BROCKVILLE, Ontario – the Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Queen’s University to help deliver rural and remote education for apprenticing teachers.
The goal of the partnership is to offer student teachers in Queen’s University’s Faculty of education an opportunity to teach in UCDSB elementary schools.
“We are thrilled to be able to offer this opportunity alongside Queen’s University Faculty of Education. As a mainly rural school district, our schools have unique demands, challenges and opportunities that you don’t find at urban schools,” says UCDSB Director of Education Stephen Sliwa. “This partnership will provide student teachers with more than just practice teaching, it will give them a taste of the opportunities that are part of teaching students in rural classrooms.”
Queen’s welcomes this project as an opportunity for their students to gain a wider range of experience.
“It’s important for us to offer our teacher candidates a broad range of classroom experience during their time at Queen’s,” says Dean of Education Rebecca LuceKapler. “The opportunity for placement in a rural school provides them with the skills and knowledge to teach in these communities.”
The two organizations hope to lay the foundations of this project starting in the fall of next year, with the possibility of creating a host site in the Gananoque area in 2025.
