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Culturally responsive teachers respond positively to students' cultural norms and traditions by creating inviting and meaningful learning opportunities that distinguish between Indigenous and western perspectives; however, in classrooms where teachers' understanding of Indigenous epistemologies and worldviews are not necessarily sufficiently represented, Indigenous students not only often feel marginalized and isolated but disengaged from Eurocentric curriculum and texts that fail to incorporate their histories and traditions. This study focuses on the expectations and perceptions of teacher candidates (prior to their field practicum experiences in classrooms) related specifically to equity education, reflective practice, and critical literacy. The mixed-methods study examines prospective teachers' perceptions of issues related to Indigenous students, and how public education policy and practice manifests in classrooms. The findings suggest that prospective teachers are doubtful of the fact that Indigenous voices are being presented competently to enhance student learning and foster Indigenous student identity. Moreover, prospective teachers anticipate a fundamental disconnect between the Ontario policy outcomes related to Indigenous education and the practice of teachers in school.

The education of Indigenous students in Ontario's publicly-funded schools remains concerning. Given the socio-historical marginalization of Indigenous student epistemologies in public education, it is necessary for teachers to address Indigenous students' learning needs while critically examining their own assumptions as teachers. Prospective teachers also need to be aware of and responsive to Indigenous students' experiences in public schools. This mixedmethods study focused on the expectations of over 200 prospective teachers prior to any practicum-related experiences in the classroom. It investigated prospective teachers' perceptions of the extent to which they believe their professional teacher education program is preparing them to address Indigenous students' learning needs. Using a critical literacy framework, the research also examined their assumptions as teachers of bicultural students.

By considering the "Ontario First Nation, Métis, and Inuit Policy Framework" (2007) from a Foucauldian perspective, this paper presents a policy discourse of knowledge, power, and identity from a multicultural education framework. Through Foucauldian theoretical perspectives, the paper creates alternate possibilities in confronting the ways to understand public educational policy--considered the purpose of multicultural education. It invites teachers, administrators, district leaders, and policy makers to consider how educational policy in one Canadian province strategically situates Aboriginal peoples in a historical context, exercises Foucauldian notions of power and care, and potentially endorses the subjectification of Aboriginal peoples through recommendations of self-identification practices.

The Faculty of Education at Brock University and an Ontario, Canada, self-regulatory body for the teaching profession partnered to create an innovative teacher induction project conceptualized to enable new and mentor teachers to self-affirm their professional capacities as autonomous and collaborative professionals. A distinguishing feature of the project is its focus on participants' metacognition throughout the inquiry process. Participants engaged in critical thinking and retrospective analysis with new and experienced colleagues. The resulting data confirmed that the induction model engaged participants in the broadening of their teacher landscapes and provided a heightened sense of self-affirmation.

This study explored how teachers and school administrators connect large-scale assessment results with school improvement planning. Using a semi-structured format, 20 teachers and 17 administrators were interviewed from two school districts in southern Ontario, Canada. The interview protocol contained a range of questions related to teaching and administrative experience, large-scale assessment knowledge, professional development, and instructional planning in response to large-scale assessment results. Analysis of the interviews followed a constant comparison method and suggested few educators, particularly at the secondary level, are using large-scale assessment results in a sophisticated fashion for data-integrated decision-making. The implications of the findings are discussed in relation to professional development, capacity building, and instructional leadership. (Contains 1 footnote.)

There is a crisis relevant to the publicly funded education of Aboriginal students in Ontario. This article, which presents the details of the crisis, analyzes recent policy statements released by the Ontario Ministry of Education designed to address that crisis. By defining the nature of this critical juncture, presenting how these policies may be "widening the void" rather than "closing the gap," and offering opportunities to respond by improving the capabilities of teachers to enact those policies in their classrooms, the authors appeal to school boards, faculty associations, as well as Deans of Education, to act decisively to support Aboriginal self-determination. (Contains 1 table and 1 footnote.)

This paper describes results from a study that arose to explore, alongside Aboriginal teacher candidates, emerging physical education (PE) practical theory utilizing reflective journaling practices. Practical theory can be described as an individual's personal and dynamic set of values, knowledge, and experience that guides, in part, teaching choices and behaviours. In the thematic analysis of teacher candidates' reflective journals, care was taken to honour and confirm the voices of nine Aboriginal teacher candidates. Four key themes were identified: marginality (foreign activities and stereotypical expectations), cultural preservation through PE, Elder involvement in PE, and looking to the future. The results may serve to inform those with an interest in reflective practices in physical education teacher education (PETE) and/or Aboriginal teacher education.

