From Canada, on exchange
TEACHER
EXCHANGE UPDATE | Susan Taylor interviews Peter Edmonstone for ICVET
It has been a very powerful experience to come here and I would not have given that up for anything.
Peter Edmonstone, teacher from Edmonton, Canada on exchange in TAFE NSW - Mt Druitt College
The relentless Australian sun and a desire for academic challenge drove Peter Edmondstone to travel 20,000 kilometres to Mt Druitt on the outskirts of Sydney. Currently he is working at Mt Druitt TAFE as an ESL exchange teacher and enjoying the difference. His regular job is with a community college in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada where he is an ESL teacher for adult migrants.
‘The immigrants who I teach in Canada come from the same regions as those in my classes in Australia such as East Africa and Asia’, he said. ‘So my classes here have the same cultural mix as at home.’
…here Peter’s role involves more administration tasks and he suggested that the stronger educational support could be due to greater funding in Alberta.
He has noticed some differences between the Australian and Canadian systems; here Peter’s role involves more administration tasks and he suggested that the stronger educational support could be due to greater funding in Alberta.
‘Currently Alberta has a booming economy with the second biggest known resource of crude oil in the world so that might be a reason why there is a higher degree of administrative support at my home college.’ In addition to this difference, he does not have sole responsibility for teaching a cohort at Mt. Druitt.
‘In Canada I take the same class for two and a half hours in the morning and a different class for two and a half hours in the afternoon every day of the week. I am that class' teacher with a home room. Here I take five different groups for some subjects while another teacher takes them for other subjects. It is a different way of doing things – there is more flexibility here.’
In Canada students take attendance very seriously and are not able to miss more than five days in a five month period without good reason. Here students seem more relaxed about attendance.
Another difference Peter noted is students’ attendance. In Canada students take attendance very seriously and are not able to miss more than five days in a five month period without good reason. Here students seem more relaxed about attendance and Peter surmised it could be because of the difference in economic circumstances between Mt Druitt and Alberta. Students at NorQuest (Peter’s home college) are encouraged to look upon their time in college as a full-time job where excessive absenteeism would not be tolerated.
Most TAFE teachers in Australia will agree with Peter’s viewpoint, that working students are diligent and great class members. They value their education experience and understand the need for good qualifications.
Another interesting point Peter raised was the difference in education resources. Some time ago Canada took the hard road to revamping (in Australian parlance) modules to units. Currently the Access and General Education Curriculum Centre is travelling the same road and Peter feels that it is certainly the right way to go.
‘There is a designated text for every level supplemented with our own material. Here there is a wide range of text books available for us to use but there is no designated text and I prefer having a text to form a foundation,’ he commented. The new unit based curriculum will certainly go a long way towards rectifying this situation while also giving TAFE teachers a surer footing to develop lesson plans, assessment tasks and holistic topic outlines to directly meet student needs.
On a more personal level Peter, his wife and two children aged 10 and 13 are now well settled into life on Marguerite McKeown’s rural property at Kurrajong. (Marguerite is currently enjoying a taste of Canadian culture as the other side of the exchange program.) This too is a big change from the ultra-suburban area that Peter and his family call home.
The children have settled into school well although the teenager is a little bit homesick and missing friends. ‘We have just had parent/teacher interviews and both boys are doing fine now.’
The family is also taking time out to see some of Australia and have travelled to Port Macquarie, Katoomba, Jervis Bay and into Sydney on a few occasions with a trip to Victoria on the drawing board for the Easter holiday break.
‘It has been a very powerful experience to come here and I would not have given that up for anything.’
Experience Peter’s home community college, Norquest in Canada!
See also
Postcard from Edmonton, CANADA | eZine February 2006
The Working Holiday of a Lifetime | eZine November 2005
