All Posts Tagged With: "teachers college"
Teacher’s job fair cancelled
Recruiters didn’t show
Here’s more evidence that newly-minted teachers face a rough job market. The University of Prince Edward Island cancelled their education job fair this year due to lack of interest from recruiters, reports CBC News. But there is hope, they note, if students willing to travel to Nunavut. (Yes, seriously!) Last week we noted that the University of Manitoba’s teaching job fair attracted no local school boards, but the Royal Canadian Mounted Police showed up, suggesting that while teachers aren’t in high demand in schools right now, their skills continue to be valued by other employers.
Guess who’s recruiting education grads
Hint: It’s not schools, and they pay $80k after three years.
RCMP by Daniel Paquet
Education graduates face a dismal job market. Two-thirds of recent grads in Ontario aren’t working full-time. The University of British Columbia’s teacher’s college recently admitted that many graduates won’t find jobs in teaching.
Things are bad in Manitoba too. The local school boards didn’t even show up at Monday’s University of Manitoba education job fair.
But that same job fair should give education graduates a reason to be hopeful, because it showed how certain other employers value their experiences.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, for example, showed up at Manitoba’s education job fair for the first time Monday. The force is recruiting education graduates for the police academy in Regina.
Teacher’s college applications plummet
Nine per cent drop in Ontario
Photo by cdsessums on Flickr
The Ontario College of Teachers sounded the alarm bells in 2011 about the gap between the number of graduating teachers and the shrinking number of jobs available. Their survey of new graduates showed 24 per cent were unemployed and only one-third were employed full-time.
John Milloy, the minister in charge, reacted by taking the unprecedented step of capping the number of first-year education students at 9,058.
This week, new statistics show that students got the message. The Ontario University Application Centre reports that provincial teacher’s colleges received 8.9 per cent fewer applicants in 2012.
Some schools saw huge declines. Nipissing University in North Bay, Ont. got 15.8 per cent fewer applications. Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ont. got 21.5 per cent fewer applications.
In fact, the total number of applicants—9,311—is only slightly higher than the new cap. But it’s 72 per cent lower than the number of applicants five years ago—in 2007 when there were 16,042.
It’s not just Ontario where jobs are hard to find. The substitute list in Halfiax’s biggest school board had grown to 1,665 teachers in 2011, according to The Chronicle Herald. Last year just 119 teachers retired from the board. Meanwhile, Nova Scotia added 1,000 new teachers.
On the other side of the country, it’s a similar story. The number of applicants to education at the University of British Columbia fell from 688 in 2007 to 543 in 2011—a 21 per cent drop.
And UBC’s teacher’s college has been upfront with their students about the prospects of getting jobs directly out of school. “In 2010, roughly 2,700 new teachers were certified in British Columbia but only about 1,500 new positions were available,” the school admitted in a recent article online.
Still, UBC suggests there are reasons for grads to be hopeful. Certain specialty areas, like music, French, home economics, physics, math, and vocations like technology and cooking are in demand.
There are also plenty of jobs for adventurous graduates in places like Asia and the Middle East.
But most tellingly, UBC will introduce a mandatory non-traditional teaching practicum in 2012, to make their sure students explore other careers that education degrees might lead to.
The 10 biggest stories in Canadian higher education
The (surprisingly) most-read stories of 2011
Photo by Kelly Finnamore on Flickr
Each year, we offer Maclean’s On Campus readers a look back at the Top 10 most-read higher education news stories of the year. There were two big themes in 2011. First, the many scandals over universities’ reputations, from Alberta to Queen’s to St. FX. Second, uncertainty about the job market for grads.
1. Time for this year’s edition of X-ring Idol
Our blogging English professor, Todd Pettigrew, dared to compare the obsession of St. Francis Xavier students with their beloved X-ring to Gollum’s unhealthy quest for the precious. We knew St. FX students would defend their tradition vociferously—and they did, with more than 250 comments over three days. Most were from alumni and students who thought Pettigrew missed the point. They argued that the ring symbolizes their hard work and the family-like bond they instantly glean whenever a fellow X-grad catches a glimpse of their band. Then again, dozens of readers agreed with Pettigrew—some even suggested the flood of emotional reactions reinforced his point.
Continue reading The 10 biggest stories in Canadian higher education
It’s a rough time to be a Bachelor of Fine Arts
Few jobs. Shut programs. How art schools are adapting.
Artist photo by chadmagiera on Flickr
Christina McKenzie is pretty typical of Bachelor of Fine Arts graduates these days. She doesn’t regret taking a BFA at York University (2005). She’s grateful for the four years she spent exploring photography, bronze-casting, painting, drawing, book-making, sculpture and art history.