This study examined factors at the school, district, and provincial level that influenced school administrators' responses to large-scale assessment. To understand administrators' perspectives, 5 secondary and 4 elementary administrators from a suburban school district in southern Ontario, Canada were interviewed. Key factors noted by administrators included school improvement planning (elementary versus secondary), departmental structures and teacher resistance within schools, lack of professional development opportunities, inadequate resources and direction from districts, ministry initiative overload, lack of an easily identifiable provincial assessment and evaluation policy document, and pressure to reach provincial achievement targets. The findings underscore the need for greater initial and ongoing professional development for school administrators as well as more thoughtful support from district leaders and provincial policy-makers.

The Ontario Ministry of Education has made a recent commitment to address the achievement gap between Aboriginal and non-aboriginal students with the release of various policy documents. Yet, there appears to be a disconnect between the policy principles and the standardized means of reconciling these differences in achievement, teacher education, and parental involvement. The dualities between the expressed intent presented in the policy documents and the reality of Aboriginal epistemologies imply overtones that are symptomatic of the colonial treatment of Aboriginal peoples in this province and country. There is, then, a need to rethink critical aspects of the policy, for the profound implications it has on educational policy and student achievement in this province and beyond. (Contains 1 footnote.)

In North American teacher education programs, preservice students typically complete a substantial proportion of time practice teaching in schools, experiencing the extent to which professional school communities of inquiry contribute toward improving teaching and learning. Although there is extensive research about the experiences of new teachers, there is far less attention on preservice teachers' perceptions of schools as professional communities of inquiry. The purpose of this mixed-methods research was to compare teacher-candidates' expectations prior to the practice-teaching placements with their observations following the practice-teaching experience. More specifically, the objective of this paper was to determine the effect of the student-teacher practicum experience on prospective teachers' beliefs about schools as communities of inquiry to improve teaching and learning. Of major significance, participants' perceptions following their preservice training were significantly lower than their expectations prior to the field placements. (Contains 3 tables.)

The induction of beginning teachers has assumed a burgeoning priority given existing North American preoccupations with teacher retention, state educational standards, and large-scale assessment. In Canada, and especially Ontario, school boards are following the lead of many American institutions in establishing key partnerships with university faculties of education and provincial governing bodies to best prepare and induct beginning teachers into the profession. The objective of this qualitative research study was to examine the perceptions of 173 beginning teachers in Ontario participating in purposely selected exemplary induction programs. Four core categories emerged that showed conceptual differences in how teacher cohorts over a 2-year period understood their induction; namely, induction as exceeding beginning teachers' expectations, their appreciation of meaningful support, their recognition of teacher leadership, and the disconnect between in-services and practice. This study draws attention to the professional enculturation of beginning teachers, but more notably, compels a practical reconsideration of how induction is defined in light of beginning teacher growth and sustainability. (Contains 2 figures.)

The learning ministries in Ontario have made a concerted effort to underscore Aboriginal learners' needs and preferences in publicly-funded and assisted schools and training services throughout the province. Through a trilogy of policy documents, the Ontario Ministry of Education (OME) and the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU) have addressed expanded definitions of learning and sought to unfold the socio-cultural and epistemic values related to Aboriginal student and community worldviews. The policies in many respects represent a poised effort on the part of the learning ministries to improve educators' awareness of culturally-responsive pedagogy, as well as to bring Aboriginal peoples' socio-historical traditions to the fore. While the policy initiatives by Ontario's learning ministries undoubtedly represent a collective attention to Aboriginal learners, the author's line of inquiry is revealing some noteworthy initial findings that are deserving of further analysis. The policy documents reflect a dominant discourse of an assumed normative educative stance; more precisely, the jargon of data-driven outcomes and evaluative statements throughout all three policies seem to implicate upon normative educative paradigms that, in turn, creates a conceptual tension with the self-declared intentions of the policies themselves.

