Calgary & Area Field Experience Placements
Teaching practicums for our On-Campus Pre-Service Teachers
About Calgary & Area Field Experiences
Overview
Field Experience is the mandatory practicum component of the Werklund School of Education’s B.Ed program. It is during the time in the field that Pre-service Teachers will be given the opportunity to apply the learning from their EDUC theory courses as they experience the complexity of life in schools generally, and in their assigned placements more specifically. Each Field Experience will allow the Pre-service Teachers to deepen their understandings of what it means to be a teacher while incrementally increasing their responsibility in the field.
The student teaching practicum is unpaid and voluntary on the part both of the pre-service student teacher and in-service partner teacher. The focus is on mentorship, not training, as teaching is a complex set of competencies, not a single skill. There are four Field Experiences in which Pre-service Teachers will take part during the course of the Bachelor of Education Degree, one in each semester.
Police Information Check Requirement
A current, clear Police Information Check (PIC), including a Vulnerable Sector search, is required of all students participating in field experience. This PIC should be dated after MAY 1 of each school year and must be re-aquired each year of a student’s enrollment in Field Experience. Students without a current and clear PIC will not be allowed to participate in field experience.
Placement Information Form
A placement information form is required of all students participating in Field Experience. This form collects your personal information and placement preferences to assist us with our placement process. This information helps us and our educational partners choose the most appropriate placement and partner teacher for you. You must be enrolled to access the Placement Information Form.
Other important considerations for all Field Experiences:
- Full-time, Monday-Friday participation is required.
- Field Experience will take place in schools and in person for all students. Field Experience I, II, III, IV students do not follow university breaks, including term breaks. They should refer to their placement school calendar.
- Each Field Experience will include Field Experience Seminars, which are considered an integral part of the field experience and attendance is mandatory. Details of the Field Experience seminar will be provided by your assigned Field Instructor. Field Experience seminars will be scheduled within course dates.
- The first field seminar will give the Field Instructor an opportunity to discuss the Field Experience and go over expectations and responsibilities as well as provide Pre-service Teachers with an opportunity for clarification. Field Seminars also occur at the conclusion of the Field Experience and will provide an opportunity for Pre-service Teachers to discuss their experiences and address topics needing supplementation. The final Field Experience in Field Experience IV will be dedicated to topics of import to a first-year teacher.
- Pre-arranging placements with specific schools and/or teachers is not permitted. Under no circumstances shall student teachers contact a field site regarding their placements until they have been confirmed and posted by the faculty.
Prepare for Field Experience
- Register for Field Experience: Review the Registration Guide
- Submit your Placement Information Form: Additional information will be emailed to you.
- Present your Police Information Check to UPE Field Experience: Additional information will be emailed to you.
- Review the Pre-Service Teacher Field Experience Handbook
Field Experiences: At a glance
| Course & Title | EDUC 440 Field Experience I Life in Schools | EDUC 465 Field Experience II Individual Learning in Classrooms | EDUC 540 Field Experience III Principals of Social and Cultural Engagement | EDUC 560 Field Experience IV Extending Teaching Curriculum Expertise |
| Placement details shared | Late September | Late February | Early October | Late January |
| Duration and Dates | 2 Weeks Fall 2024: Monday, October 7, 2024 - Friday, October 18, 2024 Full time, Monday to Friday participation required | 4 Weeks Winter 2025: Monday, March 17, 2025 - Friday, April 25, 2025 Full time, Monday to Friday participation required | 6 Weeks Fall 2024: Monday, October 28, 2024 - December 13, 2024 Full time, Monday to Friday participation required | 8 Weeks Winter 2025: Thursday, February 13, 2025 - Friday, April 25, 2025 Full time, Monday to Friday participation required |
| Seminars | 2 mandatory seminars. At placement school, within course dates noted above. | 2 mandatory seminars. On campus, within course dates noted above. | 2 mandatory seminars. On campus, within course dates noted above. | 3 mandatory seminars. On campus, within course dates noted above |
| Education Term | First Education Term Fall | Second Education Term Winter | Third Education Term Fall | Final Education Term Winter |