But there’s another part of her that wishes she’d taken something more focused, like photography or design, perhaps. Had she done that, who knows where she’d be?
McKenzie had planned to become an art teacher after her BFA. She was even accepted to a teacher’s college, but deferred it. She’s very glad she did. At least a quarter of her art school colleagues went on to teacher’s college. Many can’t find jobs. In fact, two-thirds of new teaching graduates in Ontario can’t find work as teachers.
Continue reading It’s a rough time to be a Bachelor of Fine Arts
Prof says teachers need better math
Petition asks gov. for higher standards
Photo courtesy of woodleywonderworks on Flickr
“We’ve kind of been watching a train wreck,” University of Winnipeg math Prof. Anna Stokke told the Winnipeg Free Press last week. She’s talking about the fact that many education students aren’t getting the math they need in university and are therefore less likely to be able to teach elementary school students the subject, perpetuating bad math skills at a time when more jobs require them.
Most people aren’t aware that a student can get into a faculty of education with only Grade 12 consumer math, Stokke said. “I wouldn’t even call it a math course — it’s a life-skills course.”
That’s why she is circulating a petition demanding higher standards for education students. So far, 224 people, including professors, parents, students and teachers have signed the petition.
“Currently, many students enter education faculties in the universities in Manitoba with the least demanding of the Grade 12 mathematics courses,” reads the petition. “University math professors have found that students with this minimum requirement often have alarmingly weak mathematics skills and high levels of math anxiety…. It has also been documented that math anxiety in a classroom teacher may transfer to his or her students.”
Ontario Liberals would double teacher’s college
More classroom experience needed, they say
Ontario’s governing Liberals say that if they’re re-elected on Oct. 6, they would double the length of teacher’s college programs from one to two years.
“The new two-year program would mean that student teachers would spend more time in the classroom,” the Liberals wrote a press release. “Ontario’s one-year teacher education program is one of the shortest in Canada. Other places in the world where students rank high in standardized tests — such as Japan, Singapore and Finland — have multi-year programs.” They point out that Ontario teachers graduate with only 40 days experience.
Ontario capped enrollment in teacher’s colleges in May in response to high unemployment among new teachers.
This teacher is a screamer
Looking for a career where you can rock out in the summer?
Photo courtesy of Rix Anthony
Some students in Hamilton may surprised to learn what their high school art teacher, Mr. Matt D’Alvise, does when school’s out for summer.
“He’s a screamer,” explains grade ten student David. As in, he’s the lead vocalist of Mojave Bloom. The group, which defines itself as a “metalcore/hard rock” band, has been performing for the past six months now, with eight shows under its belt, and six more this summer.
D’Alvise proves that you can be a teacher and still be cool. He also shows how teaching is a great job for rockers, because they can tour in the summer. Interestingly, he’s not the only teacher who does this. Lethbridge University prof Paul Lawton is also a hardcore musician, and the music of Carol Ann Weaver, Associate Professor of Music at the University of Waterloo, has been heard throughout North America, Europe, Africa, and Korea.
“When I first show my music to my students, they are quite shocked,” admits D’Alvise, the group’s vocalist. It’s not often you get to hear a recording of your teacher’s band, let alone one where the teacher is screaming like I do.”
D’Alvise started off as a drummer when, at 12, his parents bought him his first drum kit. “I had to play on a rubber practice pad for almost a year to prove to them I was willing to stick with it,” explains D’Alvise. “After that first year they gave me my first kit and I have never looked back.”
D’Alvise played with a few different bands in high school. Then, after graduatio, he got into underground hip hop — heavily. This led to forming a hip hop group called “The Illiterate Crew,” which released the album Audioperosis in 2006. When the band broke up, D’Alvise started playing guitar for the Robert Desmond Band, which led to a 64 day tour of the Philippines.
“It turned out to be an amazing experience. We played 20 shows, including live performances on popular television and radio stations.”
A few years later in 2008, D’Alvise left the band and went to London, England for teachers college, but he didn’t stray too far from music. “While I was in England I began slowly getting back into heavy metal, which was a huge culture of it’s own across the pond.”
So how does a public school teacher combine his love for music with a teaching career?
“I find that teaching is a great way for me to stay connected with my artistic side,” says D’Alvise, who describes his band’s sound as “raw.” But it’s obvious that music is more than just a summer gig for this teacher. For D’Alvise, music truly is his passion. When asked about the band’s first performance, at a club in the Hamilton area, D’Alvise says, ”To be completely honest, we stole the show!”
Mojave Bloom performs in Burlington on July 22, in Hamilton on July 28 and in Toronto on July 29.
