This paper reports on the impacts on teachers of a new Masters in Education program developed for early elementary teachers at one small Canadian university. Central to the program are concepts of the child as competent and capable, and a view of professional learning as democratic, critically reflective and a way to enhance teacher agency. Our findings are based on interviews and focus group conversations with several members of one of the cohorts who completed the program. In our thematic analysis we determined that teachers reported changes in their practices including slowing down and listening to children as well as increased flexibility and ability to relinquish control. Additionally, teachers spoke of increased confidence in themselves and the children in their classrooms as a result of participating in this program. Keywords: early elementary grades, graduate teacher education, early elementary pedagogy, democratic professional learning, teachers’ agency Cet article fait état des impacts sur les enseignants d’un nouveau programme de maitrise en éducation développé par une petite université canadienne pour les enseignants du primaire. Le programme est centré sur le concept selon lequel l’enfant est compétent et capable, et sur une perspective de l’apprentissage professionnel comme étant un processus de réflexion critique qui est démocratique et susceptible d’augmenter chez les enseignants le sentiment de pouvoir agir. Nos résultats découlent d’entrevues et de conversations avec des groupes de discussion impliquant plusieurs membres d’une cohorte ayant complété le programme. Notre analyse thématique révèle que les enseignants ont signalé des changements dans leurs pratiques; entre autres, ils ont indiqué qu’ils ralentissaient et écoutaient les élèves, étaient plus souples et se sentaient en mesure de céder le contrôle. De plus, les enseignants ont reconnu que leur participation au programme avait entrainé une augmentation de leur confiance en soi et en les élèves. Mots clés : premières années du primaire, études supérieures en enseignement, pédagogie des premières années du primaire, sentiment chez les enseignants de pouvoir agir.

In a well-written introduction to the policy debates on school choice, Lynn Bosetti and Dianne Gereluk move readers away from the "strong emotional responses" (p. 3) that many scholars, educators, policymakers, and parents have on this subject.By examining the philosophical roots of school choice debates in Canada, the authors provide a well argued, reasoned, and highly readable text on what is normally a divisive subject.The authors start their discussion of school choice through examination of an important assumption in many of the debates underway currently on school choice."Normative assumptions regarding the aims and purpose of schooling are not always acknowledged by detractors or advocates of school choice theory" (p.5), and the introduction argues that many reports and studies fail to "attend to unique contexts in which particular policies originate" (p. 7).These two foundational points help explain the uniqueness and significance of the book: rooting school choice discussion in the original purpose of public education and how each local educational agency is allowed to enact this duty to prepare students for a future engagement with the world at large.What was fascinating to me as an American is the number of school choice opportunities available in many Canadian provinces.School districts have latitude in providing school choice to citizens, a situation that is not present in the United States.The Canadian Constitution protects which rights "Francophone, Anglophone and Aboriginal people" (p.8) possess concerning schooling, in contrast with the absence of educational rights in the U.S. Constitution.In Canada, the success of the school system, as measured on international tests, is beyond repute.In the United States, as Bosetti and Gereluk observe, many supporters of school choice are trying to remove children from a "failing school" and provide placement in a better educational opportunity.The authors want their book to "move beyond the polemic debates about whether school choice is good or bad and towards how it can be conceived and implemented to complement and enhance public education in a democracy" (p.8).This objective is significant in its goal of improving public discourse on school choice in the western hemisphere.The introduction concludes with a two page set of definitions of various terminology associated with school choice.The authors' decision to include these definitions strengthens the book by providing a set of definitions that students and scholars may utilize in the school choice discussions.A set of standardized definitions is a critical factor in any policy debate, and the location of these terms in the book is a convenient reference for scholars.International readers are likely to appreciate this glossary as they create comparisons between their home educational systems and Canadian ones.The definitions of school choice terminology are especially relevant

