GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN EDUCATION

Exploring Making: Art, Design and Technology in Education

Method of delivery:
Blended, Burnaby
Applications open:
February 1, 2022
Applications close:
July 25, 2022
Next start date:
September 12, 2022

This Graduate Diploma in Advanced Professional Studies in Education (GDE) was developed in partnership with School District 41, Burnaby.  

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Designed for

Calling all Makers. This program is designed for educators interested in making, creating, innovating, building, design thinking, contributing to the school community, and in developing their pedagogical practice while engaging in sustained reflective inquiry.

Program Structure

  • Two-year, 30-unit program
  • Blended online and in-person learning every Monday from 4:30-8:30 p.m.
  • Includes a one-week Summer Institute each August
  • No classes in July, during the winter break or ministry-designated spring break

PROGRAM DESIGN

Themes of Study

  • Engaging in teacher inquiry and reflective practice
  • Building a culture of creativity, exploration, engagement, innovation and discovery
  • Nurturing teacher Maker identity
  • Fostering student expression through maker explorations, art, digital technologies and media design
  • Engaging in ADST’s curricular competencies focusing on the human centered design thinking process
  • Exploring traditional and diverse cultural models of making practices
  • Engaging with Indigenous and holistic approaches to teaching and learning (First Peoples Principles of Learning)
  • Discovering and implementing new and emerging technologies, tools and materials
  • Inquiring into the role of maker within the curriculum and core competencies
  • Exploring multi-modal forms of assessment that acknowledge multiple ways of knowing, expressing and understanding
  • Creating caring and socially responsible learning environments

Program Capacities

Program capacities provide a reflective focus for documenting and self-assessing learning.  At frequent intervals throughout the program, participants and their mentors refer to the capacities to assess progress, to set new goals and to create direction for further learning in field studies.  At the end of the program, each participant’s comprehensive portfolio includes a synthesis of learning and self-assessment of growth in these capacities, supported by evidence of learning.  This program provides opportunities to develop these capacities:

  • Develop a disposition of inquiry and critical reflection to understand and develop your practice
  • Collaborate with students by putting them at the center of learning (co-creating, co-learning, co-planning and co-teaching)
  • Explore, implement and critically reflect upon existing and emerging technologies, tools and materials in your practice to facilitate inquiry-based learning
  • Investigate and assess educational theories, philosophies and pedagogies related to curriculum, teaching and learning to inform and transform one’s professional practice
  • Foster a rich understanding of creative processes, innovation and reflection, and thereby enhance creativity in the classroom
  • Create environments that nurture a reflective, respectful and socially responsible approach to inquiry, innovation, design and problem-solving

SCHEDULE AND COURSES

Classes run in the Fall, Spring, and Summer terms of the academic year during the 2-year program.  

Year 1

Fall 2022 (September - December)

  • Foundations of Teacher Inquiry
  • Foundations of Maker Pedagogy

Spring 2023 (January - April)

  • Integrating Art, Design and Technologies Across the Curriculum
  • Field Studies (Practitioner Inquiry)

Summer 2023 (April - June, August)

  • Maker Practice, Play and Exploration
  • Field Studies (Practitioner Inquiry)

You also attend a one-week Summer Institute each year (August 21-25, 2023 and August 19-23, 2024). No classes are scheduled in July.

Year 2

Fall 2023 (September - December)

  • Inquiry and Innovative Learning Design
  • Field Studies (Practitioner Inquiry)

Spring 2024 (January - April)

  • Integrating Curriculum, Assessment, Planning and Practice
  • Field Studies (Practitioner Inquiry)

Summer 2024 (April - June, August)

  • Developing Learning Communities
  • Reflections on Teaching and Learning

You also attend a one-week Summer Institute each year (August 21-25, 2023 and August 19-23, 2024). No classes are scheduled in July.

Minimum Technical Requirements for Online Courses: Operating system - Windows 10 or Mac OSX 10.4 (or higher); high-speed internet connection; webcam and access to a printer.

PROGRAM COLLABORATORS

District Partners

  • Allison McKillop, District Youth Employment Specialist of SD 41

 

FUTURE PATHWAYS

Where can this program take you? The world is changing rapidly and so is the full range of career and academic opportunities that await. 

TQS Upgrades

Completion of the diploma allows educators to move from TQS category 4 to 5 or from category 5 to 5+.

Further Studies

Use the credits you've earned completing your GDE program towards earning a Master of Education in Educational Practice (MEd EP). Learn more about the one-year MEd EP program.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS PROGRAM

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