"The Event of Place": Teacher Candidates' Experiences of a Northern Practicum

Abstract

Teacher education programs in Canada—by the nature of their geographic locations and composition of their faculty and students—remain largely urban centric in their values and programs. Yet, teacher education programs are responsible for preparing teachers for rural, remote, and northern teaching experiences. In this study, I explore the experiences of teacher candidates who participated in a northern practicum option developed at a Western Canadian teacher education program. The purpose of this research is to examine teacher candidates’ experiences of the northern practicum option in order to inform our northern practicum option, as well as to contribute to the development of other northern practicum offerings in Canadian teacher education programs. Drawing on place-conscious theorizing, I explore the ways in which the northern practicum experiences have the potential to disrupt settler-colonial narratives, to develop understandings of place-based curriculum and pedagogies, and to support democratic and ethical approaches to education.     Keywords: Northern Canada; practicum; teacher education; qualitative research; place-consciousness