This text is part of the special Higher Education notebook
Trained more to work in hospitals or private clinics, students at the end of a health program are poorly equipped to deal with the particularities of the school environment. The new program at the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières (UQTR) aims to remedy this problem with an approach where a large part of the learning is developed by the students themselves.
Aimed at health professionals who already work in the school environment and who are part of their respective professional orders, the new short postgraduate program in professional skills development in the school environment will welcome 24 students per cohort, starting this winter. Offered over two years in the winter, summer and fall sessions, part-time and in co-modality, the program, which aims to be as accessible as possible, offers half of the course hours asynchronously, in independent learning. The other half will be presented live, in person or online.
“It was important for us that as many professionals as possible have access to our program, regardless of where they come from in Quebec and regardless of their family or professional situation because the need is there. We already have a waiting list,” underlines Noémi Cantin, program manager and professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy at UQTR.
Knowledge sharing
If the new program targets a professional clientele, it is because “the objective is to ensure that each student benefits from the expertise of others and allows others to benefit from their experience”, mentions Annie Stipanicic, professor in the Department of Psychology from UQTR, who participated in the development of certain courses in the program. To promote active training, small groups of students from various professional orders will be created within each class and will follow each other throughout the sessions in order to form a learning community.
The courses and seminars offered are intended to be practical and concrete since the goal is for students to return to their workplaces by transposing their new knowledge. “The students, at the end of their course, thus become a sort of transmission belt for the other professionals they work with,” specifies M.me Canteen.
It is with this idea of disseminating knowledge that, in the second half of the journey, a conference will take place. “We will also make accessible, on a website, the students’ approach to a project that they will develop throughout their course. Thus, other professionals will be able to benefit from it,” adds the program manager.
A practical and interdisciplinary course
This project aims precisely to respond to problems that students encounter in their work. Through seminars, students will have to create the project, apply it in their environment and evaluate its impact. “It will be a question of thinking about the relevance of this project, its reception, the possibility of adding it to an already existing project, etc.,” explains Mme Stipanicic. We don’t want an ideal project, we want a practical project. »
The program thus aims to train professionals capable of detecting problems in their work environment and responding to them. “They’re putting out fires right now. We want to offer a space where there is time to stop and think about the best way to respond to a real need,” adds M.me Stipanicic.
Aimed at occupational therapists, psychologists, guidance counselors, speech therapists or psychoeducators, the program places interdisciplinarity at the center of its training. Indeed, as explained by Mme Cantin, to meet the needs of students in a school context, collaboration between professionals is essential. “As a speaker, I must understand the issues of other people who work with students and be able to share my leadership,” she explains.
A broad understanding of the Quebec education system also appears essential to the program manager. A course on the Quebec school system will, for example, educate students on the various reforms that have taken place. “In small groups, the students will reflect on ethical questions, such as that relating to the inclusion of students in difficulty in so-called ordinary classes,” underlines Mme Canteen. Another course will focus on teaching practices in schools. “By understanding the main principles of teaching methods, professionals will be better able to issue recommendations in congruence with the work of the teacher,” notes the manager. This new program thus seeks to support students in their reflections on actions to adopt in their environment, that of health in the field of education.
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