Vanier College in Montreal is pleased to announce that thirteen of its teachers received recognition of their Master Teacher Program Certificate, Diploma, or Master Degree at the recent 2018 Graduate Recognition Ceremony which was held at Champlain College, on October 19, 2018. This Graduate Recognition Ceremony is an event that is held every two years and celebrates the accomplishments of the Cegep teachers and staff who complete one of the three programs offered within the Master Teacher Program (MTP). The Master Teacher Program is a graduate-level, education program for Cegep teachers, offered by the Université de Sherbrooke.
Graduate Certificate in College Teaching (GCCT) Participants who take the Certificate program learn the pedagogical basics of excellent teaching skills, knowledge, and attitudes in the four core courses: College Teaching and Course Design, Assessment as Learning, How Students Learn, and Instructional Strategies for Active Learning.
Graduate Diploma in College Teaching (D.E.) Participants who continue in the Master Teacher Program, take the next fifteen credits to complete the Diploma program. Core courses include Constructing Knowledge in Your Discipline, Constructing Knowledge Across Disciplines, Philosophy of Education, Integration Seminar, as well as a few elective courses from the GCCT list above.
Master of Education in College Teaching (M.Ed.) Participants who continue to the end of the Master Teacher Program, complete the research portion of the program, both the theoretical and the practical components, and develop and conduct a research activity, often in their own college or classroom.
Vanier College is proud to announce it has thirteen MTP graduates in total, with five teachers who completed the 15-credit Graduate Certificate in College Teaching: Meghna Banerjee (Economics), Stefan Bracher (Physics), Chester Moran (Respiratory and Anesthesia), Valeria Rea (Nursing), and Fiona Rowlands (Early Childhood Education).
Four Vanier College teachers completed the 30-credit Graduate Diploma in College Teaching: Meghna Banerjee (Economics), Michelle Bayard (Nursing), Elana Cooperberg (Pedagogical Support and Innovation Office), and Juan Alejandro Robles (Nursing).
Four Vanier College teachers completed the full 45-credit Master of Education in College Teaching degree: Dana Bath (English), Jailson Lima (Chemistry), Juan Alejandro Robles (Nursing), and Nicholas Rudi (Industrial Electronics).
"Unlike their counterparts at the early childhood, primary, and secondary school levels, teachers in higher education are not required to have any formal training in pedagogy. Many Cegep teachers have high-level degrees - indeed, they possess extensive knowledge and discipline-specific expertise - but the unique set of skills required to transfer that knowledge to learners is not a requirement for hiring. Performa's programs, including the MTP, offer Cegep teachers an invaluable opportunity to learn about how students learn, to discover and practice effective course design, and to implement effective instructional and assessment strategies. In so doing, MTP participants develop their identities and perfect their practice as teachers," said Julia Hall, pedagogical counsellor in the Pedagogical Support and Innovation office and Vanier's local Performa MTP representative.
