Cutting-edge professional preparation conference had something for everyone

A teacher’s education doesn’t end just because he or she has a diploma framed nicely on the wall. This fact was amply illustrated during the recent Employment Preparation Conference and Job Fair held December 15 to 17 at OISE.

 

The importance of staying informed when it comes to the complexities of teaching professions, along with being properly prepared for that first day in the classroom, were both driven home to the participants who described this ‘teaching fest’ as “groundbreaking” and “highly informative”.

 

Information sessions were conducted by professional teachers and administrators from the Ontario Teachers Federation (OTF), Elementary Teachers’ Federation (ETF), the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation. OISE spoke on how to prepare for life as a teacher, and how to survive and prosper once in the classroom.

 

Participants were immersed in cutting-edge educational best practices and guidance from respected leaders in the education field with seminars dealing with such topics as the experiences of the beginner elementary school teacher, professional development opportunities, how to provide a meaningful learning environment, dealing with professional complaints and the journey now referred to as ‘lifelong learning’.

 

As well, both new and experienced educational specialists were informed of the latest information for site-based mentoring and how to best engage today’s youth in the classroom – no easy task in this age of electronic toys and other flat-screened distractions.

 

In the ‘Beyond the Classroom’ segment of the conference, attendees were urged to reach out to professional teaching networks and associations to gain strength and support in what is considered one of society’s most stressful, yet important, career choices.

 

Those taking part also learned the dos and don’ts of a good résumé from both a public school perspective and from the viewpoint of the Catholic school boards. Selected participants donned their acting caps and underwent mock interviews which highlighted both their strengths and their weaknesses. This session, the teacher candidates noted, clearly illustrated how an interview for a teaching position was unlike other job interviews they had previously taken part in.

 

The third and last day of the conference featured a wide-ranging job fair with representatives and hiring agents from many local, provincial, national and international schools eager to ‘meet and greet’ with the new crop of young professionals looking for positions. Many teacher candidates were pleasantly surprised to learn that, even in these difficult economic times, there were indeed many institutions eagerly looking for them.

 

For those who took part in the conference, it soon became apparent that teachers, much like today’s overworked doctors and medical researchers, must always be ready to adapt and change in a profession that is constantly being examined and re-evaluated by specialists and researchers from around the world.