Click
Mate
The Chess Federation of Canada (CFC)
has made its popular school training manual available on the Internet. The two-year-old
training manual is designed to help teachers introduce chess into their math curriculum or
organize chess clubs as part of extracurricular activity.
Last year, teachers across Canada asked the CFC to mail them over 1,000 manuals. The
demand prompted the century-old federation to make the 300-page manual available at its
web site.
International Chess Master Tom O’Donnell – a Canadian – worked with
teachers to develop the 26 lessons contained in the manual. The manual covers both basic
and advanced chess concepts.
For more information, visit the Chess Federation of Canada’s web site at www.chess.ca or e-mail the CFC at info@chess.ca
Queen’s Offers New PhD Program
Queen’s University is now offering
a PhD program in education. Launched this fall, the Queen’s program is divided into
three main research fields: curriculum studies, cultural studies in education and
cognitive studies.
The faculty of education at Queen’s already has an undergraduate and graduate
program in place. Graduate studies co-ordinator John Kirby says the addition of a doctoral
program allows the faculty to start from "square one, so we can design for the
future, not just adapt an existing program for the present."
Kirby says the faculty received 32 applications for the program this year, but only
eight were accepted. The program also accepts students with a background in something
other than education.
Kick Start Your Phys-Ed Program
Participation in soccer among youth
continues to rise in popularity, with over 250,000 children registered in Ontario soccer
leagues. Now the Toronto Lynx Soccer Club is looking to help foster that interest even
further.
The Lynx is one of three professional soccer teams in Canada and is part of the
A-League, a North American soccer league. While soccer as a spectator sport has always
struggled in Canada and the U.S., participation has not. The Lynx is offering a unique
– and free – teaching module to interested schools in the Greater Toronto Area.
The module, which is also available in French, includes:
- the history of the World Cup and FIFA
- the Soccer Hall of Fame and Dream Teams
- soccer in North America, Canada and Toronto
Lynx players are also available for clinics to help children develop their soccer
skills, and the club has a fundraising package available to schools. For more information,
contact the Toronto Lynx Pro Soccer Club at (416) 251-GOAL.
New Internet Mailing List Aims
to Answer Questions, Educate
Ontario’s Education Quality and
Accountability Office (EQAO) is launching a listserv that will "entertain discussions
between scholars, practitioners and the general public in the areas of measurement and
management of the public education system."
A listserv is an Internet-based discussion forum that uses e-mail to communicate with
list subscribers. Subscribers, in turn, can communicate amongst themselves.
The list will post position papers that answers questions posed by parents, teachers
and others with a stake in the education system. The EQAO will ensure that the papers
– both majority and dissenting views – are written clearly and in plain English.
The papers will then be brought to the attention of education publishers "so that
they might provide balanced insight into their reporting on the education system."
To subscribe to EQAO-L, send an e-mail to Bob Clements, EQAO-L Moderator, bob.clements@sympatico.ca.
One Computer, Two Computers, Three
Computers…
More Please
With more than 71,000 computers placed
in Canadian schools and libraries since 1993, the Telephone Pioneers and Industry Canada
were jointly awarded the 1998 Gold Award for Innovative Management by the Institute of
Public Administration of Canada.
The "Computers in Schools" program that garnered the award collects old
computers and refurbishes them, distributing them at no cost to schools and public
libraries across the country. Industry Minister John Manley challenged corporate Canada
and volunteer organizations to help the program place 250,000 computers in schools and
libraries by the end of the century.
The Telephone Pioneers is a volunteer organization made up of more than 800,000 current
and retired telecommunication company employees from across North America.
For more information about "Computers in Schools," contact Bob Potvin at
(613) 993-4966.
Faculty Projects Tackle Gender
Equity
The faculties of education at
Laurentian University, the University of Western Ontario and the University of Ottawa have
completed projects to support the need for gender equity resources.
The projects and resources are described in Teaching/Learning Gender Equity: An
overview of Three Education Projects and are available at the Ontario Women’s
Directorate web site (www.gov.on.ca/owd).
Through research and conversations with teacher candidates and associate teachers, the
projects provide an analysis of gender equity issues among teacher candidates. One of the
projects promotes a pedagogy of equity, while another promotes change in teacher education
programs by raising awareness of gender bias and power relations.
Each of the resources is described as providing the necessary insights to create
learning environments and guide pedagogical practices that benefit all students.
The resources are available in both French and English from Althouse Press, e-mail: press@edu.uwo.ca
The University of Western Ontario
Taking Action: Negotiating Power Relations in the Practicum, Video and Manual.
Taking Action: Reworking Gender in School Contexts, Video and Manual
Laurentian University
Equality in Education: A Course Designed for Teacher Education, Teacher’s
Guide
Equality in Education: A Course Designed for Teacher Education, Student Manual
The University of Ottawa
Words Can Change the World: A Gender Education Manual for Pre-service Teaching
Youth Exchange Program Seeks Retired
Teachers
Katimavik, the national organization
that assists youth between the ages of 17 and 21, is looking for retired high school
teachers to help raise awareness of Katimavik’s unique learning opportunities.
Katimavik places youth in communities across Canada for eight-month stretches. They
learn to live co-operatively with others, manage their lives on a set budget and
participate in a variety of expedition-type activities. Participants also work 40 hours a
week in the communities where they’re situated.
Katimavik helps its young participants acquire a wide variety of life skills:
- an understanding of group dynamics, consensus decision-making and conflict resolution
- self-confidence, independence, initiative, communication and leadership skills
- a broader understanding of Canada and its cultural diversity.
Retired teachers who volunteer to help will be matched with recent participants from
the program to make brief presentations to schools and youth organizations in communities
across Ontario. If interested, contact Wayne Greenway at (613) 545-1539 or e-mail: wg@post.queensu.ca
A&E Launches 1999 Program
to
Recognize Teaching Excellence
A&E Television Networks is looking
for submissions for the 1999 A&E Canadian Teacher Grant, which recognizes
teachers’ creative and enriching use of A&E productions in the classroom. A&E
started the educational award program in 1993. College member Mark Bridges of Woodland
Park Public School in Cambridge won last year’s first prize.
To participate, teachers must create a unique classroom project using A&E
programming. The first prize winner will receive $2,000 in personal savings bonds. The
second, third and fourth place winners will receive $1,500, $1,000 and $500 respectively.
Each prize winner’s school will also receive a colour TV, VCR and A&E Video
Library.
Registration forms are available by calling 1-800-722-6146 or writing to A&E
Canadian Teacher Grant, P.O. Box 3690, Markham Industrial Park Station, Markham ON L3R
3L0. The deadline for submissions is April 1, 1999.
Is Your School a Community School?
As the education system becomes more
centralized, schools themselves tend to feel they’re out there on their own, says
Chris Bolton of the Association of Community Schools, a new grass roots organization
designed to help schools become the "hub of the community."
Bolton says a community school has the responsibility to develop partnerships with
community organizations to ensure students have opportunities to become "productive
and responsible citizens.
"We’re in our infancy still," he says. "There are many community
schools out there right now that we just don’t know about. An association like ours
will allow them to network and create alliances with others."
For more information about the Association of Community Schools, call (416) 393-1340,
fax (416) 393-1337 or e-mail tsaa@msn.com
PS Calendar
If you would like to list your conference or event here, please
e-mail the College library with the information at
library@oct.ca; fax (416) 961-8822; or phone
(416) 961-8800 ext. 679.
The calendar of conferences is found on the College
Library page.
