Dean Down Under

When undergraduate students in the Werklund School of Education (WSE) take part in the Teaching Across Borders (TAB) program, they travel to other parts of the world to observe and participate in classroom experiences that will most likely be very different from what they experience in Alberta.

The pre-service teachers, who travel in the fall semester of their final year of study, are asked to diarize, photograph, videotape and otherwise record what they learn; they then share their stories on a blog.

But that’s just one side of the equation.  

While WSE students are selected to make their education exchange journeys to 10 post-secondary institutions in eight countries and other parts of Canada through formal agreements, students from each of these partner institutions are invited to come to Canada to experience life at UCalgary and to spend time in local and regional school settings.

In late May, WSE Dean Dennis Sumara travelled to Brisbane, Australia to sign the latest TAB agreement with Queensland University of Technology (QUT).  He and QUT’s Executive Dean of Education, Carol Nicoll, signed the papers to get the newest exchange underway, and now this fall, B Ed students from the Werklund School can apply to head Down Under for a new TAB experience.