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FIELD-BASED COURSEWORK FOR EDUCATORS
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Education 386-3 and Education 407-5
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Maple Ridge, 1994-1995
This project is a collaborative venture of the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser
University and the Maple Ridge School District Its purpose is to engage educators in credit
coursework that focusses on the principles of British Columbia's current educational programs and
emerging educational practices. The coursework will be offered through Simon Fraser University,
spanning the period from September 1994 through April
1995.
All
activities will be held in the
Maple Ridge School District
Fall 1994 ?
Special topics course: ?
3 credits
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Educ. 386
Managing Educational Change
Spring 1995 ?
Theory and Practice of Implementation
5
credits
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Educ. 407
PLEASE NOTE: The fall and spring portions are closely connected, and participants are
expected to register for both semesters.
The purposes of the coursework are to:
• Carefully study and become thoroughly familiar with current program and policy
documents provided by the Ministry of Education;
• Critically examine the theoretical and research foundations, educational beliefs, values and
intentions reflected in current program and curriculum documents;
• Study additional literature which examines the major theoretical underpinnings of current
program and policy directions;
• Identify emerging trends in school organization and instructional practices and evaluate
them in relation to current program and policy directions;
• Clarify personal beliefs about the teacher's role in relation to learner-focussed approaches;
• Identify and discuss personal goals or questions related to educational change;
• Select a focus, set a goal and develop a plan for a classroom- or school-based action
inquiry project;
• Implement, monitor and evaluate the project and document learning.
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Project components
1. Workshops
The workshop component of the course will provide participants with a theoretical framework for
classroom-based action inquiry, and a process for designing, implementing and evaluating their
own self-directed learning projects. Activities will include examination of:
• the Program frameworks, current policy documents, and other materials which support
them;
• a developmental approach to teaching and learning based on current theory and research;
• principles and criteria for educational decision-making based on a learner-focussed
educational philosophy;
• strategies for creating learner-focussed environments;
• strategies for selecting, organizing and implementing appropriate instructional approaches;
• strategies for assessing and evaluating pupils, teachers and educational programs;
• strategies for designing, implementing and evaluating a classroom-based action inquiry
project.
2. Seminars
The seminar component will provide a forum in which participants can support and learn
from one another as they compare their experiences in managing educational change through their
self-directed learning projects. Seminars will provide opportunities for participants to reflect on
their personal knowledge of children, teaching and learning, and how these change through the
processes of action inquiry and reflective analysis.
3.
Classroom Action Inquiry Projects
The classroom component of this course will involve the design and implementation of a
project in which participants investigate the use of specific practices that are congruent with current
educational policies and programs. A format for project design will be provided.
Participants will be asked to document and evaluate changes in their understanding and
teaching practices throughout the semester. Evaluation for university credit will be based primarily
on a portfolio submitted at the end of the coursework which represents the participant's work and
evaluates their learning.
4.
Peer Support
Participants will be asked to identify a small support group to provide one another with
peer consultation and coaching throughout their action inquiry projects. Time for support group
discussion will be provided during seminars. Suggestions for forming a support group will be
provided by the instructor. Participants are encouraged to attend the course in small school-based
or interest-based groups to facilitate peer support.
University grading procedures
This aspect of the coursework will be discussed at the first session.
Proposed dates and times
Monday afternoons, 4:30 - 7:30 weekly, beginning September 19.
Location T.B.A.