Professional Development Program

Program Cohorts

At SFU, we believe that teaching is fundamentally grounded in relationships.

That is why the Professional Development Program (PDP) is designed to help student teachers develop strong relational practices.

Throughout the program, student teachers work in small groups called Professional Learning Communities (PLC) and Modules. Working in this way, student teachers have extended opportunities to establish close working relationships and build a professional network with their peers, teacher educators, and practicing K-12 teachers.

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY (PLC)

During EDUC 400, the first semester of the PDP, student teachers join a Professional Learning Community. A PLC is a small group of student teachers who work closely with an instructional team to explore foundational themes, begin their guided inquiry, and participate in focused learning experiences in educational communities.

Some PLCs are based in Surrey and others in Burnaby. We take into account student campus preference as indicated during the application process.

Note: Student teachers in ITEM and the French module are placed together in their own PLCs during this semester.

MODULE

From the second semester onwards, student teachers become part of module. A module is a small group of student teachers (approx. 32) who work with dedicated teacher educators to focus on the integration of theory and practice.

Each module has a different theme (below) but all address the core matters of diversity, equity, indigeneity, literacy, numeracy, ecology, technology, artistry and creativity, and health and physical activity.

Student teachers are placed in a module after they have been admitted to the program, with the exception of the three specialty modules. French, ITEM and IPTEM require a letter of intent to be submitted with your PDP application.

For more information, see our Module and Placement FAQs