Professional experiences -- education

School observation and practice teaching are major, integral components of the professional experiences in all education and teaching programs at the Faculty of Education and Social Work.

As well, practicums and internships are cooperative efforts between the University and the schools to which students are assigned.

The practicum component of professional experiences is designed to augment University coursework and provide student teachers with opportunities to develop their teaching skills and professional understanding.

• Download the Professional Experiences Handbook (pdf, 1.34MB)
  
  
• Internship handbook for Master of Teaching/BEd Primary/BEd combined degrees (pdf, 675kB)
  
  

Detailed information about the specific professional-experiences program relevant to a particular degree can be found under the menu items listed on the left of this page.

Professional Experience Portfolio

The Professional Experience Portfolio provides a structure through which trainee teachers in all courses are able to document any educational work they undertake that is additional to the requirements of their particular course. A summary of this work in the form of a certificate from the Division of Professional Experience can be obtained for employment purposes.

Students can download a Letter of Introduction (pdf, 77kB) to use in approaching possible sources of relevant work experience.

In previous years the portfolio has been compulsory in some courses. At present it is a voluntary service offered to trainee teachers to both encourage their broader professional development and to provide a means of documenting relevant work experience.

The details of this program are contained within the Professional Experience Portfolio Handbook (pdf, 349kB), which also contains suggested educational experiences that can be logged, and guidelines for documentation and verification of relevant educational work.

Each Log Form (pdf containing editable fields, 81kB) of a work experience needs to be substantiated by details of the work supervisor, their contact number and signature. In general, each Log Form will cover at a minimum 10 hours' educational work.

To record work experiences for your portfolio, signed Log Forms need to be presented to Alex Hector at the Professional Experience Office (room 604). Details will be entered into the data base and, at the end of the year or in each student's final semester, a certificate verifying total hours logged into the portfolio can then be obtained from the office.

Any enquiries concerning the portfolio should be addressed to the Director of Professional Experience, Dr Di Bloomfield.