The stress and anxiety of new teachers is a pervasive problem that impacts upon teacher preparation and retention. Although new mainstream teacher concerns and experiences have been readily discussed in the literature, the same attention has not been invested for new Aboriginal teachers. In Ontario, Canada, in excess of 60% of the Aboriginal population live off-reserve and reside in urban communities. Well over 50,000 Aboriginal students attend publicly funded kindergarten to Grade 12 schools that are governed by the Ontario Ministry of Education. There is a growing socio-political awareness that Aboriginal epistemologies are distinct from colonial paradigms, and that Aboriginal knowledge has been dismally underrepresented in Ontario schools. The intent of the Ministry of Education's creation of the Ontario Aboriginal Education Office (2007) is to remedy the chronic shortage of Aboriginal teachers and in the process offer professional support to new teachers as an incentive to keep them in the profession. It has been suggested that teaching Aboriginal languages and socio-historical values to Aboriginal students is integral to their self-identity as Aboriginal peoples. The purpose of this research was to examine new Aboriginal teachers' thoughts and experiences during their induction into the profession and to articulate a descriptive theory of these perceptions. This grounded theory study employed a volunteer and purposive sampling that included six new Aboriginal teacher participants. Analysis of the data resulted in a grounded theory of participants' experiences that were rooted in the cultural attributions of Medicine Wheel Teachings. The three categories grounded in the data include "sense of vulnerability", "commitment to students", and "identity formation". These represent the first stage of participants' reflections as novice teachers. In the subsequent stage, identified as "Introspective analysis," participants' innate beliefs and traditional values were embedded in healing and spirituality. The paper discusses how the grounded theory saturated the categories and properties of the two developmental stages and represented a means of new Aboriginal teachers' sense of experience in a culturally responsive context. (Contains 1 note.)

This paper provides an historical and contemporary interpretation of the developmental influences that have led to the Ontario Ministry of Education's recent focus on Aboriginal educational policy in Ontario, Canada. It offers an interpretive and critical perspective on the rhetorical constructions, assumptions, and value-orientations implicit in two seminal documents. This discussion will assist Aboriginal Advisory Groups and communities, as well as policy-makers and practitioners, to think clearly about implementation strategies in the broader context of Aboriginal socio-educational development. (Contains 1 note.)

This qualitative research study examined 190 concurrent education students' case-based reflections from 2005 to 2008. A grounded theory analysis was applied to 3,800 reflection logs. The article describes the use of constant comparison and theoretical saturation that identified two core categories emerging from participants' meta-cognitive analysis to describe how students internalized and interpreted the Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession (Ontario College of Teachers, 2006). The core categories were identified as the spectrum of participants' emotional reactions and the capacity to examine circumstances in the context of professional standards. The article discusses the implications, from a teacher-educator perspective, of participants' unchallenged acceptance of the facticity and legitimacy of the Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession as codified and institutional constructs. (Contains 2 footnotes.)

Successfully inducting new teachers creates professional alliances to sustain learning organizational cultures. This research involved 30 beginning teachers from a large school board in southern Ontario. The theoretical frame of the study consists of a mixed qualitative data analysis methodology of grounded theory and discourse analysis. The findings elaborate on the value of induction programs that are modeled on individual differentiation according to teachers' unique capacities. The new teachers who benefited most from their induction were those who were part of school cultures that integrated their professional development in meaningful endeavors. New teachers readily shared their self-declared accomplishments in induction experiences wherein they resolved their dilemmas through critical reflection and professional collaboration.

The study reviews the research from 1969 to 2005 describing pre-service candidates' transition from student teacher to professional educator during their socialisation into school culture. Despite the educational reforms in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia over the last three decades, this review argues that new teachers experience many of the same initial concerns that have been documented about beginning teachers for over 35 years. The paper also examines the core themes that emerged in each of the respective periods identified in the review, including: teachers' perceptions of self (1969 to mid 1980s); professional sustainability (mid 1980s to late 1990s); and emerging identity during the process of their socialisation into school culture (2000 to 2005). Based on this examination, the paper suggests that the tension between new teacher identity formation and socialisation into school culture can be reconciled by a post-industrial perspective of how individuals formulate concepts of self.

Preservice teacher-candidates enrolled in teacher education programs across Canada are exposed to the nuances of school organization during their practice-teaching assignments. Although the literature is full of scholarship about the concerns of new teachers, less attention has been given to school organizational factors as sources of dissonance for new teachers and preservice teacher education candidates. This study employed quantitative and qualitative methods to determine the effect of the practicum experience on prospective teachers' beliefs about school organization in Ontario. The fundamental finding of the study was that participants' experiences during their teaching-practicum assignments had a significantly negative effect upon their beliefs about school organization. (Contains 3 tables.)

