Media Spotlight: Lisa Starr (DISE) on Fast-Tracking Teachers
Quebec's Education Minister, Bernard Drainville, has been in the media lately, discussing plans to address the province's teacher shortage. Global News approached McGill's Faculty of Education for comment on Minister Drainville's ideas, including fast-tracking teachers:
(Excerpt from Global News)
Dr. Lisa Starr, chair of the department of integrated studies in education at McGill University agreed that the teacher shortage needs to be fixed but not at any cost.
“We want good teachers in the classroom, so rushing them through doesn’t necessarily advance them as much as we would like to because then it creates a situation where we’ve got less than adequate teachers in already struggling classrooms,” she said.
While a fast-track program is already in the works at the graduate level, Starr said that maintaining the integrity of the programs it offers is paramount.
“We can do it, I just want to make sure that it serves the communities that we need and maintains the integrity of what we’re trying to offer,” she said.
