LU Orillia Expands Teaching Program

One of the greatest pulls to the Lakehead Orillia campus has been the Concurrent Education Program. This program, however, has always been limited to prospective teachers because Lakehead only offered the PJ program, for teaching kindergarten to grade six. Conversely, Thunder Bay’s concurrent education program has offered both PJ and IS, which has attracted students interested in teaching all grades. 

One of the many benefits of the concurrent education program is that students are able to experience education classes throughout their degree and be placed in a classroom before they ever go to Teacher’s College. This experience allows students to figure out their interests and get ahead on what they have to look forward to. This has been available on both the Orillia and Thunder Bay campuses for prospective teachers in the PJ program. For Thunder Bay students, the option for concurrent IS has also been available.

Finally, after a long period of waiting, IS training is now available at Lakehead in Orillia. Here’s the thing: it's easy to miss. Since Orillia’s IS training for teachers is not available concurrently, students cannot apply for it in their first year of post-secondary schooling. Instead, students need to apply to get a regular non-education degree, graduate, and apply to IS Teachers College. Throughout getting their initial degree, however, it's important to keep in mind that two teachables are required. For the first teaching subject, students require five full-year course completions in that area. For the second teaching subject, students require only three full-year equivalents in the selected area. At present, Orillia students have the option to major in English, history, geography or social sciences general.

So, while it's not the concurrent program that all other Lakehead education students have, the consecutive option opens new doors for Orillia students seeking to teach higher grade levels. The program is currently very small and spots fill up quickly, though priority is given to Lakehead students and honours graduates, so it is valuable to keep the option in mind early on. As time goes on, and as teachers become more needed due to vacant positions, a concurrent option may become available to immerse students in their desired profession early on. Only time will tell!