Hi there! Do you happen to know any information on education, specifically teaching internationally? I’m currently going into second year, so I only just enrolled in a double major for English and BMS, but now I’m wondering if I need to pursue an education degree to teach internationally. I’m aware that U of T doesn’t really have an “Education major,” just the education and society minor. How exactly would I become qualified to teach internationally then? Maybe I don’t need an education degree in my undergrad? Maybe I need to go to grad school for it instead? I’m very confused, and I’ve tried to do a ton of research online and in reddit but I decided to reach out to you because I was still confused 🙁 I hope you can help! Thanks so much 🙂

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hey,

unfortunately i don’t feel all that qualified to answer this! i did a bit of research, but like you mentioned, it is a bit difficult to figure out. i was only to find stuff on websites that i don’t recognize, and that kind of info can be a bit hard to trust sometimes.

this webpage indicates that qualifications will vary depending on where and what you want to teach, which makes sense. it seems like the standard is to have a bachelor’s of education degree, though. if you’re looking for that at u of t, your confusion is understandable.

as far as i know, you are correct that the education and society minor is pretty much it for u of t education programs at the undergrad level. i believe other schools, like the university of alberta and the university of british columbia, offer bachelor’s of education programs. u of t does not. if you’d like a bachelor’s of education, you may need to transfer to another school. if you’re interested in doing a graduate degree in education at u of t, you may want to look into OISE’s master of education program.

i’m not sure what type of international teaching you’re hoping to do, but if you were hoping to teach english classes abroad, you might want to look into getting a “teaching english as a foreign language” certificate.

apart from that — sorry, bud. i don’t really know.

in terms of how to move forward, you can try reaching out to your registrar’s office. i’m not sure if the academic advisors will necessarily be specialists on how to become an internationally accredited educator, but they may know the right directions to point you in for more information.

i wish i could be more helpful! best of luck.

be Boundless,

aska

Hi there. I am not a student at University of Toronto, but I am seriously considering applying to join this institution to study psychology. With this, I also have a passion for acting. My question is, since it takes quite a while to become a psychologist, I was wondering if I would be able to receive my diploma of acting while becoming a psychologist which would therefore save me around a year of a half. Thank you, I truly appreciate this, you are helping me a lot.

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hey there,

thanks for waiting for this answer!

to be honest, i’ve been quite stumped by your question because i’m not sure exactly what you’re asking. i believe you can double major in drama and psychology at u of t, if that’s what you’re asking, and you would be able to finish that double major in four years if you plan everything out well.

if you’re referring to getting a diploma in acting at another school while working towards a u of t psychology degree, you might consider studying as a part-time student. we do love part-time students around here — the association of part-time students (APUS) has the cutest lounge in the sidney smith building, with subsidized printing and free coffee or tea.

i will note that, if you are interested in practicing as a psychologist, you would need a master’s or doctorate, so that might be good to keep in mind as you plan for the future. if you’re just interested in graduating with a psychology degree, that path will be much simpler.

if this doesn’t answer your question or if you’re still confused, i would suggest getting in touch with admissions. their contact info is here. it may be easier for you to iron out the details of your plans over a phone call!

be Boundless,

aska

Hi Aska,

I’m an incoming freshman at UofT and I was wondering whether there are any
places on campus which are good for me to take my dog on walks. Her name is
Charlotte and I like to use a stroller while walking with her so that she
doesn’t get her fur dirty.

Please respond, Charlotte and I are waiting

Yours sincerely,

The Queen of Queen’s Park

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hi!

so nice to see a queen and her dog pursuing higher education!

there are tons of green spaces and nice parks on and around campus. you know of queen’s park, seeing as you are the queen of queen’s park. there’s also philosopher’s walk, the UC quad, the trinity quad, the woodsworth quad, the innis green, and the victoria quad. all really nice places to take a dog for a walk or to throw around a frisbee.

hope this helps, your majesty!

xoxo,

aska

So what happens during a strike anyway?

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hey there,

good question. on the eve of an impending strike, i’ve talked to more than one student who’s stressed themselves to hysteria over the possibility of a strike by CUPE 3902 Unit 1. so why not shed some light on the situation?

THE SET-UP

so, who the heck are these strikers in the first place? CUPE stands for the Canadian Union of Public Employees. 3902 is the number representing the university of toronto.

three CUPE 3902 units have entered into negotiations in the past few months: Unit 1 (all Post-Doctoral Fellows, graduate students in the School of Graduate Studies and undergraduate students in the University of Toronto employed as teaching assistants, teaching fellows, demonstrators, tutors, markers, instructors, teaching laboratory assistants, Chief Presiding Officers, invigilators and part-time lecturers), Unit 3 (all non-student academic staff employed on contracts of less than one-year as lecturers, demonstrators, tutors, markers, graders or instructors or laboratory assistants) and Unit 5 (post-doctoral fellows).

Units 3 and 5 have both negotiated settlements. Unit 1 has not yet negotiated a settlement, though the university has said that it is “fully committed to achieving a negotiated settlement for a renewal collective agreement with CUPE 3902 Unit 1 without a labour disruption, and has reason to believe that the parties will be able to do so.”

