Principal training in Canada?

TeacherGal
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Principal training in Canada?

Post by TeacherGal »

Does anyone have any information about principal training in Canada? I hear it's two summers studying in Ontario. Any info on that or about what is available in the other provinces?
PsyGuy
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Post by PsyGuy »

Each province has their own requirements but generally in addition to a bachelors degree, you need 5 years teaching experience, and credentialing across three of four divisions, in addition you need to have a masters degree. You then complete a principal qualification program offered by a regional edu association or a Uni. They are offered on differing time scales (some part time, some full time, some summer institutes, etc).

Its a hard program. CAN has one of the most difficult credentialing requirements in edu. They dont have skills or assessment pathways, everything is academic. In regards to leadership credentialing its equivalent to a dual masters requirement. Ontario and BC are the most difficult, they have no shortage of educators in anything including leadership. Getting into a principal qualification program is competitive.
TeacherGal
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Re: Principal training in Canada?

Post by TeacherGal »

If that's the case maybe I should avoid BC and Ontario. But if I get my credential from a different province I wonder if then I'm restricted to using it only in that province. Also, when abroad I wonder if principal credentials from any of the provinces is not well regarded. Any ideas on this?
PsyGuy
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Post by PsyGuy »

@TeacherGal

Are you Canadian?
If you arent you cant really avoid BC or ONT, they are the two main provinces that accept foreign DTs without having either PR or an employment offer. The other provinces will give you a certificate of eligibility, which isnt a credential. You need a DT credential so that you can qualify in the necessary divisions.
If you are Canadian, than other provinces are less competitive, you can go somewhere like Manitoba or the Labrador coast and find a principal qualification program that are non competitive.

Qualifications are valid in the province they are issued, but there is a mutual recognition scheme in all provinces for the movement and transition of DE leadership between provinces. It does take resources and time however.

Any provincial leadership qualification from CAN would be an accepting working credential and marketable in IE. The only scenario where it would matter is in the handful of CAN IS that have contracted with a specific provincial regulatory authority and/or DS for their program, in which case those ISs have a strong preference for that particular provinces credentials.
TeacherGal
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Re: Principal training in Canada?

Post by TeacherGal »

Thanks Psyguy. I am Canadian. I will look into this province by province then.
PsyGuy
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Post by PsyGuy »

@TeacherGal

Id look at the Maritimes first.
shadowjack
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Re: Principal training in Canada?

Post by shadowjack »

Teachergal

anywhere out West has NO "administrator credential". That is an Ontario (and maybe points east?) thing. Ontario very much follows the US model of credentialing out the wazoo, largely because of the Southern Ontario megalopolis gives them that luxury.

Out west you have much smaller school districts in general - admin is usually through an MEd or MA in School Leadership, or something similar.

There are a variety of programs offered - but the U of A offers a mixed model MES (Masters of Educational Studies) and it has a research focus (you do a research based dissertation) with two summers on campus and then other classes online. You can do a July or an August start for this.

Check it out at https://www.ualberta.ca/educational-studies/mes-program
PsyGuy
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Post by PsyGuy »

I dont disagree with @SJ, the programs I described are largely eastern creatures. A number of regions and provinces dont have anything resembling a leadership credential that you would see from the UK or the US. In western provinces leadership is a DT who after appointment attends some form of workshop offered by the LEA usually over a holiday break (summer) and the LEA gives them some certificate of attendance or completion, but its nothing like a credential from a regulatory authority in the US or UK. Having an Masters in Ed.Ld is a Masters in Ed. Ld you can get it from anywhere. There is no benefit in IE in getting one from CAN compared to anywhere else.
TeacherGal
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Re: Principal training in Canada?

Post by TeacherGal »

Then what would getting a Master in Educational Leadership do for me? How would that compare to a principal certificate from a Canadian province or elsewhere. If I got a Master of Ed. L. could I apply and be automatically given some sort of principal certification from anywhere in the world or could it exempt me from some of the requirement for certification?
PsyGuy
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Post by PsyGuy »

@TeacherGal

First, a Masters will give you an increase in salary band.

Second, you need a Masters anyway to get a leadership credential whether its in CAN, US, UK, AUS (at least in the UK youd be daft not to, though while you could get one without a Masters, youd be completing the equivalent of a Masters in completing the NQ program). There are edu that moved into leadership way back in the day and got credentials with a Bachelors, but in modern times you need a Masters to get into leadership. You cant get a leadership credential in ONT without having Masters, and then the qualification institute is the equivalent of another Masters.

Third, for a very large part of the world, there isnt such a thing as a "leadership credential", many of them got an advance degree and got appointed to a leadership position. There isnt anything that separates their degree and experience from anyone else except they were hired for leadership. It doesnt look that way in IE, because so many ISs are modeled around US/UK institutions and those ISs seek to emulate elite DSs OS.

