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Pedagogies for Teacher Education Policy Development in Canada: Democratic Dialogue

International Teacher Education: Promising Pedagogies (Part C)

ISBN: 978-1-78441-674-4, eISBN: 978-1-78441-673-7

Publication date: 21 November 2015

Abstract

A dialogic approach to Ontario, Canada policy development was utilized to collaboratively re-conceptualize provincial Special Education qualification courses for teachers. The stories, perspectives and lived experiences of teachers, principals, supervisory officers, parents, school board special services personnel, students, and the public were included as essential voices and information sources within policy development conversations. These narratives of experience revealed the forms of knowledge, skills, commitments, and ethical stance necessary for teachers to support students with diverse and unique learning needs today and in the future. The transformative nature of narrative dialogue to enlighten, deepen understanding, and alter perspectives was illuminated. The policy development processes used in this publicly shared educational initiative served as a model of democratic dialogue. The inclusive and dialogic methods employed to collectively re-conceptualize special education courses illustrate an innovative framework for developing policies governing the public good. This model of democratic dialogue holds considerable promise for the future of teacher education policy and practice.

Keywords

Citation

Smith, D. (2015), "Pedagogies for Teacher Education Policy Development in Canada: Democratic Dialogue", International Teacher Education: Promising Pedagogies (Part C) (Advances in Research on Teaching, Vol. 22C), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 253-279. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-368720150000022012

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2015 Emerald Group Publishing Limited