Not in Ontario - Pity!

In a response to Ontario's glut of certified teachers, the government has decided to address the problem by doubling the length of pre-service training from one year to two. more. 

Yet Ontario's teacher training is basically a waste of time - when the Ontario College of Teachers surveyed the province's teachers about the source of their teaching skills, courses at a faculty of education ranked dead last - well below common sense and lessons from their families (see Table 4.1). Given the lack of effectiveness of Ontario pre-service teacher certification programs, it doesn't make sense to double the amount of time students have to put in. 

There's a fascinating article in the latest Education Next that talks about the possibility of improved (and less expensive) teacher pre-service training that online learning is beginning to deliver in the US. One example is USC's Rossier School of Education partnership with online learning company 2U. It's really worth reading what's going on here, what with interactive, web-based lectures with classes of 15 students, along with an in-person practicum component of 20 weeks in the students' local school districts. "Student teachers have an on-site supervisor and are also armed with video cameras, which allow them to record and upload their lessons to USC faculty, peers, and others for feedback".

Not only are the new online courses less expensive and more convenient, they also appear to be BETTER, In addition, they have the advantage of allowing candidates to allow their students to complete the program while continuing to hold down a job - meaning that "they will make becoming a teacher possible for a broader population of candidates, which lends hope that the country's education system can attract more talent and make the profession more competitive. The future is a teacher education industry that is both of higher quality and lower cost."

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