School board to teachers: Why don’t you consider Asia?
Things are getting even worse for new teaching graduates
Yesterday, we wrote about the desperate situation for newly-minted teachers across Canada. Just to offer one grim figure, there’s 67 per cent underemployment rate in Ontario in the first-year after school. Things are so bad in that province that the government has capped new enrollments in teacher’s colleges.
Today, CBC News reported that job prospects are about to get even worse in Alberta. If the Calgary Board of Education’s budget passes, there will be 172 fewer teachings jobs in the city.
What’s even worse for graduates is that if Calgary decides to hire again in the future, it has committed itself to giving priority to laid-off staff. That will only make it more difficult for new teachers to get hired.
But those graduates may wish to take the advice the board gave to it’s own teachers. They’re encouraging current staff to take leaves of absence, during which they can easily find jobs in China or South Korea.
The Calgary Board of Education’s Karen Demassi, a human resources official, told CBC that the advantage for teachers who pick the Asia option is that time spent overseas will count towards their seniority, should they ever be rehired in Calgary.
Two-thirds of new teachers can’t find full-time work
Province reacts with “hard cap” on new enrollments
Photo courtesy of woodleywonderworks on Flickr
Few other graduates in Canada have as much reason for pessimism as those who finished teacher’s college this spring. A study from the Ontario College of Teachers shows that two-thirds (67 per cent) of education graduates from Ontario’s class of 2009 found themselves unemployed or underemployed in the following year. And, the unemployment rate among new teachers has exploded to a staggering 24 per cent — up from just three per cent in 2006.
The job market is bad in western Canada too. In British Columbia, 2,700 new students were certified by the College of Teachers last year. The BC Public School Employers’ Association says that only 1,000 are needed, according to the Victoria Times Colonist. Even in fast-growing Alberta, many school boards are laying off.
The situation has caused Ontario to take an unusual step. In May, it placed a “hard cap” on funding for newly enrolled education students. Caps are usually reserved for medical professions only, but John Milloy, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities for Ontario, explained that the supply and demand is so out of whack that teacher’s college enrollments needed to be culled.
“We recognize that not every graduate of education programs wants to be a teacher in Ontario,” says the Minister. “But at the same time, we want to make sure that when people leave [teacher's college] they have a realistic chance of getting a job.”
The problem for grads is that Canada has fewer school-aged children, fewer retiring teachers and yet teacher’s colleges have chosen to pump out more grads over the past decade. The new cap in Ontario will force first-year classes to shrink by 885 students overall by 2012-13. That means a maximum of 9,058 new students will start next fall.
But is that enough? The new cap is still far above the 8,077 teachers from Ontario schools who registered with the provincial college in 1999 — a period when an average of 7,200 Ontario teacher’s retired each year, creating many spots for new grads. In the period between 2005 to 2009, average annual retirements fell to just 4,600, meaning thousands fewer jobs per year.
And now? “Teacher retirements are forecast to remain under 5,000 annually over the next seven years,” concluded the College of Teachers’ report. That means the bleak job market for new teachers is unlikely to improve any time soon.
Enrollment in Ontario teacher’s colleges dropping
Which schools suffered the biggest drops?
The number of students who accepted offers from Ontario teacher’s colleges is down six per cent this year, falling to from 7,753 to 7,286, according to the Ontario University Application Service. That could mean lower budgets for most schools across the province, although some of them will be smarting more than others. Here’s a list of the schools, from the biggest drop to the biggest gain.
- York – down 27 per cent
- UOIT – down 23 per cent
- U of T – down 12 per cent
- Ottawa – down seven per cent
- Lakehead – down seven per cent
- Wilfrid Laurier – down five per cent
- Brock – down four per cent
- Windsor – down three per cent
- Nipissing – up two per cent
- Laurentian – up three per cent
- Trent – up six per cent
- Western – up six per cent
- Queen’s – up 11 per cent
Teacher college applications down nearly 20%
Lowest total since 2002
Teachers’ colleges in Ontario attracted the fewest applicants since 2002, according to statistics available at the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre (OUAC).
Hopeful students had submitted 46,190 applications to teacher-education programs at Ontario universities by July 9. That represents a nearly 20-per-cent drop over last year’s total of 58,219 and the lowest total since 41,812 applications were filed in 2002.
The number of applicants is also down at about the same rate. (Each applicant may submit more than one application). The total of 13,338 applicants is the lowest since 2001′s total of 11,769. According to a story that appeared in the Toronto Star, there are about 7,500 spaces in Ontario’s teachers colleges.
By July, the University of Ottawa had received the most applications (6,202), followed by the University of Toronto (5,627) and York University (4,837).
