Initial teacher education in Ontario: The four-semester teacher education programs after five years

Abstract

In Petrarca and Kitchen (2017), Initial Teacher Education in Ontario: The First Year of Four-Semester Teacher Education Programs, we offered descriptions and accounts of teacher education programs that were redesigned in response to the Ontario government’s decision to ‘enhance’ teacher education by extending it from two semesters (one year) to four semesters (over 16 months or two years). Chapters written by teacher educators involved in the delivery and, often, the administration of university-based teacher education programs were rich in detail on the organization and vision of their programs, the challenges of designing programs in a short time, and the ways in which the ‘enhanced’ programs used the added class time to improve teacher preparation. This second volume, by picking up the story four years later, captures ongoing program refinements and pays particular attention to the role of field experiences in enhancing teacher preparation.