Diane Boyko (Greater Saskatoon Catholic School Division), STC Chief Felix Thomas and U of S Education Dean Michelle Prytula sign MOU at St. Frances Bilingual School. Photo courtesy of Saskatoon Tribal Council Facebook page.
The Saskatoon Tribal Council has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Greater Saskatoon Catholic School Board and the University of Saskatchewan for the creation of a new Professional Development School for Indigenous educators.
The MOU was signed by Saskatoon Tribal Council Tribal Chief Felix Thomas, Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools’ Board of Education Chair Diane Boyko and the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Education Dean Michelle Prytula.
The Professional Development School will provide a learning environment where students from the College of Education’s Indian Teachers Education Program (ITEP) can collaborate with teachers from the St. Frances Cree Bilingual School, ITEP professors and instructors to enhance the quality of teaching and student learning.
It will offer more immersive teacher training than a standard internship and will prepare future teachers with practical skills to teach all students, in particular, First Nations and Métis students.
Chief Thomas says the program will give new and experienced teachers a deeper understanding of how to navigate complexities and tailor the learning environment for student needs, and for setting teachers up for success they are ensuring greater success rates among Indigenous students.
Thomas says it isn’t like a traditional internship where the student would learn for three months and then go back to university.
“The PDS students will get constant feedback and real classroom experience so that when they go for their first job, they will have a lot more experience when it comes to classroom management that others won’t have in their first year of working,” he said.
Thomas says the agreement will be beneficial to everyone.
The PDS has been in development for the past year, and the signing of the MOU paves the way for more collaboration and routine participation of College of Education students at St. Frances.
The school will welcome the next cohort of ITEP students in the fall of 2017.