| Placement Notes | Placed as a cohort | One to two Pre-service Teacher(s) are paired with a Partner Teacher | One Pre-service Teacher is paired with a Partner Teacher. | One Pre-service Teacher is paired with a Partner Teacher. |
| Placement Considerations | Your EDUC 430 section will prioritize your Field Experience I placement in a specific area or quadrant in Calgary and Area. In other words, your Field Experience I placement school site is informed by the EDUC 430 section you have enrolled in. Please refer to the UPE Registration Guide for more information. If you are unable to get into your preferred section, please enroll in the next best option: while we cannot overload you, Field I is just two weeks, and your location will not follow you into future Field placements. | We consider: Your teaching subject area and route; | We consider: Your teaching subject area and route; | Ideally, students will remain in the same placement for EDUC 540 and EDUC 560. |
| Commute Expectations | For Field Experience I, we will do our best to resolve excessive commute times but cannot guarantee your field placement will be changed. If your commute time is longer than 90 minutes, we will do our best to resolve, however we are limited to schools within your EDUC 430 section, the cohort model, and host school cohort sizes. The commute time limitation is applied to both public transit and vehicle times, one-way. | Every effort is made to place student teachers within a reasonable traveling distance from their place of residence, however, based on available school sites, this cannot be guaranteed. Placements may have a travel requirement of up to 90 minutes from your home. Our priority is to give you the best placement possible with a focus on partner teacher availability and school willingness to host pre-service teachers. | Every effort is made to place student teachers within a reasonable traveling distance from their place of residence, however, based on available school sites, this cannot be guaranteed. Placements may have a travel requirement of up to 90 minutes from your home. Our priority is to give you the best placement possible with a focus on partner teacher availability and school willingness to host pre-service teachers. | Every effort is made to place student teachers within a reasonable traveling distance from their place of residence, however, based on available school sites, this cannot be guaranteed. Placements may have a travel requirement of up to 90 minutes from your home. Our priority is to give you the best placement possible with a focus on partner teacher availability and school willingness to host pre-service teachers. |
| Description | An observation of life in schools. There is no Partner Teacher but, instead, Pre-service Teachers observe the school as a whole under the guidance of the Field Experience Liaison and the Field Experience Instructor. | An examination of the complex dimensions of individual learning in classrooms. Pre-service Teachers are assigned to one or more Partner Teachers and will ideally be placed in pairs with another Pre-service Teacher. | A collaborative examination into the complex dimensions of whole class learning. Pre-service Teachers are assigned to one or more Partner Teachers. | A deeper examination of curriculum, planning and assessment to engage diverse learners in whole class settings. Pre-service Teachers are assigned to one or more Partner Teachers. |
| Developmental Focus | Documentation of the lives and cultures of students, teachers and schools using ethnographic field notes. Pre-service Teachers will be expected to assist as much as possible, at the discretion of the Partner Teacher. | Planning and teaching of learning experiences or parts of learning experiences aimed at gauging the learning of individual students, small groups of students or the larger class. | Planning and teaching of lessons and series of lessons leading up to partial curriculum units (at the discretion of the Partner Teacher) in whole class settings with the aim of assessing student learning. | Planning and teaching of organized unit(s) of study while deepening competence in the specialization. |
| Pre-service Teacher Responsibilities | Observation and assisting teachers according to the Course Outline. Completion of all EDUC 440 course work. | Teaching 1/3 or approximately one class per day by the end of week 2 (at Partner Teacher’s discretion) Written lesson plans for all lessons taught including formative assessment. Completion of all EDUC 465 course work. | Series of lessons leading up to partial curriculum units (at the discretion of the Partner Teacher). Teaching 50-75% of the day by the fourth week. Written lesson plans and unit plans (where appropriate) for all lessons taught including formative assessment. Completion of all EDUC 540 course work. | Series of lessons leading up to curriculum units (at the discretion of the Partner Teacher). Teaching 80-100% of the day by approximately the end of the fourth week. Written lesson plans and unit plans for all lessons/units taught including assessment components. Completion of all EDUC 560 course work. |