Expanding Opportunities for University of Manitoba Teacher Candidates
Graduating education students showcase wide-ranging skills to potential employers at Education Exposition 2013
The University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Education Student Council (EdSC) is hosting Education Exposition 2013 (Ed Expo) on January 28 to 30, 2013. This exposition is where upcoming Bachelor of Education graduates will have the opportunity to meet and interview with 35 local, rural and international schools, divisions and educational organizations.
Ed Expo Coordinators Laryssa Kurjewicz and Erin Ward say this event ultimately benefits K to12 students because the school divisions and organizations will meet a wide variety of teacher candidates who offer a diverse range of skills able to enhance their programming.
“We’re excited to provide this chance for teacher candidates, divisions, and other agencies to meet, highlight their accomplishments, and network to provide opportunities that will eventually lead to improved education for youth,” say Kurjewicz and Ward.
David Mandzuk, acting dean of Education, recognizes that not all students who leave the Faculty of Education are hired as teachers, but that the B.Ed. program is continuing to provide graduates with new opportunities to make them even more employable.
“Annually, we graduate about 280 teachers, and through reports created by the department of Manitoba education, we recognize that almost 75 per cent of our students find employment in K to 12 settings, but that about 25 per cent do not,” says Mandzuk. “As a professional program, we strive to give our teacher candidates as many opportunities as we can to further their success, and as such have increased our programming to include a French immersion pilot, new study and service learning courses in places like Ethiopia and Peru, and access to the most up-to-date technologies used in classrooms today.”
These additional skills have attracted the attention of institutions that have not been at Ed Expo for several years, or at all. These include Division scolaire franco-manitobaine and Wapaskwa Virtual Collegiate, while others such as Bradford Teach Overseas and Mennonite Collegiate Institute are participating for the first time.
On January 28, 2013, from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., recruiters will host booths in University Centre inviting teacher candidates to learn more about their schools, divisions and organizations while pre-arranged interviews with 11 of these organizations will take place January 29 and 30.
At these interviews, students will have the opportunity to practice interviewing, demonstrate how they fit into a school or school division’s culture and highlight skills such as inclusion, international and cultural awareness, critical awareness and technology they’ve learned in their U of M education program.
To learn more about Ed Expo, click here.
For more information, contact:
Andrea Di Ubaldo, communications coordinator, Faculty of Education at:
Andrea [dot] DiUbaldo [at] ad [dot] umanitoba [dot] ca or 204-474-7402