The Saskatchewan Professional Development Unit (SPDU) facilitator’s community consists of educators from across the province who work with staff to plan and deliver a wide range of exciting and innovative professional growth opportunities. This project will explore the impact of the SPDU facilitator’s community on the teaching profession and on how professional development is offered…
The focus of this research was to learn from First Nations, Métis and Inuit students attending an alternative adult learning program about their experiences with both supportive and non-supportive teaching environments. The students described the importance of community or a sense of belonging, cultural teachings within the school, relationships with teachers or the school community…
This action research project aimed to explore how teaching visual literacy would impact teaching and learning. Teachers and consultants worked collaboratively to explore how visual literacy could be incorporated into the classroom. This project recognized the historical privileging of print-based media and recognized that multiple forms of texts are increasingly prevalent in their students’ worlds…
The intent of this research project was to explore teacher experience and observations as teachers worked collaboratively to deepen their understandings of student engagement. More specifically, the researchers were interested in what considerations and dynamics were important to attend to when teachers worked collaboratively and what supports were needed. The researcher found that collaborative work…
This researcher explores the impact on student engagement of including graphic novels as part of English or French language arts programs at the secondary level. Four teachers meet regularly to collaboratively plan and reflect on the use of graphic novels in their classes. The study found that students were prepared for class, completing their homework,…
This project was student-driven and came about as the result of a school survey sent home to families. Students had expressed the desire to learn their traditional language, Cree, and the goal was to revitalize traditional Cree language in the school. An invitation was issued to community Elders to share lunch at the school as…
Collaboration, intellectual engagement and reading comprehension instruction are merged in this project as a team of teachers in a single school explore how a focused collaborative team can impact student learning. The team found that to impact student learning a holistic view of reading comprehension, time, teacher autonomy, professionally led professional development and collaboration through…
This study examines and attempts to develop best practices in reading interventions for English language learners (ELLs). The project focused on primary grades (1-3) and looked at strategies teachers could use to support ELL students. The research included developing effective strategies, collaborative professional work time, the importance of one-on-one time with ELL students and the…
This research project used a qualitative approach to investigate whether the practicing of basic mathematical facts at home improves automaticity, fluency and accuracy. Number talks were used in this project to increase number sense and connections, mathematical thinking and reasoning, and different mental mathematical and computational skills. There is evidence in the literature that practice…
The overall objective of this research was to examine the effectiveness and sustainability of an induction-by-mentoring model of support for beginning teachers. In our mentorship model, the beginning teacher’s classroom was the central focus, with regularly scheduled classroom visits by the mentor providing structure, continuity, relationship building and professional development opportunities. This pilot project demonstrates…