Yukon College launches review of YNTEP program

WHITEHORSE-  Yukon College is starting a series of consultations next week about the Yukon Native Teacher Education Program (YNTEP).

Dr. Deborah Bartlette, the College’s Dean of Applied Arts, says the College has hired Dr. Thomas Fleming to conduct a thorough external review of the 20-year-old program’s content, objectives, and effectiveness.

“We’re approaching this consultation with the thought that, if we were starting again to build the best teacher education program we could, to meet the needs of the Yukon, what would that look like?’,” says Bartlette.

Dr. Fleming, she says, is eminently qualified to conduct such a review.

Dr. Fleming is Professor Emeritus in educational history at the University of Victoria in British Columbia He served as research director and editor-in-chief of the 1987-88 British Columbia Royal Commission on Education. He has worked internationally on projects funded by the Canadian International Development Agency, and has published two noteworthy books on education in British Columbia.

“He has extensive experience in leading these types of consultations for government provincially, nationally, and internationally,” says Bartlette.
YNTEP has been offered at the college since 1989, and has about 35 students currently enrolled in the program. It is a four-year program leading to a Bachelor of Education degree. Graduates qualify for both Saskatchewan and Yukon Teacher Certification and are eligible for teacher certification throughout Canada.

The consultation is starting with meetings with former graduates and First Nations partners. Further consultations will take place early in the new year with the public, government and other stakeholders. Dr. Fleming is scheduled to submit a report by the end of May.

“I am really happy because of Dr. Fleming’s experience, and background in working with indigenous education and his strong commitment to education and social justice,” says Bartlette.

“We look forward to hearing from the public and receiving this report.”

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Contact:
John Boivin
Media Coordinator, College Relations
Yukon College
867 668 8786
jboivin@yukoncollege.yk.ca
www.yukoncollege.yk.caJacqueline Bedard
Director, College Relations and Int’l
Yukon College
867.456.8619
jbedard@yukoncollege.yk.ca