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ROLE OF THE PRINCIPAL/PRACTICE TEACHING LIAISON

Assuming Leadership for the Practicum Program in the School

Since the Principal or the Principal’s designate (also known as the Practice Teaching Liaison) is responsible for the direction of the Practicum Program in the school, Associate Teachers and Teacher Candidates will look to her or him for general leadership. The Principal’s and/or the designate’s interest and involvement, to the extent that time will allow, inevitably affects the benefits derived by Teacher Candidates at the school.

While Teacher Candidates are in a school, they are in a position to expand their experience beyond the vital one they gain from working with Associate Teachers. It would be helpful if their Practicum program included opportunities to discover distinctive features of the school and also to meet with the Principal and other staff members—for example, Vice-Principals, Guidance Counsellors, Teacher-Librarians, Support Staff, and other key people.

It is also expected that Teacher Candidates will be involved to an appropriate degree in additional activities, such as attending staff meetings, assisting in some instances with extra-curricular activities, assuming partial responsibility for supervision outside the classroom, and learning about evaluation procedures in the school.

If an Associate Teacher or Teacher Candidate experiences a difficulty that cannot be resolved, either or both of them together should seek the counsel of the Principal or the Practice Teaching Liaison, as well as notifying SUPO. SUPO staff will immediately inform the Teacher Candidate’s Coordinator or curriculum instructor, who will contact the school.

The Education Act (section 265) states that principals are responsible for maintaining the safety and well-being of students, and at any time, the principal of a school has the authority to ask a Teacher Candidate to leave the premises of a school (Education Act, section 305.4).

Supervision of Teacher Candidates by Appointed Associates Only

Principals of elementary and secondary schools and the coordinators of secondary school subject departments should make certain that Teacher Candidates of OISE work on a continuing basis only with appointed Associate Teachers. To broaden the experience of Teacher Candidates, appointed Associate Teachers may, at times, arrange for Teacher Candidates to observe and perhaps teach classes of colleagues who are not appointed Associate Teachers. While these colleagues may provide some input in the evaluation process, under no circumstances should they be responsible for making formal evaluations of Teacher Candidates.

Summative Evaluation and Attendance Information

Principals and/or Practice Teaching Liaisons are requested to note important information regarding the Summative Evaluation and Attendance information. The Principal (or Principal’s designate) is requested to ensure that each Teacher Candidate receive a completed hard copy Summative Evaluation for her/his own records on the final day of the Practicum. In some exceptional cases (e.g., when a Teacher Candidate has been identified as at-risk in the Practicum), the suggested timeline for the completion and distribution of the Summative Evaluation may need to be altered. In addition to the hard copy provided to the Teacher Candidate, Associate Teachers also electronically submit the Summative Evaluation which Teacher Candidates access through the SUPO database for employment purposes.

ROLE OF THE ASSOCIATE TEACHER

OISE Associate Teachers are:

• motivated to take on this challenging role and fulfill the responsibilities involved with mentoring a Teacher Candidate;
• models of effective teaching for a pre-service teacher;
• capable adult mentors with skills in a) observation, b) providing feedback, and c) holding professional conversations;
• willing to provide opportunities for the Teacher Candidate to gradually increase teaching time throughout the practicum;
• skilled communicators;
• models of subject area expertise;
• models of professional behaviour and ethics;
• organized, and able to provide the Teacher Candidate with a staff handbook or access to materials concerning expectations about arrival and departure times, appropriate dress code, and procedures for emergency rill, accident and other school routines;
• willing to commit time to supporting the OISE Teacher Candidate, and willing, where possible, to make a workspace available for the Teacher Candidate;
• able to assist the Teacher Candidate in securing the necessary resources to prepare lessons such as access to photocopying and internet, textbooks and library resources;
• aware that they can contact the School-University Partnerships Office (SUPO) at OISE if they have any questions at any time.

Role of the Office Administrator

Under the direction of the Principal, the Office Administrator plays an invaluable role in the Practicum program, including:

• informing Associate Teachers as soon as possible of the allocation of Teacher Candidates. This information will be sent via email;
• assisting the Principal of the school in a variety of liaison tasks with SUPO, for example, transmitting messages to or from SUPO;
• assisting the Principal in the reconciliation of the school’s and SUPO’s records of honoraria due;
• maintaining records, session by session, of the allocation of Teacher Candidates to Associate Teachers and their attendance;
• keeping a record of the Teacher Candidate’s timetable for the Practicum—OISE staff may contact the school for this information in order to arrange visits to observe Teacher Candidate’s practice teach. Associate Teachers have been asked to provide the school office with this necessary information;
• assisting OISE instructors in contacting Teacher Candidates during practice teaching in compliance with school regulations.

Summative Evaluation and Attendance Information

Office Administrators are requested to note important information regarding the Summative Evaluation and Attendance information.

Please Note:

OISE matches Teacher Candidates with Associate Teachers in advance of the Practicum placements. These matches will be communicated via email prior to the beginning of each Practicum placement. Because the Summative Evaluation and honoraria rely on the accuracy of each Associate Teacher paired with each Teacher Candidate, we urge you to contact SUPO if changes are made to the original Practicum placement notification sent to your school. Without the correct information, problems will arise when the Associate Teacher attempts to login to complete the evaluation, and honoraria amounts paid to Associate Teachers will be inaccurate.