty of Education, the success of the Year Two practicum is not measured quantitatively by the percentage of the day taught; rather, it is measured qualitatively against exiting requirements for Teacher Candidates in the Practicum Evaluation Protocol. We recommend that TCs self-assess their progress against the Exit Requirements and engage in ongoing conversation with the Mentor Teacher to ensure that they are on target for successful completion.
