McGill University's Faculty of Education and Trafalgar School for Girls are partnering to establish a transformative partnership - the CoLab. A first of its kind in Canada, the CoLab will integrate teacher training, classroom practice and cutting-edge pedagogical research under one roof.
Inspired by laboratory school models at Oxford, Columbia, University of Chicago, and UCLA, the CoLab aims to deliver a dynamic and collaborative learning environment where secondary school and university educators will work together to transform the classroom and the future of teaching and learning.
"The CoLab is an exceptional collaboration between world-class McGill research and outstanding high-school education at Trafalgar," said Dilson Rassier, Dean of the McGill's Faculty of Education. "It will break down silos between theory and practice, tackling educational and societal challenges in creative, innovative, consequential ways, and contribute to shaping the future of education."
The CoLab will create an environment where research hubs are integrated into every teaching area; teachers-in-training learn in a space where research and practice are seamlessly combined; secondary students benefit from experiential, interdisciplinary learning; and practicing teachers can share expertise and engage in lifelong learning.
"I am so proud that Trafalgar will be building on its longstanding relationship with McGill to pioneer a new era of education in Montreal," said Katherine Nikidis, Trafalgar's Head of School and McGill Faculty of Education alumna. "Because Trafalgar is small, nimble, and embraces innovation, we can model this novel, synergistic CoLab relationship allowing educators and students from both schools to inspire each other daily and benefit from the free-flow of ideas."
In September 2019, Trafalgar announced the sale of its Simpson St. building which has housed the school for 133 years. Currently, the Trafalgar-McGill leadership is mobilizing to establish the facilities for the CoLab on McGill's downtown campus for the 2022-2023 school year, in addition to building a $10M endowment fund at McGill which will support joint research and programming between the two institutions.
