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Elementary Education Programs

Please refer to the Undergraduate Calendar for current program details:

12.10.1 OVERVIEW OF THE FOUR-YEAR ELEMENTARY BEd PROGRAM

12.10.3 TWO-YEAR ELEMENTARY BEd AFTER DEGREE (BEAD) PROGRAM

PROGRAM OVERVIEW
The Elementary Education program is broadly based, preparing school professionals who will teach core curriculum subjects which include Arts Education, Health, Language Arts, Mathematics, Physical Education, Science and Social Studies. The program consists of three components: academic courses taken outside the Faculty of Education, professional courses taken within the Faculty, and in-school experiences. Students may register in Early Childhood Education (PreK-3), Early Elementary (K-5) or the Middle Years (5-9) stream within the Elementary Program.

The program prepares future teachers to create environments where children are active and engaged in learning. Other program themes include integration of subject areas, resource-based and group learning approaches.

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION (PREK-3)
Within the Early Elementary stream, a section focusing on pre-kindergarten to grade 3 (PreK-3) is available through a selection process for students who have completed Semester 3. Students in this section will be advised to register in specific courses which reflect the early childhood orientation. Practica experiences of preinternship and internship are in prekindergarten to grade 3 classrooms. Students are to seek academic advising before selecting senior electives to complete the program requirements.

Philosophies: The study of Early Childhood Education is based on the belief that individuals learn actively in social environments. Within the area, emphasis is placed on understanding the elements of good quality programs for young children. Students are involved in a combination of interactive classroom-based learning opportunities, observation of young children, and supervised practicum placements in which they begin to apply what they are learning.

Course Offerings:
• Orientation to teaching children in the early school years: A focus on experiential learning within early school years' settings, consideration of social and cultural contexts, historical and theoretical underpinnings of the field.
• Experiential learning for young children: creating, implementing and assessing learning environments which provide opportunities for engagement and exploration, making connections from children's interests and needs to learning, and ways of representing learning
• Contemporary trends in early childhood education: examination of current issues and concerns in early childhood education, and developing action plans which support appropriate practices
• Curricular implications of play: an examination of play and its contributions to learning and development; and practical applications in experiential learning situations
• Preschool education: an examination of the interactions of child, family, program and community which have an impact on the development and implementation of preschool programs, the influence of socio-cultural factors, and practical applications in preschool settings

EARLY ELEMENTARY EDUCATION (K-5)
Students will register in ECE 205 in semester 3. Courses taken during preinternship (semesters 5 and 6) reflect the early elementary school orientation. Practica experiences of preinternship and internship are in kindergarten to grade 5 classrooms. Students are advised to seek academic advising before selecting senior open and education electives to complete the program requirements in semesters 4 and 8. In selecting elective courses, students may pursue a generalist teaching background or concentrate on specific teaching areas.

MIDDLE YEARS EDUCATION (5-9)
Courses taken during preinternship (semesters 5 and 6) reflect the middle years orientation. Preinternship and internship practica are in grade 5 to 9 classrooms. Students are advised to seek academic advising before selecting electives.
Please note that the Middle Years Program is in transition and will be changing.

The Middle Years Teacher Education Program has not been revised or updated since 1991. Since then the social conditions which provide the context for teaching have changed. Today more than 20% of Saskatchewan's children live in poverty; technology and the internet have had major effects upon education; and the provincial government has committed itself to a new format for education called School^Plus. The Faculty of Education must respond to these developments.

Over the next three years changes will be made in the Middle Years Teacher Education Program which will allow it to respond to the School^Plus initiative, and which will engage future teachers in considering how teaching can contribute to social justice, and transforming the world for the better. It will seek to foster in future middle years teachers deeper understandings of society, of the history of Aboriginal peoples in Saskatchewan, and of the social structures (like gender, race and class) which advantage some children in school and disadvantage others. It will prepare future teachers to work with other human service providers at the school, and with parents and local communities.

Therefore, because of these changes, the Middle Years Program will not be exactly as it is described in the current University of Regina Calendar. But it will still offer students the middle years field experiences and the other opportunities for experiential learning that the program has offered in the past, and it will continue to offer each student the attention and personal support that enhances teacher development.

The Student Program Centre will continue to provide you with any advice and information you may need about courses to be taken. The Faculty of Education assures you that your program will be of the same length, and will lead to the same BEd degree as the former program. Your degree will meet all the requirements for a Standard A Teaching Certificate, as it has always done.