Exemplary Practices 1996

Greetings from the 1996 National recipients

This is a transition year for the Prime Minister's Awards. The program's focus is expanding to recognize the work of teachers from all disciplines including, but not exclusively, science, technology and mathematics. Exemplary Practices, now in its third year of publication, has in many ways prefigured this change: the ideas and methods presented here focus on understanding the world from many different perspectives.

Tackling things from new angles is a big part of any teacher's life. It isn't just that we meet a fresh set of faces every year. We have to prepare these students for a world that is, itself, always changing. On top of that, we have to keep up on the advances that are continually being made in the subject areas that we teach.

Looking at our contributions to Exemplary Practices, and those from other years, it strikes us that there is a secret hiding inside them — that is, that this publication is as much about how teachers learn as how students do. Each of the ideas in this book is like a milestone in an ongoing journey to pursue better teaching techniques. None of these marks the end of the road.

In the book, you'll find descriptions of some of our approaches, along with the philosophies behind them, an explanation of the context in which we use them, the level of students for which they are intended and how they are done. We invite you to take those ideas that seem suitable for you and to experiment and make improvements. And, if you make any important discoveries along the way, we would appreciate it if you shared them with as many teachers as possible, including us.

There are many avenues open to Canadian teachers looking to share ideas. The Internet has made this communication easier and faster than ever before — allowing us to connect with colleagues locally and around the world.

PMA recipients come from all parts of Canada. Due to space limitations, only national-level recipients are profiled here. However, all local and regional recipients are listed, along with their schools and communities, in the back of this book. Maybe you will be inspired to contact a PMA teacher near you. If you would like more information, please call 1 800 O-Canada (1-800-622-6232) or send an email.

Features
Features section of the Exemplary Practices 1996

Articles
Articles section of the Exemplary Practices 1996