<York Calendars<Undergraduate Calendar 2001-2002<Faculty of Education<Concurrent BEd Program

Concurrent Program Practicum

The practicum associated with each year of study normally is spent in a single school. A candidate spends one day a week throughout the academic year and a block after final University examinations in the host school. The block teaching period ranges in length from two to four weeks depending on the candidate's program and year level. This long-term association with a school's program allows the candidate to observe the development of the curriculum and pupils over the course of the school year and also to acquire an understanding of the school and its community.

In addition to the regular practica described above, the Faculty normally requires that candidates have at least one experience of school-opening during their years in the Education program. This school-opening practicum, which is normally held in the four days following Labour Day, allows one to observe and participate in the process by which a new class is organized and new relationships formed.

Over the three-year period of the program, every attempt is made to provide placements which bring candidates in contact with different boards, pupils of different age levels, different kinds of schools and different social groups of pupils.