THE STRIKE

now, onto your question. what happens during a strike?

well, firstly and most importantly: the university WILL NOT CLOSE (FAQs for Students, #4). most of your classes will likely continue (FAQs for Students, #5). again, only certain instructors and TAs are represented by Unit 1, so classes run by professors will continue as planned.

as well, even people who ARE represented by Unit 1 are still allowed to work (FAQs For Employees In The CUPE 3902 Unit 1 Bargaining Unit, #1) – though of course, this is not something we can or should expect, and will depend on the individual. make sure you’re checking Blackboard regularly for updates about your particular lectures/labs/tutorial sections.

since your classes may or may not continue as planned, it is important to check Blackboard regularly for updates (this is referenced throughout the FAQs for Students).

as to how and when class will continue in the event of a strike, that’s something the university isn’t able to answer at the moment (that’s aska’s subtle way of saying: don’t speculate! it’s not helpful in any way). however, they are aware of the possibility of a strike impeding students’ studies, and are doing their best to make sure the effect is minimal.

question #23 of the FAQs for Students makes that pretty clear: “The University is committed to enabling its students to complete their program requirements in a timely fashion, and is aware of the particular needs and concerns of students intending to graduate this spring. We will be providing further communications if a strike occurs, and we will do our utmost to ensure that students are able to complete their degree requirements within the usual timeframe.”

and yes: you should still complete the work that’s been assigned to you, unless your instructor has informed you otherwise (FAQs for Students, #19). sorry to crush your dreams .

THE COVERAGE

if you’d like to keep up with info about the strike, Blackboard and uoft’s FAQ are the best places to go.

however, there’s also been coverage by The Varsity, The Star and CBC. if you’re an undergrad student and want to get involved, check out this facebook group.

THE SIGN-OFF

all the best,

aska

Dear Aska, Do you know any places where I can get a pile of GOOS paper (good on one side) without much effort? Tired of digging through recycling papers. Thanks!

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hey there,

excellent question! what an environmentally conscious human you are. good on ya. you get aska’s seal of approval.

the one place i can think of is those trays of GOOS paper by the computers and printers at Robarts? d’you know what i’m taking about? i’m sure other libraries have them too, but i’m a Robarts girl*, myself.

also, if you have an in with any administrative offices on campus (like registrar’s offices, department offices, etc.) maybe you can very sweetly ask them if they’re looking to unload some of the paper that’s inevitably piled up in their office. goodness knows they produce enough of it.

so yeah, maybe dig through a library/office or two before resorting to the recycling. you’ll probably get fewer funny looks.

cheers,

aska

* i mean, INFINITE BEING OF LIGHT AND WISDOM. not a girl. definitely not.

Just curious as to why U of T doesn’t have a full reading week in the fall like other universities seem to have?

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hey there,

i’m curious, too. i haven’t been able to find any official explanation of the reasoning online. this Varsity article gives a pretty good overview of the issue, though it questions why we only get a two-day break instead of a full week, as we do in the winter term.

for what it’s worth (and this is JUST ASKA’S OPINION – i’m not speaking on behalf of any university administration), it makes sense to me that in a school where full-year courses typically make the winter term heavier than the fall term, that the break in the winter would be longer than in the fall.

but hey, we’re all allowed our own opinions on the matter. freedom, and all that.

hope you enjoy your (albeit modest) break when it does come,

aska

I am very familiar with the fact that U of T requires students to pursue (at the very least) a specialist, a double major or a major and double minor – I have spent many days pondering specialists, majors, minors and switching subject POSts. I am just now wondering why this is required. I have never heard of any other universities that require this. Is there any special reason for the requirement? Do they just like us to be well rounded? If you know the answer, please enlighten me.

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hey there,

wellll my friend, uoft is a bit different from other canadian universities in that it takes its inspiration from many different university systems. for example:

most canadian universities follow the U.K.’s ‘course’ model. in this model, students enrol in a course (translated into our vernacular as ‘program’ for most canadian unis). the ‘course’ is very prescriptive, and dictates all or most of the classes you have to take.

uoft follows the american model, in which students can mix and match ‘majors,’ ‘minors,’ ‘specialists’ etc. the terminology can change slightly for uni to uni, but it’s pretty much the same deal everywhere. notice harvard has a ‘concentration’ (essentially a major or specialist), ‘electives’ (which allow for something like the completion of a minor) and ‘general education requirements’ (similar to our breadth requirements).

there are pros and cons to each model. the U.K. model allows for very focussed study, and provides structure that some people find to be a relief. some programs at uoft find this model preferable – for example, uoft law or rotman commerce.

the american model allows you to pursue multiple interests, even if they are very different. you can double major in math and philosophy, if you feel so inclined. a U.K. university course would make that very hard, unless you could find an interdisciplinary ‘course’ specifically called ‘math and philosophy.’

the american system is also very flexible. at uoft in particular, you have one whole year to figure out which program(s) you’d like to apply to, which is really helpful to lots of students who don’t have a CLUE what they might like to study.

it’s my opinion that this flexibility, as well as the breadth requirements, do create well-rounded students. however, some specialists are so intensive that the well-roundedness is lost, and some students pair together very similar subject POSts, resulting in essentially the same degree as someone who follows one specific ‘course’. i guess the the point is that the choice is theirs, and i think that’s important.

anyway, i’m not an educational theorist, so i don’t have any definitive answers. it’s interesting to think about, though.

cheers,

aska

P.S. i know that the U.K. and the States are not the countries that came up with these models – obviously both countries are based on cultures and traditions that go much further back and spread across the globe. also, not every university in the U.K. or the States are exactly like this, it’s just a general trend. i just used those two countries as examples because most of us are familiar with their universities more than we are with other countries’.