Ontario considering shortening length of teachers' college, documents suggest

The Ontario authorities is considering shortening the magnitude of teachers' assemblage successful bid to code a worsening shortage of educators, documents obtained by The Canadian Press suggest.

A freedom-of-information petition connected teacher proviso and request came backmost with probe and jurisdictional scans the Ministry of Education conducted past twelvemonth connected the proviso contented and the magnitude of archetypal teacher acquisition programs.

Highlighted successful the summary of the papers connected teachers' assemblage are findings that longer programs bash not marque amended teachers.

"There is small grounds that the magnitude of people enactment successful ITE (initial teacher education) makes a quality successful teachers' effectiveness erstwhile they participate the profession," the papers says.

Real in-class experience, however, does look to marque a difference.

"Literature probe shows that teachers who implicit longer practicums consciousness amended prepared and are much apt to enactment successful the profession," the papers says.

Admissions person plummeted since 2015

Ontario teachers' assemblage programs are typically 2 years, divided into 4 semesters, but that has not ever been the case.

A decennary ago, Ontario had a teacher surplus, with an unemployment complaint of astir 40 per cent for teachers successful their archetypal twelvemonth aft becoming certified.

In 2015, the then-Liberal authorities made teachers' assemblage 2 years alternatively of 1 and admittance rates plummeted from much than 7,600 successful 2011 to 4,500 successful 2021, according to the Ontario College of Teachers.

Now, early-career unemployment is astatine "statistically negligible levels," according to the college, and determination is simply a wide acknowledged shortage of teachers acceptable to get worse.

Other ministry documents antecedently obtained by The Canadian Press done a abstracted freedom-of-information petition said that the spread betwixt the fig of needed teachers and disposable teachers is expected to widen starting successful 2027.

A spokesperson for Education Minister Paul Calandra said his absorption volition beryllium connected ensuring the champion imaginable outcomes for students, including due staffing levels.

"The curate is good alert of the changes the erstwhile authorities made to teachers' assemblage programs and has asked the ministry to study backmost connected the champion mode guardant to guarantee pupil success," Justine Teplycky wrote successful a statement.

The Ontario Principals' Council and the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario are among the groups that person called for a instrumentality to one-year programs.

"We're uncovering that the outgo has go a factor, a obstruction for galore radical to really perpetrate that magnitude of clip to the program," said Karen Brown, president of ETFO.

"The two-year program, determination isn't really overmuch much learning taking place...So really, radical are saying, 'What is the intent of the 2nd year?"'

Program magnitude is simply a 'barrier,' teachers federation says

The Ontario Federation of Teachers, which advocates for the province's much than 160,000 teachers, published a insubstantial past twelvemonth connected archetypal teacher acquisition programs and urged evidence-based alteration that follows consultations with teachers, but did not telephone for a circumstantial timeline.

"In presumption of programme length, it is worthy acknowledging that the magnitude of clip successful which the programme is delivered is of little value than the attainment of the desired outcomes that each graduating teacher should acquire," the federation wrote.

"That said, we judge that the existent magnitude of Ontario's ITE programs represents a important obstruction for many."

The federation spoke retired against the alteration to a two-year program, taking the presumption that 3 semesters should beryllium delivered implicit a 12-month play and should see 100 days of practicum. It warned that the four-semester programme would pb to teacher shortages, particularly successful high-needs subjects and regions.

A decennary later, the ministry says determination is simply a teacher shortage, peculiarly for French, technological education, and Indigenous teachers and successful bluish parts of the province.

The ministry documents database the main factors arsenic expanding enrolment by astir 180,000 students implicit an unspecified clip frame, increasing rates of status — with astir 7,800 teachers expected to discontinue by 2030-31 — and "no contiguous alteration to teacher acquisition successful Ontario."

Teacher shortages crossed astir each of Canada: document

Six retired of Canada's 13 provinces and territories person four-semester programs, including Ontario, the papers says. The planetary scope is betwixt 2 and 4 semesters.

All jurisdictions successful Canada but the Northwest Territories are experiencing teacher shortages, the papers says, and provinces and territories person adopted assorted strategies to code them. That includes backing for assistance programs, much teacher grooming spaces, designation of overseas credentials, pupil indebtedness forgiveness, bursaries, and streamlined certification processes.

In caller years Ontario has allowed immoderate teacher candidates to enactment arsenic proviso teachers successful effect to shortages. But Karen Littlewood, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF), said that isn't an perfect oregon semipermanent solution.

"We're going to request a batch of radical to capable these jobs, but they shouldn't beryllium successful the schoolroom successful beforehand of students until they decorativeness their training," she said.

"If the grooming programme needs to change, that should change, but we're putting a Band-Aid connected a solution and asking radical who — they're not truly unqualified, but they're not yet qualified — to travel successful and to lick the problem, arsenic opposed to having the authorities look astatine what the issues are successful education."

OSSTF and different teachers' unions person for years said that moving conditions are a origin of teacher shortages.

The president and CEO of the Council of Ontario Universities said the post-secondary institutions are moving to "compress and streamline" teachers' education, and suggested that universities wherever teachers gain their credentials bash not privation to spot programs shortened.

"The skills and cognition that teachers request to make successful effect to changing technology, societal and intelligence wellness issues, and to foster pupil occurrence is lone becoming much complex, not less," Steve Orsini wrote successful a statement.

"Anything that would trim the mentation our teachers person could impact the prime of acquisition and aboriginal occurrence of students."