Program At A Glance
*The Bachelor of Education program runs from the first week of September through to the middle of April at the Peterborough campus. There are no alternate start dates.
The Bachelor of Education program prepares students to teach in either the Primary/Junior or Intermediate/Senior divisions. Our program consists of:
- Two teaching divisions – Primary/Junior level (K-Grade 6) and at the Intermediate/Senior level (Grades 7-12)
- Full-time and in-class program over 2 years (four terms) in length
- The program runs from the first week of September through to the middle of April, reflecting the school term calendar. You will have a summer break between Year 1 and Year 2
- Ability to focus on an area of interest through elective courses
- Approximately 115 days of teaching experience for practicum and alternate placement
Teaching Divisions
Primary/Junior
This option is designed for candidates who intend to begin their teaching careers in elementary schools. Candidates are prepared to teach all subjects in the Primary division (Junior Kindergarten to Grade 3) and the Junior division (Grades 4 to 6).
Intermediate Senior
This option prepares candidates to teach in the Intermediate division (Grades 7 to 10) and the Senior division (Grades 11 to 12). Applicants are required to choose two teaching subjects:
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Dramatic Arts
- English
- First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Studies
- French (Second Language)
- Geography
- Health and Physical Education
- History
- Mathematics
- Physics
- Visual Arts
-
Kanien'kéha (Mohawk)
-
Anishnaabemowin (Ojibwe)
Time Commitment and Delivery
The Consecutive Bachelor of Education Program is a full-time, 2-year program held at our main campus in Peterborough, Ontario. Classes normally take place between 9am and 6pm, with a small number of classes scheduled in the evening (6pm to 9pm). You will have winter break, March break, and the summer between Year 1 and 2 off. Please click on the B.Ed. Calendar link in 'Related Links' on the right hand side of this webpage.
Courses and Focus Area
While most of the courses for the Bachelor of Education program are mandatory, you will also have the option of choosing elective courses. Elective courses will allow you to develop further skills and knowledge by focusing on an area of interest such as Indigenous Education, Experiential and Adventure Education, Teaching Through Drama, and Science and Technology Education.
A list of courses including course descriptions for the Public and Catholic stream of the Primary/Junior and Intermediate/Senior teaching division can be found here .
Practicum/School Placements
School placements offer teacher candidates the opportunity to synthesize learning from their course work and apply it in ways that reflect their own talents and beliefs about teaching and learning. Classroom associate teachers work closely with faculty to help teacher candidates build comfort in expected teaching competencies as well as to develop mechanisms for reflecting on their own practices and constructing their own understandings and theories.
Students enrolled in Trent University's School of Education & Professional Learning will complete a total of 115 days of teaching experience. Practicum/School Placements will consist of:
- 90 days of classroom placement in four different classrooms
- 15 days of placement in a school or 75 hours in a non-school setting
- 10 days (equivalent) of one-on-one tutoring in the Supporting Literacy and Learners with Special Needs program.
Placements are arranged through the Practicum Coordinator and can be completed with any of our partner school boards - Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board, Trillium Lakelands District School Board, Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board, and designated schools within the Durham District and Durham Catholic School Boards.
Social Justice & Diversity Education
Are you interested in learning about social justice and diversity in education? How do you teach literacy in a way that challenges classism? How do you create a lesson plan that includes representation of LGBTTQI2S (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, queer, intersex, two-spirited) families? What types of math problems incorporate issues of mental health? How can you successfully carve out a life as a social justice educator?
The Trent School of Education is committed to incorporating social justice and diversity education throughout our program:
- learn about social justice teaching strategies;
- investigate theories of social justice and learner diversity in your courses;
- sign up for alternative placements that offer opportunities to enhance knowledge about cultural diversity (e.g. Global Education Certificate, Learning from the Land and Indigenous People, interning at the Peterborough AIDS Resource Network or the New Canadian Centre);
- join the Education Students Association and organize to address important socio-political issues;
- attend Peterborough community events committed to social justice and diversity like the Reframe Film Festival, and seminars hosted by the Kawartha World Issues Centre.
Supporting Literacy & Learners with Special Needs
Primary / Junior
The Supporting Literacy and Learners with Special Needs field experience provides teacher candidates with a unique opportunity to develop knowledge and skills regarding literacy instruction. Teacher candidates apply theory to practice as they tutor two students individually twice a week for approximately three months. The experience enables them to understand and become responsive to learner diversity.
(Download The P/J Supporting Literacy and Learners with Special Needs Video Transcript)
Teacher candidates learn how use information collected from assessment and evaluation strategies and tools to design engaging literacy instruction that is responsive to the assets, needs and interests of individual students they tutor. This process is explored in the Supporting Literacy and Learners with Special Needs course they take as they tutor. Valuable resources created specifically to support teacher candidates throughout this experience are provided to them in the course.
This program has been recognized as exemplary and is one of the distinctive features of the Trent School of Education Consecutive Bachelor of Education program.
Intermediate / Senior
The Supporting Literacy and Learners with Special Needs component of the program combines course work with a tutoring placement in order to equip Teacher Candidates to become literacy leaders in their future careers. The course that bolsters the placement includes the following components:
- Introduction to Special Needs/Exceptionalities
- Building trusting relationships with students
- Exploring community literacies
- Integrating gaming and literature into lessons
- Connecting literacy to social justice
- Literacy across the curriculum
- Tutoring and/as teaching
- Strategies to beat the OSSLT (Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test)
- Technology as a tool for tutoring and teaching
The tutoring placement affords candidates the opportunity to work one-on-one with two students. This enables an in-depth and close-up view of students who struggle with school-based literacies so that, as candidates move from tutoring to teaching, they have an awareness of, and ability to reach, high-needs students. Our candidates often tell us that the tutoring placement provided them some of the deepest learning, as well as the opportunity to truly make a difference in the lives of students.
Part-time Employment
If admitted to the full- time program, candidates are strongly advised not to undertake part-time employment opportunities. You are expected to attend all classes, school placements, and other events, all of which can be very time consuming.
Certification
If a teacher candidate is successful, this program leads to certification with the Ontario College of Teachers. Visit the Current Students page to view the Certification PDF for more information on this process.
Tuition & Fees
» Tuition fees can be found by clicking this link