Recent History – 2004-2006
By Brad Lyon, March 24, 2005
Second-year students in the AHCOTE teaching program at Northern Lights College were on centre stage last week. The aspiring teachers were the star attractions at the annual “Gallery Walk” in the NLC gymnasium. The event allowed friends, family and co-workers to view displays of projects and class work completed by students during recent in-class sessions at area schools.
“The exhibit is celebrating things they’ve learned, and how it’s going so far,” said Christine Aylward, program co-ordinator for the Alaska Highway Consortium on Teacher Education at Simon Fraser University. “They’re completing the exploratory practicum, and trying to find out who they are as teachers.”
The AHCOTE program provides the course work and practicums leading toa British Columbia Standard Elementary Teaching Certificate. AHCOTE is offered jointly by NLC, SFU, University of Northern British Columbia, and School Districts 59, 60 and 81. The program isdelivered in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John. Twenty-three students are in the current cohort at the Fort St. John and Dawson Creek campuses.
Gina Schlase was one of the AHCOTE students displaying work that the grade 6-7 class at Pouce Coupe Elementary School completed during her work term. She is working towards her Bachelor of Education, and said that, among other things, she learned valuable information on lesson planning, assessment and evaluation, and classroom management.
“I’ve been taught all the stuff on paper, but when you put it into practice, it’s different,” Schlase said. “It’s a lot more work, a lot more planning…. I realized teaching is a lifelong learning job, a constant learning process.”
Schlase taught music for 12 years, so the actual experience of standing in front of a class didn’t bother her too much. But she said the in-class work did let her know she has chosen the right career path.
“I know this is what I want,” Schlase said.