This paper reports on a Talking Circle of six beginning Aboriginal teachers who discussed their roles as teachers. Participants criticized teacher education programs for not preparing them to teach in ways that are respectful of Aboriginal languages and culture. They discussed the importance of coming to know themselves and their culture. The paper concludes with suggestions for decolonizing teacher preparation so that Aboriginal teachers are enabled as protectors of Aboriginal culture and brokers with Euro-Canadian culture.

Teacher education has evolved into a cooperative responsibility shared by universities and schools. Given the recent emphasis on educational reform, the impetus has been to dismantle conventional and insular approaches to teacher preparation and so establish school-university partnerships. This article explores the relationship development, maintenance, and relational intricacies of a Canadian school-university partnership--specifically, how the Faculty of Education at Brock University has built a conceptual bridge between the university, the partner districts, and the individual schools. The article also examines the concepts of leadership in teacher education, learning groups, ethics of care within community, and the nature of individual contributions to the learning group. Collectively, the partnership and the resulting preparation program within this collaborative venture provide an alternative model with important considerations for other universities and school systems that are interested in fostering effective partnerships. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

Renewed calls for greater accountability within schools have led to a rapid expansion of standards-based reforms across the Western world. Establishing and raising standards, and measuring the attainment of those standards, are intended to encourage excellence in our schools. Yet concern is increasing about the fairness of external testing and the undue pressure it places on students and teachers. This paper discusses the impact of recent standards-based reforms and proposes a framework to connect educational leadership with timely assessment reforms at the provincial/state governance, university, district, and school level. The proposed multi-level reforms are grounded in the belief that coherent, well integrated assessment policies are essential for promoting improved teaching practice and student learning.

The article discusses a research on Aboriginal Education Policy in Ontario and Aboriginal students' needs and learning styles in publicly-funded schools. Topics include the Ontario Ministry of Education's (OME) attention to Aboriginal education policy, and how the Aboriginal education policy has helped to create capacity for teachers, principals, and school boards to address Aboriginal students' needs.

This study explored how teachers and school administrators connect large-scale assessment results with school improvement planning. Using a semi-structured format, 20 teachers and 17 administrators were interviewed from two school districts in southern Ontario, Canada. The interview protocol contained a range of questions related to teaching and administrative experience, large-scale assessment knowledge, professional development, and instructional planning in response to large-scale assessment results. Analysis of the interviews followed a constant comparison method and suggested few educators, particularly at the secondary level, are using large-scale assessment results in a sophisticated fashion for data-integrated decision-making. The implications of the findings are discussed in relation to professional development, capacity building, and instructional leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This grounded theory research study distinguished two central categories that emerged in an analysis of new Aboriginal teachers' perceptions. Six participants from across Ontario, along with an Elder, a university-based Aboriginal center for education and research, graduate students, and university faculty engaged in a Wildfire Research Method to better appreciate new Aboriginal teachers' experiences during their induction into the profession. The categories included, "participants' emotional biographies" and "moral discernment." The findings attest to new Aboriginal teachers' unique sense of awareness of the bicultural dichotomy they represent and their collective determination to reclaim their sociocultural and epistemic places. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study reviews the research from 1969 to 2005 describing pre-service candidates' transition from student teacher to professional educator during their socialisation into school culture. Despite the educational reforms in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia over the last three decades, this review argues that new teachers experience many of the same initial concerns that have been documented about beginning teachers for over 35 years. The paper also examines the core themes that emerged in each of the respective periods identified in the review, including: teachers' perceptions of self (1969 to mid 1980s); professional sustainability (mid 1980s to late 1990s); and emerging identity during the process of their socialisation into school culture (2000 to 2005). Based on this examination, the paper suggests that the tension between new teacher identity formation and socialisation into school culture can be reconciled by a post-industrial perspective of how individuals formulate concepts of self. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined factors at the school, district, and provincial level that influenced school administrators' responses to large-scale assessment. To understand administrators' perspectives, 5 secondary and 4 elementary administrators from a suburban school district in southern Ontario, Canada were interviewed. Key factors noted by administrators included school improvement planning (elementary versus secondary), departmental structures and teacher resistance within schools, lack of professional development opportunities, inadequate resources and direction from districts, ministry initiative overload, lack of an easily identifiable provincial assessment and evaluation policy document, and pressure to reach provincial achievement targets. The findings underscore the need for greater initial and ongoing professional development for school administrators as well as more thoughtful support from district leaders and provincial policy-makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]