Standards Integration

This section provides an overview of strategies used by the College and educational partners to increase awareness, understanding and integration of the standards into the teaching profession.

Standards Casework

Over the years, the College has invited members to case institutes (sessions where educators meet to discuss and write about teaching experiences) to share dilemmas that have emerged in teaching. Representative of multiple contexts, roles and responsibilities of educators, the cases are the basis for thoughtful discussion with colleagues. They provide venues for reflection and collaboration.

The case process highlights the need to examine an issue from multiple perspectives: the writer-teacher, the student, the administration, parents and teaching colleagues described in the case. Using authentic teaching experiences in cases encourages teacher participation and preparation for situations that may arise in everyday classrooms.

Educators ponder their colleague's solutions and explanations to case narratives. Teachers' decision-making in a practical and concrete way is guided by specific reference to the standards.

One of the many purposes for using cases is to demonstrate that the work of educators is valuable and provide a forum for effective teacher research.

The College's work in the area of cases has resulted in the creation of useful resources for members. The Resource Kit features several booklets and a CD based on cases to raise awareness of the standards of practice and encourage reflection on ethical decision-making.

In April, the College released its first casebook entitled Cases for Teacher Development: Preparing for the Classroom. Commentaries by Ontario deans of education and world-renowned authorities in education are the focus of questions and annotated bibliographies. To complement the text, the College has produced a supplement specifically for Ontario educators.

Standards of Practice Symposium

In November of 2003, the College held a standards symposium to:

• encourage the sharing of members' insights, understandings and experiences with the standards
• identify and explore various approaches to promote and implement the standards
• encourage provincial dialogue and conversation about the standards
• foster an opportunity for collaboration.

The College invited educational practitioners to showcase exemplary practices in:

• mentoring and induction
• leadership development
• ongoing professional learning
• teacher education.

A diverse group of educators attended the symposium, including teachers, principals and vice-principals, supervisory officers and directors. Representatives from teacher education programs, provincial organizations, teachers' federations and the Ministry of Education also participated.

Standards in Practice Resource Kit

The College created the Standards of Practice resource kit (Standards in Practice: Fostering Professional Inquiry) to support the integration of the standards through professional inquiry. It provides a practical inquiry-based resource for teacher education.

The kit was developed to encourage teachers to reflect upon and explore their practice in order to enhance it. It offers a variety of reflective strategies that include cases, an interactive script and ethical decision-making guide along with descriptive booklets and guides for integrating the Standards of Practice.

Developed by educators for educators, the resources in this kit offer diverse ways for educators to reflect on their practice and provide meaningful engagement with the standards.

In-service Teacher Education: Review and Development of Additional Qualification Courses and Programs

The Standards of Practice are explicitly embedded in Additional Qualification courses and program guidelines. The revision process for these course guidelines allows educators to reflect upon their practices and to have significant input into the design of these formal professional learning experiences.

The inquiry and consultation processes provide educators with the opportunity to identify teacher education issues and make recommendations based on their own ongoing professional learning.