Recently the problems associated with initial teacher education reappeared in the media when in was reported that OISE (the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Education) was cancelling the Bachelor of Education program. OISE struck a deal with the Ontario government to convert half of the B.Ed. spots into Master of Teaching spots.
The net effect is that OISE will train 50% less teachers every year and students will be paying more than double to become a teacher (from $8,056.44 for the B.Ed to $10,105.52 per year for the MT). OISE has cut a sweetheart deal where it will receive $13,205.00 in funding per student, while other universities will have to made due with $5,684.00 per student. This presents some questions about whether we’re developing a two-tiered model of initial teacher education where OISE is funded to the detriment of other institutions.
All of this comes on the heels of OISE cancelling a joint training initiative, Model Schools for Inner Cities, with the Toronto District School Board. This has caused some consternation within the TDSB about the cultural competence of OISE graduates. Clearly this is the harbinger of things to come in Ontario and I expect things to get ugly rather quickly.
I’ve covered the background previously, but it’s always good to recap. Essentially, Ontario is producing far too many new teachers who are competing for a shrinking number of jobs. Last year the Ontario government announced that they would be cutting the number of B.Ed spots by 50% and boosting the length to two-years.
This is all being driven by a number of factors. With the population is getting older in Ontario and widespread school closures are predicted. Teachers with jobs are working till an older age and not as many are retiring. Students are going to the United States to obtain initial teacher education which reduces the ability of the Ontario government or the Ontario College of Teachers to control the labour supply.
What Ontario needs to do is get smarter about how we educate teachers. There’s no reason why a B.Ed. couldn’t be a first-entry degree taking four years. Exploring that option along with concurrent B.A./B.Ed. programs and graduate options would make the most sense. There also needs to be an accounting for the proliferation of Ontario residents going to the United States to obtain qualifications.
While the reduction of the number of students undertaking initial teacher education is welcome; students shouldn't be facing increase costs in time and money. Rumour has it that three universities will lose their faculties of education and certainly any announcements are being kept under wraps until after the provincial election. All of this points to a continuing policy debacle where hundreds of millions have been thrown away on educating new teachers that don’t have a hope of finding a teaching job in Ontario.
I already have my B.Ed. What frustrates me is that that future teacher candidates at OISE will graduate with a master's level teaching degree, while those of us who graduated before 2014 are stuck with the B.Ed. OISE should at least offer us (those who obtained the B.Ed. from there) an option to upgrade to the Master's in Teaching (or) MA in child studies. This seems like the fair thing to do. Most LL.Bs are being given the option to convert to the Juris Doctor designation for free, which is considered to be a higher designation.
ReplyDeleteLangille here. Good point. I would note that few (if any) in the legal profession think a J.D. is better than a LL.B., these are the same degrees.
ReplyDeleteYes, but in education for some reason people think a Masters makes you god. Literally. I laugh. Its a masters in education. A joke.
ReplyDeleteThe point is not about feeling like god, it is about fairness. OISE B.Ed. graduates should be given the choice to upgrade to a master's in teaching if they wish.
ReplyDelete