Fourth, yes the recommended route is through the District of Columbia in the US. You would need to obtain a Masters degree and then pass the ETS SLLA exam and then with either 2 years edu experience with evaluations or 4 years edu experience without evaluations (there is an option for only having a Bachelors degree, but you must already hold a leadership credential issued from elsewhere). You can then apply directly for a standard administrator credential, which is valid for 4 years and can be renewed with appropriate PD.
There are also Masters programs that directly include a leadership credentialing route.
TeacherGal
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Re: Principal training in Canada?

Post by TeacherGal »

My partner has a Master of Educational Leadership but has only taught. He has only very short term 'acting' principal positions on his CV. Is there a suggested route for him to get principal certification anywhere fairly quickly, easily and at low cost?
Teacher certification in the UK can be done quickly and for free if one already holds certification from countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Is there a similar avenue in the UK for principal or some other leadership certification?
PsyGuy
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Post by PsyGuy »

@TeacherGal

Yes the recommended route is through the District of Columbia in the US. First your partner would need to have a NACES evaluation completed of their qualifications and credentials and complete a CRB. Assuming they are acceptable, they would then need to register for and successfully pass the ETSs SLLA exam. At that point they would need to either present evidence of either 2 years edu experience with acceptable evaluations or 4 years edu experience without evaluations (they do not consider a recommendation as an evaluation). You can then apply directly for a standard administrator credential, which is valid for 4 years and can be renewed with appropriate PD.

The NACES evaluation is about USD$150, a number of companies do this and the one you choose needs to be approved by DC, there are also additional services such as rush processing and digital storage, etc. The CRB is about USD$60 plus the cost of having fingerprints rolled and taken. The SLLA exam is USD$450. The application fee for DC is USD$50. This doesnt include what ever cost it takes to obtain certified documents for your application (degrees, certificates, transcripts, etc.)
The NACES evaluation can take anywhere from a week to a month. The CRB takes about a month. The SLLA exam takes a day, with scores available within a couple weeks. The application takes about 6 weeks to process during busy times.

If you must have a leadership credential quickly and at the lowest possible cost DC offers a non-renewable 2 year initial leadership credential. You need only 2 years of edu experience and forgoes the SLLA exam. The other option is you can look at a religious organization such as ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International) which issues a "temporary", two year, renewable administration certificate (certificate as opposed to a credential). The requirements are a Bachelors degree and an application (USD$75 fee), though foreign qualifications and credentials will still need an NACES assessment.

There is no mutual recognition program of foreign credentials for the leadership NQs in the UK. Though your partner may be able to have portions of their Masters coursework accepted towards a portion of an NQ program.
momentofclarity
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Re: Principal training in Canada?

Post by momentofclarity »

If you check out www.makeafuture.com you will find the most comprehensive posting database for jobs in BC. If you look at the qualifications for administrator pools it is typcially as seen below (copied from a current posting in Burnaby).

Qualifications:

Preference will be given to applicants who possess the following:

Master’s Degree in an area such as Supervision of Instruction, Program & Curriculum Development or Administration
eligibility for membership in the Teacher Regulation Branch
demonstrated leadership ability and commitment to working as a member of the district’s educational leadership team
demonstrated ability in program, curriculum and staff development
demonstrated ability in effective personnel supervision, communications and human relations
demonstrated knowledge of current educational trends, educational methods, and the use of technology to enhance instruction
demonstrated skills in community involvement and public relations, including the ability to work cooperatively with parents, professionals and community service agencies
recent, successful teaching experience

You'll notice there is not qualification for an administrator credential of any kind. There is no equivalent of the Ontario certificate in BC (it's not even an option as it doesn't exist). The only academic qualification is a M.Ed in an appropriate field, sometimes that is not even required and you only need to be enrolled in the program of study. The other one is being eligible for the TRB certification, which is a process that takes some time, but is not onerous or overly complicated (https://www.bcteacherregulation.ca/Teac ... rview.aspx).

Good luck, BC is having a bit of a hiring spree right now due to a recent supreme court decision that reinstates funding and class sizes to a previous level that has required several thousand teachers being hired this academic year, with hundreds of positions still available.

MoC
shadowjack
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Re: Principal training in Canada?

Post by shadowjack »

My relatives keep trying to pressure me to return home this year because of that, MOC. But in middle of contract, and really have no wish to teach back home again :-)
momentofclarity
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Re: Principal training in Canada?

Post by momentofclarity »

Getting the same pressure @shadowjack. I contacted a few districts/schools in the autumn to make initial contact, but they all said hiring for 2018-2019 wouldn't really start until the Spring, which leaves it awfully late for us to have no guarantee of a job, current school's signing date was mid-october, so that is a long period of time and a lot of good schools to pass up internationally. Seems like there will be opportunity there for a few years now, still getting settled in several large urban districts - my sister-in-law was explaining they aren't even getting applications for some of the positions.
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