This perspectives article offers an overview of the Programa Facultad Abierta (Open Faculty Program) written by its faculty protagonists. Through the creation and continuation of this program the authors describe the evolution of the program that emerged from the socio-political context of Argentina’s 2001-2002 economic crisis. As a university extension program associated with the University of Buenos Aires’s Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, the Programa Facultad Abierta is both socially committed and community-focused. The Programa Facultad Abierta serves as an illustrative case study of the possibilities still available to the public university for not only engaging in continuing adult education, but also for playing a key role in supporting broader proposals for social change against and beyond social exclusion and strictly capitalist prerogatives. Indeed, the experiences of the Programa Facultad Abierta shows that the public university has an important role in an academic–political project which both co-creates knowledge and collaborates with otherwise marginalized communities and working people in forging alternative socio-economic destinies together. Cet article offre un aperçu du Programa Facultad Abierta (Programme d’études libres) écrit par les acteurs clés de la faculté. Les auteurs décrivent l’évolution de ce programme, de sa création découlant du contexte sociopolitique de la crise économique de l’Argentine en 2001-2002 jusqu’à son maintien de nos jours. En tant que programme d’éducation permanente lié à la faculté de philosophie et des lettres de l’Université de Buenos Aires, le Programa Facultad Abierta est à la fois engagé socialement et axé sur la communauté. Il sert de cas d’étude pour illustrer les possibilités qu’ont encore les universités publiques de non seulement s’impliquer dans le maintien de l’éducation des adultes, mais également de jouer un rôle clé dans l’appui des propositions plus larges visant le changement social pour éliminer l’exclusion sociale et les prérogatives strictement capitalistes. Effectivement, les expériences du Programa Facultad Abierta indiquent que l’université publique a un rôle important à jouer dans un projet académique-politique qui contribue à la création des connaissances et collabore avec des communautés marginalisées et des travailleurs pour créer ensemble des destins socioéconomiques alternatifs. Mots clés : programme d’éducation permanente; université publique; mouvements sociaux; autogestion des travailleurs; Argentine

This article offers a critical reflection of the changes experienced in teacher education across Canada in light of the neoliberal impact on educational spaces. It also seeks to disrupt the neoliberal narrative and problematize a rationality that has permeated teacher education programs. The article maintains that the neoliberal agenda is incompatible with critical educational practices. As a mode of critical resistance to educational instrumentalism, the paper offers recommendations as part of its critique on the deleterious impact of neoliberalism.Cet article offre une reflexion critique des changements decoulant de l’impact neoliberal sur les milieux educatifs qui touchent la formation des enseignants partout au Canada. L’article veut egalement perturber la theorie neoliberale et problematiser une rationalite qui s’est infiltree dans les programmes de formation des enseignants. L’article affirme que le programme neoliberal est incompatible avec des pratiques educatives cruciales. Comme element de sa critique de l’impact nefaste du neoliberalisme, l’article propose des recommandations en guise de moyens de resistance critique a l’instrumentalisme en education.Mots cles : neoliberalisme, formation des enseignants justice sociale, instrumentalisme

This paper reports on a preliminary Australian adoption and adaptation, in the North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, of the Townsend and Adams’ model of leadership growth for school improvement in Alberta. The Australian adaptation of this Alberta model has been named the North Coast Initiative for School Improvement (NCISI). The participants comprise nine university academics and almost one hundred regional school leaders. Leadership is developed through continuing and regular collaborative-inquiry and generative-dialogue meetings between the academics and school leaders. The aim is to improve school leadership with the primary purpose of improving student outcomes. Provisional evaluation records significant positive changes in school leadership across the region. Convergence and divergence of the Australian and Canadian models are explored. The Australian adaptation requires some modification to suit local education processes and context. In particular, there has been the development of some divergence in approaches, especially in working in individual schools or clusters of schools. While the program has only been running for a comparatively short time, and therefore formal program evaluation is only commencing, preliminary evidence suggests significant traction and success in the Australian context. The paper concludes with some tentative implications for the future development of this model in the Australian context: how can the model be conceptualised and delivered to a wider audience in the years ahead. Cet article porte sur l’adoption et l’adaptation preliminaire du modele de Townsend et Adam sur le developpement du leadership pour l’amelioration des ecoles en Alberta. Ce modele albertain a ete mis en œuvre dans la region de la cote nord de la Nouvelle-Galles du Sud en Australie et nomme North Coast Initiative for School Improvement (NCISI). Les participants comptent neuf universitaires et presque cent dirigeants d’ecoles regionales. Des reunions continues et regulieres, reposant sur la recherche collaborative et le dialogue generatif, ont lieu entre les universitaires et les dirigeants d’ecole pour avancer le developpement du leadership. L’objectif d’ameliorer le leadership scolaire vise principalement le rehaussement du rendement des eleves. Les resultats provisoires de l’evaluation revelent des changements positifs significatifs dans la direction des ecoles de toute la region. Nous explorons les points de convergence et de divergence des modeles australien et canadien. L’adaptation australienne necessite certaines modifications de sorte a convenir aux procedes et au contexte educatif locaux. Plus particulierement, une certaine divergence s’est developpee dans les approches, notamment quant au travail dans les ecoles particulieres ou dans les groupements d’ecoles. Le programme etant en œuvre depuis une periode relativement courte, l’evaluation formelle en est a ses debuts, mais les resultats preliminaires portent a croire qu’il gagne du terrain et connait un succes dans le contexte australien. L’article conclut en presentant des retombees preliminaires pour le developpement a l’avenir de ce modele en Australie, notamment par rapport a sa conceptualisation et sa prestation a un plus grand public.