Partner teachers are key to our students’ success and the success of their classrooms.
Mentorship benefits both the student teacher and the mentor. Mentorship is giving back and developing a fresh perspective while assisting a young teacher with developing skills. Sometimes it makes you rethink what you are doing and why. This self-reflection can change your practice or reinforce it.
-Partner Teacher, Werklund Field Experience, 2021
The Perks of Serving as a Partner Teacher
Mentoring pre-service teachers is not only a valuable way to ensure continued excellence in the profession but it also serves as an excellent leadership and professional development opportunity for mentor teachers.
Access to Partner Teacher Professional Learning Series
We offer the Werklund Professional Learning Series to our Partner Teachers, in recognition of their service. This series is made available to all of our K-12 partners in pre-service teacher education.
Each year we offer four seminars, each of which was developed on a topic that was chosen based on feedback from partner teachers, principals, and school liaisons.
Learn more about the 2022-2023 series here!
Access to Teaching Resources
We are delighted to share the new Indigenous Storytelling in the Classroom resource with our Partner Teachers.
Visit our website: Books to Build On: Indigenous Literatures for Learning
We hope that you enjoy this website as a starting place for deepening your engagement with Indigenous literatures for learning.
See a story about its creation here: New UCalgary resource helps Canadian K-12 teachers bring Indigenous storytelling into the classroom
The enduring power of Mentorship
The Werklund School of Education, Bachelor of Education program is one that incorporates the best of both the practical and the innovative. Since its redesign in 2011, this program has balanced the need to ensure pre-service teachers are prepared for the classrooms of today while encouraging the innovation that will lead us to the classrooms of tomorrow. A cornerstone of this program is time in the field as the mentoring of new teachers is something that we value highly and your partnership in that critical endeavor is greatly appreciated.
“My partner teacher is fantastic and welcoming, and I want to be her when I grow up.”
– FIELD EXPERIENCE STUDENT, 2020/2021
… but don’t just take our word for it!
The passion and enthusiasm that the practicum students bring into the classroom is often contagious. They are usually far closer in age to the students they teach and their natural insights into today's youth can assist an experienced teacher in their ongoing interactions with younger charges. -Partner Teacher, Werklund Field Experience, 2021
Giving back to our profession will create a world with better teachers in it -Partner Teacher, Werklund Field Experience, 2021
It is really hard to learn to swim by reading. It is easier to learn to swim by swimming. Teaching is the same.
-Partner Teacher, Werklund Field Experience, 2021
The partnership creates growth and reflection for each participant. Student voice and choice is expanded when given the opportunity to create a learning bond with a secondary educator. Combined, the differentiation in the class and the teaming create a powerful teaching and learning experience. -Partner Teacher, Werklund Field Experience, 2021
... because we all once were received by another teacher in their classrooms and grew from that experience. Now it's time to give back. We are always learning and having a young, fresh mind in the classroom gave me and my students so much! -Partner Teacher, Werklund Field Experience, 2021
My teachers are experienced professionals who can guide future teachers and share their passion. They love to see what the student teacher has to offer and to work with her/his personality.
-Principal, Werklund Field Experience, 2021
Mentoring a student teacher provides essential guidance, mentorship, and experience for emerging teachers while also providing the mentor a chance to engage in reflection and consideration of the essential elements of their practice. -Partner Teacher, Werklund Field Experience, 2021