Exemplary Practices 2001-2002

Welcome

When excited and energetic teachers get together to talk about teaching, fascinating and inspiring ideas are the result! We hope you agree as you read the 2001-2002 edition of Exemplary Practices.

An unusually large group of Certificate of Excellence winners gathered in Ottawa in May 2002 for two days of best practice sessions. A total of 19 teachers — 13 individuals and two teams, one of two teachers from Kelowna and another of four teachers from Stittsville, Ontario — were honoured. Also unusual: two of the individual recipients hailed from the same Toronto school, one teaching English, the other machine technology.

Both the size of the group and the teachers' enthusiasm made for lively and occasionally impassioned discussions, as the teachers shared their thoughts about the broad issues of education and the fine details of teaching.

They talked about their schools and programs, and about the challenges of teaching in multiracial, multicultural schools, of making science and foreign languages relevant and attractive to students, and of teaching ethics and values along with theatre or social studies. The teachers also shared how they had seen education and their own teaching careers evolve over the years.

These conversations launched a series of group discussions: three or four teachers examining important issues in education and then sharing their conclusions with the larger group. All the teachers were surprised and gratified to discover how much they had in common, and interested in what they did not agree about.

The best practice sessions are reported in Exemplary Practices in five issue-based articles. For continued discussions with these exemplary teachers, we have included personal and professional profiles and information on how to contact them.

You will also read about the 50 recipients of the Certificate of Achievement. These teachers were honoured in award ceremonies in their own communities across the country.

If reading about these teachers reminds you of an exemplary teacher in your school or community, you will find more information at the back of the book about the Prime Minister's Award program and how to nominate a special teacher.

We at the Prime Minister's Awards program hope you find the 2001-2002 edition of Exemplary Practices a valuable resource. If you have any comments, please contact the program office by phone 1 800 O-Canada (1-800-622-6232) or email.

Features
Features section of the Exemplary Practices 2001-2002

Articles
Articles section of the Exemplary Practices 2001-2002