College of the North Atlantic is hosting a delegation from NOVA Career Centre in Chateauguay, QC this week to share its expertise in delivering post-secondary skilled trades programming.
NOVA Career Centre provides opportunities for students to enroll in a trade program, finish high school or get ready for public post-secondary education.
Marty Madore, program developer with College of the North Atlantic’s School of Industrial Trades, worked with the Quebec school for several months to co-ordinate this visit. He said the idea stemmed from his involvement with the Canadian Association of Motive Power Educators, which meets at a different public school within Canada twice a year.
Last fall meetings were hosted in Montreal and that’s when NOVA Career Centre representatives became interested in exploring College of the North Altantic’s facilities, learning about its student services, how programs were delivered and to tour parts of Newfoundland and Labrador.
The five-member group has two purposes for the visit with some wanting to explore the administration side of operating a college campus while others are interested in seeing how the schools of study within the college attain practical competencies in the delivery of trade programs.
Over four days (Sept. 17-20) the group tours campuses in Port aux Basques, Bay St. George (including the site in Stephenville Crossing) and Corner Brook.
While at each campus, the NOVA Career Centre representatives will reciprocate the sharing of knowledge by presenting on Professional Learning Communities to faculty. This method is defined as fostering collaborative learning among colleagues within a particular work environment or field, and is often used as a way to organize teachers into working groups of practice-based professional learning.
“Every opportunity for relevant professional development/continuous learning that is presented to College of the North Atlantic faculty, support staff, and administration is embraced with open arms,” said Jan Peddle, Campus Director at Bay St. George campus.
Brent Howell, Dean of Engineering Technology and Natural Resources, says opportunities to share best practices benefits both organizations.
“The visit from our guests is an excellent opportunity to showcase a number of our programs, and at the same time it provides us with the opportunity to learn from the NOVA group,” said Howell.
Madore said College of the North Atlantic is excited to learn more about PLC, as it is student-focused.
He said networking with colleges across Canada to share challenges and solutions is a very important part of College of the North Atlantic’s success.
