Any questions about PDP?

bluebou

Inspired by the law school thread, if any of you have any questions about PDP (SFU's teacher education program) or job prospects afterwards, I'd be happy to try to answer them.  PDP gets students from a lot of different departments, so I'm sure a few people on here might consider it at some point.  I know some people have it as a backup if they don't get into law/med/dental right away.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Kevin_CMNS

How long does it take to finish the program?

Do you feel it is necessary to succeed?

bluebou

PDP takes one year (three straight semesters) to finish and you now have the option to graduate with a B.Ed. instead of just a certificate.  I think that's a great bonus since it looks nicer on a resume and might give you an advantage if you want to teach overseas or in the US.  Other schools offer a 1, 1.5, or 2 year program.  One year programs are the best.  The "fail" rate of PDP is around 15%, but many of those students re-enter the program and graduate later, which usually tacks on another two semesters.

I think the practicums are absolutely necessary to be successful, especially if you get a good school associate (teacher supervisor) to show you the ropes.  All the other time you spend in PDP (being up at SFU, etc.) is hit or miss.  You'll pick up some useful things here and there, but you'll also witness some utter stupidity.  

Whydoihavetoregister

So aside from being a teacher, what other occupations are there for PDP grads? Also could I "teach Engrish/ESL/scam foreigners pretending to be a teacher" in another country?

BeAnBeAn

That actually sounds like a fantastic program for those who wish to go that route. What do you mainly do in practicum though? Just teach kids and do what teachers do? Can you provide some example stories of the utter stupidity you speak of?

@Whydoihavetoregister LMAO Engrish. Actually though, it's actually usually the "teachers" who get scammed when lured into these "teach English/ESL abroad overseas!" type jobs and have to live in shitty conditions. Read about it. And yes, I had the hots for my old school teachers many times, different schools too, including preschool.

bluebou

@Whydoihavetoregister

Just like law school prepares people to be lawyers, PDP prepares people to be teachers, so it's not really designed to prepare you for other occupations.  There is some variety within the profession (TOC, classroom teacher, ESL, LST, behavioural support, admin, etc.) and more options if you continue with school (speech therapist, counselor, etc.).  Like any degree, there's unlimited opportunities depending on your ambition and background.  There's some teachers who start education/technology companies that are geared to educators, but I wouldn't say PDP prepares you for that.

After you graduate PDP, you get certified by the BC govt and it's pretty much recognized everywhere as long as you're allowed to work in that country.  I know students who have gone to China, Korea, England, and Scotland to teach.  However, don't expect to get big $ going to places like Asia, the experience is the main reason people go.  You can get more money working up north (~$70,000 starting salary).  @BeanBean is right, there are some scams you have to watch out for, especially when you don't have a handle on the native language.  

bluebou

@BeanBean

The practicum is where they ease you into teaching duties, but it depends a bit on whether you're in an elementary or secondary classroom.  Elementary has a lot of focus on classroom management.  You essentially learn how to be a manager of people; you learn how to prepare lessons to minimize problems, deal with problems, work with a variety of learning levels, present material properly, etc.  There's a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes in elementary school (From my experience: kids bringing knives to school, sexting/RCMP involvement, law suits).  You also learn how to make things fun and teach sound concepts.  Even if you're a good university student, it's hard to take on all that stuff at once without getting eased into it.  

Secondary school is usually less management issues (for grades 10-12), but the students expect you to really know your subject area and be able to answer questions that go beyond what they're learning.  You also work on finding ways to do cool things with classrooms.  Essentially, the practicum becomes your testing ground to see what things work and what don't, all without the stress of losing a job.  You also get a chance to steal ... I mean find resources.

RE: Utter stupidity...

Two things kind of come to mind.  First, there's a lot of graduates/researchers who throw out crazy education ideas, really just to justify themselves being in education research for the past 10-30 years.  Some theories are good, some are crazy.  You might have to listen to some of the crazy ones.  Second, the people who run PDP are typically women who have a certain set of political beliefs.  This means a lot of time gets wasted doing useless or redundant things.  I'll just leave it at that (again, just think of it as another hurdle).

renzilla

Hi!  Thanks for creating this discussion.

I am looking to apply to pdp and was wondering about how much experience people had generally before they got in?  I am worried I don't have enough.  

Flash

I thought it's as hard to get into teaching as it's hard getting into firefighting or police. No vacancies and the wait list is enormous. At least that's what I heard in ON

Annie

What's the current job market for new teachers?  I heard a couple of years ago it was really tough, since the about-to-retire teachers were hanging in after they lost lots of their retirement money--?

jml

I've just been accepted, and I'm wondering what the program hours are like during the first semester. I'm curious because I'm wondering if it'l be possible to continue my part time job during the week while doing PDP. 

Whydoihavetoregister

You start out as substitute teachers LOL

rikachan96

Hi, I'm an English major thinking of going to PDP after graduation. 

Since the teaching field is tough with high unemployment level, people have been telling me that

it is good to have specific minors that will specialize my field more. 

I'm doing Learning Disabilities minor, but have been considering about Int/Global Minor also after taking

EDUC 240. Cultural engagement is my passion also. 

However, being a student with limitation on $ to be used, I want to make sure whether if this minor is worth the effort and $
(i.e. does this make me more career-focused?) rather than just taking it because of interest. 

This requires an international experience, which is the reason why I'm more careful with choosing this minor as 
international experience will cause me to use more money. 
If anyone has some ideas or if anyone has taken this minor, I would really appreciate your comments!