Practicum Requirements

To be eligible for your Two-Year Bachelor of Education degree (BEd) Professional Program’s practicum, no matter your division, you must meet the requirements as outlined on this page, pertaining to Police Records Check and Vulnerable Sector Screening, Tuberculosis Documentation, Safe Practices, and Language Competence.

For more information about your practicum and its requirements, please see our Course Calendar and the Practicum Guide, listed on the Resources for your Teaching Practicum page. 

Police Records Check and Vulnerable Sector Screening (PRC/VSS)

All publicly funded schools in Ontario require that you present a valid Police Records Check with Vulnerable Sector Screening (PRC/VSS). For the practica served in the BEd Professional Program, you must obtain a PRC/VSS through an acceptable provider such as the Thunder Bay Police, Ontario Provincial Police, or the Toronto Metropolitan Police Services.

You, the teacher candidate, are responsible for all costs associated with the PRC/VSS and for obtaining the certified documents by the first day of University classes in each year of your BEd Professional Program. You must provide a photocopy in a sealed envelope to your faculty advisor on the first day of classes. You must keep the original document and then submit it to the principal of your placement school.

Note: For placements, the school principal or board central office is responsible for verifying your PRC/VSS. You are responsible for determining an appropriate provider and for applying in a timely fashion.

Tuberculosis Documentation

See the chart of board-specific instructions (Partnership School Boards page) to determine your Board's requirements.

If your Board requires a Tuberculosis (TB) skin test (one-step), you must provide a photocopy in a sealed envelope, to your faculty advisor on the first day of classes. You must keep the original document and then submit it to the principal of your placement school.

Safe Practices

BEd Professional Program students, who are on placement, must maintain the high professional standards expected of all teachers. Safe practice requires that all teacher candidates:

  1. Hold the safety and security of children and youth in higher regard than their own rights and privileges;
  2. Maintain classroom routines and expectation;
  3. Cope with the emotional, intellectual, and physical demands of the learning environment; and
  4. Provide a safe, secure, environment for children and youth.

A teacher candidate may be removed from a placement if their performance is deemed to be unsafe. An unsafe practice is any situation arising from a teacher candidate's interaction with children, youth, or adults, which place them, or the BEd Professional Program student at risk or harm.

Language Competence in the Teaching Practicum

If your language competence is deemed to compromise effective teaching and learning, the associate teacher should contact the faculty advisor. If your command of the English language does not allow for effective communication with children or youth in the classroom, your placement will be terminated. To continue to your second placement in Year One, you will need to demonstrate, to a Practicum Review Committee, a professional level of proficiency in the following areas:

  1. Listening comprehension skills
  2. Pronunciation and articulation
  3. Verbal and written fluency
  4. An appropriate range and accuracy of diction
  5. Appropriate syntax and usage