I’m involved from start to finish in the whole process of managing six study programs, in addition to providing customized support and training for teachers. Each week brings its share of surprises, and that’s what I love most about my job: there are always new challenges.
A wide array of tasks
His responsibilities include the implementation, evaluation and continuous improvement of study programs, the organization of training for teaching staff, the publication of educational bulletins, the organization of professional development days, and active collaboration in several institutional matters. “I also play an advisory role with teachers. I help them work on a particular problem, intervene when they have doubts about a case of plagiarism, or even when they want to improve a teaching strategy.”
Helping teachers teach
It’s not uncommon to see new teachers, freshly graduated from university, arrive at CEGEP with no training in pedagogy. Learning therefore occurs through continuing education, hence the importance of pedagogical counsellor, according to William Lessard-Morin.1
This year, he and his colleagues have created a training path for new teachers that covers the main themes of the profession, including teaching strategies, assessments, and classroom management.
Essential qualities
To do this work, William Lessard-Morin believes that it’s important to have been a teacher yourself. “This brings credibility in the eyes of teachers,” says the former teacher of literature at the CEGEP de Baie-Comeau.
Good listening and communication skills, and project management and work organization skills are also essential, as are discipline, autonomy, leadership, professional ethics, and creativity.
1 William Lessard-Morin is president of the Syndicat des professionnels du Collège d’enseignement général et professionnel (Cégep) de Sorel-Tracy (CSQ) and a member of the Fédération du personnel professionnel des collèges (FPPC-CSQ).
